Daniel Ladinsky > Quotes

“Why Aren't We Screaming Drunks?

by Hafiz (Daniel Ladinsky)
(1945? - ) Timeline


Original Language
English
Muslim / Sufi


Contemporary


The sun once glimpsed God's true nature
And has never been the same.

Thus that radiant sphere
Constantly pours its energy
Upon this earth
As does He from behind
The veil.

With a wonderful God like that
Why isn't everyone a screaming drunk?

Hafiz's guess is this:

Any thought that you are better or less
Than another man

Quickly
Breaks the wine
Glass.”
― Daniel Ladinsky

“The
Great religions are the
Ships,

Poets the life
Boats.

Every sane person I know has jumped
Overboard.

That is good for business
Isn't it

Hafiz?”
― Daniel Ladinsky

“What
Would
Happen if God leaned down

And gave you a full wet
Kiss?

Hafiz
Doesn't mind answering astronomical questions
Like that:

You would surely start
Reciting all day, inebriated,

Rogue-poems
Like
This.”
― Daniel Ladinsky

“Good poetry, like music or a sweet touch, can doctor us up, be an antidote for an hour or longer, help us to get dressed for another day--combat the blues enough to mount the horse again; and maybe even aid in laying down the insidious weight of some old grudge or deep-rooted anxiety. Herein enters Rumi.”
― Daniel Ladinsky, The Purity of Desire: 100 Poems Inspired by Rumi

“BIRDS DON’T BRAG ABOUT FLYING Birds don’t brag about flying the way we do. They don’t write books about it and then give workshops, they don’t take on disciples and spoil their own air time. Who could dance and achieve liftoff with a bunch of whackos tugging on you?”
― Daniel Ladinsky, Love Poems from God: Inspirations from Twelve Sacred Voices of the East and West

“Dropping keys

The small man
Builds cages for everyone
He
Knows.

While the Sage,
Who has to duck his head
When the moon is low,
Keeps dropping keys all night long
For the
Beautiful
Rowdy
Prisoners.”
― Daniel Ladinsky

“My Lord told me a joke. And seeing Him laugh has done more for me than any scripture I will ever read.”
― Daniel Ladinsky, Love Poems from God: Inspirations from Twelve Sacred Voices of the East and West

“God has never really spoken,
though a thought once crossed His mind.
It is the echo of divine
silence

we hear the birds sing, and that
is the source of all
we see and
touch.”
― Daniel Ladinsky

“Any thought that you are better or less
Than another man

Quickly
Breaks the wine
Glass.”
― Daniel Ladinsky

“In a vision I heard this clearly whispered:
Study most those who sing the most, but are free of criticism and praise. Following this advice, things turned out just as I suspected:
I started spending more time with birds.”
― Daniel Ladinsky

“Show me where it hurts, God said, and every cell in my body burst into tears before His tender eyes. He has repaid me though for all my suffering in a way I never wanted: The sun is now in homage to my face, because it knows I have seen God. But that was not His payment. The soul cannot describe His gift. I just spoke about the sun like that because I like beautiful words, and because it is true: Creation is in homage to us.”
― Daniel Ladinsky, Love Poems from God: Inspirations from Twelve Sacred Voices of the East and West

“Always from the child's hand the sword
should be removed

I think every nation is
an infant.”
― Daniel Ladinsky, Love Poems from God: Inspirations from Twelve Sacred Voices of the East and West

“There is a courageous dying, it is called effacement. That holy death unfurls our spirit’s wings and allows us to embrace God even as we stand on the earth.”
― Daniel Ladinsky, Love Poems from God: Inspirations from Twelve Sacred Voices of the East and West

“A plague is spread by one
who cannot tell
the truth.”
― Daniel Ladinsky, Love Poems from God: Inspirations from Twelve Sacred Voices of the East and West

“In a vision I heard this clearly whispered: Study those who sing the most, but are free of criticism and praise. Following this advice, things turned out just as I suspected: I started spending more time with birds.”
― Daniel Ladinsky

“The Body is Like Mary

The body is like Mary, and each of us has a Jesus inside.
Who is not in labour, holy labour? Every creature is.

See the value of true art, when the earth or a soul
is in the mood to create beauty;

for the witness might then for a moment know,
beyond any doubt, God is really there within,

so innocently drawing life from us with Her umbilical universe – infinite existence …

though also needing to be born. Yes, God also
needs to be born!

