March 2021: A New Day
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گفت ای عنقای حق جان را مطاف
شکر که باز آمدی زان کوه قاف
"Oh awakened lover, praise to your arrival from the mystical mountain of Qaf*
come and spin in the sky of the Truth."
~Rumi
Source: Mathnawi III: 4694
*Qaf— the highest peak in Heaven
Translated by Dr. Fariba Enteshari
© Rumi Educational Center
Reflection on the Quote:
A message from Dr. Fariba Enteshari, Founder & Executive Director
It seems like a good idea to start fresh in the month of March when the Winter comes to an end and Spring beings.
In Persian culture, we celebrate the beginning of Spring as the ‘New Day’ somewhere between 19th to 21 of March. “Nowruz” is the name of the beginning of the new solar year for Persian-speaking cultures. For more than 2500 years people celebrate the moment that the earth spins her way into the spring equinox. They welcome the vibration of seeds trembling with excitement in the dark belly of mother earth looking forward to more time in the sun.
People mirror this jubilant kick off of the new cycle of life in the new season. They celebrate a fresh start and leaving the old behind. They join the new hope that they too can be impregnated with germinating seeds that will nourish them in the coming year.
Rumi was born and raised in the same metaphoric culture that focuses on observation of facts of what mother earth is offering to us. Through observation of the tangible world, they knew how to harmonize, celebrate, hibernate, grieve and prepare from what they learned through direct connection to the earth, universe and each other.
A fresh look at Rumi’s philosophy leads us to simple steps of his school of love, also called the school of Truth. In Rumi’s school of love the foundation of truth is built on love and wisdom.
The message of the Rumi Educational Center is chosen from an image from The Mathnawi, that represents us as a bird flying through our time on the earth with two wings:
“ A bird can only fly with a wing of knowledge and a wing of love.
Imagine a journey without knowledge or love.
In our time, the speed of the internet and the amount of news we are exposed to (true or not) has given many the idea what they choose to believe is fact and reality. A world filled with the noise of opposing facts does not lead to the truth — this has misled us before. The reason that Rumi’s call for Truth and Love reaches us today through the medium of different cultures and a different time is that we know what lies before us if we do not attempt to resolve our conflicts.
This is why in the time of conflict, pandemic and confusion, I go back to the basics of Rumi’s school:
Who are we? The lover, the seeker, the holder of the breath of the Divine.
Where are we coming from? From the source, made of divine breath and earth.
What do we seek? Direct connection to the source, the Beloved, and the Truth.
What is the greatest sin? To feel separated from the Source we all come from and thus to feel separated from each others.
-Dr. Fariba Enteshari