Wild Fruit

Posted by Pir Zia Inayat-Khan on May 29, 2009

We shall show them Our signs in the horizons and in themselves…

Yesterday as I was walking in the forest, an object in the path caught my eye. It was a partially broken seedpod. Picking it up, I was moved to marvel at its form. It struck me as nothing less than a theophany, a “showing of God.”

One side of the pod presents a picture of the world as we ordinarily perceive it. The black dots represent our separate selves.

On the other side of the pod, the skin is broken. The opening offers a glimpse into the inner life of the universe. On this side, not only are our selves visible, but also the souls that underlie them, the fibers that recede from the skin and converge in the fruit’s center. The center is the radiant core of being, the Light of Lights, where all is one.

…till it is clear to them that it is the truth. (Qur’an 41:53)

Note: My thanks to Espahbad Yoshpa for the photos.

Comments (6)

• Dear Zia,

  Such a beautiful showing of God, for those who have eyes to see. Thank you for sharing your vision with us.

  Sincerely,
  Junayad

  — Junayad on June 1, 2009

• Dear Pir Zia,

  Thank you for the image of the wild fruit seedpod you encountered and for sharing the metaphoric visual language revealing the profound artistry of the Divine.

  When I was nineteen years old, a marvelous shift occurred in my perceptive field while looking at a glorious, intricate, multi-faceted, perfect pine cone!  Since then I have been blessed to naturally “hear” this visual language and perceive with relative ease the inspiring truths and theophanies which abound in nature.

  On another horizon, I am preparing for a 40-day desert retreat beginning late Sept. 2009 and am wondering if you would consider writing a blog on the topic of the chilla?

  With love and gratitude,
  Auriella Hughes

  — Auriella Hughes on June 4, 2009

• Ha ha Ha the photos are cute and funny to look at, so much going on, fallen from tree, new life waiting to happen, brings a smile.
  Thank you.

  — Zeeshan Sarwar on June 8, 2009

• the threads which connect every particle, every being, are extrapolated by the Divine in an infinitude of ways, some immediately apparent, some awaiting us in the depths of the Divine mystery. every window of interconnection is a marvel to look through, through the infinitude of “eyes” the Divine is graced with. that sight is the revealing and sustaining “breath” which enlivens all. the gift of every beings sight contributes to the consciousness awareness of the whole. it is supremely precious to share the breath of consciousness, our lives in love.

  last night, while sitting by my fire, i was listening to its “breath”, and there was a union between that sound and my internal sound (i have tinnitus). this led to a profoundly unusual realization of the One sound by which all speaks in communication with All in vibratory, harmonic unity as the sounds blended, joining in their underlying harmony. it became the One sound, and the awareness of the “threads” which joined different sounds into the One sound erased, for a few moments, my sense of self as being other than the One.

  every moment is a seed, giving birth to that within it.

  with all love,

  sakina

  — sakina cash on June 11, 2009

• CHAPELS AND TABERNACLES

  “Alone and warming his five wits,
  The white owl in the belfrey sits.”                      —Tennyson

  Six monks in cowls, robes white against the snow,
  Go single file beneath a Great White Owl
  That calmy watches from its cubicle.

  Six monks at dawn go out upon the world
  To exercise, to contemplate, to know
  God in his moods as well as in his word—
  They stride with solemn purpose through the snow.
  Had they looked up at the gargoyle looking down—
  The owl of rude and sweeping wing that rides
  The night-air knowingly, would they have seen
  Reflections of their own ravenous souls
  Red and gold in the hollows of its eyes?

  Or does each monk, in the forest of his mind,
  Dismiss what he sees as only wilderness?
     
    —David George

  — Lisa on July 7, 2009

• Beauty is a teacher through nature. With the seed pod, a dynamic communication with the universe unfolded in the physical world. I am delighted to hear about it, Zia. Watching for these dynamics in nature is my most treasured work, as well.

  — Iman on July 26, 2009

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