From: bahram@somewhere.in.heaven.edu
Subject: Pieces-XXVII (The Horseman and the Snake)
Organization: Mars People International.
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 16:19:54 GMT



		AVAILABILITY

	  Wool only becomes a carpet because knowledge is available.

					Jalaludin Rumi
			****************

		DONKEY LOST

	   `Mulla, your donkey has disappeared.'
	   `Thank goodness I wasn't on it at the time, otherwise I would have
	disappeared too!'

					Idries Shah
			****************

		ENLIGHTENED

	He is enlightened whose speech and behavior accord, who repudiates
	the ordinary connections of the world.

					Dhu'l-Nun, the Egyptian
			****************

		FRAGMENTED

	When you are still fragmented, lacking certainty--what difference 
	does it make what your decisions are?

					Hakim Sanai (The Walled Garden of Truth)
			****************
										
		THE HORSEMAN AND THE SNAKE

	THERE is a proverb that `the "opposition" of the man of knowledge is 
	better than the "support" of the fool.'
	   I, Salim Abdali, bear witness that this is true in the greater ranges
	of existence, as it is true in the lower levels.
	   This is made manifest in the tradition of the Wise, who have handed
	down the tale of the Horseman and the Snake.
	   A horseman from his point of vantage saw a poisonous snake slip down
	the throat of a sleeping man. The horseman realized that if the man 
	were allowed to sleep the venom would surely kill him.
	   Accordingly he lashed the sleeper until he was awake. Having no time
	to lose, he forced this man to a place where there were a number of
	rotten apples lying upon the ground and made him eat them. Then he made
	 him drink large gulps of water from a stream.
	   All the while the other man was trying to get away, crying: `What 
	have I done. you enemy of humanity, that you should abuse me in this
	manner?'
	   Finally, when he was near to exhaustion, and dusk was falling, the
	man fell to the ground and vomited out the apples, the water, and the 
	snake. When he saw what had come out of him, he realized what had 
	happened, and begged the forgiveness of the horseman.
	   This is our condition. In reading this, do not take history for 
	allegory, nor allegory for history. Those who are endowed with knowledge
	have responsibility. Those who are not, have none beyond what they can 
	conjecture.
	   The man who was saved said: `If you had told you, I would have
	accepted your treatment with a good grace.'
	   The horseman answered: `If I had told you, you would not have 
	believed. Or you would have been paralysed by fright. Or run away. Or 
	gone to sleep again, seeking forgetfulness. And there would not have
	been time.'
	   Spurring his horse, the mysterious rider rode away.
		
	%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
	
	Salim Abdali (1700-1765) brought down upon the Sufis almost 
	unprecedented calumnies from intellectuals for claiming that a Sufi 
	master will know what is wrong with a man, and may have to act quickly 
	and paradoxically to save him, thus incurring the fury of those who 
	do not know what he is about.
	   This story Abdali quotes from Rumi. Even today, there are probably 
	not many people who will  concede the claims inherent in the tale. Yet
	this statement has been accepted in one form or another by all Sufis.
	Commenting upon this, the master Haidar Gul says only: `There is a limit
	beyond which it is unhealthy for mankind to conceal truth in order not
	to offend those whose minds are closed.'

 					Idries Shah (Tales Of the Dervishes)	
			****************

		BURNT FOOT

	An illiterate came to Nasrudin, and asked him to write a letter for him.
	   `I can't,' said the Mulla, `because I have burned my foot.'
	   `What has that got to do with writing a letter?'
	   `Since nobody can read my handwriting, I am bound to have to travel
	somewhere to interpret the letter. And my foot is sore; so there is no 
	point in writing the letter, is there?'

					Idries Shah
			****************

		SAYED SABIR ALI-SHAH

	THE Sayed was asked, `Why did Sheikh Attar write *Recapitulation of the
	Friends of God*?' He said, `Because the Koran was no longer being 
	experienced, but was being expounded.'
	   `And why did Maulana Rumi write the *Masnavi*?'
	   `Because the *Recapitulation* was not being read but was being 
	memorized.'
	   `And who are the people who can interpret writings of the Sufis?'
	   `Those who do not need what they contain.'
	   `What are they called?'
	   `You could call them a very special sort of grocer. A grocer is a 
	man who has more provisions than he needs for himself, so he sells 
	them to others. We call them the *Pirs* (ancients) and *Murshids* (
	Guides).'

					Idries Shah (Thinkers of the East)
			****************

		TRUTH AND LAW

	   The Law without the Truth is ostentation, and the Truth without the
	Law is hypocrisy. Their mutual relation may be compared to that of body
	and spirit: when the spirit departs from the body, the living body 
	becomes a corpse, and the spirit vanishes like wind.

