Wisdom and Growth through Pursuit of Beauty and Truth

Work is love made visible. -Kahlil Gibran

Let there be spaces in your togetherness. -Kahlil Gibran

Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars. -Kahlil Gibran

Love has no labels, no definitions. It is what it is, pure and simple. Love is the water of life. -Shams of Tabriz

Not even a leaf stirs outside God’s knowledge. Simply and fully believe in that. Whatever God does, He does it beautifully. -Shams of Tabriz

Nothing should stand between you and God. No imams, priests, rabbits or any other custodians of moral or religious leadership. Not spiritual masters and not even your faith. Learn the Truth, my friend, but be careful not to make a fetish out of your truths. -Shams of Tabriz

For your faith to be rock solid, your heart needs to be as soft as a feather.  -Shams of Tabriz

Eternity does not mean infinite time, but simply timelessness. -Shams of Tabriz

The universe is one being.  One person’s pain will hurt us all. One person’s joy will make everyone smile. -Shams of Tabriz

Quit worrying about hell or dreaming about heaven, as they are both present inside this very moment. Every time we fall in love, we ascend to heaven. Every time we hate, envy or fight someone we tumble straight into the fires of hell. -Shams of Tabriz

In everything we do, it is our hearts that make the difference, not our outer appearance. -Shams of Tabriz

Don’t go with the flow. Be the flow. -Shams of Tabriz

Be thankful for every thorn that others might throw at you. It is a sign that you will soon be showered in roses. -Shams of Tabriz

If you want to change the ways others treat you, you should first change the way you treat yourself. -Shams of Tabriz

The devil is not an extraordinary force that attacks from without. It is an ordinary voice within. -Shams of Tabriz

You can purify your body through abstinence and fasting, but only love will purify your heart. -Shams of Tabriz

There is no wisdom without love. Unless we learn to love God’s creation, we can neither truly love nor truly know God. -Shams of Tabriz

It’s easy to love a perfect God, unblemished and infallible that He is. What is far more difficult is to love fellow human beings with all their imperfections and defects. -Shams of Tabriz

Every human being is a work in progress that is slowly but inexorably moving toward perfection. -Shams of Tabriz

A genuine spiritual master will not direct your attention to himself or herself and will not expect absolute obedience or utter admiration from you, but instead will help you to appreciate and admire your inner self. -Shams of Tabriz

For a new self to be born, hardship is necessary. Just as clay needs to go through intense heat to become strong, love can only be perfected in pain. -Shams of Tabriz

If you travel within, you’ll travel the whole wide world and beyond. -Shams of Tabriz

Lovers of God never run out of patience, for they know that time is needed for the crescent moon to become full. -Shams of Tabriz

Be thankful not only for what has been given but for all that has been denied. -Shams of Tabriz

Only in another person’s heart can you truly see yourself and the presence of God within you. -Shams of Tabriz

When you step into the zone of love, language as we know it becomes obsolete. That which cannot be put into words can only be grasped through silence. -Shams of Tabriz

Treasures are hidden among ruins. A broken heart hides treasures. -Shams of Tabriz

How we see God is a direct reflection of how we see ourselves. If God brings to mind mostly fear and blame, it means there is too much fear and blame welled inside us. If we see God as full of love and compassion, so are we. -Shams of Tabriz

If you want to experience eternal illumination, put the past and the future out of your mind and remain within the present moment. The present moment is all there is and all there ever will be. When you grasp this truth, you´ll have nothing to fear anymore. -Shams of Tabriz

True mentors are as transparent as glass. They let the light of God pass through them. -Shams of Tabriz

In your light I learn how to love. In your beauty, how to make poems. You dance inside my chest where no one sees you, but sometimes I do, and that sight becomes this art. -Shams of Tabriz