Poetry by RUMI -- Only Breath

Only Breath is one of Rumi's most powerful poems on the Spirit. Here he so clearly shows us that we are all one and inextricably linked to each other even though, through thousands of years, we have been conditioned to believe otherwise. Our true nature transcends race, religion, gender and borders. Looking at our beautiful blue planet from the outside, how can we possibly believe otherwise.

Rūmī was a thirteenth century poet, theologian and mystic. By his mid 20’s he had become an accomplished and highly influential figure in the community. However, a chance meeting with an eccentric dervish by the name of Shams Tabrīz, who was in search of a master student, would cause him to walk away from his life of privilege forever. And the world would never be the same.

Only Breath

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 the next,
did not descend from Adam and Eve
or any origin story.

My place is the 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.

_______________________________________
Translated & recited by: Coleman Barks
Footage courtesy of NASA
Music: Slow Motion / Composers: Ehrlich, Loy; Malherbe, Didier

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