Unity at Depth - Differences and Fight at the Surface - Part II

Of Yogis, Mystics and Sufis

- Kum. Hella Naura

Yogis, Mystics, Sufis

The fact of many similarities if one looks deeper in spite of easily noticeable differences at the surface struck me very recently. It was when I read about a Muslim saint of about a thousand years ago. Early orphaned and penniless, he roamed around until a wise old man took him to his place to take care of him and teach him in the process. Years went by. Then the young one, nearing his twenties, had a dream one night. In it, he was told to go to a certain town as that was the place where there would be a gate to paradise. Right the next morning, the young man left, barefoot, for some 500 kilometers to reach that town and eventually settled there for life. Talking about local affairs one day, a man said, “He wants to reach a gate to paradise.” The other one, it was the wise old man who was of a very high grade of consciousness, laughed. “He does not know yet that he himself will become that gate. Through him, others will come near paradise or even enter it.”

On and on, many inhabitants of that town approached the earlier newcomer for religious advice, for solace, or for just enjoying his presence. But he fell gravely ill one day, and therefore sought help from a Jewish doctor of great reputation. That doctor knew how to heal him, and also told him as follows, “You have studied the science of your religion. But you have not studied the science of your body.” The developing saint took this to heart at once, and being a fast learner, he became a very good doctor, too. So he could do good not only to his needy fellowmen’s soul but also heal many of their bodily ills.