Mysticism - Poet Rumi

Only Breath

By

Rumi

Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not Hindu

Buddhist, sufi, or zen. Not any religion

or cultural system. I am not from the East

or the West, not out of the ocean or up

from the ground, not natural or ethereal, not

composed of elements at all. I do not exist,

am not an entity in this world or in the next,

did not descend from Adam and Eve or any

origin story. My place is placeless, a trace

of the traceless. Neither body or soul.

I belong to the beloved, have seen the two

worlds as one and that one call to and know,

first, last, outer, inner, only that

breath breathing human being.

Mysticism Interpretation

The mystic poet Rumi was a very influential poet during his time period, even today his poems can still be found being read in today's modern day. The reason this poem was picked was because it shows how concepts that were real centuries ago, still have relevance up to this day. In the poem "Only Breathe" by Rumi we find a sense of realism in that he describes life in a very simplistic manner. In the beginning he explains how he belongs to no religion, that he doesn't come from either side of the world, or a descendent from anybody, but rather that he is from the beloved. I interpreted this as he isn't identified as part of a "group", or as a citizen of anywhere, but rather as a "human being" as he later describes himself at the end. He also mentions that he has seen both worlds, which I interpreted to be the world of the living and that of the dead. This can also be interpreted in a realism sense in that life and death is inevitable, instead of having grief, to take a realistic approach and simply accept that which can't be changed. The overall message this poem can be interpreted as we are all human beings, regardless of the color of our skin, gender, location where we grew up, beliefs, or descendents. This is a powerful message in today's modern day where everything is identified in terms of what group we belong to, be it a religion, or place of origin. We live in a society where individuals will clash due to a disagreement in beliefs by their religion. If Rumi's poem was to be taken into consideration