hospitality

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all! - Rumi

When I came across this poem by Rumi which seems to be speaking to equanimity, I thought about the "how"s of that, like stepping back from a feeling to become the witness of it, rather than identifying with it, but then I also thought of the Middle Eastern practice of hospitality.

Whether enemy or friend (or both - ah, family), the practice is to accept them all into the home equally, which in Arab terms, basically equates to effusively. While I kind of got the logic for a practice like that in terms of nomads relying on that principle for survival in a harsh environment, with each party knowing that the kindness would be repayed because of the universial nature of it in that region, and thus being obligated to sustain it, I didn't quite get why that practice might be maintained out of a harsh environment.

But, here we go. It's like equanimity; straining and wishing the bad feeling (visitor) wasn't there isn't going to make the visit go any better, so one might as well accept it and make the best of it.