Sufi Parables
Sufi Parables
Sufi Parables
Written down by
Anna Zubkova
Under editorship of
Vladimir Antonov
2014
These parables are about how you can master
heart love and, by overcoming your vices, become
pure, kind, strong, and wise. Each parable allows you
to touch the spiritual knowledge of the Masters, Who
share with us the richness and beauty of the great art
of the transformation of the souls. The parables that
are presented in this book were compiled and narrated
by Sufy and Sulia.
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Contents
PARABLE ABOUT THE MASTER CASTING NO SHADOWS ........... 5
RECOMMENDED LITERATURE......................................................... 50
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From the Editor
People have different ideas about what their reli-
gious life should be.
Some think that it should consist in the participa-
tion in rites and violence against other people.
Others the reasonable ones understand that
One Universal God (the Creator, the Primordial Con-
sciousness), called Allah in Arabic, now (and not, for
example, during the formation of Islam) wants from us,
embodied people, quite the contrary. Namely, He wants
everyone to perfect, to develop himself or herself as a
soul.
It is customary in Islam to denominate a war
against people who are considered enemies as exter-
nal jihad, while internal struggle against ones own im-
perfections as internal jihad.
Sufism the main branch of Islam is where the
methods of internal jihad are practiced. You can read
about this in the books such as Classics of Spiritual
Philosophy and the Present, Divine Parables, Book of
the Warrior of the Spirit and in others. The parables
published in this book are also dedicated to this theme.
The true methodology of spiritual development
taught to us by Allah is one for all people who seek the
Path of spiritual perfection. Only the external forms of
manifestation of religiosity are different. Yet they were
created by people, and not by Allah, and do not relate
directly to Him.
This book will be useful to all those people who,
in their personal evolutionary development, have be-
come mature enough to practice internal jihad.
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Parable about the Master
Casting no Shadows
Shadow cannot fall on the source of light!
Assyris
***
When the travelers approached the house of the
Master, He was standing at the gate. It seemed that He
was waiting for them.
The Master kindly welcomed the travelers.
The sun was shining, and to the disappointment
of the seekers, the shadow of His body followed obedi-
ently its every movement
Now the young men did not know what to do
However, the Master cordially invited them to en-
ter, saying:
5
I knew that I would have some visitors over for
lunch and prepared a meal. Dont upset Me, please, and
eat here with Me! You have made a long journey and
are tired! Your efforts should be rewarded!
To avoid hurting Him and to hide their disap-
pointment, the young men agreed thinking that they
would continue their journey and searches after having
a rest.
They washed their hands near a spring and began
their meal with the Master.
You, probably, were told nonsense about Me,
said the Master, looking at them knowingly. But it
isnt worth believing everything that people say! It is
better to seek the Truth!
A lot of legends are fabricated about each Master
Who works to help people. It is said about Me too that I
can do whatever I want, that I can heal any illness and
return the dead to life Rumors love to crowd around
the Truth!
Yet I never can do only that which people wish! I
always do only that which Allah wishes, and the happi-
ness of My life consists in the fact that My will and the
Will of Allah do not differ anymore. I am just a humble
executor of His Will.
***
When the young men made themselves comforta-
ble in a garden to take a rest after the meal, a sick per-
son came to the Master. His body was covered with
scabs.
As the Master spoke with him, his face gradually
became brighter and brighter. A smile blossomed on it.
The understanding increased, and the love for Allah
and for all beings in the Creation began to shine in his
heart.
He thanked the Master, bowed low, and walked to
the gate Suddenly his skin became clean!
6
Shocked by that miraculous healing, he came
back and thanked the Master once again with tears in
his eyes, hardly believing what had happened
The young men were amazed
Forgive us! they said We were wrong!
You are a great Healer and the One Who knows human
souls! Tell us how You do this!
I helped this man to understand and see the
cause of his disease. When the cause is recognized
and eliminated through the right understanding and
repentance, it is not difficult to heal the body as well.
If the shadow of the past is erased with the help
of repentance and correct understanding of how one
should live and act, then it is possible, by removing the
cause, to change its consequences.
Every action and every thought of a person
leaves traces in the Absolute. Sometimes such traces
are dark, sometimes light, sometimes deep, and some-
times very insignificant. Whatever the case may be,
everything that one did in the past has its influence on
ones present destiny, while the way one thinks and
acts now will have an effect on ones future destiny.
Yet every one of us has the ability to purify and
transform himself or herself as a soul, thus coming
closer to the Purity of Allah!
We can really purify ourselves from the dark
shadows of the past! In this case, our lives will change
for the better!
When such a transformation of the soul is
reached, it becomes possible to heal the body as well.
***
So it happened that the young men stayed with
the Master and became His disciples.
Many years had passed since then. They learned
to see the causes and effects of events, to cleanse the
organs inside human bodies with the Light of Allah, to
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hear His instructions in the silence of their spiritual
hearts, to feel that love for people which, among other
things, impels one to help those who suffer. They also
learned to preach Love and Truth
When, going to the world to serve people by
the knowledge that they had received from the Master,
they turned around they saw Him standing at the
gate of His house like in the first day they met. Behind
His body, they could contemplate the shining Light,
which was similar to the huge risen sun. That was the
Light of Allah, flowing, illuminating and saturating all
around. Indeed, no shadows were seen anywhere!
Now they could see this.
8
Once a woman came to the Master casting no
shadows and brought a sick girl with her.
This woman, who called herself the mother of the
girl, said:
If you really know Allah, heal this child! But if all
that you can do is only to deliver homilies, with which
you deceive those miserable who come to you, then
take this girl! While she was little, I carried her in my
arms, and people used to give me charity out of pity.
