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The Spiritual Practices of Rumi: Radical Techniques for Beholding the Divine
The secret Rumi found in beholding the Divine in his sacred relationship with Shams-i-Tabriz • Shows how, in 1244, Sufi poet and mystic Jalaluddin Rumi was first brought to a state of ecstatic union with the cosmos and all its creatures • Reveals the radical spiritual practice Rumi formulated in his private retreat with the mendicant seeker Shams-i-Tabriz • Uses the poetry and prose of Rumi to explain how to come face-to-face with the Divine One of the most extraordinary events in the history of Sufism occurred in 1244 when the Sufi poet and mystic Jalaluddin Rumi met a wandering seeker named Shams-i-Tabriz. Upon meeting, the two men immediately went into private retreat together, emerging ninety days later in a transformed condition. In The Spiritual Practices of Rumi, Will Johnson reveals the radical spiritual practice that transpired between Rumi and Shams. To put it simply, they sat and gazed into each other’s eyes. Because the eyes are portals to the soul, their sustained gazing formed the basis of a devotional practice that opened the doors to a profoundly ecstatic state of divine union. Johnson draws on the poetry and prose of Rumi to unfold his story. He also explains how one may embark on the practice of intentional gazing to experience the state of ecstatic divine union shared by Rumi and Shams so many centuries ago.
- GenresSpirituality
194 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 13, 2007
10 people are currently reading
95 people want to read
About the author
Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi
1,171 books15.7k followersSufism inspired writings of Persian poet and mystic Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi; these writings express the longing of the soul for union with the divine.
Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī - also known as Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī, Mevlânâ/Mawlānā (مولانا, "our master"), Mevlevî/Mawlawī (مولوی, "my master") and more popularly simply as Rumi - was a 13th-century Persian poet, jurist, Islamic scholar, theologian and Sufi mystic who lived in Konya, a city of Ottoman Empire (Today's Turkey). His poems have been widely translated into many of the world's languages, and he has been described as the most popular poet and the best-selling poet in the United States.
His poetry has influenced Persian literature, but also Turkish, Ottoman Turkish, Azerbaijani, Punjabi, Hindi, and Urdu, as well as the literature of some other Turkic, Iranian, and Indo-Aryan languages including Chagatai, Pashto, and Bengali.
Due to quarrels between different dynasties in Khorāṣān, opposition to the Khwarizmid Shahs who were considered devious by his father, Bahā ud-Dīn Wālad or fear of the impending Mongol cataclysm, his father decided to migrate westwards, eventually settling in the Anatolian city Konya, where he lived most of his life, composed one of the crowning glories of Persian literature, and profoundly affected the culture of the area.
When his father died, Rumi, aged 25, inherited his position as the head of an Islamic school. One of Baha' ud-Din's students, Sayyed Burhan ud-Din Muhaqqiq Termazi, continued to train Rumi in the Shariah as well as the Tariqa, especially that of Rumi's father. For nine years, Rumi practised Sufism as a disciple of Burhan ud-Din until the latter died in 1240 or 1241. Rumi's public life then began: he became an Islamic Jurist, issuing fatwas and giving sermons in the mosques of Konya. He also served as a Molvi (Islamic teacher) and taught his adherents in the madrassa. During this period, Rumi also travelled to Damascus and is said to have spent four years there.
It was his meeting with the dervish Shams-e Tabrizi on 15 November 1244 that completely changed his life. From an accomplished teacher and jurist, Rumi was transformed into an ascetic.
On the night of 5 December 1248, as Rumi and Shams were talking, Shams was called to the back door. He went out, never to be seen again. Rumi's love for, and his bereavement at the death of, Shams found their expression in an outpouring of lyric poems, Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi. He himself went out searching for Shams and journeyed again to Damascus.
