A comparative study of the meaning of life from the perspective of Rumi and Yalom

Knowing the meaning of life is one of the most important challenges of thinkers. Getting rid of emptiness and giving meaning and motivation to life has been one of the most obvious topics in psychology. Scientists of different eras have spared no effort to find a suitable answer to the meaning of life. In this research, we have tried to study the meaning of life from the perspective of the great mystic Rumi and the Western thinker and psychologist, Yalom, and to express the commonalities and differences of their views. The present study has been done by descriptive-analytical method and inductive method based on the propositions of existential psychology and in particular the views of Yalom and Rumi's poems. Rumi believes that if a person knows his spiritual dimension better, it will give meaning and meaning to his life; God plays a pivotal role in his life. But existentialist psychologists Yalom believe that the world is random and has no meaning. There is no policy other than what one creates. Yalom and Maulana agree on some components, such as the freedom of death that makes life meaningful, despite the obvious differences in views. The results show that the meaning of life in Rumi's Masnavi according to Yalom depends on observing principles such as moral responsibility which have been invented by man himself. Rumi believes that returning to the original along with other components is a factor in getting rid of emptiness, but Yalom does not believe in these aspects.