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Part VII : Discourses: Sufis
In August 1977, Osho's series is Sufis: The People of the Path
Once a learned Mohammedan came to me and asked, "You are
not a Mohammedan, then why do you speak on Sufism?' I told him,
'I am not a Mohammedan, obviously, but I am a Sufi all the same.'
A Sufi need not be a Mohammedan. A Sufi can exist anywhere,
in any form—because Sufism is the essential core of all
religions. It has nothing to do with Islam in particular. Sufism
can exist without Islam; Islam cannot exist without Sufism. Without
Sufism, Islam is a corpse. Only with Sufism does it become alive.
Whenever a religion is alive it is because of Sufism. Sufism
simply means a love affair with God, with the ultimate, a love
affair with the whole. It means that one is ready to dissolve
into the whole, that one is ready to invite the whole to come
into one's heart. It knows no formality. It is not confined by
any dogma, doctrine, creed or church. Christ is a Sufi, so is
Mohammed. Krishna is a Sufi, so is Buddha. This is the first thing
I would like you to remember: that Sufism is the innermost core—as
Zen is, as Hassidism is. These are only different names of the
same ultimate relationship with God.
The relationship is dangerous. It is dangerous because the closer
you come to God, the more and more you evaporate. And when you
have come really close you are no more. It is dangerous because
it is suicidal…but the suicide is beautiful. To die in God
is the only way to live really. Until you die, until you die voluntarily
into love, you live an existence which is simply mediocre; you
vegetate, you don't have any meaning. No poetry arises in your
heart, no dance, no celebration; you simply grope in the darkness.
You live at the minimum, you don't overflow with ecstasy.
That overflow happens only when you are not. You are the hindrance.
Sufism is the art of removing the hindrance between you and you,
between the self and the self, between the part and the whole.
A few things about this word 'Sufi'. An ancient Persian dictionary
has this for the entry 'Sufi'…the definition given goes
in rhyme: Sufi chist—Sufi, Sufist. Who is a Sufi? A Sufi
is a Sufi. This is a beautiful definition. The phenomenon is indefinable.
'A Sufi is a Sufi.' It says nothing and yet it says well. It says
that the Sufi cannot be defined; there is no other word to define
it, there is no other synonym, there is no possibility of defining
it linguistically, there is no other indefinable phenomenon. You
can live it and you can know it, but through the mind, through
the intellect, it is not possible. You can become a Sufi—that
is the only way to know what it is. You can taste the reality
yourself, it is available. You need not go into a dictionary,
you can go into existence.
If you are not ready to have a bite of Sufism you can at least
taste it.
And that's what I am going to make available to you—a little
taste. And once you have tasted even a drop of the nectar called
Sufism you will become more thirsty for more. For the first time
you will start feeling a great appetite for God.
These talks cannot explain to you what Sufism is—because
I am not a philosopher. I am not a theologian either. And I am
not really talking on Sufism, I will be talking Sufism. If you
are ready, if you are ready to go into this adventure, then you
will attain to a taste of it. It is something that will start
happening in your heart. It is something like a bud opening. You
will start feeling a certain sensation in the heart—as if
something is becoming alert, awake there; as if the heart has
been asleep for long and now it is the first glimmer of the morning—and
there you will have the taste.
Sufism is a special kind of magic, a rare kind of magic. It
can be transferred only from person to person, not from a book.
It cannot be transferred by scriptures. It is also just like Zen—a
transmission beyond words. The Sufis have a special word for it—they
call it silsila. What Hindus call parampara they call silsila.
Silsila means a transfer from one heart to another heart, from
one person to another person It is a very, very personal religion.
You cannot have it without being related to an enlightened Master—there
is no other way. You can read all the literature that exists on
Sufism and you will be lost in a jungle of words. Unless you find
a guide, unless you fall in love with a guide, you will not have
the taste.
I am ready to take you on this far-away journey, if you are courageous,
adventurous. sufis101
In this month Osho initiates new sannyasins with the 99 Sufi
names for god.
Sufis have beautiful names for God; in all they have ninety-nine
names for God. One wonders why not one hundred? It looks so incomplete.
For a certain, subtle reason, the hundredth name has been kept
silent. That is the true name of God which cannot be uttered.
The tao that can be uttered is not the true tao and the God that
can be spoken of is not the true God, because the word 'God' falsifies
the reality of God. So the hundredth name is the true name—what
Hindus call 'satnam', the true name—but it can't be uttered.
It will lose its beauty if it is uttered. It remains unuttered,
at the deepest core of the heart. But ninety-nine names can be
uttered just as a help to reach the hundredth. The hundredth name
is almost a nothingness—what buddhas have called 'nirvana',
nothingness.
So I call these the ninety-nine names of nothingness….
names01
You say: When I was in Konya for the dervish whirling ceremony
last December, I met a Sufi Master—Sulyman Dede. He asked
me to carry his greetings to you and then asked me how I could
know that you were a true Master. I thought there could be no
satisfactory reply. Osho, what would you have said?
In the first place, Raga, Dede would not have asked the question
of me. He would have immediately recognized. He has already recognized—that's
why he sends the greetings. He is a man of understanding, of great
love and compassion.
But he asked you, not because he has any suspicions or doubts
about me—he asked you just to see your response. He asked
your not for an answer but for a response—and you missed.
It is true there is no way to reply to it satisfactorily, but
he was not asking for any reply from your side—he wanted
a response.
You could have danced, and he would have understood. You could
have hugged him, and he would have understood. A mad laughter
would have been the answer.
It is not a question of intellectual curiosity. He is not an
intellectual man at all—he is a real Sufi. He would have
understood it. Sufis know how to understand the ways of lovers.
You could have just looked into his eyes with great love. He was
not asking anything about me: he was asking something about you.
These are the ways of the Masters.
He apparently asked how you could know a true Master. In fact,
he was asking, "Are you a true disciple?" You could
have shown your disciplehood. You could have touched his feet.
You could have cried in joy—or anything! Not ready-made,
not manipulated by the mind, but spontaneous, on the spur of the
moment…and he would have been immensely satisfied with you.
Next time when you go to him, don't miss. If he asks again,
this time do something. And remember, I am saying do something.
A Sufi Master does not ask for an intellectually satisfying answer:
he asks for something existential, an indication.
He was saying to you, "If you have found a true Master,
what happened to you? Show me! Give me a hint! Has love arisen
in you? Have you become capable of abandoning yourself in a dance?
Have you become capable of seeing the beauty of existence? Has
humbleness arisen in you? Have you become prayerful?…"
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