Rumi\u2019s tomb. Crowds and noise and \u201cgimme\u201d energy. Gimme this, gimme that. But there\u2019s a devotion in the people that softens and warms the field. There\u2019s a golden-light calm radiance that fills the place. I find a quiet spot to do spiritual exercises and find that this is no ordinary temple. It\u2019s got the juice. It\u2019s a break in the clouds with the golden light coming down through.<\/p>\n
I call Rumi the St. Francis of Islam. Just when it seems like the outer institution is at its height, someone comes from out of nowhere to show the way back in to the heart. John talks very briefly and then invites us to explore the place. It seems to me that\u2019s because the Light is already here in all its brilliance, waiting to be asked to dance.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s still an \u201cAsian\u201d feel here so it\u2019s not my path, but I can enjoy and learn from what it offers. I\u2019m not sure how to describe that \u201cAsian\u201d feel except that eventually there\u2019s something oppressive about the calm, and I don\u2019t want to stay forever. I want to go where there\u2019s ice cream and where God is a baby, where there\u2019s no distinction between inner and outer, where the Light doesn\u2019t come down because it\u2019s already saturating everything in a loud and blinding mess that fulfills everything from the smallest desire to the most mysterious laws of the universe. <\/p>\n
I\u2019m not saying that Rumi wasn\u2019t all of this, but the Light floods an era to the extent that\u2019s allowed and required by the group consciousness, and after the flood recedes the culture of that era and the beings who rule over it are re-empowered to some extent. <\/p>\n
I go back to the air conditioned bus as a calmer, fuller human. It feels like the energy here will suffuse my spiritual exercises in the future and there may be more gifts that will be unwrapped. But for now it\u2019s time for checking into the hotel for a light dinner of some kind of baby food\u2014probably cheesecake.<\/p>\n