When I think of our purpose in terms of existence and the universe I am led to an inescapable fact... That fact is that there must be a reason... After all, what kind of All-Merciful God would separate us from happiness and perfection to put us here without a good reason? Now, I have discussed this earlier, and I believe that we are here to "find" God, to "understand" the Truth and gain Light within our perspective of the universe... but how does being on this Earth help us? How does separation from the Beloved help us?
... I am reminded of the story of Rumi. Mawlana Rumi was a Sufi poet who is the most read poet in the entire world today (yes, even counting Shakespeare). Now, Rumi was a man who had attained a great deal of knowledge, and eventually many traveled from every corner of the world to be his disciple until he met a man who changed his life... His Shams.
As Rumi was teaching his disciples by a riverbank once using several thick, imposing books, a man came walking by, very haggard in appearance and asked what they were learning. Rumi replied, "You wouldn't understand." So, the man took the books and put them in the water of the river creating a great furor, everyone was dismayed that these rare, valuable books were now gone. The man reached into the water and pulled the books out... dry. Rumi was amazed and asked, "How?" To which the man replied, "You wouldn't understand."
So Rumi sought to understand. He spent all of his time with this man, his teacher, his beloved, his Shams, neglecting everything in his life, his wife, children, disciples, all were forgotten. One day late at night, there was a knock at the door, Shams went to answer, and never returned. Rumi searched everywhere for his beloved. He searched in many countries, but was unable to find his Shams... Until, one day, in the midst of his depression, confusion and loss, he realized that Shams was within him still. He came to become self-actualized and realized that he did not love the form of Shams, he loved the God that was expressed in every atom of Shams' being... and he realized this, not through having Shams in his life, but by losing him.
Rumi spent a great deal of time with Shams, learning from him, knowing the truths that Shams knew. However, we do not remember Rumi for how he loved Shams when they were together. We remember Rumi for his intense grief on losing his Shams, we remember Rumi for the poems of longing he wrote, we remember him for the Sema ceremony involving spinning in a circle that he created while in a state of search for his Shams. We remember him for his unity with the Truth... something he could only have attained when he lost his guide.
As human beings, we have lost an exalted status... we were united in the ocean of love that is God, but we have been separated... why? The drop of water from the ocean does not realize the beauty that it is a part of until you allow it to see it from above. The glory of the ocean lies far beyond the water, there are hidden within the water molecules, salt molecules. There are pearls and treasures throughout the ocean, there is life, beauty, there is earth and there is even fire.
Our loss of our exalted status is our presence here on this earth, and it is meant to act as a catalyst to enable change. We are meant to experience this loss and understand that truly, we have not lost anything at all. The ocean never ceases to surround the drop, because the drop contains all of the beauty of the ocean within it.
