On the Need for Self-Discipline

Gluttony feeds on itself. The more that the appetite is indulged, the stronger it becomes - and the harder it is to control. But if the appetite is restrained, then it soon grows weak and feeble, and finally disappears altogether.

-Razi, "Kitab al-Muluki"

The Spirituality of Sadness

Melancholy may enter your soul, and ambush your happiness; but it will prepare you for true joy. Melancholy drives out all other emotions and feelings, so the source of all goodness may occupy the whole house. It shakes the yellow leaves from the tree, allowing fresh leaves to grow. It pulls up old bodily pleasures by the roots, allowing divine spiritual pleasures to be planted. Melancholy takes many things from the soul, in order to bring better things in return.

-Rumi, "Mathnawi"

Always Follow Through....

"Initiating a good deed is a matter of choice, but seeing it through is obligatory."
- Imam Ali (a)

Time with Parents

"If you think you are so enlightened," Ram Dass said, "go and spend a week with your parents." That is good advice. The relationship with your parents is not only the primordial relationship that sets the tone for all subsequent relationships, it is also a good test for your degree of Presence. The more shared past there is in a relationship, the more present you need to be; otherwise, you will be forced to relive the past again and again. ~ Eckhart Tolle -- A New Earth

I am a Burning Candle

I am a burning candle;

You are the morning light,

If I do not see You, I burn;

if I see You, I vanish.

This is my condition in separation and closeness.

I can bear neither separation nor proximity.

-Author Unknown