On drishti-shristi-vada -the metaphor of 'door ' in Sufism!

[Guest guest]

Namashkar Harsha !

 

I have been reading your HSS magazine and love the articles and poems

there - specially Shri Nair's 'Ascent ' poem and Lady Joyce's

pictorial instructions . Keep up the good work!

 

 

Yes ! You are absolutely right ! The sufis use many metaphors while

explaining spiritual concepts - some of the most frequently used ones

are 'veil' , 'caravan' , 'wine', 'cup' , 'window ' and of course the

mystical 'door' as you mentioned .

 

Here is Rumi's poem you have referenced in your post ...

 

One went to the *door* of the Beloved and

knocked. A voice asked, 'Who is there?'

He answered, 'It is I.'

The voice said, 'There is no room for Me and Thee.'

The door was shut.

After a year of solitude and deprivation he returned and knocked.

A voice from within asked, 'Who is there?'

The man said, 'It is Thee.'

The door was opened for him.

 

(here the 'door' is used as a symbol to gain access to the Divine )

 

 

Another Rumi verse

 

I have lived on the lip

of insanity

knocking on the door.

It opens.

I have been knocking from the inside.

 

(here the 'door' is used as a symbol of that which impedes Access)

 

Here are two verses from the sufi mystic Rabi'a Al-'Adawiyya (a

famous Woman saint) |

 

O my Lord,

the stars glitter

and the eyes of men are closed.

Kings have locked their doors

and each lover is alone with his love.

 

Here, I am alone with you.

 

 

Another verse

 

I am fully qualified to work as a doorkeeper, and for this reason:

What is inside me, I don't let out:

What is outside me, I don't let in.

If someone comes in, he goes right out again.

He has nothing to do with me at all.

I am a Doorkeeper of the Heart, not a lump of wet clay.

 

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and the Bible also says

 

'Knock and the door shall be open unto you '

 

 

The door to 'divine wisdom ' is open to all! Just enter it with

an 'open' mind !

 

love and blessings

 

harsha-ji writes .....

 

" One of Rum's poems states something

> like....and I paraphrase...... "I had been knocking on the door

(perhaps

> of God's Home), banging on the door desperately to get in, and when

it

> opened, I saw that I had been knocking from the inside." It means

> perhaps that He was already home with his God and had always been

inside

> God's home but did not realize it.)

>

> Harsha*

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