This game can be played by one who knows the tricks of the game.
The game of life can be won by those who have understood that passions are unruly cattle,and they should be kept chained up and under the government of self control and prudence; passions, if not contained,become our masters.
Once they become our masters,they will drag us through hill and dale, mountain and valley, river and rivulets. They thus, acting as unbridled horses, will inflict injuries and cause us mischief. This calls for the control of the mind.
According of the Sufi mystics, he alone is a real conqueror who has controlled his passions.
Passions should be distinguished from sentiments.
Sentiments are good but to be sentimental is bad,for to be sentimental means and implies loss of self control.
To have fine sentiments,we must have receptive heart, but a human heart beats so hard that it refuses to be broken easily. It is so to say, a fallow land unfit for cultivation; to make it culture-able and to enable it to grow crops is the task the trained Sufi mystics have assigned to themselves.
The human heart is to be cleansed of thorns, thistles, bushes, grass, weeds and wild flowers. It needs to be cleared so that it may yield a thick crop in the shape of the fruit of regenerate soul, hence it requires good seed,ploughing,drainage,water and fertilizers.
“Absent thee from Felicity awhile”
Watch the cavalcade of humanity proceeding on towards the destined Goal.
I think it is proper and appropriate,for all of us here to remember and to recall,with humility and gratitude,all the Sufi mystics,who, in spite of their being of different climes,countries,colour,caste and professing different religions,came at short notice to the rescue of the world.
The world is an old woman
In spite of the fact that her youth is passed,she still attracts people, who, fall prey to her machinations and deceit.
She has always been dull dictionary of fancied advances, humble utilities, frivolous notions and sceptical norms, abject submissions, adamantine rigidity, affected indifference, aggressive selfishness, aimless confusion, avenging faith, brittle sarcasm, callous indifference, conflicting influences, diverting interests, expeditionary forces, explosive violence, faded splendour, glaring chaos, gloomy consolation, intoxicating industry, invincible ignorance, laboured nothings, overbearing arrogance, passive obedience, selfish existence, unaffected sentiment, vacant stupidity, vile conceit and wild unrest.
In such a world exploitation is inevitable.
The strong exploit the weak; the rich exploit the poor,the educated exploit the uneducated.
In order to be saved from exploitation, people formed groups and associations, and invoked the law.
Those commanding influence and power took as their slogan ” Might is right”, the weak and the helpless waited in patient, deep disdain for the day when right will come to be accepted as might.
In other words, When ” Right is Might” will be the accepted creed of the society.
The so called pleasures of the greater part of Mankind are counterfeit.
There is a microscopic minority which is eager to understand the riddle of life; they try to analyse their enjoyments.
The General condition of mankind is to be pitied;they are satisfied to taste delight,not knowing whence it comes, or by what power it is bestowed.
He who is without hope requires love and faith. Love and faith cannot be separated from hope, they are the three torches which spread the light together; they are interdependent; the one without the others can not exist.
According to the Sufi Mystics, Silence is good.
Silence from words is an ordinary type of silence; such a type of silence may save an individual from the evil of inordinate speaking.
Silence from Desires is better than the former because it gives rest to desires and passions and is conducive to quietness of spirit.
But the silence that is best is the escape from wandering thoughts; this type of silence confers internal peace,which is very necessary for internal recollection.
Thus armour of Sufi mystics is not made of Iron.
Faith turns the Discords of the past into the harmonies of the future.
Discretion is the necessary ingredient of all the virtues without which they degenerate into folly and excess.
The triumph of human intelligence lies in knowing that perfection does not exist anywhere.
A Sufi mystic is the heir to spiritual enlightenment.
He holds together with truth and strives and fights for it; he has no fear and doesn’t expect favour.
He is not grieved; neither is he a coward, nor weary, nor fainthearted. He conquers against odds; to him nothing is difficult.
For something to be difficult means that it will take a little time; to be impossible, for him, means that it will take a little more time.
He is happy if he has struck a good bargain; and, if he has exercised his discretion in an appropriate and befitting manner, he receives light, Forgiveness and mercy,because he has refused to compromise with his inordinate desires.
He is at peace with himself and makes peace with others; he avoids despair.
He asks for no exemption from danger; he abstains from doubts and diffidence; he avoids suspicions and spying; he loves Truth and likes the Truth to be spread. He does not sit on the fence calculating the Weather,but instead moves on with unflagging zeal, and reposes his trust in God.
His conserving of energy is meant for doing good to the people and to raise the standard of living. To him,raising the standard of living is not an economic problem,but a higher standard of living implies sweetness, simplicity, beauty and light. He is there at his post to raise at the opportune moment to save the toiling, tumbling and troubled humanity from falling into the pit of despair,despondency and decay.
He understands his message and he knows his mission; his message is simple ” Live for others”.
A sufi Mystic has voluntarily accepted his Role.
It is to bring light where there is darkness pervading;it is to give hope to the hopeless; to guide the wayfarer; to act as a sign post to the waylaid; to console the afflicted;to comfort the aggrieved, and to give one simple smile, and one word of encouragement to those who look up to him eagerly with longing, lingering looks, inviting his sympathy.
A Sufi Mystic serves, teaches, guides and inspires those who come in contact with him. His uniform behaviour is akin to the rays of the sun falling on the palace of king or on the cottage of the poor, on the crystal clear waters of the fountain and on the ugly heap of dirt thus making no distinction.
Truth is indivisible, inalienable and absolute; it has shone and it shines; it is as white as the snow on the Himalayas.
(This is a series of postings to come on the subject of Sufi Mysticism. The postings will give in depth knowledge in the complete world & ultimate sphere of Sufi spirituality).