The Perfect Master, Vol 1 Talks on Sufi Stories
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| Remember: these are the barriers. The man who has followed all the rituals thinks he knows. He is a great yogi. He has not been missing a single rule of the yoga. He thinks now he is capable. He is not. It is not ritual that prepares you. Ritualistic people are stupid people. They follow the ritual, but the ritual is followed unconsciously. And they will find ways and means to go on following the ritual and yet remain the same.
I have heard: A doleful-looking customer went to the bar and ordered six whiskies. The bar man poured them out for him in six glasses. "Now line them up in front of me, will you?" asked the customer. He then paid for them and told him to keep the change. He swallowed down the contents of the first glass in line and then repeated the process with the third and fifth glasses. Then, saying, "Goodnight," he turned to walk away. "Excuse me," said the bar man. "You have left three glasses untouched." "Yes, I know," he said. "The doctor said he didn't mind me taking the odd drink."
"Tell you what we had better do," said the politician brightly. "You go ahead and see where he went and I'll go back and see where he came from!" Remember that man is so cunning, so political, that he can always find a way out of a certain ritual, rule, discipline. And he can remain untouched by it. And he can go on doing the ritual and yet remain untransformed by it. That's why you see so many people in the world going to the synagogue, to the church, to the temple, to the mosque, to the gurudwara -- and still remaining the same! Millions of people are praying, but there seems to be NO prayer in existence, there seems to be no fragrance of prayer in the world. There is but hatred AND hatred. There seems to be no love! How is it possible that millions of people pray every day and there is no love flowering? So many people praying and no compassion! Something deep down must be wrong, funda-mentally wrong. The prayer is false. It is being done because it has to be done. It is a kind of duty to be fulfilled, but the heart is not in it. The cunning man always keeps his heart away from everything that he does; he only pretends. He goes through empty gestures. And he is so cunning that he can always find a loophole and escape through it. The basic problem of man is not ignorance: it is knowledge. Ignorance never makes a person cunning.
And remember: when you consciously look at your life, you are bound to become ignorant again -- because knowledge as such is not possible. Life remains a mystery. There is no way to demystify it. That's what knowledge is trying to do: it is a demystification of life. It tries to destroy mystery. It makes everything clear, explained away. The whole effort of knowledge is how to banish mystery from existence. It cannot be banished. It is its ultimate nature. It is not an accidental quality. Mystery is the very CORE of life. Life is mysterious -- they are synonymous. So the man of knowledge does not destroy the mystery of life. He simply closes his eyes with a very thick curtain of knowledge, and starts thinking he knows.. He knows nothing. It will look strange to you and very paradoxical, but it is so. The man who knows, knows nothing. And the man who knows that he is ignorant has started knowing. The whole point is of consciousness. A CONS(ION!, ignorance is what disciple hood is -- conscious ignorance. But people are living in unconsciousness. And they go on groping. In unconsciousness they go to the Masters, but in unconsciousness. They remain with the Masters but fast asleep. Sooner or later they become fed up, because nothing is happening. Nothing can happen if you remain unconscious. You cannot connect with the Master. They remain cunning, clever, even when they are with a Master. Nothing happens. Nothing can happen in knowledgeability. Sooner or later they decide that this is not the right Master -- without ever thinking, "Am I the right disciple yet?" That should be the basic question. It is NONE of your business who is the right Master or not. And how can you decide? You don't know what a Master is. You are not even a disciple yet! You have not taken even the first step and you are thinking and deciding and judging about the last step. It is better to keep quiet. Just think about one thing again and again, remind yourself again and again: "Am I the right disciple? Am I ready to learn? Have I dropped my knowledge? Have I come with an open heart? Am I trying to become more conscious of what I am doing? Is my prayer conscious? When I sit by the side of the Master, am I sitting there consciously, alert, aware? When I listen to the Master, am I really listening? or just hearing?" Hearing is one thing: listening is very different. Hearing is simple; anybody hears. Whosoever has ears can hear. Listening is rare. When your ear and your heart are together, then listening happens. When you hear, your mind is full of thoughts; the turmoil continues, the traffic continues. All kinds of noises, thoughts, prejudices... through that crowd, yes, you hear, but you can't listen. For listening, silence is needed. There should be no clouds inside you, no thought stirring. Just a PURE silence, then listening happens. The disciple has to ask again and again, "Am I really a disciple? Am I yet a disciple?" And if you remain alert about that, you will find many Masters in life. But if you are not aware of it, you may come to a Buddha and go empty-handed. Hank was riding the range, a-singing and a-humming. Suddenly his horse reared and stopped. In front of them was a huge snake. Hank drew his gun and was about to fire when the snake cried, "Don't shoot! If you spare my life, I have the power to grant you any three wishes you make!" "Okay," said Hank, figuring he had nothing to lose. "My first wish is a handsome face like Paul Newman. Second I want a muscular body like Mohammed Ali. And my last wish is to be equipped like my horse here!" "Granted!" said the snake. "When you wake up tomorrow you'll have all those things." Next mowing, Hank awoke and rushed to the mirror. Sure enough, he had a face like Paul Newman and to his delight he saw a pair of massive shoulders and arms like Mohammed Ali. Then, glancing down in great excitement he let out a blood-curdling howl. "My Gawd, I clean forgot!" he babbled. "Yesterday I was riding Nellie!"
