Seven advise of Rumi
1- In generosity and helping others: Be like the river (Over flowing and never ending)
2- In compassion and grace: Be like the sun. (Shining and forever glowing gracefully in the sky)
3- In concealing other’s faults: Be like the night. (Unheard and unseen)
4- in anger and fury: Be like the dead (Still and untouched)
5- In modesty and humility: Be like the soil. (Gives life to plants and food for humans and animals without a condition)
6- in religion tolerance and acceptance: Be like the ocean (Flowing freely and housing different species)
7- In presenting yourself to others: Either you appear as you are or be as you appear. (Has the same meaning. Just be who you are and not what people want you to be)
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Didn’t I tell you?
“Didn’t I tell you, don’t run away from me!
Didn’t I tell you, In this empty fantasy,
even if for centuries, you wander angrily
you’ll never find another true companion like me.
Since I’m your source of life and your final destiny,
you’ll have to come back home to me.”
“Didn’t I tell you, don’t worry how things will turn out!
didn’t I tell you, Keep your faith firm and have no doubt!
I’m your wise creator; I’m with you everywhere,
everything is in my hands although you’re not aware
I’m the Master Planner, arranging your affairs
it’s all set in order by me.”
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How we measure up
Notes from: Complete idiots guide Rumi Meditation
Sometimes, or oftentimes, we consider who we really are in terms of how we measure up to the expectations of others, and wonder, and worry if we’re really worthy in the eyes of our peers. This is a path littered with traps and snares for the unwary. When we look to others for approval, fears and self-doubts often plague our mind and bring down our spirit and the little voices constantly telling us we are not good enough!
But what are we measuring ourselves against? Too often, we haven’t a clue and we unfairly rely upon vague whispers of “he said” and “she said”! Of course, this keeps the vicious circle of inadequacy going, and we may never feel we measure up. But what if we clearly defined who we want to judge us? What if we stopped for a moment and considered whose opinion really matter? For Rumi, he only cared what God thought about him. That was the beginning and the end for his self-examination. The opinions of people should not be the focus we strive for when we examine our self and worth. Who are we to give other human beings so much power over our own peace of mind? Take back from others the power to pass judgment over you.
We can apply the same principle at every level in our lives. Never say, “I don’t know how he feels about me” rather you should first ask, “Is that person worthy of my concern?” only after you have determined that to be so, then should you say “Am I the kind of person who is worthy of his company?”
Also, take a look at your inner components-your habits, your likes, your interests, and such-determine If they’re really worth lugging with you any longer in this life. When your thoughts are focused, then you can decide if so-and so- is worthy your attention and devotion and you will know how to mould yourself into who you really want to be.
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Look into the self
Notes from: Complete idiots guide Rumi Meditation
Rumi was a strong proponent of self-inspection and reflection. Without it, it would be impossible for our ailment to be diagnosed and a cure prescribed. Listen to the manner in which Rumi asks us to approach our own self.
The body is like a letter: look into it and see – is it worthy of being read by a king? Take it, go into a corner and open the letter, read it. Are its words such as a king would approve? If it is not good enough, then tear it to pieces, write another letter and fix what was wrong.
But don’t think that the body can so easily be opened like a letter. If that were so, then everyone would see the secrets that the heart contains. Oh, how hard that letter is to open. It’s a job for grown-ups not for children playing around.
We are all too readily satisfied after reading the table of contents. That’s because we’re all sunk into selfishness and foolish desires. The table of contents is a trap for the rude, who think the rest of the scroll is the same as that.
Now look at the title page-don’t look away from it-and God knows the best way for you to change. The title of your life is like a statement from your tongue. Now look into the text of your scroll, especially into the heart, to see if it matches up with what you say, so your actions won’t be laced with hypocrisy.
Really now, when you’re carrying a heavy bag, you have to see what’s inside it! What’s sour in it? What’s sweet? What’s worth carrying along with you?
Empty your bag of the worthless stones within, and save yourself from wasted efforts and disgrace. Fill the sack only with the treasures you would bring to nobles and kings.
From the book: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Rumi Meditation
By: Yahiya Emerick
Rumi said,
There’s one thing in this world that must never be neglected. Even if you forgot to do everything else in this life, as long as you fulfill that one main task, you won’t have anything to worry about. On the other hand, if you manage to accomplish everything else there is to do in your life, leaving nothing undone, if you neglect that one single task, then it will be as if you accomplished nothing at all.
It’s the same as if a king send you out into the countryside to perform a specific job. Now let’s say you go and complete a hundred other tasks along the way, but you fail to do that one particular thing- the job for which you were sent out in the first place. In the eyes of the king, it would be as if you had achieved nothing. In the same way, we human beings have come into this world for a particular purpose, and that one purpose is what we were specifically created for. If we don’t accomplish it, then despite whatever else we may do, we still, in reality, have done nothing at all.
What is this specific task for which we human beings were created?
