Excerpts
of the Sufi Masters
Over the Past Thousand Years",
Dutton Books,
1967
"When
the Waters
Were Changed"
Once upon
a time
Khidr,
the Teacher
of Moses,
called upon
mankind
with
a warning.
At
a certain date,
he said,
all the water
in the world
which had not
been
specially hoarded,
would
disappear.
It
would then
be renewed,
with
different water,
which
would
drive men mad.
Only
one man
listened
to
the meaning
of
this advice.
He
collected water
and went
to a secure place
where
he stored it,
and waited
for the water
to change
its character.
On the
appointed date
the streams
stopped running,
the wells
went dry,
and
the man
who
had listened,
seeing this
happening,
went
to his retreat
and drank
his
preserved water.
When
he saw,
from
his security,
the waterfalls
again
beginning
to flow,
this man
descended
among
the other
sons of men.
He found
that they were
thinking
and
talking
in
an entirely
different way
from before;
yet
they had
no memory
of
what
had happened,
nor
of
having been
warned.
When
he tried
to talk
to them,
he realized
that
they thought
that
he was mad,
and
they showed
hostility
or
compassion,
not
understanding.
At first
he drank
none
of the new water,
but
went back
to
his concealment,
to draw
on his supplies,
every day.
Finally,
however,
he took
the decision
to drink
the new water
because
he
could not bear
the loneliness
of
living,
behaving
and thinking
in
a different way
from
everyone else.
He drank
the new water,
and
became
like the rest.
Then he forgot
all about
his own store
of special water,
and
his fellows
began
to
look upon him
as a madman
who
had miraculously
been
restored to sanity.
+
[From page 21]
+++
"The Blind Ones
and
the Matter
of the Elephant"
Beyond Ghor
there was a city.
All
its inhabitants
were blind.
A king
with
his entourage
arrived
near by;
he brought
his army
and
camped
in the desert.
He had
a mighty elephant,
which he used
in attack
and
to increase
the people's awe.
The populace
became anxious
to see
the elephant,
and
some sightless
from among
this blind
community
ran like fools
to find it.
As they
did not
even know
the form
or shape
of the elephant
they groped
sightlessly,
gathering
information
by touching
some part of it.
Each thought
that
he knew
something,
because
he could feel
a part.
When they
returned
to
their fellow-citizens
eager groups
clustered
around them.
Each of these
was anxious,
misguidedly,
to learn the truth
from
those who
were themselves
astray.
They asked
about the form,
the shape
of the elephant:
and
listened to all
that
they were told.
The man
whose hand
had reached
an ear
was asked
about
the
elephant's nature.
He said:
"It is a large,
rough thing,
wide and broad,
like a rug."
And the one
who had felt
the trunk said:
"I have
the real facts
about it.
It is like
a straight
and
hollow pipe,
awful
and destructive."
The one
who had felt
its feet and legs
said:
"It is mighty
and firm,
like a pillar."
Each
had felt
one part
out
of many.
Each
had
perceived it
wrongly.
No mind
knew all:
knowledge
is not
the companion
of the blind.
All imagined
something,
something
incorrect.
The created
is not informed
about divinity.
There is
no Way
in
this science
by means of
the
ordinary intellect.
+
[From page 25]
+++
"How to
Catch Monkeys"
Once upon a time
there was a monkey
who was
very fond of cherries.
One day
he saw
a delicious-looking
cherry,
and
came down
from his tree
to get it.
But
the fruit
turned out
to be in
a clear glass bottle.
After
some
experimentation,
the monkey found
that he could
get hold
of the cherry
by
putting his hand
into the bottle
by way
of the neck.
As soon as
he had done so,
he closed his hand
over the cherry;
but
then he found
that
he could not
withdraw
his fist
holding the cherry,
because
it was larger
than the
internal dimension
of the neck.
Now
all this
was deliberate,
because
the cherry
in the bottle
was a trap
laid
by
a monkey-hunter
who
knew
how monkeys think.
The hunter,
hearing
the monkey's
whimperings,
came along
and
the monkey
tried
to run away.
But,
because
his hand was,
as he thought,
stuck
in the bottle,
he could not
move
fast enough
to escape.
But,
as
he thought,
he still
had hold
of the cherry.
The hunter
picked him up.
A moment later
he tapped
the monkey
sharply
on the elbow,
making him
suddenly
relax his hold
on the fruit.
The monkey
was free,
but
he was captured.
The hunter
had
used
the cherry
and
the bottle,
but
he still had them.
+
[From page 29]
+++
"Why the Clay Birds
Flew Away"
One day Jesus,
the son of Mary,
while a child,
was fashioning
small birds
out of clay.
