Living In Truth - Part 01/02

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Living In Truth

 

(This series of articles attempts to draw the

attention of the readers towards the path and the

conduct)

 

Since ancient times mystic India has allured the

travellers from all over the world . The metaphysics,

Vedantic school, Upanishads and ashrams of sages

provided guidance to the seeker on the path while

allowing the general milieu to continue their

association with institutions built around “arth”

(materialism – wealth) . Similar features also present

themselves in other civilizations, e.g the Egyptian

Civilization. However examples of repressive regime,

conflicts in the form of branching of new sects /

religion also punctuated the development of the

Civilization.

 

Hinduism, which in fact is a way of life (code of

conduct), draws much of it thoughts and metaphysics

from Vedas and Upanishads. The most outstanding

contribution of this school was the ability to

assimilate the thoughts and cultures of distant shores

and this is reflected in the existence of large number

of Sufi Shrines of Muslim Saints in many parts of the

country. Perhaps no other country has such a rich

heritage of spiritual, cultural and social

integration.

 

Sufis are a class of mystics. The word “Sufi” has

several meanings in Arabic. It means “wool” – the Sufi

dervishes often wore a simple woolen cloak – hall mark

of simplicity, purity and non attachment on the path

of self realization. The Sufi dervishes carried within

them the love of God, (also termed as “beloved”,

“Saki”, “Friend” etc.) which they shared with other

fellow travellers.

 

The path is often lonely, punctuated with personal

trials and tribulations. The guidance of the Spiritual

Master (“Murshid”, “Pir”, “Yaar”, “Sheikh” etc.) is

very similar to that of the sages/gurus/ Rishis of

Indian culture. The love of the “Master”/ “Pir” (guru)

transformed the child “Murid”(shishya) into a self

realized state which surpassed normal human emotions.

Only the Perfect Master could see the spark of

divinity and help it blossom. Could there be a more

intimate relationship? It is said that when Mulana

Rumi met Shems Tarbiz¬ – another Sufi mystic, he lost

himself in his Master. The love between the Master and

the disciple baffled the then existing social

hierarchy and only a few could comprehend it. The

Masnavis of Rumi continue to guide. The wives of the

Saints were also realized souls as in the case of

Sheikh Muinnidin Chisti as also in the case of Shri

Ramakrishna Paramhansa.

 

Around the sixth century, Sufism made its presence in

India. Sheikh Moinuddin Chisti, disciple of Sheikh

Usan Haruni, a great Saint belonging to Chistiyya

Silsila (school), arrived in India and ultimately made

Ajmer his abode. The spiritual wealth of Khawaja

Moinuddin Chisti provided succour to both Hindu and

Muslim alike who revered the Saint as “Khawaja Garib

Nawaz”. Sufi saints underlined the necessity of being

“Garib” i.e. a sense of complete detachment from the

material world and complete surrender to the God. No

wonder, the Saints though bestowed with great

spiritual wealth / powers often went without food for

days, lived in penury smilingly as a gift of God

(Allah) while continuing to remove the diseases,

afflictions and maladies of the aggrieved persons.

 

As Baba says

 

“Garib rakho par Karib rakho……”

(Quote: Sai Charan Se)

 

Shri Shirdi Sai often said “Faquiri avval badshahi” –

and “Allah Malik”, very similar to Sufi Saints. The

principles of spiritual science remain the same till

date. Only a faquir – one lost in the contemplation of

God (Allah) -can be karib (near) to God. The faquirs

often led normal ives, raised families while silently

looking within very much similar to Indian saints like

Kabir, Raidas etc. Only a person who is “Karib” (near)

to God could be a “Faquir”(a completely detached

person) or vice versa, while still working in the

physical domain. No wonder then, God himself protected

His own – a state of complete surrender.

 

It was not unusual for the Masters to be presented

with wealth by the so called existing rich persona of

the society. Strange are the ways of the world. A

faquir¬ – possessor of immeasurable wealth - was

always presented with a measurable token of respect by

the rich elements of society indifferent to the fact

that wealth of the Master could only be partaken with

the blessings / grace of the Master based on ones own

endeavour / conduct .

 

The Sheikh /Master led the pupil on to the path of

detachment by example. The Nath yogis of India too

follow a similar path. It was not uncommon to see the

Rulers of the State paying a visit to the Sheikh to

seek divine blessings, which however were not very

welcomed by the Sufi Saints for apparent reasons.

