A recent post about evolution quoted the earnest entreaty of Mevlana Rumi to consider how precious we are, and not to sell ourselves for little price.  The post concluded with this question: To who or to what have I sold myself?  And, is it possible to cancel the contract?

Every accomplishment comes at some cost.  Hazrat Inayat Khan, knowing that his students lived in a very material and commercial world, advised them to think of it this way: that some things must be paid for in advance, some things we pay for when the goods are delivered, and some things are paid for later, when the bill is presented.  We should make no mistake, in other words: nothing is free, everything comes at a cost.  Even the ‘free air’ is not free, for we breathe it by  means of of a physical body, and therefore we face the inevitable tax of death when the body ceases to function.

What is it that makes the human being so precious?  It is not simply that we have been shaped by the Creator, for all of heaven and earth are His handiwork, but Mevlana Rumi says that the human is special, is still more precious.  Why?

The light of Perfection is omnipresent, all-pervading, yet it is the heart of the devotee that can hold that light. That gift does not come automatically, though–we must be willing to make that our goal, and sacrifice everything for it. If we use our life to pursue something limited, such as material wealth, or name and fame, we may succeed, but at what cost?  The opportunities of life will be spent in chasing something that can be snatched away from us in a moment.  Making our goal the Infinite comes at the same cost – we must sacrifice our time and thought, and in the end ourself in pursuit of the One – but the reward is that which can never be taken away.

Obviously, each person’s path is different.  We have various responsibilities to fulfil, and we cannot abandon those who depend upon us.  But at the same time, we should consider carefully what we are pursing, and let go, as much as it is possible, of all that merely feeds the ego.

Metaphors can be unreliable if we take them too literally, but one way of cancelling a contract is simply to refuse delivery.