Category: The Jewelled Garden

Yongjia Xuanjue (665 – 713 CE) was a Zen buddhist monk, born in the city now known as Wenzhou. He began studying at an early age, and it is said Continue Reading →

For more about the Punjabi poet and mystic Bullhe (short for Abdullah) Shah (1680 – 1758 CE) see this earlier post. You have learnt so muchAnd read a thousand books.Have Continue Reading →

The following was reported by the Muslim ascetic and scholar Abdullah Ibn al Mubarak (734-797 CE). Jesus addressed his followers the night he was raised to heaven, saying: “Do not Continue Reading →

Few details are known of the life of the Sant Mat Shabd mystic Tulsi Sahib (1763 – 1843 CE). One story is that he was of royal lineage, and when Continue Reading →

Very little is known about the Bektashi Sufi poet Muhittin (or Muhyiddin) Abdal. He appears to have been from the region of Edirne, near the present day border between Turkey Continue Reading →

For more about the 13th c. CE Persian mystic Mahmuyd Shabistari, see this post. What are “I” and “You”?Just latticesIn the niches of a lampThrough which the One Light radiates. Continue Reading →

The gnani yogi Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj here draws a clear distinction between the profound unity of love and the desires of the mind, which, he tells us, are the source Continue Reading →

Sufi mystics speak of levels of experience as one journeys toward the goal. Here Abdul Karim al Qushayri gives a glimpse of the states of ‘unveiling’ and ‘witnessing.’ Through your Continue Reading →

Very little is known about the life of the Vaishnavite devotional poet-saint Sri Ramananda (mid-14th – mid-15th c. CE?). He appears to have been born in Allahabad, perhaps to a Continue Reading →

Sheikh Ibrahim Efendi (1591? – 1655 CE) was a Turkish dervish in the Helveti Order, who lived in Istanbul. Little is recorded about his personal life. The following are the Continue Reading →