Ruh Aatish

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Rumi’s Wedding Day & Winter Solstice

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What Remains?

Obscurity becomes a desirable state,
Where joy retires inconspicuously.

The delicate face of love,
Masquerading as hope,
Both sensed yet unfelt,
Never assimilated into certainty.

So what remains of this dancing delicious fatality?
But the purity of eventuality.

Ansul/Soul-Fire

Found

A million times the heart has broken,
And mended: A silent miracle.

A thousand times the mind has smoldered,
and ashes kept: In sacred urn.

But only once will this bird fly,
when invisible hand turns the key of cage:
To free the wings of destiny.

Broken, burnt, empty,
Harmony complete;

Divinity found.

Ansul/Soul-Fire

I am delighted to announce the celebration of Rumi in Sedona…
http://www.sedonacreativelife.com/pre1254.html

The Mouse Story

By on in Articles & Short Stories

A City of Colour

A City of Colour by Ansul 2004

Visions strolled with the mists of truth. Slow languid steps of afternoon were left far behind as the visions glided effortlessly into the mindscapes of the mouse. It envisioned a green garbed Philosopher, surrounded by creature’s great and small. All paying homage and bowing down in reverence. The Philosopher spoke some unknown tongue only souls could decipher. The mouse overheard the Daises and Brook whispering of a secret pilgrimage that has been taking place even before the seed of the forest had been sown. An ancient journey that all must take. The green garbed Philosopher awaits in the lap of time like a pocket of energy unchanged and undivided. Instinct swims the sea of consciousness to reach the island of sense, which is inhabited by action.

The mouse was mystified and spellbound by these secrets. But alas! It remained trapped.

The worst traps are those that are the most easily avoidable. The mouse yearned for the city. Instinct drowned and the island was left undiscovered.

The vision drifted further and further into the realm of pure dream-wishes and the manifestation was manifested no more.

The owl on its unseen perch wept. As a vision unsensed is a sad matter indeed. The Owl gave a coy-wise fatalistic smile and secured it’s place amongst the books left unread in the dusty library of ignornance.

The mouse lay trapped. And the sad thing was that it knew how to free itself. Yearning became a burden of knowing but not sensing, looking but not seeing. And the vision, a willow-o-wisp in a silvery enchanted lake of pure solace; vanished.

Only the phosphorescence of memory lingered. And memory lingers when instincts drown. Just conscience unsensed, alone.

Soul-Fire 2000

The Walk

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There was a house on a hill with no name. It stood not far from a road that many walked but never saw the narrow path that lead to it, because the path was covered with Nettles, Poison Ivy and many other nameless dangers. Therefore no one dared cross the path and hence, no one came to know of the house that lay abandoned for ages.

One day a crippled, starving and destitute man in tattered clothes, with scars of a painful past staining his countenance, came upon the road not far from the house on a hill with no name.

He soon saw the path.

He thought for a while and walked across. His feet, legs and crippled body bled till the ground below was crimson. He saw this blood, felt the stinging reality of fate, yet smiled; thanked Him and walked on.

After walking on this unknown path, he soon came upon a wild dog. The dog pranced upon him and bit his leg. The man bled more; thanked Him and walked on.

After a little while he saw a fast and rapid river. He crossed the river. Leeches clung to his body, suffering insurmountably; he thanked Him and walked on.

Later he saw that the ground below was crawling with red ants that were eating at his wounds. He wept; thanked Him and walked on.

He saw a house in the distance. But the house was surrounded by a pack of wolves. They were getting ready to advance on his wounded form. While they were coming towards him, he looked up to the sky and said…”My Friend, my Creator, my only Protector; You have given me this gift of life and now that I face death, I feel as if death will be Your welcoming hands blessing me with eternity”. When he said this prayer in his heart…the wolves stopped in their tracks.

The fiercest of the wolves came up to him and started licking the wounds on his body. Once he was cleansed, the wolves left him alone and went away into the woods.

As he walked towards the doorstep of the house, he felt a gentle lulling breeze healing his pain, touching his eyes, easing the thoughts. He fell asleep at the doorstep of the house. A long blissful sleep that he had never experienced before.

