Sufism, Vol. 2 Sufis: The People Of The Path Chapter 14: A Singular Mess, Question 5

The fifth question:

Question 5

IS THERE ANY NECESSITY FOR EVERYBODY TO HAVE A RELIGION OF ONE KIND OR OTHER?

Yes, everybody ought to have a religion of one kind or another. You owe it to yourself to know what church you are staying away from. Otherwise you will feel very miserable. You will miss.

I have heard....

Nurse: 'What church do you belong to?'

Patient: 'None.'

Nurse: 'Well, what church do you go to when you go?'

Patient: 'If you must know, the church which I stay away from the most of the time when I don't go, is the Baptist.'

Or....

Simpkin had been shipwrecked for twenty years on a desert island when finally he was rescued by a passing ship.

'What did you do to keep busy all those years?' asked the captain of the rescue vessel.

'I went into the building business,' replied Simpkin, whereupon he took the captain to a corner of the island and showed him a beautiful synagogue.

'That's incredible!' said the sailing master.

'That's nothing,' said Simpkin. This time he led him to the opposite side of the island and displayed another magnificently constructed house of worship.

'I don't understand,' said the captain. 'You are the only person on the island. Why did you need two synagogues?'

'This one I belong to,' explained Simpkin, 'but the other one I would not set foot inside if they paid me!'

These are your ways to define yourself. These are the ways of the ego to define itself. You are a Hindu or a Mohammedan or a Buddhist. You are Indian, German or Italian. You are a Catholic or a Protestant. These are ways to define yourself, who you are.

In fact, a religious person need not have any religion. A religious person is religionless. A religious person has a quality of religiousness, certainly, but that quality is very indefinable. It is more like a poetry around him, more like a radiance. Yes, in his actions you will see a grace, in his life you will see gratitude, in his behaviour you will see compassion. But he is not Hindu or Mohammedan or Christian. These are very mediocre ways to become religious. These are not the real ways to become religious.

Religion is basically an art: how to live and how to die; how to live and enjoy, and how to die and enjoy; how to live gracefully and how to die gracefully; how to make your whole life -- death included -- a celebration.

Religion has nothing to do with the Bible, the Gita, the Koran; religion has something to do with an alchemical transformation of your being. So whenever you find a really religious person you will not find him as a Hindu, Mohammedan, Christian, Jew -- you will simply find him with an un-known quality present in him, which defines him. But this definition is not of the ego; this definition is just of his life style.

Yes, around Jesus you will find a quality of religiousness, so will you find it around Buddha or around Mohammed or around Nanak. You will find a quality of religiousness, but you will have to watch. You will have to have a certain vision to see it.

It happened in Nanak's life that he came to visit a town in which there were many saints -- Mohammedans, Jainas, Buddhists, Hindus. The town was full of the saints. And, of course, when there are too many saints there is much conflict, controversy. And a new prophet was coming.

So the old saints thought, 'This is too much. We are already overcrowded here.' So they called a conference and they sent a message to Nanak -- he was staying just outside the town. The message was: 'It is too crowded here. We are already too many here. Already business is not good because there are only a few clients and many saints. Please go somewhere else.'

And they knew that Nanak's name had reached the town; his fame had reached the town. If he came, even those few clients that they could divide among themselves would be gone. So they did a beautiful thing. They thought about how to send the message so that Nanak did not feel offended. They were worried that he would feel offended -- because it was offensive. Who were they to prevent Nanak from coming? But they were cunning people. They searched in the scriptures and they found a way.

They sent a cup full of oil -- not even a single drop more could be added. It was almost overflowing, on the verge. They sent the cup as a symbol that this town was so full of saints and religions that not a single drop more could be accepted. There was no more space.

Nanak was sitting near a well under a tree with his disciple, and the disciple was singing a song, playing on his instrument. The people came with the cup. Nanak looked at them, understood the message, took a flower from the side of the well, a wildflower, and floated the flower on the oil in the cup. The flower was so small it simply floated. It didn't take any space. No oil came out of the cup. And Nanak said to them, 'Go back and give this cup to the people who have sent you to me.'

The disciple was puzzled. He said, 'I don't understand what is transpiring between you and these people. This cup was very mysterious. What exactly did they mean?' Nanak said, 'They mean that there are too many saints here and there is no space. But,' Nanak said; 'a religious man needs no space. That's my answer. I will not be fighting with anybody. I will not be in any competition with anybody. A religious man needs no space. A religious man is not a businessman. They need not be afraid of me. I will be here just like this flower floating on top of the full cup. And I will be here just like the flower -- one day I will be here, tomorrow I will be gone. They need not be worried about me.'

Now this is religiousness -- non-competitiveness, no conflict with anybody, no aggression. And one knows that one is here just for a few moments. It is a caravanserai -- an overnight stay. By the morning we are gone, just like flowers.

A religious person has nothing to do with organised religion, but he has something to do with the inner poetry, the poetry of life. He has something to do with the inner dance; he has a dancing energy. He is in deep romance with life, he is in romantic love with life. He is immensely grateful for each moment of joy that God goes on giving. And we are not even worthy. We don't deserve it. We have not earned it. It is a gift.

You ask: IS THERE ANY NECESSITY FOR EVERYBODY TO HAVE A RELIGION OF ONE KIND OR ANOTHER?

The second thing: there are not two kinds of religion. Religiousness is one -- although formulations may differ. It is just like you make your house in one way, another makes his in another way and the third one has chosen a third architect to design his house. But the inner thing is one -- that you need a shelter, you need a roof. Somebody cooks in an Indian style, somebody in a Chinese style and somebody in some other style, but the real thing is hunger -- that you need food, that you need nourishment.

So these so-called religions are nothing but different styles of nourishment. You can choose. But that is not important. The important thing is to have refuge in God, surrender -- what Sufis call ISLAM; and commitment -- what Sufis call IMAN; and a transformation of life through trust -- what Sufis call IHSAM.

Sufism

VOL. 2, SUFIS: THE PEOPLE OF THE PATH

Chapter-14

A Singular Mess