Rumi

If you pour the ocean into a jug, how much will it hold?

One day's store. A packed audience and yet I wonder how many left with the essence of Rumi's teachings. Today's ST carried an article in the Review segment about religion and mysticism, titled Religion's Civilising Role; It is people who defeat terrorism. Although I am a tad uneasy with writers using events such as the 800th anniversary of Rumi's Birth as a rostrum for preaching their political agendas, I do agree with the general message; that we should look to the past for lessons on tolerance and that it is in the minds of humanity that the war against terror should be fought. Increasingly, we have become more religiously intolerant. Irresponsible use of phrases such as "axis of evil" and a western dominated news media does not help. Technology is a double edged sword, we now have greater access to information via the internet, sat tv, cable, books, periodicals etc etc. But technology also means that we are constantly bombarded by inaccurate information. Goebbels once said that a lie repeated often enough becomes a truth. And there is truth in that, no pun intended. It is easy to ignore the yearning for truth and to accept the bombardment as 'the truth'. If we wanted to get to the truth of a matter all we have to do is click our mouse and search, mankind has never had it easier when it comes to research. Surrendering our inquisitive nature may just be the greatest folly of our time; Whatever or Anything as we now say. Rumi's message was of human love and unity. His vision of religion was a force that made people trust in and work for peace. Perhaps Rumi will serve as a reminder that there are always two sides to a coin, for religion and for everything else.