More Than Mind Can Know

Why should I fear? When was I less by dying? This poem takes us past the idea that we are born into higher (or lower) life forms according to past deeds. Understanding, REALLY understanding, birth and death brings us past, or deeper within, the ‘opposites’ of birth and death. Love this poem. …and when I let my angel body go! Fabulous.

“I died as mineral and became a plant,
I died as plant and rose to animal,
I died as animal and I was human,
Why should I fear? When was I less by dying?
Yet once more I shall die human,
To soar with angels blessed above.
And when I sacrifice my angel soul
I shall become what no mind ever conceived.
As a human, I will die once more,
Reborn, I will with the angels soar.
And when I let my angel body go,
I shall be more than mortal mind can know.”

― Rumi Jalal ad’Din

Poetry is poetry, a way and a form to point our ordinary ‘earth bound’ bodymind powerfully. Just point. Feels like we are heading into summer!

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3 thoughts on “More Than Mind Can Know”

  1. It seems that really understanding birth & death is perhaps one of the most important aspects of training and it still leaves me pretty baffled. This poem seems to be talking about reincarnation of the soul which goes against the Buddhist doctrine of no permanent self. I believe the Buddha usually refused to answer questions in this area in order that people would not cling to doctrinal ideas. It is better that we find out through experience and our depth of meditation how things are.

    However I think (please correct me if I’m wrong) that although He taught that there is no essential self that continues, neither is death a complete oblivion.

    Is this something that you could comment on or even would you consider writing a post on it? Many thanks.

    1. Thanks to Charlie for this comment now long in the waiting to be published. I will attempt to respond to the request to write about the teaching on death, or more likely the practice around death, in the future. The poem used in the context I found it was pointing to our Biology and came in a series of lectures about the evolution of the human, not reincarnation. Since I was deeply involved in cooking for the community when I saw the vidio I was not able to give the reference. Sorry for any confusion I may have caused.

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