But it is very easy to decide that the Master is wrong. In fact, that helps you to remain the way you are: what can you do? -- the Master is wrong. And then you go on moving from one Master to another and hoping.... But you remain the same! If you miss one Master, you will miss all of them. In fact, the more you go from one Master to another Master, you are simply becoming more and more accustomed to missing, you are becoming habituated to it. You are learning how to miss. If you miss one, then to miss the other will be easier, and then to miss the third will be even easier. And if you have been moving to many Masters, slowly slowly, you become so efficient in missing that it is almost certain that you will never find a Master anywhere. That's why people can't find -- not that Masters don't exist. Life is so rich! Existence always gives you ALL possibilities to grow. Masters are available, and always. In no time, in no country, is it that they are not available. In no clime. However dark is the time on the earth, the Masters are always available. In fact, the darker it is, the more possibility there is of Masters being available. Krishna says: When it is dark and religion is destroyed, I will come. I always come. So the moments of darkness, of miserable times, are the opportunities for Masters to bloom. The physicians happen when people are ill. Nature always balances. It always provides for your needs. Just watch: a woman becomes pregnant, and her whole body starts preparing for the child. By the time the child is born, suddenly her breasts are full of milk. The child is not born yet but food is getting ready. Nature provides all that is needed -- even for a child who has not even asked, who cannot ask. Before the child comes, the food has arrived. Before the hunger, the food. Before the thirst, the water. And before the disciple, the Master. So if you are a disciple, you are BOUND to find a Master. It has never been otherwise. If you cannot find a Master, think again, meditate over it -- are you a disciple? And you will find you are too full of knowledge. That's why you cannot be a disciple. A disciple means one who is ready to learn, and a man full of knowledge is not ready to learn. He is ready to teach. He is not .ready to learn. Are you a disciple? A disciple is one who is ready to surrender, to bow down, to drop his head. Are you ready to die? Are you ready to stake all that you have? Nobody seems to be ready to die. In fact, people need a Master, not to die but to live for ever. They would like to become immortals. They would like to find the elixir that will make them immortals. They would like to find something so that they can fight with death. Yes, that is found! But you have to fulfill the condition first. And the condition is: only those who are ready to die will attain to life eternal. A very ancient story, a true story, and of great significance: In some monastery in Tibet, a monk who was thought to be dead was buried in a crypt. After a time he regained consciousness and horror and mental conflict set in. The crypt was opened only when a brother died, and it was impossible to call loud enough or to knock hard enough to be heard. What, then, was the unfortunate man to do? Was he to wait for a death of starvation and thirst, there in the neighborhood of his dead brethren? He began to pray -- but was not prayer a supplication that God might grant death to one of his healthy brethren? Because the crypt would be opened only when somebody died in the monastery again. That was the only possibility for him to get out: if somebody died immediately. Against such horrible mental and physical agonies -- you can well complete the picture -- our dear monk held out and remained alive. He kept himself alive by eating insects which fell down into the crypt through? small air-hole, and he licked the drops of moisture from the walls, dirty sewage water. After many years, they found the unfortunate man wrapped in cloaks... When somebody died the crypt was opened, after many years. They found the unfortunate man wrapped in cloaks which he pulled out of the coffins, and with his white beard reaching to the ground. He was utterly blind by now, but still alive and still hoping and praying. He was taken out. He lived at least ten years more. Man clings to life -- even if when to live is worse than death. Just think of this man! eating insects, living with dead bodies, the smell. Think of that crypt: hundreds of dead bodies around, just licking drops of moisture from the walls, and waiting and praying for somebody to die. He went blind! Years and years in that darkness, but still hoping to live. Such is the