The following poem by Rumi is one of my favorites.
Bio excerpt from: Web Source: www.khamush.com
"Rumi’s poetry also has been read in the West for centuries and there have been informed references to him in the work of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and many other eminent writers. But in recent years the popularity of his work in the West has increased to a surprising extent: according to the Christian Science Monitor, Rumi ranked as America's best-selling poet in 1997. His biography, or at least the highlights of his difficult but victorious life, should prove as inspiring as his poetry to his diverse and growing readership."
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Where Everything Is Music
Don't worry about saving these songs!
And if one of our instruments breaks,
it doesn't matter.
We have fallen into the place
where everything is music.
The strumming and the flute notes
rise into the atmosphere,
and even if the whole world's harp
should burn up, there will still be
hidden instruments playing.
So the candle flickers and goes out.
We have a piece of flint, and a spark.
This singing art is sea foam.
The graceful movements come from a pearl
somewhere on the ocean floor.
Poems reach up like spindrift and the edge
of driftwood along the beach, wanting!
They derive
from a slow and powerful root
that we can't see.
Stop the words now.
Open the window in the center of your chest,
and let the spirits fly in and out.
-- Jalaluddin Rumi
To me the poem speaks about removing barriers and the desolving of boundaries. Learning the cello is a delicate dance between all of our faculties. We have to balance the entire activity of playing even while concentrating more intensely on certain aspects of playing at certain moments. Sometimes we keep a sharp eye/ear, sometimes we let go, sometimes persevere, slogging ahead knowing we are out of balance. At times we are almost detached and can observe ourselves playing without getting in the way. But always, we hope, we are drawing closer to a place "where everything is music" with the whole process being integrated and flowing. What do you think Rumi is saying about music, perhaps learning the cello, or you in this poem? Suzanne
