This may be my favorite passage of Rumi’s writings. Coleman Barks translates the Housewife as the Cook, which reflects his tendency in translation towards the spiritual as opposed to the literal. This translation being more literal shows Rumi’s identifiable quality, his ability to speak to every person by highlighting the Divine in everyday circumstances. This ability to look at the ordinary thing in a non-ordinary way is one of my favorite things about Rumi.

What I love about this passage is the idea that when we are experiencing pain or discomfort in our lives, we tend to lose sight of the bigger picture. We tend to think that something is happening TO us, as though we are being assaulted in some way, though this is rarely the case. The beauty of this passage is that illustrates the idea that we have the ability as humans to take responsibility for how we perceive our situation. Though we may not be able to change the situation itself, we can change how we look at it. Though we may be powerless to change our circumstances, we always have power over our own minds if we chose to look at it that way. Taking responsibility for our perception enables us to take back our personal power. When Life is boiling us like chickpeas in a pot, we have the option of looking at that experience from a different point of view and know that this is the stuff that builds character; this is the stuff that makes us who we are. The more we are boiled, the closer we come to fulfilling our true purpose, the closer we come to Being. In this passage Rumi aludes to the idea that the purpose of Being is so that we can nourish others. It is beautiful that in this passage the One boiling the chickpea is the same one who may end up eating it, or distributing it to be eaten. So the One causing the discomfort is not only that being that helps us fulfill our ultimate goal but is also the one who needs us. And is this not often the case in life? That those who seem to cause us pain are really those who are most in need of our compassion, our love, our strength? Can it not be said that the people who cause us the most grief also challenge us the most to grow and become better people?

In other passages Rumi speaks of polishing ourselves until we are so clean that we shine like mirrors. When you look at such a person who is polished, instead of seeing them you see your own Truth reflected back at you, and usually that Truth is quite beautiful. You only lacked a clean enough Mirror to see your own True Beauty before. To me, the boiling of the chickpea is the same. What am I but to be a Mirror for you? What am I but to be boiled by Life, by the Cook, to be food for your soul?

Who am I to protest such a blessing?