Say Nothing: Poems of Jalal al-Din Rumi in Persian and English (Hardcover) Review

This small, handsome, bilingual volume of inspired verse by a Sufi icon and a giant of Persian literature, Muhammad Jalal al-Din Balkhi (known in the West as "Rumi" and in the East as "Maulana") is an excellent introduction to the poet and his poetry, written specifically for the 2007 celebration of the 800th anniversary of his birth and, generally, for the growing contemporary Western interest in Eastern literature.

Rumi's "Divan-e Kabir" ("Works") fills 10 volumes, while this book provides just an introductory selection of 44 poems/620 lines including rubaiyat (quatrains) and ghazals (longer poems of from 5 to 15 couplets) which alternate here.Skilled English translations and the clear, amply-spaced Farsi script of the original poems appear on facing pages.These bilingual page-spreads provide aesthetic, authentic, inspiring and useful texts for both English-speaking students of Persian literature and/or Farsi language and for Farsi-speaking students of poetry or English language.

Most readers will be interested in the poetry itself for its radically spiritual Sufi themes that contrast with the radical materialism of contemporary Western life.Rather than give commentary here, and in keeping with Rumi's emphasis on direct experience, I urge readers to buy or borrow the book and read it through or dip into it again and again to share Rumi's inspired quest for "something beyond your grasp,/ the wisdom beyond definition,/ hidden in the hearts of men of God."Poems are listed on the Contents pages by their opening lines:"Love is my only companion...," "Let Love, the Water of Life, flow in my veins...," "If you long to be purified...," "Seek the art of loosening knots...," "All that pure ruby wine...," "If a tree could move...," "We are from above...," "I am your friend...," etcetera.The end-of-couplet refrain, "Say nothing," in "I'm a slave of the Moon" on page 55 provides the title of the entire volume.

The front matter includes a useful 5-page commentary by a Sufi scholar at Boston College, the translator's 11-page discussion of her work of linguistic transposition, and a 14-page introduction to the lives of Rumi and his soul-mate in their search for transcendence, Shams of Tabriz. Back matter includes 24 pages of illuminating Notes for the poems, a bibliography of 15 "Suggestions for Further Reading," and a list of Primary Persian Sources.

If you read this little "vade mecum" you will surely want to travel much farther on the Sufi road with Rumi. "Hush!Enough chatter in the sea, about the pearls in His sea./ If you want to be a pearl diver, don't waste your breath."



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Translations of Rumi's poetry have been enthusiastically received by the English-speaking world. He speaks directly to the heart, allowing readers to feel that they know him intimately. And yet, the full flavor of his lightness and humor, his wordplay, and his Islamic references has often gone untranslated. Rumi's poetry is direct and immediate, but it's also measured, subtle, and nuanced in a way that earlier translations have seldom conveyed. It was, above all, a spoken poetry. Say Nothing captures the rich and varied tones of a mature voice that retains its youthful capacity for exaltation and revelation.This fully annotated, bilingual (Persian and English) editioncontains both short quatrains and longer ghazals, alternating forms that reflect the shifts in Rumi's moods and inspirations. Along with poems of ecstatic flight and equally ecstatic mourning, there are moments of terse commentary, challenging dialogs, and confrontational questioning. Extensive notes allow readers to delve more deeply into the multiple meanings of Rumi's words.

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On Living and Dying [Paperback] Review

Once in a while, a book comes along that causes radical changes in your approach to the important life issues.This is one of those books.A friend gave me a copy ten years ago, which I read while on retreat at the Abbey of Gethsemani.As a traditional Christian, I found the straight-forward approach uncomfortable and a little threatening, especially because it challenged many of my "factual" truths.No problem, my beliefs can handle it, right?Wrong!I couldn't shake the feeling that Krishnamurti's ideas needed to be examined again without the baggage of pre-conceived notions.I've recently re-read the book, and while I'm still struggling with the material, I find that much of what he reveals MUST be taken seriously.It's also interesting that now I find his teachings are not inconsistent with those of Jesus (although they are at odds of much of what the church teaches).He talks about "dying" to everything, Jesus talks about selling all you have and following him.He talks about life, death, truth and love being here now, Jesus talks about the kingdom of heaven being at hand. Etc., etc.Be ready for "in-your-face" directness, but also be ready for troubling. but awesome material.

