Purchase Bewilderment
The great Sufi poet and mystic, Rumi, recognized the oneness of everything – unity of being.
He also understood the nature of thought and the power it has over our lives. Unguarded thoughts are our own worst enemy.
By counseling people to “sell your cleverness and purchase bewilderment,” Rumi is encouraging us to let go of our ego – the need to be right, be seen, be validated – and instead open ourselves to wonder, experience, and being-ness.
Rumi goes on to say:
“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”
By choosing against the ego and instead opting for the mind of unity, our entire experience changes to one of peace and joy.
Five hundred years later, we read in A Course in Miracles:
Seek not to change the world. Choose instead to change your mind about the world. When your mood tells you that you have chosen wrongly, and this is so whenever you are not joyous, then know this need not be.
Once we do indeed change our mind, “the effect will change automatically.”
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