Excerpts
from
"Caravan of Dreams",
"You
want to
become Wise
in one lesson:
first
become
a
real
human being!"
[p. 206]
+++
"The self-styled
intellectual
sneers
at the humble man's
respect
for some things.
But if you want to see
stupidity
clearly
and
have a firework show
into the bargain,
speak
against the thinker's
sacred cows.
You are then
more likely
to have a demonstration
of what
'raving like a maniac'
means."
[p. 206]
+++
Do you expect
milk
from a bee,
honey
from a chicken,
or
eggs
from a cow?
These ideas
are absurd.
Yet how many people
stop,
before they ask
for
information and guidance
from people
who do not know,
that
they are asking
the impossible?
The reason why
they do not
stop to think
is essentially
that they are
not seeking
information,
knowledge,
guidance.
They are asking
to be entertained,
to pass the time,
to be given attention.
This is the reason why,
as we have all experienced,
people will ask for advice
often enough,
but do not take it,
however good it may be.
The purpose
of the transaction
is not to seek advice.
And this is a reason
why Sufis
are often
not popular.
Since
it is not
necessarily
any part of their duty
to carry on
disguised therapies,
they may not cooperate
in the fiction:
and people
do not like that
at all."
[p. 207]
+++
"Do you want
to examine
a socially-conditioned
individual
who attributes
what has been done to him
as
the work
of
a higher power?
All you need do
is look at
nine out of ten
'dedicated'
people."
[p. 204]
+++
THE HUMAN RACE
"Tell me
what to do;
but it must be
what I want you
to tell me."
[p. 202]
the arrow
once sped from the bow,
the word
spoken in haste,
the missed opportunity."
[p. 192]
+++
"Haste
is from
the Devil."
[p. 188]
+++
"Be in the world,
but not
of the world."
[p. 176]
"Why the Dervish
Hides Himself"
Rumi
was asked
by his son:
"Why is
the dervish
hidden?
Is this
a self-concealment:
done
by means of clothing?
Is there something
within him
which he disguises?
The Master said:
'It might be
in any way.
Some write
love-poems,
and people think
that they mean
ordinary love.
The calling
sometimes conceals
the real position
in the Way:
there are traders,
like Baby Farid;
some write literature.
Others pursue other
external activities.
This may be done
for defense
against worldly people.
Some
deliberately act
in a way which
society might disapprove,
to gain peace.
The Prophet
has therefore said:
"God has hidden
the
Men
of Greatest Knowledge."
Any stratagem may be adopted
by the Followers of the Way
to gain peace
when they might otherwise
be hindered.
The Master then recited:
Ever-knowing,
as they hide they seek.
To the ordinary man,
they appear other
than they are.
In inward light
they roam:
making miracles
come to pass.
-- Yet none knows
who they are."
(Aflaki: Munaqib el-Arifin)
[p. 175]
+++
"Each flies
with its own kind:
pigeon
with pigeon,
hawk
with hawk."
[p. 169]
+++
"Patience is bitter,
but bears
a sweet fruit."
[p. 166]
+++
Hazrat Bahaudin
Naqshband
One said:
"What shall I do
to be answered?"
El Shah answered:
"You shall avoid those
who imagine themselves
to be
the People of Salvation.
They think
that they
are saved,
or
that they have
the means
to save.
In reality, they are
all but lost.
These are the people,
like today's
Magians,
Jews,
and
Christians,
who recite
dramatic tales,
threaten and cajole
many times
in succession
with
the same admonitions,
they cry out
that you must become
committed
to their creed.
The result of this
is an imitation,
a sentimentalist.
Anyone can be 'given'
this spurious type of belief,
and can be made
to feel that it is real faith.
But this is not the original
Way of Zoroaster,
of Moses,
of Jesus.
It is the method
discovered by desperate men
for
the inclusion in their ranks
of large numbers.
Far from being saved
or made complete,
such enthusiasts
are set aside
in a trained band
for eventual dissolution:
like a cloud
which for a time
seems to have substance,
but
which a puff of wind
will banish to nothingness.
But do not
enter into controversy
with them.
They have been
deceived
to take
the false
for
the true,
because
they preferred
the easier
to
the harder test.
They would see
even an angel
as the devil himself.
It is always thus
with the weak inheritors
of the Real Ones.
Just as lazy sons
live off an orchard
which
their father tended,
thinking themselves
clever,
righteous
and
rightful owners,
until --
un-pruned --
it starts to fail.
