20 lesson's from Rumi's Little Book of wisdom (21—40)
Rumi's Little Book of Wisdom
by Maryam Mafi
21
There are many people in the world who are blessed with immeasurable wealth and power beyond our imagination, but their souls cringe with revulsion for having such gifts!
22
A student asked: "When we act and succeed, is the fortuitous result due to our initiative or to the grace of the Divine?"
"It's indeed due to God's grace. But because He's so magnanimous, He allows you to believe that it's due to your own efforts!"
"It's indeed due to God's grace. But because He's so magnanimous, He allows you to believe that it's due to your own efforts!"
23
Phenomena become recognizable when they appear in the context of their opposites. God, however, does not have an opposite. Therefore, He created the world, which was enveloped in darkness, so that His light would become apparent.
24
When you entrust a garden of roses to a gardener and you detect only foul odors rising in the air, whom do you blame? The garden, or the gardener?
25
When you feel joy in your heart without reason, know that somewhere, sometime, you may have brought happiness to someone. Likewise, if you feel sadness suddenly clouding your heart, it's because, at some point in your life, you must have caused someone grief. These feelings are gifts from beyond that allow us to learn much from very little.
26
When God chooses to be generous, an insignificant coin will prove as valuable as a thousand pieces of gold. But should He decide to withdraw His goodwill, all those gold coins will prove worthless.
27
I beg you to hear my words, not so much with your ears but with your heart, for that's how you'll benefit most. An army of a thousand thieves outside a castle can't open the gate without the help of the one thief inside. You may be an exceptional orator, but what's the use when your eloquence doesn't stem from inner truth?
28
If your inner eye is sealed shut, how will you ever know about light, even if the whole world is basking in it?
29
There are two sides to humans. One is our animal nature, consisting of our hopes and desires, the other is our essence, from where the nourishment of our spirit comes. Our essence perpetually yearns for the wisdom to meet the Divine. So while our animal nature desperately seeks escape from the Divine, our essence invariably flees from the material world.
30
My words may not impress you now, but when you grow up and become a mature adult, their footprints will begin to emerge.
31
Regardless of wealth and stature, everyone experiences frustration, restlessness, pain, yearning, longing, and love.
32
They call the Beloved Delarum, or "the heart warmer"! Do you know why? Because where else could the heart ever find solace but in Him?
33
Joyful pleasures in life can be thought of as a ladder, like the rungs of a ladder, they're not stations at which to linger, but rather stages through which we pass.
34
Our actions are questions, while our reactions are the responses, whether joyous or sad. When you pose a question and the response is fortuitous, you can consider yourself lucky for having asked the right question. However, if the response is troubled and negative in substance, you'd better apologize and never repeat that question again.
35
I say what comes to my mind, and, if God wills it, the little that I say shall infiltrate your heart and bear you much fruit. And if He doesn't wish it, no matter how much I speak, none of it will penetrate your heart; my words will pass and be forgotten in no time at all.
36
Light fades the sun sets. But if you can't bear to live without light, you've no choice but to become the sun itself!
37
Tyranny, oppression, cruelty, and ruthlessness are like a hard-packed snowball with ice at the center, ready to freeze up the soul. Nothing other than the sun of conscience can melt this frigid ball!
38
The essence of man is like musk, while the world with all its joy is a delectable scent that is impermanent and inevitably fleeting. You're lucky if you're not simply content with the scent, but continue to search for the essence. Many of us, however, are quickly gratified with the mere scent that this world offers. Ultimately, we'll be the losers, for we clutch at something that we're unable to hold onto for long. Let's not forget that the enticing scent of this world is only an attribute of the musk. As long as the musk survives, it lasts and reaches us uninterruptedly. Once the scent begins to fade, all those whose lives depend on it shall vanish along with it. In due time, the most fortunate of us are those who grow to become one with the musk.
39
When you feel your heart contracting and darkness closing in all around you, it's time to reflect on whether, in the past, you've inflicted cruelty on another being. Although you may not remember the details, you know that you must have done awful acts in your life that you may not have recognized as evil. Either you did these things out of ignorance, or you kept company with false friends to the point that committing a sin became the norm for you and you failed to perceive it as wrong.
40
A young elephant majestically approached a freshwater spring, desperate to quench his thirst. Seeing his own reflection in the water, he suddenly panicked and took flight as fast as he could, believing that he had come face-to-face with an enormous wild beast! Little did he know that he had seen his true self for the very first time.
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