 

The gifts presented to the Sheikh were distributed as

alms amongst the poor, used to run “langars”/ provide

food to hungry, for social purposes such as building

social and spiritual institutions etc,. leaving the

Sheikh again in abject poverty by the end of the day.

Shri Shirdi Sai also used the dakshina that he

received from various persons to renovate the Hanuman

Temple, Ganapati temple in Shirdi apart from giving

money to the poor.

 

In Ajmer, the “deg” of Khwaja Garib Nawaz till today

feeds the poor. Sheikh Nizamudin Auliya of Delhi too

fed the poor from the presents gifted by the rich.

Examples of refusal to receive the gifts from the

Rulers too abound. While the act of feeding the poor

is an act of charity per se, yet the underlying

current of complete surrender to the divine's will,

cannot be missed.

 

The feeding of the masses also fulfilled a larger

objective of social integration where rich and poor

alike received “Prasad / langar " from the home of the

Master, The practice of distributing Prasad in

temples, Gurudwara etc continue on the same principle.

 

Shri Shirdi Sai too ran a Kitchen, often taking keen

interest in personally buying lentils, spices etc to

prepare “Khichdi” himself, to feed the devotees. The

khichdi was served by Shri Shirdi Sai himself to the

devotees and was partaken with relish in company of

Baba. The dakshina that Baba received during the day

was used in giving alms, feeding the poor, running the

Kitchen etc., leaving nothing at the end of the day.

Baba often at times refused gifts / dakshina from

people, similar to Sufi Saints.

 

It is important to understand the significance of

refusal by the Master to receive dakshina / gifts from

all. The state of realization - the purity of conduct

merits acceptance / denial of the gift. Dakshina /

Gift is in itself symbolic of the purity of the

conduct. It is said that Shri Guru Nanak Dev once

refused to partake food from the house of a rich

merchant. Instead, he ate the morsel of food (chapati)

that a poor farmer had brought for him. On being asked

the reason, Shri Guru Nanak Dev squeezed the rotis

brought by the rich merchant to find blood oozing out

of the same. How could then such food / gift be

accepted by a Master.

 

The Masters always look at the internal state of the

followers. Hazrat Baba Tajuddin Auliya (whose mazaar

is in Nagpur) was once sitting in his darbar . As was

then the norm, people from all strata had come to pay

respects to the Baba Tajuddin. Many had come with

expensive gifts including costly sweets. Seeing this,

a lady who was very poor, could not gather enough

strength to request Baba Tajuddin to eat the simple

food that she wanted Baba to partake. Instead she kept

the food near the jamun tree. During lunchtime Baba

Tajuddin asked his attendants to procure the food kept

near the tree and partook only that food, while

refusing the other costly sweets. The Masters are one

- only their persona and external appearance varies.

Is it not amazing that people of all creeds and

religions seek Baba's blessings.

 

The disciples of such Saints too follow the conduct of

the Master. Sheikh Bakhtiyar Kaki was a disciple of

Sheikh Moinuddin Chisti. Though possessor of great

spiritual wealth, which he frequently invoked to

provide relief to the poor and aggrieved, including

rich persons, his family often went without food for

days together despite small help from a neighbour’s

wife. On continuous lamentations of his wife and on

his prayers, the God agreed to provide “roti” (called

“Kaki”) daily for his family and ended his travails.

 

Similarly, Narendra (later called “Shri Vivekananda”)

on seeing the pitiable condition of his family

members, frantically looked around for steady job to

provide succour and income for his family members. He

failed in his endeavour and besieged Shri Ramakrishna

to intercede on his behalf. Shri Ramakrishna directed

Narendra to seek the boon from Ma Kali; every time

Narendra went to Ma Kali’s temple he could not ask for

material gains but instead sought “wisdom”,

“realization” etc. On coming out of the temple and on

realizing the physical domain, he sought help from his

Master Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa who promised him

that his family members would always receive income

sufficient to feed and clothe themselves, thus ending

Narendra's trials.

 

Shri Shirdi Sai also gave such solemn promise to his

devotees as stated in Sai Satcharita. Shri Shirdi Sai

stated that his devotees shall always have sufficient

income to clothe and feed themselves. What else is

required to to follow the path?

