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Sufi Parables/Parable about Variants of Teachings on One Truth

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Parable about Variants
of Teachings on One Truth

One day the disciples asked the Master casting no shadows:

“Why are there so many differences in the Teachings about God and the Path to Him? Why even among Sufi teachers are there so many variants of what they teach, not to mention various religious faiths of different people? They argue and quarrel with each other about how to worship God! Why does this happen?”

“Well, I’ll tell you about this later, not right now. My close friend invited us to visit his home. So prepare yourselves for the road!”

… The next morning the Master and His disciples went on their way. A beautiful valley spread out before them. The majestic mountains were seen far away cloaked in the blue haze. The sun, rising over the tops of mountains, gently lighted all around. The road on which the Master and His disciples walked was illuminated by the sunlight. It was so beautiful that it seemed that this light united the surface of the planet with the shining disk of the sun!

The Master suggested that His disciples admire this beauty and imprint its majesty:

“Here it is the road to the source of light!”

By evening, they reached the house of the Master’s friend. A lovely supper and wise conversations awaited them.

After the meal, they all went to a garden.

Blossoming fragrant trees, flowerbeds, and small babbling fountains created a blissful atmosphere of beauty and harmony. The rays of the setting sun painted the garden with golden glow. The path, which was faced with flat stones arranged with elaborate patterns, was lit up so beautifully that it seemed it was possible to enter the golden shine of the sunset directly…

The Master said:

“Remember this picture too! This is another road that also leads to the source of light!”

They stayed in the house of the Master’s friend for some days and then started making their way home.

When they were close to the house of the Master, He again suggested that they admire the beautiful scenery spread out before them. The sun illuminated the path gently and endearingly, as if welcoming them back home. The happiness of seeing this beauty overfilled them all again!

The Master asked:

“Do you still remember that you asked Me why there are different beliefs about the Path of the cognition of One God? Should I speak more about this now or, perhaps, some of you can explain this?”

The disciple of the Master called Sufy replied:

“Can I try to say what I have understood?”

The Master smiled tenderly:

“Well, try to convey what you have comprehended to others!”

Sufy began to speak:

“When one of the spiritual seekers comes to the end of the Path towards the Light, to the direct cognition of Allah — he or she becomes fascinated with the Beauty of the Beloved and wants to tell everyone about how it is possible to cognize His Blissful Love! So this seeker describes his or her own Path and everything that helped him or her on it.

“Another seeker also cognizes the Wonderful and Great Light of Love of Allah and describes for people everything that has helped him or her, every detail of the Path that seems important to this person!

“This is similar to the beautiful views of the sunrise or sunset that we contemplated. So one could see the sunrise in the east, another the sunset in the west… In one case, the path led to the mountain peaks; in another, it passes through the quiet contemplation in the midst of a blooming garden…

“Many call the spiritual Path the road to their true Home, the Way Home! And there is no greater joy than to merge with the Greatest Beloved in His Abode, where the soul obtains the Highest Happiness of Mergence and the complete understanding of the Truth, Which is Allah!

“All successful seekers of the Truth cognize the same Universal Creator, in the same way we have seen the beauty and splendor of the same sun but with little differences.

“If the followers of Those Who have cognized the Creator also saw and understood the essence themselves, then they would see the shining Splendor of the Divine Love and Wisdom. In this case, there would be no disagreement among them.

“But in reality people begin to argue about the direction in which a body should be turned while worshiping or about the stones with which the steps of the staircase are faced… In such cases, discordances multiply infinitely.”

“Well done, Sufy! You can explain complicated things with simple examples!”

“But You are the One Who showed this to us!”

“Allah has showed this during thousands of years. In spite of this, bloody discords that happen due to the differences in faith and that are stirred up by people living in the states of hatred and aggression continue taking place up to this day.

“We should learn to see and distinguish the true and the false in the teachings about the cognition of the Divine!

“While doing this, we should remember that the Truth always shines with the Light of Love!

“That variant of the spiritual advancement is true in which the basis is the ethical purity and the development of oneself as a spiritual heart. This is the Path of Love, the Path of the Spiritual Heart! This is the Straight Path!

“Yes, such a Path may have variations, and it makes sense to know and use them intelligently. Each next generation of the spiritual seekers will be able to benefit from the experience of their predecessors and make their own contribution to the treasury of knowledge about the purification of the souls and about the Path that allows one to come closer to the Divinity. All this helps to accelerate the progress of the true spiritual seekers on the Path of Evolution of the Universal Consciousness!”