November 2020: Union With the Beloved
/خلق دیوانه شدند از شوق او
از فراق حال و قال و ذوق او
“They became crazed in their longing,
separated from spiritual joy,
communion and intuition.”
~Rumi
Source: Mathnawi I, 551
Translated by Dr. Fariba Enteshari
©Rumi Educational Center
Reflection on the Quote:
A message from Dr. Fariba Enteshari, Founder & Executive Director
Are you afraid of feeling that you are all by yourself during a trying time? Then, may I suggest that you read Rumi and Hafiz who believe that feeling lonely is an indication of remembering of how you were once one with the Whole.
We feel separated because we know how we felt when we were in the presence of GOD. There is an intimate and intuitive knowing, that we are passing through the winding passages of this world feeling alone and separated. When we become forgetful of our roots, we fail to recall that we can be the light of this world. Thus, feeling lost is an acknowledgment of our deeper knowing, igniting the search and questioning of what lies underneath all of the misery in this world. The nostalgia of longing and belonging are one to Rumi and Hafiz. It is in our longing that we search and trace our way back to our source.
Hafiz and Rumi both emphasize the importance of our longing because they are aware that there are layers of our intuition leading us back, like a compass, to a recognition of a place where we felt at home. Thus, longing ignites a search enabling us to uncover a vitality that moves through us.
This awareness of our relationship to ourselves and others is the first layer of our intuition. Rumi calls this ‘common sense’. It is a shared sense of our movement through time and space, a joining of ourselves and others in a dance with all. The path of longing transforms itself to belonging and lead us to the path of solutions. The seeds of solutions to these feelings of being lonely, separated and fearful are always within unity.
-Dr. Fariba Enteshari