My soul gave me counsel

My Soul gave me good counsel, 
Teaching me to love what the people abhor 
And to show good will toward the one they hate. 

It showed me that Love is a property 
Not of the lover but of the beloved. 

Before my Soul taught me, 
Love was for me 
A delicate thread stretched between two adjacent pegs, 
But now it has been transformed into a halo; 
Its first is its last, and its last is its first. 

It encompasses every being, 
Slowly expanding to embrace all that ever will be.

My yearning is my cup, 
My burning thirst is my drink, 
And my solitude is my intoxication; 

I do not and shall not quench my thirst. 

But in this burning that is never extinguished 
Is a joy that never wanes.

My Soul gave me good counsel, 
Teaching me to touch what has never taken corporeal form or crystallized. 
It made me understand 
That touching something is half the task of comprehending it, 
And that what we grasp therein 
Is part of what we desire from it.

My Soul gave me good counsel, 
Teaching me not to measure time by saying, 
"It was yesterday, and will be tomorrow." 

Before my Soul taught me, 
I imagined the past as an era not to be met with, 
And the future as an age that I would never witness. 

But now I know 
That in the brief moment of the present, 
All time exists, 
Including everything that is in time 
All that is eagerly anticipated, achieved, or realized.

My Soul gave me good counsel, 
Teaching me not to define a place by saying
'Here' or 'there'. 

Before my Soul taught me, 
I thought that when I was in any place on the earth 
I was remote from every other spot. 
But now I have learned that the place where I subsist is all places, 
And the space I occupy is all intervals.

My Soul gave me good counsel, 
Teaching me never to delight in praise 
Or to be distressed by reproach. 

Before my Soul taught me, 
I doubted the value of my accomplishments 
Until the passing days sent someone 
Who would extol or disparage them. 

But now I know that trees blossom in the spring 
And give their fruits in the summer without any desire for accolades. 
And they scatter their leaves abroad in the fall 
And denude themselves in the winter without fear of reproof.

My Soul gave me good counsel, 
Teaching me and demonstrating to me 
That I am not exalted over the panhandler 
Nor less than the mighty. 

Before my Soul taught me, 
I thought people consisted of two types: 
The weak, whom I pitied and disregarded, 
And the powerful, whom I followed or against I rebelled. 

Now, I have discovered 
That I was formed as one individual from the same substance 
From which all human beings were created. 
I am made up of the same elements as they are, 
And my pattern is theirs. 
My struggles are theirs, and my path is theirs.

My Soul gave me good counsel, 
Teaching me that 
The lamp which I carry does not belong to me, 
And the song that I sing was not generated from within me. 
Even if I walk with light, I am not the light; 
And if I am a taut-stringed flute, I am not the flute player.

All this, my Soul taught me in a single night 
Where I met and confronted my inner most fear