The Secret - Discourses On Sufism, midway, Osho,
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The Secret
Discourses on Sufism
Talks given from 11/10/78 am to 31/10/78 am
English Discourse series
21 Chapters
Year published: 1980
The Secret
Chapter #1
Chapter title: La Illaha Ill Allah
11 October 1978 am in Buddha Hall
Archive code: 7810110
ShortTitle: SECRET01
Audio: Yes
Video: No
Length: 109 mins
A MAN CAME TO BAHAUDIN NAQSHBAND, AND SAID, "I HAVE TRAVELED FROM ONE TEACHER TO
ANOTHER, AND I HAVE STUDIED MANY PATHS, ALL OF WHICH HAVE GIVEN ME GREAT BENEFITS
AND MANY ADVANTAGES OF ALL KINDS.
"I NOW WISH TO BE ENROLLED AS ONE OF YOUR DISCIPLES, SO THAT I MAY DRINK FROM THE
WELL OF KNOWLEDGE, AND THUS MAKE MYSELF MORE AND MORE ADVANCED IN THE TARIQA,
THE MYSTIC WAY."
BAHAUDIN, INSTEAD OF ANSWERING THE QUESTION DIRECTLY, CALLED FOR DINNER TO BE
SERVED. WHEN THE DISH OF RICE AND MEAT STEW WAS BROUGHT, HE PRESSED PLATEFUL
AFTER PLATEFUL UPON HIS GUEST. THEN HE GAVE HIM FRUITS AND PASTRIES, AND THEN HE
CALLED FOR MORE PILAU, AND MORE AND MORE COURSES OF FOOD, VEGETABLES, SALADS,
CONFITURES.
AT FIRST THE MAN WAS FLATTERED, AND AS BAHAUDIN SHOWED PLEASURE AT EVERY
MOUTHFUL HE SWALLOWED, HE ATE AS MUCH AS HE COULD. WHEN HIS EATING SLOWED DOWN,
THE SUFI SHEIKH SEEMED VERY ANNOYED, AND TO AVOID HIS DISPLEASURE, THE UNFORTUNATE
MAN ATE VIRTUALLY ANOTHER MEAL.
WHEN HE COULD NOT SWALLOW ANOTHER GRAIN OF RICE, AND ROLLED IN GREAT DISCOMFORT
UPON A CUSHION, BAHAUDIN ADDRESSED HIM IN HIS MANNER.
"WHEN YOU CAME TO SEE ME, YOU WERE AS FULL OF UNDIGESTED TEACHINGS AS YOU NOW
ARE WITH MEAT, RICE, AND FRUIT. YOU FELT DISCOMFORT, AND, BECAUSE YOU ARE
UNACCUSTOMED TO SPIRITUAL DISCOMFORT OF THIS REAL KIND, YOU INTERPRETED THIS AS A
HUNGER FOR MORE KNOWLEDGE. INDIGESTION WAS YOUR REAL CONDITION.
"I CAN TEACH YOU IF YOU WILL NOW FOLLOW MY INSTRUCTIONS AND STAY HERE WITH ME
DIGESTING BY MEANS OF ACTIVITIES WHICH WILL NOT SEEM TO YOU TO BE INITIATORY, BUT
WHICH WILL BE EQUAL TO THE EATING OF SOMETHING WHICH WILL ENABLE YOUR MEAL TO BE
DIGESTED AND TRANSFORMED INTO NUTRITION AND, NOT WEIGHT."
THE MAN AGREED. HE TOLD HIS STORY MANY DECADES LATER, WHEN HE BECAME FAMOUS AS
THE GREAT TEACHER SUFI KHALIL ASHRAFZADA.
LA ILLAHA ILL ALLAH -- There is no god but God. This is the fundamental essence of the way of the
Sufis. This is the seed. Out of this seed has grown the Bodhi Tree of Sufism. In this small proclamation, all
that is valuable in all the religions is contained: God is and only God is.