Some
other youngsters
who
could not do so
ran
to the elders
and told them,
with
many complaints.
The elders
said:
"This work
cannot
be allowed
on
the Sabbath,"
for
it was
a Saturday.
Accordingly
they went
to the pool
where
the Son of Mary
was sitting
and
asked him
where
his birds were.
For answer
he pointed to
the birds
which
had been
fashioned:
and
they flew away.
"Making birds
which fly
is impossible,
therefore
it cannot be
a breaking
of the Sabbath,"
said one elder.
"I should learn
this art,"
said another.
"This is
no art,
it is
but deception,"
said a third.
So
the Sabbath
was
not broken,
the art
could not
be taught.
As for deception,
the elders
as well a
the children
had
deceived themselves,
because
they
did not know
what
the object
of the fashioning
of the birds was.
The reason
for doing
no work
on Saturday
had been
forgotten.
The knowledge
of
what is
a deception
and
what is
not
was
imperfect
to those elders.
The beginning
of art
and
the
end of action
was
unknown
to them:
thus it was
also
with
the lengthening
of
the plank of wood.
It was
further related
that one day
Jesus,
in the workshop
of
Joseph
the Carpenter.
When
a plank of wood
was found
to be too short,
Jesus pulled it,
and
it was found
to
have become
in some way
lengthened.
When this story
was told
to the people,
some said:
"This is a miracle,
therefore
this child
will be
a saint."
Others said:
"We
do not believe it,
do it again
for us."
A third party said:
"This cannot
be true,
therefore
exclude it
from the books."
The three parties,
with
their
different feelings,
yet
got
the same answer
because
none knew
the purpose
and
the real significance
lying within
the statement:
"He stretched
a plank."
+
[Commentary:]
Sufi authors
make
frequent reference
to Jesus
as
a Master of the Way.
There is,
in addition,
an enormous body
of oral tradition
about him
current
in the Middle East,
which
awaits a collector.
This tale
is found,
in slightly different
forms,
in
more than one
dervish collection.
Sufis say
that
"Son
of a Carpenter"
and
other vocational
names
given
to Gospel characters
are
initiatory terms,
not necessarily
describing
the individual's work.
[From pages 56 and 57]
+++
from
"Tales of the Dervishes:
Teaching-storiesof the Sufi Masters
Over the Past Thousand Years",
by Idries Shah,
1967
the Waters
Were Changed"
Once upon
a time
Khidr,
the Teacher
of Moses,
called upon
mankind
with
a warning.
At
a certain date,
he said,
all the water
in the world
which had not
been
specially hoarded,
would
disappear.
It
would then
be renewed,
with
different water,
which
would
drive men mad.
Only
one man
listened
to
the meaning
of
this advice.
He
collected water
and went
to a secure place
where
he stored it,
and waited
for the water
to change
its character.
On the
appointed date
the streams
stopped running,
the wells
went dry,
and
the man
who
had listened,
seeing this
happening,
went
to his retreat
and drank
his
preserved water.
When
he saw,
from
his security,
the waterfalls
again
beginning
to flow,
this man
descended
among
the other
sons of men.
He found
that they were
thinking
and
talking
in
an entirely
different way
from before;
yet
they had
no memory
of
what
had happened,
nor
of
having been
warned.
When
he tried
to talk
to them,
he realized
that
they thought
that
he was mad,
and
they showed
hostility
or
compassion,
not
understanding.
At first
he drank
none
of the new water,
but
went back
to
his concealment,
to draw
on his supplies,
every day.
Finally,
however,
he took
the decision
to drink
the new water
because
he
could not bear
the loneliness
of
living,
behaving
and thinking
in
a different way
from
everyone else.
He drank
the new water,
and
became
like the rest.
Then he forgot
all about
his own store
of special water,
and
his fellows
began
to
look upon him
as a madman
who
had miraculously
been
restored to sanity.
+
[From page 21]
+++
"The Blind Ones
and
the Matter
of the Elephant"
Beyond Ghor
there was a city.
All
its inhabitants
were blind.
A king
with
his entourage
arrived
near by;
he brought
his army
and
camped
in the desert.
He had
a mighty elephant,
which he used
in attack
and
to increase
the people's awe.
The populace
became anxious
to see
the elephant,
and
some sightless
from among
this blind
community
ran like fools
to find it.
As they
did not
even know
the form
or shape
of the elephant
they groped
sightlessly,
gathering
information
by touching
some part of it.
Each thought
that
he knew
something,
because
he could feel
a part.
When they
returned
to
their fellow-citizens
eager groups
clustered
around them.
