Discourses of Rumi

discourse 50Someone said: “We have studied all aspects of thehuman condition one by one, and not so much asa single hair-tip of human temperament, or people’shot and cold nature, has escaped our notice.Yet, we still have not discovered what aspect ofthe human being survives death.”Rumi said: If such knowledge were attainablemerely by asking others, there would be no needfor the effort and the work, and no one would putthemselves through such pain and sacrifice toknow. For example, people come to the sea, andsee nothing but salt water, sharks and fishes. Theysay, “Where is this pearl others speak about?Perhaps there is no pearl.” How can the pearl begained merely by looking at the sea? Even if theymeasured out the sea, cup by cup, a hundredthousand times, they would never find the pearl.A diver is needed to discover that pearl, and notjust any diver, but a diver who is both fortunateand nimble.