I've always been fascinated by Sufism for its emphasis on music, poetry and dancing (!) as a way to draw closer to the divine. In fact, it was a line from the Rumi Poem, "The Drunkards" that provided the name of my blog. Thus, I was particularly excited to find an excellent piece in today's Guardian on the Sufi poet and saint, Rumi. From it, I have drawn my Sunday inspiration:
Because God can best be reached through the gateway of the heart, Rumi believed you did not necessarily need ritual to get to him, and that the Divine is as accessible to Christians and Jews as to Muslims: "Love's creed is separate from all religions," he wrote. "The creed and denomination of lovers is God." All traditions are tolerated, because in the opinion of Rumi anyone is capable of expressing their love for God, and that transcends both religious associations and your place in the social order: "My religion," he wrote, "is to live through love."
6 comments:
A beautiful thought. Thanks for sharing it!
I always loved those whirling dervishes. Very nice!
Heretic! How dare he utter such blasphemy!
God is reached via the Murdermayhemintolerance Mall where fear of sex toy reprisals and dour expressions dominate amen oh lord.
Seriously, this is beautiful and I will definitely be looking into Sufism and Rumi.
First stop, the Guardian.
Thanks for this post Patry!
I liked this very much. i don't think ritual is necessary either, but it does have its own beauty and helps one to become centred and in tune.
Another beautiful post.
The Drunkards... there is a painting by Velasquez called like that (Los Borrachos in Spanish)...
I do like the pictures... makes you dizzy...
nice to see sufism somewhere on a blog. i was a member of the sufi order of the west years ago. love rumi, sufi dancing. enlivening!
Post a Comment