You Are What You Seek

This morning, while sweeping our neglected garden, I noticed a metal object among the dry leaves. I briefly mistook it for an earring.

Since I’d recently misplaced an earring I’d bought, I suppose part of me was hoping, consciously or not, to find it wherever I looked. Soon I realized it was merely a metal ring.

And so I reflected that a person’s search for truth is much the same.

Whatever we yearn for, we tend to see it wherever we look.

Consequently, people on a spiritual quest, seeking the Divine, want to find their Beloved in everything, and the beautiful truth is, they do.

Unlike other pursuits, the Divine is everywhere, inseparable from existence. Seek the Divine wherever you will, and you shall find it there; even in the most unexpected times and places, and amid the hardest trials, if your heart remains open to what lies beyond the surface.

You can notice the signs the Beloved leaves behind.

Mevlana Rumi captures this truth perfectly with his words:

If you seek the soul’s dwelling, you are the soul.
If you seek a morsel of bread, you are bread.
If you seek a drop of water, you are thirst.
If you pursue cruelty, you are the cruel one.
If you seek love, you are a lover.

Whatever grips your heart, that is what you are.
Understand this subtle secret, and you have understood it all:

You are what you seek.