Speech by Peter H. Cunz in Zurich and Bern, February 2026
Oh, faithful one, come, come, come even closer! Let go of the ego, of yourself, let go of the
‘we’ and of the collective self! Quickly, before time runs out, come!
Come, come even closer! Let go of the ‘we’ and the ‘I,’ come, come. Come, until the ‘you’
and the ‘we’ vanish. Neither the ‘you’ nor the ‘I’ shall exist!
Let go of complacency and arrogance, and make place for Him in your heart, the Greatest
of the Great, who has no place in heaven or on earth!
(Rumi, from his Divan)
Ladies and gentlemen,
Today I would like to speak to you about the person who wrote this poem. I will refrain
from discussing historical details and legends about this person, as that would
consume the time we have for this talk. You can find much of that information on
Wikipedia.
We should note that, with the advent of the New Age movement, religious practices in
the Far and Middle East became increasingly romanticized. This trend was evident not
only with Buddhism and Yoga but also in the mystical tradition of Islam, known as
Sufism. The works of Mohammed Celaleddin Rumi, known simply as “Rumi,” a great
Islamic scholar and mystic of the 13th century (1207-1273), were soon marketed.
Books by and about him became bestsellers in the West. Read More