					Hujwiri
			****************

		COW WITH CALF

	The Mulla went to market to sell his cow, but nobody wanted to buy.
	A neighbour came along and said:
	   `Let me try, you're doing it all wrong.'
	   `I must learn this art,' thought the Mulla.
	   `First-class cow, in calf for five months!' yelled the neighbour. In
	next to no time the animal was sold.
	   When he arrived home, Nasrudin found that a young man had called to 
	inquire about marrying his daughter.
	   All the Mulla did was to try out his newly acquired skill. He was 
	amazed by the speed at which the suitor rushed from the house.

					Idries Shah
			****************
					
		PRIVACY

	Whoever invades people's privacy corrupts them.

					The Prophet Mohammed
			****************

		DIE, IN THIS LOVE DIE

	Die now, die now, in this Love die; when you have died in this Love, 
	   you will all receive new life.
	Die now, die now, and do not fear this death. for you will come forth
	   from this earth and seize the heavens.
	Die now, die now. and break away from this carnal soul, for this carnal
	   soul is as a chain and you are as prisoners.
	Take an axe to dig through the prison; when you have broken the prison
	   you will all be kings and princes.
	Die now, die now before the beauteous King; when you have died before
	   the King, you will all be kings and renowned.
	Die now, die now, and come forth from this cloud; when you come forth
	   from this cloud, you will all be radiant full moons.
	Be silent; silence is the sign of death; it is because of life that you
	   are fleeing from the silent one.

					Jalaludin Rumi
			****************
			
		PEOPLE OF PERSIA

	O PEOPLE of Persia! Are ye not satisfied with this glorious honour which
	the supreme Remembrance of God hath conferred upon you? Verily ye have
	been especially favoured by God through this mighty Word. Then do not 
	withdraw from the sanctuary of His presence, for, by the righteousness 
	of the One true God, He is none other than the sovereign Truth from 
	God; He is the most exalted One and the Source of all wisdom, as decreed
	in the Mother Book...

					Bab
			****************

		KINGDOM HAS COME
		
	`Have the verses been sent down?' Say `Yea, by Him Who is the Revealer
	of clear tokens!... And they say: `Hath the Catastrophe come to pass?'
	Say: `Yea, by the Lord of the Lords!' `Is the Resurrection come?' `Nay,
	more; He Who is the Self-Subsisting hath appeared with the Kingdom of
	His signs.' `Seest thou men laid low?' `Yea, by my Lord, the Most High,
	the Most Glorious!' `Have the tree-stumps been uprooted?' `Yea, more;
	the mountains have been scattered in dust; by Him the Lord of
	attributes!' They say: `Where is Paradise, and where is Hell?' Say: `The
	one is reunion with Me; the other thine own self, O thou who dost 
	associate a partner with God and doubtest.' They say: `We see not the
	Balance.' Say: `Surely, by my Lord, the God of Mercy! None can see it
	except such as are endued with insight.' They say: `Have the stars 
	fallen?' Say: `Yea, when He Who is the Self-Subsisting dwelt in the 
	Land of Mystery [Adrianople]. Take heed, ye who are endued with 
	discernment!'

					Baha'u'llah
			****************

		WAR AND PEACE

	   Consider the restlessness and agitation of the human world today 
	because of war. Peace is health and construction; war is disease and
	dissolution. When the banner of truth is raised, peace becomes the 
	cause of the welfare and advancement of the human world. In all cycles
	and ages war has been a factor of derangement and discomfort whereas 
	peace and brotherhood have brought security and consideration of human
	interests. This distinction is especially pronounced in the present 
	world conditions, for warfare in former centuries had not attained the
	degree of savagery  and destructiveness which now characterizes it. If
	two nations were at war in olden times, ten or twenty thousand would be
	sacrificed but in this century the destruction of one hundred thousand
	lives in a day is quite possible. So perfected has the science of
	killing become and so efficient the means and instruments of its 
	accomplishment that a whole nation can be obliterated in a short time.
	Therefore comparison with the methods and results of ancient warfare is
	out of the question.
	   According to an intrinsic law, all phenomena of being attain to a 
	summit and degree of consummation, after which a new order and condition
	is established. As the instruments and science of war have reached the
	degree of thoroughness and proficiency, it is hoped that the
	transformation of the human world is at hand and that in the coming
	centuries all the energies and inventions of man will be utilized in
	promoting the interests of peace and brotherhood.

					`Abdu'l-Baha
			*****************
		
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