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chandrakavi
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Gold Boarder
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Have you read the first chapter of this book, called THE ISLANDERS?
www.thesufi.com/sufi_ebooks/Sufism%20ebo...is_-_Idries_Shah.pdf
(The Sufi master Sanai of Afghanistan, teacher of Rumi, iu The Walled Garden of Truth, written in 1131 A.D.)
Most fables contain at least some truth, and they often enable people to absorb ideas which the ordinary patterns of their thinking would prevent them from digesting. Fables have therefore been used, not least by the Sufi teachers, to present a picture of life more in harmony with their feelings than is possible by means of intellectual exercises.
Here is a Sufic fable about the human situation, summa- rized and adapted, as must always be, suitably to the time in which it is presented. Ordinary "entertainment" fables are considered by Sufi authors to be a degenerated or infe- rior form of art.
Once upon a time there lived an ideal community in a far-off land. Its members had no fears as we now know them. Instead of uncertainty and vacillation, they had pur- posefulness and a fuller means of expressing themselves. Although there were none of the stresses and tensions which mankind now considers essential to its progress, their lives were richer, because other, better elements replaced these things. Theirs, therefore, was a slightly
2 TIM SUFIS
existence. We could almost say that our present perceptions
are a crude, makeshift version of the real ones which thus
community possessed.
They had real lives, not semilives..
We can call them the El Ar people
They had a leader, who discovered that their country was
to become uninhabitable for a period of, shall we say, twenty thousand years. He planned their escape, realizing
that their descendants would be able to return home suc-
cessfully, only after many trials.
He found for them a place of refuge, an island whose
features were only roughly similar to those of the original homeland. Because of the difference in climate and situa- tion, the immigrants had to undergo a transformation. This made them more physically and mentally adapted to the
new circumstances; coarse perceptions, for instance, were substituted for finer ones, as when the hand of the manual laborer becomes toughened in response to the needs of his
calling.
In order to reduce the pain which a comparison between
the old and new states would bring, they were made to for- get the past almost entirely. Only the most shadowy recol- lection of it remained, yet it was sufficient to be awakened when the time came. . The
The system was very complicated, but well arranged organs by means of which the people survived on the island were also made the organs of enjoyment, physical and men- tal. The organs which were really constructive in the old homeland were placed in a special form of abeyance, and linked with the shadowy memory, in preparation for its eventual activation.
TeaISLANDERS 3
was the first of a succession of islands upon which gradual acclimatization took place.
The responsibility of this "evolution" was vested in those individuals who could sustain it. These were necessarily
only a few, because for the mass of the people the effort of keeping both sets of knowledge in their consciousness
Slowly and painfully the immigrants settled down, ad-
that the effort to escape placed a heavy and often seemingly unwelcome burden upon the people. At the same time they
were disposed to believe things which they were told about the escape operation. He realized that he could acquire power, and also revenge himself upon those who had under- valued him, as he thought, by a simple exploitation of these two sets of facts.
He would merely offer to take away the burden, by affirming that there was no burden.
He made this announcement:
'There is no need for man to integrate his mind and train it in the way which has been described to you. The
human mind is already a stable and continuous, consistent thing. You have been told that you have to become a crafts-
justing themselves to the local conditions. The resources of the island were such that, coupled with effort and a cer- tain form of guidance, people would be able to escape to a
further island, on the way back to their original home. This
was virtually impossible. One of them seemed to conflict
with the other one. Certain specialists guarded the "special science."
This "secret," the method of effecting the transition, was
nothing more or less than the knowledge of maritime skills
and their application. The escape needed an instructor, raw materials, people, effort and understanding. Given these,
people could learn to swim, and also to build ships .
The people who were originally in charge of the escape operations made it clear to everyone that a certain prepara
tion was necessary before anyone could learn to swim or even take part in building a ship. For a time the process
continued satisfactorily.
Then a man who had been found, for the time being,
lacking in the necessary qualities rebelled against this order and managed to develop a masterly idea. He had observed
THE SUFIS
THE ISLANDERS 5
the simplicity and comfort of the revolutionary concept. Soon it was considered to be a basic fact which had never been challenged by any rational person. Rational, of course, meant anyone who harmonized with the general theory it- self, upon which society was now based.
Ideas which opposed the new one were easily called ir- rational. Anything irrational was bad. Thereafter, even
if he had doubts, the individual had to suppress them or divert them, because he must at alcosts be thought rational.
It was not very difficult to be rational. One had only to adhere to the values of society. Further, evidence of the
truth of rationality abounded-providing that one did not think beyond the life of the island.
Society had now temporarily equilibrated itself within the island, and seemed to provide a plausible completeness, if viewed by means of itself. It was based upon reason plus emotion, making both seem plausible. Cannibalism, for in- stance, was permitted on rational grounds. The human body was found to be edible. Edibility was a characteristic of food. Therefore the human body was food . In order to compensate for the shortcomings of this reasoning, a make- shift was arranged. Cannibalism was controlled, in the interests of society. Compromise was the trademark of temporary balance. Every now and again someone pointed
out a new compromise, and the struggle between reason, ambition and community produced some fresh social norm.
Since the skills of boatbuilding had no obvious applica- tion within this society, the effort could easily be considered absurd. Boats were not needed-there was nowhere to go. The consequences of certain assumptions can be made to "prove" those assumptions. This is what is called pseudo- certainty, the substitute for real certainty. It is what we deal in every day, when we assume that we will live another day. But our islanders applied it to everything.
Two entries in the great Island Universal Encyclopaedia show us how the process worked. Distilling their wisdom
man in order to build a ship. I say, not only do you not need to be a craftsman-you do not need a ship at all! An islander needs only to observe a few simple rules to survive and re- main integrated into society. By the exercise of common sense, born into everyone, he can attain anything upon this island, our home, the common property and heritage of all!"
The tonguester, having gained a great deal' of interest among the people, now "proved" his message by saying:
"If there is any reality in ships and swimming, show us ships which have made the journey, and swimmers who have come back!"
This was a challenge to the instructors which they could not meet. It was based upon an assumption of which the bemused herd could not now see the fallacy. You see, ships never returned from the other land. Swimmers, when they did come back, had undergone a fresh adaptation which made them invisible to the crowd.
The mob pressed for demonstrative proof.
"Shipbuilding," said the escapers, in an attempt to reason
with the revolt, "is an art and a craft . The learning and the exercise of this lore depends upon special techniques . These together make up a total activity, which cannot be examined piecemeal, as you demand. This activity has an impalpable element, called baraka, from which the word 'barque'-a ship-is derived. This word means 'the Subtlety,' and it can- not be shown to you."
tionaries.
And so they hanged as many shipbuilding craftsmen as
they could find
The new gospel was welcomed on all sides as one of liber-
ation. Man had discovered that he was already mature! He felt, for the time at least, as if he had been released from
responsibility.
Most other ways of thinking were soon swamped by
"Art, craft, total, baraka, nonsense!" shouted the revolutionaries.
Masses is when people act as Institutions, as groups, we are all part of that sometimes when we work as a team,
We are all part of the system, Matrix, and are individuals when we are on our own two feet. Trying to stay away from the system.
I must say again that this link , I thought was ONLY on Robinsoe Crusoe, but it is not. WRONG choice on my part.
he has no idea how fragile his life is
We are all fragile and vulnerable Events of all nature, if what you say Mickey is that in discourse he is being intellectual
I guess it is so. I don't know if this BRIAN is a well known person in the UK, first time I have come across him.
Never thought talking about Crusoe would get me into this philosophical kind of arguments.
By governments I mean part of the control Matrix, system, establishment, a system of control, call it how you like.
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