You will be answered
if you seek
the man who will refuse
the easy method
of preaching
and
practice as I have outlined it:
a method
suitable only
for
the breaking of horses
and
causing attachment
to one's person,
or
the production of ignorant
and helpless slaves."
[p. 162]
+++
Pleasant and Unpleasant
"People say
that they want
help,
when
they want
attention.
They say
that they want
to listen,
when they want
to be heard.
We know this
by what you say,
by
how you look,
by
what we can feel.
Everyone else
would feel it, too,
if they were not
similarly self-absorbed
and
uninterested in you.
You must
first of all
find out
from yourself
if you
want to learn
and
why
you want to learn.
If you go somewhere
to buy something,
you must
first earn the money,
and
have some idea
of what you need.
If you just have
idle wants
and
do not know your needs,
you have
a long way to go.
If you
become diverted
from us
by our behavior,
you would
never have been able
to keep pace with us
anyway.
If this sounds
unpleasant,
it does not signify
that
it is meant to be
unpleasant.
If you think
that we are unpleasant,
you are holding up
a mirror to yourself,
and saying:
'Look at them!' "
(Salahudin Afranji)
[p. 158]
+++
The Curse
A pretended Sufi
took some wheat
to a mill
to be ground
into flour.
"Grind it now,
and
make haste about it,"
he said,
for these charlatans
are always trying
to make people do things
for them.
"I have no time,"
said the miller.
"If you do not,"
said the rogue,
"I shall curse your mill."
"I would like to see you
do that,"
said the miller,
himself
a real Sufi,
"because
if you could get things done
by such methods
you would not be here
trying to make me
grind your wheat!"
[p. 157]
+++
Self-Deception
As long as you ask
the question you think
that should be
answered for you,
without taking heed
of my assurance
that
you are in greater need
of
certain other instruction --
so long
will I be
unable to help you
and
so long
will you believe
that I am no use
to you.
But you,
in ignorance
of the instruction
which you need,
will inevitably conclude
that there is
some other reason
for
our not being
in concert
and harmony.
You invent
the reason --
and
your self-esteem
makes it "true"
for you.
(Sheikh Mir Khan)
[p. 155]
+++
"The power
of Allah:
no sound,
no shape,
no form.
But when
it manifests,
none
can resist it."
[p. 150]
+++
"Learn to behave
from those
who cannot."
[p. 111]
+++
Encounter at a Hermitage
This story is said to have been told
one day
by Emir Hamza (died 1710)
in answer to the question:
"In what manner
could you relate to us
an equivalence of your power
to live in a world
other than ours?"
It is related that he
could "slip into invisibility
just by taking
a sideways step,
when his feet
were at right angles
to one another."
About this,
as about other wonders,
he said:
"I forbid you
to relate any wonder of mine
without adding
that the performance of wonders
is for a purpose
of self-improvement
or
passing power,
not amazement
or faith,
to others."
Another remark
made by Hamza is:
"We go to another land,
in form and fancy,
sometimes really remaining here;
but sometimes literally.
From this world
we bring back
what you need;
food
that has never been tasted,
drink
that has never been swallowed."
Shah Firox died in 1660,
and in popular repute
is still alive,
in a new form,
as one of
the Hidden Guides
of the Sufis.
"I had walked to a hermitage
in the Hindu Kush to
visit its Sheikh,
and also to see
if I could find some way
of stilling my doubts
about some way of proving
the real existence
of the Hidden Path.
It was only after many adventures
that I at last came across
the friendly sight
of smoke
rising through the chimney-hole
of that simple building.
A man,
plainly dressed,
an honest expression on his face,
was sitting quietly at the door
of the hermitage.
He said,
"Welcome, brother."
Far from feeling glad,
I was disturbed
to find so little respect for me
in this man,
who was surely the watchman.
"Are you
the watchman?"
I asked.
"I am called that,"
he said.
"I am looking for
the Ancient,
the Guide"
I told him.
"I am called that,"
he answered.
And then I was glad
that the great teacher
had called me brother.
As we went into the house
a small dog ran to the Sheikh's side,
delighted that he had come back.
"Welcome, brother,"
said the Sheikh to the animal,
and
I was again downcast
to think that
by this greeting I have been put
on a level with the dog,
that I had not been honored
at all.
But out
of politeness
I said nothing,
for
I was the guest.
Soon we were seated
before a bowl of yoghurt;
when the Guide spoke,
it was to recite a poem.
"A puff of smoke
against a mountain --
the heart grows glad.
A kind word
to a little dog --
the heart grows sad."
