Image: Georges Rouault, “Christ in the Suburbs”
A man searching for spiritual treasure
could not find it, so he was praying.
A voice inside said, “You were given
the intuition to shoot an arrow,
and then 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.
Don’t exhaust yourself like the philosophers,
who strain to shoot the high arcs
of their thought-arrows.
The more skill you use, the farther you’ll be
from what your deepest love wants.
—Jala al-Din Rumi
(VI, 2347-2351)
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