Living In Truth

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ARTICLE

 

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.

 

ShrShri 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.

 

http://www.heritageofshirdisai.org/newsletter/Vo32.htm