Rumis Way of Passion in Todays World

Today, perched on the edge of madness and seeming chaos and possibly total destruction, the world needs Rumis Way of Passion more than ever before. The decision ma!ers in the "nited #tates, along with some of their closest Western allies, appear to be utterly disposed to waging war against the rest of the world, if necessary, in order to retain hegemony. $ontrol of power, of resources, of money, of weapons, of is the name of their game. They are

governments, of peoples minds and bodies

completely fervent in their devotion to their cause and act with all surety and entitlement. They are also patient. They !now how to set the stage carefully and to use any tactic and e%cuse to appear honorable and trustworthy. The media broadcasts their prepared scenes with eagerness and conviction lending support to the drama by meticulousness and timing. &ut they are not virtuous at all. The rights of others have no meaning for them. The well being of billions of people or the environment or the planet or the future is irrelevant to them. 'nly the current crisis counts. 'nly the most e%pedient, short termed solutions are valid. 'nly the ob(ectives that yield the most profit, i.e. power, for them are viable.

Those of us on the receiving end of these policies and actions need to be (ust as passionate, (ust as dedicated, (ust as diligent, and (ust as willing to act as the warmongers, or we all might lose everything this time around. 'nly by an e%traordinary miracle are

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we going to ever pull off reversing the current world situation. 'nly by e%ceptionally courageous, dedicated people spea!ing out and acting and wor!ing together around the globe to oppose the current mindset and machinery of war and destruction can this tragedy be averted. 1nd, we cannot do it alone or only for ourselves. 2t can only happen as a part of the transformation of humanity for the sa!e of all 3humans, animals, plants, all organic and inorganic members of this world and 4arth herself5 and only by the power of #pirit wor!ing through us. 1s 1ndrew 6arvey states, 7 2 thin! all mystics now believe that there is a chance that the chaos, disaster, and misery of this time will bring human!ind to its collective senses and show dramatically that only a ma(or transformation of consciousness done very fast and with terrific urgency and passion can be ade8uate to the problems that are confronting us. 2f we can transform the situation that is given to us, enact our divine identity and enact the 9charge of responsibility that all the mystical traditions agree that :od has given us, then the growing $hrist will manifest. 7 This possibility demands of us now absolutely everything, because we are the generation on whose sacrifice, passion, and courage for transformation that possibility will be built, if it can be built at all. 'ur hearts have to be where the miracle happens for the future to e%ist. That places on us a uni8ue intensity of responsibility. + ;es, Rumis Way of Passion has definite meaning in todays world. &ut (ust what is this great transformation of humanity that must ta!e place for us to survive< 1nd how is Rumis Way of Passion a prescription for humanitys healing< 1ndrew 6arvey describes our current situation as this= 'ur world is where it is because we have defined ourselves as dying, desperate creatures. What could dying, desperate

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creatures do but destroy their environment, because they are depressed< This is the modern calamity= were depressed because were given information about ourselves that is unbearable. 2t also happens to be untrue. Thin! what many people in the world are believing= they believe that they are dying, that their life is meaningless, that there is no :od, no love, no hope. People are desperate because this information is, literally, unbearable. Worse, it is untrue>/ #o, we can bring about transformation by changing our worldview, and we can change our perceptions by see!ing Truth. 6ere is part of that Truth= ?ife is not a meaningless e%perience@ it is an e%perience in which every moment is brimming with sacred importance, in which everyone is living as :od, in :od, for :od, whether they !now it or not.A To get to this Truth and to live this Truth is what

Rumi shows us through his life and writings. 6e invites us, each one of us, to wa!e up to our oneness with 1ll@ he urges us, individually, to (oyfully step into the ego death fire of the alchemical process of transfiguration and thereby be bonded in sacred unity with 1ll that 2s, with ?ove, with ?ight. ;ou want Reality unmas!ed< $hoose death> Bot the death that drags you to the tomb C The death that is a transmutation #o you at last change into ?ight.,

'nce this fire has burned away the false self and the true #elf emerges, what then< Then the human becomes a living e%ample of the Divine in action for others to follow. 2t means changing the entire ground of our political choices, the entire ground of our relationship with the environment, everything> Eeed the poor, establish (ustice, save the

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forests, unpollute the seas, build cities in which beings can live fragrant and sacred lives. 7 #tart the new Renaissance. 7That means a complete and very rapid shift in the human consciousness, and a complete rededication of all the s!ills we have ac8uired 7 to the Divine and the divine wor! on earth.F This, 2 believe, is what Gatthew Eo% is tal!ing

about when he spea!s about the re invention of wor!. This is what is meant by a life that is awa!ened, creative, and compassionate.