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Reveals that the fear of death is not rooted in physical pain, or in leaving loved ones, but in the fear that some essential part of what we are will not continue. Krishnamurti explains that to comprehend death, which is so inseparably joined with life, we must come to it with a fresh understanding, free of learned attitude and preconceptions.
A thematic selection from the seminars over Krishnamurti' s entire lifetime. Drawing from talks from Bombay to Amsterdam and London to Seattle, progressing from the early thirties until the later 70's.

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Introduction to the Gurdjieff Work [Paperback] Review

Needleman's introduction gives an excellent overview not only of the basic ideas of the Gurdjieff teaching but also touches on how the ideas are relevant to the human situation. Equally valuable is the glimpse it affords of how the different chapters of the Gurdjieff Foundation--the principal organization directly descended from Gurdjieff's own Institute--provide their members with the special conditions needed to embody the teaching. The book is a thorough revision (contrary to what one reviewer has remarked), based on the introduction Needleman wrote for The Inner Journey: Views from the Gurdjieff Work. The list of books, films, and recordings provided in "For Further Study," new to this version of the original essay, forms an essential part of the introduction and provides a way to continue to explore one of the major teachings of our time.

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The Gurdjieff tradition, commonly referred to as "The Work," describes people's day-to-day lives as completely mechanical, conducted asleep. Gurdjieff's intent, as with many sacred traditions, was literally to aid in one's awakening. The tools for doing this are many, but integrated. The various methods of "The Work" are intended to specifically integrate a person's physical, emotional, and intellectual centers into a fourth way of consciousness. Like Zen, Gurdjieff's work is structured as an oral tradition emphasizing the relationship of teacher to student. But there have also been extensive writings on his views, and this short, pocket-sized book is one of the most useful. A clear, concise summary of Gurdjieff's life and teachings, this is the first book to describe the actual practices of the tradition. It provides comprehensive resource information for readers who wish to pursue further inquiry, including a reading list and a summary of the most important published music from the Gurdjieff vault.

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Toward Awakening: An Approach to the Teaching Brought by Gurdjieff (Hardcover) Review

The teachings of twentieth century mystic/philosopher GI Gurdjieff are a difficult but rewarding journey. Central to his ideas is the concepts that we are all asleep, we are all machines, incapable of Will or free choice. Also that we are predominantly false personality and have forgotten our Essential nature. Those who doubt these words have only to look at the world around them (and by extension, themselves). G himself wrote "Beelzebub's Tales to his Grandson, All and Everything" but this work is unbelieveably difficult to read with G's constant use of run-on sentences and foot-long, made-up words to express his difficult to understand ideas.

The most well known text of Gurdjieff's ideas was written not by G himself, but by his student PD Ouspensky, "In Search of the Miraculous". Ouspensky recounts, in chronological order, what he learned at the master's feet. This book is brilliant and reading it (with proper understanding with practice exercises from a Work group) is a life changing experience. Gurdjieff's ideas are nothing less than the central, common points behind all mysticism and the esoteric traditions of major religions.

Now back in print is a new translation of Frenchman Jean Vaysse's book "Toward Awakening" where another Gurdjeiff directly-taught student further renders down the psychological aspects of G's teaching in a clearer form with words more readers will understand. Vaysse does not discuss to cosmological ideas and thus narrows his focas. Vaysse discusses how to awaken. Topics include indentification, self-remembering, centers and their functioning, essence and personality, and more.

As with "In Search", and other G books, it is said the student will get NOWHERE without being part of an authentic Work group and getting study exercises. This will only lead to misunderstanding and speculation. But Vaysse has done us a great service to provide these G Work psychological ideas in the clearest terms available, to date.

This book has been out of print for years. Serious Gurdjeiff students will get it while they can.



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Toward Awakening provides a clear, chapter-by-chapter summation of the major points of Gurdjieff's teachings. In accessible language, author Jean Vaysse first expresses the meaning and possibility of an inner life, then follows a logical exposition of the path to be traveled in order to move in that direction. That process, he explains, begins with an exposition of the key ideas of the structure of humans, the practices of "self-observation" and "self-remembering," the concept of presence, and the dual roles of essence and personality in determining the overall nature of each individual. The author outlines the obstacles to awakening, as well as the first steps toward awakening. Missing in most books about the Gurdjieff teaching is the key role played by sensation, a topic that Vaysse covers with a clarity based on his personal experience.

