Sufi Stories

The substance of Sufism is the Truth and the meaning of Sufism is the selfless experience and actualization of the Truth. The practice of Sufism is the intention to go towards the Truth, by means of love and devotion. This is called the tarikat, the spiritual path or way towards God. The sufi is one who is a true lover and true believer  who by means of love and devotion moves towards the Truth, towards the perfection which all are truly seeking. 
Sufis have referred to their parables as "Teaching Stories." 
According to Essential Sufism, "most Sufis believe that the great religions and mystical
traditions for the world share the same essential Truth." Sufi teaching stories have been 
used by the mystics and spiritual teachers(masters) to help people understand the same essential Truth.

Sufi stories are always my favorite. I personally learn a lot and its keep inspiring me throughout my life journey. Here i am sharing few them.  

When to be Practical  

As three travelers crossed the mountains of the Himalaya, they discussed the importance of putting into practice everything they had learned on their spiritual journey . They weer so lost in their conversation that it was only late night that they finally realized that all they had with them was  just a piece of bread.

They decided not to discuss who deserved to eat it rather they left the decision in the hands of the god. They prayed that, during the night  a superior spirit should indicate who should receive the bread.

The following morning, the three men rose together at sunrise.

"This is my dream," said the first traveler. "I was taken to place I had never visited before, and enjoyed the sort of peace and harmony . In the midst of this paradise, a wise man with a long beard said to me: "you are my chosen one, you never sought pleasure, always renounced all things and in order to prove my allegiance to you, I should like you to try a piece of bread."

"That's very strange," said the second traveler. "For in my dream, I saw my past of sanctity and my future as a master. As I gazed at that which is to come, I found a man of great wisdom, saying: "You are in greater need of food than your friends  for you shall have to lead many people and it will require strength and energy so eat the bread."

Then the third traveler said:

"In my dream I saw nothing and went nowhere and found no wise men, poor me. However, at a certain hour during the night, I suddenly woke up And I ate the bread."

By hearing this other two get furious.

"Come on brother why didn't you call us before making such a personal decision?"

In reply he said  "How could I? You were both so far away, finding masters and having such holy visions! Yesterday we discussed the importance of putting into practice that which we learn on our spiritual journey. In my case, God acted quickly and make me awake dying of hunger!"  "LOL"

Something is Better Than Nothing

Once a Sufi master was walking down the street. On his way he found a miserable man sited down the corner of the street. Seeing master the man held up a tattered bag and moaned, "All that I own in this wide world barely fills this miserable, wretched sack, please help me"

"Too bad," said the master and with that, he suddenly snatched the bag from the man's hands and ran down the road with it.

Having lost everything, the man burst into tears and more miserable than before he start to walked alone the path. Meanwhile master quickly ran around  and placed the man's sack in the middle of the road where he would have to come upon it.

When the man finally saw his bag sitting in the road before him, he laughed with joy and shouted,  " Oh my god! My sack! I thought I'd lost you! I feel so happy now".

Watching through the bushes, Master chuckled. "Well, that's one way to make someone happy!"  "LOL"

"There is no deficiency of food we just need to stop wasting"

One-third of food produced globally every year does not reach human mouths - it is either lost in transit or wasted by consumers themselves. This amounts to a staggering 1.3 billion tonnes every year. These chilling figures are contained in a report called 'Avoiding Future Famines' released by the United Nations Environment Programme at the recently held Rio+20 summit in Brazil on sustainable development.

Consumers throw away 222 million tonnes of food in edible condition every year in North America and Europe. While the total food production of Sub-Saharan Africa is 230 million tonnes per year. These wastage food can feed them all.

Based on a study last year by a group of researchers from Swedish Institute of Food & Biotechnology (SIK), and the Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO), the report says that food loss or waste occurs right through the food supply chain - from farm to dining table. But in medium- and high-income countries, a higher share of food is really wasted, meaning it is thrown away even if still suitable for human consumption. In low-income countries food is mainly lost during the early and middle stages of the food supply chain; much less food is wasted by consumers.

'Americans throw away 25% of food'

In Europe and North-America, a total of 280-300kg of food is wasted per capita every year. In Sub-Saharan Africa and South/Southeast Asia per capita food wastage is 120-170kg per year.

This aggregate wastage figure is made up of loss or wastage at different stages: farming, post harvest, processing, distribution and consumption. In developing countries, more than 40% of the food losses occur at post harvest and processing levels, while in industrialized countries, more than 40% of the food losses occur at retail and consumer levels, according to analysis done by Jenny Gustavsson of SIK.

