Download or read book The Little Book of Sufi Stories written by Neil Douglas-Klotz and published by Hampton Roads Publishing. This book was released on 2018-06-01 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Entertaining. . . . practical, ghostly, and often very funny tales . . . including those by saints like Rumi as well as lay storytellers from Turkey and Persia.” —Publishers Weekly The stories in this book are drawn from the dozens of Sufi tales that Douglas-Klotz has enjoyed telling in his seminars over the past 20 years. Most of them appear in works of the classical Sufis, such as Rumi, Attar, or S’adi. To preserve some of the in-person feeling and bring the language up to date, he has given them his own improvised turns. “If you want to hear a good story but prefer to read it instead, then read Douglas-Klotz! He writes as if he’s sitting in your living room, invited over for afternoon tea to entertain you with some heart-pleasing, often humorous, yet soul-searching Sufi stories. His modernization of these old texts is gentle and mindful, yet unapologetic.” —Maryam Mafi, from the foreword

Download or read book The Little Book of Sufi Parables written by Nico Neruda and published by . This book was released on 2018-12-09 with total page 83 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mulla Nasruddin and two other saints went for a pilgrimage to Mecca. They were passing through a village, it was the last phase of their journey. Their money was almost finished; just a little bit was left. They purchased a certain sweet called halva, but it was not enough for all the three and they were too hungry. What to do? -- and they were not even ready to divide it because then it will not fulfill anybody's hunger. So everybody started bragging about himself that, "I am more important to existence, so my life has to be saved." The first saint said, "I have been fasting, I have been praying for so many years; nobody here present is more religious and holy than I am. And God wants me to be saved, so the halva has to be given to me." The second saint said, "Yes, I know, you are a man of great austerities, but I am a great scholar. I have studied all the scriptures, my whole life I have devoted in the service of knowledge. And the world does not need people who can fast. What can you do? -- you can only fast. You can fast in heaven! The world needs knowledge. The world is so ignorant that it cannot afford to miss me. The halva has to be given to me." Mulla Nasruddin said, "I am not an ascetic, so I cannot claim any self-control. I am not a great knowledgeable person either, so that too I cannot claim. I am an ordinary sinner, and I have heard that God is always compassionate to the sinners. The halva belongs to me." They could not come to any conclusion. Finally they decided that, "We all three should sleep without eating the halva, and let God decide himself. So whosoever is given the best dream by God, in the morning that dream will be decisive." In the morning the saint said, "Nobody can compete with me anymore. Give me the halva -- because in the dream I kissed God's feet. That is the ultimate that one can hope -- what greater experience can there be?" The pundit, the scholar, the knowledgeable person laughed and he said, "That is nothing -- because God hugged me and kissed me! You kissed his feet? He kissed ME and hugged me! Where is the halva? It belongs to me." They looked at Nasruddin and asked, "What dream did you have?" Nasruddin said, "I am a poor sinner, my dream was very ordinary -- very ordinary, not worth even telling. But because you insist and because we have agreed, I will tell you. In my sleep God appeared and he said, 'You fool! What are you doing? Eat the halva!' So I have eaten it -- because how can I deny his order? There is no halva left now!" The Little Book of Sufi Parables: Short Stories on Wisdom and Spirituality Sufi Masters have been using short stories to teach people important life lessons. In just a few paragraphs, the Sufis are able to convey messages that others can hardly do in hundreds of pages. This great compilation of stories offer insights into their wisdom and inspirations. Perfect for anyone who appreciates good storytelling, and philosophical & spiritual questioning.

Download or read book The Sufi Book of Life written by Neil Douglas-Klotz and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2005-02-22 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Part meditation book, part oracle, and part collection of Sufi lore, poetry, and stories, The Sufi Book of Life offers a fresh interpretation of the fundamental spiritual practice found in all ancient and modern Sufi schools—the meditations on the 99 Qualities of Unity. Unlike most books on Sufism, which are primarily collections of translated Sufi texts, this accessible guide is a handbook that explains how to apply Sufi principles to modern life. With inspirational commentary that connects each quality with contemporary concerns such as love, work, and success, as well as timeless wisdom from Sufi masters, both ancient and modern, such as Rumi, Hafiz, Shabistari, Rabia, Inayat Khan, Indries Shah, Irina Tweedie, Bawa Muhaiyadden, and more, The Sufi Book of Life is a dervish guide to life and love for the twenty-first century. On the web: http://sufibookoflife.com

