« A Response from Michele Longhini, via gmail »

If may, I would like to add my two cents to your conversation with Dima about Rumi's poem:

In one form or another, the concept used in the poem comes out often in poetry (and in life, too). It is an oxymoron because to arrive at the conclusion that you will have to free yourself from using your brain (in the sense to ponder, assess everything, comparing it to current moral and behavioural rules) and to live on instinct, you need to go through a very hard path - using your brain a lot... There are a lot of examples. One comes from religion (I guess yours came from there, too). Jesus said "be like children"...

One of my favourite poems is this one:

schweigen schweigen schweigen schweigen schweigen
schweigen schweigen schweigen schweigen schweigen
schweigen schweigen.................schweigen schweigen
schweigen schweigen.................schweigen schweigen
schweigen schweigen schweigen schweigen schweigen
schweigen schweigen schweigen schweigen schweigen

Schweigen means to remain silent. The poem means that with words you have to break silence (unconsciousness) to reach a silence that exists because no word can describe a certain feeling or state. Words are powerless and all you can do is contemplate... and remain silent. To be/stay in peace, it seems that you have to reach that state by taking the opposite state at a maximum.

Let me know what you think. It' s always a pleasure to talk to clever and sensitive people like you and Dima. I miss our conversations 8?)

I wasn't planning to write you today, but since I did, have a Happy Valentine's Day.

Bye Bye

Michele

I have to think of an intelligent comment, and when I do, I will post it.
-K