More Ecstatic Sufi Soul

  Vaisnava Meets Sufi, Akbar Looks On (source)

Well,...snow on the mountaintops on June 20! 

A good friend just turned me on to this channel and group [links below]. A music studio in Pakistan, sponsored by Coke (yes, that one!), that's producing video and audio of some of the finest contemporary South Asian musicians. What I hear is some of the best collaborations and arrangements of Eastern and Western music out there today - to me, a perfect balance of virtuosity and instrumentation from both sides. And I mean really "out there", in the highest sense, in particular Sufi soul music and poetry.
Go to COKE STUDIO HOMEPAGE or COKE STUDIO YOUTUBE CHANNEL to listen and/or view many extraordinary sessions. I am posting just three examples, two by the legendary Abida Parveen, and one by Saieen Zahoor. [That's all I could manage to load today, due to being on dial-up.]

I can't think of much to say these days on a mundane or spiritual level, concentrating more on the musical side of things and other non-verbal expressions (with humans and animals), because that's what does it for me, especially in these hard times. And hard times is what's goin' down in Pakistan and the whole of South Asia. I can't think of anything better to do here than spreading the awesome sacred music of the people of these lands. They are all Love Tribe, and my heart goes out to them as they have given me the greatest joys of my sojourn on this Earth. The YouTube comments also clearly express the brotherhood and mutual respect between the varied cultures in this part of the world, contrary to media lies.


[translation]
O my Master
When the invisible revealed himself
He changed his name from Ahad (the One) to Ahmad (the commendable Prophet)
By illuminating this world and the world after
Bahu, who was hidden, also came forth
Allah, My Master
My Beloved has come to my abode
(And when he revealed Himself), my heart could hear the din even within
The one who is unaware is equal to one who is a non-believer
My spiritual guide taught me this
My eyes opened from devotion
I have betrothed my life to Him
I have devoted my life to him
I earned such love
That I realized what death is even before dying
And so discovered the eternal truth
My Beloved has come to my abode
(And when he revealed Himself), my heart could hear the din even within
My Protector…
Ali…
Ghous and Qutab would not come to the levels set
But lovers go beyond that
The levels that lovers reach
Ghaus is unaware of those
Divine lovers remain in unification
For they reside every where yet nowhere
I can sacrifice myself for those
Those who in His proximity
My Beloved has come to my abode
(And when he revealed Himself), my heart could hear the din even within
When I was me, I couldn’t see Him inside
Now that He is apparent, I can no longer see myself anywhere
When that veil of darkness was lifted
There was no need to light a lamp
My Beloved has come to my abode...
I am a puppet, the strings in my Beloved’s hands
I dance in a trance for my love, the way my Beloved wishes
My Beloved has come to my abode...
Bullah, He came and gave me hope
My Protector
Ali


[translation]
You read to become all knowledgeable
But you never read yourself
You run to enter your mosques and temples
But you never entered your own heart
Everyday you fight Satan
But you never fight your own Ego
Bulleh Shah you try grabbing that which is in the sky
But you never get hold of what sits inside yourself
Stop it all my friend
Stop seeking all this knowledge my friend
Only an Alif is what you need
God is Greatness, God is All
I shall follow the Jogi (ascetic/Sufi)
Those who deny the strength of Truth
God does not give them courage
We have drowned in the river of Self
The boat and the flowing waters do not matter


[translation]
O my creator… my lord…
I am famous for my affair with Him
(For that love) infinite sorrows and pain have been repressed
Give me the potion that you gave to Shibli and Mansoor
So that I (Baidam) am also intoxicated by this wine
I am famous for my affair with Him
The tradition of loving God is unique indeed
He who loved God the most, could never be idle again
I am free, I am shelter-less
Wherever I am, I am the whole universe
And though God has no abode but his creation’s heart
All I want to know is that where do I reside?
The sky and earth, and everything in between, cannot contain your being
It is only my heart where you can reside
But where God lives, I am just a speckle there
For him who wants to have a presence, it’s only dust (ash) at his threshold, which can have alms