We live restless lives feeling – always – that we have not done enough. This is not a modern condition. Rumi’s poems refer to it often. His cure is the concept “Bikhodi,” literally being free of oneself, being enchanted. He asks his readers not to fall for binaries that run our lives: right, wrong, belief in God, or disbelief in Him. This far too simple, he would say. See the world, and be enchanted by it. That is his message. The poems I will read in this program are focused on the connections between our inner feelings and the world outside us. If you see the moon and be enchanted by it, the moon will come down and sit with you!

program transcript

Opening song: Arayesh e ghaliz, Homayun Shajarian
Producer: Sogand Seirafi
Graphic Designer: Amaal Yazdi
Editorial Consultant: Faezeh Lotfalian
Project Manager: Samar Ata
Audio editing: Tommy Hegarty
Technical assistance is provided by the Center for Innovation in Teaching at Learning, University of Maryland