I had never heard of Rumi until Robert Bly handed me this book and he said, ah, “These poems need to be released from their cages.” — Coleman Barks Copy Share Image
I think we all have a core that's ecstatic, that knows and that looks up in wonder. We all know that there are marvelous… — Coleman Barks Copy Share Image
The mystics always say that the experience they're talking about is ineffable, that you can't say it. Rumi was asked one time why he… — Coleman Barks Copy Share Image
[Rumi] is trying to get us to feel the vastness of our true identity... like the sense you might get walking into a cathedral... — Coleman Barks Copy Share Image
“ In the front yard lives the oldest thing around, a white oak That I used to say is my love for the world,… — Coleman Barks Copy Share Image
“…the work of the (Muslim Sufi) dervish community was to open the heart, explore the mystery of union, to fiercely search for and try… — Coleman Barks Copy Share Image
Just being sentient and in a body with the sun coming up is a state of rapture. — Coleman Barks Copy Share Image
It's such a foolish thing to argue about names, when what we're doing is all one thing. — Coleman Barks Copy Share Image
I had been a kind of natural mystic my whole life, growing up there in Tennessee next to the river. Somehow, that was important… — Coleman Barks Copy Share Image
If you teach three university courses a day, you need something to turn your mind off. — Coleman Barks Copy Share Image
If you think there's an important difference between being a Christian or a Jew or a Hindu or a Muslim or a Buddhist, then… — Coleman Barks Copy Share Image
What I deeply want... is for Rumi to become vitally present for readers, part of what John Keats called our soul-making, that process that… — Coleman Barks Copy Share Image
Longing becomes more poignant if in the distance you can't tell whether your friend is going away or coming back. The pushing away pulls… — Coleman Barks Copy Share Image
![“[Rumi] is trying to get us to feel the vastness of our true identity... like the sense you might get walking into a cathedral...” quote by Coleman Barks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/a59/coleman-barks-24371_cathedrals_rumi-is-trying-to-get-us-to-feel-the-vas_113313.jpg)
![“I had been a kind of natural mystic my whole life, growing up there in Tennessee next to the river. Somehow, that was important for my consciousness. I still don't study [mysticism]. I just wait for experiences.” quote by Coleman Barks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f87/coleman-barks-24371_consciousness_i-had-been-a-kind-of-natural-mystic-my-w_639636.jpg)
