Hero #113: Rumi … (02/10/16)
Born in late September of 1207, Rumi was a 13th-century Persian poet, jurist, theologian, and Sufi mystic. Immensely popular in Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, the United States and South Asia, Rumi’s importance & reverence clearly transcends both national and ethnic borders.
Rumi, was a philosopher and mystic of Islam, one whose doctrine advocated unlimited tolerance, positive reasoning, selfless goodness, sacrificial charity and heightened awareness through Love. To him and to his disciples, all the world’s religions orbit the same Truth, and — as his teachings look with the same uncritical eye on Muslim, Jew and Christian alike — his peaceful wisdom continues to appeal to people of all sects and creeds all over the world.
Rumi was somewhat of a radical, evolutionary thinker, at least in the sense that he believed that the spirit of every human being first devolved away from the Divine at birth & through childhood, and then later re-evolved back toward that same spiritual Source from which every Soul is reborn. He felt that all matter in the Universe obeys this law, and that this cycle of pure-to-profane-to profound is propelled in every sentient being by an inbuilt urge (which he called “Love”) to seek a re-joining with the Peace-full Oneness from which it originally emerged.
“On the seeker’s path, wise men & fools are one. In his love, brothers & strangers are one. Go on! Drink the wine of the Beloved! In that faith, Muslims and pagans are one.” ~ Rumi
“You’ve heard it said that there is a window that opens from one mind to another. But if there is no wall between two minds, there is no need for fitting a window … Your task is not to seek Love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” ~ Rumi
“It is a question of developing spiritual senses. See beyond phenomena … An eye is meant to see things. The Soul is here for its own joy. A head has but one use: to Love a true Love … [So] gamble everything for Love, if you’re a true Human Being. Halfheartedness cannot reach into its majesty.” ~ Rumi
“When you do things from your Soul, you feel a river moving in you, a Joy … Be source, not result … Gamble everything for love if you’re a true Human Being. If not, leave this gathering. Half-heartedness cannot reach into majesty … Load the ship and set out. No one knows for certain whether the vessel will sink or reach the harbor. Cautious people say, “I’ll do nothing until I can be sure” … If you do nothing, you lose. Don’t be one of those merchants who won’t risk the ocean.”
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