The presence of universally accepted and revered personages and their teachings, which are appreciated by a diverse range of individuals around the world, can be of great benefit to societies. From the perspective of the “resource turn”, it can be said that these personages and their teachings represent a form of intangible cultural asset, or to be exact, ‘Resource Culture’ -Hardenberg et al 2017- that can function as bridges or social links between different groups of readers/actors. One such personage is Jalal al-Din Mohammad Rumi -1207-1273-. In this study the 13th century Persian, Sufi poet Jalaladin Rumi’s life and works serve as a model. A wide range of musical, media, and literary productions with Rumi as their focal point bear witness to his appeal in both East and West. Rumi’s realization that spiritual values are also necessary to be able to live a good life and his turn to Sufism therefore reflect the point made by the American anthropologist Edward Fischer -2014- that the necessary criteria for the attainment of the good life “cannot be reduced to material conditions alone [since] key non-material qualities define the good life” -p. 2-. Both Rumi’s life and Fischer\'s statement confirm that the non-material qualities are crucial for the attainment of the good life as well. Rumi’s collections of poems Masnavi and Divan-i-Shams-i-Tabrizi provide fitting contexts that show how a new definition of the good life can be formulated. Despite their differences, readers around the world have a shared interest in Rumi’s lessons for life. Here, the universal acceptance and fame of Rumi serve as a resource to facilitate the promotion of the lifestyle he regards vital for the achievement of the good life. Rumi’s pluralist views toward life can promote not only universal peace and love but also dialogue between the West and Muslim world. Keyword: Rumi’s reception, East and West, Good life, Recourse Culture

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