&ut Rumi goes even a step further than this. The ne%t stage in the process of transformation is to actually become what the #ufis refer to as a Divine &eing. This super refined human is identified by three main characteristics= +5 he-she !nows the Divine #ecret that everything that e%ists or happens is, has been, and always will be from, in, and as the Divine@ /5 the perfect human being is a translucent mirror continually reflecting to others divine beauty all around them and their own innate divinity, and A5 the perfect being is a living representative of :od on earth@ the 2nfinite revealed in the finite, the Transcendent manifested in the immanent. #o to become a sacred being, to become one of the perfect beings or to try and become one, is to become a focus of blaHing grace, another point through which the power and love of :od can literally enter the human race. These sacred and perfect beings are wal!ing bombs, whose radiation transfigures everything around them. This is sacred action at its highest.I The self description of such a perfect being could be= ?ove is the essence of my being. ?ove is the fire and 2 am the wood charred by the flame. ?ove occupies and adorns my house@ my self tied up its bundle and vanished. ;ou imagine that you see me, but 2 no longer

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e%ist@ what remains is the &eloved.7J ?iterally, this is Divinity manifesting on 4arth through man. This is the end result of the Way of Passion, the product of the transformation that Rumi prescribes, and it is this which will save and transform the 4arth.

#o, to save the 4arth and human!ind from the threshold of total annihilation each one of us must intend on becoming divine beings as soon as possible. Tonight, on national TK, President :eorge &ush basically declared war on 2ra8. #addam 6ussein has promised world wide retaliation. World war is imminent. 2 will not to be a part of destruction and violence. 2 choose to be a part of the peace solution. #o, how do 2 put Rumis teachings into practice< 2n loo!ing for an answer to this 8uestion 2 stumbled onto this poem by Rumi= On the Limits of Fatalism ;ou have feet C why ma!e out that you are lame< ;ou have hands C why then hide your fingers< When a master puts a spade in a servants hand 6e doesnt need words to ma!e his meaning clear. 'ur hands, li!e the spade, are signs of :od@ "nderstand the signs 6e flashes into your heart 1nd give your life to be in harmony with them. 6ell give you hint after hint about the mysteries@ 6ell remove your burden and give you authority. 1re you carrying 6is burden< 6ell give you the strength. 1re you receiving 6is order< 6ell grace you 6is grace. 1ccept 6is 'rder and youll become 6is witness= ?oo! for "nion with :od and youll become one with 6im. ;our free wills your effort to than! :od for 6is gifts@ Eatalisms a negation of all these gifts. :iving than!s for the power to act increases your power@ Eatalism is li!e sleeping on the (ourney@ dont sleep> Dont sleep before seeing the door of the threshold>

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Eatalism is sleeping in the middle of thieves C $an a coc! who crows too soon e%pect peace< 2f you really trust in :od, then wor! hard, #ow the seed, and lean in the 1lmightys help@ #truggle as long as you can in the way of the Prophets. 4ffort isnt a war with destiny= Destiny itself has imposed on us this effort. L Fatalism in this poem is referring not (ust to the feeling that evil will triumph, but to the notion that everything is in the hands of fate or destiny, i.e. that we have no power to affect the outcome. This poem is saying that relying on or blaming fate is a very limited and stupid idea. Eatalisms a negation of all these 3:od derived5 gifts. Eatalism is li!e sleeping on the (ourney@ dont sleep> Eatalism is sleeping in the middle of thieves Rumi invo!es us to not fall into this way of thin!ing, but to wa!e up, wor! hard and, with :ods help, to change 9destiny through our efforts to emulate the divine living of those Perfect &eings who came before us. 2f you really trust in :od, then wor! hard, #ow the seed, and lean in the 1lmightys help@ #truggle as long as you can in the way of the Prophets.

