Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi is an Anatolian holy man who gave hope and inspiration to humanity. Mevlana, who is also known as Rumi, was a philosopher and mystic of Islam, His doctrine advocates unlimited tolerance, positive reasoning, goodness, charity and awareness through love. To him and to his disciples all religions are more or less truth. Looking with the same eye on Muslim, Jew and Christian alike, his peaceful and tolerant teaching has appealed to men of all sects and creeds. Every year during 10th and 17th of December in Konya, all the whirling dervishes perform sema which is part of the inspiration of Mevlana as well as of Turkish custom, history, beliefs and culture. It is his poems about Sufism, however, for which he is chiefly remembered, respected and admired today.
According to Mevlana, love is the only thing necessary to attain God. A plant or an animal may also love, but it is only man who has the capacity to love with his body, mind, thoughts and memory. Mevlana exalts the state of being in love with a woman because if someone loves someone else, he also loves himself, humanity, the universe and God. The most beautiful love, “Love of Truth,” begins when someone reaches this level of wisdom. Followers of Mevlana (Mevlevi) spin around and around in a ritual called “sema.” This ritual symbolizes a world united in love and keeping step with the world’s universal rotation. While one of their hands points to the sky, the other hand points to the ground meaning “Love from God spreads to the earth”. The spirit bursts forth from God and is immortal. The sound of the nay (a reed flute) tells of man’s longing to return to his initial source. He means that the universe is an endless place within the existence of God, and as a small part of the whole, man keeps that divine essence inside him by saying, “You who search for God, it’s you that you’re searching for....”
His favourite saying:
Come, no matter what you are,
Whether atheist or sun worshipper.
Whether you’ve backslid a thousand times,
Come, no matter what you are.
As Hazreti Ali once said:
ReplyDelete“You thought yourself part, small; whereas in you is a universe, the greatest.”
[on the diversity of religions] “The lamp is different, but the light is the same. Love alone can end their quarrel. Love alone comes to the rescue when you cry for help against their arguments.” Rumi [Mawlana]
ReplyDeleteNote: He gave music and dance important roles in Sufism.
A few quotes on Love from “the greatest achievement in life,” my free ebook on comparative mysticism:
ReplyDelete“The soul lives by that which it loves rather than in the body which it animates. For it has not its life in the body, but rather gives it to the body and lives in that which it loves.” St. John of the Cross C
“Love your neighbor like something which you yourself are. For all souls are one. Each is a spark from the original soul and this soul is wholly inherent in all souls, just as your soul is in all members of your body.” Shmelke of Nikolsburg J
“All that is not One must ever suffer with the wound of Absence, and whoever in Love’s city enters, finds but room for One and, but in Oneness, Union.” Jami I
“The lamp is different, but the light is the same. Love alone can end their quarrel. Love alone comes to the rescue when you cry for help against their arguments.” Rumi [Mawlana] I
“Meditate on the divinity within yourself. Drink the nectar of love that continually pours from the heart of God.” Lalla H
“Spiritual love is different. …it leads to unity with the beloved. This unity in love remains forever and ever, always alive, both within and without, and each moment you live in love. It will swallow you completely until there is no ‘you.’ There is only love.” Amritanandamayi Ma [Amma(chi)] H
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