|
|
 |
|
| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
Ananda
3115 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 03 2009 : 4:06:25 PM
|
The many teachers of Junnaid
No situation is without a lesson, no situation at all. All situations are pregnant, but you have to discover; it may not be available on the surface. You have to be watchful, you have to look at all the aspects of the situation.
One of the great Sufi Masters, Junnaid, was asked when he was dying... his chief disciple came close to him and asked, "Master, you are leaving us. One question has always been in our minds but we could never gather courage enough to ask you. Who was your Master? This has been a great curiosity among your disciples because we have never heard you talk about your Master."
Junnaid opened his eyes and said, "It will be very difficult for me to answer because I have learned from almost everybody. The whole existence has been my Master. I have learned from every event that has happened in my life. And I am grateful to all that has happened, because out of all that learning I have arrived."
Junnaid said, "Just to satisfy your curiosity I will give you three instances. One: I was very thirsty and I was going towards the river carrying my begging bowl, the only possession I had. When I reached the river a dog rushed, jumped into the river, started drinking.
"I watched for a moment and threw away my begging bowl--because it is useless. A dog can do without it. I also jumped into the river, drank as much water as I wanted. My whole body was cool because I had jumped into the river. I sat in the river for a few moments, thanked the dog, touched his feet with deep reverence because he had taught me a lesson.
"I had dropped everything, all possessions, but there was a certain clinging to my begging bowl. It was a beautiful bowl, very beautifully carved, and I was always aware that somebody might steal it. Even in the night I used to put it under my head as a pillow so nobody could snatch it away. That was my last clinging--the dog helped. It was so clear: if a dog can manage without a begging bowl... I am a man, why can't I manage? That dog was one of my Masters.
"Secondly," he said, "I lost my way in a forest and by the time I reached the nearest village that I could find, it was midnight. Everybody was fast asleep. I wandered all over the town to see if I could find somebody awake to give me shelter for the night, until finally I found one man. I asked him, 'It seems only two persons are awake in the town, you and I. Can you give me shelter for the night?'
"The man said, 'I can see from your gown that you are a Sufi monk....'"
The word Sufi comes from suf; suf means wool, a woolen garment. The Sufis have used the woolen garment for centuries; hence they are called Sufis because of their garment. The man said, "I can see you are a Sufi and I feel a little embarrassed to take you to my home. I am perfectly willing, but I must tell you who I am. I am a thief--would you like to be a guest of a thief?"
For a moment Junnaid hesitated. The thief said, "Look, it is better I told you. You seem hesitant. The thief is willing but the mystic seems to be hesitant to enter into the house of a thief, as if the mystic is weaker than the thief. In fact, I should be afraid of you--you may change me, you may transform my whole life! Inviting you means danger, but I am not afraid. You are welcome. Come to my home. Eat, drink, go to sleep, and stay as long as you want, because I live alone and my earning is enough. I can manage for two persons. And it will be really beautiful to chit-chat with you of great things. But you seem to be hesitant."
And Junnaid became aware that it was true. He asked to be forgiven. He touched the feet of the thief and he said, "Yes, my rootedness in my own being is yet very weak. You are really a strong man and I would like to come to your home. And I would like to stay a little longer, not only for this night. I want to be stronger myself!"
The thief said, "Come on!" He fed the Sufi, gave him something to drink, helped him to prepare for sleep and he said, "Now I will go. I have to do my own thing. I will come back early in the morning." Early in the morning the thief came back. Junnaid asked, "Have you been successful?"
The thief said, "No, not today, but I will see tomorrow."
And this happened continuously, for thirty days: every night the thief went out, and every morning he came back empty-handed. But he was never sad, never frustrated--no sign of failure on his face, always happy --and he would say, "It doesn't matter. I tried my best. I could not find anything today again, but tomorrow I will try. And, God willing, it can happen tomorrow if it has not happened today."
After one month Junnaid left, and for years he tried to realize the ultimate, and it was always a failure. But each time he decided to drop the whole project he remembered the thief, his smiling face and his saying "God willing, what has not happened today may happen tomorrow."
Junnaid said, "I remembered the thief as one of my greatest Masters. Without him I would not be what I am.
"And third," he said, "I entered into a small village. A little boy was carrying a lit candle, obviously going to the small temple of the town to put the candle there for the night."
And Junnaid asked, "Can you tell me from where the light comes? You have lighted the candle yourself so you must have seen. What is the source of light?"
The boy laughed and he said, "Wait!" And he blew out the candle in front of Junnaid. And he said, "You have seen the light go. Can you tell me where it has gone? If you can tell me where it has gone I will tell you from where it has come, because it has gone to the same place. It has returned to the source."
And Junnaid said, "I had met great philosophers but nobody had made such a beautiful statement: 'It has gone to its very source.' Everything returns to its source finally. Moreover, the child made me aware of my own ignorance. I was trying to joke with the child, but the joke was on me. He showed me that asking foolish questions--'From where has the light come?'--is not intelligent. It comes from nowhere, from nothingness--and it goes back to nowhere, to nothingness."
Junnaid said, "I touched the feet of the child. The child was puzzled. He said, 'Why you are touching my feet?' And I told him, 'You are my Master--you have shown me something. You have given me a great lesson, a great insight.'
