Are you familiar with the poetry of Rumi ? He is now the number one selling poet in the America. This, despite the fact that he was a Sufi living in Turkey — born 800 years ago this September. Why is he so popular? I think it’s because his words strike a deep cord of resonance within the hearts of his readers, awakening them to the mystery of divine presence.
But this ability of his words, to transform consciousness, was not always the case. He started his adult life as a Moslem scholar. He became well known as an authority on Shariyat, the law of Islam, which he wrote of in his manuscripts.
All of that came to an abrupt end when he met his master, Shams-e-Tabriz. In Shams he recognized something that was beyond religion. It was so profound that it changed his entire life. In fact, it was so profound, that he was transformed into one of the world’s most immortal poets and mystics. When Shams told Rumi to throw his manuscripts into a fountain, he did so. Such was the power of Shams in Rumi’s heart.
What did Rumi hear from Shams-e-Tabriz that caused him to adopt Shams as his master? One account said that Shams went looking for Rumi in Konya, Turkey, at the request of Sham’s master. When he spotted Rumi, Rumi was passing by in a procession of great pomp and splendor. Shams stopped the procession to ask Rumi what is the purpose of one’s doing penances and similar practices. Rumi replied, “It is to obey the command of the Shariyat [law]“.
Shams replied, “That of course, everybody knows.”
Rumi then asked, “What can be of greater significance that this?”
Shams replied, “The purpose of knowledge is to take you to the Abode of God.” So saying, he recited the following couplet of Hakim Sanai:
Ignorance is better than
the kind of knowledge
which does not rid you
of egotism and I-ness.
Hearing this from Shams Tabriz must have penetrated Rumi’s heart, for he accepted him as his master right then and there and began his journey of discovering the hidden wonders of the mystical world of spirit.
What is not known is what mysteries were revealed by Sham’s glance and mere presence. Regardless, something dramatic occurred in the consciousness of Rumi to prompt him to abandon his world of pomp, splendor and authority and become a disciple of Shams.
Rumi, writing about Shams, which he frequently did, gave a hint of what transpired in that first meeting:
When the Master discloses the
Secrets and Mysteries of the
human microcosm, the soul
and mind rush in rapture
towards the high heavens.
Ridding oneself of egotism and I-ness, the mystical world is a world of oneness. Its mystery and secret is revealed only to those who have shed the last vestiges of self and have merged with its oneness.
An allegory I heard years ago points towards that. The story goes that a man, intent on finding God, goes through years of sacrifice, deprivation, fasting and prayer. In his wanderings he hears about a spiritual master who is reportedly one with God. The man goes to the abode of the Master and knocks on the door. “Who’s there?” yells a voice from behind the door.
“It is me, your humble servant,” cries out the man.
“Go away,” says the voice behind the door. “There is no room here for two.”
The man goes away. After years and years of more soul searching and prayer, solitude, fasting, and poverty, he finds himself no closer to the goal than when he started. Desperate, he goes back to the abode of the Master.
He knocks on the door. Again there is a loud voice from behind the door. “Who’s there?”
“It is me, a great lover of God, ready to devote my life at your feet.”
“Go away,” the voice again says. “There is no room here for two.”
The desperate pilgrim goes away. In his anguish he realizes that he is nothing. All of his struggles, he realizes, were worthless. He becomes broken, without hope. With his last remains of strength, he walks once again to the Master’s abode.
He again knocks on the door. The voice from behind the door again yells out, “Who’s there?”
“It is thee, Lord. It is thee.” The door opens and the journey of his soul’s longing comes to an end.
It is not a path of penance, or of increasing one’s self-esteem or self-importance. It’s a path of discovering the answer to the question, “Who am I?”
As Rumi and other mystics and advanced spiritual beings have discovered and attested to throughout the ages, oneness is the key that opens the door. That is the knowledge that takes us to the abode of God.