Each of these
was anxious,
misguidedly,
to learn the truth
from
those who
were themselves
astray.
They asked
about the form,
the shape
of the elephant:
and
listened to all
that
they were told.
The man
whose hand
had reached
an ear
was asked
about
the
elephant's nature.
He said:
"It is a large,
rough thing,
wide and broad,
like a rug."
And the one
who had felt
the trunk said:
"I have
the real facts
about it.
It is like
a straight
and
hollow pipe,
awful
and destructive."
The one
who had felt
its feet and legs
said:
"It is mighty
and firm,
like a pillar."
Each
had felt
one part
out
of many.
Each
had
perceived it
wrongly.
No mind
knew all:
knowledge
is not
the companion
of the blind.
All imagined
something,
something
incorrect.
The created
is not informed
about divinity.
There is
no Way
in
this science
by means of
the
ordinary intellect.
+
[From page 25]
+++
"How to
Catch Monkeys"
Once upon a time
there was a monkey
who was
very fond of cherries.
One day
he saw
a delicious-looking
cherry,
and
came down
from his tree
to get it.
But
the fruit
turned out
to be in
a clear glass bottle.
After
some
experimentation,
the monkey found
that he could
get hold
of the cherry
by
putting his hand
into the bottle
by way
of the neck.
As soon as
he had done so,
he closed his hand
over the cherry;
but
then he found
that
he could not
withdraw
his fist
holding the cherry,
because
it was larger
than the
internal dimension
of the neck.
Now
all this
was deliberate,
because
the cherry
in the bottle
was a trap
laid
by
a monkey-hunter
who
knew
how monkeys think.
The hunter,
hearing
the monkey's
whimperings,
came along
and
the monkey
tried
to run away.
But,
because
his hand was,
as he thought,
stuck
in the bottle,
he could not
move
fast enough
to escape.
But,
as
he thought,
he still
had hold
of the cherry.
The hunter
picked him up.
A moment later
he tapped
the monkey
sharply
on the elbow,
making him
suddenly
relax his hold
on the fruit.
The monkey
was free,
but
he was captured.
The hunter
had
used
the cherry
and
the bottle,
but
he still had them.
+
[From page 29]
+++
"Why the Clay Birds
Flew Away"
One day Jesus,
the son of Mary,
while a child,
was fashioning
small birds
out of clay.
Some
other youngsters
who
could not do so
ran
to the elders
and told them,
with
many complaints.
The elders
said:
"This work
cannot
be allowed
on
the Sabbath,"
for
it was
a Saturday.
Accordingly
they went
to the pool
where
the Son of Mary
was sitting
and
asked him
where
his birds were.
For answer
he pointed to
the birds
which
had been
fashioned:
and
they flew away.
"Making birds
which fly
is impossible,
therefore
it cannot be
a breaking
of the Sabbath,"
said one elder.
"I should learn
this art,"
said another.
"This is
no art,
it is
but deception,"
said a third.
So
the Sabbath
was
not broken,
the art
could not
be taught.
As for deception,
the elders
as well a
the children
had
deceived themselves,
because
they
did not know
what
the object
of the fashioning
of the birds was.
The reason
for doing
no work
on Saturday
had been
forgotten.
The knowledge
of
what is
a deception
and
what is
not
was
imperfect
to those elders.
The beginning
of art
and
the
end of action
was
unknown
to them:
thus it was
also
with
the lengthening
of
the plank of wood.
It was
further related
that one day
Jesus,
the son of Mary,
wasin the workshop
of
Joseph
the Carpenter.
When
a plank of wood
was found
to be too short,
Jesus pulled it,
and
it was found
to
have become
in some way
lengthened.
When this story
was told
to the people,
some said:
"This is a miracle,
therefore
this child
will be
a saint."
Others said:
"We
do not believe it,
do it again
for us."
A third party said:
"This cannot
be true,
therefore
exclude it
from the books."
The three parties,
with
their
different feelings,
yet
got
the same answer
because
none knew
the purpose
and
the real significance
lying within
the statement:
"He stretched
a plank."
+
[Commentary:]
Sufi authors
make
frequent reference
to Jesus
as
a Master of the Way.
There is,
in addition,
an enormous body
of oral tradition
about him
current
in the Middle East,
which
awaits a collector.
This tale
is found,
in slightly different
forms,
in
more than one
dervish collection.
Sufis say
that
"Son
of a Carpenter"
and
other vocational
names
given
to Gospel characters
are
initiatory terms,
not necessarily
describing
the individual's work.
[From pages 56 and 57]
+++
No comments:
Post a Comment