Category Archives: Mystic Voices

The Soul’s Long Journey

12 Wednesday Apr 2023

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“To what does the journey of the soul compare? To a person who planted a vineyard in his garden, intending to grow sweet grapes, but it grew sour ones. He saw that his planting didn’t succeed. He notched it and broke it off and cleared out the sour vines, and he planted again a second time. ‘Until how many times?’ [his students asked.] He said to them: ‘To the thousandth generation.’ ~ Sefer Bahir 185

In our high speed internet era, where nearly every need and whim can be satisfied with a mouse click, it can be challenging to accept that personal growth does not work that way. Our souls have their own timeframe, not measured in minutes, hours, days and years.  

Our souls are on learning journeys, and the greatest learnings are the ones that come to us only after many failed attempts at success. In fact, the case can be made that we deeply learn only by repeated failures.

when i learned to ride a bicycle, i did so primarily by being out of balance most of the time, falling down a hundred different ways, until I found the sweet spot where the force of gravity and the force of my legs balanced, where I rode that dynamic knife edge between left and right, moving forward on a path of balance. Once learned, it is not easily forgotten. You never forget how to ride a bike.  

Our souls are on the greatest trip of all, riding the sweet spot between wonder and knowledge, fear and exhilaration, love and solitude, heaven and earth. I don’t know if my soul is immortal or not. I do know that it belongs to eternity, and will travel that path of learning, passing it down through a thousand generations. 

Joe Laur is a father, husband, naturalist, executive, consultant, and student of The All. Send him your favorite teaching quote for commentary. He can be reached at joe.laur@joe.laur.com.

Seeing Where We Are

13 Wednesday Apr 2016

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“Sometimes I go about pitying myself    while I am carried by the wind across the sky…”

-An Ojibwe(Chippewa) song, from Path On The Rainbow

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My daughter was stuck on the tarmac, her flight delayed, but unable to leave the plane. She called me, a plaintive, aggrieved tone in her voice. “Dad, we’ve been sitting out on the runway for 90 minutes now! What a pain.”

I listened calmly, a smile forming on my face.  I spoke in a smooth, even voice. “Honey, I know it’s inconvenient. But you’re not in Syria.They have problems. You and I have annoyances.”

I know I was being a little smug with her. I’ve been in the same spot, whining about traffic, or an unexpected expense, or some other thing my son calls “first world problems.” If I can lift my eyes up from my own navel for a minute, and look at my overall circumstances, I realize I have very few real problems. My life is generally great. Yes, tragedies have occurred, I’ve made terrible blunders a few times, I’ve had my share of disappointments. But when I see the way I usually live, how much I’ve thrived, the love and esteem of my family and finds,  I realize that I truly am “carried by the wind across the sky” even in trying times. Seeing the truth of it minimizes my complaints and maximizes my blessed gratitude.

How are you being carried by great forces today?

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The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, or Chippewa are a group of indigenous peoples in North America. There are Ojibwe communities in both Canada and the United States. In Canada, they are the second-largest population among First Nations, surpassed only by the Cree. In the United States, they have the fourth-largest population among Native American tribes, surpassed only by the Navajo, Cherokee, and Lakota.

Joe Laur is a father, husband, naturalist, executive, consultant, and a lowly rabbinic student. Send him your favorite teaching quote for commentary. He can be reached at joe.laur@godsdog.net.

Living Beauty Every Day

19 Saturday Mar 2016

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“Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
and frightened.  Don’t open the door to the study
and begin reading.  Take down a musical instrument.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.”

-Rumi (translated by John Moyne and Coleman Barks)

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This quatrain of Rumi has resonated with me for over 20 years. How many mornings do we wake up with dread or worry, “empty and frightened” about the day ahead? Too often our inclination is to dive into work to keep the fears at bay. Rumi thinks this is a bad idea.

Rather than busy our selves immediately with tasks, emails, phone calls and spreadsheets, what if we started each day playing guitar, flute or piano, or singing a song, or just 15 minutes of standing near a tree or watching the sun climb in the sky? What is it we most love to do? How would our lives be different if we started each day with that?

