Rumi and Madhamudra

From the Rumi entry on Wikipedia:

What can I do, Submitters to God?
I do not know myself.
I am neither Christian nor Jew,
neither Zoroastrian nor Muslim,
I am not from east or west,
not from land or sea,
not from the shafts of nature
nor from the spheres of the firmament,
not of the earth, not of water,
not of air, not of fire.

I am not from the highest heaven,
not from this world,
not from existence,
not from being.

I am not from India,
not from China,
not from Bulgar,
not from Saqsin,
not from the realm of the two Iraqs,
not from the land of Khurasan

I am not from the world,
not from beyond,
not from heaven and not from hell.

I am not from Adam, not from Eve,
not from paradise
and not from Ridwan.

My place is placeless,
my trace is traceless,
no body, no soul,
I am from the soul of souls.

I have chased out duality,
lived the two worlds as one.
One I seek, one I know,
one I see, one I call.

He is the first,
he is the last,
he is the outer,
he is the inner.
Beyond "He" and "He is"
I know no other.

I am drunk from the cup of love,
the two worlds have escaped me.
I have no concern but carouse and rapture.
If one day in my life I spend a moment without you
from that hour and that time I would repent my life.

If one day I am given a moment in solitude with you
I will trample the two worlds underfoot and dance forever.
O Sun of Tabriz I am so tipsy
here in this world,
I have no tale to tell but tipsiness and rapture.


From "Aspirations for Mahamudra," translated by Ken McLeod, on his website, Unfettered Mind:

All experience is the manifestation of mind.
As for mind, there is no mind;
mind's nature is empty.
Empty and unceasing, mind arises as experience.
By looking into mind deeply,
may I be clear about how it is.

Perceptions, which never existed in themselves,
are mistaken for objects;
Awareness itself, because of ignorance, is mistaken for a self; Through the power of dualistic fixation
I wander in the realm of existence.
May ignorance and confusion be completely resolved.

It doesn't exist: even buddhas do not see it.
It doesn't not exist: it is the basis of samsara and nirvana.
No contradiction: the middle way is union.
May I know the pure being of mind, free of extremes.

If one says "it is this," nothing has been posited.
If one says "it is not this," nothing has been denied. Unconditioned pure being transcends intellect.
May I gain conviction in the ultimate outlook.

Not knowing it, I circle in the ocean of existence,
Knowing it, buddha isn't anywhere else.
"It is everything", "It isn't anything": none of this.
Pure being, the basis of everything, may I see any misunderstanding here.

Since perception is mind and emptiness is mind,
Since knowing is mind and delusion is mind,
Since arising is mind and cessation is mind,
May all assumptions about mind be eliminated.

Unpolluted by meditation with intellectual effort
Undisturbed by the winds of everyday affairs,
Not manipulating, knowing how to let what is true be itself,
May I become skilled in the practice of mind and maintain it.

The waves of subtle and coarse thoughts return to their source. Undisturbed, the river of mind flows naturally.
Free from the contaminations of dullness and torpor,
May I establish the still ocean of shamatha.

When one looks again and again at the mind which cannot be looked at,
And sees vividly for what it is the meaning of not seeing,
Doubts about the meaning of "is" and "isn't" are resolved.
Without confusion, may my own face know itself.

Look at objects and there is no object: one sees mind;
Look at mind and there is no mind: it is empty of nature;
Look at both of these and dualistic clinging subsides on its own. May I know sheer clarity, the way mind is.

Free from mental constructions, it is called mahamudra.
Free from extremes, it is called madhyamika.
Because everything is complete here, it is also called maha ati. May I gain the confidence that, in understanding one,
I know them all.