10 Oct Soul and the Old Woman (RUMI)

“What is the soul? Consciousness.

The more awareness, the deeper the soul, and when such an essence overflows, you feel a sacredness around.

It’s so simple to tell one who puts on a robe and pretends to be a dervish from the real thing.

We know the taste of pure water.

Words can sound like a poem but not have any juice, no flavor to relish.

How long do you look at pictures on a bathhouse wall?

Soul is what draws you away from those pictures to talk with the old woman who sits outside by the door in the sun.

She’s half blind, but she has what soul loves to flow into. She’s kind; she weeps.

She makes quick personal decisions, and laughs so easily.”

Excerpts from:

Rumi, J. (2002). The Soul of Rumi, Translated by Coleman Barks, Harper One of Harper Collins Publishers, (p. 56).