The Guest House

[recoveringenabler]

The Guest House......by Rumi

This being human is a guest house.

Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,

some momentary awareness comes

as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!

Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,

who violently sweep your house

empty of its furniture,

still treat each guest honorably.

He may be clearing you out

for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,

meet them at the door laughing,

and invite them in.

 

[Kalahou]

Thank you, RE. I love it. Rumi is so wise.

 

[SeekingStrength]

meet them at the door laughing,

and invite them in.

Yes! I need so much more practice.

I will read this several more times. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Albatross]

I love this, RE!

I remember once my therapist and I were discussing negative emotions and how they show up uninvited, again and again, and we seem powerless to make them stop. We keep doing the same thing, ruminating around and around and over and under, trying to "think" our way away from them, but we are never able to satisfy them. They are like the "hungry ghosts" in Taoism, with tiny mouths and huge stomachs that can never be satisfied, and they drain energy from people who fear them.

We decided maybe the best way to appease a hungry ghost is to invite it in...listen to what it has to say...perhaps even offer it a slice of cake, we joked.

Maybe when the fear goes away, perhaps the ghost is finally satisfied.