Rumi's 'The Ruby' and Transparency of Mind

Rumi's poem 'The Ruby'

The Ruby

At breakfast tea a beloved asked her lover,

"Who do you love more, yourself or me?"

"From my head to my foot I have become you.

Nothing remains of me but my name.

You have your wish. Only you exist.

I've disappeared like a drop of vinegar

in an ocean of honey."

A stone which has become a ruby

is filled with the qualities of the sun.

No stoniness remains in it.

If it loves itself, it is loving the sun.

And if it loves the sun, it is loving itself.

There is no difference between these two loves.

Before the stone becomes the ruby, it is its own enemy.

Not one but two exist.

The stone is dark and blind to daylight.

If it loves itself, it is unfaithful: it intensely resists the sun.

If it says "I," it is all darkness.

A pharoah claims divinity and is brought down.

Hallaj says the same and is saved.

One I is cursed, another I is blessed.

One an enemy of the light, the other a reflector of it.

In its inmost consciousness, not through any doctrine.

it is one with the light.

Work on your stony qualities

and become resplendent like the ruby.

Practice self-denial and accept difficulty.

Always see infinite life in letting the self die.

Your stoniness will decrease; your ruby nature will grow.

The signs of self-existence will leave your body,

and ecstasy will take you over.

Become all-hearing like an ear and gain a ruby earring.

Dig a well in the earth of this body,

and even before the well is dug,

let God draw the water up.

Be always at work scraping the dirt from the well

To everyone who suffers,

perseverance brings good fortune.

The Prophet has said that each prostration of prayer

is a knock on heaven's door.

When anyone continues to knock,

felicity shows its smiling face.

The light which shines in the eye

is really the light of the heart.

The light which fills the heart

is the light of God, which is pure

and separate from the light of intellect and sense.

Masnavi I, 1126-1127

translated by Kabir Helminski

The notion of transparency of mind is found in the Yoga SUtra YS I.41

क्षीणवृत्तेरभिजातस्येव मणेर्ग्रहीतृग्रहणग्राह्येषु तत्स्थातदञ्जनता समापत्ति:

Arising from the thinning of vRttis or thoughts, like a crystal or jewel (or Ruby!), in the grasper, the act of grasping and the object to be grasped [here grasp can be taken to be know, so knower or mind, the act of knowing and the object of knowledge], That [Consciousness] abides as That making clear the equivalence of these three: this is samApatti. 

Chip Hartranft translates samApatti as 'coalescence'. Note also the coalescence or samApatti implied in Rumi's lines:

"From my head to my foot I have become you.

Nothing remains of me but my name.

You have your wish. Only you exist.

I've disappeared like a drop of vinegar

in an ocean of honey."

A remarkably transparent mind is one of the hallmarks of a mind well on the path. For such a mind, it seems to me that it is not a matter of whether it will reach the Chosen Ideal, but rather it is merely the details of when and where this will happen. When most people are questioned closely about anything related to their notion of self they usually become defensive, whereas one with a disarming transparency of mind and confidence in one's true Self maintains their calm composure with a certain gravitas. People often mistake humility for lack of self-confidence but these are two very radically different things. In today's world humility is so rarely found that people can only think it is lack of confidence, which of course completely misses the mark.

In time the sincere sAdhaka becomes very good at explaining things related to sAdhanA in simpler terms that can be easy to assimilate for a wide variety of beginner minds. This is a gift, and this teaching reinforces sAdhanA. In time the sAdhaka starts to speak in their 'own voice' showing that the mind has assimilated these concepts that are explained to a point where their explanation comes from a personal relation to them, and not a mere memorization of abstract comcepts.

In the beginning the mind is such an interesting combination and variation of authenticity and defensiveness, insight and delusion, faith and despair and doubt. With sAdhanA practice it becomes transparent as a crystal.

They also serve who only stand and wait

My father used to sometimes quote these lines but until today I did not look them up and understand their context. I never knew he had such a good knowledge of Milton either, but there are unfathomed depths to each human being. It expresses a nice sentiment on the virtue of humility.

They also serve who only stand and wait

It is a quotation from the great English poet John Milton (1608-74). After going blind, Milton wrote the poem "On His Blindness". In the sonnet's last line, he reflects that even with his disability he has a place in the world:

When I consider how my light is spent

Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,

And that one Talent which is death to hide

Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent

To serve therewith my Maker, and present

My true account, lest He returning chide,

"Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?"

I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent

That murmur, soon replies, "God doth not need

Either man's work or his own gifts. Who best

Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state

Is kingly: thousands at his bidding speed,

And post o'er land and ocean without rest;

They also serve who only stand and wait.

