Dandelions in life

Traditional Sufi Story

A young man named Nasruddin planted a flower garden, but when the flowers came up so did a great crop of dandelions among them. Wishing to eliminate the unwanted guests, Nasruddin consulted with gardeners near and far, but none of their solutions worked.

Finally, Nasruddin traveled to the palace of the sheikh to seek the wisdom of the royal gardener himself. 

But alas, Nasruddin had already tried all the methods the kind old man recommended to him for eradicating such troublesome weeds.

Silently they sat together for a good long time. 

At last, the royal gardener looked at Nasruddin and said, "Well, then, the only thing I can suggest is that you learn to love them."

We live in a society with the presence of both desirable and undesirable elements. These undesirable elements are like those Dandelions, a stubborn weed that never seems to leave your lawn or garden. Wisdom lies in embracing the fact that we need to coexist with them. The least we can do is to love them and accept them.

Wisdom is organized life

Sufi Story

One day some wise men, who were going about the country trying to find answers to some of the great questions of their time, came to Nasruddin’s district and asked to see the wisest man in the place. Nasruddin was brought forward, and a big crowd gathered to listen.

The first wise man began by asking, “Where is the exact center of the world?”

“It is under my right heel,” answered Nasruddin.

“How can you prove that?” asked the first wise man.

“If you don’t believe me,” answered Nasruddin, “measure and see.”

The first wise man had nothing to answer to that, so the second wise man asked his question.

“How many stars are there in the sky?” he said.

“As many as there are hairs on my donkey,” answered Nasruddin.

“What proof have you got of that?” asked the second wise man.

“If you don’t believe me,” answered Nasruddin, “Count the hairs on my donkey and you will see.”

“That’s foolish talk,” said the other. “How can one count the hairs on a donkey?”

“Well,” answered Nasruddin, “How can one count the stars in the sky? If one is foolish talk, so is the other.”

The second wise man was silent.

The third wise man was becoming annoyed with Nasruddin and his answers, so he said, “You seem to know a lot about your donkey, so can you tell me how many hairs there are in its tail?”

“Yes,” answered Nasruddin. “There are exactly as many hairs in its tail as there are in your beard.”

“How can you prove that?” said the other.

“I can prove it very easily,” answered Nasruddin. “You can pull one hair out of my donkey’s tail for every one I pull out of your beard. If the hairs on my donkey’s tail do not come to an end at exactly
the same time as the hairs in your beard, I will admit that I was wrong.”

Of course, the third wise man was not willing to do this, so the crowd declared Nasruddin the winner of the day’s arguments.

Look for your own path

Sufi Story

When Saadi of Shiraz was a child, he used to pray with his father, his uncles and his cousins. Every night they would gather together to listen to a passage from the Koran.

On one such night, while his uncle was reading a passage out loud, he noticed that most of the people were asleep.

He said to his father: "Not one of these dozy people is listening to the words of the Prophet. They'll never reach God."

And his father replied: "My dear son, look for your own path with faith and let others take care of themselves. Who knows, perhaps they are talking to God in their dreams. Believe me, I would much prefer you to be sleeping alongside them than to hear your harsh words of judgement and condemnation."'

The path for spiritual treasure

Sufi Story

'All the teachers say that spiritual treasure is something one finds alone. So why are we all here together?' asked a disciple of the Sufi master Nasrudin.

'You are all here together because a forest is always stronger than a lone tree,' replied Nasrudin.
'The forest maintains the humidity in the air, it resists the hurricane, and it helps to make the soil fertile.
But what makes a tree strong is its root, and the root of one plant cannot help another plant to grow.
Working together towards the same end and at the same time allowing each one to grow in his own way-- that is the path for those who wish to commune with God.'

Story of a Songbird

Curtsy: http://sufistories.wordpress.com/

There was once a successful businessman who had everything – a beautiful wife, adorable children and a big house in which they all lived happily. 

The pride of his life though was his exotic songbird which he kept in a cage and fed delicious titbits when it entertained his guests.

One day the man had to go on a journey far to the south and he asked his wife and children what presents they would like from abroad – they asked for fine silks, honeycomb and clockwork toys. Finally he asked his songbird if he would like him to bring anything back.

“I wish only for one small favour.” The songbird replied.

“Anything!” his master declared.

“Just this – when you see my cousins in the trees in the place you’re going to, please tell them about my conditions here.”

“Are you sure? I could bring you back a fine jewel-encrusted mirror or dried tropical fruit?”

“No, just this, thank you.” The songbird replied and the man went away feeling a little disconcerted but resolved to carry out his pet’s wishes.

The man made his trip safely and carried out his business to satisfaction and spent his remaining time there buying the presents his family had requested. 

Finally, he went to a park and saw some birds in the trees that bore a remarkable resemblance to his own songbird. He called up to one of them and told them about how his own bird lived in cage and sang for him.

But no sooner had he finished speaking than one of these exotic birds trembled on its perch and tumbled to the ground and ceased to move. The man held his head in grief and the incident quite spoiled his trip.