This statement makes God synonymous with existence. God is the very isness of all that is. God is not
separate from his creation. The creator is in his creation; there is no duality, there is no distance, so
whatsoever you come across is God. The trees and the rivers and the mountains, all are manifestations of
God. You and the people you love, and the people you hate, all are manifestations of God.
This small statement can transform your whole life. It can change the very gestalt of your vision. The
moment one recognizes that all is one, love arises on its own accord. And love is Sufism.
Sufism is not concerned with knowledge. Its whole concern is love, intense, passionate love: how to fall
in love with the whole, how to be in tune with the whole, how to bridge the distance between the creation
and the creator.
The so-called, organized religions of the world teach a kind of duality that the creator is separate from
the creation, that the creator is higher than the creation, that there is something wrong with creation, it has to
be renounced. Sufis don't renounce, they rejoice. And that's what I am teaching you here: Rejoice!
My sannyas is a way of rejoicing, not a way of renunciation.
Rumi has said:
If you are not one with the Beloved
Seek!
And if you are in Union,
Rejoice!
This assembly is a Sufi assembly. You are my Sufis, the Sufis of the new age. I am introducing you to
the world of love. I am initiating you into the ways of love.
Sufis talk about two kinds of love. One they call
muhabbah
; it means the ordinary love, lukewarm,
momentary, partial. One moment it is there, another moment it is gone. It has no depth, no intensity. You
call it passion, but it is not passionate. It is not such a flame which can burn you. You don't become aflame
with it; it remains something under your control. You don't become possessed by it, you don't lose yourself
in it. You remain in control.
The other kind of love, the real love?. the authentic love, Sufis call it
ishq
;
ishq
means love with total
intensity. One is lost in it, one is possessed by it. One goes mad in it.
I have heard, the great Sufi Master Ruzbihan was once on the roof of his
khaniqah
while in a state of
WAJD....
The
khaniqah
is the place where Sufis meet; it is a temple of love. It is a temple of madness, of utter
rejoicing. This is a
khaniqah
. No other god than love is worshiped, no other prayer than love is preached. In
a
khaniqah
, only those who are becoming aflame with love are invited, who are on the verge of madness.
Ruzbihan was on the roof of his
khaniqah
while in a state of
wajd
.
Wajd
is a moment when you are not
and God is, a moment of absolute harmony. A window opens, and you can see the whole sky, you are no
more confined within the walls of your body and mind. For a moment, a lightning happens and all darkness
disappears.
Wajd
is a momentary samadhi, a glimpse, a satori. It comes and goes. Slowly, slowly, it
establishes itself.
But even to know God for a moment is of immense beauty and benediction. Even to know for a single
moment that you are not separate from existence, that there is no ego, that all is one -- La illaha ill Allah --
even to know this just as a passing experience, just like a breeze that comes and is gone -- by the time you
become aware of it, it is no more there, but it has been there, it has refreshed you, rejuvenated, resurrected
you...
Ruzbihan was on the roof of his
khaniqah
in a state of
wajd
-- in a state of oneness with existence...
... It happened that a group of young people was passing by in the alley below, playing musical
instruments and singing...
They were singing:
"O heart, in the neighborhood of the Beloved there is no wailing,
nor are the roof, door, or windows of her house guarded.
If you are ready to lose your soul,
get up and come now, for the field is empty. "
They were completely unaware of Ruzbihan. They were just singing. They were even unaware of what
they were singing, what they were saying. It is a Sufi provocation; it is a Sufi song. The moment Ruzbihan
heard it -- "If you are ready to lose your soul, get up and come now, for the field is empty" -- and he was in
a state of
wajd
, of unity, oneness, unio mystica -- his ecstasy was such that he was not there in that ecstasy
at all; when Ruzbihan heard this, something possessed him, something from the beyond, and he flung
himself from the roof...
