Rumi And His Sufi Path Of Love

A bird that tries hard to fly higher and higher will never reach the heaven, but every single moment it will soar from the earth and fly higher than all the other birds

My work with patients has proven that the concept of “pretending thankfulness,” which may appear somewhat strange, in practice brings about very interesting results

In man, there are two great signs: one is knowledge, the other is altruism. Some have knowledge but no altruism. Some have altruism but no knowledge. Glory to the possessors of both

Therefore things that seem bad to us may, on the contrary, be seen as a test or a challenge and in the long run be good for us. This range of vision makes it possible to deal with strokes of fate in a constructive way.

This is the way of the dervishes. When the mind wants to complain, do the opposite—give thanks. Exaggerate the matter to such a degree that you find within yourself a love of what repels you. Pretending thankfulness is a way of seeking the love of God.[8]

points to all the opportunities we have and which may be activated under certain circumstances—if only we overcome our ego (nafs). He shows us the meaning of the following verses by means of his wonderfully concise metaphor, the “angel’s wings” and the “donkey’s tail.” And the soul and Him Who made it perfect, then He inspired it to understand what is right and wrong for it; he will indeed be successful who purifies it, and he will indeed fail who corrupts it. (Shams 91:7-10) Humans are creatures equipped with the wings of angels that are tied up with the tail of a donkey. The wings pull us up, but the tail pulls us back down. Poor human beings are torn in between.[5]

Day by day people who suffer from pain and look for help come and see us, psychotherapists. Rumi shows us that pain may end up in maturation and mental development as long as it is handled appropriately. That is, we should not protest in times of pain (because this comes from God, too), but rather accept it in a very conscious way. Otherwise, we might get caught up in one of those traps that prevent mental development: self-pity (Why me?), hatred for other people (“If he hadn’t acted in such a way, things would have gone better...”), or the rationalization of the fox in Aesop’s fable, sour grapes

Rumi encourages us to cross the bounds of despair and shows us the door of hope. Actually, he shows us new ways to make use of Islamic virtues like trust, hope, steadfastness, and patience and thereby find a cure. He helps us to become greater than our pain and to reach higher levels within ourselves. He helps us to transform our deep pain into mental development, as he himself has taken the same way before us.

encourages us to cross the bounds of despair and shows us the door of hope.

As we develop mentally we can better understand Rumi’s messages which have been sent to us across the borders of space and time.