What Is The Meaning Of What You Seek Is Seeking You?
Last Updated on December 3, 2022
What is the meaning of “What You Seek Is Seeking You?” This proverb has been bandied about for centuries by people much wiser than us. It’s also been interpreted in many different ways, depending on its usage and the context in which it appears.
What you seek is seeking you, which means that what you’re looking for is actively trying to find you. This proverb tries to get the reader to focus their thoughts on something or someone, rather than passively waiting for them to appear in their life. It urges the reader to put effort into finding whatever it is they want, rather than just waiting for it to stumble into their life.
But what does this mean exactly? Let’s take a look…
What does “What you seek is seeking you” mean?
A good place to start is by explaining the meaning of the words found in this proverb. “What you seek is seeking you” is a type of “symbiotic expression”, meaning it’s a type of saying that has more than one meaning.
One meaning is that what you’re looking for is actively trying to find you. The other meaning is that what you’re seeking is actually there in the here and now, but we all look at the wrong direction because of which we never find it and give up.
The second meaning is mostly ignored, but many scholars suggest that the second one is the true meaning behind this saying by Rumi. As a licensed clinical psychologist, Saloumeh Bozorgzadeh, who is also the president of the Sufi Psychology Association, offers a somewhat different translation of the statement as it is written in Farsi.
Bozorgzadeh believes that when the proverb “What you seek is seeking you” is read in Farsi the translation is somewhat different from the most common used english translation. The proverb translates roughly to “What you seek is within you.”
Her interpretation focuses on the fact that the answer you’re looking for is much closer than you might think it is.
Finding meaning in your life is a constant process
One thing that’s important to remember about this proverb is that it directs the reader to firmly follow his purpose in life. What you seek is not something that you try to find just once and then never try to seek it again.
Rather, it’s something that you have to actively continue doing throughout your life. And this means that you have to actively find meaning in your life.
To know oneself is the ultimate quest of every human being. It’s not easy to find quiet time to reflect when there are so many external stimuli constantly pulling your attention. But introspection can often provide surprising results.
Each of us was put on this earth for a reason. In other words, you should go after whatever it is that is seeking you. That should be your primary focus in life. To put it another way, if you want to live by the maxim “what you seek is seeking you,” then you need to pay attention to your inner voice, follow your passion, and trust that the things that fascinate you are calling you to find them.
Say you want to become an actor or a writer, but due to some reason you can’t take the step to just seek your goals, however, in your head they are just calling you to give them a shot. This means that those things are meant for you and you should constantly try to seek them too even if you fail in your pursuit several times. So dream big and take actions now.
Rumi believed that the things you desire are searching for you in the same manner that you are searching for them. Which is why they exist in your head. All you need is to just take actions and be in the present moment so that you can look for the signs of your calling.
When you live in the present you pay attention to the world around you, you learn new things and generate new ideas. Keep an open mind that can roam to fantastical realms and unfathomable dimensions and in the end you’ll truly find what your soul was looking for.
Note: Do not forget to read the awesome collection of Rumi Quotes which I have compiled just for you.