... whirling and turning in the air, to the ground below.
On witnessing this, the group of young people cast away their instruments, left their former ways,
entered the
khaniqah
, and became Sufis.
What happened to that group of young people? For the first time, they saw ecstasy,
wajd
, love, madness
for God. For the first time, they came across a man who could risk his very life. This is
ishq
.
Ishq
means
you are ready to lose your life for your love.
Ishq
means love has become a higher value than life itself.
Hence the people who are in love are thought to be mad by people who have not known love, are
thought to be blind by people who have not seen through the eyes of love. The intellectual condemns the
ways of love; he is afraid. Love is dangerous. To go through the heart is risky because the heart is
non-calculative, illogical.
Just remember this man, this madman Ruzbihan, jumping from the roof of the
khaniqah
just because a
few people were singing a song and they said, "If you are ready to lose your soul, get up and come now, for
the field is empty" -- and he jumped, without hesitating for a single moment. This is madness. The
calculative mind is going to condemn it. But he was not hurt. He was so drunk, he was not even aware of
what was happening. Nothing was happening to him, because he was not there: as if God jumped through
him. He was possessed by God, he was utterly drunk.
Seeing him coming from the roof, turning, whirling in the air... They had seen many dervishes, whirling
dervishes, but not a man like this. And when he came onto the ground, he was so innocent, he was so silent,
his joy was such, seeing him, just seeing him, was enough for them to renounce their old ways. They threw
down their instruments, entered the
khaniqah
, and became Sufis.
That's how you have become Sufis with me. You have also jumped from your roofs. To become a
sannyasin is a quantum leap: it is a non-calculated step. It is only for the mad ones. But God is only for the
mad ones. Those who calculate remain part of the marketplace. Calculation keeps you in the world.
One needs to be in such love that one is ready to risk all. That love is called
ishq
. You have all known
muhabbah
, the so-called ordinary love, which is just an emotion, a sentiment, superficial. One day you are
in love, another day you are in hate. One day you love the person and you are ready to die for the person,
and another day you are ready to kill the same person. One moment you are so nice, so beautiful, another
moment you are so nasty, so ugly to the same person. This is not
ishq
,
ishq
has depth. This is only
circumference. This is just a mask; this is part of your personality.
Ishq
, passionate love for God, is not of
the personality. It is of the essence. It comes from jour center; from the very ground of your being it arises
and possesses you. It is not within your control; on the contrary, you are in its control. Yes, you are drunk
and you are mad.
Sufis
have found ways and methods of how to create
ishq
. That is the whole
sufi
alchemy: how to create
ishq
in you, how to create such passion that you can ride on the wave of it and reach to the ultimate.
It is said about Majnu... The story of Majnu and Laila is a
sufi
story, a great love story. No other love
story can be compared with it. There are many in the world, almost every country has its own love stories,
but nothing compared to Laila and Majnu because it has a
sufi
message in it. It is not just an ordinary story
of
muhabbah
, it is the story of
ishq
.
It is said that Majnu decided one day that, seeing Laila, he had seen all that was worth seeing, so what
was the use of keeping his eyes open anymore? He decided that whenever Laila would come he would open
his eyes; otherwise he would remain blind because there was nothing else worth seeing.
For months Laila could not come -- the parents were against, the society was against -- and Majnu
waited and waited under the tree where they used to meet, with closed eyes. Days passed, weeks and months
passed, and he would not open his eyes.
And the story says God took compassion on him. He came to Majnu and said, "Poor Majnu, open your
eyes. I am God himself. You have seen everything in the world, but you have not seen me. Look who is
standing before you. "
Majnu is reported to have said, "Get lost. I have decided only to see Laila; nothing else is worth seeing.
You may be God, but I am not concerned. Just get lost, don't disturb me."
Shocked, God said, "What are you saying? I have never come to anyone on my own. Seekers and
devotees pray and search and practice -- then too it is very, very difficult to see me -- and I have come on
my own and you have not even asked for me. I am coming just as a gift, and you are rejecting?"
