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4.21 AVERAGE
4.21 AVERAGE
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Okay I am tapping out of this audiobook at like 60%, partly because the reader annoys me and also because I feel like Rumi might be better appreciated in small doses. Like the part where I stopped Rumi is talking about some fable where a man was caught cheating on his wife with the maid and he explicitly describes her walking in on them while the man’s semen is dripping down her thighs and…like, WAS this essential?? Is this one of his greatest hits?? The moral I am taking from this is: even brilliant people are not brilliant ALL the time.
Was recommended by a friend, because he knew I liked poetry. I just don't like this style of poetry. Not for me.
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
I’m not a big poetry guy, but I was looking for something spiritual to read in the quiet moment of the morning before my kids wake up, and I have heard often about Rumi, so I gave it a shot. Rumi was a great Muslim mystic…and actually, upon finishing this I realized I may want to read a biography on him.
Overall, there was a lot here to chew on and think about. The introductions by Coleman Bank are helpful.
Here are some quotes I underlined:
<i>“We sleep in God's unconsciousness.
We wake in God's open hand.
We weep God's rain.
We laugh God's lightning.
Fighting and peacefulness both take place within God.
Who are we then in this complicated world-tangle, that is really just the single, straight line down at the beginning of ALLAH?
Nothing.
We are
emptiness.
When you are with everyone but me,
you're with no one.
When you are with no one but me,
you're with everyone.”
“Diminish what you give your physical self.
Your spiritual eye will begin to open.
When the body empties and stays empty, God fills it with musk and mother-of-pearl.
That way a man gives his dung and gets purity.
Listen to the prophets, not to some adolescent boy.
The foundation and the walls of the spiritual life are made of self-denials and disciplines.
Stay with friends who support you in these.
Talk with them about sacred texts,
and how you're doing, and how they're doing, and keep your practices together.”
“Muhammad said, "Don't theorize about essence!" All speculations are just more layers of covering.
Human beings love coverings!
They think the designs on the curtains are what's being concealed.”
“Observe the wonders as they occur around you.
Don't claim them. Feel the artistry moving through, and be silent.
Or say, "I cannot praise You as You should be praised.
Such words are infinitely beyond my understanding."”
“Moses finally caught up with him.
"I was wrong. God has revealed to me that there are no rules for worship.
Say whatever
and however your loving tells you to. Your sweet blasphemy is the truest devotion. Through you a whole world
is freed.”
“Fear is nothing to a lover, a tiny piece of thread.
Love is a quality of God. Fear is an attribute of those who think they serve God, but who are actually preoccupied with penis and vagina”.
“If I kept talking about love, a hundred new combinings would happen, and still I would not say the mystery.
The fearful ascetic runs on foot, along the surface.
Lovers move like lightning and wind.
No contest.
Theologians mumble, rumble-dumble, necessity and free will, while lover and beloved pull themselvesinto each other.”
“Love is the astrolabe that sights into the mysteries of God.
Earth-love, spirit-love, any love
looks into that yonder, and whatever I try to say explaining love is embarrassing!”
“I have phrases and whole pages memorized, but nothing can be told of love.”
“Some Hindus have an elephant to show.
No one here has ever seen an elephant.
They bring it at night to a dark room.
One by one, we go in the dark and come out saying how we experience the animal.
One of us happens to touch the trunk.
"A water-pipe kind of creature."
Another, the ear. "A very strong, always moving back and forth, fan-animal." Another, the leg. "I find it still, like a column on a temple."
Another touches the curved back.
"A leathery throne."
Another, the cleverest, feels the tusk.
"A rounded sword made of porcelain."
He's proud of his description.
Each of us touches one place and understands the whole in that way.
The palm and the fingers feeling in the dark are how the senses explore the reality of the elephant.
If each of us held a candle there, and if we went in together, we could see it.”
"I go into the Muslim mosque and the Jewish synagogue and the Christian church and I see one altar."
“The universe came into being gradually over six days. God could have just commanded,
Ве!
Little by little a person reaches forty and fifty and sixty, and feels more complete. God could have thrown full-blown prophets flying through the cosmos in an instant.
Jesus said one word, and a dead man sat up, but creation usually unfolds, like calm breakers.
Constant, slow movement teaches us to keep working like a small creek that stays clear, that doesn't stagnate, but finds a way through numerous details, deliberately.
Deliberation is born of joy, like a bird from an egg”.
“Love is the vital core of the soul, and of all you see, only love is infinite.
Your non-existence before you were born is the sky in the east.
Your death is the western horizon, with you here between.”
“Ordinary eyes categorize human beings, That one is a Zoroastrian.
This one, Muslim.
Walk instead with the other vision given you, your first eyes. Don't squint,
and don't stare blankly like a vulture.”
“Never think that you are worthless.
God has paid an enormous amount for you, and the gifts keep arriving.”
“Religious rules are like alchemical formulae for mixing elements in the proper amounts and with proper heat. The joy of experiencing change is when copper actually becomes gold. The first stage says, We have read the theories. The second says, We do the practices. The third rejoices, We have been set free. Each person loves the stage that he or she is in, in the alchemical process.” </i>
Overall, there was a lot here to chew on and think about. The introductions by Coleman Bank are helpful.
Here are some quotes I underlined:
<i>“We sleep in God's unconsciousness.
We wake in God's open hand.
We weep God's rain.
We laugh God's lightning.
Fighting and peacefulness both take place within God.
Who are we then in this complicated world-tangle, that is really just the single, straight line down at the beginning of ALLAH?
Nothing.
