Your Prayer Rug

"ONCE THERE lived a metalworker, a locksmith, who was unjustly accused of crimes and was sentenced to a deep, dark prison. After he had been there a while, his wife who loved him very much went to the King and beseeched him that she might at least give him a prayer rug so he could observe his five prostrations every day. The King considered that a lawful request, so he let the woman bring her husband a prayer rug. The prisoner was thankful to get the rug from his wife and every day he faithfully did his prostrations on the rug. 

Much later, the man escaped from prison and when people asked him how he got out, he explained that after years of doing his prostrations and praying for deliverance from the prison, he began to see what was right in front of his nose. One day he suddenly saw that his wife had woven into the prayer rug the pattern of the lock that imprisoned him. Once he realized this and understood that all the information he needed to escape was already in his possession, he began to make friends with his guards. He also persuaded the guards that they all would have a better life if they cooperated and the escaped the prison together. They agreed since, although they were guards, they realized that were in prison, too. They also wished to escape, but they had no means to do so.

So the locksmith and his guards decided on the following plan: they would bring  him pieces of metal, and he would fashion useful items from them to sell in the market place. Together they would amass resources for their escape, and from the strongest piece of metal they could acquire, the locksmith would fashion a key.

One night, when everything had been prepared, the locksmith and his guards unlocked the prison and walked out into the cool night where his wife was waiting from him. He left the prayer rug behind so that any other prisoner who was clever enough to read the pattern of the rug could also make his escape. Thus, the locksmith was reunited with his loving wife, his former guards became his friends, and everyone lived in harmony. Love and skillfulness prevailed."

This Sufi story as told by Idries Shah seems very applicable for where we are this month. It happens to be the holy month of Ramadan. The traditional pilgrimages have been cancelled and mosques are empty for the first time in history. People all around the world, regardless of where they stand in terms of faith, fortune or (relative) freedoms are forced inside for a bit longer. Yet we feel the collective chomping at the bit for release and getting back to. . . whatever it is that we believe we have to go back to. This month I'm feeling the call to linger longer in the liminal spaces and to listen more deeply to what has been unearthed in my own Soul during this time. It has been quite profound and I'm in no rush to try and explain or figure anything out. This has been an incredible opportunity for all of us to awaken and to clearly see that to be controlled by anything outside of ourselves is a form of imprisonment and to consciously choose to create a life that truly sets the Soul free requires a responsibility to do the necessary work. I'll be continuing to pray, to work and to make and offer the keys that serve my deepest truth.

Here is your proverbial prayer rug, dear one, may you recognize what sets you free.  
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