Thursday, August 15, 2019

What It Means - Day 150

"THE MANY WINES

God has given us a dark wine so potent that,
drinking it, we leave the two worlds.

God has put into the form of hashish a power
to deliver the taster from self-consciousness.

God has made sleep so
that it erases every thought.

God made Majnun love Layla so much that
just her dog would cause confusion in him.

There are thousands of wines
that can take over our minds.

Don't think all ecstasies
are the same!

Jesus was lost in his love for God.
His donkey was drunk with barley.

Drink from the presence of saints,
not from those other jars.

Every object, every being,
is a jar full of delight.

Be a connoisseur,
and taste with caution.

Any wine will get you high.
Judge like a king, and choose the purest,

the ones unadulterated with fear,
or some urgency about 'what's needed.'

Drink the wine that moves you
as a camel moves when it's been untied,
and is just ambling about."
Rumi (The Essential Rumi, pp. 6-7)

And continuing with our theme from the last few days, here's what is arguably Rumi's most famous and influential poem (which would be saying a lot).  It has so many iconic passages. Any Eric Clapton fan will recognize the reference to Layla from the Derek and the Dominoes classic song. Yes, it's drawn from a famous Persian story, that Rumi is referencing here. Majnun was so madly (emphasis on madly) in love with Layla that he couldn't think straight, which spoke to Clapton because of his equally mad love for George Harrison's wife Pattie Boyd. Thus, coming back to our discussion of the use of romantic/physical love as a fitting metaphor, you should be so overcome with love for your God that you are almost drunk with passion. However, as Rumi reminds us, we should be a "connoisseur" because not "all ecstasies are the same." Rather, we should: "Drink from the presence of saints, not from those other jars." When I was first thinking of converting years ago the local Imam (who actually told me that there was truly no hurry to convert) asked why. I recounted my list of reasons, which I've discussed previously so I won't repeat myself, and finished that I loved Sufi poetry and its deeper meaning. He replied, while smiling, "Yeah, about that . . ." which nicely summarized the complex relationship that mainstream Islam has with the Sufis, who appreciate the fact that they've always been great missionaries but also view them as odd balls who often cause more harm than good. However, my answer would be that it's only true if you're not paying attention, not delving more deeply into the underlying meaning (which you can also say about Islam in general). The metaphor of God as lover, like all metaphors, is designed to help someone understand something that they might not normally grasp, and you have to keep digging.

"Any wine will get you high.
Judge like a king, and choose the purest."


No comments: