The Mathnawi of Jalalu'din Rumi Book 3

The poetry of Rumi is in two parts. The first part is his ecstatic and fiery love poetry. It is a passionate description of the state of awareness he reached after integrating the lessons he and Shams discovered and shared during their time together. This work, which Rumi referred to as the collection of Shams Tabrizi, is a group of poems which give flight to the human spirit in their beautiful and reassuring messages of hope. Many selections from this extensive collection have been translated in to English and are widely available. This first group of his poetry marked a new awareness of spirit for Rumi. Previous to his meeting with Shams in 1244, Rumi was not in this zone of happy and joyful awareness, but more of a stodgy academic whose spirituality was in form, and not proceeding from an inner awareness. Probably, many of Rumi's followers were curious about the transformation that Rumi achieved. What did he learn from Shams? What did they talk about? What were his realizations? What was it like for him to make this shift in awareness? Questions like these may have prompted him to explain the insights he came to realize, and how these new understandings affected him. The changes of awareness he experienced are described in the second part of his poetic work, the six books of the Mathnaw . The process of his transformation is described in many ways, on many levels. The stories he offers present different sets of characters, sometimes human, sometimes animal, but these various players are representative of the inner qualities found inside all human beings. The difficulties of surviving the demands of life, and the yearning to transcend these mundane demands are the topics which Rumi explores, sharing with the reader the understandings he achieved in his own spiritual quest. The basis of Rumi's approach to awareness is found in line 34 of the first book of the Mathnaw , his guide-book for those seeking to learn the means of his transformational process. "Do you know why the mirror of your soul reflects nothing? Because the rust is not cleared from its face." Removing the rust from the heart is, in Sufi terminology, the clearing away of barriers which prevent one from achieving an all-encompassing clear vision. Every-day events swirl around us distracting us from the perceptions which are otherwise available to our awareness. When the mirror of the heart is clear, a true image of life is reflected to the mind, and the mind can participate in the glory of an amazing world of living beings, animate and inanimate, offering their messages of love and joy. When the two wings of the heart and mind are unfolded and work together in unison, the spirit can fly free. Rumi's Mathnaw was translated into English in the early 1900's by Reynold Nicholson. His magnificent translation is now available in an updated version, far more readable while maintaining the accuracy and dignity of Nicholson's original work. Books one and two are available from Amazon, Book 1 ISBN 978-1500539795, Book 2 ISBN 978-1533505651. Book 3 ISBN 978-1536877526. Books 4 and 5 later in 2016. Book 6 next year. More information on these books is available on the Facebook page "Mathnawi"