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Arpana posted an update in the group Caravanserai 7 years, 8 months ago
I have heard about a Sufi mystic, Bayazid. He meditated for years, and it is said God was very, very compassionate towards him. He had made such great effort; arduous was his search, intense was his prayer. So God sent an angel, and the angel came and said to Bayazid, ”God is happy, and whatsoever you want He is ready to give to you. You just ask. Your days of seeking and inquiry are finished.”
But Bayazid said, ”But no, that is not the way. I don’t want to get so cheaply because I know well…in life also I was deceived because of this cheap possibility. Now you cannot deceive me. Tell God that I will earn the hard way.”
But the angel said, ”You are foolish! He is ready to burn the innermost light of your being. Just ask!”
But Bayazid said, ”Thank you, and give Him also my thanks, but I am not going to do that because it will be borrowed; even if borrowed from God, it will be borrowed. Let me seek and search.”
The angel said, ”God will feel offended. It has never happened; His offer has to be accepted.”
Then Bayazid looked around — he had a small lamp and the oil was almost finished. He said, ”If He really wants to light something, tell Him to light my lamp because the oil is almost finished and the night is dark, and I have still to meditate. Just this will do. You just tell Him to give me one blessing: that my oil should never finish so I can meditate the whole night.”
That’s all he asked for, and it is said that God was very happy and He said, ”This is the right way.” If he had asked he would have missed; if he had accepted he would have missed — because whatsoever comes to you without your earning it is never yours. You possess only that which you have lived. You possess only that which YOU have known. You possess only that which you have earned.
A young boy had been taking swimming lessons. He rushed home one afternoon and breathlessly announced that he had gone off the diving board by himself.
Osho.
The Beloved, Vol 1
Chapter #8
Chapter title: The body is an abode