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“https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumi)) Audio Article: The Guest House by Rumi (the audio version will not include any recent updates to the article). Guest House by Rumi This being human is a guest house.Every morning is a new arrival.A joy, a depression, a meanness.Some momentary awareness …”
Seek Inspiration and That’s What You’ll Find
Of all of the many Rumi poems, I especially love, the Guest House by Jalal ad-Din Rumi. This is the poem which I have read and said, watched and listened to most, over and again for years.
You will find the Guest House poem further down in numerous forms, from text to meme plus several video renditions. But I think you will enjoy perusing this entire article for inspiration.
We’re also including the Prayer of Saint Francis in this, for it contains the same message… a message most needed in the world today.
Including the Prayer of Saint Francis
The Prayer of St Francis is a declaration of intent and faith.
I have faith in the ultimate GOOD of humanity for humanity is made up of individuals one at a time. Of mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, of which we each have or have been — one or more.
In this unprecedented time of escalation of inflammation… in the collective physical, emotional and mental body of humanity, let us remember to love above all, to forgive and to have faith in a better day and a better era to come.
Remember… we’re living history in the making. What story would we wish to be written about our role and our attitudes, either for public or family legacy?
Let us sow love, beauty and creativity, no matter the castings or offenses of others. Let us hold them in our heart, for only the wounded or struggling can inflict pain.
Not love. Never love.
Love is the salve that soothes all wounds and protects the emanating heart.
There is MUCH here to elevate you in your aspirations today. Please return here, when you need uplifting and encouragement, and share whomever you think would also benefit.
Table of Contents
- Seek Inspiration and that’s What You’ll Have
- Guest House by Rumi
- The Gift in the Lesson
- The Simple Power of Gratitude
- Values are not Transitory
- 3 Video Renditions of Guest House by Rumi
- Prayer of Saint Francis (Traditional)
- Calling All Angels
Who is Rumi?
Born Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī, ‘Rumi’ was a 13th-century Persian poet, jurist, Islamic scholar, theologian, and Sufi mystic originally from Greater Khorasan.
Rumi’s influence transcends national borders and ethnic divisions as a much admired spiritual legacy for the past seven centuries. Described as the most popular poet in the United States, Rumi’s poems have been widely translated into many of the world’s languages as timeless and mystical poems on life, love and spirituality.
Born: September 30, 1207, Balkh, Afghanistan
Died: December 17, 1273, Konya, Turkey((https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumi))
Audio Article: The Guest House by Rumi (the audio version will not include any recent updates to the article).
Guest House by Rumi
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning is a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness.Some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.Welcome and entertain them all.
Treat each guest honorably.The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.~Rumi, 13th-century mystic
Persian poet, 1207-1273
The Gift in the Lesson
The Guest House by Rumi has comforted me during troubled times and salved my aching heart with the reminder that it is all a part of the heights and depths of the human experience that make up the life. It’s all lessons wrapped as gifts… and sometimes a gift wrapped as a lesson.
Whatever it is, it’s in my life, and I’d much rather view it as “for me” rather than “to me”. Interesting what a difference just one little word can make.
If you have trouble thinking of some of your struggles, especially those apparently inflicted by others as “a gift”… consider that to view it so will empower you. We can discover the gem in the dirt, even if it is the grace of forgiveness.
Every flower first pushes through the dirt before it can blossom. So too, can you. You can push through whatever struggle weighs upon you to blossom stronger, bolder and more radiant.
Stand bold and tall Sunflower. Face the light and you shall be illuminated and uplifted.
To sift the gem in the lesson from the dirt and hold it to the light of the heart is to illuminate its brilliance… and make sacred the struggle.”
~LeAura Alderson, iCreateDaily.com®
Transmuting Dark to Light
Our human inclination is to find purpose and meaning in whatever happens. Perhaps that too is an indication of the alchemy that’s possible when we seek purpose over pain… to ask:
“What is the lesson here and how can I make compost out of manure?”
