Wednesday, January 21, 2009

IN THE WAVES AND UNDERNEATH by Rumi


A man is wandering the marketplace at noon with a candle
in his hand, totally ecstatic.

"Hey," calls a shopkeeper, "is this a joke? Who are you
looking for?" "Someone breathing

Huu, the divine breath." "Well, there are plenty to choose from." "But I want one who

can be in anger and desire and still be a true human being in the same moment." "A rare thing!

But maybe you're searching among branches for what appears only in the roots."

There's
a river that turns these millstones. Human will is an
illusion. Those who are proud

of deciding and carrying out decisions are the rawest of
the raw! Watch

the thought-kettles boiling, then look down at the fire.
God said to Job, "You

value your patience well. Consider now that I gave you that
patience." Don't be absorbed

with the waterwheel's motion. Turn your head and gaze
at the river. You say, "But

I'm looking there already." There are several signs in eyes
that see all the way to

the ocean. Bewilderment is one. Those who study foam and
flotsam near the edge

have purposes, and they'll explain them at length! Those who
look out to sea become the sea,

and they can't speak about that. On the beach there's desire-singing and rage-ranting,

the elaborate language-dance of personailty, but in the waves
and underneath there's no

volition, no hypocrisy, just love forming and unfolding.

Source:

The Soul of Rumi: A New Collection of Ecstatic Poems by Coleman Barks

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