Amrit Sadhana

Hasan, a Sufi fakir, came upon Rabia one day when she was sitting among a group of contemplators and said, “I have the capacity of walking on water. Come, let us go on to that water yonder and sitting upon it carry out a spiritual discussion”.

Rabia said, “If you wish to separate yourself from this august company, why do you not come with me so that we may fly into the air and sit talking there?”
Hasan replied, “I cannot do that, for the power that you mention is not one which I possess”.
Rabia said, “Your power of remaining still on water is one which is possessed by fish. My capacity of flying in the air can be done by a fly. These abilities are no part of real truth. They may become the foundation of self esteem and competitiveness, not spirituality”.
This story is a perfect example of the Sufi way of transmitting knowledge. Sufis speak in parables and poetry. They are not scholarly people, they are people of the heart, therefore the term “Sufism” is wrong. Any kind of “ism” spells dogma, doctrine, philosophy, long logical discussions to prove and disprove certain principles. The Sufis are not interested in saying something, they are interested in showing something to their disciples. What is it that they want to show? It is the experience of truth. And truth cannot be an argument, or a speculation; it is a haqikat, a reality. Reality can only be experienced after all the smoke of thoughts, emotions and mental activities are dropped.
The Sufi way has always existed without the “Sufism” brand name because it is pure mysticism. So all the mystics, like Jesus Christ, Mohammad Paighambar, Krishna and Buddha, were Sufis.
Osho has given an original interpretation of how the word Sufi was derived: “The word ‘Sufi’ is quite recent and it was coined by German scholars. In Arabic it is called Tasawuf. Both the words come from the same root: Suf. Suf means wool. It looks very strange. Why would wool become the symbol of the Sufi way? The scholars go on saying that it is because the Sufis used to wear woolen clothes. But why should they be wearing woolen clothes? There is deep symbolism in it. The symbolism is that the wool is the garb of the animals and a Sufi has to become as innocent as an animal. The Sufi has to attain primal innocence. He has to drop all civilisation, he has to drop all kinds of cultures and conditioning. Then the symbol becomes tremendously significant.
When man becomes an animal he does not fall back, he goes higher, he becomes a saint. He remains conscious but his consciousness is no more burdened by any conditioning. He is in tune with the existence as deeply as an animal”.
Suf can also be derived from the the word sufa which means pure. Purity of the soul is when there is no content in the mind, when the mind has disappeared.
There is another connotation which is also very beautiful. Sufa means chosen as a friend by God. Sufis say that you cannot search for God unless he has chosen you.
The fourth possibility is from the Greek word sufia. Sufia means wisdom. And wisdom is not synonymous with knowledge. Knowledge is gathered from the scriptures and other people. It is borrowed. Wisdom arises in your inner being. It is an inner light radiating through you. One can only be a sufi if one has known reality oneself. He is not knowledgeable, he is wise. It is a subjective encounter with truth.
The Sufi way is a path of love, the way of the heart. The sufianna methods evoke feelings. It takes tremendous strength and courage to sustain the outburst of feelings because they emerge as a cyclone coming from the depths of the unconscious. So the Sufis are strong people both physically and emotionally. They live in the heart and they perceive their beloved, the Divine, through their heart. This is ishque hakiki; love with existence.
Sufi masters cannot be found easily because they make themselves invisible. And how do they make themselves invisible? By being ordinary. A Sufi master may be a shoemaker or a carpenter or a tailor. It is easy to miss him. One should have the eyes of the heart to find the extraordinary in an ordinary person. Next time you visit your tailor, look closely, a Sufi may be hiding inside him.

— Amrit Sadhana is in the management team of Osho International Meditation Resort, Pune. She facilitates meditation workshops around the country and abroad