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
