by Michael Bridges
When I was a young man and first starting my own spiritual
and therapeutic journey, I imagined that one day, after I had become
enlightened and had successfully uncovered and experienced the catharsis and
resolution of all my traumas that, well, it was just going to be smooth sailing
the rest of my days. These days I can look back with love and appreciation on
the determined young man I was, while also shaking my head with a bit of
bemusement at his naiveté. While all the work I’ve done on myself has certainly
led to a much calmer, compassionate and good-humored inner landscape than when
I started my journey, the tribulations and at times, absolute horrors of the
external world, and the occasional resurfacing of desperate and howling parts
of my own psyche that I thought had been lain to rest, have helped me once again realize the wisdom
conveyed in the following poem from the great Sufi mystic and poet Rumi, as
channeled through this interpretation by Coleman Barks.
The Guest House
by Rumi
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 are 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 whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