I was amazed
that he could understand
my secret thoughts
in this way,
and uneasy,
and rather ashamed.
"Teach me,"
I said.
He answered,
"What do I sing,
and what does
my lute sing?
You and I
are not in harmony,
although
I understand your thoughts.
What have you
already taught yourself?
What have others
taught you?
You are uneasy
because you have come so far
and
at the end of your journey
have found someone
who can read your thoughts.
And you feel
that perhaps
you could learn this power,
and then
use it
to your heart's content.
I seem acceptable to you,
as people sometimes think
of doctrines
as being acceptable to them.
But are you
acceptable to me?
People never bother
to think
that
the doctrine
may not accept them."
And
the Guide continued,
"You must go away.
You are still too raw
for a teacher to develop;
a fruit must be touched
by the right things,
by those elements
which ripen it.
Go away,
strive,
work
in every possible way.
When you
are nearer maturity
you will be able
properly to understand
the experience
of our master,
Ben-Adhem,
who gave away
the throne of Balkh
to be with us.
For
he was walking
along the road one day
when he saw
a stone on the ground.
It had written on it,
TURN ME OVER
AND READ.'
So he picked it up
and looked
at the other side.
And there
was written,
'WHY DO YOU
SEEK MORE
KNOWLEDGE
WHEN
YOU PAY NO HEED
TO
WHAT YOU
KNOW ALREADY?'"
Turning from the Sage
I thought to myself,
"I wish that everyone
could have an encounter
like this,
so that
at least it would be
common knowledge
that teaching of this kind
exists
in the world."
He went on,
"Often
the penalty of knowledge
is
to be laughed at.
Tell people
of our discussion here
and
they will think you mad.
In this way,
real knowledge
protects itself."
I made no attempt
to shape words,
but in my heart,
as earnestly as I could,
I framed the thought,
"How can I serve?"
And, also without words,
Shah Firoz
spoke directly
to my heart,
"Increase
the desire
to serve
and
a chance of service
may be given you."
Only when
through frequent effort
I had reached this stage
did I realize
the true value
of my encounter with him
who is called
"Shah Firoz".
(Firman-Bardar of Badakhshan)
[p. 111]
+++
from
"Caravan of Dreams",
by
Idries Shah,
Penguin Books,
1968"You
want to
become Wise
in one lesson:
first
become
a
real
human being!"
[p. 206]
+++
"The self-styled
intellectual
sneers
at the humble man's
respect
for some things.
But if you want to see
stupidity
clearly
and
have a firework show
into the bargain,
speak
against the thinker's
sacred cows.
You are then
more likely
to have a demonstration
of what
'raving like a maniac'
means."
[p. 206]
+++
Do you expect
milk
from a bee,
honey
from a chicken,
or
eggs
from a cow?
These ideas
are absurd.
Yet how many people
stop,
before they ask
for
information and guidance
from people
who do not know,
that
they are asking
the impossible?
The reason why
they do not
stop to think
is essentially
that they are
not seeking
information,
knowledge,
guidance.
They are asking
to be entertained,
to pass the time,
to be given attention.
This is the reason why,
as we have all experienced,
people will ask for advice
often enough,
but do not take it,
however good it may be.
The purpose
of the transaction
is not to seek advice.
And this is a reason
why Sufis
are often
not popular.
Since
it is not
necessarily
any part of their duty
to carry on
disguised therapies,
they may not cooperate
in the fiction:
and people
do not like that
at all."
[p. 207]
+++
"Do you want
to examine
a socially-conditioned
individual
who attributes
what has been done to him
as
the work
of
a higher power?
All you need do
is look at
nine out of ten
'dedicated'
people."
[p. 204]
+++
A MOTTO
OFTHE HUMAN RACE
"Tell me
what to do;
but it must be
what I want you
to tell me."
[p. 202]
+++
"Three things
cannot be retrieved:the arrow
once sped from the bow,
the word
spoken in haste,
the missed opportunity."
[p. 192]
+++
"Haste
is from
the Devil."
[p. 188]
+++
"Be in the world,
but not
of the world."
[p. 176]
+++
"Why the Dervish
Hides Himself"
Rumi
was asked
by his son:
"Why is
the dervish
hidden?
Is this
a self-concealment:
done
by means of clothing?
Is there something
within him
which he disguises?
The Master said:
'It might be
in any way.
Some write
love-poems,
and people think
that they mean
ordinary love.
The calling
sometimes conceals
the real position
in the Way:
there are traders,
like Baby Farid;
some write literature.
