HEART OF THE MESSAGE

From Aphorisms of Hazrat Inayat Khan Vol. X1 page 242  

What is Religion?  in the outer sense of the word, a form given for the worship of God, a law given to the community that it may live harmoniously.  And what does religion mean in the inner sense of the word?   It means a staircase for the soul to climb to that plane where truth is realized.  

A Sufi mystic and his followers use to go from village to village and seek alms and food. For everything and everyday the mystic would thank the Lord for whatever occurred.  It so happened that for few days they were in a region which was very hostile to them and one village after another turned them away. Starving for more than two weeks one by one the followers started succumbing to their hunger. However the mystic's daily prayer of gratitude  
never wavered. When situation was really desperate the few disciples left approached their Master and found him once again engaged in thankfulness.  
  
"How can you be so distant from the reality of Hunger and death around us? We understood gratitude earlier on but today we have had no meal for 2 weeks. What is there to thank for now?' cries the followers  

The Sufi mystic tears rolling down replies; "I have failed in my  
teaching.  For can you not understand that existence fulfills all my  
needs.  The need right now is for hunger to be experienced and existence is fulfilling this need with so much abundance. How can anything take place to me which is not my need? And for fulfilling all my needs all I can do is to be in gratitude to Existence.  

From the Exploits of the Incomparable Mulla Nasrudin  by Idries Shah:  

Nasrudin was visited by some students, who asked whether they might hear his lessons.  He agreed, and they set out to the lecture hall, walking behind the Mulla, who had mounted his donkey with his face to its tail.  

People began to stare.  They thought that the Mulla must be a fool, and the students who followed him even greater fools.  Who after all, walks behind a man who rides a donkey back to front.  

After a little while the students began to become uneasy, and said to theMulla:  

"O Mulla!  people are looking at us, Why do you ride in this manner?"  

Nasrudin frowned.  "You are thinking about what people think, than what we are doing."  he said.  "I shall explain it to you,  If you walk in front, this would show disrespect to me, because you would have your backs to me.  If I walked behind, the same would be true.  If I ride ahead with my back towards you, this shows disrespect for you.  This is the only way of doing it."  

At ebb tide I wrote:  
A line upon the sand  
And gave it all my heart  
And all my soul.  
At flood tide I returned  
to read what I had inscribed  
And found my ignorance upon the shore  

Keep me from the wisdom that does not weep, and the philosophy that does not laugh, and the pride that does not bow its head before a child.  

A sage met with a stupid magnate and the discussed education and wealth.  When they separated, the sage found naught in his hand save a handful of dirt, and the magnate discovered nothing in his heart but a puff of mist.  

They say that if one understands himself, he understands all people.  But I say to you, when one loves people, he learn something about himself.  

- Spiritual Sayings of Kahlil Gibran  

Buddha reaching a village with his followers, is standing and watching some children in the backyard making some sand castles. As is usual the children are defending their castles from enemies(their pals) and with complete concentration building and adorning their castles ( have you see the sheer absorbence of children in their play). On their mother's call from the house, all run away kicking the sand castles, the same castles over which  
many a war was fought, kicking them and merging them in the ocean of sand and do not even look behind.  

Remarks; Buddha "Life is not much more than that"  

1. Be a Fundamentalist - make sure the Fun always comes before the  mental. Realize that life is a situation comedy that will never be canceled. A laugh track has been provided, and the reason why we are put in the material world is to get more material. Have a good laugh twice a day, and that will ensure regular hilarity.  

2. Remember that each of us has been given a special gift, just for  
entering - so you are already a winner!  

3. The most powerful tool on the planet today is Tell-A-Vision. That is where I tell a vision to you, and you tell a vision to me. That way, if we don't like the programming we're getting, we can simply change the  channel.  

4. Life is like photography. you use the negative to develop. And, no matter what adversity you face, be reassured: Of course God loves you. He's just not ready to make a commitment.  

5. It is true. As we go through life thinking heavy thoughts, thought  
particles tend to get caught between the ears, causing a condition called truth decay. So be sure to use mental floss twice a day. And when  you're tempted to practice tantrum yoga, remember what we teach in  Swami's Absurdiveness Training class: "Don't get even, get odd."  

6. If we want world peace, we must let go of our attachments and truly live like nomads. That's where I no mad at you, you no mad at me. That way, there'll surely be nomadness on the planet. And peace begins with each of us. A little peace here, a little peace there, pretty soon all the peaces will fit together to make one big peace everywhere.  

7. I know great changes have been predicted for the future, so if you're looking to avoid earthquakes, my advice is simple: When you find  a fault, just don't dwell on it.  

8. There's no need to change the world. All we have to do is toilet train the world, and we'll never have to change it again.  

9. If you're looking to find the key to the Universe, I have some bad news and some good news. The bad news is - there is no key to the Universe. The good news is - it has been left unlocked.  

10. Finally, everything I have told you is channeled. That way, if you  
don't like it, it's not my fault. And remember, enlightenment is not a  
bureaucracy. So we don't have to go through channels.  
  

This is no Kaaba  
For idiots to circle  
Nor a mosque  
For the impolite to clamor in  
This is kharabat a temple of total ruin.  
Inside are the drunk, from pre-eternity  
to the Judgement day  
gone from themselves  

I though of You so often  
that I completely became You  
Little by little You drew near  
and slowly but slowly I passed away.  

 Talking about Koran and all the scriptures the Sufi Master Rumi says;  

(All scriptures only come to the ocean's shore. They can't take you into the journey of the unknown, they remain part of the known)  

Two disciples of a Sufi Mystic were walking in the garden of the Master. They were both smokers and wanted to seek the permission of the Master to smoke. They both went to the Master and next day in the garden one finds the other smoking away. The other one was furious;  
"but he refused to me. Look at the injustice"  
The smoker asks "What did you ask the Master?"  
The other replied "I asked  can I smoke while meditating. What did you ask?"  
The smoker replied" I asked can I meditate while smoking?"  

For a Sufi every situation, everything. can be in meditation.  

(A great Sufi statement. God is not an experience. No experience as such is spiritual. All experiences are mind games. Whatsoever can be seen will be part of the illusory world. The seer is the truth not the seen. You can see auras, you can see angels, you can see kundalini rising and you can see Inner Lights—but they are all seen. They are not you)  

Was D H Lawrence a Sufi? Read these lines  

Are you willing to be sponged out,  
Erased, cancelled, made nothing?  
Are you willing to be made nothing,  
Dipped into oblivion  
If not, you will never change.  

The phoenix renews her youth  
Only when she is burnt, Burnt alive  
Burnt down to hot and flocculent ash.  

Kabir was a Sufi poet. He writes;  

I laugh when I hear the fish in the water is thirsty.  

You don't grasp the fact that what is most alive of all is inside your own house: and so you walk from one holy city to the next  
with a confused look .  

The caller calls in  a loud voice to the Holy One at dusk. "Why?"  

Surely the Holy One is not deaf.  
He hears the delicate anklets that ring on the  
feet of an insect as it walks.