Rumi

“You ask the embryo why he, or she, stays cooped up in the dark with eyes closed. Listen to the answer. There is no “other world.” I only know what I have experienced. You must be hallucinating.” I like this quote a lot. It reminded me of what my mother always says,” Perception is experience.” It is so true that we only know what we experience. Our perception of the world and other people in it is so often solely based on our own experience without a thought or care that many other ways of life and ways of thinking not only exist, but could greatly and positively impact our own existence.

“Whoever is loved is beautiful, but the opposite is not true, that whoever is beautiful is loved. Real beauty is part of loved-ness, and that loved-ness is primary.” This is definitely one of my favorite quotes from Rumi. It’s that old familiar idea that it’s on the inside that counts. You can have the perfect body, the perfect clothes, the perfect car, etc, but when it comes down to it, all that “perfection” doesn’t equal love. It is the love you experience from family, friends, or a significant other that makes us feel beautiful and see the world as beautiful. That kind of beauty is real because it isn’t based on the superficial and insignificant. That beauty is based on the depths of who we are as people. It is unfortunate that we live in a society that puts so much emphasis on superficial beauty and ultimately superficial love. There is so much more to people than what they look like. Looks fade, but our character has the ability to grow stronger and stronger. I loved his explanation of beauty using the cup and the wine. That was a great analogy.