What beauty can you love and bathe in today?

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Jalal ad-Din Muhammed Rumi was a 13th-century Persian poet, jurist, Islamic scholar, theologian, and Sufimystic. Rumi’s influence transcends national borders and ethnic divisions; people of all faiths and nations have greatly appreciated his spiritual legacy for the past seven centuries. His poems have been widely translated into many of the world’s languages and transposed into various formats. Rumi has been described as the “most popular poet” and the “best selling poet” in the United States.

Joe Laur is a father, husband, naturalist, executive, consultant, and a lowly rabbinic student. He can be reached at joe.laur@godsdog.net.

Living On The Knife Edge of Life

16 Wednesday Mar 2016

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“Forget safety. Live where you fear to live.
Destroy your reputation. Be notorious.

I have tried prudent planning long enough. From now on, I’ll be mad.”

-Rumi

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I have always had this ambitious goal of living to 110, like my namesake Joseph in the book of Genesis. Whether realistic or not, when I reached 55, I could no longer deny that I had hit middle age. Now less of my life stretched before me than behind me by any measure.

I began to reflect on how to live the second half of my life. I noticed that many people become  more risk averse as they get older; they are more careful not to sustain a financial loss, or fall lest they break a hip,  or take on new adventures. I decided to take more risks.

What do I have to lose? In the final  analysis, I’m dust anyway. As I grow older I have less to lose- on the last day of my life I could say and do whatever I want, no matter how outrageous.

I’m talking about righteous behavior, mind you. Speaking out against injustice, trying new things, living bold. Why not? What if elders engendered a little bit of awe and hushed respect because they are “beyond the f— it?”, and unpredictable? Gray Panthers Rise Up!

As Rumi alludes, at some point we grow beyond caring about small notions of safety, our reputations, our notoriety. Prudent planning is fine, but it only gets us so far. Sometimes, the craziness of living calls for little holy craziness on our part.

Where in your life do you need to take more risks?

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Jalal ad-Din Muhammed Rumi was a 13th-century Persian poet, jurist, Islamic scholar, theologian, and Sufimystic. Rumi’s influence transcends national borders and ethnic divisions; people of all faiths and nations have greatly appreciated his spiritual legacy for the past seven centuries. His poems have been widely translated into many of the world’s languages and transposed into various formats. Rumi has been described as the “most popular poet” and the “best selling poet” in the United States.

Joe Laur is a father, husband, naturalist, executive, consultant, and a lowly rabbinic student. He can be reached at joe.laur@godsdog.net.

Killed for Love?

03 Thursday Mar 2016

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“In the slaughterhouse of love, they kill only the best, none of the weak or deformed. Don’t run away from this dying. Whoever’s not killed for love is dead meat.”

― Rumi

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At first glance, when we hear a phrase like “killed for love”, it conjures up a grisly image of a deranged stalker, or a marriage that has degenerated into a tragic murder/suicide. Rumi’s not going there with this theme. He’s talking about a different kind of dying, a dying of the small “s” self, of the ego, in order to open to something immensely greater.

In another of his quatrains, he writes this dialogue:

“I would love to kiss you”

” The price of kissing your life.”

Now my loving is running toward my life shouting, “What a bargain! Let’s buy it!”

Rumi suggests that if we don’t let ourselves be swept away, complete dissolved, “killed” for Divine Love ( and he might posit that all genuine love is Divine Love), we are nothing more than walking corpses, dead meat. The real zombie apocalypse lies in forgoing and forgetting love, in failure to surrender and letting love have its way with us.

My wife Sara and I discovered early in our courtship that we had both tried everything to make our previous relationships work except surrender to the other. We took a deep breath, and have been surrendering ever since. 23 years, a home, a business and two children later, we still struggle with it, and ultimately still surrender to love and each other. It’s scary sometimes, but it beats being dead meat. And we always are reborn into something larger.

In what ways can you surrender to love today?