In the Indian Hindu tradition, the white-gray wonderfully aromatic ash they use to anoint the forehead for pujas (ceremonies) and worship, called Vibhuti, is is actually made from cow dung. The dung is made into patties that are then dried in the sun, which sterilizes and neutralizes them. After that they are powdered and scented with sandalwood and other sacred essences.
Emotional Alchemy
It’s all a very symbolic alchemy of transmutations in the human experience.
Just as our bodies turn food into fuel, so too do our emotions turn experiences into light… or into dark.
In the same way food leads to health or disease, depending on the foods we choose, so too, our emotional health based on the thoughts we choose and the feelings we dwell in.
Best to choose the light and bright and good. And yes… light takes more energy… at first. Until it doesn’t… until the light becomes a self generating miniature sun in our hearts and minds, illuminating life with its radiance.
Imagine what’s possible with every effort to make each moment sacred.
~LeAura Alderson, iCreateDaily.com®
Make Sacred
If it seems like too much to ever do for every moment, imagine the difference in a day to purposefully make a moment in the day sacred. Wow!
If we had moments left to live, would we spend it on most of the things occupying our time and attention now?
What if we instilled the habit of creating something good in that moment? How could we then say — ever again — “I’m bored”, or “I hate…”?
Got a minute or 10? Got time to invest in your future in this present moment? When we focus on the good, we have more of that.
Seeking inspiration through the majesty of the natural world and the beautiful gifts humans share, never fails to elevate and inspire me. Immersing in the good in the world and the work of those we admire, helps us to rise more into our best.
Focusing on the good helps to anchor our own.
Hardships are gifts wrapped in the ribbons of life… awaiting discovery. Gifts to be worn upon our being as a feather of fortune within the cloak of our human experience.
~LeAura Alderson, cofounder-iCreateDaily.com®
The Simple Power of Gratitude
The Guest House by Rumi, is a poetically profound reminder of the simple power of gratitude and graciousness to lighten your burden and brighten your heart. No matter your troubles and angst, to focus on gratitude ignites the light of the heart and brings peaceful perspective.
We do not want to get to the end of this life and look back upon a single moment lost in malaise.
Even in our grief, have we the opportunity to imbue the human experience with an atom of love…. a lighted thought of gratitude for the experience of this life, in all its glory and grime.
I love Rumi’s gratitude theme in the Guest House. The other most powerful theme is the concept that no matter what, be honorable, grateful, respectful, compassionate and kind.
You may also enjoy this article on gratitude.
Rumi and the Dalai Lama both teach the same lesson:
To be honorable, grateful, compassionate and kind, is always a good thing.
~LeAura Alderson, iCreateDaily.com®
Values are not Transitory
It’s easy to be kind, when things are going well. If you believe that gratitude, respect, kindness and love are integral character traits, then these are qualities that live within you, anchored in your heart and soul.
Even those who harm us… especially them… they can only do so from an absence of love… from a deep pain suffered long or near. They serve up ignorance, and the immaturity. We need not respond in kind.
These are all lessons in the school of life and we’re all at various places in experience. Those who wrong us are acting from a lack of love or happiness. The more we can forgive and maintain positivity, the more our own love and happiness will grow.
The principles that anchor you to the very core of your being transcend the chaos of circumstance.
Greatness is to be honorable and kind, even in the shallowest of circumstance and the deepest of sorrows… and everything in between. Even when no one is looking.
~LeAura Alderson, iCreateDaily.com®
There are a number of renditions of Guest House by Rumi on video. Here are a few of our favorites. Let us know yours and we’ll add it here.
3 Video Renditions of Guest House by Rumi
Rumi’s Guest House Time Lapse Nature Video of Zion National Park
This is a lovely pictorial presentation to gentle uplifting music with silent captions, by Jared Warren Photography; Music by Osker Wyld.
Music Video of Rumi’s Guest House
This is also a music video with non-voiced captions, with a perky and inspiring melody by Frederic Delarue.
