Rumi was a 13th century Sufi mystic. His ability to open our hearts helps to dissolve religious, social, economic, and personal boundaries. His poetry inspires us to consider friendship and connections with others to be sacred activities.
Rumi spoke his poetry in beautiful words and images in such a way that I’m sure he recognized the nature of interbeing, the interconnectedness of all things. As he says below, “…even the phrase ‘each other’ doesn’t make any sense.”
Out beyond ideas of wrong-doing and right-doing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase ‘each other’ doesn’t make any sense.
–Rumi
His poetry reminds me of another modern day poet who happens to be my teacher – Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.
Thich Nhat Hanh, known as Thay by his followers, was the person who coined the word, interbeing. It expresses the same idea that Rumi’s poem expresses.
The poem begins, “Out beyond ideas of wrong-doing and right-doing, there is a field.” Thay would say that the field is the kingdom of God or the Pure Land of the Buddha. It exists only in the present moment. It is saying what Thay often says, “We have everything we need to be happy in the present moment!”
Other poems by Rumi remind me of Thay’s books, poems, and dharma talks.
What is your favorite Rumi poem? Write it below!
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