Radio Rumi

With this episode, I start a discussion of Rumi and the environment. Citing his lyrics, I point to his reverence for nature as a site of the presence of the Divine. Seeking the Koranic description of God in a green tree, Rumi views our natural habitat as beautiful, lively, and closely connected with us. What we need to do is to discover it as a source of inspiration, and to preserve it for the generations who will follow.

This program focuses on what Rumi says about the concepts of death and dying. I start with his definition of life itself and move on to the end of life as we see and experience. I make an effort to minimize philosophical debate and stay focused on his attention to the human experience.

In this program, I elaborate on the significance of the notion of change in Rumi's lyric poetry. If things stay the same, life can turn into a kind sleep with little to explore. New encounters, even if challenging, are opportunities for learning and growth. That is why love says to human beings: "If you make a hundred houses like the bees, I'll make you homeless like a fly." Traveling in search of a home could be a destination.

For Rumi, everything in the world is a sign pointing to the presence of the sacred. If we miss one sign, another will come our way. As, in the past week, many people celebrated the beginning of the spring as their new year, Nowruz, we in this program look at the way, in Rumi's poetry, spring breeze brings life after the cold winter.

Rumi speaks of Jesus often. In this program, I discuss the dynamism of this image, and its celestial power. The breadth of Jesus is life-giving in the Qur'anic tradition and in Persian poetry as a whole. I, then, turn to the way Rumi expands the poetic power of this image by bringing it into the environment around us and into our day-to-day living. Once more, we are in the picture as this divine force turns the earth into a meadow.

The idea that we are constantly recreated is not a new idea. The Greeks spoke it, as did the Sufis. Rumi loves the concept because it means we can break and rebuild ourselves. We can end and begin the way the seasons do. In this episode, you will hear many more lively and musical verses from the Divan, Rumi's collection of lively lyrics. Through them, he shocks, and enchants his readers as he pushes them to ignore every limit - even time and space - to be a part of the world's constant recreation.

This program brings you many poems so you hear Rumi's own voice as opposed to interpretations of it. These poems generate a dynamic energy that help Rumi break out of his old habits. He describes them as birds that break open the cage of his body to fly free. Once they are out, they are ours too. They make sadness leave, and tears go away . In his words, they help us wash our body and soul in ways of wisdom. We see/discover a new world being created around us every instant, a new world of our own.

Rumi discussed abstract ideas as well as practical ways of life including religious practice. Was he a practicing Muslim? Or, did he rebel against religion as well. What is Zikr? Is there a connection between Zikr and reflection? I will explore these as well as some of Rumi's ideas, which could seem out of place in our competitive world such as "belonging to the sea," and being "co-travelers," whose souls are one.

In this program which is a continuation of Program 16, we discuss how Rumi uses the concept of "being in love" to denote being emotionally connected and involved with the world around you. It might seem strange to tell someone to try to be in love. Our natural reaction is that we are either in love or not. How could we be asked to feel something that we are not feeling? Well, you need to listen to Program 17 to find this out for yourself.

In this program I speak about Rumi's informal sermons to people who came from many places to hear him speak. He did not write these presentations into a book, his followers did. It came to be know as Fihe ma fihe which means "It is in it, what is in it." The title which echos a famous line of poetry highlights the unconventional nature these talks. They contain stories, jokes, rebukes, and basically his words of wisdom. Like everything else that Rumi said, their focus is love. Again, the purpose of this love is to give us the stamina to work on understanding the purpose of our existence. We are each a Mary, pregnant with God. If we understand our body- and the sacred nature of what we carry - we will give birth to our sacred being/God in due time.

In the last program I told you about Shams of Tabriz, the simple basket-weaver who turned into an influential teacher transforming Rumi's outlook on life. Today, we will continue with that conversation by listening to some of sayings of Shams where his thoughts are crystallized in his candid - yet caring - words. Being down to earth, so to speak, is a major characteristic of Shams and Rumi both. Presence, and teaching, for both of them are discrete qualities rather than loud words. Stars shed light on your way without uttering a single word. To recognize these presences, however, it is important to protect your solitude particularly when surrounded by people. Thus you will notice the beloved walking inside your soul invisible to others -- and that you are a sea without shores.

