Interpretation of Rumi Poem - Realization

Please go through the introductory article
https://www.astrosaxena.com/articles/InterpretationofRumiPoemsQuotesIntroduction to
understand the theme of these interpretations of Rumi’s literature.


Rumi’s Poem – Realization.


“Man is hidden behind his words; his tongue is the curtain over the door of his soul.
When a gust of wind lifts the curtain, the secret of interior is exposed,
you can see if there is gold or snakes, Pearls or Scorpions hidden inside.
Thoughtless speech spills easily out of Man, while the wise ones keep silent.
Faulty eyes see the Moon double and that gazing in perplexity is like a question;
Once you connect with Divine Light, the question and the answer become one.
But if you only hear the answer, do not be fooled, for the ear is simply go-between.
While the eyes perceive the reality directly, the ear relies on the promise of the words.
From words alone, you cannot know the fire.
Do not rely on knowledge derived from others, there is no certainty, until you burn.
Make the ear sharp so it becomes an eye, if not, words become entangled in the ear and the truth can never reach the heart.”


My interpretation – Now, my interpretation of this poem is as follows –

At first, Rumi is talking about the hypocrisy of humanity. Most of us present a fake side of ourselves outside in the world through what we say, and keep the reality hidden from others and of course others are also doing the same. Hence, Rumi says that we are hidden behind the veil of our words and our tongue (words) is the curtain over the door of our soul (reality).

Under these circumstances, when we get into situations (gust of wind) where we do not have much time to pre-plan and prepare our responses and reactions to continue with our façade, then we show our real face, our true selves, in those moments of spontaneity. So, understand it like this, a person can be presenting himself as a very non-violent and peaceful person but Osho says that the real test of a non-violent person is when he has a weapon in his hand and an armless enemy in front of him. If that day, he can remain peaceful then what he preaches would be the same as what he practices. Then what he is on the outside would be the same as what he is on the inside.

We can also understand “Gust of Wind” as the entry of a Guru in our life who would make you realize your reality which you were hiding throughout. Guru’s presence in life is enough to show us the real soul within and what we were faking in front of world.

A person, who is unaware, can speak in a negligent manner and that would show his evolution level. This is why; in spiritual life, there is so much emphasis given to Silence and going inward.

A person, who is not aware or not living at consciousness level, his mind will always work and see things in duality (Moon Double) and will always be in confusions or dilemmas.

But if we rise in consciousness level and reach higher consciousness then we can realize everything as one and there will be no duality left in mind. For example, Life and Death look like opposite poles but they are one only. Every moment we are living also (inhaling) and every moment we are getting closer to death also (exhaling). Death is nothing but a deep exhale.

Now, Rumi says that the biggest mistake can be that we hear the answers from someone else and we start thinking that we have already got our own answer/self-realization. The answer we hear from others can be their answer and can become a guiding light for us but we need to realize our own path and complete our own journey towards the truth. Borrowed knowledge or reading some scriptures cannot be the end of the journey, though it can very well be the beginning of the journey.

This is why; out of all the sense organs, eyes are considered as the most important because when you see something or someone through your eyes then it is your direct experience. It is not coming from spoken or written words but from your direct face-to-face encounter with the situation. This is also why; one of the words we use for Enlightened Being is Seer (SEE-R), the one who has seen the God himself through his own eyes.

Another reason why we should not rely much on spoken or written words is that we hear what we want to hear and we understand what we want to understand. As Osho says, all your interpretations are nothing but your desires. So, if we rely on spoken or written words then there is a big chance of things leading us astray. We should evolve from Hearing to Listening and from Communication to Communion, to understand the real meaning of words spoken or written. Else, we will keep on finding our own meanings and interpretations (rooted in our conditionings) and would be in the illusion of realization of the truth.

Hope this helps. Thanks,