Rumi's The Blind Follower

If you haven't read Rumi's "The Blind Follower" from the book, Rumi Poems, selected and edited by Peter Washington, I invite you to do so above, or if that is too small to read, here it is:

"The parrot looking in the mirror sees

Itself, but not its teacher hid behind,

And learns the speech of Man, the while it thinks

A bird of its own sort is talking to it.

So the disciple full of egoism

Sees nothing in the Shaykh except himself.

The Universal Reason Eloquent

Behind the mirror of the Shaykh's discourse -

The Spirit which is the mystery of Man -

He cannot see. Words mimicked, learned by rote,

'Tis all. A parrot he, no bosom-friend!"

What does this mean and why on Earth have I decided to share a poetry lesson?

First of all, I turn to Rumi's poetry often. It is full of imagery and deep meanings that encourage my imagination and critical thinking to go to work. As has become all too commonplace, we hear 'news' and take it as truth, but what if it isn't. It is easy to become intellectually lazy and just take in information as it is stated instead of really thinking about it...Which leads me to the poem above.

The Blind Follower, well, I think that meaning is pretty apparent. But if you read the poem in its entirety you realize it goes deeper. The parrot is the student who simply repeats what the teacher is saying, thinking due to ego that it is coming from itself because of the mirror. The words are just being repeated and given no additional thought or reflection, because there is not a recognition of the source, the teacher.

If one just repeats what one hears without reflecting on the words meanings is this a good 'disciple' or follower, the answer must be No. An honorable teacher wants thought, discussion and yes in some cases productive discourse.

You may agree or disagree with my analysis and either works for me. But, I would hope that we can all agree that without discernment and critical thinking, a message can go awry and become one person's message just being repeated by a bunch of 'parrots', or followers.

In conclusion, I wish you all to be the 'parrots' who reflect upon the message rather than just mimicking the words or actions of the one behind the mirror.

With love, light and a little poetry,

Jan