Sunday, March 23, 2008

Along the Spiritual Path- Trapped in the Web of Thought


There is a constant chatter that goes on in our heads, so much so that it is often quite difficult to have a peaceful moment, a moment with no thought, just a stillness. That is why it is hard to meditate. We must constantly remind ourselves to shut up! Concentrate on the breath…just breathe.


I know that when I finally do quiet my mind, I get a glimpse of something ethereal, an “awareness” beyond my thoughts. Just recently I came across a poem by Rumi. He was a Sufi mystic who wrote poetry about his relationship with God, whom he called the “Beloved”. Part of the following poem, which is untitled, talks about being trapped in the web of thought:

…I’m only with you in this transient shadow that is my body;

My joy is beyond the cusp of your frantic imagination;

Now I have broken free of the dull gravity of knowledge

I take it and use it and do not let it oppress and abuse me.

Like insects we are trapped in the web of thought,

We are entwined in cords of anguish from moment to moment.

I can visit thought with diplomatic lightness ready and able

To spring away with the flick of a finger from its net when I will

Thought is my prey waiting for my will, I'm a hunter with a heart

Mathnavi 11, 3547

From:
Words of Paradise
Selected Poems of RUMI

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