Rumi found another companion in Salaḥ ud-Din-e Zarkub, a goldsmith. After Salah ud-Din's death, Rumi's scribe and favourite student, Hussam-e Chalabi, assumed the role of Rumi's companion. Hussam implored Rumi to write more. Rumi spent the next 12 years of his life in Anatolia dictating the six volumes of this masterwork, the Masnavi, to Hussam.
In December 1273, Rumi fell ill and died on the 17th of December in Konya.
Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī - also known as Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī, Mevlânâ/Mawlānā (مولانا, "our master"), Mevlevî/Mawlawī (مولوی, "my master") and more popularly simply as Rumi - was a 13th-century Persian poet, jurist, Islamic scholar, theologian and Sufi mystic who lived in Konya, a city of Ottoman Empire (Today's Turkey). His poems have been widely translated into many of the world's languages, and he has been described as the most popular poet and the best-selling poet in the United States.
His poetry has influenced Persian literature, but also Turkish, Ottoman Turkish, Azerbaijani, Punjabi, Hindi, and Urdu, as well as the literature of some other Turkic, Iranian, and Indo-Aryan languages including Chagatai, Pashto, and Bengali.
Due to quarrels between different dynasties in Khorāṣān, opposition to the Khwarizmid Shahs who were considered devious by his father, Bahā ud-Dīn Wālad or fear of the impending Mongol cataclysm, his father decided to migrate westwards, eventually settling in the Anatolian city Konya, where he lived most of his life, composed one of the crowning glories of Persian literature, and profoundly affected the culture of the area.
When his father died, Rumi, aged 25, inherited his position as the head of an Islamic school. One of Baha' ud-Din's students, Sayyed Burhan ud-Din Muhaqqiq Termazi, continued to train Rumi in the Shariah as well as the Tariqa, especially that of Rumi's father. For nine years, Rumi practised Sufism as a disciple of Burhan ud-Din until the latter died in 1240 or 1241. Rumi's public life then began: he became an Islamic Jurist, issuing fatwas and giving sermons in the mosques of Konya. He also served as a Molvi (Islamic teacher) and taught his adherents in the madrassa. During this period, Rumi also travelled to Damascus and is said to have spent four years there.
It was his meeting with the dervish Shams-e Tabrizi on 15 November 1244 that completely changed his life. From an accomplished teacher and jurist, Rumi was transformed into an ascetic.
On the night of 5 December 1248, as Rumi and Shams were talking, Shams was called to the back door. He went out, never to be seen again. Rumi's love for, and his bereavement at the death of, Shams found their expression in an outpouring of lyric poems, Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi. He himself went out searching for Shams and journeyed again to Damascus.
Rumi found another companion in Salaḥ ud-Din-e Zarkub, a goldsmith. After Salah ud-Din's death, Rumi's scribe and favourite student, Hussam-e Chalabi, assumed the role of Rumi's companion. Hussam implored Rumi to write more. Rumi spent the next 12 years of his life in Anatolia dictating the six volumes of this masterwork, the Masnavi, to Hussam.
In December 1273, Rumi fell ill and died on the 17th of December in Konya.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 9, 2012
Mmm, I got the juice, but it kinda repeats itself? I don't know. But basically the book is about gazing. So yeah, I know how to gaze now thanks to this book.
October 29, 2015
Beautiful and powerful discussion of Rumi's spiritual practices
An amazing discussion of both the history of Rumi and Sham's relationship and the eye gazing practices the author has discovered as a result of his study.
An amazing discussion of both the history of Rumi and Sham's relationship and the eye gazing practices the author has discovered as a result of his study.
February 1, 2008
reading ...
January 28, 2018
Title: The Spiritual Practices of Rumi - Radical Techniques For Beholding The Divine
Author: Will Johnson
I went into a bookstore looking for few books and "poetry" as a genre was suggested by the helpful person in the bookstore. I had been thinking of starting with poetry for sometime now, but I hadn't started with it. So when I was given the option of picking one from few offered, I took the one which seemed to be comparatively thinner than others. I didn't know what I am getting into. You can call this a coincidence that I have been drawn to spirituality recently as well, so this came out as a double bonus for me.