Birth from a hand’s loving touch. Birth from a song,
from a dance, breathing life into this world.

The body is like Mary, and each of us, each of us has a Christ within.”
― Daniel Ladinsky, The Purity of Desire: 100 Poems Inspired by Rumi

“I hear the voice
Of every creature and plant,
Every world and sun and galaxy-
Singing the Beloved's name!

I have awakened to find violin and cello,
Flute, harp and trumpet,
Cymbal, bell and drum-
All within me!
From head to toe, every part of my body
is chanting and clapping!

Hafiz,
The Beloved has made you
Such a Luminous Man!

For with constant remembrance of God,
One's whole body will become
A Wonderful and Wild
Holy Band!”
― Daniel Ladinsky, I Heard God Laughing: Poems of Hope and Joy

“Love is grabbing hold of the Great Lion's mane
And wrestling and rolling deep into Existence

While the Beloved gets rough
And begins to maul you alive.

True Love, my dear,
Is putting an ironclad grip upon

The sore, swollen balls
Of a Divine Rogue Elephant

And
Not having the good fortune to Die!”
― Daniel Ladinsky, I Heard God Laughing: Poems of Hope and Joy

“Christianity as a whole at times strikes me as a remarkably edited view of God...”
― Daniel Ladinsky, Love Poems from God: Inspirations from Twelve Sacred Voices of the East and West

“the park

the dog park,
the dog park,
the glorious dog park…

need
anyone ever, ever & ever
say more”
― Daniel Ladinsky, Darling, I Love You: Poems from the Hearts of Our Glorious Mutts and All Our Animal Friends

“Is not most talking
A crazed defense of a crumbling fort?”
― Daniel Ladinsky, I Heard God Laughing: Poems of Hope and Joy

“BECAUSE HE GAVE BIRTH So
precious
is a person’s faith in God,
so precious; never should we harm
that. Because
He gave birth
to all religions.”
― Daniel Ladinsky, Love Poems from God: Inspirations from Twelve Sacred Voices of the East and West

“Whoever made this universe is a Wild Guy. I think only our ecstasies offer any real clues about him”
― Daniel Ladinsky, Love Poems from God: Inspirations from Twelve Sacred Voices of the East and West

“tattooed

a rainbow
tattooed itself
to a trout”
― Daniel Ladinsky, Darling, I Love You: Poems from the Hearts of Our Glorious Mutts and All Our Animal Friends

“I view gender
As a beautiful animal
That people often take for a walk on a leash
And might enter in some odd contest
To try to win strange prizes.

My dear,
A better question for Hafiz
Would have been,

'How does it feel to be a Heart?'

For all I know is Love,
And I find my heart Infinite
And Everywhere!”
― Daniel Ladinsky, I Heard God Laughing: Poems of Hope and Joy

“Und Liebe sagt: "Ich will und werde für dich sorgen." zu allem, was ihr nahe ist.”
― Daniel Ladinsky, Die leuchtenden Worte meines Geliebten: Gedichte inspiriert von Hafiz

“Dear companions,
We have been in Love with God
For so very, very long.

What can Hafiz now do but Forever
Dance!”
― Daniel Ladinsky, I Heard God Laughing: Poems of Hope and Joy

“Turn your back on those
Who would imprison your wondrous spirit
With deceit and lies.”
― Daniel Ladinsky, I Heard God Laughing: Poems of Hope and Joy

“He was walking unnoticed past a Mosque,
And the shouts of God's lovers
Happened to fill the air, calling,

"Allah, Allah! Where are you?
Where are You, Beautiful One?"

And the child in the womb of the Master
Could not remain silent and shouted back
In an astounding voice,

I am Here!
I am Here-dear world!

The crowd in the mosque became frantic,
And they picked up shoes, clubs, and stones.
You know what then happened=
The story becomes grim.

But the moon cannot hold a grudge.
It still stops by some nights
And leans over this gentle earth, as over a crib,
And gives a full, wet kiss.

For the moon knows
That God is always amorous-

He will never stop making Love,

For the Truth has been Divinely Conceived
Deeply within each of us.”
― Daniel Ladinsky, I Heard God Laughing: Poems of Hope and Joy

“Strange Miracle

O Wondrous creatures,
By what strange miracle
Do you so often
Not smile?”
― Daniel Ladinsky, I Heard God Laughing: Poems of Hope and Joy