We are
emptiness.
When you are with everyone but me,
you're with no one.
When you are with no one but me,
you're with everyone.”
“Diminish what you give your physical self.
Your spiritual eye will begin to open.
When the body empties and stays empty, God fills it with musk and mother-of-pearl.
That way a man gives his dung and gets purity.
Listen to the prophets, not to some adolescent boy.
The foundation and the walls of the spiritual life are made of self-denials and disciplines.
Stay with friends who support you in these.
Talk with them about sacred texts,
and how you're doing, and how they're doing, and keep your practices together.”
“Muhammad said, "Don't theorize about essence!" All speculations are just more layers of covering.
Human beings love coverings!
They think the designs on the curtains are what's being concealed.”
“Observe the wonders as they occur around you.
Don't claim them. Feel the artistry moving through, and be silent.
Or say, "I cannot praise You as You should be praised.
Such words are infinitely beyond my understanding."”
“Moses finally caught up with him.
"I was wrong. God has revealed to me that there are no rules for worship.
Say whatever
and however your loving tells you to. Your sweet blasphemy is the truest devotion. Through you a whole world
is freed.”
“Fear is nothing to a lover, a tiny piece of thread.
Love is a quality of God. Fear is an attribute of those who think they serve God, but who are actually preoccupied with penis and vagina”.
“If I kept talking about love, a hundred new combinings would happen, and still I would not say the mystery.
The fearful ascetic runs on foot, along the surface.
Lovers move like lightning and wind.
No contest.
Theologians mumble, rumble-dumble, necessity and free will, while lover and beloved pull themselvesinto each other.”
“Love is the astrolabe that sights into the mysteries of God.
Earth-love, spirit-love, any love
looks into that yonder, and whatever I try to say explaining love is embarrassing!”
“I have phrases and whole pages memorized, but nothing can be told of love.”
“Some Hindus have an elephant to show.
No one here has ever seen an elephant.
They bring it at night to a dark room.
One by one, we go in the dark and come out saying how we experience the animal.
One of us happens to touch the trunk.
"A water-pipe kind of creature."
Another, the ear. "A very strong, always moving back and forth, fan-animal." Another, the leg. "I find it still, like a column on a temple."
Another touches the curved back.
"A leathery throne."
Another, the cleverest, feels the tusk.
"A rounded sword made of porcelain."
He's proud of his description.
Each of us touches one place and understands the whole in that way.
The palm and the fingers feeling in the dark are how the senses explore the reality of the elephant.
If each of us held a candle there, and if we went in together, we could see it.”
"I go into the Muslim mosque and the Jewish synagogue and the Christian church and I see one altar."
“The universe came into being gradually over six days. God could have just commanded,
Ве!
Little by little a person reaches forty and fifty and sixty, and feels more complete. God could have thrown full-blown prophets flying through the cosmos in an instant.
Jesus said one word, and a dead man sat up, but creation usually unfolds, like calm breakers.
Constant, slow movement teaches us to keep working like a small creek that stays clear, that doesn't stagnate, but finds a way through numerous details, deliberately.
Deliberation is born of joy, like a bird from an egg”.
“Love is the vital core of the soul, and of all you see, only love is infinite.
Your non-existence before you were born is the sky in the east.
Your death is the western horizon, with you here between.”
“Ordinary eyes categorize human beings, That one is a Zoroastrian.
This one, Muslim.
Walk instead with the other vision given you, your first eyes. Don't squint,
and don't stare blankly like a vulture.”
“Never think that you are worthless.
God has paid an enormous amount for you, and the gifts keep arriving.”
“Religious rules are like alchemical formulae for mixing elements in the proper amounts and with proper heat. The joy of experiencing change is when copper actually becomes gold. The first stage says, We have read the theories. The second says, We do the practices. The third rejoices, We have been set free. Each person loves the stage that he or she is in, in the alchemical process.” </i>
Rumi was recommended to me by a friend, and I bought this edition that same day. I'd read pieces here and there, a poem before bed, or as soon as I rose. It became quite a meditative exercise. A chance to step outside myself for a few, silent moments, and just revel in this philosophy. As with almost all of my favourite books this year, Rumi also taught me a lot about the creative process and the importance of surrender for authentic expression; "This poetry. I never know what I'm going to say. I don't plan it." His words are full of such simplistic wisdom, you'll feel as though you're revisiting the most fundamental layer of Self. Some artists construct worlds, but I think the best ones are those who chip away at the illusions we surround ourselves with to reveal some sort of truth resting and awaiting us at the centre.
"We have a huge barrel of wine, but no cups.
That's fine with us. Every morning
we glow and in the evening we glow again.
They say there's no future for us. They're right.
Which is fine with us."
"We have a huge barrel of wine, but no cups.
That's fine with us. Every morning
we glow and in the evening we glow again.
They say there's no future for us. They're right.
Which is fine with us."
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
This was a really beautiful collection of poetry and I particularly love Dissolver of Sugar. Not much else to say it was just excellent
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Pregnancy, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail
This is a collection of the Sufi mystic’s poetry. Full of short meditations to reflect on in quiet moments, I’ve been picking at this for a good six months- just one or two pages at a time.
The 13th Century Persian scholar’s ideas can be understandably a little clunky once translated and far less lyrical than in its original form but the profundity and wisdom of his wry observations still impacts. Not the easiest read, but worth the effort
The 13th Century Persian scholar’s ideas can be understandably a little clunky once translated and far less lyrical than in its original form but the profundity and wisdom of his wry observations still impacts. Not the easiest read, but worth the effort