In Augustine’s Confessions, one of the sections is titled The Pear Tree. I believe that this invocation to nature is very similar to Rumi and his poetry. In a lot of Rumi’s poems he writes about questions that he has to God or ways in which he can get closer to God. Although Augustine’s Confessions are not poetry, he does have a lyrical feel about his writing, at least in my opinion. Through his Confessions, Augustine constantly deals with his rejection of women’s promiscuity and the fact that he should not be focusing on lust, but rather becoming one with God. Rumi speaks to this belief in his poem, “An Empty Garlic”. Does anyone else feel that The Pear Tree might portray a similar message as Rumi’s writings?
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Yeah i agree with you Ian. It seems to me that much of early literature was focused around trying to find answers regarding becoming one with God. In both cases, I feel that both writers are trying to justify why it is so difficult to become one with god by stating that the world simply has too many physical and material temptations that detract from one's spiritual quest. This goes hand-in-hand with Rumi's beliefs, as Rumi was a Sufi - Sufi's believed that the world we perceive is a lesser, minor factor of the real world which can only be attained by looking inward and focusing on the quest to achieve spiritual success and thus become one with God.
I think that in some of Rumi’s poems (like The Empty Garlic) and Augustine’s The Pear Tree, the main message is to reject worldly things and temptations in order to connect with God. However, Rumi and Augustine’s tones differ. Both writers treat God with reverence and appreciate his lovingness and goodness. But, regarding the worldly distractions, I think Augustine turns his sins and submission to temptations into horrendous and extremely shameful abominations. He’s very hard on himself (his 16 year old self) for doing immoral things like stealing and being wasteful. Rumi, on the other hand, seems to regard the things that distance us from god as just worldly distractions that are keeping us from what we “really love.” Rumi doesn’t punish us or himself, instead he focuses on the positive relationship he has with god.
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