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PENGUIN BOOKS THE PURITY OF DESIRE
JALALUDDIN RUMI (1207–1273) is one of the greatest poets known to history. For nearly eight hundred years he has had an astounding influence throughout the Islamic world, and more recently in Western countries.
The son of a scholar, jurist, and mystic, Rumi succeeded his father as the sheik of a divinity college. At the age of thirty-seven his sober life as a teacher was irrevocably changed upon meeting the wandering mystic of astonishing presence, Shams-e Tabriz, whom Rumi recognized as a doorway to God. Shams became Rumi’s beloved companion and Master, and thus began an indefinable relationship of divine longing and union. Rumi’s tremendous creative outpouring of verse was born from his love for Shams.
The body is like Mary, and each of us has a Jesus inside. —RUMI
INTRODUCTION THE WING COMES ALIVE IN HIS PRESENCE
I think that is it, something of the answer. The wing, the soul, the heart, comes alive in the presence of a real teacher. And we all live to feel alive, don’t we? It seems to me our every moment is about that—wanting, needing, to experience life as fully as we can. Loving is the greatest freedom and fulfillment, so the wise, being wise, cash in on that.
Then we can spend less time repairing our hearts and aspects of our lives, because we are becoming less entangled with that which may impede. Yes, well-being with all its trimmings—of peace, fun, laughter, and a deeper, more intense engagement in work, play, passions, contentment—all that starts to become the norm in our days.
The true gauge of success and functioning intellect is having what you want. Otherwise, are you not at war with conflicts and the unrequited?
All external action of the human being is traceable back to some internal, spiritual need. Each of us goes out into the world and bucks heads with it, in some way—providing what shelter and nourishment we can for our families, for the precious we hold, once felt, or deeply believe in. We are all trying to create that space, the environment, where truth, or the height of our experience, can happen again or anew. We want to fully relax and breathe in as much beauty as we can. We want to feel, think…Hey, that was joy that just stopped in for a visit! Glad it came by. I was wondering where the hell it had been.
I think we are using all our wits to enter some inner sky again where we once played with the Divine. But our senses, our abilities to know more of our Self, are broken in places—caged, cracked, sheared, and often denied. That is why we cry. That is why there are wars. That is why there is hatred, why we fear and know greed. That is why a life can seem so empty and hopeless at times, and this surely must add to and perpetuate anyone’s desperation, or depression.
AI Summary
The Purity of Desire by Daniel Ladinsky, Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi presents key insights from the Sufism tradition. The 10 passages above capture the essential teachings.
Core Themes:
- [To be expanded]
Key Passages: Highlights 1, 3, and 10 are particularly representative.
This entry was generated from Readwise highlights. Expand with additional context as appropriate.