Rumi in the World: September 2021
/Rumi’s teachings invite us to an inward journey. This journey takes us from the path of duality to the path of Unity. Body, mind and soul unify only when we pay attention to the world within us. In this section, from our Monthly Newsletter, we relate Rumi and his wisdoms to the world around us — whether this means current events, culture, philosophies, and much more. We examine how his wisdoms can be used to navigate our every day and to help us understand different aspects of life…
Rumi Quote of the Month
عذر احمق بتر از جرمش بود
عذر نادان زهر هر دانش بود
"The excuse of the fool is worse than his crime. His ignorance is the barrier to all wisdom."
~Rumi
Source Mathnawi I, 1060
Translated by Dr. Fariba Enteshari
© Rumi Educational Center
“Read the quote of the month to yourself, then do it again. Then read it out loud, then read it out loud to someone nearby. Read it until the meaning of the words has sunk in. It took this practice for me to really understand the message that Rumi is conveying to us in this couplet. In maneuvering through the world, we make messes, hurt those around us, hurt ourselves, and act imperfectly. This is a given, it is a part of the human experience. Making mistakes offers an opportunity for wisdom to take over a more ignorant understanding or behavior. However, it is when responsibility is denied that wisdom is also barred away from the transgressor. Using excuses as a way to justify an unjust action removes responsibility and takes away the opportunity for learning that messing up so graciously offers us. If responsibility is taken, both internal wisdom, such as knowing your internal motivations for acting unjustly, and external wisdom, in learning better ways of interacting with the world, can be grafted into the experience, taking away from the pain of the original mistake and filling it instead with light.”
