Sparks for You #3

Becoming fired up by Rumi's "Not Here"

Whether you are a philosopher in spirit or by profession, this Spark is for you. (For some context on the Sparks series, see my first post about it.)

“Not Here,” Rumi

“There’s courage involved if you want
to become truth.

There is a broken-open place in a lover.

Where are those qualities of bravery and
sharp compassion in this group? What’s the
use of old and frozen thought?

I want a howling hurt. This is not a treasury
where gold is stored; this is for copper.

We alchemists look for talent that
can heat up and change.

Lukewarm won’t do. Halfhearted holding back,
well-enough getting by? Not here.”

"The School of Athens" by Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, Wikipedia

Rumi’s words will resonate with those who love truth and seek wisdom: philosophers (phileo + sophia = love of wisdom). Three aspects of this poem, at turns inspirational and demanding, leap out to me as guideposts for those undertaking this lifelong journey:

(1) Courage: Take heart. Puzzling out the natures of things and how to live well in light of that is not easy. When I started graduate school in philosophy in 1991, it quickly became clear that of all the subjects I had studied, philosophy was the most difficult one I had encountered. As Montessorians say, I had found my “challenging work.” Not knowing where the evidence and arguments might lead you involves the risk of leaving behind the familiar and the comfortable. Saying “I don’t know” among those of “sharp compassion” with whom you are conversing and sitting uncomfortably with new ideas makes one feel “broken open.”

(2) Change: Be willing to shed. The courageous vulnerability involved in reexamining or “heating up” one’s “old and frozen thought” leaves one ripe for transformation in thought, action, and character. The “alchemy” of going from “copper” to who knows what kind of substance is a journey of changes: discovery, actualization, metamorphosis, refinement.

(3) Commitment: Give it your all. Embracing this process requires wholeheartedness, a commitment to bring your entire self to every step and stage of your journey. “Holding back” your efforts, feeling “lukewarm” about the endeavor, and settling for “well enough” are, Rumi simply states, “Not here.”

Photo by The Chaffins on Unsplash