{"id":4324,"date":"2012-06-06T06:56:29","date_gmt":"2012-06-06T10:56:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gornahoor.net\/?page_id=4324"},"modified":"2020-11-13T10:22:00","modified_gmt":"2020-11-13T15:22:00","slug":"kenosis-and-hafiz","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/?page_id=4324","title":{"rendered":"Kenosis and Hafiz"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is what the 13th<\/sup> century Persian Sufi poet Hafiz<\/strong> has to say about self-emptying:<\/p>\n

First, the self-emptying:<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I Have Learned
\nSo much from God
\nThat I can no longer call myself
\nA Christian, a Hindu,
\nA Muslim, a Buddhist, a Jew.<\/p>\n

The Truth has shared so much of Itself with me,
\nThat I can no longer call myself
\nA man, a woman, an angel,
\nOr even pure Soul.<\/p>\n

Love has befriended Hafiz so completely,
\nIt has turned to ash,
\nAnd freed me
\nOf every concept and image
\nMy mind has ever known.<\/p>\n

To be followed by the feast!<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Why
\nJust show you God\u2019s menu?
\nHell, we are all starving \u2013
\nLet\u2019s Eat!<\/p>\n

The story of Hafiz\u2019 awakening is a lesson in itself. It demonstrates the alchemical transformation of a soul from common desire to the gold of enlightenment:<\/p>\n

When he was 21 and working as a baker\u2019s assistant, Hafiz delivered some bread to a mansion and happened to catch a fleeting glimpse of a beautiful girl on the terrace. That one glimpse captured his heart, and he fell madly in love with her, though she did not even notice him. She was from a wealthy noble family and he was a poor baker\u2019s assistant. She was beautiful, he was short and physically unattractive — the situation was hopeless.<\/p>\n

As months went by, Hafiz made up poems and love songs celebrating her beauty and his longing for her. People heard him singing his poems and began to repeat them; the poems were so touching that they became popular all over Shiraz.<\/p>\n

Hafiz was oblivious of his new fame as a poet; he thought only of his beloved. Desperate to win her, he undertook and arduous spiritual discipline that required him to keep a vigil at the tomb of a certain saint all night long for forty nights. It was said that anyone who could accomplish this near-impossible austerity would be granted his heart\u2019s desire. Every day Hafiz went to work at the bakery. Every night he went to the saint\u2019s tomb and stayed awake for this girl. His love was so strong that he succeeded in completing this vigil.<\/p>\n

At daybreak on the fortieth day, the archangel Gabriel<\/strong> appeared before Hafiz and told him to ask for whatever he wished. Hafiz had never seen such a glorious, radiant being as Gabriel. He found himself thinking, \u201cIf God\u2019s messenger is so beautiful, how much more beautiful must God be!\u201d Gazing on the unimaginable splendor of God\u2019s angel, Hafiz forgot all about the girl, his wish, everything. He said: \u201cI want God!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n


\nFrom 27 March, 2005<\/i>
\nOn this Easter weekend, I am also reflecting on the process of kenosis our self-emptying of all concepts, ideas, desires, mental superimpositions — to be followed by the fulfillment of a resurrection into a fuller, richer life.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is what the 13th century Persian Sufi poet Hafiz has to say about self-emptying: First, the self-emptying: I Have Learned So much from God That I can no longer call myself A Christian, a Hindu, A Muslim, a Buddhist, a Jew. The Truth has shared so much of Itself … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13376,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4324","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4324"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13377,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4324\/revisions\/13377"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}