desire for life. Such is the lust for life. And to be with a Master one has to be ready to die -- not physically: meta-phorically. But even the IDEA of death makes people run away. But to be in contact with a Master, you have to slowly slowly disappear, metaphysically disappear: the ego has to die. Jesus says: Until you are reborn... but how can you be reborn if you don't die? Rebirth has to be preceded by a death. And the death has to be deeper than the bodily death, because the bodily death is not much of a death. Soon you are born again. Here you die and, within moments, you have entered into another womb somewhere else. There is not even a gap: one body you lose, another body you immediately gain. But to die in the presence of a Master is to really die, it is real suicide The ego disappears for ever. That is the meaning of surrender It is difficult. The disciple comes, he bows down also, but that bowing is false. He says, "I am at your disposal," but that is an empty gesture. After an hour's lecture on duty to King and Country, putting others before self and so on, the education corps captain pointed to one private and said, "Right -- you! Why should a soldier be prepared to die for his country?" The soldier scratched his head for a minute, then grinned and said, "You're quite right, sir -- why should he?" Just to think of death frightens. Don't laugh at those people who escaped from Zusya -- Zusya was death. A Master k death. That's what ancient scriptures say: A Master is a death. Those people escaped! The children were innocent. They were not afraid because they didn't know what it is to look into the eyes of a Master. People AVOID looking into the eyes of the Master. They avoid getting too close, because to be too close is to melt, is to disappear, never to be the same again. Remember these things....
A Sufi Master is not a missionary. He is not interested in convert-ing people from one religion to another. He is interested certainly in converting people from irreligion to religion, but not from Christianity to Mohammedanism or from Mohammedanism to Buddhism, or from Buddhism to Hinduism. A Sufi is not interested in changing people's identities, superficial identities. It never makes much difference. I have seen many Hindus who have become Christians -- they remain the same. Nothing ever changes. It CAN'T change! because of their conditioning. I used to live with a friend whose-father was converted to Christianity, but they still think themselves Brahmins. Untouchables are not allowed in his family. They are Christian Brahmins, but Brahmins they are. The WHOLE thing continues. I have seen Christians becoming Hindus. It makes no difference. I have heard about Mulla Nasrudin, who became an atheist in his old age. One day he was trying to convert somebody to his atheism, and was very loud. Finally he said, "There is no God -- and Mohammed is his only prophet." It is very difficult. You can become an atheist, but if you have been a Mohammedan, deep down you remain a Mohammedan -- Mohammed is the only prophet. I have heard about another atheist who was dying, and he said, "Thank God that there is no God!" It is very difficult to get out of your conditioning. A Sufi Master is not interested in changing your rituals, but he is certainly interested in giving you more and more religious quality. It IS NOT a question of to;m: it is a question of quality. Whether you go to the mosque or to the temple does not matter! The real thing is prayer -- where you pray is immaterial. Just remember always, this is the Sufi approach: where you pray is immaterial -- prayer matters. To whom you bow down is immaterial -- bowing down matters. To whom you surrender has no meaning -- but that you have surrendered is of immense importance. Surrender has importance and relevance. The object of surrender is just an excuse. You can go to one Master, A, and surrender, or to Master B and surrender, or to Master C and surrender -- it makes no difference. If you are surrendered, you have started moving towards God. The Master is just an excuse. Any Master will do. So whatsoever is your liking, whosoever is of your liking, wherever you feel surrender is easier, surrender. The Sufi helps you to surrender, to pray. It does not matter whether you pray in Arabic or in Sanskrit or in Hebrew, but what you say in your prayer matters. I have heard: After five-year-old Matt gave a loud whistle in the middle of the minister's sermon, his grandmother launched into scolding. "Why on earth would you do such a thing?" she demanded. "I've been praying for a long time that God would teach me to whistle," he explained, "And this morning he did."
