"Birdsong brings relief to my longing..." - Rumi

Your Friday photo…

Photographer Juan Mendez captured an Anna’s Hummingbird in flight just outside the Visitor Center at Meher Mount.

“Birdsong brings relief
to my longing
I’m just as ecstatic as they are,
but with nothing to say!
Please, universal soul, practice
some song or something through me!”

— Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī

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This poem is from Birdsong: Fifty-Three Short Poems of Rumi translated by Coleman Barks.

In 13th-century Persia, where Rumi lived, music and poetry were central to religious expression. Birdsong, in particular, held symbolic significance, representing the yearnings of the soul.

Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī, also known as Rumi, was a poet and Islamic scholar. Avatar Meher Baba enjoyed listening to Rumi's poetry and praised him as one of the greatest minds of all mystical and spiritual literature.

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"Say to yourself, 'I am meant to be happy...'" - Avatar Meher Baba

Your Friday photo celebrates National Positive Thinking Day…

Avatar Meher Baba making His general gesture for happiness in this photo taken by Faredoon (Padri) Driver

It's as if Meher Baba is saying, “It’s good, isn’t it?” or “You’re happy, aren’t you?”

“Say to yourself, ‘I am meant to be happy, to make others happy,’ and gradually you do become happy yourself and make others happy, too. ”

— Avatar Meher Baba

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There’s a story shared in Lord Meher in which a nurse named Mrs. Schreiber told Meher Baba, “I am so tried of life and very unhappy. I don’t see how I can improve.”

Meher Baba responded:

“Everyone is unconsciously tired of this life, because everyone seeks happiness, but knows not how to get it.

But life is so beautiful! It is meant to be happy.

I will help you. Then things will appear changed. You will see it.

It is always the outlook that counts, and not the object.

Today, you feel tired, upset, seeing nothing beautiful in things around you in life. If tomorrow, you do not feel bored but cheerful in the same things that appeared so black to you yesterday — it is all due to changed mentality and outlook.

The easy way is not to make so much of things. Take them lightly.

Say to yourself, 'I am meant to be happy, to make others happy,' and gradually you do become happy yourself and make others happy, too.

Don't suggest to your mind, 'I am tired, haggard, depressed,' et cetera. That will make it worse.

Always say, 'All is well and beautiful. I will be happy.’”

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Sources

• Quote: Bhau Kalchuri, Lord Meher: The Biography of the Avatar of the Age Meher Baba, Online Edition, pg. 1631, accessed August 29, 2024. (c)Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust.

• Photograph: Faredoon (Padri) Driver, Bangalore, India, late 1939/early 1940. Meher Nazar Publications. Used with permission.

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National Positive Thinking Day

Positive Thinking Day is celebrated on September 13th every year to highlight the rewards of positive thinking. Too much negativity can have an adverse impact on our emotional well-being. So, on Positive Thinking Day and other days too, it’s an opportunity to remind ourselves of Meher Baba’s words, “don’t’ worry, be happy.”

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