Category Archives: Blog

Today, President Obama praised Lebanon’s generosity in welcoming over 700,000 refugees to Lebanon from Syria, and announced that the U.S. will offer $74 million to Lebanon to help with the steady influx of refugees fleeing the crisis in Syria. Tomorrow, the President of Lebanon, Michel Suleiman, is scheduled to attend the International Support Group for Lebanon in New York to seek even more support in helping this small country accommodate the growing number of Syrian refugees living here.

Your ego is a dragon.
When is it dead?
When is it dead?

— Puppet Opera of Rumi

When I’m not teaching or doing research, I’m usually performing with puppets (including an Obama puppet), or teaching the whirling ceremony of Rumi–from New York to the Middle East. I just never imagined that these two loves could ever meet…

But they have–in the “Puppet Opera of Rumi.” Written by Behrouz Gharibpour, a master of traditional Persian puppetry, this Persian language opera narrates the life of the 13th century Sufi poet–Mowlana Jalaleddin Rumi–by quoting extensively from his mystic masterpiece–the Masnavi. I’ve posted a video of the performance with English subtitles below. Though the video begins in darkness, the puppets gradually come into focus. And if you like this one, I have good news–Gharibpour recently finished creating a puppet opera about the life of the Sufi poet Hafiz–whose tomb I was lucky to visit when I was wandering through Iran. What a beautiful and creative way to share the rich legacy of Sufi philosophy and Persian poetry–with spirited puppetry!

“Have you ever tried swimming to the middle of the sea?” he said, pointing to the horizon.

We were the only ones on the beach. Though I’d seen him a few times before, we’d never spoken.

“No, have you?” I said, wondering what he was really asking. How can you swim to the middle of the sea? Drying his unruly mane with a towel, he kept his gaze fixed on the setting sun.

“I have,” he said, “it was like–an eternal blue moment…”

As we bid the sea adieu, he suggested–out of the blue–that I read more poetry by al Hallaj–the 9th century Sufi who was put to a gruesome death for uttering “I am the Truth,” while in the heights of spiritual ecstasy. While Hallaj has long been one of my favorites, lately I’ve been neglecting him. So when I got home, I followed the advice of this sage stranger on the sea, and discovered this small pearl:

I do not cease swimming in the seas of love,
rising with the wave, then descending;
now the wave sustains me, and then I sink beneath it;
love bears me away
where there is no longer any shore.

— al-Hallaj

Today, the beach was empty–except for the one who jumped in the sea…

For your sake, I hurry over land and water:
For your sake, I cross the desert and split the mountain in two,
And turn my face from all things,
Until the time I reach the place
Where I am alone with You.

— al Hallaj

The sea today was so rough that the lifeguard wouldn’t let me dive in…there was, however, one man who jumped in anyway, making his own spirited splash…

When the ocean surges,
don’t let me just hear it.
Let it splash inside my chest!

— Rumi

Since the internet here today is a disaster, and I’m unable to do my work or upload any videos, I decided to head to the sea instead…guess it makes for a better view anyway than a computer screen…

Observe the wonders as they occur around you.
Don’t claim them.
Feel the artistry moving through,
and be silent.

— Rumi

Just because we’ve been spared the blowback many feared would follow in the wake of a foreign military strike in Syria doesn’t mean the spillover from Syria into Lebanon has stopped. Last night, rockets fired from Syria struck northern Lebanon amid heavy gunfire. The rockets hit the town of Al-Debabiyeh, while intense and steady machine gunfire was heard near Al-Noura and Al-Debabiyeh…

Ayatollah Khamenei gave a speech on September 17th, in which he referenced a passage in a book he translated 40 years ago “on the revered second Shiite Imam Hassan’s peace treaty with Muawiyah, the founder of the Umayyad dynasty — a treaty the likes of which Khamenei had once vowed Iran could never be pressured into again. The treaty was entered into under great duress: Hassan agreed to it when faced with superior forces on the field of battle. Its outcome was at best mixed: The line of descent was preserved (Hassan was the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed), but Hassan gave up rule over the Muslim community to Muawiyah and was years later almost certainly poisoned on Muawiyah’s orders. But speaking on Sept. 17, Khamenei took a rosier view of the seventh-century peace deal: ‘I agree with what I called ‘heroic flexibility’ years ago, because such an approach is very good and necessary in certain situations, as long as we stick to our main principles.'” — quoted from Foreign Affairs

Now, many are left wondering if this religious appeal to the past may prompt Khamenei to give “Hasan” Rouhani–Iran’s new president–the green light to pursue a more flexible approach when resuming negotiations in the near future…

If you are wholly perplexed and in straits, have patience, for patience is the key to joy.

— Rumi

Though I have many goodies I’d like to share today, the system here won’t let me upload any images right now (unfortunately, this happens quite frequently)…stay tuned, and thanks for your patience…in the meantime, I’ll post some photos of Beirut that were already uploaded yesterday, like the one above of a mosque in downtown Beirut…

Your light is more magnificent
Than sunrise or sunset,
And you are the inmost ground of consciousness,
Revealing the secrets that we hold…

— Rumi

Every day in Beirut–under the spell of the gloaming–the sun, clouds and sea conspire to stage the most magnificent show. That little ladder to the left is where I climb into the water each afternoon–to insert myself into this breathtaking tableau…

Catching a glimpse of filterlessnes,
The world washes over me, weightless.

Darkness, light, twilight and shadow,
Lose all meaning, lose all substance.

— Rumi

In the previous post, I showed a photograph of the sea at sunset with downtown Beirut in the background–now here’s what sunset and twilight look like from between the office buildings, mosques, and apartments of downtown Beirut…

Today, like every day in Beirut, the sea at sunset was sublime. When the lifeguard blew his whistle at dusk, it was hard for me to pull myself from the peace of the water. That beautiful backdrop sure doesn’t look like “Homeland” to me–just home. In the winter, I can even see snow on those mountain tops in the distance, while I swim along Beirut’s rocky coast…

Does sunset sometimes look like the sun is coming up?
Do you know what a faithful love is?

You’re crying; you say you’ve burned yourself.
But can you think of anyone who’s not hazy with smoke?

— Rumi

Snapped this on the way to St. Jude’s yesterday. Who’s Charlie? Well, that’s what a lot of people would like to know…