In this program, I will introduce you to Shams of Tabriz, Rumi's teacher. We will talk about who Shams was as his influence had a great impact on the next two decades of Rumi's life; on who Rumi became. Even though Shams was something of a recluse, he had a rather refreshingly candid personality. This was particularly apparent when he spoke truth to power in political times that were fraught with turmoil. Shams was in his 60s, a couple of decades older than Rumi, had traveled much and was a learned person. Furthermore, his profession was basket-weaving, a metaphor often used for weaving and shaping one's personality. Listen to the program to see how he reshaped Rumi's life!

We live restless lives feeling - always - that we have not done enough. This is not a modern condition. Rumi's poems refer to it often. His cure is the concept "Bikhodi," literally being free of oneself, being enchanted. He asks his readers not to fall for binaries that run our lives: right, wrong, belief in God, or disbelief in Him. This far too simple, he would say. See the world, and be enchanted by it. That is his message. The poems I will read in this program are focused on the connections between our inner feelings and the world outside us. If you see the moon, and be enchanted by it, the moon will come down and sit with you!

Rumi shows great recognition of the fact that we may be in full peace one instance and agitated the next. These changes are often caused by being too focused on what we are afraid of loosing: control. If we come to terms with who we are, and stop being obsessed with ourselves, he tells us, the whole world will look different. More importantly, we will stop and see the world. That is why in the middle of a verse, as we think we are gaining full control of what he speaking about, he'll introduce a whole new topic. Surprise is what he likes to keep alive in us. The ultimate goal is to see that we are not one thing but many, light and smoke at the same time. Free yourself of unchanging definitions, he would say, tear down the house that can become your prison.

Storytelling is humanity's oldest and most favorite way to connect with one another. Those who tell their life story well are no longer strangers to others. In good stories, complicated thing become clear and palpable. Rumi is a great storyteller. He makes his thoughts accessible. In one story, he tells us about an elephant who goes to a pond to drink water. Seeing his reflection in the water for the first time, he is so scared that he runs away. Rumi's point? We do not look at our shortcomings because you we know will be scared. But we see the shortcomings in others easily and blame them. "Look at yourself, and see the good and the bad" he says. "It will encourage you to fix it -- and to be kinder when you see it in others." There are many more stories to listen to.

Who are we, what controls us, emotion or rationality. How should we approach Rumi's poetry, with our hearts or our minds? After the enlightenment, thinkers and philosophers - starting with Descartes - divide human beings into body and soul, one earthly and the other heavenly. For Rumi, we are one big bundle of many things: fear, courage, analytical abilities, and total confusion. There is no either/or because our human experience is a continuum. Emotion and rationality are not enemies, they are each other's extension, sometimes the same thing. Getting confused can be a prelude to seeking clarity. Think what you would do if you had a great piece of fabric and wanted to have a dress made...

This program looks at the Sufi concept of Oneness of all existence. For Rumi, the source of all existence is one light and we are windows through which this light shines. Our ability to let this light come through, and be colored by our thoughts and actions, makes the world what it is. We all matter regardless of our age, race, color...We are like words in a sentence. Every word matters even one as small as "and." To be true to our role in the universe, we must never stop searching. We do not have the answers. But the good news is that asking questions is more important than knowing the answers.

While the theme of love is going to come up time and again in these podcasts, this is the concluding episode focusing on it as its main theme. How do we speak of love with our limited and over-used human vocabulary? If we cannot describe this complex experience, what else can we do with it?  If it is supposed to build us a new self, why does it feel overwhelming?  Why is it so prevalent in our thoughts, words and other and other artistic creations? what do we give to Love? What do we gain from it?

This episode which was recorded soon after the general election, emphasizes the significance of love as a lasting theme that can help us through disagreements and social rifts that often divide human society. Furthermore for Rumi, this worldly love, love connected to erotic desire, is not separate from or antagonistic to spiritual love. More than anything else, for Rumi love is a tool for bringing about positive change. In that sense, it is not passive or melancholic but a source of energy, action, and agency. Love is a process of searching, discovery, creation, and ultimately liberation.

In this episode, recorded last October, we connect Rumi and Einstein separated by centuries. They are astonishingly similar in their aspiration to make us see how connected we are with the universe -- neither separate from it, nor captive in it. They both see knowledge as healing and liberating. They both see that everything perishes except for love. And what we run after, often in circles, is much closer than we think. Dive deep within, Rumi says, strengthen your wings. Now fly out for you no longer need a ladder.