Rumi from the Viewpoint of Spiritual Psychology and Counseling

Author/s: Cinar Kaya

DOI: 10.12738/spc.2016.1.0001 

Year: 2016 Vol: 1 Number: 1

Abstract

Rumi was a renowned Sufi, spiritual teacher, and poet who has attracted both scholarly and non-scholarly attention all over the world. This paper aims to present Rumi’s life and his works and contributions in the fields of thought and spirituality within themes of potential importance for both general and spiritually oriented counseling by providing some biographical details to further the understanding of his personal development as well as his approaches and contributions regarding human nature, Sufism, asceticism, love, “nothingness” within unity, and death. A biographical analysis of Rumi’s own psychological transformation by Arasteh has also been presented. This paper also discusses the possibility of benefitting from Rumi texts as a resource for both spiritually oriented counseling and counseling in general, especially in the form of bibliotherapy, and attempts to outline the prospects and challenges of benefitting from Rumi and Sufi resources in general for psychotherapy and counseling.

Keywords
Rumi, Masnavi, Spirituality, Counseling, Psychotherapy