Others pursue other
external activities.
This may be done
for defense
against worldly people.
Some
deliberately act
in a way which
society might disapprove,
to gain peace.
The Prophet
has therefore said:
"God has hidden
the
Men
of Greatest Knowledge."
Any stratagem may be adopted
by the Followers of the Way
to gain peace
when they might otherwise
be hindered.
The Master then recited:
Ever-knowing,
as they hide they seek.
To the ordinary man,
they appear other
than they are.
In inward light
they roam:
making miracles
come to pass.
-- Yet none knows
who they are."
(Aflaki: Munaqib el-Arifin)
[p. 175]
+++
"Each flies
with its own kind:
pigeon
with pigeon,
hawk
with hawk."
[p. 169]
+++
"Patience is bitter,
but bears
a sweet fruit."
[p. 166]
+++
Hazrat Bahaudin
Naqshband
One said:
"What shall I do
to be answered?"
El Shah answered:
"You shall avoid those
who imagine themselves
to be
the People of Salvation.
They think
that they
are saved,
or
that they have
the means
to save.
In reality, they are
all but lost.
These are the people,
like today's
Magians,
Jews,
and
Christians,
who recite
dramatic tales,
threaten and cajole
many times
in succession
with
the same admonitions,
they cry out
that you must become
committed
to their creed.
The result of this
is an imitation,
a sentimentalist.
Anyone can be 'given'
this spurious type of belief,
and can be made
to feel that it is real faith.
But this is not the original
Way of Zoroaster,
of Moses,
of Jesus.
It is the method
discovered by desperate men
for
the inclusion in their ranks
of large numbers.
Far from being saved
or made complete,
such enthusiasts
are set aside
in a trained band
for eventual dissolution:
like a cloud
which for a time
seems to have substance,
but
which a puff of wind
will banish to nothingness.
But do not
enter into controversy
with them.
They have been
deceived
to take
the false
for
the true,
because
they preferred
the easier
to
the harder test.
They would see
even an angel
as the devil himself.
It is always thus
with the weak inheritors
of the Real Ones.
Just as lazy sons
live off an orchard
which
their father tended,
thinking themselves
clever,
righteous
and
rightful owners,
until --
un-pruned --
it starts to fail.
You will be answered
if you seek
the man who will refuse
the easy method
of preaching
and
practice as I have outlined it:
a method
suitable only
for
the breaking of horses
and
causing attachment
to one's person,
or
the production of ignorant
and helpless slaves."
[p. 162]
+++
Pleasant and Unpleasant
"People say
that they want
help,
when
they want
attention.
They say
that they want
to listen,
when they want
to be heard.
We know this
by what you say,
by
how you look,
by
what we can feel.
Everyone else
would feel it, too,
if they were not
similarly self-absorbed
and
uninterested in you.
You must
first of all
find out
from yourself
if you
want to learn
and
why
you want to learn.
If you go somewhere
to buy something,
you must
first earn the money,
and
have some idea
of what you need.
If you just have
idle wants
and
do not know your needs,
you have
a long way to go.
If you
become diverted
from us
by our behavior,
you would
never have been able
to keep pace with us
anyway.
If this sounds
unpleasant,
it does not signify
that
it is meant to be
unpleasant.
If you think
that we are unpleasant,
you are holding up
a mirror to yourself,
and saying:
'Look at them!' "
(Salahudin Afranji)
[p. 158]
+++
The Curse
A pretended Sufi
took some wheat
to a mill
to be ground
into flour.
"Grind it now,
and
make haste about it,"
he said,
for these charlatans
are always trying
to make people do things
for them.
"I have no time,"
said the miller.
"If you do not,"
said the rogue,
"I shall curse your mill."
"I would like to see you
do that,"
said the miller,
himself
a real Sufi,
"because
if you could get things done
by such methods
you would not be here
trying to make me
grind your wheat!"
[p. 157]
+++
Self-Deception
As long as you ask
the question you think
that should be
answered for you,
without taking heed
of my assurance
that
you are in greater need
of
certain other instruction --
so long
will I be
unable to help you
and
so long
will you believe
that I am no use
to you.
But you,
in ignorance
of the instruction
which you need,
will inevitably conclude
that there is
some other reason
for
our not being
in concert
and harmony.
You invent
the reason --
and
your self-esteem
makes it "true"
for you.
(Sheikh Mir Khan)
[p. 155]
+++
"The power
of Allah:
no sound,
no shape,
no form.
