Osho Stories on Rumi, Mystic Rumi Sufi Stories
There is a story in the life of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi. He was working with his disciples in the desert, in a small monastery. A few travelers passing by, just out of curiosity stopped and went in. They saw that in the courtyard the students were sitting, the disciples were sitting, and Mevlana — Mevlana means the beloved master — Mevlana Rumi was answering them.
They got fed up, because strange questions and strange answers… they went on their way. After years of traveling, they came back, and stopped again to see what was happening. Only Mevlana Rumi was sitting there, and there were no disciples. They were really shocked — what had happened? They went to Mevlana and they said, “What happened?”
Mevlana laughed. He said, “This is my whole work. I crushed all their questions, and now they have no questions so I have told them, `Go and do the same to others: crush their questions. And if you find somebody you cannot manage, send him here!'”
When all questions are removed, you are again a child, utterly innocent. Then your mind is bound to be silent, and there is no possibility of it getting disturbed. And a great serenity…
This is the answer. There are no words in it, and it is not relevant to any question in particular; it is only a state of silence.
Osho Stories on Rumi, Mystic Rumi Sufi Stories
There is a great Sufi book — I would like to call it the greatest book in the world because nothing is written in it; it is absolutely empty. It is almost twelve hundred years old, and the first man who purchased it was Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi.
His disciples were very intrigued, very curious, because he never read that book in front of anybody. When all are gone he would close the door and pull out the book, which he used to keep under his pillow, and then he would read it. Naturally it was creating much curiosity, “What kind of mysterious book is it?” People tried in every possible way. Sometimes a few disciples were found on the roof, removing tiles and looking underneath to see what Jalaluddin Rumi is reading, but they could not figure it out.
The day Jalaluddin Rumi died, they were more concerned with the book than Jalaluddin Rumi… and they loved the man. They loved him as Sufis have never loved any other master. Mevlana means beloved master. That word is used only for Jalaluddin Rumi and for nobody else. In twelve hundred years in the world of the Sufis there has never been a more charming, more beautiful, more loving, more human being than Jalaluddin Rumi.
But even the disciples forgot that their master had died. They rushed and pulled out the book from underneath the pillow and they looked, and they were amazed — the book was absolutely empty! There was nothing to read. But those who were very close and intimate devotees, they understood the meaning.
Words have to be dropped.
Only then can you have silence.
Osho Stories on Rumi, Mystic Rumi Sufi Stories
Have you heard the famous anecdote about Jalaluddin Rumi, a Sufi mystic? A woman came with a child, and the woman said, “Maulana, Master, I have tried every way and this child won’t listen. He eats too much sugar. And I know now only one way is possible: if you say something to him, he will listen, because he respects you. He does not understand what you are and who you are, but he respects you. And when I told him, ‘Come with me to Maulana,’ he said, ‘Okay, if he says, I will stop.'”
Maulana looked at the child, at his trust. He said, “Wait, come after three weeks.” The woman was puzzled. Such a simple thing. And Maulana is known all over the world. People come from faraway countries to ask him great problems, and he solves them immediately — and such a silly thing. He could have said, “Yes, don’t eat,” and the thing would have been closed. Three weeks? After three weeks the mother came with the child, and Maulana said, “Wait three weeks more.”
The mother said, “What is the matter?” He said, “Wait, come after three weeks.”
When they came back, he said to the child, “Okay, listen. Stop eating sugar.” The child said, “Okay, I will stop.”
The mother said, “Now one question arises in my heart — and I will not be at rest. Why did you take six weeks for this?”
Maulana said, “I like sugar myself. So how can I advise this child? That would have been untrue. So for three weeks I tried — and I failed! Then for three weeks I tried again, and now I have succeeded. Now I can say, ‘Please, you can also stop. Look, I am an old man — even I can stop. You are a child, a young child; you can do anything.'”
“Now I can say….” This is the way of the mystics; this has always been their way. They believe in experience. Whatsoever Kabir says is based, rooted, in his experience.
Osho Stories on Rumi, Mystic Rumi Sufi Stories
There is a beautiful story about the Sufi mystic, Master Jalaluddin Rumi. He was standing on the bank of a river one day. Suddenly he spotted a fur coat floating downstream in the middle of the current. He hollered over to a scholar who was standing there on the bank too. “Hey man, there is a fur coat in the middle of the river. See it? Grab it man!” The scholar jumped in the river out of his greed, and swam out. Rumi was a little nearsighted; all he could see was a lot of commotion and flubbing around out there. “For Christ’s sake, what are you doing out there! Bring it on in!”
There is a beautiful story about the Sufi mystic, Master Jalaluddin Rumi. He was standing on the bank of a river one day. Suddenly he spotted a fur coat floating downstream in the middle of the current. He hollered over to a scholar who was standing there on the bank too. “Hey man, there is a fur coat in the middle of the river. See it? Grab it man!” The scholar jumped in the river out of his greed, and swam out. Rumi was a little nearsighted; all he could see was a lot of commotion and flubbing around out there. “For Christ’s sake, what are you doing out there! Bring it on in!”
Finally the scholar heard his hulabaloo, and shouted back between gasps: “You cockeyed fool! This ain’t a fur coat out here; it’s a bear. And the more I struggle with him, the deeper his claws go. And he won’t let go!” “Friend,” said Jalaluddin Rumi, “that bear is reason.” If you ask the question ‘why’, you are caught… you are caught by the bear of reason. And the more you ask questions, the more you will get entangled — and the claws will go deeper into your body, into your being. Don’t ask any question. If you want to be aware, just be aware.