Love Poems from God: Inspirations from Twelve Sacred Voices of the East and West (Compass)

Very excited to be reading this. I very much enjoy poetry and it is interesting to have such a variety. The book arrived well packaged and in good condition. Please be aware that the seller is a book thrift shop. I found a photograph and slip of paper with handwritten notes. This doesn't take away from the book. I simply want to let people know that they may find unexpected things there.

I read a lot and, if I had to say what is my favorite book ever, this would be it. 12 great mystics from different traditions. And notice that the title is not "Love Poems to God" but "Love Poems from God"

I have found endless hours of comfort and kinship with these mystical poets. As a seminarian, I had heard of some of these writers but not in the loving, even whimsical, ways they appear in this beautiful book. One may find these poems refreshingly relevant for times such as these. These writings reignited my passion for God.

Daniel Ladinsky has a most interesting strategy as a translator, and it's going to be interesting to see whether his translations pass the test of time. He's taken the "tops of the pops," in terms of mystics, but also added a few who were new to me, and rendered their work into a totally contemporary idiom. The language surprises, and encourages those little satoris that I look for in good poetry, and that mystics are almost legally bound to provide. Mr. Ladinsky manages to provide mystical poetry rooted on earth - sometimes rooted in bodily functions, and reminds me a bit of Allen Ginsberg in that sense. There's nothing stilted in this collection, and I suppose readers who would have a problem with the idiom are of a more classically reverent bent - and would probably hate Christopher Logue's renderings of the "Iliad," as well, which I happen to love. However, I do agree with the person who wrote that it's Ladinsky's voice that predominates. Thankfully, though, the thoughts and insights are of the originals. I recommend this collection to readers who love the play of language, and are looking for a few "ah-ha" moments when they open a book. PS: The translations of Tukaram, whom I had never heard of, were quite illuminating.

This book is my constant companion, in my suitcase, on my night stand, in my heart. I bought my first copy some five years ago and always keep it near. I love these poems, these voices. Who ever said we could never really know St Therese of Avila or Meister Eckhart or St. Francis. Their poems tell us everything. But mostly they give us an intimate view into the heart of the ecstatic. Saints. And they show us that the heart's voice is the same as our own. We long for God. We long for the Divine. And in that embrace the words they write are our words. The embrace they feel expresses our deepest longing. It's funny. I expected these poems to express a state beyond my reach. Instead, they share it with me and I see scant difference between me and their holiness. What magic. Ladinsky's gift created the bridge to make this so. And the only way I can think of showing my thanks to him is by giving these poems to others, again and again. As I did again today.

I was cruising through the bookshop at Guadalupe Trappist Abbey in Carlton, Oregon recently when this collection of poetry caught my eye. I have Ladinsky renderings of Hafiz in "I Heard God Laughing", which I've read many times and adore, and this book looked like it needed to be in my collection. Ladinsky selected poems from twelve mystics and saints and translated them in his inimitable fashion, which sometimes is very loose and often very funny. The twelve are: Rumi, St. Francis of Assisi, Hafiz, Kabir, St. Teresa of Avila, Tukaram, St. Catherin of Siena, Mira, St. Thomas Aquinas, Rabia, Meister Eckhart, and St. John of the Cross. I particularly like the non-Christian mystics, four of whom I had never heard of. An insight into the author's "loose" translations is in the section on the mystic, Kabir. Ladinsky writes "....what we see of historic saints is often tremendously edited, as the way a parent might edit what their child hears and sees. Christianity as a whole at times strikes me as a remarkably edited view of God, as do the beliefs of any religion that promotes any kind of division between the soul and creation." Each section has brief background on the saint and then a selection of their poetry. Here's one from Tukaram, who lived in India in the 17th century. Did God really call that famous leader a goofball? If he did, no need to worry about God anymore - He is doing just fine, And we are all a lot better off than I earlier suspected. Or this one from Mira, renowned Indian poet of the 16th century: The earth looked at Him and began to dance. Mira knows why, for her soul too is in love. If you cannot picture God in a way that always strengthens you, You need to read more of my poems. This is a very readable and uplifting collection, one to be savored and read again and again. I like this collection so well, I bought another one for a friend for Christmas

This collection is such a pleasant read. If you love the ancient mystics and their deeply inspired spiritual poetry, you will find this a beautiful collection. Some of these make me tear up just because they're so sensitive and moving. One of my favourite books that I own.

I read this one poem a day and pondered the poem for the day. Quite a way to expand my broaden my senses, and transform the one doing the experiencing.

Wonderful book. The place I go when life gets tough and it brings me back to myself. Beautiful, joyful, wise and in places very funny. I had not known that the wild joy of mystics went right across all the faiths represented in this book.

Beautiful binding with textured book cover and crisp print steals your heart the moment you hold it for the first time. Then opening each page is it lifts you to a sublime world where the voices seem like whispers to your heart, coming directly from the heavenly abode. It's a intimate experience which leaves you turning back and forth to catch those glimpses of pure light.

Een prachtige bundel; om jarenlang zo en dan van te genieten. Dat geen van de gedichten van de toegeschreven auteur is vind ik nauwelijks van belang. (De gedichten van Sjams waren óók niet van Sjams.)