Self Marriage Ceremonies
The Guest House
“This being human is a guest house.A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.”
~Rumi
In India, a guest is treated like a god. ?Anybody who has traveled to India or a country of similar cultural tradition will know this truth deep in their heart and in their belly.
A visit from a guest is considered highly auspicious, and tradition has it that even if you don’t have enough food to feed yourself, you must feed your guest first. ?If you do have enough food, you must serve your guest the most extravagant, abundant feast you can muster, complete with tea, the sweetest desserts, and an offering of gifts. ?When you treat a guest in such a way, it is believed that you will be blessed with good fortune and prosperity, for each guest is considered a manifestation of god, sent from god. ?When you are serving a guest, you are directly serving god; you are serving the divine.
If humanity treated each other the way Indians treat their guests, simply stated, the world would be a better place.
And if we treated our own selves–body, mind, emotions, and spirit–with the same dignity, care, and respect that an Indian has for a guest, our inner world would be a better place. ?And as a result, the world would definitely be a better place.
For we are simply guests in our own body. ?Our stay lasts the duration of a single lifetime.
Many men and women in India who devote their life to spiritual practice will rub ashes across their forehead every morning as a reminder of this truth: one day, this body will turn to ashes. “I am but a guest in the guesthouse of existence, humbled by the blessing of my brief, beautiful stay on this earth. ?I greet the day with this recognition.”
Struggle, resistance, inner and outer violence, inner and outer war–what is it for? ?Our lives are but tiny specks in the span of eternity, a brief moment’s note in the continuum of time. ?We might as well make the most of it and live fully; we might as well be kind to
This body is a guesthouse, and our practice as inhabitants of the guesthouse is to welcome whatever comes to our door as an opportunity to learn, to grow, and to serve. ?Our practice is to recognize the impermanence of life–the nature life as change–and to treat everything–including ourselves–with the respect and noble curiosity we would bring the most honorable guest.
For you are the guest and you are the guesthouse…
And if? spiritual practice could be summed up in a single statement, it would be this:
Enjoy your stay.