Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī 1207-1273
There is something about poems by Rumi that captures us, makes us understand what we may not have before. The phrases cut right through our minds, slicing it open and going directly into our hearts. We may not even realize the words, but they touch us on a deeper levels where we understand everything and nothing all at once. They stand the test of time, since they know without a shadow of a doubt, time is an illusion.
These were the first poems by Rumi that I heard.
Poems By Rumi
The Guest House
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
As an unexpected visitor.Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
It was years and years ago and this was the first time I re-thought betrayal. I read this after a devastating loss in my life. This was the first time I realized that new opportunities can come out of crisis.
I See So Deeply Within Myself
I see so deeply within myself.
Not needing my eyes, I can see everything clearly.
Why would I want to bother my eyes again
Now that I see the world through His eyes?
What parts of you don’t you see? I think he is talking about shame. If we could get rid of fear and shame, we could see ourselves clearly. (Who Do You Think You Are?) Would you like to See Through Spirits Eyes? Do the guided meditation.
This Aloneness
This aloneness is worth more than a thousand lives.
This freedom is worth more than all the lands on earth.
To be one with the truth for just a moment,
Is worth more than the world and life itself.
I’ll leave with you with one more…
This We Have Now
This we have now
is not imagination.This is not
grief or joy.Not a judging state,
or an elation,
or sadness.Those come and go.
This is the presence that doesn’t.
Remember, everything is relative, the present is all that is real, but that changes from moment to moment. Peace can only happen in the present.
(Poems translated by Coleman Barks.)
Desire performed by Demi Moore and Deepak Chopra
(as suggested by Julene and womenforaction.org)
What is your favorite Rumi poem or quote?
Please share.
Beautiful collection Jodi!
Rumi is one of my favorites too, but more than anything it’s his quotes that uplift us. He surely has his own way.
Thanks for sharing.
Harleena Singh@Freelance Writer recently posted..Cheap Party Ideas for Kids
People love quotations! They are so simple yet full of meaning.
I’ve never heard of Rumi.
I’m especially impressed with
The Guest House.
Thanks for sharing this Jodi.
jen recently posted..traveling the wrong way..
I’m so glad I could have introduced his words to you! Enjoy!
I can’t say that I know any other Rumi poems. I’m not much for poetry honestly. (I always feel intellectually inferior when I admit that.) But that last one is nice, thank you for sharing.
Bridget recently posted..Flying Low
I always felt inferior when it came to analyzing poetry. Rumi doesn’t seem so cryptic to me, much like quotations, ya know?
Such beautiful, evocative poetry. Thank you for sharing!
You are welcome, thanks for reading!
Keep walking, though there’s no place to get to.
Don’t try to see through the distances.
That’s not for human beings.
Move within, but don’t move the way fear makes you move.
Today, like every other day, we wake up empty & frightened.
Don’t open the door to the study and begin reading.
Take down a musical instrument.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.
– Rumi
Debra recently posted..Preaching to the Choir
Beautiful! “kneel and kiss the ground” awesome!
Hi Jodi,
I am a fellow Race 2012 Blogger. I love Rumi. I love the one poem by Rumi performed by Deepak Chopra and Demi Moore, “Desire”. I added the youtube link. You can find it on Youtube if you want to post for your bloggers.
Julene recently posted..Race 2012 Documentary: My Review
I put it in the post with a link to your blog! Thanks for that!
Jodi,
Thanks so much for that!
Julene recently posted..Race 2012 Documentary: My Review
You’re welcome!
I adore Rumi! I have three versions of my business card and the following Rumi quotes written on the back:
1). You wander from room to room hunting for the diamond necklace that is already around your neck.
2). You were born with wings. Why prefer to crawl though life?
3). Let the beauty of what you love, be what you do.
kirri white recently posted..The value of creating rituals for your children.
Each of them resonates with me in a different way. Why crawl indeed?
Great poems and very good lessons to take from them.
Kelly Hashway recently posted..Monday Mishmash 10/22/12
Thanks Kelly!
**The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.**
I Love love. Xx
My Inner Chick recently posted..Mr. Craig, Kardashian Sucks, & Visualizing Metaphors
They may have a gift for you xxxx
Here’s a poem i’ve kept:
It´s the old rule that drunks have to argue
and get into fights.
The lover is just as bad: He falls into a hole.
But down in that holy he finds something shining,
worth more than any amount of money or power.
Last night the moon came dropping its clothes in the street.
I took it as a sign to start singing,
falling u p into the bowl of sky.
The bowl breaks. Everywhere is falling everywhere.
Nothing else to do.
Here`s the new rule: Break the wineglass,
and fall toward the glassblower´s breath.
This one takes my breath away, thank you so much for posting it!
I love Rumi, too, and The Guest House is one of my favourites.
We are of like mind, Claudine, welcome to my blog!
yes, Jodi, it took my breath away too, several times over…
problem is, then i started breathing again…
Good,
from one point of view,
the physical,
to do some breathing,
if we want to live
(but how do we want to live)
not so good from another point of view…
it’s the old story of facing the world again with our inspirations that live and burn inside us as they are triggered by a text, a poem like this.
Until we turn around, and meet the world, the marketplace, again, trying to respond to the world that meets us. And we stand there as unenlightened as ever.
How to live? how to live it? To live it?