THE TALE OF THE THREE QUESTIONS
A certain Sultan owned everything a man could wish for and still he did not
know the purpose of life. The answer to three questions made his life difficult:
1. What should I do?
2. With which people should I do the things God asks me to do?
3. When should I do it?
The Sultan asked the advice of all kinds of wise people, and then he was told
that there was a Chishti dervish, who lived far away, and who might give him a
satisfactory answer. The Sultan immediately left and after a journey of several
weeks he met the dervish. The dervish was cultivating his own land. He was a
simple man, but no simpleton, as he was reciting a Persian quatrain over and
over again :
Kaarist waraai 'elm raw aanraa baash
Dar bande gohar mabaash raw kaan raa baash
Del hast maqaame gaah begozaar o biaa
Jaan manzele aakherast raw jaan raa baash.
There is a work beyond knowledge, realise that, go!
Do not work to get jewels, be the mine, go!
The heart is a temporary abode, leave it and come!
The soul is the final abode, realise that, go!
The Sultan was however not interested in Persian poems and asked his three
questions to the dervish. The dervish did not answer him and continued with his
work. The Sultan became angry and said: "Don't you know who I am. I am the
Sultan of Sultans". But this did not make any impression as well and the
dervish continued doing what he was doing.
A heavily wounded man suddenly appeared and he dropped to the ground in front
of the dervish. The dervish said to the Sultan: "Help me to carry this man to
my place!" "I'll help you," the Sultan said, "but will you answer my questions
afterwards?"
"Later!" the dervish said and together they brought the wounded man to the hut
of the dervish and took care of him.
"And now I'd like to receive the answers to my questions," the Sultan said.
"You can return to your palace," the dervish said, "because you have already
received the answers to your questions. As to what to do, you should do what
comes to you on your path. As to with whom you should do it, the answer is with
those who are present. And as for the when to do it, you should do it the
moment it takes place".
(Mohammed Siraj)
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"Not knowing how close the Truth is to them, beings seek for it afar –what a
pity!
It is like those who being in water, cry out for water, feeling thirst;
It is like the rich man's son, who has lost his way among the poor;
The reason why beings transmigrate through the six worlds
is because they are lost in the darkness of ignorance;
Wandering from darkness to darkness, how can
they ever be free from birth-and-death."
(Hakuin, Zazen Wasan)
"The cloud and the moon, both the same
Valley and mountains, each different
Are they one, or are they two?
Wonderful! Splendid!"
(Mumon, China)
"A cicada sings the whole day long,
but it is the silent firefly
that burns itself with love."
(Asian Folk Song)
"Silently a flower blooms, in silence its fall away;
yet here now, at this moment, at this place,
the whole of the flower, the whole of the world is blooming;
this is the talk of the flower, the truth of the blossom;
the glory of eternal life is fully shining here."
(Zenkei Shibayama, "A Flower Does Not Talk", Kyoto, Japan)
"Pure and fresh are the flowers with dew,
clear and bright is the singing of the birds;
Clouds are calm, waters are blue.
Who has written the True Word of no letters?
Lofty are the mountains, green are the tress,
deep are the valleys, lucid are the streams;
The wind is soft, the moon is serene.
Calmly I read the True Word of no letters."
(Zenkei Shibayama, "Scripture of No Letters")
Source: taken from the writings of Abbot Zenkei Shibayama,"A Flower Does Not
Talk" Copyright @ 1970. Published by the Charles E. Tuttle Company, Inc.
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Dear Moderator and Members,
Thank you all for allowing us to post here. PH Pro Indonesia is an Indonesian
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Since 2003 we have published some books in co-operation with some Indonesian
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Salaam,
PH Pro
Indonesia
---------------------------------
Hello, dear,
I request that you edit your submissions into shorter posts. It would also
be nice if you were able to offer a little introduction, or even a commentary
-- something to personalize the posts.
Thank you very much,
Peter
---------------------------------
PH PRO
Publication & EO
---------------------------------
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