January 2021: Between Fear & Hope

چون دریدی پرده کو خوف و رجا 

غیب را شد کر و فری بر ملا

"Once you rip the veil between fear and hope

the vision of majesty shines from the Unseen."

~Rumi

Source: Mathnawi I, 3618

Translated by Dr. Fariba Enteshari
 ©Rumi Educational Center

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Reflection on the Quote:

A message from Dr. Fariba Enteshari, Founder & Executive Director

Closing the mental window of our mind to the old chapter and opening a new window in our hearts to move through a life that lays ahead…How will this work when old fears are still hanging over our heads and new hopes are not yet strong enough to get us through the funk we are in?

Remember the central part of Rumi’s mysticism? 

The connection between reality and the mystical aspect of life is so intertwined in Rumi’s opinion that if we ignore this reality and its many aspects —the door to the mystical aspects of life will be closed. In other words, we lose the ability to fathom the intangible because we fail or refuse to see, understand and even more, to investigate what is tangible and right in front of us.

We just celebrated the festival of light and the birth of light within the darkest and longest night of the year! Why celebrate the longest, darkest night? Because hope illuminates the darkness; hope is small and intangible and can be ignored. Our Ancestors chose to celebrate the start of light because in fact they saw that the days grew longer. They were aware that they needed the reminder  that hope and light accumulate. They knew during the long cold days of winter that they needed to come together, to help each other to grow the seeds of hope before they planted the seeds in Spring. Slowly, the light grew and carried them to the season of blossoms in Spring. All they needed to do was to be together, to help each other, to share the food they had in the tough, cold days of winter while they hoped to survive to see the light in Spring. They had the wisdom to know that the food was not the only nourishment that they should rely on.

Action by action, the hope grows when we do not ignore the natural laws of reality and we take solid steps to solve the problems that can be managed only when we willfully do not surrender to the fear and denial.

2020 taught us a lesson that ignoring the facts does not make them go away, and can make conditions worse. Are you willing to learn this one lesson? Hopefully, we can see that 2021 is a time for coming together regardless of our backgrounds, who we are, and which part of the world we live in. Only then can we solve a colorful pandemic that seems to be far smarter than our  sometimes unwise wishful behavior. Listen to the wisdom of ages, but more importantly, learn from it.

“Hope” is the thing with feathers 

That perches in the soul 

And sings the tune without the words 

And never stops - at all 

~ Emily Dickinson

Even 800 year ago, Rumi showed us there is a veil between our fears and hopes.

Until we tear apart the veil of the fear that blinds us to the pain we feel, we are not able to reach into the heart of majesty earning the courage, vision and the hope anchoring us to what we are in our essence, the beacon of light from beyond. 

To inspire and support each other as we go through such a time, we need to set our compass to the true north and identify correctly our mistakes in the past, our steps in the now, and know that while the path ahead is winding and steep — we can overcome our missteps only with the help of our better angels at work. 

-Dr. Fariba Enteshari