Friday, March 21, 2003

Pomegranate Laughter poem by Rumi, 1207-1273 When you go to buy a pomegranate, pick the one that's laughing, that has its rind cleft, so that through its broken-open-ness you get some information about the seeds. Listen for the laughter that shows the inside, that cracks the casket-shell and lets you see the pearl. There's another kind, an unhappy laughing like the red anemone's that shows its inner blackness. But pomegranate-laughter is blessed, like the companionship of good people. Even if you're a common rock, when you join them, you'll become a precious stone. Keep the love of holy laughing in you. Don't visit sad neighborhoods. Let laughter lead you to the right people. Your body-wantings will take you out of the sunlight into dark and dank places. Feed on the conversation of a lover. Look for spiritual growth from one who is farther along than you. There was once a Christian gospel that had in it some mention of Muhammed, his courage and his fasting. Whenever a group of Christians studied this gospel, they bowed and kissed the words of that passage. Without knowing it, they were looking for refuge inside that light, and with its power it befriended and helped them. Poem by Rumi, 1207-1273 -- Mathnawi, I, 718-733 Version by Coleman Barks "Feeling the Shoulder of the Lion" Threshold Books, 1991 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ [To subscribe to Sunlight, send an email to: sunlight-subscribe@yahoogroups.com 10:32:19 AM    comment []