Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Not Just Clay

"The Saint is a hundred thousand human beings, concealed in a single person, a hundred bows and arrows enclosed in a single blow-pipe.
A Saint is a sun, hidden in a mote: suddenly the mote opens its mouth and reveals the sun.
O body, that has become the spirit's dwelling place, this is enough: how long can the Sea abide in a water skin?
O thou, who are a hundred Gabriels in the form of a person: O thou, who are many Messiahs inside the donkey of Jesus,
O thou, who are a thousand Ka'bas concealed in a church.
They ask, "How should I pay homage to this clay? How should I bestow on a mere form, a title signifying my obedience and adoration?"
The Saint is not the form in which he appears; rub your eyes well, that you may behold the Saint in the radiance of the light of Divine Glory!
Here is the mystery: to behold the Seven Heavens in a handful of clay."

Rumi (Vol.6, 4577-4589)

Commentary: Perhaps we are all, much more than our current form, and the clay of this material body. The mystics teach us that the "seven heavens" are within everyone.