Heart advice for when times are tough

Jalaluddin Rumi, the ‘Master of Love’, was a Sufi mystic and poet, born in 1207 in Eastern Persia. As a child he gained a reputation as a gifted spiritual teacher. During his life Rumi composed thousands of verses of mystical love poetry, the messages of which concern the notion of tahweed (unity), where, through love itself, we become one with “the Beloved”: the divine spirit of love within all of us. For Rumi, we are all divine and there is no problem we can face which does not have a solution, no question we can ask which does not have an answer, as long as we remember who and what we are. What, after all, is impossible to God? And the essence of God is love.

Rumi’s poetry has been translated into every major world language and, 700 years after his death, his books still sell in their millions. Thousands of people find it helpful to sit with his words, to meditate on them and reflect, when life is treating them hard.

Here are some of his heart lessons: spiritual advice you can turn to for when times seem tough.

1. For when love seems a struggle and you have that ‘is it all worth it’ feeling:

Through love the heavens are brilliant;
Without love even suns and moons are eclipsed…
Do not revisit the past…
This fleeting moment must not be wasted.

2. For when he (or she) just can’t see your point of view:

What you say may be true:
That I am a bad thorn.
But even a bad thorn grows for the sake of the rose.
The moon has light because of the darkness;
The rose has fragrance because it lives with the thorn.

3. For when you can’t seem to make progress in your relationship:

For a lifetime I have searched my soul
But there was no-one to reflect it…
The mirror of my soul is your face, my love;
You reflect my perfect being.

4. For when nothing seems to be going right:

You are the remedy and the cure.
There is no need to look outside…
When your soul begins to complain
Act in the opposite direction.
Give thanks and make efforts;
Then love will spring up from yourself.

5. For when you are feeling lost:

You were born from The Soul from which all souls come,
The City of those who are not Citizens;
The paths home to this City are endless.

6. For when love has let you down:

Leave behind your fragments of the heart
And look for perfect love.
From this, your heart’s fragments
Will make mountains.

7. For when you find it hard to trust:

Leap into the fires of love!
When you know their ecstasy
You cannot live without the flames!

8. For when you are at loggerheads with each other:

What is love?
It is to renounce your will!

9. For when your heart is broken:

Do not run from the pain, my Beloved.
This pain will ripen you!
Without it you cannot mature…
Raise your wounded heart to God:
God’s tenderness runs first towards the wounded.

10. For when you are alone:

Between two hearts there is always a window
Because hearts cannot remain separate and apart…
All Lovers find Union with the Divine
Because the Beloved seeks also this Union.

I hope that by reflecting on these words you will see that you and your love are special; an essential part to the flow of love and order of the universe, and so much needed in our world. Be brave, be strong, and continue to love, because without you we are nothing.

Advice, reflections, and meditations of the heart from the works of Jalaluddin Rumi, the Sufi mystic and poet.

Ross Heaven is a therapist, healer, and the author of several books on healing, spirituality, and love, including Love’s Simple Truths: Meditations on Rumi and The Path of The Heart, and The Way of the Lover: Rumi and the Spiritual Art of Love. His others include Plant Spirit Shamanism, Darkness Visible, and The Journey to You. He runs workshops on these themes and trips overseas to work with shamanic healers, including the ayahuasceros of the Peruvian Amazon. Visit http://www.thefourgates.com for details.

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