Sufi Parables - Swami-center

3y ago
22 Views
2 Downloads
252.11 KB
52 Pages
Last View : 1m ago
Last Download : 2m ago
Upload by : Asher Boatman
Transcription

Sufi ParablesWritten down byAnna ZubkovaUnder editorship ofVladimir AntonovTranslated from Russianby Anton Teplyy and Vladimir AntonovCorrectors of English translation:Hiero Nani and Keenan Murphy2014

These parables are about how you can masterheart love and, by overcoming your vices, becomepure, kind, strong, and wise. Each parable allows youto touch the spiritual knowledge of the Masters, Whoshare with us the richness and beauty of the great artof the transformation of the souls. The parables thatare presented in this book were compiled and narratedby Sufy and Sulia.2

ContentsPARABLE ABOUT THE MASTER CASTING NO SHADOWS . 5PARABLE ABOUT GOOD AND EVIL . 8PARABLE ABOUT THE SIGHT OF THE MASTER . 14PARABLE ABOUT HOW TO LEARN TRUE LOVE . 16PARABLE ABOUT OFFENSE, FORGIVENESS, AND THEPURIFICATION OF THE SOUL. 22PARABLE ABOUT VARIANTS OF TEACHINGS ON ONE TRUTH . 31PARABLE ABOUT THE SUFI PATH AND THE LIFE IN THEEMBRACE OF ALLAH . 35RECOMMENDED LITERATURE. 503

From the EditorPeople have different ideas about what their religious life should be.Some think that it should consist in the participation in rites and violence against other people.Others — the reasonable ones — understand thatOne Universal God (the Creator, the Primordial Consciousness), called Allah in Arabic, now (and not, forexample, during the formation of Islam) wants from us,embodied people, quite the contrary. Namely, He wantseveryone to perfect, to develop himself or herself as asoul.It is customary in Islam to denominate a waragainst people who are considered enemies as external jihad, while internal struggle against one’s own imperfections as internal jihad.Sufism — the main branch of Islam — is where themethods of internal jihad are practiced. You can readabout this in the books such as Classics of SpiritualPhilosophy and the Present, Divine Parables, Book ofthe Warrior of the Spirit and in others. The parablespublished in this book are also dedicated to this theme.The true methodology of spiritual developmenttaught to us by Allah is one for all people who seek thePath of spiritual perfection. Only the external forms ofmanifestation of religiosity are different. Yet they werecreated by people, and not by Allah, and do not relatedirectly to Him.This book will be useful to all those people who,in their personal evolutionary development, have become mature enough to practice internal jihad.4

Parable about the MasterCasting no Shadows“Shadow cannot fall on the source of light!”AssyrisThere were times when many Sufi schools flourished, and people, looking for wisdom, went from onemaster to another, choosing the one from whom theywould like to learn.Once some young men who decided to go on ajourney and find a great and wise sheikh gathered.They discussed different stories about thoseteachers about whom they had heard remarkable legends and were impressed most of all by the legend ofthe Master Who was so perfect that He even cast noshadows!So they went to Him to become His disciples.They expected to see a wonderful man — a magician who was endowed with great abilities andknowledge by the Grace of Allah.***When the travelers approached the house of theMaster, He was standing at the gate. It seemed that Hewas waiting for them.The Master kindly welcomed the travelers.The sun was shining, and to the disappointmentof the seekers, the shadow of His body followed obediently its every movement Now the young men did not know what to do However, the Master cordially invited them to enter, saying:5