He woke up to find that he was wearing freshly scented new clothes, was sitting on a soft velvet couch, eating the most delectable food, sipping sweet nectar from goblets of gold while rivers of milk flowed nearby and birds sang notes of joy.

Magnificent trees glittered with delicious mangoes and exotic fruits.

A dream-like peace overcame his senses.

In the corner behind a tree, he saw a child with torn clothes who was dying from hunger. He gave away all his food and clothes to him and said ” Oh Almighty, Most Gracious, Most Merciful, I thank you for giving me sight so I could see this child who is hungry and without clothes, so I may feed and clothe him”.

God sent this man to heaven.

The path he walked was the test of life. The child he fed was a vision of all his good deeds and his unfathomable courage, so that the gates of heaven could finally reveal themselves.

This life is a short walk towards our real Home.

SoulFire
2005

Afternoon & Evening at Oak Creek

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The Tree's of Oak Creek

The Tree's of Oak Creek by Ansul

A spiritual friend showed me the way. I arrived, and I was in a daze. This is where He comes down and paints with light and shade. Sitting on these ancient smooth rocks, that my mother thinks look like layers of divine chocolate….I can hear the call of the wild. Time passes, and new landscapes appear. This has now become my writing spot. May we all protect this beautiful earth.

Such cool waters, soothing the mind, healing wounds, loving and compassionate. God sits here and paints again, but now in evening colors.

Such is the magic of Oak Creek.

A Father & Son by the Beach

By on in Quotes

Nap by Ansul

Nap by Ansul

The cool sea breeze, the white gull,
scattered clouds, and warm sand under our feet.
I walk this walk with you my son,
And footprints left behind,
Become undone,
As waves will wash away the seconds,
But the echo of my words,
Will sing;
Like this soft summer breeze,
And the scattered clouds,
And the warm sand,
Trickling under our feet.
Promise me when I am gone,
You will keep this walk in your memory.
Until we meet again….one day,
And walk our walk again.

Soul-Fire
Coronado, SD, Summer.

Nothing Matters

By on in Poetry

Nothing matters but the silence,
The whispers echo far and deep,
Words cannot embrace this religion,
Religion is for the heart that weeps,
The soul has been in love forever,
With this sighing melody.

Faith thunders as prayers roar,
Drenched in madness, fires soar,
Chaos teases the seeking mind,
Peace was never meant to be.

Alas temptation blinds all senses!
Such is the death of truthful sleep,
Life mirrors what intent devises,
Let intent all conscience reap.

Only then will whispers murmur,
Only then will silence call,
Let not thy life in deafness wander,
Release thyself from worldly charm.

Nothing matters but the silence….
This realm I seek,
This realm I seek….

_DSC0143

These are People- Bengt (Sweden)

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This is titled “There are people” and it’s about the people I see in my work every week.

They are branded as having mental disabilities, but I think it’s the majority of the human population that is mentally disabled making up so many illusions, judging people unfairly and disguising their true feelings and forgetting or ignoring the basic things of being human.

Bengt Nord

Rock Faces

Rock Faces by Ansul

These are People

There are people who see you for what you are.
No matter if you are from their backyard or you come from afar.
No matter of your gender, appearance or age.
A people as wise as a sage.

They open their hearts and feelings to you
and their feelings are always true.
No masked disguise, no lies.
Openess, they share their laughs, anger and cries.

If all mankind followed their ways, we would be enjoying better days.

Written by Bengt Nord in Sweden
A beloved soul mate/ friend in Sweden

Zen Cat

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Zen Cat

Zen Cat Meditates on Moon, Mist and Mountains by NK-Honshin

In the words of my beloved friends Ishraat & Prakash (who also made the vision of ruhaatish possible), ‘strange are the ways of destiny’.

Today while walking down the magical streets of Sedona, I visited our friends and owners of the Lotus Gallery in Sedona. This place is like a magnet. It draws you in, and by some invisible force, you stand within the Gallery mesmerized by the art, words, and work of the master creator Nicholas Kirsten-Honshin. His beautiful wife sits quaintly on a delicate chair always surrounded by admirers of her husband’s glorious work. We met a few months ago, by chance….and chance meetings are often the best meetings one will have in life, because they are designed by divine fate.

