Sufis: The People of the Path, Vol 1

Talks on Sufism

Talks given from 11/08/77 am to 26/08/77 am English Discourse series

1 A Rare Kind of Magic 2 In Hiding 3 Tariqa -- the Method 4 Love Cannot Deliver the Goods 5 Singing Silence 6 The Passion for the Impossible 7 From Robopathology to Enlightenment 8 A Certain Milieu 9 This Experience of Infinite Mutuality 10 The Original Signature 11 The People are Sleeping 12 The 'Instant' Pathology 13 Judge Ye Not 14 Tug of War 15 A Spluttering and a Going Out 16 A Lotus on the Lake of Emptiness

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1 A Rare Kind of Magic

< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 1 A Rare Kind of Magic 11 August 1977 am in Buddha Hall UWAIS WAS ASKED, ‘HOW DO YOU FEEL?’ HE SAID, ‘LIKE ONE WHO HAS ARISEN IN THE MORNING AND DOES NOT KNOW WHETHER HE WILL BE DEAD IN THE EVENING.’ THE OTHER MAN SAID, ‘BUT THIS IS THE SITUATION OF ALL MEN.’ UWAIS SAID, ‘YES, BUT HOW MANY OF THEM FEEL IT?...

10 The Original Signature

< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 10 The Original Signature 20 August 1977 am in Buddha Hall The first question: Question 1 SURELY MEDITATION IS FOR MYSTICS. WHY DO YOU PROPOSE IT FOR ORDINARY PEOPLE AND THEIR CHILDREN? First, I have never come across an ordinary person; they do not exist. They are only created by egoistic people. The egoist has to create the ordinary – that is the only way the ego can exist, persist....

11 The People are Sleeping

< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 11 The People are Sleeping 21 August 1977 am in Buddha Hall HASAN ASKED AJAMI, ‘HOW DID YOU REACH YOUR PRESENT HEIGHTS OF SPIRITUAL ATTAINMENT?’ AJAMI SAID, ‘THROUGH MAKING THE HEART WHITE IN MEDITATION, NOT BY MAKING PAPER BLACK WITH WRITING.’ LITTLE boy was playing with his blocks when his father entered the room. ‘Quiet, Dad, I am building a church.’ The father, thinking that he would test his son along the lines of religious knowledge said, ‘Why do we want to be quiet in church?...

12 The \'Instant\' Pathology

< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 12 The ‘Instant’ Pathology 22 August 1977 am in Buddha Hall The first question: Question 1 SO MANY PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR INSTANT ENLIGHTENMENT THESE DAYS AND THERE ARE ALL THESE GURUS RUNNING AROUND SAYING ‘FOLLOW ME’ AND YET IT IS QUESTIONABLE WHETHER THE ANSWER IS THERE. WHAT DO YOU ATTRIBUTE THIS TO? Every age has its own special pathology. Too much time-consciousness is the special pathology of this age....

13 Judge Ye Not

< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 13 Judge Ye Not 23 August 1977 am in Buddha Hall HASAN OF BASRA RELATES: ’I HAD CONVINCED MYSELF THAT I WAS A MAN OF HUMILITY AND LESS THAN HUMBLE IN MY THOUGHTS AND CONDUCT TO OTHERS. ’THEN ONE DAY I WAS STANDING ON THE BANK OF THE RIVER WHEN I SAW A MAN SITTING THERE. BESIDE HIM WAS A WOMAN AND BEFORE THEM WAS A WINE-FLASK....

14 Tug of War

< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 14 Tug of War 24 August 1977 am in Buddha Hall The first question: Question 1 OSHO, I WANT TO BECOME ENLIGHTENED. WHY DON’T YOU HELP ME? What do you think I am here for? As far as my own work is concerned, it is finished. I am here just for you. And all that I can do, I am doing, and all that you can do to prevent it, you are doing....

15 A Spluttering and a Going Out

< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 15 A Spluttering and a Going Out 25 August 1977 am in Buddha Hall A CERTAIN MAN WHO WAS FOND OF STUDYING ALL KINDS OF SYSTEMS OF THOUGHT WROTE TO A DERVISH MASTER, ABDUL-AZIZ OF MECCA, ASKING WHETHER HE COULD TALK TO HIM IN ORDER TO MAKE COMPARISONS. THE DERVISH SENT HIM A BOTTLE WITH OIL AND WATER IN IT, AND A PIECE OF COTTON WICK....

16 A Lotus on the Lake of Emptiness

< Previous | Contents ‌CHAPTER 16 A Lotus on the Lake of Emptiness 26 August 1977 am in Buddha Hall The first question: Question 1 WHY DO WE FORGET OUR DIVINITY? WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS? You have not forgotten it, you have never known it – so how can you forget it? Forgetfulness is possible only once you have known it – and once known, it is never forgotten....

2 In Hiding

< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 2 In Hiding 12 August 1977 am in Buddha Hall The first question: Question 1 HAS SUFISM ARISEN AS A REBEL AGAINST THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ISLAM? OR IS IT PRE- ISLAM? It is both. Anything that is alive is both. It is very ancient and it is very new – together, simultaneously. Sufism is pre-Islam and yet it is a unique new phenomenon too....

3 Tariqa \-- the Method

< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 3 Tariqa – the Method 13 August 1977 am in Buddha Hall SHAH FIROZ, WHO IS REMEMBERED AS THE TEACHER OF MANY VERY DISTINGUISHED SUFIS, WAS OFTEN ASKED WHY HE DID NOT TEACH THEM FASTER. HE SAID, ‘BECAUSE EVEN THE MOST DEDICATED WILL, UNTIL A CERTAIN POINT OF UNDERSTANDING, NOT BE TEACHABLE AT ALL. HE IS HERE IN THE FLESH, BUT ABSENT IN EVERY OTHER WAY....