On Living

I

Living is no laughing matter:
you must live with great seriousness
like a squirrel, for example--
I mean without looking for something beyond and above living,
I mean living must be your whole occupation.
Living is no laughing matter:
you must take it seriously,so much so and to such a degree
that, for example, your hands tied behind your back,
your back to the wall,
or else in a laboratory
in your white coat and safety glasses,
you can die for people--
even for people whose faces you've never seen,
even though you know living
is the most real,
the most beautiful thing.
I mean, you must take living so seriously
that even at seventy, for example, you'll plant olive trees
and not for your children, either,
but because although you fear death you don't believe it,
because living, I mean, weighs heavier.

II

Let's say you're seriously ill,
need surgery--which is to say we might not get
from the white table.
Even though it's impossible not to feel sad
about going a little too soon,
we'll still laugh at the jokes being told,
we'll look out the window to see it's raining,
or still wait anxiously
for the latest newscast ...
Let's say we're at the front--
for something worth fighting for, say.
There, in the first offensive, on that very day,
we might fall on our face, dead.
We'll know this with a curious anger,
but we'll still worry ourselves to death
about the outcome of the war, which could last years.
Let's say we're in prison
and close to fifty, and we have eighteen more years, say,
before the iron doors will open.
We'll still live with the outside,
with its people and animals, struggle and wind--
I mean with the outside beyond the walls.
I mean, however and wherever we are,
we must live as if we will never die.

III

This earth will grow cold,
a star among star sand one of the smallest,
a gilded mote on blue velvet--
I mean this, our great earth.
This earth will grow cold one day,
not like a block of ice
or a dead cloud even
but like an empty walnut it will roll along
in pitch-black space ...
You must grieve for this right now
--you have to feel this sorrow now--
for the world must be loved this much
if you're going to say "I lived" ...

by Nazim Hikmet

Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi

Born in the City of Balkh in Afghanistan , Mevlana lived most of his life in Konya, seat of the Seljuk Empire , located in present day in Turkiye .

Mevlana, or known also as Rumi, describes himself as:

My Mother is Love
My Father is Love
My Prophet is Love
My God is Love
I am a child of Love
I have come only to speak of Love

Rumi was an evolutionary thinker in the sense that he believed that the spirit after devolution from the divine Ego undergoes an evolutionary process by which it comes nearer and nearer to the same divine Ego. All matter in the universe obeys this law and this movement is due to an inbuilt urge (which Rumi calls "love") to evolve and seek enjoinment with the divinity from which it has emerged. Evolution into a human being from an animal is only one stage in this process.

This is one of his best poems and the one I love most:


"You cannot know how much I looked for a gift to give you.
There was nothing that pleased me.
It made no sense to give gold to the gold mine.
It made no sense to give water to the oceans
All that I found for you
Was like taking herbs to the far East.
There is no need to gift my heart and soul
You have them anyway.
That is why I brought you this mirror
So that you can look at yourself and remember me."

To Listen to Reason

* Marry the right person. This one decision will determine 90% of your happiness or misery.
* Work at something you enjoy and that's worthy of your time and talent.
* Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
* Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.
* Be forgiving of yourself and others.
* Be generous.
* Have a grateful heart.
* Persistence, persistence, persistence.
* Discipline yourself to save money on even the most modest salary.
* Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated.
* Commit yourself to constant improvement.
* Commit yourself to quality.
* Understand that happiness is not based on possessions, power or prestige, but on relationship with people you love and respect.
* Be loyal.
* Be honest.
* Be a self-starter.
* Be decisive even it it means you'll sometimes be wrong.
* Stop blaming others. Take responsibility for every area of your life.
* Be bold and courageous. When you look back on your life, you'll regret the things you didn't do more than the ones you did.
* Take good care of those you love.
* Don't do anything that wouldn't make your Mom proud.

H. Jackson Brown Jr.

Do It Anyway!

Some sources say that the words below were written on the wall in Mother Teresa's own room. In any case, their association with Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity has made them popular worldwide, expressing as they do, the spirit in which they lived their lives. They seem to be based on a composition originally by Kent Keith, but much of the second half has been re-written in a more spiritual way. Both versions are shown below.
___________________________________________

1. The version found written on the wall in Mother Teresa's home for children in Calcutta:

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.
Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.
Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.

Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten.
Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.
Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway.

____________________________
2. Another version similar to the original version in The Paradoxical Commandments by Dr. Kent M. Keith.

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
If you do good, people may accuse you of selfish motives.
Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you may win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
People who really need help may attack you if you help them.
Help them anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you may get hurt.
Give the world your best anyway.

*

Anlar

“Yıllar boyu, insanoğlu bir boşluğu imgelerle, illerle, krallıklarla, dağlarla, körfezlerle, gemilerle, adalarla, balıklarla, odalarla, aletlerle, yıldızlarla, atlarla, insanlarla doldurur... Ölümünden az önce, usanmaz çizgi labirentinin kendi yüzünün imgesini oluşturduğunu anlar...” demiştir Jorge Luis Borges ve hem eserleri hem de hayat hikayesiyle bana da ışık olmuştur. Hayata ve an’ı yaşamaya dair yazdıkları üzerine kesinlikle durup düşünülmelidir:

Anlar

Eğer hayatımı yeni baştan yaşayabilseydim,
O yaşamda daha çok hata yapardım.
O kadar mükemmel olmaya çalışmazdım...
Daha çok dinlenirdim.
Bu yaşamda, onca ciddiyetin arasında yapamadığım kadar eğlenirdim.
O kadar temiz kalmazdım.
Daha fazla riskler göze alır, daha çok gezer, daha çok günbatımı seyrederdim
Daha çok dağa tırmanır, daha çok nehirde yüzerdim
Gitmediğim daha çok yere giderdim.
Daha çok dondurma, daha az bezelye yerdim.
Daha çok gerçek sorunlarım, daha az sanal sorunlarım olurdu.
Ben yaşamın her dakikasını gerçekçi ve kitabına uygun yaşayan insanlardan biriydim.
Elbette mutluluk anlarım da oldu.
Ama geriye dönüp, baştan başlayabilseydim
Çok daha fazla iyi anlarım olurdu.
Çünkü, eğer bilmiyorsanız, yaşam bundan ibarettir, anlar, yalnızca anlar...
"Şimdi"yi sakın kaçırma.
Ben, yanında, termometre, bir şişe su ve paraşüt olmaksızın

Asla bir yere gidemeyen insanlardan biriydim.
Eğer hayatımı yeniden yaşayabilseydim, çok daha hafif gezerdim.
Eğer hayatımı yeniden yaşayabilseydim,

Baharın başlamasıyla birlikte ayakkabısız yürümeye başlar,
Sonbahar bitimine değin çıplak ayakla devam ederdim.
Bilinmeyen daha çok yola sapar,
Güneşin doğuşunu daha çok seyreder,
Daha çok çocukla oynardım
Yalnızca bu yaşamda bir şansım daha olsaydı.
Gel gör ki, işte 85 yaşındayım
Ve biliyorum ki,
Artık ölmekteyim...

Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986)