A Bus Ride to Rumi’s Field Beyond Right and Wrong

Today, while riding the bus, I had an unexpected lesson in spiritual expansion—not from a book or a meditation, but from the simple exchange of two strangers.

Before boarding, a man handed me a flyer from Falun Da Fa. As I read, I felt my heart ache. The flyer spoke of persecution—of practitioners being killed, tortured, and silenced for living their faith. My heart ached at the thought of people suffering simply for practicing something they believed would bring them closer to peace, to spirit, to truth.

A little while later, on the bus, the man sitting in front of me called that same flyer-giver. Their conversation unfolded right before my ears, as if I was meant to hear it. They spoke back and forth, each insistent on their point of view. One shared about cultivating Qi, about spiritual practice. The other countered that such cultivation was nothing without the compassion of vegetarianism.

Both voices carried valid points. Both perspectives held wisdom. And yet, neither seemed able to hear the other. It was as if they were speaking into two separate mirrors, each reflecting only themselves. And I sat there listening, strangely delighted by the exchange. I found myself nodding at both of them, feeling truth in each point, but also recognizing how they kept missing each other.

The lesson emerged: both are threads of light—different textures, different colors—yet part of the same great tapestry. Spiritual expansion is not about choosing which thread is “better.” It is about weaving them together. It is not about proving one truth over another. It’s about widening the circle to hold them all.

From “OR” to “AND”

This was the revelation that came to me as the bus rumbled forward:

• We are not here to decide if it’s this OR that.

• We are here to expand into this AND that.

• We are not asked to exclude, but to include.

• We are not here to preach about peace, but to embody compassion.

• We are here to hold space for multiple truths as we are all multi-dimensional beings and unique.

Preaching vs. Embodiment

As I reflected, I realized something deeper: true compassion doesn’t need to insist. It doesn’t need to convince. It simply radiates. When we preach, even with the best intentions, we may end up guarding our own viewpoint more than listening to another. But when we embody compassion, we hold space for all truths to breathe in the same room.

An invitation

That bus ride reminded me that spiritual expansion is not about picking sides. It is about moving beyond the need for sides at all. It is the practice of inclusivity—holding paradox with grace, saying yes to multiple truths without needing to rank them.

My favorite poet-philosopher Rumi once wrote:

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.”

This “field” is what I felt opening inside me as I listened—an inner spaciousness where both truths could stand side by side, neither needing to defeat the other.

My invitation to you, from this small moment on a bus, is this:

May we honor every path as valid.

May we expand from OR to AND.

May we listen as deeply as we speak.

May we embody compassion rather than prove it.

With so much love,

Solarys