But when
it manifests,
none
can resist it."
[p. 150]
+++
"Learn to behave
from those
who cannot."
[p. 111]
+++
Encounter at a Hermitage
This story is said to have been told
one day
by Emir Hamza (died 1710)
in answer to the question:
"In what manner
could you relate to us
an equivalence of your power
to live in a world
other than ours?"
It is related that he
could "slip into invisibility
just by taking
a sideways step,
when his feet
were at right angles
to one another."
About this,
as about other wonders,
he said:
"I forbid you
to relate any wonder of mine
without adding
that the performance of wonders
is for a purpose
of self-improvement
or
passing power,
not amazement
or faith,
to others."
Another remark
made by Hamza is:
"We go to another land,
in form and fancy,
sometimes really remaining here;
but sometimes literally.
From this world
we bring back
what you need;
food
that has never been tasted,
drink
that has never been swallowed."
Shah Firox died in 1660,
and in popular repute
is still alive,
in a new form,
as one of
the Hidden Guides
of the Sufis.
"I had walked to a hermitage
in the Hindu Kush to
visit its Sheikh,
and also to see
if I could find some way
of stilling my doubts
about some way of proving
the real existence
of the Hidden Path.
It was only after many adventures
that I at last came across
the friendly sight
of smoke
rising through the chimney-hole
of that simple building.
A man,
plainly dressed,
an honest expression on his face,
was sitting quietly at the door
of the hermitage.
He said,
"Welcome, brother."
Far from feeling glad,
I was disturbed
to find so little respect for me
in this man,
who was surely the watchman.
"Are you
the watchman?"
I asked.
"I am called that,"
he said.
"I am looking for
the Ancient,
the Guide"
I told him.
"I am called that,"
he answered.
And then I was glad
that the great teacher
had called me brother.
As we went into the house
a small dog ran to the Sheikh's side,
delighted that he had come back.
"Welcome, brother,"
said the Sheikh to the animal,
and
I was again downcast
to think that
by this greeting I have been put
on a level with the dog,
that I had not been honored
at all.
But out
of politeness
I said nothing,
for
I was the guest.
Soon we were seated
before a bowl of yoghurt;
when the Guide spoke,
it was to recite a poem.
"A puff of smoke
against a mountain --
the heart grows glad.
A kind word
to a little dog --
the heart grows sad."
I was amazed
that he could understand
my secret thoughts
in this way,
and uneasy,
and rather ashamed.
"Teach me,"
I said.
He answered,
"What do I sing,
and what does
my lute sing?
You and I
are not in harmony,
although
I understand your thoughts.
What have you
already taught yourself?
What have others
taught you?
You are uneasy
because you have come so far
and
at the end of your journey
have found someone
who can read your thoughts.
And you feel
that perhaps
you could learn this power,
and then
use it
to your heart's content.
I seem acceptable to you,
as people sometimes think
of doctrines
as being acceptable to them.
But are you
acceptable to me?
People never bother
to think
that
the doctrine
may not accept them."
And
the Guide continued,
"You must go away.
You are still too raw
for a teacher to develop;
a fruit must be touched
by the right things,
by those elements
which ripen it.
Go away,
strive,
work
in every possible way.
When you
are nearer maturity
you will be able
properly to understand
the experience
of our master,
Ben-Adhem,
who gave away
the throne of Balkh
to be with us.
For
he was walking
along the road one day
when he saw
a stone on the ground.
It had written on it,
TURN ME OVER
AND READ.'
So he picked it up
and looked
at the other side.
And there
was written,
'WHY DO YOU
SEEK MORE
KNOWLEDGE
WHEN
YOU PAY NO HEED
TO
WHAT YOU
KNOW ALREADY?'"
Turning from the Sage
I thought to myself,
"I wish that everyone
could have an encounter
like this,
so that
at least it would be
common knowledge
that teaching of this kind
exists
in the world."
He went on,
"Often
the penalty of knowledge
is
to be laughed at.
Tell people
of our discussion here
and
they will think you mad.
In this way,
real knowledge
protects itself."
I made no attempt
to shape words,
but in my heart,
as earnestly as I could,
I framed the thought,
"How can I serve?"
And, also without words,
Shah Firoz
spoke directly
to my heart,
"Increase
the desire
to serve
and
a chance of service
may be given you."
Only when
through frequent effort
I had reached this stage
did I realize
the true value
of my encounter with him
who is called
"Shah Firoz".
(Firman-Bardar of Badakhshan)
[p. 111]
+++
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