I Blog Poetry and Prose

Motivational Monday: Under the Surface & Polishing the Soul

Kamál (Perfection), 12 Mashíyyat (Will) 175 B.E. - Monday, October 8, 2018

Sunday was a joyous, inspiring, and motivating day, because I attended the Unite Convention at the Baha'i Center in Las Vegas. At the Unit Convention, Baha'i elect delegates to go to the National Baha'i Center in Wilmette, Illinois, to elect the National Spiritual Assembly. Once every five years, every National Assembly across the planet goes to the Baha'i International Center on Mount Camel, in Israel, to elect the Universal House of Justice. The thrilling and inspiring thing about Baha'i elections is that there is no campaigning. Each individual in the community gets to know the others during the year, and cast their votes after prayer and meditation.

The "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise"  prompt for DAY 1757
How important is it to look below the surface of things, since LaoTzu said in the Art of War, “He who sees the obvious wins his battles with difficulty. He who looks below the surface of things, wins with ease”?

Beneath the Surface

I've heard it said, that the largest part of an iceberg is under water, which makes sense because there are a lot of large and important stuff under the surface. Take humanity as an example. The DNA of the human genome can't be see with the naked eye, that is it is under the surface of of bodies. However, it is our DNA that proves humanity is a single species. It's our DNA that makes us, at least, 50th cousins with the rest of the human race. It's the stuff under the surface, the stuff we can't see, that is important.

The "Blogging Circle of Friends "  prompt for DAY 2150
Everyone is so afraid of death, but the real Sufis just laugh: nothing tyrannizes their hearts. What strikes the oyster shell does not damage the pearl.” — Mevlana Rumi. What is your take on this quote?

Polishing the Soul

In this quote, Rumi uses the pearl as a symbol of the soul and the oyster represents the physical body. I believe, what he is saying is that when the body dies, the soul continues live. A pearl is created when a grain of sand gets lodged in the oyster and irritates the creature. On the other hand, the human soul is polished through tests and difficulties that we encounter in this physical world. When the soul is polished it begins to reflect divine attributes which cloths or adorns it when the body dies and the soul ascends into the world of the spirit.