Per capita food wasted by consumers in Europe and North America is 95-115kg per year, while this figure is only 6-11 kg per year in sub-Saharan Africa and South/Southeast Asia.

American consumers throw away 25% of all food they purchase while British consumers throw away roughly one-third of their purchased food due to factors such as over-purchasing in response to marketing offers and obeying expiration dates labelled on products, according to the UNEP report.

There can be “Future Famines” and it will not be cause of deficiency of food it can happen because we waste too much food. There is always more than enough resources for each one of us in this world and it will be like this if we don’t stop wasting right now.

Field of Pure Potentiality

The field of pure potentiality is a state of pure consciousness and pure consciousness is pure potentiality; it is the field of all possibilities and infinite creativity. Pure consciousness is our spiritual essence. Being infinite and unbounded is also pure joy. Other attributes of consciousness are pure knowledge, infinite silence, perfect balance, invincibility, simplicity, and bliss. This is our essential nature.

Our essential nature is one of pure potentiality. When we discover our essential nature and know who we really are, in that knowing itself is the ability to fulfill any dream we have, because we are the eternal possibility, the immeasurable potential of all that was, is, and will be. The Law of Pure Potentiality could also be called the Law of Unity, because underlying the infinite diversity of life is the unity of one all pervasive spirit. There is no separation between me and this field of energy. The field of pure potentiality is our own Self. And the more we experience our true nature, the closer we are to the field of pure potentiality.

How can we apply the Law of Pure Potentiality, the field of all possibilities, to our lives? If we want to enjoy the benefits of this field, if we want to make full use of the creativity which is inherent in pure consciousness, then we have to have access to it. One way to access the field is through the daily practice of silence and meditation, Spending time in nature will also give us the access to the qualities inherent in the field: infinite creativity, freedom, and bliss.

Practicing silence means making a commitment to take a certain amount of time to simply Be. Spending time each day in meditation we can have it. Through meditation we will learn to experience the field of pure silence and pure awareness. In that field of pure silence is the field of infinite correlation, the field of infinite organizing power, the ultimate ground of creation where everything is inseparably connected with everything else. Practicing this pure silence everyday we will connect with the origin source of the thought we will connect with our own soul with our higher self and that will give us the access of field of pure potentiality.

“General mind discuss people, average mind discuss

Events, great mind discuss ideas and greatest mind acts in

Silence”

We must learn to get in touch with the innermost essence of our being. This true essence is beyond the ego. It is fearless; it is free; it is immune to criticism; it does not fear any challenge. It is beneath no one, superior to no one, and full of magic, mystery, and enchantment.

Where is your paint can

A man landed a job painting the yellow line down the center of the highway, by hand. After three days his foreman complained about the job he was doing. “Your first day out, you did great,” he said. “You painted that line for three miles. Your second day wasn’t bad. You painted two miles. But today you painted only one mile, so it looks like I will have to fire you.”

On his way out of the foreman’s office, the employee looked back and said, “It’s not my fault. Everyday I got further and further from the paint can.”

After reading this story online I laugh a lot and then suddenly another thought came into my mind that how we complicate our lives at work and at home, if we are lacking insight into how we create additional stresses in our lives.  Such a simple solution carry the paint can with you then no need to come back for it but indeed we do this in real life. Here I want to share another story   

A man was driving when he saw the flash of a traffic camera. He figured that his picture had been taken for exceeding the limit, even though he knew that he was not speeding. Just to be sure, he went around the block and passed the same spot, driving even more slowly, but again the camera flashed. Now he began to think that this was quite funny and get so excited he drove even slower as he passed the area again, but the traffic camera again flashed. He tried a fourth time with the same result. He did this a fifth time and was now laughing when the camera flashed as he rolled past, this time at a snail's pace. after Two weeks later, he got five tickets in the mail for driving without a seat belt.

LOL.. and now this is happen when we forget to think in real excitement.

Even famous people do mistake like this in simple things. Sir Isaak Newton famous scientist had two dogs one was little big and another one quite small. Once he wanted to make a house for the dogs. So he brought the carpenter to make a house for the dogs. While he was making it Sir Isaak Newton came and advised the carpenter to built two doors for the  house one is big and another one small. So from the big door the dog which is big will enter and through the small one will be for the smaller one . Then carpenter get surprised and asked him if he made one big door both dog can enter easily. Hearing this Newton start to think why its not came into his mind.

Doing mistake in life is the most common things we all do but the problem is  not to learn from it and doing the same mistake again.