"... Move beyond any attachment to names." Every war
and every conflict between human beings has happened because
of some disagreement about
names. It's such an unnecessary foolishness, because just
beyond the arguing there's a long
table of companionship, set and waiting for us to sit down.
What is praised is one, so the praise is one too,
many jugs being poured
into a huge basin. All religions, all this singing,
one song.
The differences are just illusion and vanity. Sunlight
looks slightly different
on this wall than it does on that wall and a lot different
on this other one, but
it is still one light. We have borrowed these clothes, these
time-and-space personalities,
from a light, and when we praise, we pour them back in.
and every conflict between human beings has happened because
of some disagreement about
names. It's such an unnecessary foolishness, because just
beyond the arguing there's a long
table of companionship, set and waiting for us to sit down.
What is praised is one, so the praise is one too,
many jugs being poured
into a huge basin. All religions, all this singing,
one song.
The differences are just illusion and vanity. Sunlight
looks slightly different
on this wall than it does on that wall and a lot different
on this other one, but
it is still one light. We have borrowed these clothes, these
time-and-space personalities,
from a light, and when we praise, we pour them back in.
mevlana jelaluddin rumi - 13th century
Translation by Coleman Barks
www.worldprayers.org