Wisdom For sale

Wisdom for Sale

A man named Saifulmuluk spent half his life in seeking truth. He read all books on ancient wisdom, he traveled to every known or unknown countries to hear every spiritual leader what had to say. He spent days in working and nights in contemplation of great mysteries.

One day he heard of great poet Ansari. He packed his bag and headed for Heart. At the door he found it is written, ‘Knowledge is sold here’. This must be a mistake or to dissuade idle curiosity seeker, thinking thus he stepped in. Inside Ansari bent over in age was writing poem.

‘Have you come to buy knowledge?’ Ansari asked. Saiful nodded. ‘Give me all the money you have.’ Saiful produced 100 silver coins.

‘With only this much, you can have only three pieces of knowledge!’

‘Do you really mean that, I thought you are humble dedicated man?’

‘We live in the world surrounded by its material facts,’ said the sage, ‘because I know certain things that others do not know, I have to spend money, among other things, to be of service where a kind word or ‘baraka’ is not valued’.

He took the silver, ‘Listen well. First one is: A small cloud signals danger.’

‘But is this knowledge? It does not tell me nature of man, or ultimate truth or for that matter, future place of human beings in the world’, asked Saifulmuluk.

‘If you are going to decide what I might tell you, you may better take your money and go away. What is the big use knowledge about a man’s place in the world, if the man is dead?’

Saifulmuluk was silenced.

“Second one: if you find a bird, a cat, and a dog in one place, get hold of them and look them after, till the end.”

“This may have deep metaphysical meaning,” Saiful thought, “it may get clear if I think upon it long enough.”

“The last: when you have experienced certain things which seem irrelevant, keeping your faith in the earlier advises, then and only then, a door will open for you, ‘Enter that door’”.

Saifulmuluk wanted to stay little longer with this baffling sage, but he was pushed out of the door rather roughly by Ansari.

Saiful kept wandering and went to Kashmir to study under another teacher. When he was traveling through central Asia again, in Bukhara, in a market place, he saw a man leading away a bird a cat and a dog where an auction was taking place. Saiful thought, ’had I not spent so much time in Kashmir then I would have been able to buy these animals, it appears that they are part of my destiny. But then he thought , he is yet to notice ‘Any Small Cloud.’ But succession order need not be Time sequence! Anyway he looked for the man who bought the animals, and if the animals are still in one place. This man’s name was Ashikikhuda. He only bought the animals out of sympathy that they were cooped up in the auctioneer’s room for several weeks waiting for a buyer. He really had no use for them and was very happy selling them to Saifulmuluk.

Saiful settled in Bukhara since it was no more practical to travel with animals. He became a wool spinner in a factory. Three years passed. He became master spinner and became respectable member of the community along with animals. One day he walked out skirt of the town, he saw a strange looking tiny cloud hovering over the horizon, his memory was jogged, the first piece of advice of Ansari came into his mind –“A small cloud signals danger!”

Saiful returned immediately to his house collected his animal and fled to arrive at Isfahan almost penniless. Some days later he heard Bukhara was invaded by an army and all were slaughtered dead. And the words of Ansari came to his mind, ‘what is the use of knowledge for a man if he is dead?’

The people of Isfahan were not enamored by wool spinner or his animals – Saiful lived in extreme poverty. He could take no more. Out of hunger, out of desperation, he started crying, ‘You who have been changed, O holy ones, please come to my aid, I am reduced to a state that through my efforts I can’t live any longer, or provide for my animals.’

He lay there between sleeping and awakening, and had a dream as if it was true. He saw a stream and a tree, and a crevice into which a ring rolled into emitting many colored intermittent lights. In the morning he was sane enough to look for the stream and the tree. He found one similar to his vision, and there was a hole near the tree, putting a stick inside the hole he could get hold of the ring. Washing and polishing it, he realized it had magical power. He made a small hut and started living with his pets and many wild animals. He became old and were known as Saif Baba. Many people passed by and tried to teach him many things but he waited for the end as predicted by Ansari his master. Staying with the animals he learnt there language too. One day he heard the sparrow telling him, ‘You are so closed that that no one can open your door. So many people have tried in the past but failed.’ Saif Baba was surprised that a sparrow talking to him. He asked ‘how do you know? My master told me to wait till the end. And I do not see any door opening either.’

The bird said, ‘you are wrong, all these travelers were sent by the same source Khoja Ansari himself – your source of knowledge, to see if you have acquired enough insight to follow them.’

‘This I don’t believe, if that be so can you tell me, even with advantage I have over animals, how come I do not see what you see?’ Saif Baba asked.

“That is simple, the animals said, you are so accustomed to seeing in one and only one particular way with your success of finding two truths delivered by your master Ansari, that you do not see any other way; your blindness while it is visible to us all the time, is invisible to you!’

‘So I could have found the Door of the third piece of Advice long ago, if I were properly attuned to it?’

“Yes,” said the dog joining the discussion, in fact the door has opened at least a dozen times in the past, but you did not see, and we did. But because we are animal we could not tell you.”

“Then how could you tell me now?”

“Because lately, you have become more human, and now you have only one chance, since you are already very old.”

Saif Baba thought, “They have no right to say this to me, I only provide for them. But if they are wrong does not matter, however if they are right I can hardly take any chance because of my overcoming age.”

He then inquired with good spirit that can be called by the great ring of Solomon that he found in the hole below the tree. The Spirit however answered that he is forbidden to tell any remedy for his blindness but Saif Baba’s disease has a name called “Permanent hidden prejudice” that rules Saif Baba’s thoughts and makes it difficult for him to progress in The Way.

One day a dervish pitched a tent on Saif Baba’s door step. Saif Baba approached him. Dervish said, “I am not interested in hearing your story of Master Ansari, cloud, animals, and even your magic ring. Go away I have no time for them and your useless talks”.

“What can I do, I feel responsible for animals, and confusion about myself, and there is no more guidance in my three pieces of Advice.” Saif Baba said.

“You have talked sincerely, hand over the animals to me, you have made a beginning, and I shall tell you the answer.”

“You ask too much, I do not know you’ how can I trust you?’ Saif Baba asked.

“You have revealed your concern, your proprietorship of your animal, and doubt about me. If you judge me with emotion or logic, you can’t benefit from me. Go away; verily my name is ‘Darwaja’”.

Now Darwaja means door, Saif Baba thought – ‘could he be the Door Master Ansari talked about!’

“Could You be the Door I am seeking, I am not sure?”

“Go away; I am not interested in your speculation. Don’t you see that first two advises were for your mind, and third piece can only be understood, only when you perceive that they were meant for your MIND!”

After two more years of confusion and anxiety, Saif Baba suddenly realized the truth. He called his animals and let them go, “you are on your own now. This is the END.” A door opened in the tree beside the stream, he walked over threshold, and he saw answers are written about life and death, about mortality and humanity, about knowledge and ignorance; they have plagued him all his life.

‘Attachment to externals’, said voice within the cavern, ‘ has held you back all these years, take here only part of the wisdom still open to you.’

…………………………..

This is favorite Sufi theme – ‘Truth is trying to manifest itself’ again and again to humanity. It appears to each human in many guises again and again, they are difficult to penetrate, and at first sight may have no connection with each other. Only development of ‘special perception’ enables a man to be aware of this unseen process.