"Some gnats come from the grass to speak with Solomon.

O Solomon, you are the champion of the oppressed.

You give justice to the little guys, and they don't get

any littler than us. We are tiny metaphors

for frailty. Can you defend us?

Our complaint is against the wind.

Well, says Solomon, you have pretty voices,

you gnats, but remember, a judge cannot listen

to just one side. I must hear both litigants.

Of course, agree the gnats.

Summon the East wind, calls out Solomon,

and the wind arrives almost immediately.

What happened to the gnat plaintiffs? Gone.

Such is the way of every seeker who comes to complain

at the High Court. When the presence of God arrives,

where are the seekers? First there's dying,

then union, like gnats inside the wind."

Rumi- translated by Coleman Barks

This "dying" involves that selfish egotistical aspect of us. The part of us that sees itself as the victim, sees itself as separate from the others around it. It is that perspective that dies, the perspective of "us and them," of "absolute right and wrong," of "love and hate." This false view of reality is built out of illusion and false assumptions. It shrivels away before the dawning of Truth, and gives way to something much more profound and beautiful.