The wonderful thing is that the soul already knows to some extent that there is something behind the veil, the veil of perplexity, that there is something to be sought for in the highest spheres of life, that there is some beauty to be seen, that there is Someone to be known who is knowable.

Many say that life entered the human body by the help of music, but the truth is that life itself is music.

Your heart is not living intil it has experienced pain... the pain of love breaks open the heart, even if it is as hard as a rock.

As long as in love there is "you" and "me," love is not fully kindled.

In Sufi terms the crushing of the ego is called Nafs Kushi. And how do we crush it? We crush it by sometimes taking ourselves to task. When the self says, 'O no, I must not be treated like this,' then we say, 'What does it matter?' When the self says, 'He ought to have done this, she ought to have said that,' we say, 'What does it matter, either this way or that way? Every person is what he is; you cannot change him, but you can change yourself.' That is the crushing. ... It is only in this way that we can crush our ego.

Those who have a desire to teach while coming to learn should not pose as disciples; they must come as teachers.

It is not solid wood that can become a flute, but the empty reed.