The author doesn't assume that you are familiar with spiritual practices, or for that matter with Rumi. The book leads you into the depth of the practice of gazing chapter by chapter. The language used is easy to understand and can be picked by a medium-level-english-user easily. The simplicity with which the author explains the concept and then links it with Rumi's prose and poetry, is very soothing. The book made me keep turning page after page to see what else can I find out by this material. I could feel myself getting lost in the pages and yearning for what was being offered by the practice. It kindled some new questions in my belief system - my system where I had always thought that I have communicated more with my special one in life with my eyes than by actually talking. It made me question that all those feelings which I felt then, were they actually real and not just a figment of my imagination.
Being a skeptic, I questioned a lot of things and tried to rationalize that whether all this business of unity and feeling "more", can this be true? Is it possible for me to take the next step and try to find a partner I can experience this practice with? What if you don't have a partner? The book didn't disappoint me any bit in it, it addressed all my concerns. Though sometimes I felt it was repetitive, but mostly I was inclined to read more and more till there was nothing more to read.
It draws on the teachings of Mohammed and it draws on the teachings of Jesus too.
The book and simple writing, yet the powerful message, makes you feel thirsty to try the practice. It draws you out. But first you must have belief, belief that there is union, there is more to life than just living it day to day, there could be greater happiness and more feelings than what you have experienced till now.
The only thing I found lacking a bit was that I was expecting more of Rumi's prose and poetry, I felt there should have been more of it.
Overall I was happy to have picked it up and it has spiked my interest in Sufi practices as well as in Rumi. I hope to continue with these in coming years.
One of the quotes I loved in the book:
"Love is not the business of delicate people
Who fall asleep at the gathering.
Love if for brave ones, for wrestlers, o son."
Author: Will Johnson
I went into a bookstore looking for few books and "poetry" as a genre was suggested by the helpful person in the bookstore. I had been thinking of starting with poetry for sometime now, but I hadn't started with it. So when I was given the option of picking one from few offered, I took the one which seemed to be comparatively thinner than others. I didn't know what I am getting into. You can call this a coincidence that I have been drawn to spirituality recently as well, so this came out as a double bonus for me.
The author doesn't assume that you are familiar with spiritual practices, or for that matter with Rumi. The book leads you into the depth of the practice of gazing chapter by chapter. The language used is easy to understand and can be picked by a medium-level-english-user easily. The simplicity with which the author explains the concept and then links it with Rumi's prose and poetry, is very soothing. The book made me keep turning page after page to see what else can I find out by this material. I could feel myself getting lost in the pages and yearning for what was being offered by the practice. It kindled some new questions in my belief system - my system where I had always thought that I have communicated more with my special one in life with my eyes than by actually talking. It made me question that all those feelings which I felt then, were they actually real and not just a figment of my imagination.
Being a skeptic, I questioned a lot of things and tried to rationalize that whether all this business of unity and feeling "more", can this be true? Is it possible for me to take the next step and try to find a partner I can experience this practice with? What if you don't have a partner? The book didn't disappoint me any bit in it, it addressed all my concerns. Though sometimes I felt it was repetitive, but mostly I was inclined to read more and more till there was nothing more to read.
It draws on the teachings of Mohammed and it draws on the teachings of Jesus too.
The book and simple writing, yet the powerful message, makes you feel thirsty to try the practice. It draws you out. But first you must have belief, belief that there is union, there is more to life than just living it day to day, there could be greater happiness and more feelings than what you have experienced till now.
The only thing I found lacking a bit was that I was expecting more of Rumi's prose and poetry, I felt there should have been more of it.
Overall I was happy to have picked it up and it has spiked my interest in Sufi practices as well as in Rumi. I hope to continue with these in coming years.
One of the quotes I loved in the book:
"Love is not the business of delicate people
Who fall asleep at the gathering.
Love if for brave ones, for wrestlers, o son."
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews