Rumi's aphorisms on recognizing your inner strength, bravery, and beauty. The guest-house metaphor teaches you to accept all emotions as guides. Patience, love, and gratitude are spiritual practices that unlock your power.
Chapters
Always remember, you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think, and twice as beautiful as you'd ever imagined. Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself. The quieter we become, The more we can hear. As you start to walk on the way, the way appears. It's your road and yours alone. Others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you. Raise your words, not voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder. See through the eyes of compassion. Listen with ears of tolerance. Speak With the language of love. We carry inside us the wonders we seek outside us. Gratitude is the wine for the soul. Go on, get drunk. Practice patience. It is the essence of praise. Have patience, for that is true worship. No other worship is worth as much. Have patience. Patience is the key to all relief. Wisdom tells us we are not worthy. Love tells us we are. My life flows between the two. This being human is a guest house. Every morning is a new arrival, a joy, a depression. A meanness. Some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all. Treat each guest honorably. The dark thought, the shame, the malice— meet them at the door laughing and invite them in. Be grateful for whoever comes because each has been sent as a guide from beyond. You are looking for a friend. Who is faultless, you will be friendless. You have to keep breaking your heart until it opens. When you are everywhere, you are nowhere. When you are somewhere, you are everywhere. The art of knowing is knowing what to ignore.
