Friday, February 11, 2011

The Water You Want


Someone may be clairvoyant, able to see
the future, and yet have very little wisdom.

Like the man who saw water in his dream,
and began leading everyone toward the mirage.

I am the one with heart-vision.
I have torn open the veil.

So they set out with him inside the dream,
while he is actually sleeping
beside a river of pure water.

Any search moves away from the spot
where the object of the quest is.

Sleep deeply wherever you are on the way.
Maybe some traveler will wake you.

Give up subtle thinking, the twofold, threefold
multiplication of mistakes.

Listen to the sound of waves within you.

You are dreaming your thirst,
when the water you want
is inside the big vein on your neck.

4 comments:

Ruth said...

I appreciate the confluence of Rumi and Rilke today. Rilke:

If the confident animal coming toward us
had a mind like ours,
the change in him would startle us.
But to him his own being is endless,
undefined, and without regard
for his condition: clear,
like his eyes. Where we see future,
he sees all, and himself
in all, made whole for always.

Elisabeth said...

A confluence indeed. Thanks Ruth, and Lorenzo. Thanks Rumi and Rilke.

George said...

I haven't been following the Rumi blog on a regular basis — though it is unfailingly wonderful. Today, however, I could not resist the enticement of the title, "The Water You Want.' If I were a skywriter, I would write that last stanza across the sky so that everyone in the world could see it: "You are dreaming your thirst, when the water you want is inside of the big vein on your neck." We must listen to the waves that ebb and flow within our lives, listen to the rhythm and dance to it.

Terri said...

We search for happiness, satisfaction and peace outside us believing them to be just a few steps farther ahead. In reality if we would stop and make the effort to see, we'd realize they aren't outside us, they are inside us.