He returned home and greeted his wife and family who were delighted at their presents but he couldn’t share their pleasure as long as the forthcoming encounter with his songbird remained on his conscience. Finally he found the courage to go down to the garden.

“Well?” his songbird asked and, hesitantly, the man told him exactly what had happened. The song bird listened intently, then trembled on his perch and fell to the bottom of his cage, ceased to move, as if dead.

The man was now beside himself with grief and confusion. Weeping openly, he opened the door of the cage and carried out his beloved songbird in his hands. No sooner had he done so, however, the songbird returned to life and flew up to the branches of the nearest tree and let out a shrill of joy at finding its freedom.

The man scratched his head in wonder and eventually asked: “Okay, you win. But tell me please, what was in the message that contained this trick?”

The songbird looked down at him with pity and said: “My cousin in Africa showed me that it was my beauty that kept me in the cage. Were it not for the delight of my singing voice you would have lost interest long ago. So I had to give up that life in order to become free.”

Sacrifice is giving up on something good for something better.

Human Mind is like a drunken monkey

Sufi Story

Junaid was a famous mystic.

He was going through the market-place of the town with his disciples. And it was his way to take any situation and use it.

A man was dragging his cow by a rope, and Junaid said, ‘Wait’ to the man, and told his disciples, ‘Surround this man and the cow. I am going to teach you something.’

The man stopped. He was also interested in what Junaid was going to teach these disciples and how he was going to use him and the cow.

Junaid asked his disciples, ‘I ask you one thing: who is bound to whom? Is the cow bound to this man or is this man bound to this cow?’

‘Of course,’ the disciples said, ‘The cow is bound to the man. The man is the master, he is holding the rope, the cow has to follow him wherever he goes. He is the master and the cow is the slave.’

And Junaid said, ‘Now, see.’ He took out his scissors and cut the rope – and the cow escaped.

The man ran after the cow, and Junaid said, ‘Now look what is happening! Now you see who the master is; the cow is not interested at all in this man – in fact, she is escaping.’

And the man was very angry. He said ‘What kind of experiment is this?’

But Junaid said to his disciples, ‘And this is the case with your mind. All the nonsense that you are carrying inside is not interested in you. You are interested IN it, you are becoming mad in keeping it together somehow. The moment you lose interest, the moment you understand the futility of it, it will start disappearing; like the cow it will escape.’

What is Sufism?

Sufism is the name given to the mystical movement within Islam; a Sufi is a Muslim who dedicates himself to the quest after mystical union (or, better said, reunion) with his Creator. 

The name is Arabic in origin, being derived from the word suf meaning “wool”; the Sufis were distinguishable from their fellows by wearing a habit of coarse woollen cloth, in time when silks and brocades had become the fashion of the wealthy and mundane-minded, symbolic of their renunciation of worldly values and their abhorrence for physical comforts.

The ascetic outlook and practice, an indispensable preparation to mystical communion, characterized the life not only of Mohammad himself but of many of his earliest followers.

Even when the rapid spread of Islam and the astonishing military conquests of neighbouring ancient kingdoms brought undreamed-of riches to the public exchequer, not a few of the leading men in the new commonwealth withstood all temptation to abandon the austere life of the desert, and their example was admired and emulated by multitudes of humbler rank. 

Nevertheless with the passage of time, and as Islam became increasing secularized consequent upon further victories and rapidly augmenting complications of state craft, the original ascetic impulse tended to be overwhelmed in the flood of worldly preoccupation.

Write-up Curtsy: http://www.thesufi.com

Image curtsy: www.quopic.com 

How to see God

A Short story of a Sufi Master who was asked can you help me to see God?

On the top of the mountain, lived a Sufi Master. Once every month he used to visit the village at the foot of the mountain. On one such visit, A man approached him and asked, How come I cannot have sight of the God? Can you help me to see God?

"Sure", was the reply of the Sufi Master, but for that you will have to help me.

"What help do you need Master?"

"You will have to pick up five stones of equal size and weight. Carry them to the top of the mountain, so that I can use them to build a platform outside my hut."

The seeker agreed. Both started there journey way up on the mountain. Soon the man got tired and walking became a very difficult task for him.

"Discard one of the stones", the Sufi Master told, "then it will be easier for you."

The man discarded one of the stone and walking became easier.

Once again the man got tired. Walking towards the mountain top was becoming very tough. The master again asked him to discard one of the stone. 

Likewise all five stones were discarded on the way to the top of the mountain.

The Sufi Master then said to the man, "Now I have shown you the way to God."

The man was perplexed. He said, "I cannot see God."

The Master explained, "The five stones symbolize the our major weaknesses to see God. They are Lust, Anger, Greed, Desires and Ego. Learn to discard these. Let me be the first one to warn you, it will not be easy. Strive hard, I shall help you. When you succeed in throwing away all these stones which are but curtains between you and God, then effortlessly you will have sight of your beloved God."

Thus the man began his journey on the Sufi Path under a Sufi Master.