RUMI...and the Inward Journey

The mystical poetry of Rumi has been inspiring the hearts of people who seek enlightenment for over 700 years. His teachings invite us to go on an Inward Journey, from the path of duality to the path of Unity. Our body, mind, and soul unify only when we pay attention to the world within us.

Rumi is the best selling poet in America today. The reason so many people are interested in Rumi's poetry is that he takes us to the world within and guides us as we explore this hidden dimension. The inner world of vivid images dances within us, and a magical spell runs through our existence; then we become alive, wide open and awake to the world around us. Who we are and what we are doing here becomes the quest of our journey.

"Listen to the story told by the reed,
Of being separated.
Since I was cut from the reedbed
I have made this crying sound.
Anyone apart from someone he loves
Understands what I say.
Anyone pulled from a source
Longs to go back.
At any gathering I am there,
Mingling in the laughing and grieving,
A friend to each, but few
Will hear the secrets hidden
Within the notes."
[from The Essential Rumi, by Coleman Barks]

These verses open the six-volume book called the Mathnawi. This magnificent work takes the reader step by step to meet God within themselves. It is an invitation to listen to our soul and to our longing; it is the desire to return to the One Spirit, to feel the wholeness that our souls have been torn from. It is our call to come home to our hearts, to not forget about the deepest longing of our being, but to join Divine Love and see the secret within the secret.

Rumi's mystical spiritual wisdom is hidden in his poetry. It is the story of our soul singing the song of our journey.

"In your light I learn how to love;
In your beauty, how to make poems.

You dance inside my chest,
where no one sees you,

but sometimes I do,
and that sight becomes this art."
[from The Essential Rumi, Coleman Barks]

Fariba Enteshari of Shiraz, Iran, grew up with the poetry of Hafez and Saadi, two famous Sufi poets of Shiraz. Educated in Germany and the United States, Fariba has studied the Mathnawi in its original Farsi for 8 years with international Rumi scholars and has taught Rumi's teachings at the University of Southern California and other institutions. In March 2000, she founded the Rumi Educational Center in Santa Monica, a cross-cultural interfaith educational organization. She is active in organizing an interfaith conference for Ministry of Women in Santa Barbara to challenge participants to use their spiritual insights and unique voices for transformation of religious, political, economic, educational, and social institutions.

Fariba will be teaching in September “Discover the Spiritual Story Telling of Jalal Al’Din Rumi” at the Philosophical Research Center in L.A.