The Guesthouse By Rumi: A Reflection

A reading and reflection on Rumi's meaningful poem The Guesthouse. Rumi encourages us not to fear and hide from difficult emotions but rather to embrace them. I'm reminded of other times in my life when I've been encouraged to dive into feelings rather than run from them.

Transcript

I'd like to read a poem for you. It's one that's helped me during many, Many unsettled times and you may well have heard it many times before yourself. It's by Rumi and it's called The Guest House. And in this poem he urges us that we not wish away difficult thoughts and emotions but rather to find a way to welcome them, To embrace them, To kind of look them in the eye because it's in doing this that we will find a sense of peace and freedom and I've certainly found that when I've read this poem. I was reading this poem again a little while ago and it triggered a memory for me of when I was pregnant with my daughter many years ago and when I was speaking with midwife and she was preparing me for labour she said I want you to imagine contractions like the waves on a beach and there are going to be some small waves and there are going to be some bigger waves but the tendency for us she said is to want to run away from those waves to tense up and kind of stop breathing and just hold everything tight and she said it's a bit like if you imagine you're on the beach and there's a wave coming in instead of running away from the wave up the beach and out of the way I want you to dive into that wave, To just relax and dive in and it reminds me in a way of this poem that we do try and tense up and push these difficult emotions away but they're still there, They don't go anywhere whereas if we can find a way to be okay with them then we do find this different sense, A sense of calm. I'm going to read you the poem and then I'm going to leave some space at the end for you to enjoy a bit of the music. 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 honourably, 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.