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Monday, December 17, 2012

And He Walked On Water..

Alif and Abu were wandering in the deserts of Persia. Ever since their Wali took off from his worldly sojourn. They desired being out in the open with the existence to feel the presence of their divine Wali in the desert air and shifting dunes. It gave their inner being immense peace and oneness to feel the resonance of the distant winds rotating over the untouched pristine landscape.


Alif was a recent disciple compared to Abu who had been serving their master all his life. He was an orphaned boy who was found in a city dump of Basra by Wali. He felt pity for the helpless infant and decided to give him the biggest joy a human being can experience, the joy of oneness with the Creator.

Abu learned about devotion, surrender and non-doing as pathways to God. When he was reaching his youth he came across Alif, an eight year old orphan and a petty thief. He snatched food and money from regular buyers in the bazaar. They knew its the little boy who lives under the debris of an abandoned house. They would forgive him and pray to God to have mercy on the lonely child. One day he snatched bread from Abu's hands and swiftly disappeared in a crowded narrow lane.

Abu was disappointed that his Wali would go without food today. He reached home with a heavy heart to find his Pir smiling knowingly at him. Before he could explain himself, Pir stopped him with a wave of his hand and explained in a soft kind voice. "Abu my son, you should be happy today you met your brother. He will come and meet you  shortly make sure you teach him everything I taught you, in time".Minutes later there was a knock on the door Pir opened it to find Alif standing there he was holding the broken end of kite string that has landed into the Pir's veranda.


Pir smiled mischievously and said "Abu, your brother Alif  is here to see you.".
From that day onwards Pir's humble abode became a home for two orphan boys. They lived in simplicity and with gratitude for God. Till they grew up and became renowned wandering darvesh's in the region. When Pir was taking his last breaths he told the two darvesh to carry the message of God to the far ends of the desert.


The two set out to fulfill the last wish of their master. The winter was harsh that year but they moved on through cold rocky mountain passes singing of his glory. The chirping birds gave the news of coming spring, they welcomed the summer with same joy. Seasons, food, clothes,external circumstances, everything becomes insignificant when you are drunk with the wine of supreme bliss.
They walked bare foot with minimal clothing, ate almost nothing and slept on worn out blankets, their only possession.


One summer noon, the heat was testing the strength of all forms of life in the desert, The two darvesh
walked on. Unmindful of the scorching wind and blowing sand. Singing the praises for God. Alif after a while, could not sustain his blissful state. He noticed how so very hot it was. The skin of his feet felt scaly and calloused. The cracks on his skin were burning and hurting with unspeakable severity. He started to limp and lag behind Abu who was walking ahead singing, unaware of any heat or the feel of burning coal like earth under their feet. Alif finally gave up and asked Abu to stop.

Abu came out of his high state, and found his brother darvesh in extreme state of pain. Surprised he gave a questioning look.
Alif finally asked, "How do you do this my brother? How do you not feel this unbearable heat, how do u appear as if you are walking on dewy soft grass, when my feet feel singed by this burning earth, How?"
Abu smiled, he said "I choose the love of Almighty over my external circumstances, when I feel the burning sand I think of his love and it feels as if a cool mountain stream is running under my feet filling my senses with the healing cool waters, I feel no pain. It may seem that I am walking in this scorching hot desert but to my being it feels as if I am walking in the middle of a cool mountain stream, that is touching and soothing my feet and ankles, taking away all my pain and tiredness, that is how I experience this desert, I do it in his love. It keeps all of us safe, no matter where we are, what we are doing. Sick or healthy, hungry or full, injured or depressed, fulfilled or empty, no external state can even touch or affect us the same way ever. His love carries you through the toughest storms, scorching deserts, thorny forests...absolutely unaffected and unharmed, just like a rose that blooms amid thorns it still remains fragrant, it still remains a rose." 
When you ask me why do I not feel this heat, its because my being is busy feeling the ecstasy of his presence. I feel nothing unpleasant anymore.I am always protected, I am always in bliss".

Alif bowed his head down in embarrassment; he lamented himself for forgetting this truth so easily,  he  saw droplets of clean cool water on Abu's feet, they still looked soaked in the water of that mystic mountain stream.



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