 

On a higher plane, the trial of the disciple was also

a trial of the Master. Could Narendra really have

asked for material wealth from Ma Kali even after

being in contact with the Master Shri Ramakrishna

Paramhansa? Can One who has seen the Ultimate ask for

anything less fine for his disciple and allow his

disciple to choose the same? As is said, the path is

full of delusions, trappings etc and a Master is

needed to reach the goal. The life sketch of Sufi

Saints depicts remarkable similarity. Loss of parents

at a tender age, personal deprivation, heaping of

personal degradations by the so called sane elements

of the society and terming them as “Kafir” / “pagal "

abound.

 

An interesting Sufi Story aptly brings this to the

fore. A Sufi Saint (also called as “mast”) used to

roam naked in the street with children throwing stones

at the Saint and elderly people calling him a madman.

As per the rule of that land, all mad men were

executed. Soon the news reached the King who ordered

him to be produced in the Court. In the royal Court,

the King asked him whether it was true that he was

indeed a mad person. To this the Sufi replied :

“People who are wise call me a mad man. I pray to God

to increase their wisdom and to increase my madness.”

The King at once begged forgiveness and ordered his

release.

 

Shri Shirdi Sai during initial days of his stay in

Shirdi was termed as “Pagal” by the local populace.

Shri Gajanan Mahraj of Sheogaon lived in near naked

condition during his lifetime. Saint Sarmad was termed

as “Kafir” by the Moulavis and was sentenced to death

during Aurangzeb's regime. It is said that Aurangzeb

once requested the Saint Sarmad to cover his nakedness

with the blanket. Saint Sarmad unfolded the folds of

his blanket for King Aurangzeb to see the blood

drenched beheaded faces of his brothers whom he (King)

had got murdered, which depicted the nakedness of the

misdeeds of Aurangzeb. Unnerved and rattled, Aurangzeb

left the presence of Saint Sarmad. Soon, due to

persistent intrigue and other factors, Saint Sarmad

was termed as “Kafir” (infidel) and executed. As is

the wont of Sufi Saints to go along and play with

nature, they seldom correct the so called correct

prevalent perceptions of the society and accept death.

 

While on one hand, disbelief in the divine nature of

Saints by the wise men of society abounds, yet

examples of a selected few reposing utmost faith and

surrender in the Godliness of the Saints, is also

manifested. A similar situation arose in the life

history of Shri Shirdi Sai, Shri Tajuddin Auliya, Shri

Gajanan Maharaj , Hazrat Babajaan (of Pune) , Saint

Sarmad , Rabia etc.

 

Hazrat Babajaan of Pune (a Sufi woman saint) was

termed as “paagal” by the local populace until her

sighting by the Afgani paathans (soldiers) who

recognized her as the “persona” whom they had met

during their sojourn in Afghanistan .Thereafter,

people in Pune realized the greatness of the

matriarch. Shri Shirdi Sai in the initial days was

recognized as a Saint on his arrival by Mahalsapathy

(priest of Khandoba temple), tenderly looked after

with motherly affection by Baijabai and other selected

few only. Hazrat Tajudin Auliya was recognized as a

divine person by Raja Bhonsle of Nagpur who sought his

release from the prison where he was kept by British

Administration for 16 years. Shri Kashinath of Waki

looked at Baba Tajuddin as a Living God and worshipped

Him as such.

 

Saint Rabia of Basra (now Iraq) - a woman Mystic- was

sold as a slave girl . While working as a slave girl ,

she prayed at night to ask for His forgiveness for not

praying during the day. One night, her master looked

through the window and found a divine halo surrounding

Rabia while she was in praying. He realized his folly

and set her free, begging her forgiveness and offering

her gifts / riches etc. Saint Rabia of Basra declined

all the gifts accepting only her release as a means to

offer prayers to Him during daytime too. The path

followed by the mystical Saints were often turbulent

and yet they steadfastly held on to the path seeking

HIM.

 

Saint Rabia said

 

If I seek You for the fear of Hell, put me in Hell.

If I seek you for love of Heaven, Banish me from

Heaven. Allow me to seek You for Your sake.

 

Can this path be then easily explained in words and

articles? No wonder, then, often Saints provide

example by living conduct instead of lengthy

discourses and consistently refused to be drawn into

discussions / controversies with other religious

zealots of the day. Even their silence incurred the

wrath of zealots.