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Jalal ad-Din Muhammed Rumi was a 13th-century Persian poet, jurist, Islamic scholar, theologian, and Sufimystic. Rumi’s influence transcends national borders and ethnic divisions; people of all faiths and nations have greatly appreciated his spiritual legacy for the past seven centuries. His poems have been widely translated into many of the world’s languages and transposed into various formats. Rumi has been described as the “most popular poet” and the “best selling poet” in the United States.

Joe Laur is a father, husband, naturalist, executive, consultant, and a lowly rabbinic student. He can be reached at joe.laur@godsdog.net.

Let Life Rub You The Right Way

28 Sunday Feb 2016

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“If you are irritated by every rub, how will your mirror be polished?”
― Rumi

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In our daily lives, we often find our selves irritated by the little things in life: the traffic light that makes us wait, a rude waiter, a mess in the kitchen that someone left for us, someone who just “rubs us the wrong way.” There’s no end to it. Rumi shows us there is another way. The inevitable frictions of life are unavoidable, but how we respond to them is firmly within our circle of influence.

We all know that a pearl is a response to irritation. But the oyster creates beauty from it and never whines. Can we be as wise as an oyster and do the same? The knife on a whetstone is irritated by the rubbing, but positioned at the right angle, the friction creates a fine razor edge. So can we hone  our rough edges,  if we change our position in relationship to the endless irritants that life gives us. We can let them rub us the right way.

What can you transform from irritation to inspiration today?

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Jalal ad-Din Muhammed Rumi was a 13th-century Persian poet, jurist, Islamic scholar, theologian, and Sufimystic. Rumi’s influence transcends national borders and ethnic divisions; people of all faiths and nations have greatly appreciated his spiritual legacy for the past seven centuries. His poems have been widely translated into many of the world’s languages and transposed into various formats. Rumi has been described as the “most popular poet” and the “best selling poet” in the United States.

Joe Laur is a father, husband, naturalist, executive, consultant, and a lowly rabbinic student. He can be reached at joe.laur@godsdog.net.

Breaking Our Ropes

03 Wednesday Feb 2016

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“If you don’t break your ropes while you’re alive, do you think ghosts will do it after?”

-Kabir

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This line from one of my favorite Kabir poems has always had a special hold on me. There are many theories and theologies about  heaven, the afterlife, the World-To-Come, reincarnation, and all the other answers to the question, “What happens to us after we die?”

The best and truest answer is probably, “Who Knows?” It’s a matter of faith and hope, and all the evidence is anecdotal. Like the existence of G!D herself, there’s no empirical method to prove it one way or the other. That’s why they call it faith, and both the G!D Fearer and the Atheist have it in spades.

But we do know that death is real, and that what we have is living here and now. The Sages did not put too much emphasis on the next world, sensing that it was much more critical to focus on what we do in this one. Kabir agrees. He tells us to jump into the life we are living, that salvation belongs to the time before death, and that what we create and find for ourselves on this side of the veil, is what we will find on the other side as well.

In fact, it may well be that breaking our ropes here will create the freedom and bliss we long for there. Whatever you long for in the next life; justice, peace, serenity, bliss, grace, wonder; the surest way to achieve it is to practice it here and now. As the musicians Tuck and Patti sing, “Let’s Bring Heaven Down Here”….

What can you do today to create a little heaven in your life or another’s?

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Kabir (Kabīr) was a 15th-century Indian mystic poet and saint, whose writings influenced Hinduism’s Bhakti movement and his verses are found in Sikh’s scripture Adi Granth. His early life was in a Muslim family, but he was strongly influenced by his teacher, the Hindu bhakti leader Ramananda.

Joe Laur is a father, husband, artist, builder, naturalist, consultant, and EcoKosher mashgiach. He lives with his wife Sara in western Massachusetts, where he serves as head groundskeeper and resident singer songwriter. Send him your favorite teaching quote for commentary. He can be reached at joe.laur@joelaur.com.

Why Am I Here?

28 Thursday Jan 2016

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“Now I know why I was created.” – the Ba’al Shem Tov, at the moment of his death.

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It was not my plan to get so intensely personal so soon into this new blog. But we plan, and G!D laughs, or sometimes, cries. My cousin (I nearly typed ‘brother’- that’s how close the cousins are in our family), David Laur z’l, passed away this morning, a few days after an horrific car crash that claimed two other lives, and left two others in critical condition.