And Majnu said, "If you really want to be seen by me, come as Laila, because I cannot see anything
else. Even if I open my eyes I cannot see anything else. I look at a tree, and Laila is there. I look at the stars,
and Laila is there. Laila is in my heart and she has possessed my whole heart, and whatsoever I see I see
through my heart. I am sorry, but there is no possibility, because there is no space left in my heart for
anything else. I am sorry. Excuse me, but go away. Don't disturb me."
This is
ishq
. Even God... yes, even God can be renounced.
When you love, when you really love, there are no conditions. It is unconditional. You love for the sheer
joy of it. And love is absolute -- it knows no wavering, it knows no hesitation.
Sufism is a great experiment in human consciousness: how to transform human consciousness into
ishq
.
It is alchemy.
And this is what I am doing here with you. You may be aware, you may not be aware of it, but this
whole experiment is to create in you as much love energy as possible. Man can be transformed into pure
love energy. Just as there is atomic energy discovered by physics, and a small atom can explode into
tremendous power, each cell of your heart can explode into tremendous love. That love is called
ishq
.
Sufism is the path of love.
Remember that it is a path, it is not a dogma. Mohammedans have a particular word for dogma: they call
it
shariat
. Dogma, doctrine, religion, morality, philosophy, theology, all are contained in
shariat
. Sufism is
not a
shariat
, it does not depend on books. Sufis are not the people of books. Sufism is a
tariqat
: a
methodology, a technique, a science, a path, a way to truth, to
haqiqat
, to that which is. Remember the
difference between
shariat
and
tariqat
.
Theology thinks about God. That is the very meaning of "theology"; it consists of two words,
theo
and
logy
: logic about God, contemplation, thinking, philosophizing, speculation about God. Sufism does not
think about God, because, Sufis say, how can you think about God? Thinking is utterly inadequate. You can
think about the world, but you cannot think about God. You can only be in love with God, so it is not a
theology, but it is a method. It is an experiment in your consciousness, an experiment to transform it from
gross energy into subtle energy, from material energy into divine energy.
Tariqat
is the way by which the Sufi comes into harmony with the whole.
And two things are basic requirements to follow this method. One is FAQR :FAQR means spiritual
poverty, simplicity, egolessness. When Jesus says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit," he is exactly talking
about
faqr
. It does not mean poverty, it means
spiritual
poverty. Even a king can be spiritually poor, and
even a beggar may not be. If the beggar is egoistic he is not spiritually poor, and if the king is egoless he is
spiritually poor. Spiritually poor means there is nobody inside, utter emptiness, a silence prevails. This
poverty has nothing to do with outer poverty. Outer poverty can be easily imposed; that is not going to help.
An inner poverty is needed.
If you follow
faqr
, if you slowly, slowly dissolve the idea of separation from existence, the ultimate
result is
fana
.
Fana
means a state of non-being, what Buddha calls nirvana. You simply disappear, but your
disappearance is the appearance of God. If you are in the state of
fana
, then suddenly, out of the blue,
another state is born, that is called
baka
.
Baka
, means being. Sufism is the bridge between
fana
and
baka
.
First you have to be dissolved as an ego, then you are born as God. The dewdrop has to disappear as a
dewdrop, into the ocean; this is fana. But the moment the dewdrop falls into the ocean, it becomes the
ocean; that is
baka
.
Non-being is the way to being, and love is the most adequate method to disappear.
That's why millions of people have decided not to love. If you decide in favor of the ego you will have
to remain loveless. Love and ego cannot go together. Knowledge and ego go together perfectly well, but
love and ego cannot go together, not at all. They cannot keep company. They are like darkness and light: if
light is there darkness cannot be. Darkness can only be if light is not there. If love is not there the ego can
be; if love is there the ego cannot be. And vice versa, if ego is dropped, love arrives from all the directions.
