THE CONFLICTED DESIRE FOR SELF-TRANSFORMATION: Many are fascinated yet fearful of the facts and truth

¨ a candle has been lit inside me, for which the sun is a moth.¨*
- Bahauddin Valad

¨Most of us are fascinated and yet fearful of the facts and truth. It flies in the face of our assumptions, opinions, and beliefs. Many are like moths drawn to a flame, paralyzed, conflicted, confused; unsure of what to think or do.¨  Ronald Wattonville-Ames

¨In sufi literature one of the most loved metaphor is moth and flame. The moth's annihilation into the flame has been drawn again and again as an analogy for the seeker in the sufi path who seeks annihilation into Divine Essence. The sufistic term for the annihilation or passing away into Divine is Fana.

In the poem quote at the beginning of this post, from The Drowned Book, Maarif, the genius of Bahauddin Valad (father of Rumi) uses moth in a surprisingly beautiful metaphor. Here the analogy emphasizes the brightness of one's inner light that makes the sun look like a moth, apparently a small insect.

Moth and Flame analogy is also used to symbolize self-transformation. In a sufi story by Fariduddin Attar (adopted from the book, Essential Sufism), its described in this following fashion:

One night, the moths gathered together, tormented by their longing to unite themselves with the candle. They all said, 'we must find someone to give us news of that for which we long so earnestly.' ...please read it all,
HERE

· Thanks to Ronald Wattonville-Ames, Friend
· Thanks to Mystic Saint
· Thanks to Faridudin Attar, Sufi