Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Muslim / Sufi 13th Century	About Jelaluddin Rumi Timeline (1207 - 1273)
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English version by Coleman Barks Original Language Persian/Farsi	Whoever finds love
Commentary by Ivan M. Granger Themes   Lover and Beloved   Womb         Recommended Books Delicious Laughter: Rambunctious Teaching Stories from the Mathnawi of Jelaluddin Rumi, Translated by Coleman Barks East Window: Poems from Asia, Translated by W. S. Merwin The Essential Rumi, Translated by Coleman Barks The Hand of Poetry: Five Mystic Poets of Persia, with Lectures by Inayat Khan, Translated by Coleman Barks Holy Fire: Nine Visionary Poets and the Quest for Enlightenment, Edited by Daniel Halpern More >>	Whoever finds love beneath hurt and grief disappears into emptiness with a thousand new disguises     -- from The Essential Rumi, Translated by Coleman Barks Amazon.com
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Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

Most of us live our entire lives with a thick veil or filter draped across existence -- the ego-mind. Everything we perceive or imagine is colored by that filter. When the ego falls away we "disappear" -- the normal sense of self as a separate, isolated entity amazingly fades out. The mind grows quiet. Any movement in the mind is perceived as a minor ripple that does not affect the clarity. As a result, the endless projections of identity, form, and enforced relationships between aspects of reality disappear. Instead, there is only a unified Whole, which includes us. We, like that Wholeness, are now understood to be formless, fluid. In this sense, we are spaciousness in an even vaster spaciousness. This is how we "disappear into emptiness."

So, the disguises... Being formless, we still participate in the realm of form, because that is all the realm of form understands. Rather than a trap or a fixed identity, it becomes a game. You *pretend* to be someone, so other someones can relate to you. You wear masks that suit the situation, and then change them as the situation changes. Yet none of them are "you," and you know this. Being formless, you can assume any form. You have "a thousand new disguises."

Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2008 by Ivan M. Granger.
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