Rumi Wisdom

Occasionally I want to send you something unrelated, or maybe very related, to the conversations we're having about work/purpose/growth.

Here are some quotes I've pulled from Rumi, a 13th century poet, who's words still resonate. There are of course many different translations, and no doubt these have lost a small bit of their original feel.  Pull out what feels right.
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Love

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”

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“I said: What about my heart?
He said: Tell me what you hold inside it?

I said: Pain and sorrow.
He said: Stay with it. The wound is the place where the Light enters you.”

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“Love is the bridge between you and everything.”

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“Without love, all worship is a burden, all dancing is a chore, all music is mere noise.”

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“Through Love, all pain will turn to medicine.”

Losing Yourself

“Doing as others told me, I was Blind.
Coming when others called me, I was Lost.
Then I left everyone, myself as well.
Then I found Everyone, Myself as well.”

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“What you seek is seeking you.”

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“All your anxiety is because of your desire for harmony. Seek disharmony, then you will gain peace.”

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“Run from what’s comfortable. Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation. Be notorious. I have tried prudent planning long enough. From now on I’ll be mad.”

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“Life of this world is nothing but the harmony of opposites.”

Change & Purpose

“Respond to every call
that excites your spirit.
Ignore those that make you fearful
and sad.”

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“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.”

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“Set your life on fire.

And see who fans the flames”

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“Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don’t claim them. Feel the artistry moving through and be silent.

Don’t grieve.

Anything you lose comes round in another form.”

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“Don’t be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.”

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“Live life as if everything is rigged in your favor.”

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