"Since that time," Junnaid said, "I have been meditating on nothingness and slowly, slowly I have entered into nothingness. And now the final moment has come when the candle will go out, the light will go out. And I know where I am going--to the same source.
"I remember that child with gratefulness. I can still see him standing before me, blowing out the candle."
|
|
|
Kirtanman
USA
1651 Posts |
Posted - Jul 03 2009 : 5:33:03 PM
|
Hi Ananda,
Not too many posts bring tears to my eyes; this one did.
Sadly, many people (in the U.S. and Europe, at least) don't think of open-mindedness and open-heartedness, when they think of Islam.
Yet Sufism (Islam's mystical/experiential path, for anyone who may not know) is as open-minded .... and possibly *more* open-hearted ("all about" unconditional loving) ... than any other spiritual path, from any religion.
Teachings such as this, and the poetry of Rumi, and so on ... highlight this (the beauty of Sufism) so completely and profoundly.
And the beauty of all mystical paths is this:
They light the way home/here by teaching the truth ... as this story you've posted does, so wonderfully.
_/\_
Intending The Loving of Light-Source for All,
Kirtanman |
 |
|
|
cosmic
USA
821 Posts |
Posted - Jul 06 2009 : 5:19:59 PM
|
Brother Ananda, thank you for sharing this beautiful story. It reminds me how a small shift in how you view life (seeing life itself as a teacher) can make a big difference. I had lost sight of this
quote:
Originally posted by Sri Dude Kirtanman
Sadly, many people (in the U.S. and Europe, at least) don't think of open-mindedness and open-heartedness, when they think of Islam.
Yet Sufism (Islam's mystical/experiential path, for anyone who may not know) is as open-minded .... and possibly *more* open-hearted ("all about" unconditional loving) ... than any other spiritual path, from any religion.
If it's any consolation, I am no longer one of the "many people" you mentioned, because of stories and threads like this one. I'm sure there are many others like me...
Thank you both, and some others, for opening my eyes
_/\_
With Love
cosmic |
|
|
|
Ananda
3115 Posts |
Posted - Jul 08 2009 : 03:09:58 AM
|
brother Kirtanman your kind words are beauty by themselves, thk you for chiming in.
brother cosmic you're very welcome and this story sort of had the same impact on me.
love,
Ananda |
|
|
|
Parallax
USA
348 Posts |
Posted - Jul 08 2009 : 10:37:59 AM
|
Ananda,
Thank you for this...truly beautiful. I had a similar epiphany shortly before finding AYP. I had a few people telling me I needed to find a guru...not particularly easy in this part of the US and not necessarily conducive to my current responsibilities/schedule...
But I kept finding situations coming up that taught me lessons, gave me insights into my Self, the "right" spiritual teachings would appear at the "right" time...and I realized that my Life (and everyone in it) is a guru if I am open and aware. In EVERY experience is a lesson that I need to learn. Shortly thereafter I found AYP, where "the guru is in you"...perfect!!
Everyday I learn from my wife, from my kids, from my job...from all of you...so THANK YOU!! 
Bowing to the guru in each one of us,
Parallax |
|
|
|
CarsonZi
Canada
3189 Posts |
Posted - Jul 08 2009 : 10:51:49 AM
|
 |
|
|
|
Ananda
3115 Posts |
Posted - Jul 08 2009 : 1:17:18 PM
|
namaste dear Parallax, it's funny how this stuff works it's like life gives us what we can handle at the present time.
now wether finding a guru is needed or not, i say it never hurts i would love to be in the presence of someone genuine but in case not still it's all good i mean we have the tools for enlightenment between our hands and an enlightenment gained by one's own work feels much more better and saves us from giving too much credit to others.
take care my good friend,
Ananda |
|
|
|
Ananda
3115 Posts |
Posted - Jul 08 2009 : 1:21:58 PM
|
quote:
Originally posted by CarsonZi
sweet dreams |
|
|
|
Parallax
USA
348 Posts |
Posted - Jul 08 2009 : 4:28:22 PM
|
quote:
Originally posted by Ananda
now wether finding a guru is needed or not, i say it never hurts i would love to be in the presence of someone genuine but in case not still it's all good i mean we have the tools for enlightenment between our hands and an enlightenment gained by one's own work feels much more better and saves us from giving too much credit to others.
Being in the presence of a realized soul is something of great benefit if its available IMHO; Yogananda made it a practice of seeking out as many saints as he could find to sit in their presence...I am planning on taking Darshan again with Amma in a couple of weeks myself and would love to have more opportunities to commune with spirtually advanced souls...if you desire to become a saint, commune with saints!!
The great thing about AYP is that we take our spiritual destiny into our own hands and don't have to rely on an explicit external guru to advance on the path...
And when I need the presence of spiritually advanced souls, I come here and bask in the light of the forumites like yourself
Much love to you
|
|
|
|
CarsonZi
Canada
3189 Posts |
Posted - Jul 08 2009 : 4:34:45 PM
|
quote:
Originally posted by Ananda
quote:
Originally posted by CarsonZi
sweet dreams
Hahaha...I know it is meant to be the "sleepy" smiley, but I prefer to use it as the "nodding" smiley....or the "namaste brother" smiley. Just for future reference .
Love,
Carson |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
| AYP Public Forum |
© Contributing Authors (opinions and advice belong to the respective authors) |
|
|
|
|
a Sufi story