It simply starts pouring in you from everywhere.
Just as nature abhors a vacuum, God also abhors a vacuum. You become a vacuum, and God rushes into
you.
The first thing is
faqr
, and the second thing is
zikr
.
Faqr
means spiritual poverty, egolessness,
simplicity, dissolving the idea of "I". And
zikr
means remembrance. Disappear as a person, then presence is
left; in that presence, remember God, let God resound in you -- La illaha ill Allah. Let this remembrance
arise in your nothingness. In that purity of non-being let there be only one music heard -- La illaha ill Allah.
Repeat it, sway with it, dance with it, twirl, turn, whirl, and let this music fill yoU. Each cell of your body
should start repeating La illaha ill Allah, La illaha ill Allah, La illaha ill Allah....
And you will be surprised, it creates a kind of drunkenness. The very sound of this mantra is such, it is
one of the most potential mantras ever invented by man, discovered by man. Just repeating it, and you will
find that something inside you is becoming psychedelic, something in you is changing. You are becoming
light, you are becoming love, you are becoming divine. And not only that you will feel it, even others will
feel it.
Meditate on these beautiful words of Nurbakhsh:
Those who suffer for you sit waiting for relief. They have renounced themselves, their hearts, and
religion. In good faith your lovers have traveled the road of loyalty. Now sit waiting on your threshold, pure
of heart. The beggars sit in the royal court of your grace, hearts content, needs fulfilled. Your dependents,
they have nothing to do with worldly kings, but prefer to sit in total poverty within your kingdom.
Worshipers of your wine circle the cask, take up the glass and sit there, no longer questioning, serene.
Afflicted, wounded by you, they judge their souls worthless. Why then should they sit waiting for
medicine? In God's house God's men Cannot sit negligent, like you false pretenders. Light shines to the
highest heavens from the gathering of the Sufis, wild ones, sitting for God, by God, in God.
A very significant statement by a great mystic, Nurbakhsh.
He says, wherever Sufis are, "Light shines to the highest heavens from the gathering of the Sufis, wild
ones, sitting for God, by God, in God."
If only God is, then Mansur was right when he declared, "Ana el haq!" -- I am the reality, I am the truth!
Then the Upanishadas are right when the seers declared, "Aham Brahmasmi!"I am the absolute! Buddha is
right when ke declared, "Not only I have become enlightened, but the moment I became full of light I saw
the whole existence as enlightened. I declare the whole existence as enlightened! You may not be aware, but
I can see the light in you."
That's the function of a Master -- to see the potential, to see that which can become at any moment
actual, and to help to make it actual. You are gods in disguise.
And when I said this is a Sufi assembly, I literally meant it. See this silence, this grace, this benediction
that is showering on you? See this stillness? See this
faqr
? In this moment there is no ego in you, but only a
pure silence. The personality has disappeared, there is only presence, and the light rises to the highest
heavens. Wherever the wild ones meet, the mad ones meet, wherever there is simplicity and love, and
wherever there is prayer,
zikr
, remembrance of God, this miracle happens. You may not be able to see it. It
is happening. You will have to become tuned to this miracle that is happening here.
I am not just teaching you about God. I am not interested in giving you knowledge about God. I am
sharing my God with you; it is a sharing. I want to challenge your God which is asleep inside you, to
provoke it. And that is the work Sufis have been doing down the ages: provoking the potential into the
actual.
Khwajah Esmat Bokhari says:
This is no Kaaba
For idiots to circle
Nor a mosque
For the impolite to clamor in.
This is a temple of total ruin.
Inside are the drunk, from pre-eternity
to the Judgement Day,
gone from themselves.
The Sufis call their assemblies "temples of total ruin"
kharabat
-- because you have to die, you have to
disappear. When Sufis really meet, there is nobody to meet. The Sufi assembly is utterly empty of persons.
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