All are asking for the ego, for some importance, for some superiority. All are wanting to defeat others, all are competitors. And how can you pray if your mind is full of competition, jeal-ousy? How can you pray if your mind is not full of love? The real prayer does not ask for anything. The real prayer is a thanking. It simply gives thankfulness to God for all that he has already given. There is no complaint in it. A Sufi Master is one who helps you for the essential religion. And the essential religion is one. Hinduism, Christianity, Jainism, Buddhism, Judaism -- these are forms, forms of different rituals. These are different languages, but the message is one. A SUFI TEACHER WAS VISITED BY A NUMBER OF PEOPLE OF VARIOUS FAITHS WHO SAID TO HIM, "ACCEPT US AS YOUR DISCIPLES, FOR WE SEE THAT THERE IS NO REMAINING TRUTH IN OUR RELIGIONS..."- Now, these people have been followers of somebody else. When you go to a Sufi Master, he will not accept you so easily -- because you have been a follower of somebody else. What have you been doing there? If you have missed that Master, you will miss this too. What is the point of changing? Maybe you will feel for a few days that you are again on a kind of honeymoon, a new love affair. But if the old love affair is finished, this too will be finished sooner or later. It may give you a little thrill and sensation. You may start dreaming and hoping again, but nothing is going to happen. Not essentially. Because you will go on doing the same that you have done with your old Masters. Unless you change. Unless you understand that there is something lacking in you, not in the Master but in you. Unless you take the responsibility that "I have been missing," there is no point in accepting disciples. Sufis won't accept you. But if a disciple comes who has done all that he could do, their doors are open. I would like you to be reminded of Gautam Buddha: he went to many Masters in his search -- that's how a disciple should be. And he surrendered to many Masters, and he surrendered totally. He was not holding back. Whatsoever the Master with whom he was at that time would say, he would do it totally. It is said that his Masters would finally say to him, "We are sorry. In fact, we have not attained it either. We are pretenders. You have exposed us. We cannot deceive you. We don't know a thing. Our deception goes on because people who come to us never listen to what we say -- they never do it, so we are never exposed. You are the first person who has done whatsoever we say, and now we are feeling sorry for you. Excuse us. Forgive us!" That's what the Masters said. They were not Masters. But Buddha's sincerity, his honesty, provoked even those deceivers to feel sorry. He worked so hard. And sometimes their demands were stupid. For example, one Master, so-called Master, said to him, "Go on reducing your food till you are taking only one grain of rice -- go on reducing, slowly slowly." He did that. He became just bones; all flesh disappeared. Just a skeleton he was. The Master must have fit.. .he was saying this to many people but nobody had ever followed it, so there was no problem. But this man, his sincerity, his utter devotion, his trust... When there is SO much trust, even the people who exploit trust cannot exploit SUCH trust. It is said he fell at Buddha's feet and said, "Excuse me. Please forgive me. I have sinned against you and against God. I have committed a crime. I had never thought that anybody was going to follow what I say. And I have been making such strange demands that nobody will follow. And when nobody follows, there is no question of ever being exposed." That's why your so-called Masters go on demanding the impossible from you. They will say, "Repress sex and don't ever think of any beautiful woman, not even in your dreams." Now, first they say, "Repress sex." If you repress it, your dreams will become full of sexuality. And then they say that even to dream about sex is a sin -- you will never attain to God. If you follow them, you will be in difficulty. But nobody follows. And when people DON'T follow, they feel guilty that "We have not been following the Master." Out of their guilt they touch his feet; out of their guilt they go on following him. Buddha went from one Master to another. For six years he travel led all around the country, and it always happened his sincerity was such that each Master told him, "Please, you forgive us and you go and search somewhere else." He searched long and went to many people, but he never left the Master till the Master himself said to him, "Now you leave me. It is becoming unbearable. You go on doing whatsoever I say and nothing is happening, because what I am saying is absolutely fabricated, guesswork. I have not known myself " This is the way of a disciple. If such a disciple comes to a Sufi Master, he will welcome him, he will embrace him to his heart. He will take him to his innermost bosom. But these people were not like that. They said to the Master: "ACCEPT US AS YOUR DISCIPLES,FOR WE SEE THAT THERE IS NO REMAINING TRUTH IN OUR RELIGIONS..." How can you see? You are so blind. How can you see that there is no truth in your religions? This assertion is egoistic. A real seeker will say, "Maybe there is, but I am blind, I cannot see it. Give me eyes! Help me to see." A real seeker will say, "It is not that there is no truth in religions, but I have not been able to see it. It must be my fault." He will take all the responsibility on his own shoulders. To throw the responsibility on somebody else is an old ego trick. Beware of it. It never wants to take the responsibility on itself. It always goes on complaining about others. If you are not achieving, then something is wrong somewhere, but you are not wrong. |