Monday, October 19, 2009

The Guest House


This being human is a guest-house
Every morning a new arrival
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house,
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyone.

Say I Am You: Poetry Interspersed with Stories of Rumi and Shams,
Translated by John Moyne and Coleman Barks, Maypop, 1994

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