With Both Eyes

"O you, who bites your lip in admiration at the beauty of spring, look on the coldness and paleness of autumn.
In the daytime you deem the countenance of the sun to be beautiful: remember its death in the moment of setting.
If the body of those in the fresh bloom of youth has made you its prey, after it has come to old age, behold a body bleached like a cotton plantation.
O you, who have enjoyed rich and wonderful food, arise and see the residue thereof in the latrine...
The acute, far seeing, artful genius, behold it at last as an imbecile...
Observe the world's existence, how at first it is pleasing and joyous; and then observe its shamefulness and corruption in the end...
Reckon every particle of the world to be like this: bring its beginning and its end into consideration...
O you, who have put firm confidence in the vain words and flattery of a scoundrel.
You have raised up a tent of bubbles: in the end you will find that the tent has exceedingly weak ropes...
Seek the applause and the renown that does not die away, the splendor of a sun that does not sink....
Everyone pretends to excellence and elegance: the stone of death is the touchstone for these qualities...
See the beginning and the end with both eyes. "

Rumi (Vol. 4 1596- 1709)

Commentary: Mystics are frequently accused of being romantics and idealists, and otherworldly. But Rumi insists that we look at this world without illusions, without deception, without wishful thinking. It is a bracing assignment; to look at existence with both eyes open.