David was not at fault; returning with his girlfriend from a planning meeting for a charity triathlon for the disabled, his car was struck head on by a drunk driver, traveling and passing at high speeds, who crossed the double yellow lines and ended at least three lives and irreparably damaged two others.

The brain screams “Why?”,  to G!D, to the sky, to no one in particular. Senseless destruction, good lives crushed right out of existence in twisted metal, ripples of suffering moving outward from the site and moment of the crash. At first deafening silence, then small soft voices begin to offer incomplete and only partially satisfying answers.

“Why?” is really the question, isn’t it? From 3 years olds paying the “Why” game to keep adults engaged, to our final rattling breath, “Why?” is the question, the alpha and omega. Why are we here? Why do you love me? Why don’t you love me? Why did this happen, and not that? Finally, “Why do I have to leave so soon and so suddenly?”

I don’t know what answer to his “Why?” the Ba’al Shem Tov received as he passed to the next world. But that his “Why?” was answered at all, brings some sort of comfort. Maybe it’s not futile after all. Maybe Meaning Triumphs! Maybe we get let in on the cosmic joke at the end. Maybe we look back on our lifepath, connect the dots, and finally understand. Maybe, as Rumi says, our lips close with a whimper HERE and open with a shout THERE!

Why, why, why? Like a sharp knife, a good question can carve out new answers every day. Ultimately, it’s not about the answer. It’s about those questions that take us to another place; a better, deeper, fuller state of being. The poet Rilke exhorts us to love the questions, to live the questions. G!D willing, we can live the questions into Infinite Answers. For David, for us all, may there be endless wondrous answers following our deepest questions.

Why are you here, now?

Rabbi Yisroel (Israel) ben Eliezer (born circa 1700, died 22 May 1760), often called Baal Shem Tov or Besht, was a Jewish mystical rabbi. He is considered to be the founder of Hasidic Judaism.

Joe Laur is a father, husband, artist, builder, naturalist, consultant, and EcoKosher mashgiach. He lives with his wife Sara in western Massachusetts, where he serves as head groundskeeper and resident singer songwriter. Send him your favorite teaching quote for commentary. He can be reached at joe.laur@joelaur.com.

The Door Is Wide Open!

23 Saturday Jan 2016

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“Be empty of worrying.
Think of who created thought!

Why do you stay in prison
When the door is so wide open?”

–Rumi

Jalal ad-Din Muhammed Rumi was a 13th-century Persian poet, jurist, Islamic scholar, theologian, and Sufimystic. Rumi’s influence transcends national borders and ethnic divisions; people of all faiths and nations have greatly appreciated his spiritual legacy for the past seven centuries. His poems have been widely translated into many of the world’s languages and transposed into various formats. Rumi has been described as the “most popular poet” and the “best selling poet” in the United States.

Today is Shabbat, the Sabbath in English, a day to be rather than do, a day to bless and praise creation rather than labor at it, a day of rest and renewal. On a day like this, we can let go of our worries, just for one planetary turn; we can live moment to moment, we can be sane today even if our lives are crazy yesterday and tomorrow. Think of it as a long outbreath after a week of sucking it up!

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Van Gogh, Noon Rest From Work

This quatrain of Rumi is especially perfect for today. Why worry? As Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi once said, “If worrying did any good, rich people would hire worriers!” Reflect on the Infinite Mind behind all thought. We often feel as though we are chained to our lives, our schedules, our jobs, our obligations. Take the radical act of a one day break from burdens, and instead, embrace response-ability, the ability to respond in each moment to what is before us. We are not imprisoned, or if we think we are, we can recognize that just for today, the door is only locked from our side of it!

In what ways can you free yourself to the pure joy of simply being today?

 

Joe Laur is a father, husband, artist, builder, naturalist, consultant, and EcoKosher mashgiach. He lives with his wife Sara in western Massachusetts, where he serves as head groundskeeper and resident singer songwriter. Send him your favorite teaching quote for commentary. He can be reached at joe.laur@joelaur.com.