“I knew that I would have some visitors over forlunch and prepared a meal. Don’t upset Me, please, andeat here with Me! You have made a long journey andare tired! Your efforts should be rewarded!”To avoid hurting Him and to hide their disappointment, the young men agreed thinking that theywould continue their journey and searches after havinga rest.They washed their hands near a spring and begantheir meal with the Master.“You, probably, were told nonsense about Me,” —said the Master, looking at them knowingly. — “But itisn’t worth believing everything that people say! It isbetter to seek the Truth!“A lot of legends are fabricated about each MasterWho works to help people. It is said about Me too that Ican do whatever I want, that I can heal any illness andreturn the dead to life Rumors love to crowd aroundthe Truth!“Yet I never can do only that which people wish! Ialways do only that which Allah wishes, and the happiness of My life consists in the fact that My will and theWill of Allah do not differ anymore. I am just a humbleexecutor of His Will.”***When the young men made themselves comfortable in a garden to take a rest after the meal, a sick person came to the Master. His body was covered withscabs.As the Master spoke with him, his face graduallybecame brighter and brighter. A smile blossomed on it.The understanding increased, and the love for Allahand for all beings in the Creation began to shine in hisheart.He thanked the Master, bowed low, and walked tothe gate Suddenly his skin became clean!6

Shocked by that miraculous healing, he cameback and thanked the Master once again with tears inhis eyes, hardly believing what had happened The young men were amazed “Forgive us!” — they said — “We were wrong!You are a great Healer and the One Who knows humansouls! Tell us how You do this!”“I helped this man to understand and see thecause of his disease. When the cause is recognizedand eliminated through the right understanding andrepentance, it is not difficult to heal the body as well.“If the shadow of the past is erased with the helpof repentance and correct understanding of how oneshould live and act, then it is possible, by removing thecause, to change its consequences.“Every action and every thought of a personleaves traces in the Absolute. Sometimes such tracesare dark, sometimes light, sometimes deep, and sometimes very insignificant. Whatever the case may be,everything that one did in the past has its influence onone’s present destiny, while the way one thinks andacts now will have an effect on one’s future destiny.“Yet every one of us has the ability to purify andtransform himself or herself as a soul, thus comingcloser to the Purity of Allah!“We can really purify ourselves from the darkshadows of the past! In this case, our lives will changefor the better!“When such a transformation of the soul isreached, it becomes possible to heal the body as well.”***So it happened that the young men stayed withthe Master and became His disciples.Many years had passed since then. They learnedto see the causes and effects of events, to cleanse theorgans inside human bodies with the Light of Allah, to7

hear His instructions in the silence of their spiritualhearts, to feel that love for people which, among otherthings, impels one to help those who suffer. They alsolearned to preach Love and Truth When, going to the world to serve people bythe knowledge that they had received from the Master,they turned around — they saw Him standing at thegate of His house like in the first day they met. BehindHis body, they could contemplate the shining Light,which was similar to the huge risen sun. That was theLight of Allah, flowing, illuminating and saturating allaround. Indeed, no shadows were seen anywhere!Now they could see this.Parable about Good and EvilThe Lord of everything was evident for Me —and I perceived His Presencein the manifested and in the unmanifested,in people whom I met on My Path, and in everythingthat His generous Hand gave Me!I did not divide these gifts into good and bad ones,because Allah does not givethat which should not be received!Every minute of your life is the message of Allah toyou and your response to Allah.You can read every moment like the Quran,because everything around is the Book of Existence,and He teaches you to read it!When you learn this, you willexperience only the Bliss of His Love!And when you talk after that —it will be the song of thankfulness to the Creator!Haji Bei Murat8

Once a woman came to the Master casting noshadows and brought a sick girl with her.This woman, who called herself the mother of thegirl, said:“If you really know Allah, heal this child! But if allthat you can do is only to deliver homilies, with whichyou deceive those miserable who come to you, thentake this girl! While she was little, I carried her in myarms, and people used to give me charity out of pity.Now she has grown, but still cannot walk. I have nomore strength to carry her and nothing to feed her. Icannot raise the child who is going to be a cripple tillits last day!”“This is a very difficult case. It will take a lot oftime to heal her,” — said the Master quietly.He looked at the girl attentively, and then He liftedHis eyes to the woman.“Do you really want to leave her to Me? If thischild given to you by Allah is a burden to you —then, well, I agree. But don’t regret this later!”***Many acquaintances of the Master reproachedHim for allowing the sick girl to stay in His house. Theysaid:“What will those who want to learn from You thinkabout You? They will think that You are a bad healerand not a true Master if a cripple lives in Your house!”However, the Master calmly replied:“I accept that which Allah sends Me and thankHim for His gifts!”The disciples of the Master began to call the girlSufy, since she lived in the house of Sufi sheikh. Thusthis endearing nickname had become her spiritualname long before she received her first serious initiation.9

