THE GUEST HOUSE
By Rumi
(Translation by Coleman Barks)
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.
Hi George, Wow to your lily pad and water photos. With those kind of colors it can't be a bit cold there. Rum's poem made me think about all the times I try to banish feelings, thoughts, impulses, and emotions because they aren't what I want at the time. His advise to welcome all as guides to life is an interesting concept. I hope you're well, George, and enjoying winter.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Barb, and, yes, it's plenty cold here. Expecting five inches of snow this evening. I pulled these photos out of my archives. Delighted Rumi's poem resonated with you as well. I was reading it today, and it brought me a palpable sense of peace. How wonderful it is when we can simply accept what comes our way, treat it as a teacher, and recognize that even depressing moments may be gateways to something new and wonderful.
ReplyDeleteGeorge I found you again!'
Deletethis poem really resonated with me believe me. It gave me perspective on a bad morning. So thank you my friend.
Hi, Ritze! Great to hear from you. Glad this poem resonated with you today. If you find the time, send me an e-mail and let me know how you and Ed are doing. We miss you guys. We're living in upstate South Carolina, near the Blue Ridge mountains. If you're down this way, please come for a visit.
DeleteI received your subsequent comment, Ritze, but I am not publishing it because it contains your private e-mail address. Yesterday, however, I replies by direct e-mail to you. If you did not receive the e-mail, let me know by posting again on this blog site. All the best ~ ~ ~
DeleteOne of my favorite books is, The Illuminated Rumi, by Coleman Barks, which also has beautiful illustrations. I just love this particular poem. This is a beautiful post.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Teresa. By the way, I continue to have problems receiving your comment. I usually check and post comments through my e-mail, where all except yours seem to show up. This morning, however, a small glitch caused me to go to the comments moderation page, where I found your comments on this post and the prior one. As always, however, I appreciate all of your comments.
DeleteLove the poem George and the beautiful watery image beneath it. As to accepting whatever comes our way - we have little or not option, so it is a lesson we have to learn early in life if we are to get top side of any disappointments. As my mother used to tell me constantly - this is it - this life is not a practice for the real thing.
ReplyDeleteWell said, Pat. Staying on the "top side of disappointments." I like that way of putting it. And your mother was right of course; we don't get to write the script, but we can certainly enjoy the dance.
DeleteBeautiful post, George ... as always. Rumi's words are such a great reminder to practice non-resistance. Eckhart Tolle says something like "...it doesn't happen to you, it happens for you ...", and in that sense whatever comes 'through the door' is our teacher. So simple ... but not always easy.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Bonnie, especially for the Eckhart Tolle quote. Love that! As to the philosophy of non-resistance, I believe it is critical to a well-grounded, healthy life. The alternative — resisting reality — is guaranteed to provide a life of conflict and despair.
DeleteLong one of my favourite Rumi poems. As Joseph Campbell says in 'The Power of Myth' (which I'm reading at the moment): ''All life is sorrowful' is the first Buddhist saying, and so it is. It wouldn't be life if there were not temporality involved, which is sorrow — loss, loss, loss. You've got to say yes to life and see it as magnificent this way; for this is surely the way God intended it.' To treat the so-called negatives as positive! To welcome them! Now that can take some doing — to see them as guideposts and opportunities — but if we do manage to do it, we feel better, calmer and less conflicted. And that's not passivity at all.
ReplyDeleteBeautifully said, Robert. To embrace the whole of life, including its myriad losses, is our greatest challenge. In my view, however, it's the only path that can bring a modicum of peace to one's journey. I absolutely love "The Power of Myth." I also really enjoyed the Bill Moyers/Joseph Campbell interviews, which I think were recorded under the same title.
ReplyDeleteVery Zen, the cycle of life... and the passage of time... melancholy and impermanent and incomplete... a reminder to live each moment.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the lovely comment, Donna. I agree with you entirely. The challenge, of course, is to move from the beauty of the poem to the practice of its wisdom. I'm getting better at it, but still have a long way to go.
ReplyDeleteReminded me of the famous Zen story, Is That So? http://www.sufizen.com/is-that-so/
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dominic. Is that so?
DeleteI love this post George. I am going to take it to heart.and make it a practice. Every day.
ReplyDeleteAcceptance. Why should that be so hard. Thanks for reminding me of these beautiful
words. I want to be engaged in life no matter what. I want to cultivate my garden.... Weeds and all. I am confident flowers will bloom in some way and sometimes iuexpectedly
Thanks for your comment, Ritze. I love Rumi, and this poem is especially meaningful to me. Practicing radical acceptance, saying "yes" to the mystery from which everything unfolds — this, in my opinion is the only way we can ever find peace and joy in this world. So, yes, continue to dance among the weeds and flowers in the garden of your life. It helps me to always remember that concepts like "weeds" and "flowers" are simply arbitrary labels and classifications that exist only in our mind. In the larger scheme of things, boundaries disappear and reveal that everything is divinely connected in a beautiful mosaic. That said, I am delighted to know that you remain confident that "flowers will bloom in some way." They always do.
ReplyDelete