Yoga to Rumi’s Guest House
A beautifully graceful yoga rendition of Rumi’s Guest House, with voice over reading to the lovely video flow, by BodySongYoga.
The yoga and voice are by Lily Bechtel, BodySongYoga, music—Flying—by Garth Stevenson, by film and editing by @Justininbcn.
We hope this has touched and inspired you as it has us. If you want more along these lines, you may also enjoy Saint Francis’s version of this concept.
Prayer of Saint Francis (Traditional Lyrics)
Song by Sarah McLachlan
Lord make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred let me sow love
Where there is injury, pardon
Where there is doubt, faith
Where there is despair, hope
Where there is darkness, light
And where there is sadness, joyO divine master grant that I may
not so much seek to be consoled as to console
to be understood as to understand
To be loved as to love
For it is in giving that we receive
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned
And it’s in dying that we are born to eternal lifeAmen
Songwriters: Sarah Mclachlan
Prayer of Saint Francis (Traditional) lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
AND… in this vein… to close with another one of our favorites.
Calling All Angels
By Jane Siberry
Santa Maria, Santa Teresa, Santa Anna, Santa Susannah
Santa Cecilia, Santa Copelia, Santa Domenica, Mary Angelica
Frater Achad, Frater Pietro, Julianus, Petronilla
Santa, Santos, Miroslaw, Vladimir and all the rest
A man is placed upon the steps and a baby cries
High above you can hear the church bells start to ring
And as the heaviness, oh, the heaviness, the body settles in
Somewhere you can hear a mother singThen it’s one foot, then the other as you step out on the road
Step out on the road, how much weight, how much?
Then it’s how long and how far and how many times
Oh, before it’s too late?
Calling all angels, calling all angels
Walk me through this one, don’t leave me alone
Calling all angels, calling all angels
We’re tryin’, we’re hopin’ but we’re not sure how
Oh, and every day you gaze upon the sunset
with such love and intensity
Why?
It’s ah, it’s almost as if you could only crack
the code then you’d finally understand
What this all means
Oh, but if you could, do you think you would trade in all
All the pain and suffering?
Oh, but then you’d miss the beauty of the light upon this earth
And the, and the sweetness of the leavingCalling all angels, calling all angels
Walk me through this one, don’t leave me alone
Calling all angels, calling all angels
We’re tryin’, we’re hopin’ but we’re not sure howCalling all angels (calling all angels),
calling all angels (calling all angels)
Walk me through this one,
don’t leave me alone
(walk me through this one, don’t leave me alone)Calling all angels, calling all angels
Songwriters: Jane Siberry
We’re tryin’, we’re hopin’, we’re hurtin’, we’re lovin’
We’re cryin’, we’re callin’ ’cause we’re not sure how this goes
Calling All Angels lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Now go create the world you long for… the world that already exists within you, awaiting your discovery. It begins with you.
~LeAura Alderson, iCreateDaily.com®
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Hello! I’m LeAura, owner and co-creator of iCreateDaily.com®. As an autodidactic philosopher, generalist, personal development advocate, entrepreneur, writer, editor, author, ideator, media publisher, and podcaster, I’m passionate about helping others achieve their best possible life! Our small family of entrepreneurs, writers, investors, educators and creators own and run websites around topics we enjoy, such as gardening, health and fitness, creativity and pets, with more to come.
While my greatest teacher is Life… my formal training includes certifications in mediation, fitness, and strategic intervention coaching, including marriage and family. Today, the synergy of creating websites, articles and podcasts, brings together all my favorite things: family, learning, growth, creating, connecting and contributing. To share these with you is a privilege, that serves my lifelong aspiration to help others.
My personal areas of creativity are in writing, masterminding, ideation, synthesis and bringing ideas to life through business and entrepreneurship, all with a pervasive spiritual foundation with a focus on elevating the lives of others.
Want to submit your photos, videos and/or article content for publication? We love to consider your contribution for publication! creators@icreatedaily.com