Almost every evening, the Master told stories orparables to Sufy but never finished them.He spoke as if the heroes of His stories came tolife, as if the sounds of their speeches were heard andtheir figures and movements seen. Even the fragranceof flowers and a breath of wind seemed to reach thelittle listener The Master ended His every incomplete story witha question about how this or that hero should continueto act.The next day Sufy answered Him, and dependingon her response, the tale took a new turn and had ahappy or bitter end.The girl got accustomed to thinking about the answers seriously — as if a real person, and not a fairytale hero, got into troubles or avoided them, dependingon her right or wrong decision. If she made a mistake,she was very upset and tried to correct it. Then a fairytale had a happy end!Every day the girl was taught by the Master andHis disciples to read and write, to wash and cook. Shetried to do her best, even though she still had littlestrength. Once Sufy asked the Master:“How can I learn to make no mistakes in my answers?”“It is difficult or, perhaps even impossible, tomake no mistakes at all Everyone in life learns notonly from his or her right words and acts but also fromthe wrong ones.“Do you remember how I once asked you to washglass containers for medicine and explained how to doit better? Yet you were stubborn and broke them I recall that you were very upset then but remembered thatcase, and since then you have followed carefully Myadvice. When you manage to understand somethingimportant from your own error — from that moment on,you know very well how to behave right!10

“Still there is one method that allows one to makefewer mistakes.”“Teach it to me!” — asked Sufy.“Every human has the spiritual heart. Inside it,love for everything can be born: for blossoming flowers, tender animals, infinite beauty of nature around us,kind people, and Allah Himself, Who has created allthis and gives life to everything and everyone! Thespiritual heart is in the chest. You can feel it in thatplace to which you inhale and from which you exhalethe air.“Right here, in your chest, you have this especialcenter of you as a soul. Love is born in this place.From here, it grows and embraces those whom welove, no matter how far they are. If love is strong andpure — it can expand immensely and fill everythingand everyone regardless of distance!“It is in the spiritual heart that one can understandthe advice of Allah. It is here that we can decide how toact correctly. The Love of Allah can be felt only here aswell — in the spiritual heart that became big and developed enough!”So the Master taught Sufy how to submerge oneself into the spiritual heart, how to look with the eyes ofthe heart at the world and at people, how to listen toAllah in the silence of this heart, filled with love andcalm, and how to expand this heart love more andmore.Sufy mastered all this and changed drastically!She stopped being a sickly girl, who longed for thecare and special attention from others!With each day, she became more joyful andhealthier! A smile of happiness lit up her face morefrequently! Soon her pure laughter, similar to a ringingbell, began to sound in the house of the Master, emphasizing the beauty of the transparent silence thatusually reigned there. Now Sufy gave everyone thewarmth and gentle calm of her heart!11

***Once Sufy asked the Master:“Why do diseases exist? How nice it would be ifthey didn’t!”“Are you sure?”“Yes!”“But then you and Me would never have met!”“Oh! I didn’t think about this ”“Allah brought many people to Me through theirmiseries and diseases, and I was able to help some ofthem.“Everything is slightly more complex than peopleusually think “When you grow up, Sufy, I will teach you to seethe hidden causes of everything that happens. Nowjust remember that everything is connected in thisworld, in the world beyond the death of the bodies, andin the Infinite Light of the Love of Allah! Everything iscreated by His Love and rests on the foundation madeof this Great Love! Therefore, no matter how difficultand hopeless a situation seems to be — love allowsyou to resolve it!“I too wish that diseases and misfortunes didn’texist However, many things must be changed in theworld and in people living in it so that they never forgetabout kindness ”***Time passed by The Master taught Sufy other methods of purification of the body and soul. She grew and became abeautiful girl. The light of her spiritual heart was transforming and healing her body each time more, but shestill walked with great difficulty In those days, sheikhs sometimes sent theirdisciples to learn from other sheikhs. In this way, by12

