Our practical work, says Helminski (and Rumi), is to remove distortions from our souls and align ourselves with this higher order reality and divine agency, through humility, reverence, surrender, and love. By turns soaring, inspiring, lyrical, entertaining. Likewise, our mirrors can become distorted and corroded by egoism and negativity. Selected from his most-loved works, this book contains the very best of Rumis poetry in superb translation. Like a mirror, he says, we can reflect a spectrum of divine qualities depending on how polished and clean our mirror is. Rumi, says Helminski, would suggest that in our human existence we might accomplish many marvels, but they will amount to little if we neglect cultivating the divine potential within us. This book is centered on that core, unifying concept of the Mysterion: the essence and intrinsic meaning of being human. In this philosophical survey, Kabir Helminski, one of the foremost translators and writers of Sufi texts, gives us a contemporary lens through which to view and understand the “Mysterion,” the unifying concept that bridges the human and the divine-and that connects the individual soul with spiritual Reality.

The Mysterion deepens our appreciation of his teachings by illuminating both the practical psychological dimension behind them, as well as the universal spiritual truths they offer about what it means to be human. The 13th-century poet and mystic Rumi has become one of the most popular spiritual voices of our time-known and loved by people of many faiths and worldviews for his rich metaphors, images, poems, and stories. The Shambhala Pocket Library is a collection of short, portable teachings from notable figures across religious traditions and classic texts. The covers in this series are rendered by Colorado artist Robert Spellman. The books in this collection distill the wisdom and heart of the work Shambhala Publications has published over 50 years into a compact format that is collectible, reader-friendly, and applicable to everyday life.A contemporary exploration into the meaning and possibility of our human existence, through the universal insights of the 13th-century Persian poet and Sufi mystic Rumi-by pre-eminent Rumi translator, Kabir Helminski. By turns soaring, inspiring, lyrical, entertaining, and always full of profound guidance, Rumi’s transcendent words penetrate to the very depths of one’s heart, offering eloquent expression for what lies there. His compassionate insight into the nature of human existence, his joyful humor, his deep wisdom, and his ecstatic songs of divine union have endeared him to readers for more than seven hundred years. Selected from his most-loved works, this book contains the very best of Rumi’s poetry in superb translation. The renowned Persian Sufi mystic Mevlâna Jalâluddin Rumi (1207–1273) is one of the most widely read poets in the world today. A collection of Rumi’s best, most beloved poetry-presented in one pocket-sized volume for on-the-go inspiration

The Pocket Rumi by Rumi