Can anyone explain the truth hidden in these lines in simple language?

Question

Love's like a black lion, famished and ferocious, who only drinks the blood of the hearts of lovers. Love seizes you tenderly and drags you towards the trap. ...No one can escape his chains by trickery or madness; no sage can wriggle out of his nets by wisdom. –Rumi (Teachings of Rumi, p. 81)

Answer 1

Love is life!

Answer 2

No one can escape Love because we are at once Love and the Lover.

Answer 3

First of all its a mixed metaphor which is tricky to get a hold of.

It is a rather 'black' and depressing description of love.  Sure love can be a trap and it can certainly be painful but I think he's leaving out the nice bits.  Anyway you can't use logic (wisdom) to escape (wriggle out of the net).  Love can't be conquered by reason alone.

Answer 4

Love is personified in a human being (hence the use of WHO in the poem). That human being is not always full of the best intentions when greedy and mean. A lion (or a son) cannot be black (mean) but when it happens, "he" can catch his prey "tenderly" (his father was seized tenderly) as quick as a flash. (there is nothing a father can do in such a case).Therefore, there is nothing a human being can do to escape from the belief of someone who chooses to build a relationship by drinking what keeps his own father's strength at a high level enough to keep alive, "blood= strength". Was Rumi mentioning the killing of Shams which drove him to despair? It was his own son (whom Rumi loved) who  killed the holy man he was inspired by (whom Rumi loved too)? Thank you for reminding us about Rumi's poems!

Answer 5

When you experience the Divine love you will see no difference between flower and beast

Answer 6

Clearly bad marriage is not a modern phenomena.

Answer 7

love is inevitable like death.

Answer 8

There are different types of love.  This  statement sounds like relationships  between genders as in boyfriend and  girlfriend.  When the relationship is  situated more in material temporal  qualities then we may find some  comparison to the wild.  When a  relationship is more material we may see  more drama and possibly more conflict.   As we advance to a more godly  relationship then there may be more  lasting happiness and peace.  However, as   long as we remain in the temporal  material existence all relationships are  at least faced with the reality of  disease, old age and death.  

What happens  to the relationship at the time of death?   We may have a heavenly relationship with  the opposite gender, but what about the  belief or theory that there is an eternal  existence where there is no death?  If  there is an eternal existence, a  spiritual sky, where there is no death,  then how much have we worked to possibly  realize this?  

Realization can be material or spiritual.   We advance from knowledge to wisdom, but  from there we may realize spiritual  enlightenment.  Spiritual enlightenment  is beyond material knowledge and wisdom.   The awakening of the eternal soul, or  total spiritual enlightenment, could be  said to be beyond even transcendental  knowledge, the giver of liberation.  

Once the eternal soul is completely  awakened, there is no longer need for  rules, regulations, or strictures.  On  that eternal platform all relationships  are eternal.  Therefore, we should  consider working on the eternal nature of  whatever relationship we have which would  include relationships between genders.  

To do this we need to take care of  material necessities and then take care  of spiritual necessities.  We need to set  aside time at least every day to inquire  into the absolute truth and how to  realize complete spiritual enlightenment  and awakening.  

Answer 9

Love looks like a nice thing... but then again it isn't

It makes you blind from someones bad points and then shows the bad things when you're stuck to someone.. like marriage

Answer 10

This is just an opinion, so it might not be right,but I believe it is say that Love is wonderfully terrible. Have you ever heard the song beautiful disaster by Kelly Clarkson? It is one of her older ones, but the title describes it great! Love can be terrible(Drinks the blood of the hearts... seizes you tenderly... ect.) and there is no way to escape it, but in these "teaching" it forgot a HUGE part of Love. The part that opens your eyes to a whole different world. Love is a wonderful thing. Especially God's unconditional Love for us.

Answer 11

This radical love is a raging fire in the heart that burns us up from the inside out, ultimately consuming our very self.

This is no path for the faint of heart. If we imagine that the path of love is an easy one, constantly filled with heavenly perfumes and sublime ecstasies, we will be very shocked the first time we are badly burned by love's fire, and we will not go very far along the path unless we willingly dive back into that fire, and embrace the purifying passion of eternity. We must be willing to love, even through the most extreme pain, suffering, and affliction. Even when it seems impossible for us to endure, even when it is impossible. Like Christ, we must be willing to literally die for the love of God, we must cling to supernatural love above all else, and trust God's love completely and unconditionally with all our heart, mind, and soul.  

Answer 12

No body can escape from the dangerous episode of love in life.

Answer 13

He's saying that no matter how wise or intelligent you are, Love will always find you, even if you don't want it.

Answer 14

when you fall in love, you fall in a trap. you keep falling and falling. you cant run away from it

Answer 15

One opinion:  Rumi is describing love at the level of the 4th chakra.

"Superconscious marriage begins in the fourth chakra, or the heart.  Man and woman in this state of union as a vehicle for initiation are rare souls whose love is used to give birth to children of rare quality in soul."  Ann Ree Colton, p. 248, "Kundalini West."

Answer 16

Love can overcome all the problems in life

Answer 17

Rumi points out the temptation of danger of lust which comes in the form of irresistable love.

Answer 18

It is a disgusting transference of the lewd barbaric treachery of evil transferred upon the sacred and noble spirit of love.

Kala is Satan the great and fallen tormentor and beguiler of wanton stray women.