>From the article Gene sent: > "When intellectuals talk among themselves, they > talk in a way that is impossible for a general > audience to understand," he says. "They may be > talking about great things, but they're in an > intellectual alley. Unless we talk to that kid, > we're just hanging out with people who already > agree with us. Not enough academics are willing to > take that risk. The first job of education is to > get people to see the world they live in, to pull > back the curtain and allow people to see what's > behind it.
Last night I was at a concert some good friends who came from Turkey gave. They happen to be three of Turkey's most outstanding Sufi musicians. They were accompanied by the Shaik of the American Mevlevi order who read several poems of Mevlana Cellaletin-i Rumi as they were playing. Below is one of those poems. I remembered it when I read the above: "The Intellectual" The Intellectual is always showing off; the lover is always getting lost. The intellectual runs away, afraid of drowning; the whole business of love is to drown in the sea. Intellectuals plan their repose; lovers are ashamed to rest. The lover is always alone, even surrounded with people; like water and oil, he remains apart. The man who goes to a lover gets nothing. He's mocked by passion. Love is like musk. It attracts attention. Love is a tree, and lovers are its shade. Sabri
