The Bond with the Beloved: The Mystical Relationship of the Lover and the BelovedThis book explores the relationship between the lover and the Beloved, that profound inner bond of love which is central to every mystical path. Drawing on sources both Christian and Sufi, author Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee details the stages of this relationship as it unfolds in the heart of the seeker, from effort to grace. He describes how the heart is dynamically activated by this powerful inner love, which gradually awakens the lover to a new level of consciousness, an awareness of the oneness of life. “...a beautifully written handbook for seekers of God.” —Light of Consciousness “In The Bond with the Beloved, the heart of the devotional practices of the Sufi mystical writing blend together making very deep connections with Western Tradition.” —Jack Kornfield |
Common terms and phrases
able activities Allâh allow asked attention awakening awareness become begins belong Beloved bird birth body bond Books carry collective comes consciousness contain created creation darkness deeper describes desire dhikr Dimensions divine dream effort embrace empty energy essence everything experience feel give grace gradually happen heart hidden higher hold human individual inner integrated Islam journey knowledge light live look lover manifest meaning meditation meeting mind mystery Mystical never nothingness opposites ordinary ourself outer world pain path person prayer present Quoted realize relationship remember secret seeker sense separation shadow share silence slowly song soul space speak spiritual stage Sufi surrender symbol teacher tells things transformation transition truth turn Tweedie unconscious understand union wayfarer whole
Popular passages
Page 87 - Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
Page 78 - I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?
Page 42 - I said to my soul, be still, and let the dark come upon you Which shall be the darkness of God.
Page 78 - I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying: Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.
Page 42 - Or as, when an underground train, in the tube, stops too long between stations And the conversation rises and slowly fades into silence And you see behind every face the mental emptiness deepen Leaving only the growing terror of nothing to think about...
Page 78 - I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.
Page 29 - ... the glorious sunsets and the figtrees in the Alameda gardens yes and all the queer little streets and pink and blue and yellow houses and the rosegardens and the jessamine and geraniums and cactuses and Gibraltar as a girl where I was a Flower of the mountain yes when I put the rose in my hair like the Andalusian girls used or shall I wear a red yes and how he kissed me under the Moorish wall and I thought as well him as another...
Page xvi - And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things ; but one thing is needful. And Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
Page 124 - The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
Page 104 - The world is charged with the grandeur of God. It will flame out, like shining from shook foil; It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod? Generations have trod, have trod, have trod; And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil; And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod. And...