A thousand times I have ascertained and found it to be true:
The affairs of this world are really nothing into nothing.
Still though, we should dance.
– Hafiz
I read this poem last weekend in LA…and days later, I am still thinking about it in San Francisco.
There is so much happening in the world around us. Civil unrest, earthquakes, volcanoes, famine, and war are greatly impacting humanity. (Has there ever been a time that humanity has not experienced suffering?) It can be easy to get lost in the darkness. But I am always reminded of yin and yang. Darkness gives way to light. Light gives way to darkness. Night becomes day; day becomes night. It is the nature of change.
Hafiz takes this a step further by saying it is all “nothing into nothing.” Is anything we are experiencing real? Does any of it really matter? Quite literally, a volcano could erupt and take out all of humanity by blocking the sun. All issues of equality and justice would be pretty irrelevant at that point.
But still, Hafiz addresses the silver lining. Despite all of the suffering and catastrophic possibilities, there is beauty in the world. As we awake to our oneness and come together, that is beauty worth celebrating. And we should dance :)
Photo source: Baltimore 28 April 2015. Peaceful protestors dance amidst civil unrest after the loss of another innocent life.