My Song . Inside us all, a melody plays, a tune of feelings through life's maze. Some hearts have a joyous chime, while others whisper, humming softly like mine. . When souls connect, their music blends, in melodious harmony that never seems to end. A gentle flute softly in the air with thundering drums, goes well together to share . But with him, silence filled the air, no thunder nor crashing waves, and no silent whispered prayer. There’s a vacant and quiet space, an emptied room with a hush, illuminating his neutral face. . Yet, in that hush, a curious thing, I can hear my hushed soul and my inner voice rings. When the quiet calmed the daily din, I started slowly to sing and let my inner music in. . He had no tune to share, but held the hushed space for my heart to bear. A silent guide with a gentle hand, to help me hear what I can command.
Leonard Cohen said his teacher once told him that the older you get the lonelier you become, and the deeper the love you need. This is because, as we go through life, we tend to over-identify with being the hero of our stories. This hero isn’t exactly having fun: he’s getting kicked around, humiliated, and disgraced. But if we can let go of identifying with him, we can find our rightful place in the universe, and a love more satisfying than any we’ve ever known. People constantly throw around the term 'Hero’s Journey' without having any idea what it really means. Everyone from CEOs to wellness-influencers thinks the Hero’s Journey means facing your fears, slaying a dragon, and gaining 25k followers on Instagram. But that’s not the real hero’s journey. In the real hero’s journey, the dragon slays YOU. Much to your surprise, you couldn’t make that marriage work. Much to your surprise, you turned forty with no kids, no house, and no prospects. Much to your surprise, the world didn’t want the gifts you proudly offered it. If you are foolish, this is where you will abort the journey and start another, and another, abusing your heart over and over for the brief illusion of winning. But if you are wise, you will let yourself be shattered, and return to the village, humbled, but with a newfound sense that you don’t have to identify with the part of you that needs to win, needs to be recognized, needs to know. This is where your transcendent life begins. So embrace humility in everything. Life isn’t out to get you, nor are your struggles your fault. Every defeat is just an angel, tugging at your sleeve, telling you that you don’t have to keep banging your head against the wall. Leave that striver there, trapped in his lonely ambitions. Just walk away, and life in its vastness will embrace you.
The wandering mind came yesterday and knocked on my door. “Who’s there?” I asked. “Open the door, and come on in.” “How can I come in?” he answered. “Your house is on fire. Absence burns everything with his fire.” “Don’t worry, “ I said to him. “Be brave, come in. He cleans you of your self, and when he chooses you, it’s all over. You’re finished.” There’s a universe called Absence. Its waves break on the shore of existence. Jump right into that wave, and if anyone asks, just say you’re a Sufi. A Sufi doesn’t give a thought to his past. You’ll see your candle light up all the other candles, and its light will mix with the light of all the great luminaries. The wave of that sea carries you to just such a place in the land of Absence. There it breaks the ties of your soul from everything you’re attached to. Only in the land of Absence can you discover your Absolute Being. You’ll become the king at the harem of Absence. Everyone will follow you there. Existence itself won’t be able to look at you because the light of your greatness would blind its eyes.
The forbidden Rumi the suppressed poems of Rumi on love, heresy
