Saturday, May 26, 2012

My Arrow

Rumi crossed my path this morning to remind me about the push and pull of wanting something elusive.  He said,

"A man searching for spirit-treasure
cannot find it, so he is praying.

A voice inside says, You were given
the intuition to shoot an arrow
and then to dig where it landed,
but you shot with all your archery skill.

You were told to draw the bow
with only a fraction of your ability.

What you are looking for
is nearer than the big vein
on your neck. Let the arrow drop.

Do not exhaust yourself
like the philosophers who strain to shoot
the high arcs of their thought-arrows.

The more skill you use,
the farther you will be
from what your deepest love wants."

4 comments:

Ellena said...

Oh, just what I needed to meet this morning. I have been thinking lately that I should just write my comments as they well up inside me instead of wanting to formulate them in a way that I'm not capable of and thus stressing myself out to no end.

Sherry said...

This is powerful!!!

Beth said...

To me, this poem means that sometimes I am trying too hard…
And it also reminds me of another of his sayings: “Remember, the entrance door to the sanctuary is inside you.”

Kim Mailhot said...

Hmmmm....
I love what Rumi does in me.
Love ya, Beautiful Archer.