16 July, 2006

An evening with Rumi

Spent a lazy evening yesterday, reading Rumi. Thought I would share some of my favourite pieces with you.

~0~

You've no idea how hard I've looked for a gift to bring You.
Nothing seemed right.

What's the point of bringing gold to the gold mine, or water to the Ocean.
Everything I came up with was like taking spices to the Orient.
It's no good giving my heart and my soul because you already have these.

So- I've brought you a mirror.
Look at yourself and remember me.


~0~
I wonder
from these thousand of "me's",
which one am I?
Listen to my cry, do not drown my voice
I am completely filled with the thought of you.
Don't lay broken glass on my path
I will crush it into dust.
I am nothing, just a mirror in the palm of your hand,
reflecting your kindness, your sadness, your anger.
If you were a blade of grass or a tiny flower
I will pitch my tent in your shadow.
Only your presence revives my withered heart.
You are the candle that lights the whole world
and I am an empty vessel for your light.

~0~

Inside the Great Mystery that is,
we don't really own anything.
What is this competition we feel then,
before we go, one at a time, through the same gate?


~0~

For years, copying other people,
I tried to know myself.
From within, I couldn't decide what to do.
Unable to see, I heard my name being called.
Then I walked outside.

~0~

6 comments:

Inkblot said...

terrific.

Anonymous said...

Brilliant. Very insightful.

b v n said...

thanks for the link,he good !

liked,

Why should I seek?I am the same as He.
His essence speaks through me. I have been looking for myself!

Anonymous said...

And I found you here thru Dina's page! Just recently found a brilliantly graphic designed book on Rumi and Shams!

One of them was:

If the beloved is everywhere
The lover is a veil
But when living itself
becomes the friend
Lovers disappear

And another:

I have no more words
Let the soul speak
with the silent articulation
of a face...

Haven't you forgiven me yet for not showing my face this time in Calcutta!!:)

hows the rest of the gang?

Love

Atreyee

Anonymous said...

A great poet in making on the ground where Ravindra & Bankima play in their childhood and adorned the whole world with their awakened brain .. I saw in Aparna .. Let all the bliss of the sky shower on you .. for sweet music, created by Bihar, for poetry and other artistic expressions, visit my site & blogs --

http://www.esnips.com/user/biharbhakti

http://360.yahoo.com/bihaarbhakti

aravind pandey

Anonymous said...

Some of my favorites from Rumi are

"You amuse me with your touch,
although I can’t see your hands.
You have kissed me with tenderness
although I haven’t seen your lips,
You are hidden from me,
yet it is you who keeps me alive..."

"The minute I heard my first love story,
I started looking for you,
Not knowing how blind that was,
Lovers do not finally meet some where,
They are in each other all along.."

"By day I praised you and never knew it
By night I stayed with you and never knew it
I always thought that I was me – but No, I was you and never knew it."