Art depicting Meher Baba doing the Sama Dance
Beloved Baba said the Avatar descends every 700 to 1400 years. 700 years before his advent, we did not have an Avatar but we did have a glorious descent of grace that prepared creation for the Avatar’s most significant manifestation. This occurred through an exceptional release of divine force in the form of spiritual luminaries such as, Saint Francis, Rumi, Chishti and others who were contemporaries and who’s work became foundational for the coming Avatar in 700 years.
In 13th century East and West were spiritually distinct and had different roles to play. Therefore, instead of a single Avatar descending, divine descent manifested separately in the East and in the West but simultaneously. It laid the foundation for the unification of the East and West that would be accomplished by the next Avatar.
Going back to our story, Rumi was a highly regarded theologian and scholar but when he met Shams a new awakening dawned in him that made him realize he was nothing. He became aware that what he was or what he had all came from his master and what flowed through him from Shams found expression as exquisite poetry. This poetry poured through him effortlessly and formed the collection known as “Divan-e-Shams”. These outpourings are sublime expression of the utter dependence a disciple has on the master.
This phase of Rumi’s poetry includes soaring examples of inconsolable love, unabashed adoration and ecstatic worship that gush out of him in brazen outpours; describing a state we all aspire to. Here are some examples.
I have died to myself and I live for you.
I've disappeared from myself and my attributes,
I am present only for you.
I've forgotten all my learning,
but from knowing you I've become a scholar.
I've lost all my strength, but from your power I am able.
I love myself...I love you … myself.
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My soul spills into yours and is blended.
Because my soul has absorbed your fragrance,
I cherish it.
Enter this house, my Love, or let me leave.
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You are the source of my life.
You separate essence from mud.
You honor my soul.
You bring rivers from the mountain springs.
You brighten my eyes.
The wine you offer takes me out of myself into
the self we share.
Doing that is religion.
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Any lifetime that is spent without seeing the master
Is either death in disguise or a deep sleep.
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Your love lifts my soul from the body to the sky
You lift me up out of the two worlds.
I want your sun to reach my raindrops, so
your heat can raise my soul upward like a cloud.
I yearn –for happiness
I ask for help
I want mercy
And my love says:
Look at me and hear me
Because I am here
Just for that
I am your moon and your moonlight too
I am your flower garden and your water too
I have come all this way, eager for you; without shoes or shawl
I want you to laugh
To kill all your worries
To love you
To nourish you
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