This is a *ust do it> !ind of message. 4ssentially Rumi is telling us that to alter what appears to be an inevitable outcome 3for our time, war and destruction5 is not only possible with :ods help, its desirable and e%pected. ;ou have feet C why ma!e out that you are lame< ;ou have hands C why then hide your fingers< When a master puts a spade in a servants hand

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6e doesnt need words to ma!e his meaning clear. 'ur hands, li!e the spade, are signs of :od@ "nderstand the signs 6e flashes into your heart 1nd give your life to be in harmony with them. . :od will wor! through us if we choose to become one with 6im and accept 6is 'rders. The wor! will not be impossible or burdensome. 6e only as!s that we tune in, listen up and by our willingness to understand and act, show gratitude for 6is assistance and the opportunity to do 6is wor!. 1re you carrying 6is burden< 6ell give you the strength. 1re you receiving 6is order< 6ell grace you 6is grace. 1ccept 6is 'rder and youll become 6is witness= ?oo! for "nion with :od and youll become one with 6im. ;our free wills your effort to than! :od for 6is gifts

We can and will ma!e a difference@ 2 can and will ma!e a difference, if 2 strive to align myself with Rumis Way of Passion. &y becoming a divine being with, of, and through Divinity, 2 personally, and each and every one of us can ma!e a difference. The outcome of the present world situation is not determined by the inevitability of fate@ but it is transformed by allowing it to be an impetus for us to act. 4ffort isnt a war with destiny= Destiny itself has imposed on us this effort. This action, this effort of ours with the Divine wor!ing through us, is called Gystical 1ctivism by 1ndrew 6arvey. 2t is the putting into practice of Rumis Way of Passion in the world at this time. What the great mystics show us, what has to be done, is to unify the ?ight with our daily wor! and practice. 7 We are both in this body

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and in the transcendent. To live at ease in all dimensions, and to let the transcendent dimension flood through our actions, thoughts, and feelings, is the !ey. This is the full life. 2t is to this full, complete life that Rumi is pointing.. 1ndrew 6arvey and Rumi are begging us to find this !ey, this Way of Passion, and change ourselves and our world forever. $hange your life, act in ?ove in every dimension= economic, political and spiritual C in ?ove, as ?ove, for ?ove C to transform this time of 1pocalypse into the time of Resurrection.+0 Gy personal response to this call has been to deepen my commitment to living a life of total service in #pirit. 2 have e%panded my personal spiritual practice to include prayer, meditation, and healing for myself, my loved ones, my clients, and for all creatures on 4arth, including world leaders and all humanity, as well as for 4arth herself. 2 have also recently aligned myself with spiritual, environmental, and political organiHations whose main mission is peace and sanity and 2 am actively doing wor! with them to promote worldwide transformation. 1nd, 2 am opening a healing center whose main goal is service to #pirit, 4arth, and humanity. 2 am ma!ing a genuine effort so that my life may become a beacon of ?ove and ?ight in the world, that 2 may become a perfect being, in the service of 1ll. &lessings to Rumis Way of Passion, a way of being that can transform 4arth.

Endnotes
+ /

I, p. +./. I, p. +,,. A I, p. +,F. , ,, p. +AA. F I, pp. +FJ +FL. I I, p. /+A. J J, p. +,,. L ,, pp. ,/ ,A.

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+0

I, p. /,J. I, p. A+L.

Bibliography
+. &ar!s, $oleman translator. The Essential Rumi. #an Erancisco= 6arper#anErancisco, +..F. /. 6anut, 4ry!. The Road to Guadalupe: A Modern Pilgrimage to the Goddess of the Americas. Bew ;or!= *eremy P. Tarcher-Putman, /00+. A. 6arvey, 1ndrew. Sun at Midnight: A Memoir if the Dark ight. Bew ;or!= *eremy P. Tarcher-Putman, /00/. ,. !!!. Teachings of Rumi. &oston M ?ondon= #hambhala, +.... F. !!!. The Direct Path: "reating a #ourne$ to the Di%ine Through the &orld's M$stical Traditions. Bew ;or!= &roadway &oo!s, /000. I. J. . The &a$ of Passion: A "ele(ration of Rumi. Bew ;or!= *eremy P. Tarcher-Putman, +..,. M 6anut, 4ry!. Perfume of the Desert: )nspirations from Sufi &isdom. 2llinois= Nuest &oo!s, +....

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