A common theme in most major religions involves the loss of self through communion with the divine. In Sufism, this is called fanā’ , or “the annihilation of the ego.” The 13th-century Sufi mystic Rumi wrote about fanā’ in exquisite metaphors; in this poem, he compared his self to a “clear bead”:

There are no edges to my loving now.

The clear bead at

... See more