Whatever inspires the mind
is of the perfume of my Beloved,
whatever fires the heart
is a ray from my Friend.
~ Rumi
.
Such a sweet verse from Rumi; a powerful teaching disguised as a love poem, in the great tradition of saints and mystics. The language of duality – subject and object – is employed to point towards the inseparability of mind, heart and changeless Reality.
The belief that the Beloved (Lover – Reality – Awareness – Consciousness) is removed and remote from the functions of the mind is reflexive. Yet upon scrutiny we find that it’s simply not our actual experience that mind is apart from, and independent of, Awareness, or whatever we like to call the Absolute. Mind and all its miraculous activity appears within and by way of Awareness, and cannot ever exist elsewhere. It’s simply illogical to presume otherwise. So … and this comes as a shocking realization … mind’s dance is the dance of the Lover. Hence Rumi can say, “Whatever inspires the mind is of the perfume of my Beloved …”
Whatever lights you up, whatever you are passionate about, whatever gives you that bliss Joe Campbell talked about – that’s Lover, heart-whispering.
“Whatever fires the heart is a ray from my Friend.” A ray! A ray of Light, unlit and unborn Light! Yet how often do we rationalize the heart’s urgings as impractical, childish, too expensive or downright dangerous? In the great race towards acceptance and worth – the “Like me! Like me!” syndrome, the heart’s quiet firings are left to splutter and die.
And that’s one reason I like that little video on “How to be Alone.” At first glance it might seem superficial, an expression of ‘self’-survival, and a reinforcement of the illusion of separation. But think about it: think about the fears and avoidances that go with ‘alone-ness.’ Might they not actually be fears and avoidances of one’s heart’s whisperings? Might they not be a denial of Lover’s perfume and light? How will you know?
Return to top. Read Rumi again. Your heart will tell you. It knows when it is opening and flowing and flowering. It knows when it’s being dumbed-down. For she-who-writes, the best place for looking into heart-land is at ground zero – on the zafu. We’re all different, but the task for all of us is the same: we must find our way back to our own heart’s song, and stop insisting that it is other than the Song of the Sacred.
What if the Beloved wants to live alone awhile? To sit on a bench and knit and chat with complete strangers? To dance unpartnered in a bar? To write poetry (or a blog) that no one will read? To sit and gaze at a bare wall all day? To say No or Yes when it usually says the opposite? To paint or draw, or strum a musical instrument for hours? To pull the phone jack out of the wall and turn off the computer and the Droid? What if It wants to weep and grieve? What if It wants to set out on a long solitary journey without any financial support?
What if It simply wants to be whoever You are, right now, doing whatever You are doing? Wouldn’t that change everything?
~ miriam louisa
this unlit light 
Yes, that would change everything. Thanks for pointing it out.
Nothing you don’t already know so well, dear wise Meg xx
Coincidence? I had just finished reading a section of A Course in Miracles prior to reading this blog.
“The illusiuon of autonomy of the body and its ability to overcome loneliness is but the working of the ego’s plan to establish its own autonomy. As long as you believe that to be with a body is companionship, you will be compelled to attempt to keep your brother in his body, held there by guilt.”
A zafu is usually a single-seater yet can be big enough for all-that-is.
Beautiful comment Roy, thank you. Coincidence? Synchronicity? The miraculous at work.
As long as one believes one is a body, in spite of clear experiential evidence to the contrary, one is compelled to believe in ‘other’ bodies. That’s the overture to the grand soap opera. 🙂
In this scribbler’s rather poetic attempts at expression, point zero on zafu is the awake spaciousness that contains all-that-is … even all the appearances and the compulsions and guilt …
With love –
ml
So much beauty spoken here! Such strength in “giving voice.” “Sitting at ground-zero… listening for the Sacred Song… the whispers of the Heart.” In my case, sitting at the window – just listening – *hearing* the song – taking it all in – meeting “The Lover.” It calls to my Heart all the time to participate, to come – to be still and just listen…
With love and gratitude for your expression of the Heart!
Yes dear Christine! Don’t you love the “S” words?
Strength. Sitting. Silence. Sacred. Song. Stillness.
And I would add – Simplicity.
My Dad’s initials were SSS. Wasn’t he a lucky one? I used to be called “Simple Simon” by the schoolyard bullies. I hated it. I’m glad I finally grew into the name!
🙂 ml xxx
Thank you Miriam Louisa…
“Might they not actually be fears and avoidances of one’s heart’s whisperings?” — what if the heart’s whispering is passionate for two
things that, seemingly, cannot exist in the same space? So ‘she-who-writes’ must deny one of them? Must deny one of the passions? Must become the ‘desireless’ one?
“What if It simply wants to be whoever You are, right now, doing whatever You are doing? ” I think so — this I truly believe…as Dear Meg says…but haven’t I been doing that? Haven’t I been alone and isolated with trust trodden, for eons? Does Lover ever bail one out from a seemingly impossible situation…or more likely, lop off the head.
XOXO
-Leslie
Well, now that I’ve expresssed some resistance to ‘what is’ I see three ethereal and exquisite ‘forms’ of Lover right above me…Sweet Miriam Louisa, Dear Christine and Miraculously Fun Meg…”right now, doing whatever You are doing”…which is a deep bow to each of you and a heart filled with love for this amazing display of such sweet Wisdom. Each of you lights up the beginning of each day.
XOXO
-Leslie
Sweet Leslie – thank you, so heartfelt and comical too!
Amazing isn’t it, how the *wee-me* can growl and groan in one breath and in the next express “a heart filled with love.”
You too light up the day. And the night. And the entire Creation. Just by simply Being.
Gratitude and love to you –
ml xxx
This is definitely a ping-pong practice….one extreme then the opposite. It’s been going on for eons.
XOXO
-L.
You blog helps me a lot
Thanks for visiting Charles.
It’s kind of you to leave a comment.
miriam louisa
Thank you my dear friend Louisa
xxxooo
Darling Slavka love and gratitude to you!
ml xxxx
BTW…ML!!!
I L-O-V-E this post 🙂
XOXO
-L.