“If God invited you to a party and said, ‘Everyone in the ballroom tonight will be my special guest’, how would you treat them when they arriv? Indeed, indeed! And Hafiz knows there is no one in this world who is not upon his jewelled dance floor.”
~ Hafiz
Khājeh Shams-od-Dīn Moḥammad Ḥāfeẓ-e Shīrāzī (Persian: خواجه شمسالدین محمد حافظ شیرازی), known by his pen name Hafez (حافظ Ḥāfeẓ lit. ’the memorizer’ or ‘the keeper’; 1325–1390) or Hafiz,[1] also known by his nickname lesān-al-ḡayb (‘the tongue of the unseen’),[2] was a Persianlyric poet[3][4] whose collected works are regarded by many Iranians as one of the highest pinnacles of Persian literature. His works are often found in the homes of Persian speakers, who learn his poems by heart and use them as everyday proverbs and sayings. His life and poems have become the subjects of much analysis, commentary, and interpretation, influencing post-14th century Persian writing more than any other Persian author.[5][6] (Wikipedia.org)
New Thinking • Nov 19, 2023 Gary Gach is an adjunct faculty member at the University of San Francisco. He is author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Buddhism as well as Pause, Breathe, Smile – Awakening Mindfulness When Meditation is Not Enough. He is cotranslator of three Korean books of poetry by Ko Un. He is editor of What Book!? Buddha Poems From Beat to Hiphop. He recently served as cotranslator for Hafiz’s Little Book of Life. Here he describes the life and work of Hafiz who was of great inspiration to Goethe, Emerson, and Nietzsche. 00:00 Introduction 04:25 Politics 09:26 Poetry & mysticism 21:24 The Beat poets 28:02 Mysticism: East & West 35:49 Language 46:07 Poetry reading 50:00 Conclusion Edited subtitles for this video are available in Russian, Portuguese, Italian, German, French, Swedish, and Spanish. New Thinking Allowed host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is the recipient of the only doctoral diploma in “parapsychology” ever awarded by an accredited university (University of California, Berkeley, 1980). He is also the Grand Prize winner of the 2021 Bigelow Institute essay competition regarding the best evidence for survival of human consciousness after permanent bodily death. (Recorded on October 17, 2023)
Some gods say, the tiny ones “I am not here in your vibrant, moist lips That need to beach themselves upon The golden shore of a Naked body.”
Some gods say, “I am not The sacred yearning in the unrequited soul; I am not the blushing cheek Of every star and Planet–
I am not the applauding Chef Of those precious sections that can distill The whole mind into a perfect wincing jewel, if only For a moment Nor do I reside in every pile of sweet warm dung Born of earth’s Gratuity.”
Some gods say, the ones we need to hang, “Your mouth is not designed to know His, Love was not born to consume The luminous Realms.”
Dear ones, Beware of the tiny gods frightened men Create To bring an anesthetic relief To their sad Days.
