Category: The Jewelled Garden

Iman al-Ghazali tells this tale about an insight of Jesus. For more about the Persian philosopher and mystic Abu Hamid al-Ghazali see this earlier post. Once it happened that Jesus Continue Reading →

Abdul Karim al-Qushayri (986-1072 CE) was born into a privileged Arab family near Nishapur, in Khorosan, and, appropriate to his position, was given an education that included chivalry, weaponry and Continue Reading →

Ravidas (1450 – 1520 CE) was born near Varanasi, and was a younger contemporary of Kabir Das. Little is known for certain of his life. There is some suggestion that Continue Reading →

For more about the fifteenth century Indian weaver and mystic Kabir Das, see this earlier post. Beloved Lord,either I am crazyor this world of Yours is. The very worship You Continue Reading →

Yannai (late 5th-early 6th c. CE) lived in the Galilean region of Byzantine Palestine, and is considered the father of Jewish liturgical poetry. He was the first in that tradition Continue Reading →

Seng Ts’an (d. 606 CE) was the third Chinese patriarch of the Chan school of Buddhism, a meditative tradition that subsequently gave rise to the Japanese stream of Zen Buddhism. Continue Reading →

Abdul-Qader Bedil (1642–1720 CE) was Sufi saint and an influential poet of the late Mughal period, but details about his life are ambiguous. There are conflicting claims that he was Continue Reading →

For more about the 10th c. mystic Abul Hassan Kharaqani, see this earlier post. Master said, “I begged my Creator to let me see myself as I am, and behold, Continue Reading →

These words by the 10th c. Sufi Shaikh Abul Hassan Kharaqani were not written by him; they were spoken, and preserved by those around him. For more about this influential Continue Reading →

For more about the fifteenth century Indian mystic Kabir Das, see this earlier post. Wake up, you idiot.Shake off your long sleep.Focus within, discoverThe rare wish-fulfilling jewel.You’re slept on and Continue Reading →