Why should we welcome and entertain the crowd of sorrows into our lives ?
Answers
Answer:
This poem by Rumi is something you will see and hear in mindfulness courses and retreats all over the world. I also use it regularly with the students I teach in schools across Vancouver, as well as in my Awakened Recovery sessions.
The poem expresses many things but it's core message is also one of the core message of mindfulness meditation - to be with whatever life brings to us. Whether it comes in the form of a a joy or a great difficulty Rumi encourages us to open ourselves to whatever life brings us - internally or externally.
But whatever life throws at us, our attitude and commitment to greet it without fear or loathing, and with whatever subtle faith we can muster, allows us to become wiser, kind and more compassionate to self and others.