Meaning: We all have a place in this world and we all perform a function, regardless of our ability or disability (although Talent here refers to the parable from Jesus of the three Talents). The word order of this sentence may make it more difficult to understand. In normal English it would be something like: "They (those people) who only stand and wait, also serve."

इस करम का करूॅ शुक्र कैसे अदा ? Is karam ka shukr karUn kaise adA ?

The song sung by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan goes:

Is karam ka karoon shukr kaise adaa?
Jo Karam Mujh Pe Mere Nabi Ker Dia

How shall I express my gratitude for this Grace bestowed on me?

That Grace  that my Prophet bestowed on me.

Lyrics:

http://www.pakistanimusic.com/lyricsloader.php?url=http://www.PakistaniMusic.com/lyrics/NusratFatehAliKhan-IsKaramKaKaronShukarKaise.txt

Music video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8BIbGCVElA

Some verses from the Bhagavad GItA

Here are some verses I was thinking of from the Bhagavad GItA with regard to who is drawn to the true faith quickly, and how all-encompassing the vision of the GItA is:

In Ch IV on ज्ञान योग: (jnAna yoga) verse 11:

ये यथा मां प्रपद्यन्ते तांस्तथैव भजाम्यहं ।

मम वर्त्मानुवर्तन्ते मनुष्या: पार्थ सर्वश: ॥

Whatsoever the manner in which they approach Me, in that very manner I resort to them; for, O Arjuna! on all sides, men tread paths leading to Me.

(indicating how all gods are essentially forms of the same Consciousness), and

verse 12:

कांक्षन्त: कर्मणां सिद्धिं यजन्त इह देवता: ।

क्षिप्रं हि मानुषे लोके सिद्धिर्भवति कर्मजा ॥

People in the world offer sacrifices to gods, desiring the success of their works. For, in this human world, quick is the success born of works.

 (describing how in the human world, success born of works comes quickly).

Also in verses 25-32, various forms of यज्ञ yajna (sacrifice) are described.

In Ch VII ज्ञान विज्ञान योग: (jnAna vijnAna yoga), verses 19-23 that describe how other faiths and paths come into being and where they lead those devoted to them. Verse 19 says:

बहूनां जन्मनामन्ते ज्ञानवान्मां प्रपद्यते ।

वासुदेव: सर्वमिति स महात्मा सुदुर्लभ: ॥

At the end of many births, the man of knowledge directly reaches Me, realizing, "Vasudeva is all." Such a great soul is very rare indeed.

How are people led to other faiths? Verse 20 explains this:

कामैस्तैस्तैर्हृतज्ञाना: प्रपद्यन्तेऽन्यदेवता: ।

तं तं नियममास्थाय प्रकृत्या नियता: स्वया ॥

By a variety of cravings having lost their (true) knowledge, people resort to other deities; they adopt other disciplines, being constrained by their inborn nature.

यो यो यां यां तनुं भक्त: श्रद्धयाऽर्चितुमिच्छति ।

तस्य तस्याचलां श्रद्धां तामेव विदधाम्यहं ॥

Whichever devotee seeks to worship whichever object of his devotion with faith, to each such devotee I give unswerving faith.

स तया श्रद्धया युक्तस्तस्याराधनामीहते ।

लभते च तत: कामान् मयैव विहिता हितान् ॥

Possessed of that faith, he desires the worship of that form. From that divinity he secures the objects of his desires; for, I Myself have ordained them.

And what comes to those of other faiths (that do not lead to Consciousness)

अन्तवत्तु फलां तेषां तद्भवत्यल्पमेधसाम् ।

देवान् देवयजो यान्ति मद्भक्ता यान्ति मामपि ॥

The fruit of karmas that accrues to those small-minded men must come to an end. The worshippers of gods proceed to the gods (of the senses in heaven); My devotees come to Me (from where there is no return).

In Ch IX, verses 20-21 and 23 (showing the catholicity of our सनातन धर्म sanAtana dharma that does not condemn other forms of worship, but realizes that all forms of God are merely different names for the same Consciousness);

येऽप्यन्यदेवताभक्ता यजन्ते श्रद्धयान्विता: ।

तेऽपि मामेव कौन्तेय यजन्त्यविधिपूर्वकं ॥

And those who worship other deities with faith, they also worship only Me in truth, although in ways not approved by the Vedas.

This is the verse with the phrase अविधिपूर्वकं avidhipUrvakam (avidhi meaning not according to Vedic injunctions, and hence in ignorance, as Sri ShankarAcArya says in his commentary).

