Jun 18, 2011

Wean Yourself by Rumi

Little by little, wean yourself.

This is the gist of what I have to say.
From an embryo, whose nourishment comes in the blood,

move to an infant drinking milk,

to a child on solid food,

to a searcher after wisdom,

to a hunter of more invisible game.
Think how it is to have a conversation with an embryo.

You might say, "The world outside is vast and intricate.

There are wheatfields and mountain passes,

and orchards in bloom.
At night there are millions of galaxies,
and in sunlight
the beauty of friends dancing at a wedding."

You ask the embryo why he, or she,
stays cooped up
 in the dark with eyes closed.
Listen to the answer.


There is no "other world."

I only know what I've experienced.

You must be hallucinating.



I just found this poem by Rumi that I'd never read before. What comes to mind when you read it? To me, it's about not getting stuck in my beliefs and continuing to allow the mind to stay open.
It reminds me of Plato's Allegory of the Cave. As long as we believe the shadows on the wall are real, we can't conceive of the beings that project them. This poem reminds me to notice when I'm stuck believing that something is "it." Notice how the belief that I know something keeps me from knowing beyond it.

6 comments:

  1. I LOVE it! I have never seen this one either and it resonates with me deeply today. Thank you sister. Thank you for sharing this! Fyi, the link that says "Allegory of the Cave" leads to an error page - just a heads up! :) Love to you Dearheart. SP

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  2. Hi, SP. Isn't it wonderful? I'm glad you like it. Thanks for letting me know about the link. I just fixed it. Love to you too!

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  3. Hi, I got the following meaning: There is no "other world."
 This tells me what the Course says as "It is impossible to see two worlds which have no overlap of any kind; Seek for the one; the other disappears".

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  4. Dear Friend. In my humble opinion, this is what it means. Wean yourself, slowly and steadily from the love of "dunya" (world, worldly longings, worldly objects and a desire for ends which are of this world alone) and become the student of the knowledge of God, his Way, his Prophets, and of the journey back to him. Let the heart evolve so that there is only complete love for God and only complete desire to meet him, and for the gifts and light that are only with Him. The beautiful fields are the heart of the servant close to his Master, our Lord God, the One and Supreme. Rumi talks of the evolution from the darkness of disbelief into the light of belief and the journey of perfection in belief, which takes one to God, the most High. He is telling us to not be like the one in darkness -- which is an analogy for the heart bereft of the cognition of the Beloved Lord God, our Master – which heart fails to understand that light exists merely because he or she has never experienced it. To understand a poet’s perspective, one must understand who the poet it. So I encourage you to learn about exactly who Rumi was. He was a firmly grounded Sufi Muslim scholar and teacher, the light he talk of the light of the true Islam. Not the Islam of television or Fox News, not the Islam of the terrorists, but the true Islam – the Way, the Path. The hidden jewel – which Muslim and many non-Muslims have buried in mountains of filth. That jewel is the light that takes one out of darkness and exposes one to the majesty of the Most Majestic. And when one sees that majesty, there are only tears and sadness for the embryo in the dark womb, missing the best of what it means to be alive – which is to know and love, the All Knower and the Most Beloved.

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  6. That is a great assessment of the poem. I took it to be about moving from seeking knowledge to seeking spiritual or more esoteric knowledge. Springsteen has a song called Hunter iof Invisible Game. In the song the persona is going through a wasteland hunting demons or spiritual evil I think.

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