Talks on Sufism
Talks given from 27/08/77 am to 10/09/77 am English Discourse series
1 Seven Valleys2 Diamonds Regained3 Here, Now, This.…4 Earth and Sky Apart5 Layer Upon Layer6 An Eternal Recurrence7 Full Emptiness8 A Holiday from Sanity9 The Touch of the Master10 Out of the Mud and the Mire11 The Royal Way12 Different Breezes13 Design within Design14 A Singular Mess15 A Silent Shrine
< Previous | Contents | Next > CHAPTER 1 Seven Valleys 27 August 1977 am in Buddha Hall THERE WAS ONCE A WOMAN WHO ABANDONED THE RELIGION IN WHICH SHE HAD BEEN BROUGHT UP. SHE LEFT THE RANKS OF THE ATHEISTS TOO, AND JOINED ANOTHER FAITH. THEN SHE BECAME CONVINCED OF THE TRUTH OF YET ANOTHER. EACH TIME SHE CHANGED HER BELIEFS, SHE IMAGINED THAT SHE HAD GAINED SOMETHING, BUT NOT QUITE ENOUGH....
< Previous | Contents | Next > CHAPTER 10 Out of the Mud and the Mire 5 September 1977 am in Buddha Hall The first question: Question 1 AS A U. S. PSYCHIATRIST I AM WELL-TRAINED. EXPERIENCED AND HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL BY OUTER STANDARDS – BUT NOW, WHAT TO DO? I NO LONGER FEEL THAT I AM A DOCTOR OR THERAPIST OR ANALYST, ONLY A PERSON, AND PERHAPS A TEACHER. YOU AND OTHERS LIKE YOU ARE TO BLAME FOR THIS....
< Previous | Contents | Next > CHAPTER 11 The Royal Way 6 September 1977 am in Buddha Hall THE SUFI ANCIENT, JUNAID, TAUGHT BY DEMONSTRATION, THROUGH A METHOD IN WHICH HE ACTUALLY LIVED THE PART WHICH HE WAS TRYING TO ILLUSTRATE. THIS IS AN EXAMPLE: ONCE HE WAS FOUND BY A NUMBER OF SEEKERS, SITTING SURROUNDED BY EVERY IMAGINABLE LUXURY. THESE PEOPLE LEFT HIS PRESENCE AND SOUGHT THE HOUSE OF A MOST AUSTERE AND ASCETIC HOLY MAN, WHOSE SURROUNDINGS WERE SO PLAIN THAT HE HAD NOTHING BUT A MAT AND A JUG OF WATER....
< Previous | Contents | Next > CHAPTER 12 Different Breezes 7 September 1977 am in Buddha Hall The first question: Question 1 I AM ALWAYS IN A HURRY AND ALWAYS WORRYING WHETHER I WILL BE ABLE TO REACH OR NOT. There is nowhere to reach and there is no one to reach. The whole idea of the goal is illusory. Then you start living in the future, and the time is now, and the place is here....
< Previous | Contents | Next > CHAPTER 13 Design within Design 8 September 1977 am in Buddha Hall A SUFI OF THE ORDER OF THE NAQSHBANDIS WAS ASKED, ‘YOUR ORDER’S NAME MEANS LITERALLY “THE DESIGNERS”. WHAT DO YOU DESIGN, AND WHAT USE IS IT?’ HE SAID, ’WE DO A GREAT DEAL OF DESIGNING, AND IT IS MOST USEFUL. HERE IS A PARABLE OF ONE SUCH FORM: ’UNJUSTLY IMPRISONED, A TINSMITH WAS ALLOWED TO RECEIVE A RUG WOVEN BY HIS WIFE....
< Previous | Contents | Next > CHAPTER 14 A Singular Mess 9 September 1977 am in Buddha Hall The first question: Question 1 YOU SAY THERE IS NOWHERE TO GO. TO GO SOMEWHERE IS TO PERPETUATE THE ILLUSION. AND SOMETIMES I SEE IT.… AND YOU SAY RELIGIOUSNESS IS TO REJECT THE KNOWN AND ONE SHOULD NOT STAND ON THE CROSSROADS BUT DARE, AND COMMIT MISTAKES.… YOU SAY IT IS ALREADY THE CASE – THE SEEKER IS THE SOUGHT....
< Previous | Contents CHAPTER 15 A Silent Shrine 10 September 1977 am in Buddha Hall THE SUFI SAGE, ABDULALIM OF FEZ, REFUSED TO TEACH, BUT FROM TIME TO TIME WOULD ADVISE PEOPLE ABOUT THE WAY TO PROCEED ON THE PATH. ONE DAY A DISCIPLE, WHO WAS BOTH INCAPABLE OF LEARNING AND REGULARLY DRIVEN ABNORMAL BY ATTENDING ‘MYSTICAL CEREMONIES’, VISITED HIM. HE ASKED, ‘HOW CAN I BEST PROFIT FROM THE TEACHINGS OF THE SAGES?...
< Previous | Contents | Next > CHAPTER 2 Diamonds Regained 28 August 1977 am in Buddha Hall The first question: Question 1 I HAVE OFTEN THOUGHT THAT IF CHILDREN WERE RAISED IN A FREE AND LOVING ENVIRONMENT RATHER THAN THE INSANE SOCIETY THAT WE GREW UP IN, THEY WOULD ALL MATURE INTO FREE, LOVING, ENLIGHTENED BEINGS. BUT IF THIS WERE SO, MANY OF THE PRIMITIVE SOCIETIES WOULD BE OVERFLOWING WITH ENLIGHTENED BEINGS....
< Previous | Contents | Next > CHAPTER 3 Here, Now, This.… 29 August 1977 am in Buddha Hall IMAM MUHAMMED BAQIR IS SAID TO HAVE RELATED THIS ILLUSTRATIVE FABLE: ’FINDING I COULD SPEAK THE LANGUAGE OF ANTS, I APPROACHED ONE AND ENQUIRED, “WHAT IS GOD LIKE? DOES HE RESEMBLE THE ANT?” ‘HE ANSWERED, “GOD! NO, INDEED – WE HAVE ONLY A SINGLE STING, BUT GOD, HE HAS TWO!”’ What is God?...
< Previous | Contents | Next > CHAPTER 4 Earth and Sky Apart 30 August 1977 am in Buddha Hall The first question: Question 1 WHY DID VAN GOGH KILL HIMSELF? WHY DID HEMINGWAY PUT A SHOTGUN IN HIS MOUTH AND BLOW THE TOP OF HIS HEAD OFF? WHY DO THEY POISON THEIR RIVERS, THEIR AIR AND THEIR OWN FOOD? WHY DO THEY JUSTIFY IT ALL WITH THEIR REASONING, PSYCHOLOGY AND LAWS?...