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Conscience: The Search for Truth [Paperback] Review

If you already have Ouspensky's main work books this book, Conscience, is still worth acquiring.It covers the same subjects yet does it in a slightly different way.I actually found Conscience to be more helpful when I was first learning the work than some of the larger books.
There are 5 chapters:
1. Memory (Memory, Self-Remembering, Recurrence)
2. Surface Personality (A Study of Imaginary Man)
3. Self-Will (On Controlling Self-Will for Growth of Real Will)
4. Negative Emotions (no subtitle)
5. Notes on Work (no subtitle)
Each was originally a separately published essay.It's a helpful presentation because it's intentionally designed to focused in a more concentrated way on each of the central work subjects presented (as opposed to the content of, say, the Fourth Way).My copy gave me alot in my initial study (and doing) of the work ideas, practices, and goals...

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The five essays in this collection are based on P. D. Ouspensky's talks and answers to questions, transcribed at private meetings in England and the United States from 1931 to 1946. They bring contemporary readers the wisdom of Gurdjieff as interpreted and refined by a spiritual master in his own right. Topics include "Memory," "Surface Personality," "Self-Will," "Negative Emotions," and "Notes on Work." These essays argue persuasively that direct observation of self is the key to awakening from the "waking sleep" that characterizes life for so many.

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Morning Star: surrealism, marxism, anarchism, situationism, utopia [Paperback] Review

When members of the surviving old guard of surrealism declared the movement over (Le Monde, October 1969), there were many dissenters.International adherents to the idea that surrealism is a state of mind rather than a historical movement affirmed their continued loyalty to its revolutionary principles.Löwy locates these at the intersection of Marxism and anarchism, a mix that aims to pose a counterweight to capitalist rationalism and disenchantment (Max Weber) by re-enchanting the world.Myth, poetry, art created in a spirit of revolt by the unleashing of the forces of dream and the unconscious--these have been liberatory gestures and practices that are common to the subjects of Löwy's engaging essays, from Benjamin to Debord, from Pierre Naville to Vincent Bouonore and Claude Cahun.
The recent collapse of many capitalist institutions has exposed the false rationality on which those institutions were based and we are left with a world that is not only disenchanted but chaotic, a world in which many of the predictions of the Communist Manifesto have been borne out in devastating ways.Löwy's fascinating book invites us to the positive labor of "re-enchantment," providing models for active engagement and stimulus for further reading.
An appealing feature of this volume is the presence of art work by many of Löwy's international surrealist friends, as well as some of his own works.The art work also comprises many contributions by women surrealists--the Prague surrealist Eva Svankmajerova and the Canadian Marie S.(alias "Ingatta") whose "illuminated envelopes" are beguiling contributions to mail art.By themselves, these point to a salient aspect of present-day surrealism--the presence of impressive women artists and writers.A whole chapter is dedicated to the surrealist artist Ody Saban, a welcome addition from the French edition.


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An expanded edition of revered theorist Michael Löwy's Morning Star: Marxism and Surrealism (previously published in French, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Greek), this masterwork collects the author's essays on the ways in which surrealism intersected with a variety of revolutionary political approaches, ranging from utopian ideals to Marxism and situationism. Taking its title from André Breton's essay"Arcane 17," which casts the star as the searing firebrand of rebellion, Löwy's provocative work spans many perspectives. These include surrealist artists who were deeply interested in Marxism and anarchism (Breton among them), as well as Marxists who were deeply interested in surrealism (Walter Benjamin in particular).Probing the dialectics of innovation, diversity, continuity, and unity throughout surrealism's international presence, Morning Star also incorporates analyses of Claude Cahun, Guy Debord, Pierre Naville, José Carlos Mariátegui and others, accompanied by numerous reproductions of surrealist art. An extraordinarily rich collection, Morning Star promises to ignite new dialogues regarding the very nature of dissent.



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As a Man Does: Morning and Evening Thoughts (Paperback) Review

Nicely printed and bound - If you like James Allen you'll like this book.

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"This little devotional is filled with wisdom, joy, and inspiration. Each day of the month you are guided by a thought for the "

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