listening about the Truth from other sources and learning from different teachers, disciples could obtain wider vision and knowledge of life.And so it happened that the Master and Sufy werealone in the house that day. The Master was writing abook while Sufi was washing in the patio when burglars entered the house.Since deep silence was there, they did not suspect that the Master was in one of the rooms. Theywere quickly putting in their bags all that they believedwere of value. (People often thanked the Master withdifferent gifts; therefore, in the house there were itemsthat could be sold at a high price).Having gathered all that they found, they suddenlysaw the Master Who came up to meet them like welcome and kind guests.The burglars behaved in the same way as peopleled by fear usually behave One of them, having approached the Master from the back, hit Him on thehead with a heavy lamp The Master fell and lost consciousness. The bandits hurriedly ran away taking thestolen with them Sufy heard a strange noise and ran into thehouse She saw the body of the Master on the floorwith trickles of blood around She ran up to Him “This is the end, My girl!” — said the Master happily, having opened His eyes “No, no, don’t die!”“I am not going to die! Don’t be afraid! The woundis superficial! Yet now you are completely healed!”Only in this moment Sufy realized that she couldmove freely on her legs!***“Look how beautiful today’s gift of Allah is!” —said the Master, while Sufy bandaged the wound. —“People often cry and complain when difficulties and13

adversities befall them They talk about how terriblethe evil is! However, the good and the evil often existin this world as two sides of one hand of destiny. Thishand acts in accordance with the Will of Allah and thelaws of the existence of the universe created by Him.So let’s thank Him! If these thieves hadn’t come — wewould have to spend some more years, trying to healyou ”“But what about them? By causing harm to You,they caused great harm to themselves, to their destinies ”“Today they did what they have been doing always. But those gifts of love and gratitude that theystole will change their lives in some way. We will seethis soon ”Sufy finished bandaging the wound and lookedanxiously at the face of the Master. He smiled reassuringly. At this point, He mentally observed the sixteenyears of their common hard work and the sudden complete recovery of Sufy The girl wanted to suggest that the Master laydown, but she heard from Him something so familiar:“Well, it’s time for you and Me to start working!Let’s put the things in order and clean the house!Cleanliness everywhere and in everything brings uscloser to the Perfection!”Parable about the Sightof the Master“You are completely dirty,” — said the Master to adisciple.“Absolutely not! It’s not worth mentioning! It’sjust a speck!” — he objected looking at a small darkspot on his white clothes.“Let Me repeat it again: you are shockingly dirty!Go and clean this dirt right now!”14

“You are wrong, Teacher! It’s just an insignificantspeck! Perhaps, You can’t see well ”“No, My friend, I see everything well enough towarn you about great danger and will be happy if youhear My advice!“When a drop of dirt stains white clothes — it isclearly visible and easy to be washed off.“However, if even a small drop of pride or selfconceit contaminates the pure waters of the soul, thenit dissolves in them and turns into turbidity, becomingbarely noticeable. Then it is not easy to remove it!“If you want to keep learning from Me, you have toget accustomed to the fact that My sight is like a magnifying glass.“If I see a vice of My disciple, I increase it with Myattentive sight to such an extent that a disciple understands the pernicious character of this vice and thuscan destroy that which darkens his or her spiritual purity.“On the contrary, if I look at the achievements andsuccesses of My disciple, My sight makes them smalland insignificant in comparison with the wide expansethat Allah opens for the future attainments of the soul.“On the other hand, I am not forcing you, and youcan continue to consider yourself pure and innocentand live in an illusory world, cherishing your imperfections But then Allah will give you those lessons thatwill help you to understand the truth through your painand disappointments.”The young man lowered his head and obedientlyhastened to act upon the Master’s advice. He washedthe speck on his clothes in running water for a longtime, cleansing himself simultaneously of the sproutsof pride and self-conceit that had appeared in him The Sight of the Master has great power. It canhelp a disciple to see his or her problem before it turnsinto an illness or other affliction.15

