Hi Bill, > As you'll soon find out Edgar and I have almost the polar opposite opinion on > just about everything.
Yes, it amazes me sometimes that you two are, in fact, co-moderators of this forum :-P Your interpretation below was how I understood the poem too. But because I thought it was supposed to be all about Buddha Nature, the part after waves broke didn't make sense to me. It's not Buddha Nature... I guess I had pre-conceived ideas about Rumi's poems ;-) Siska -----Original Message----- From: "Bill!" <[email protected]> Sender: [email protected] Date: Sat, 25 May 2013 07:41:22 To: <[email protected]> Reply-To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Zen] Nice Quote Siska, As you'll soon find out Edgar and I have almost the polar opposite opinion on just about everything. In fact he'll probably disagree with this statement ;>) and will certainly jump all over the rest of this post. Rumi's poem/metaphor was: I looked for my self,But my self was gone.The boundaries of my beingHad disappeared in the sea.Waves broke. Awareness rose again.And a voice returned me to myself.It always happens like this.Sea turns on itself and foams,And with every foaming bit another body.Another being takes form.And when the sea sends word,Each foaming body melts back to ocean-breath.- Rumi I can just imagine Rumi standing on the beach watching the waves form, come rhythmically in, crash upon the beach and then spend themselves by slipping back into the sea - losing himself in Buddha Nature and later composing this poem. My interpretation of it is: I looked for my self,But my self was gone.The boundaries of my beingHad disappeared in the sea. Rumi is describing the holistic experience of Buddha Nature. The illusion of dualism has vanished and his illusion of 'self' as something independent and apart from everything else has vanished with it. It has vanished into sea which is a metaphor for emptiness. Waves broke. Awareness rose again.And a voice returned me to myself.It always happens like this. Dualism returns. His holistic experience of Buddha Nature has been interrupted and his illusion of self has returned. This alternation between holism and dualism, between emptiness and self happens regularly, much like the waves surging rhythmically upon the beach. Sea turns on itself and foams,And with every foaming bit another body.Another being takes form. Now that he is abiding in dualism all other illusions, perceptions, thoughts, etc..., of all other (10,000) things appear. And when the sea sends word,Each foaming body melts back to ocean-breath. But when he returns again to Buddha Nature all these illusions melt back into emptiness. That's my reading of this anyway. It will be interesting to see what Edgar comes up with although I think I could almost write it for him... ...Bill! --- In [email protected], siska_cen@... wrote: > > Hi Bill, > > I followed until: "Waves broke". > > The rest is a bit confusing. It's as if the 'self' is back. > > Siska > -----Original Message----- > From: "Bill!" BillSmart@... > Sender: [email protected] > Date: Fri, 24 May 2013 10:04:29 > To: [email protected] > Reply-To: [email protected] > Subject: [Zen] Nice Quote > > > ..Bill! >
