To Know it all....

Dearest Darling Friends,

The famous sufi saint, Bulleh Shah, was sent to school. The teacher taught him Alif, the first letter of Arabic alphabet. The other boys in his class finished the whole alphabet set while he was mastering the same letter.

When weeks had passed, and the teacher saw that the child has only learnt the first letter Alif, he sent him home saying, ‘This boy is deficient, I cannot teach him’.

His parents were disappointed. Bulleh Shah escaped from home so that he should not be a burden to his family. He lived in the forest and 'felt' the manifestation of Alif (one) which has taken form in the forest as the grass, the leaf, the tree, branch, fruit, and flower. He 'felt' the same Alif was manifested as the mountain and hill, the stones and rocks. He witnessed the same Alif in himself and others.

He thought of ONE, saw ONE, felt ONE, realized ONE, and nothing else.

He returned one day to pay respects to his old teacher who had expelled him from school. He bowed most humbly before the teacher and said, ‘I have prepared the lesson you so kindly taught me; will you teach me anything more that is there to learn?’

The teacher laughed at him. Bulleh Shah asked permission to write the lesson he has learnt. The teacher replied in jest, ‘Write on this wall.’ Bulleh Shah then made the sign of Alif on the wall. It miraculously divided itself into two parts.

The teacher was astounded at this wonderful miracle and said, ‘You are my teacher! What you have learned in the one letter Alif, I have not been able to master with all my learning.'

What Bulleh Shah realised was that, every form seems to be derived from Alif, which is originally derived from a dot and represents zero, nothingness. It is that nothingness which creates the first form Alif. It is natural for everyone when writing, to make a dot as soon as the pen touches the paper. The letters forming the words HIDE the origin. Similarly, the origin of 'The One Being' is hidden in His manifestation.

That is why Allah, whose name starts with Alif, is hidden under His own manifestation. The same form of Alif is the figure one in English.

The meaning of 'Alif Allah' and the meaning of 'Aham Brahamasmi' is the same. Whatever is, 'IS'. That is called 'Allah' in Arabic and 'Aum' in Sanskrit. That is what Sai Baba too said, 'Sabka Malik Ek' (All belong to one).

Here is a rough translation of the first few lines from a poetry by Bulleh Shah that has illuminated my heart. I am sure it will do something similar to you too.

Aik Alif

We read so many books to become smart,
Yet, we fail to read our own heart.

We RUSH to holy shrines to worship and to play a false part,
Yet we never dare to clean the true shrine - that is our own heart.

We are quick to attack any evil done.
Yet a battle with our ego...we have never fought, nor won.

We want to grab a star (in the horoscope) we wish to control,
Yet we fail to grasp the light in our soul.

Let the race end, my friend.
Stop searching for 'god'. Start searching for ‘yourself'.

Did this LSM connect with you? If it did, we would love to hear from you,

With love, prayers and exceptional wishes,

naren

Imagine, when we wake up, we are given only what we had thanked for.

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