Download or read book Rumi s Little Book of Love and Laughter written by Coleman Barks and published by Hampton Roads Publishing. This book was released on 2016-10-01 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rowdy, ecstatic, and sometimes stern, these teaching stories and fables reveal new and very human properties in Rumi's vision. Included here are the notorious "Latin parts" that Reynold Nicholson felt were too unseemly to appear in English in his 1920s translation. For Rumi, anything that human beings do--however compulsive--affords a glimpse into the inner life. Here are more than 40 fables or teaching stories that deal with love, laughter, death, betrayal, and the soul. The stories are exuberant, earthy, and bursting with vitality--much like a painting by Hieronymus Bosch or Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The characters are guilty, lecherous, tricky, ribald, and finally possessors of opened souls. Barks writes: "These teaching stories are a kind of scrimshaw--intricately carved, busy figures, confused and threatening, and weirdly funny. This is an entertaining collection from one of the greatest spiritual poets of all time, rendered by his most popular translator. "The minute I heard my first love story, I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don't finally meet somewhere. They're in each other all along."--Rumi

Download or read book Tales from the Land of the Sufis written by Mojdeh Bayat and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2001-10-16 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Take a magic carpet ride into the delightful world of Sufi storytelling with these best-loved tales from Persian literature and lore, in which images of madness, passionate love, and self-sacrifice convey the inner experiences of the soul that has surrendered to the Divine Beloved. The tales are retold from the celebrated works of Sufi poets and spiritual masters such as Rumi, Attar, Nizami, and Jami, as well as anecdotes about these famous masters.

Download or read book Kahlil Gibran s Little Book of Secrets written by Kahlil Gibran and published by Hampton Roads Publishing. This book was released on 2019-04-01 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the most popular and profound inspirational writers of all time explores the mysteries of life, sharing bite-sized wisdom for daily living. This book is a collection of Gibran’s words on life’s big questions and the mysteries of the spiritual path. It is an exploration of the riddles and conundrums that are part of the fabric of existence, and it is an attempt to penetrate and explain the mysteries of life. Gibran was fascinated by life’s puzzles and riddles—those questions that cause us to stop what we are doing and ask, “Why?” Here are his musings about the seemingly unanswerable questions and his exploration of good and evil, love and hate, and the difference between appearances and reality. Kahlil Gibran’s Little Book of Secrets is organized into five sections that elucidate the key issues and questions that each of us face: Entering the Labyrinth of Life Secrets of Life and Death Life’s Ups and Downs Secrets of Good and Evil Traveling the Inner Path This inspirational volume gently guides readers through life’s big issues: meaning and mortality, good and evil, and discovering an authentic spiritual path. Suitable for all gift-giving occasions, it is a book that delights, informs, and inspires.

Download or read book Rumi s Little Book of Wisdom written by Rumi and published by Hampton Roads Publishing Company. This book was released on 2021 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This is a collection of inspirational wisdom for living a meaningful and productive life. This selection of quotations has been chosen to reflect Rumi's inspiring and uplifting approach to life and the inevitable issues that we encounter during our lifetimes. The wisdom includes no-nonsense statements, observations, and facts-ranging from matters of the heart, to understanding human nature, to embracing the nature of the divine. The result is an extended meditation on how to live one's life with meaning, productivity, and kindness"--

Download or read book Days in the Life of a Sufi written by Raziuddin Aquil and published by Pan Macmillan. This book was released on 2020-11-12 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If anyone puts thorns on my way out of animosity Every flower in the garden of his life remain thornless - Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya The lives of Sufis are replete with stories of tantalizing miracles and unforgettable anecdotes of wisdom. The 101 Sufi tales in this book show pursuits of ethical and moral conduct in Sufi spirituality - a vibrant movement within Islamic traditions across time and space. Committed in their love for God, the Sufis found love in all His Creations. Large numbers of followers and devotees have continued to throng Sufi shrines seeking blessings and benediction. The stories of mystical exercises and charitable endeavour in this book illustrate their role and continuing relevance in shaping a pluralistic, diverse and tolerant Indian society. Exactly as the Sufis focused on soul searching and right conduct for themselves and all those around them, these stories are nuggets of wisdom which guide people to become better human beings.

Download or read book Sufis written by Idries Shah and published by eBook Partnership. This book was released on 2020-06-20 with total page 540 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Sufis is the best introduction ever written to the philosophical and mystical school traditionally associated with the Islamic world.Powerful, concise, and intensely thought-provoking, it sums up over a thousand years of Eastern thought - the product of some of the greatest minds humanity has ever produced - into a single work, presenting timeless ideas in a fresh and contemporary style.When the book was originally published in 1964, it launched its author, Idries Shah, on to the international stage, attracting the attention of thinkers and writers such as J. D. Salinger, Doris Lessing, Ted Hughes and Robert Graves.It introduced to the Western world concepts which have subsequently become commonly accepted, varying from the psychological importance of attention and humour, to the use of traditional tales as teaching instruments (what Shah termed 'teaching-stories'), and the historical debt owed by the West to the Middle East in matters scientific, literary and philosophical.As a primer for the many dozens of Sufi books that Shah later produced, it is unsurpassed, offering a clear window onto a community whose system of thought and action has long concerned itself with the advancement of the whole of humankind, and whose ideas about individuals and society, their purpose and direction, need to be understood now more than ever before.