However, only a disciple alone can erase a certainvice and cleanse his or her own future!Parable about Howto Learn True LoveOnce a man came to the Master casting no shadows to ask for His help and advice.“You are a wise Master, so help me! I see my imperfections and weaknesses, but I can’t handle them! Ihave tried for many years to restrain myself from manifesting my bad emotions or perverted desires, butwhen a new situation sent to me by God overtakes mesuddenly — I repeat the same mistakes! I repent aftereach one of these situations and promise to myself notto sin anymore, but again and again anger, irritation,and fear overcome me. Strong desires and little whimsenslave my will and force me to fulfill them

Sufi Parables Written down by Anna Zubkova Under editorship of Vladimir Antonov Translated from Russian . Shocked by that miraculous healing, he came back and thanked the Master once again with tears in his eyes, hardly believing what had happened The young men were amazed

Related Documents:

The Parables Of Jesus 3 The Parables Of Jesus Introduction To The Parables (Mt 13:1-3,10-17) INTRODUCTION 1. During His earthly ministry, as Jesus went about preaching and teaching, He frequently used parables - cf. Mt 13:1-3, 13:34-35 a. It has been estimated that at least one-third of Jesus’ recorded teaching is found in the parables

"Man To God-Man" A Drama on the life of Swami Sivananda 4 125th Birth Anniversary of H.H Sri Swami Sivanandaji the founder of the Divine Life Society. 13th Anniversary of H.H Sri Swami Chidanandaji's visit to Australia. Sri Swami Sivananda Revered Sri Swami Chidanandaji world renowned saint and spiritual successor of Gurudev Swami Sivanandaji wrote about his Guru: "Gurudev Swami .

Healing Power of Sufi Meditation Videos Many of these ancient Sufi masters' writings were only in Arabic and used terms that were complex and unfamiliar to Western people. Such as Taffakur, Tadhakkur, Muraqabah, Muhasabah, Insan Kamel by masters such as Imam Gazalli, Ibn Arabi, Hadrat Abdul Qadir a Gilani all the Saints of the Naqshbandi Sufi Way.

Sufi Meditation A traditional Sufi meditation practice for experiencing our connection with God (Allah), taught by Jewish Sufi teacher Murshid Netanel Miles-Yepez. As with many spiritual traditions, Sufi meditation actually covers a spectrum of practices, which, like the concept of meditation itself, are often difficult to distinguish. These

Gospel never uses the word "parable" and has only few very images that are even similar to the parables of the Synoptic Gospels. To compare the texts of parables that appear in two or more of the Gospels, see The Five Gospel Parallels website. Parables and Parabolic Images in the Gospel according t

Part 2: Jesus’ Parables and the Story of the Hebrew Bible 8 The Prophets and Parables 8 God’s New Planting 10 Given to a Lost Crowd 11 Crucial Points for Interpreting Matthew 13 11 A Pragmatic Strategy 12 Part 3: Jesus’ Parables About the Kingdom are Indirect, Subversive, and Surprising 13 Jesus’ Indirect Communication 13

Karma Yoga Karma Yoga A book by Swami Vivekananda Based on lectures the Swami delivered in his rented rooms at 228 W 39th Street in December, 1895 and January, 1896. The classes were free of charge. Generally the Swami held two classes daily- morning and evening. Although the Swami

astrophysics-and-cosmology Professional and/or Statutory Regulatory Body accreditations Institute of Physics (recognised full accreditation pending 2018) Quality Assurance Agency Framework for Higher Education Qualifications (FHEQ) Level Level 4,5,6 Institute of Physics Core Curriculum specification This course specification provides a summary of the main features of the course, identifies the .