Passion for God: “… The radiance of consciousness-bliss, in the form of one awareness shining equally within and without, is the supreme and blissful primal reality. Its form is silence …” ~ Ramana Maharshi

Indeed … silence best captures the radiance of primal reality …

It is not surprising that luminaries across time and traditions were “drawn” to silence in some way or another, e.g.,

… Ramana Maharshi lived in silence for ~11 years after his awakening at age 16 …

… during extended and deep periods of solitude at Bollingen Tower Carl Jung spoke of the gift of solitude and silence in one of his letters (to Gustav Schmaltz, May 30, 1957): “… Solitude is for me a fount of healing which makes my life worth living. Talking is often torment for me, and I need many days of silence to recover from the futility of words …” …

… Kahlil Gibran said “… there are those who have the truth within them, but they tell it not in words. In the bosom of such as these the spirit dwells in rhythmic silence …” …

Per Coleman Barks “… Rumi says silence brings a chance to taste the core of our being, to go deeper and experience the oil of the walnut rather than its rattling noise on the shell wall …” …

So in this post we offer another of Rumi’s observation on silence – as translated by Andrew Harvey – that is part of Kabir Helminski’s anthology The Rumi Collection … which offers “… contributions from numerous leading {Rumi} translators—including Robert Bly, Coleman Barks, Camille Helminski, Andrew Harvey, and many other esteemed expositors of the Sufi tradition …” …

This post – part 2 of a multi part series – continues our preview of Helmkinski’s book … with an excerpt from the section The Passion for God …

… in Part 1 we shared a poem – Why Give Thanks? (title is ours 🙂 – excerpted from the section The Gift and the Giver  …

For additional background and context, we highly recommend you read Andrew Harvey’s Introduction via the look inside link on Shambhala Publications book summary page.

This series is part of our ongoing Shambhala Publications series that offers substantive previews of selections from Shambhala Publications new and classic titles …

All italicized text here is adapted from The Rumi Collection An Anthology of Translations of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, © 1998 by Kabir Helminski. This post is about the 2023 edition. Reprinted in arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc. Boulder, CO. Shambhala Publications has also generously offered a free downloadable PDF of the Table of Contents (link is at the bottom of the post).

You can purchase the book at Shambhala Publications or Amazon.

The Rumi Collection: The Three States

Human beings have three spiritual states.

In the first,
a person pays no attention whatsoever to God
and worships anything— sex, money, rank—but God.

When he starts to learn something deeper,
then he will serve no one and nothing but God.

And when he progresses in this state he grows silent;
he doesn’t claim: “I don’t serve God,”
nor does he boast: “I do serve God”;
he has gone beyond these two positions.

From such beings, no sound comes into the world.

Translated by Andrew Harvey

[…]

Stay tuned for more Rumi poetry from this collection…

All italicized text here is adapted from The Rumi Collection An Anthology of Translations of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, © 1998 by Kabir Helminski. This post is about the 2023 edition. Reprinted in arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc. Boulder, CO. Shambhala Publications has also generously offered a free downloadable PDF of the Table of Contents (link is at the bottom of the post).

You can purchase the book at Shambhala Publications or Amazon.

And, click here for the free, downloadable PDF of the Table of Contents.

Images (edited & Logo added): Header: Annapurna mountains by saiko3p, 1 & Featured) Scenery of Three sisters mountain reflection on pond at sunrise by Mumemories, 2) The Rumi Collection An Anthology of Translations of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi cover image from Shambhala. 3 & 4) Shambhala Publications logo. All images (except ones from Shambhala Publications) purchased from depositphotos or 123rtf. All are for use only on our website/social channels (these images are not permitted to be shared separate from this post). 2, 3, & 4) generously provided by Shambhala Publications with permission to be used on our website and other digital assets.

Further Reading...

Unveiling The Rumi Collection: Why Give Thanks? Kabir Helminski Lover & Love a la Rumi – Kabir Helminski Oneness: Self-Interest to Benefit of All? Mysterion, Rumi & Kabir Helminski How Do We Become The Unifying Solution? Rumi & Kabir Helminski Shambhala Publications Series Launch with Norman Fischer