Download or read book The Book of Rumi written by Rumi and published by Hampton Roads Publishing Company. This book was released on 2018 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Philip Pullman, author of 'His Dark Materials' trilogy, has remarked that "after nourishment, shelter, and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world." This new collection of Rumi stories fills that need. This fresh prose translation of 105 short teaching stories by Rumi, which form the core of the six-volume Masnavi, explores the hidden spiritual aspects of everyday experience. Rumi transforms the seemingly mundane events of daily life into profound Sufi teaching moments. These prose gems open the mystical portal to the world of the ancient mystic. These stories include well-known and popular tales such as "Angel of Death," "The Sufi and His Cheating Wife," "Moses and the Shepherd," "Chickpeas," and "The Greek and Chinese Painters" as well as the less commonly quoted parables: "The Basket Weaver," "The Mud Eater," and "A Sackful of Pebbles." Rumi's voice alternates between playful and authoritative, whether he is telling stories of ordinary lives or inviting the discerning reader to higher levels of introspection and attainment of transcendent values. Mafi's translations delicately reflect the nuances of Rumi's poetry while retaining the positive tone of all of Rumi's writings, as well as the sense of suspense and drama that mark the essence of the Masnavi.

Download or read book Tales of the Dervishes written by Idries Shah and published by Octagon Press Ltd. This book was released on 1982 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A mysterious chest is buried unopened. A wondrous caravan brings fortune to a simple cobbler. An outcast princess creates a new life in the wilderness. Some of the 78 tales in this remarkable book first appeared in print over a thousand years ago; others are medieval classics. Yet each has a special relevance for us at the dawn of the 21st century. All are told with Idries Shah's distinctive wit and grace and the author's own commentary notes. These are teaching stories in the Sufi tradition. Those who probe beyond the surface will find multiple meanings to challenge assumptions and foster new ways of thinking and perceiving. Tales of the Dervishes is essential reading for anyone interested in Sufi thought, the significance and history of tales, or simply superb entertainment.

Download or read book Rumi s Little Book of Life written by Rumi and published by Hampton Roads Publishing. This book was released on 2012-09-01 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Madonna to Deepak Chopra, celebrities have been recording and embracing Rumi's poetry for the past two decades, creating a resurgence of interest in this 13th century Sufi mystic. Rumi's Little Book of Life is a beautiful collection of 196 poems by Rumi, previously unavailable in English. Translated by native Persian speakers, Maryam Mafi and Azima Melita Kolin, this collection will appeal to Rumi lovers everywhere. This collection of mystical poetry focuses on one of life's core issues: coming to grips with the inner life. During the course of life, each of us is engaged on an inner journey. Rumi's Little Book of Life is a guidebook for that journey. The poetry is a companion for those who consciously enter the inner world to explore the gardens within--out of the everyday "world of dust"--through an ascending hierarchy that restores one's soul to the heart; the heart of the spirit; and in finding spirit, transcending all.

Download or read book Wisdom of the Idiots written by Idries Shah and published by Octagon Press Ltd. This book was released on 1989 with total page 181 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tales from the Sufi tradition, illustrating Sufi philosophy and ways of thinking.

Download or read book Sacred Laughter of the Sufis written by Imam Jamal Rahman and published by . This book was released on 2014-06-21 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Little Book of Sufi Wisdom written by John Baldock and published by Collins & Brown. This book was released on 1995 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Little Book of Sufi Wisdom offers the reader a selection of prose, poetry and teaching stories that capture the essential wisdom of the Sufis. As the Introduction explains, the way of the Sufi is frequently described as the 'way of the heart', for it is through the purification or 'polishing' of the heart that the Sufi arrives at the state of Divine Unity - the complete realization of the Oneness of God and our oneness with Him. It is the enraptured expression of the Divine Unity that gives its unique quality to the writings of the Sufis.

Download or read book The Little Book of Sufi Wisdom written by John Baldock and published by Element Books, Limited. This book was released on 1995 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of sayings, poems and stories reflecting Sufi wisdom.

Download or read book Parables of the Cross written by I. Lilias Trotter and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-03-25 with total page 33 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Isabella Lilias Trotter (1853-1928) was an artist and a missionary for over 38 years to the Muslims of Algeria. John Ruskin, the famous art critic, didn't believe that ladies could paint before he met Lilias. He changed his mind after he met her and believed that if she would give her life to painting she could become the greatest painter of the nineteenth century. Ruskin believed that if she would devote herself to art "she would be the greatest living painter and do things that would be immortal. " He was unhappy that she was spending so much time on the streets of London, helping with the YWCA, when he thought she ought to be painting. Lilias, however, decided to give up her career in art in order to serve God. She always remained a good friend of Ruskin's though, and they wrote many letters when she was in Algeria. She also wrote several books - beautifully illustrated by herself, including: Parables of the Cross (1894), Parables of the Christ-Life (1899), and a book for Sufi Muslims, The Way of the Sevenfold Secret.