Rumi’s next quotes a verse from the Quran that says this:
“We offer the responsibility (of self-awareness) to the heavens, the earth, and the mountains, but they all refused to accept it out of fear (of the consequences). Humanity agreed to undertake it, though it overstepped and was foolish.”
The implication of this verse is that out of all creation, only we human beings have an expansive soul and are, by design, naturally conscious of the impact of our actions. Thus, we have a grave responsibility upon our shoulders to use that power wisely. To misuse these gifts is to be ungrateful, despite whatever other achievements we may successfully complete. Therefore, our single-most important task is to open our souls to God. By doing this we become aware of the full depth of our special gifts, we learn to shrug off the call of the material world, and we become motivated to do right and good by our fellow creatures and ourselves. This is what God intended for us in His giving us a soul to begin with.
Perhaps you might say, “Even if I don’t accomplish that one task, yet still I’ve completed so many other things.”
Well, you were not created for these other things.
We have a responsibility to our deepest self, to awaken it, polish it, and let it be the lens through which we see the world and life within it. Worldly accomplishments are fine, but we mustn’t forget to fulfill the one task for which we’ve been created. To awaken our souls to our ultimate potential.
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Rumi said
“Raise your words, not voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.”
“Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.”
“If you are irritated by every rub, how will your mirror be polished?”
“When I am with you, we stay up all night.
When you are not here, I
cannot go to sleep.
Praise God for those two insomnias!
And the difference between them.”
“Everything in the universe is within you. Ask all from yourself.”
“There is a candle in your heart, ready to be kindled.
There is a void in your soul, ready to be filled.
You feel it, don’t you?”
Understanding the nature of love and pain.
Notes from: Complete idiot’s guide Rumi Meditation.
Love is the basic foundation of the natural world. This is a theme passionately laid out in Rumi’s many writings, and it underlies the basis of his philosophy. From the smallest to the largest creature in the web of life, love, in some form or another, is the essential energy that binds each of them to their fellows, and enables them to survive. Also, where there is pain, it could be the result of love, for the lion takes the gazelle not in hate, but in love of its offspring, only human beings of all creatures, can infuse their action with love or disparage them with hate.
In Rumi’s worldview, because we human beings were given a soul on loan from God and conscious will to understand the concept of justice and injustice, we have a special responsibility to polish and purify ourselves from the worst in our primal or animalistic nature. One of the ways we elevate our spirit and embrace the concept of essential goodness and justice is to increase our understanding of what ethereal love is and how to make it grow.
Recognizing love for what it is.
Love on the philosophical level has many faces. Love is both a state of being and an internal disposition. In our modern world, the concept of love has been cheapened to a degree as to render it almost meaningless. Love is more than mere affection, physical attraction, or focused longing. Love is the consummate willingness to forgo one’s own desires and goals for the welfare of others. It’s the belief in the ultimate good that can be found in all people, no matter how far they seem to have fallen. It’s the attitude that in matter the consequences or outcomes, there is nothing material in this world that’s worth sullying one’s soul or character for. In short, love is the foundation of integrity and the cornerstone of our basic sense of justice and goodness in this world.
Wisdom of the ages.
Rumi wrote of the phenomenon of pure, platonic friendship in these words: “When words come easily from the heart, that’s a sign of true friendship. When words are hard to find, that’s the sign of distance. A heart that’s been exposed to affection, how can it remain bitter?
When a nightingale comes upon a rose, how can it remain silent?”
The house that has no window is hell. Make a window, O you servant (the truth), for that’s the foundation of the spiritual way of life. Don’t swing your ax at every tangled bush, come noe, swing your ax and carve out a window.
Rumi said.
“maybe you are searching in the branches, for what appears in the roots.”
“Jew, Christian and Muslim, we all bow down to Abraham’s God.”
“I am not from east or the west.
I am not Christian, Jew or Muslim.
I am not Hindu, Buddhist, Sufi or Zen.
I do not belong to any established religion
Or any cultural system.
I am neither the body or the soul,
for I belong to the Devine Soul of my Beloved.”
“All day I think about it, then at night I say it:
Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be doing?
I have no idea. My soul is from elsewhere, I am sure of that,
And I intend to end up there.”
“I belong to no religion.
My heart is love.
Every heart is my temple”
“I am just a guest born in this world,
To know the secrets that lie beyond it.”
“Move beyond any attachment to names. Every war and every conflict between human being has happened because of some disagreement about names. What is praised is One, so the praise is one too.”
“Yesterday I was clever, so I tried to change the world.
Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”
“with every breath I plant the seed of devotion, I am a farmer of the heart.
Every moment I shape my destiny with a chisel, I am the carpenter of my own soul.
Day and night I see the face of union, I am the mirror of my beloved.”
“Listen with the ears of tolerance.
See through the eyes of compassion.
Speak with the language of love.”
” Be a lamp,
A life boat,
A ladder.
Help someone’s soul heal.
Walk out of your house like a shepherd.”