Our last meeting was deeply touching. I was looking at semi-precious stones in Honshin’s gallery, and suddenly, as if by some unseen force, Honshin presented me with a glistening Opal. In his humble, most subtle voice, he said ‘this is you birth stone’.

I knew that instant that his spirit was One with the Divine.
Magic.

Now our latest meeting with his lovely wife Krystal was even more amazing. She was dressed in demure fall browns, wearing Native Indian, and Southwest elegant jewelry, and telling us about all the latest wonders her husband is creating in his studio. She came to me, and handed me a 2010 Calendar by Honshin, called ‘Zen Cat’. I was entranced for the second time. She knew in the silent language souls speak, that I adore and love cats. Little did I know that another surprise awaited me within the world of the Zen Cat.

When we left the Gallery, she gifted to me something precious beyond words.

A CD of chants gifted to Honshin by the Dali Lama. Imagine my joy.

Here, I share something that baffles me, involves me, and makes me dig deeper into the meaning of ‘chance meetings’, which are by no mean chance….they are meant to be.

And so the ‘ present life cycle and circle of love & friendships continues’.

My beloved elements are mountains, mists, lakes, and landscape, never forgetting the mystic moon and my friend the cat! All these are symbolically represented by Honshin in the month of October in his 2010 Calendar. Coincidence or Divinity?

In the words of a great master, Honshin himself, this is what the Zen Cat wants to say to the world! Also enter his world by visiting his website in my Art section here. There are so many aspects to the beauty of this calendar. Not only will one be transported into the meditational world of the Zen Cat but the entire Calendar is printed on 100% recycled paper, chorine free using soy based ink.

Using these environmentally friendly printing techniques in the making of the Calendar by www.amberlotus.com , they have saved:

  • 1428 fully grown trees
  • 520,524 gallons of water
  • 988 million BTU’s of energy
  • 86, 126 pounds of solid waste
  • 158, 784 pounds of greenhouse gases

Zen Cat
Paintings and Poetry by Nicholas Kirsten-Honshin
Excerpt taken from ‘2010 Calendar’ by NK-Honshin.

The teachings of the Zen Cat are born in the awakening of awareness and oneness of existence. They demonstrate love that is expressed in the peace, joy, and happiness that unfold in our hearts as we embrace the sacredness, perfection and beauty of all life.

In the Zen Master’s own words, here is the story of the Zen cat as it happened: “While I was quietly reading the Lotus Sutra (teachings of the Buddha), the original Zen Cat, Miss Kitty, climbed up onto my lap. As I continued to read, I became aware that her mind and my mind were becoming one. She wanted me to read aloud to her. So I did. There she sat in intent meditation focused on the teaching as I read. Her appreciation and obvious understanding opened my own mind and heart to the oneness that exists, connecting all living beings in the gentle love and compassion that is in every precious moment. It is my hope that the meditations of the Zen Cat will also bring awareness to all sentient beings”.

The 2010 Zen Cat wall calendar is a meditation in art and words, on the sacredness and interconnectedness of all life. Artist and author Nicholas Kirsten-Honshin uses painting, printmaking, and poetry to communicate a message from the pure heart to the universe- reflected in the grace and humble honor of his painter’s name. “Honshin”, which means “original mind”, or “pure heart”.
“Every breath is gift and a joy golden in its nature”.
Nicholas Kirsten-Honshin

Nicholas Kirsten-Honshin, portrait

Nicholas Kirsten-Honshin, portrait by Visions Photography

Happy Birthday to You

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God Bless You

God Bless You, Ansul

Surprise!! Happy Birthday Ansul – from the admin team of RuhAatish 🙂

We wanted to surprise you with real flowers today but since you are without an address at the moment.. make do with these 🙂
Make this birthday extra special for we all are together – gathered here. Strange are the ways of destiny & we are not complaining. Do write something today, for we love your words.

Lots of Love and Prayers to You – Always,
Ishrath & Prakash