Get Naked Or Go To Sleep

Sometimes the deception isn't intentional. Sometimes it's not that we've had inklings yet collude with our egos to ignore it and continue pretending to be who we are not. No, in some cases we may be completely clueless, we may have no idea that there is another reality to be investigated. No, the correct way to say that would be, we may have no idea that the reality we have lived our whole lives in is a sham, a fake, make believe, a ruse perpetuated by our egos to keep us in the dark so it can party all day and all night.

Yet, with each breath you praise the real you, with each twinkle of the eye as love strikes between two thoughts you sing praises, with each wordless sigh at the beauty of the setting sun you shout your praises to the heavens. And as you begin to notice these praises, you may not know it but you have started to unravel the deception and begun the process of waking up. Waking up to you, and me, and us, and we. Waking up to who you are, to who we are. Waking up to life itself.

By day I praised you
and never knew it.
By night I stayed with you
and never knew it.
I always thought that
I was me—but no,
I was you
and never knew it.

Rumi
Translated by Shahram Shiva

I find the next Rumi Ode a bit uncharacteristic. I don't know if i've just never run across these sentiments before of if there are translating differences between Shahram Shiva and Coleman Barks, whose translations i read almost exclusively.

Rumi is almost always compulsively inclusive. Everyone, everywhere, at all times is invited to join him in his celebration of love for this, for it, for that which we are. Yet in this Ode, Rumi says, 'if your not one of us, go away, go back to sleep and we won't bother you.'

If you haven't seen that the clothes you wear aren't you, go back to sleep. If you haven't seen that the thoughts you think aren't you, go back to sleep. If you haven't seen that your religion, your politics, your philosophies, your mythologies, and all that other nonsense isn't you, then go back to sleep. If you haven't seen that the labels you have given yourself or have accepted from others aren't you, go back to sleep. If you haven't seen that you aren't a man or woman, an American or a Chinese, old or young, thin or fat, tall or short, beautiful or ugly, educated or illiterate, smart or stupid, an introvert or an extrovert, happy or depressed, spiritual or a 5-day-a-week pub crawler, meditator or TV watcher, Buddhist or atheist, this or that, one thing or another....then go back to sleep.

If you haven't seen that you are sleeping your way through the only life you will ever live, if you haven't seen that the fire of Love that burns in the hearts of those who are truly alive fuels a passion for Life that is unimaginable to those with eyes still closed, if you haven't seen that that your eyes are still closed... then roll over and go back to sleep. We won't bother you.

Only those willing to get completely naked, to shed each and every misconception about who they are, can claim to be fully awake. And until you get naked, you aren't alive; living, maybe, but not Alive, with a capital 'A.'

Go Back to Sleep

Go back,
go back to sleep.

Yes, you are allowed.
You who have no Love in your heart,
you can go back to sleep.

The power of Love
is exclusive to us,
you can go back to sleep.

I have been burnt
by the fire of Love.
You who have no such yearning in your heart,
go back to sleep.

The path of Love,
has seventy-two folds and countless facets.
Your love and religion
is all about deceit, control and hypocrisy,
go back to sleep.

I have torn to pieces my robe of speech,
and have let go of the desire to converse.
You who are not naked yet,
you can go back to sleep.

Rumi
Translated by Shahram Shiva