The poems of Rumi present a moving and timeless treatise on love and life. But Rumi did not start out as a poet. His transformation from a scholar and jurist to a Sufi mystic and poet happened after he met a stranger in a busy bazaar in Konya, Turkey. That stranger was Shams Tabrizi, a wandering Sufi mystic and a religious rebel.
It was the meeting of kindred spirits and that encounter heralded the beginning of deep and abiding love between the two.
Rumi and Shams stayed together for only about two years. Gradually over time, Rumi became increasingly secluded, shunning the company of his regular set of acquaintances and spending all that time with Shams discussing the divine. This brief interlude with Shams created an indelible impact on Rumi and his work.
In fact, Rumi’s story is a prime example of the power of love.
Love in itself is a powerful, all pervasive force of nature, encompassing the whole of existence in its fold. Being in love is a multi-layered and a multi-dimensional experience and the deeper you go, the more you become conscious of your inner radiance. Yet, many just skim the surface of love and never venture beyond the periphery. They use love as a device to control or possess the other, to seek security, validate their ego or achieve gratification of their interests.
The other becomes just a means. It’s no wonder then that problems start to crop up in relationships and people start blaming each other or looking for alternatives, none of which address the real issues.
If you surrender yourself to love, it has the potential to truly transform you.
So how can love change us?
- Love sets you free, to be yourself. It brings you closer to who you really are. Stripped of conditions, prejudices and fears, you come face-to-face with yourself and can experience the incredible radiance of your being.
- Love grows by sharing. Because love is the very nature of the Universe, being in love connects you back to the abundance of the Universal source. The more you give of yourself, the more you expand your presence.
- Real love is unconditional. It is independent of the object of affection. It arises out of your being on its own. Like a flower radiating its fragrance or a river flowing towards the sea, you simply cannot do anything but share the outpouring of love rising from within,
- The other becomes a mirror. Once you come face to face with your divine presence it’s impossible to miss the glimpse of the divine in the other. It is as if you develop a new way of seeing life. Everything and everyone becomes an expression of the divine and you cannot but approach everything with understanding and compassion. You become love itself.