Mulla Nasruddin; sufi story

There is a story about a Sufi mystic, Mulla Nasruddin. From the very beginning it was thought that he was upside down. His parents were in trouble. If they would say, “Go to the right,” he would go to the left. Finally his old father thought that rather than bothering with him, it is better, if they want him to go to the left, to order him to go to the right — and he is bound to go to the left.

One day they were crossing the river. On their donkey they had a big bag of sugar, and the bag was leaning more towards right so there was a danger that it may slip into the river; it had to remain balanced on the donkey. But to tell to Nasruddin, “Move the bag towards the left,” will mean losing the sugar — he will move it towards the right. So he said to Nasruddin, “My son, your bag is slipping; move it towards the right.”

And Nasruddin moved it towards the right. The father said, “This is strange, for the first time you have been obedient!” Nasruddin said, “For the first time you have been cunning. I knew you wanted this to be moved towards the left; I could see with my eyes where it needs to be moved. Even in such a subtle way you cannot make me obedient.”

Osho Mulla Nasruddin Stories – 2

Osho – There is a Sufi story that Mulla Nasruddin wanted to learn swimming. But as he went close to the river with the teacher who was going to teach him, he slipped and fell into the river — and it was a deep river. He was saved by the teacher, but he went a few times under the water; and as he was taken out, he took his shoes and ran away.

The teacher said, “Where are you going? You have come to learn swimming.”
He said, “Now, first I will learn swimming and then I will come near the water; otherwise I am not going to come near the water — it is too dangerous. First I will learn swimming.” But where is he going to learn swimming? You cannot learn swimming in your bedroom.

There is no other way… but unfortunately he entered the river from the wrong end. The teacher would have taken him to where the water was shallow, and slowly would have encouraged him to go towards deeper waters. As he would have become more proficient, the teacher would have encouraged him to go farther and farther.
Just a little trust is enough.
Osho Mulla Nasruddin Stories3

Osho – A Sufi story… Mulla Nasruddin is appointed as the prime minister of a king because he was known to be very wise; somewhat weird was his wisdom, but still, wisdom is wisdom. The first day when they went to have their dinner together, a certain vegetable called bindhi was made by the cook, stuffed with Eastern spices. It is a delicacy.

The king appreciated the cook, and after that Mulla said, in appreciation of the bindhi, “This is the most precious vegetable in the world. It gives you long life, it keeps you healthy, it gives you resistance against diseases,” and so on and so forth.

The king said, “I never knew that you know so much about vegetables.”
The cook heard about it, so he thought if bindhi is such a thing that our king can live long and healthy and young… Next day again bindhi was made, and again Mulla praised it, going even higher than the first day. The third day bindhi was made and Mulla went still higher. The fourth day bindhi was made and Mulla was going higher and higher. The fifth day Mulla even said that bindhi is a divine food — God eats only bindhi.

But the king was bored. He threw the plate of bindhi and told Mulla Nasruddin, “You are an idiot. Bindhi… and God eats bindhi every day? You will drive me mad!”

Mulla said, “Lord, you are getting unnecessarily hot. I am your servant; you said bindhi was good, I simply followed you, and when I do something I do it perfectly. I am not a servant to bindhi, I am your servant. The truth is that bindhi is the worst thing in the world — even devils don’t eat it. You did well that you threw it.”

He threw his plate farther away than the king. He said, “You should always remember that I am your servant, and you are always right. And I am a consistent man; I will remain consistently your servant, whatever happens.”

Osho Mulla Nasruddin Stories4

Osho – The Sufi story is…. Mulla Nasruddin is chosen an honorary magistrate. The first case appears. He hears one side and declares to the court, “Within five minutes I will be back with the judgment.”

The court clerk could not believe it — he has not heard the other side! The clerk whispered in his ear, “What are you doing? Don’t you see a simple thing? You have heard only one party, one side. The other side is waiting, and without hearing them you cannot give any judgment.”

Mulla Nasruddin said, “Don’t try to confuse me. Just now I am absolutely clear. If I hear the other side too, then there is bound to be confusion.”

Another Sufi story: The philosophers, logicians and doctors of law were drawn up at court to examine Mulla Nasrudin. This was a serious case, because he had admitted going from village to village saying: ”The so-called wise men are ignorant, irresolute and confused.” He was charged with undermining the security of the state.

”You may speak first,” said the King.
”Have paper and pens brought,” said the Mulla.

Paper and pens were brought.

”Give some to each of the first seven savants.”

They were distributed.

”Have them write separately an answer to this question:
’What is bread?’”

This was done. The papers were handed to the King, who read them out:

The first said: ”Bread is a food.”
The second: ”It is flour and water.”
The third: ”A gift of God.”
The fourth: ”Baked dough.”
The fifth: ”Changeable, according to how you mean ’bread’.”
The sixth: ”A nutritious substance.”
The seventh: ”Nobody really knows.”

”When they decide what bread is,” said Nasruddin, ”It will be possible for them to decide other things.

For example, whether I am right or wrong. Can you entrust matters of assessment and judgement to people like this? Is it or is it not strange that they cannot agree about something which they eat each day, and yet are unanimous that I am a heretic?”

Yes, that is the situation of your so-called philosophers, theologians, doctors of law: the learned people. They are parrots. They have not even known themselves yet – what else can they know? They are not even acquainted with themselves – how can they be acquainted with others? They have not unravelled the mystery that they are.
These Sufi stories are not just ordinary stories, they are extraordinary. It is saying that every judge is listening only to one side because he already has a prejudiced mind; he is not capable of listening to both sides. For that a totally different kind of man is needed — which no educationalist concerning law and jurisprudence has even thought about