By Bawa Muhaiyaddeen
There are many types of insanity in the world. We will talk about five common ones:
* The insanity originating in the brain,
* The insanity for women,
* The insanity for money,
* The insanity for intoxication
* The insanity for wisdom.
At a crossroads near a park, there was a shady tree. Five people with these five forms of insanity were sitting beneath the tree. They were talking to themselves. To the passerby, the five crazy people looked alike, but there were different reasons for their craziness.
The man who was mentally insane picked up all the scraps of paper and dead leaves on the ground and turned them around in his hands, jabbering to himself, "You went this way, you went that way."
The one who was obsessed by women picked up all the scraps of paper thinking they were love letters. He muttered, "She wrote this, she wrote that. She said, I will come to you!"
The one obsessed by money picked up all the scraps of paper, looked at them, turned them this way and that, and mumbled to himself, "This bank, that bank. This amount, that amount. My bank."
The one who was insane from drink stood up and staggered onto the road, bumping into people and things. Finally, he fell unconscious by the roadside, and robbers took his clothes. When he came back to consciousness he was ashamed, so he went home, fought with his wife, and blamed his family for his own faults.
But the one who was obsessed by wisdom took up a dead leaf and smiled wistfully. "What beauty you had when you emerged as a tender shoot. At first you were a lovely green color which soothed others. Then you became yellow, and now you are the color of earth. You are a dried leaf and you will go into the earth as fertilizer. Everyone and everything will suffer the same fate. Everyone and everything becomes food for the earth." He laughed and cried, but not on the inside.
The man obsessed with wisdom laughed at his own explanation. He said, "What a life this is! O God, I search for You and become crazy. You are the only doctor who can cure my craziness. If You do not come, I will die like the leaf. You are the One who creates, protects, and sustains me. You are the One who understands and knows me. Give me Your medicine of grace, wisdom, and love and fulfill my needs. I am Your slave in this world." His heart opened, and he surrendered to God.
The other four did not realize this. They were speaking of what was within them. But to the world, all five people looked crazy.
Son, understand these states. Do not follow the ways of the world. If you see one who truly understands himself, loses himself in the obsession for wisdom, and dies in God, you should respect him and learn good words and wisdom from him. That will make you exalted.
Muhaiyaddeen, M.R. Bawa. The Golden Words of a Sufi Sheikh. Philadelphia: Fellowship Press, 2006. 257-258.
Bawa Muhaiyaddeen selflessly shared his knowledge with people of every race, religion—from all parts of the world. Want more powerful words of wisdom that stir the mind and heart? Visit http://www.thegoldenwords.com and find what your soul has been craving.
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