Monday, July 08, 2013
Rumi, Pleasure, and Pain
As most of us realize, Kundalini is not all bliss and joy. Sometimes the pleasure goes away (perhaps because of physical or other difficulties) and we are left in a state of anxiety or downright pain. This is when we ask ourselves if we have done something wrong, or if we do not deserve all the blessings we have experienced earlier. At those times it can be helpful to turn to whatever sources have given us nourishment and support in the past. For me, one of the most important of these is sacred poetry and music, especially Rumi and similar poets of the sacred. Here is one that I love, and read even when I feel far away from connection.
Drunk on Love
Be drunk on love, because love is all that exists;
Without love, no one has the right to enter His house.
They ask, "What is love?" Reply: "Giving up your self-will."
He who hasn't given up his will isn't chosen.
The lover's an emperor, the two worlds are at his feet:
Does an emperor notice what is thrown in his path?
It is Love and the Lover that live eternally.
Don't lend your heart to anything else; all else is borrowed.
How long will you go on and on embracing a corpse?
Embrace the soul that is embraced by nothing else.
- Jalal-ud-Din Rumi
(Translated by Andrew Harvey from A Year of Rumi)