Also verses 24-26 of the same chapter are relevant. In verse 25 (yAnti etc), 

यान्ति देवव्रता देवान् पितृ़न् यान्ति पितृव्रता: ।

भूतानि यान्ति भूतेज्या यान्ति मद्याजिनोऽपि माम् ॥

Sri Krishna says, 'To gods repair their devotees; to the Manes go those devoted to the Manes (Manes is an interesting old Latin word for the ancestral spirits), etc. My worshippers come to Me.

It is all lovely, and I hope these bring joy to all sincere aspirants.

Invocation of sUrya

PRAYER TO THE SUN

Om sUryam sundaram lokanathamamritam vedantasAram shivam,

jnAnam brahmamayam sureshamamalam lokaikacittasvayam;

indrAdityanaradhipa suragurum trailokyacUDAmaNim,

brahmAviShNushivasvarUpahRdayam vande sadA bhAskaram."

I always worship sUrya (the Light of Consciousness who in the gross world is seen as the Sun), the beautiful Lord of the world, the immortal, the quintessence of the Vedanta, the auspicious, the absolute knowledge, of the very nature of Brahman, the Lord of the gods (sura means deva or gods of the senses), ever-pure (free of impurities), the one true Consciousness of the world (which is nothing but the mind), the Lord of Indra (the mind who is the Lord of the senses), the Adityas (sons of aditi who are associated with effulgence) and of men, the preceptor of the gods (of the senses), the crest jewel of the three worlds, the true nature of Brahama, Vishnu and Siva, the giver of light.

The Path

The spiritual path is very hard, and often it can seem almost too ambitious, almost futile. All I can say is, if anyone cultivates an attitude of 'never give up', help always arrives in the nick of time. SwamiJ has a nice phrase (you can search it on his website to find the context) that became a mantra for me for a short time 'never give up, always let go'. This seemingly contradictory phrase can carry you through the 'dark nights of the soul'. Essentially, the sAdhaka never gives up trying for moksha, and yet at every point one has to let go of everything mentally. Along the way, the hardest thing to find is constant inspiration. Any determined sAdhaka who has felt the need for it can somehow dig it out of websites, books, teachings, etc. It is undoubtedly difficult, but it can be done. As you know, if anything, the message I have wanted to convey to anyone who wanted to listen, is that Self-realization is an achievable goal for householders in this day and age.

A slight variant of the anecdote of the diamond that the servant went to sell for the master can be helpful here. If one wants to own a very expensive diamond, the first step is to know what a genuine diamond looks like, how much it weighs etc. Then of course, one has to raise the capital to buy the diamond, but without knowing the genuine article, one can cheated by a piece of ordinary glass. Once you have recognized the diamond and started raising the capital, it is also good to take stock of all the capital already raised. Reflecting on your own progress is a useful and inspiring exercise. Without being complacent, it is useful to see how far a little practice leads one, and then one can take stock of the future. Often times one may be closer than one thinks. However, the nature of sAdhanA is that God will lend a hand, and will take 10 steps for each one you take towards Him, but it is also true that until the sAdhaka pays down the entire capital, Grace will not descend. So it is a peculiar balance between putting in full effort, and surrendering the mere self. That last lap is probably best done at a time when one has few commitments, but one can prepare for it even 10 or 15 years ahead of time. The final assault is like going for the Olympic gold, but as you know those athletes practice for years in advance. Keeping that long term goal in mind, but acknowledging and gaining confidence from current progress, while keeping the appetite whetted for shorter term goals is the best path for sAdhakas.

Soma

Soma is one of the most misunderstood concepts in the Veda. In the Rg Veda, Indra gets intoxicated with Soma, and in other parts of the Veda there is a description of the soma yajna and there are directions on how to procure the soma plant (a kind of ephedra) found high in the Himalayas. A lot of the recent (especially Western) literature is obsessed with the hallucinogenic aspects of soma.

The import of Indra getting drunk with Soma is that man is drunk with the world because Indra is the King of the gods (who are the senses), so man whose senses are not under control is drunk with the world. Soma means the moon, and the moon is the source of the mind, and the mind is the source of the world (jagat). When the senses are conquered through yoga, man acknowledges God and the intoxication with Soma is pierced. Soma as the mind also appears in yoga and tantra, where once shakti is awakened in the sushumnA, the soma that drips from the lalATa cakra no longer gets burnt in the jaTara agni, but is quaffed by the yogi. Indeed, after kuNDalinI awakening, there are intensely pleasurable feelings when this soma is enjoyed. But as you know, this too has to be set aside with the spirit of vairAgyam, since it is also a product of the mind, and hence impermanent. Only when the mind completely comes to rest is the Eternal and Absolute Truth experienced. This is why all sights and sounds in the inner realm are all mere distractions along the way, although they can be useful markers of progress and an inspiration to move forward.