Now she has grown, but still cannot walk. I have no
more strength to carry her and nothing to feed her. I
cannot raise the child who is going to be a cripple till
its last day!
This is a very difficult case. It will take a lot of
time to heal her, said the Master quietly.
He looked at the girl attentively, and then He lifted
His eyes to the woman.
Do you really want to leave her to Me? If this
child given to you by Allah is a burden to you
then, well, I agree. But dont regret this later!
***
Many acquaintances of the Master reproached
Him for allowing the sick girl to stay in His house. They
said:
What will those who want to learn from You think
about You? They will think that You are a bad healer
and not a true Master if a cripple lives in Your house!
However, the Master calmly replied:
I accept that which Allah sends Me and thank
Him for His gifts!
The disciples of the Master began to call the girl
Sufy, since she lived in the house of Sufi sheikh. Thus
this endearing nickname had become her spiritual
name long before she received her first serious initia-
tion.
9
Almost every evening, the Master told stories or
parables to Sufy but never finished them.
He spoke as if the heroes of His stories came to
life, as if the sounds of their speeches were heard and
their figures and movements seen. Even the fragrance
of flowers and a breath of wind seemed to reach the
little listener
The Master ended His every incomplete story with
a question about how this or that hero should continue
to act.
The next day Sufy answered Him, and depending
on her response, the tale took a new turn and had a
happy or bitter end.
The girl got accustomed to thinking about the an-
swers seriously as if a real person, and not a fairy
tale hero, got into troubles or avoided them, depending
on her right or wrong decision. If she made a mistake,
she was very upset and tried to correct it. Then a fairy
tale had a happy end!
Every day the girl was taught by the Master and
His disciples to read and write, to wash and cook. She
tried to do her best, even though she still had little
strength.
Once Sufy asked the Master:
How can I learn to make no mistakes in my an-
swers?
It is difficult or, perhaps even impossible, to
make no mistakes at all Everyone in life learns not
only from his or her right words and acts but also from
the wrong ones.
Do you remember how I once asked you to wash
glass containers for medicine and explained how to do
it better? Yet you were stubborn and broke them I re-
call that you were very upset then but remembered that
case, and since then you have followed carefully My
advice. When you manage to understand something
important from your own error from that moment on,
you know very well how to behave right!
10
Still there is one method that allows one to make
fewer mistakes.
Teach it to me! asked Sufy.
Every human has the spiritual heart. Inside it,
love for everything can be born: for blossoming flow-
ers, tender animals, infinite beauty of nature around us,
kind people, and Allah Himself, Who has created all
this and gives life to everything and everyone! The
spiritual heart is in the chest. You can feel it in that
place to which you inhale and from which you exhale
the air.
Right here, in your chest, you have this especial
center of you as a soul. Love is born in this place.
From here, it grows and embraces those whom we
love, no matter how far they are. If love is strong and
pure it can expand immensely and fill everything
and everyone regardless of distance!
It is in the spiritual heart that one can understand
the advice of Allah. It is here that we can decide how to
act correctly. The Love of Allah can be felt only here as
well in the spiritual heart that became big and devel-
oped enough!
So the Master taught Sufy how to submerge one-
self into the spiritual heart, how to look with the eyes of
the heart at the world and at people, how to listen to
Allah in the silence of this heart, filled with love and
calm, and how to expand this heart love more and
more.
Sufy mastered all this and changed drastically!
She stopped being a sickly girl, who longed for the
care and special attention from others!
With each day, she became more joyful and
healthier! A smile of happiness lit up her face more
frequently! Soon her pure laughter, similar to a ringing
bell, began to sound in the house of the Master, em-
phasizing the beauty of the transparent silence that
usually reigned there. Now Sufy gave everyone the
warmth and gentle calm of her heart!
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***
Once Sufy asked the Master:
Why do diseases exist? How nice it would be if
they didnt!
Are you sure?
Yes!
But then you and Me would never have met!
Oh! I didnt think about this
Allah brought many people to Me through their
miseries and diseases, and I was able to help some of
them.
Everything is slightly more complex than people
usually think
When you grow up, Sufy, I will teach you to see
the hidden causes of everything that happens. Now
just remember that everything is connected in this
world, in the world beyond the death of the bodies, and
in the Infinite Light of the Love of Allah! Everything is
created by His Love and rests on the foundation made
of this Great Love! Therefore, no matter how difficult
and hopeless a situation seems to be love allows
you to resolve it!
I too wish that diseases and misfortunes didnt
exist However, many things must be changed in the
world and in people living in it so that they never forget
about kindness
***
Time passed by
The Master taught Sufy other methods of purifica-
tion of the body and soul. She grew and became a
beautiful girl. The light of her spiritual heart was trans-
forming and healing her body each time more, but she
still walked with great difficulty
In those days, sheikhs sometimes sent their
disciples to learn from other sheikhs. In this way, by
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listening about the Truth from other sources and learn-
ing from different teachers, disciples could obtain wid-
er vision and knowledge of life.
And so it happened that the Master and Sufy were
alone in the house that day. The Master was writing a
book while Sufi was washing in the patio when bur-
glars entered the house.
Since deep silence was there, they did not sus-
pect that the Master was in one of the rooms. They
were quickly putting in their bags all that they believed
were of value. (People often thanked the Master with
different gifts; therefore, in the house there were items
that could be sold at a high price).
Having gathered all that they found, they suddenly
saw the Master Who came up to meet them like wel-
come and kind guests.
The burglars behaved in the same way as people
led by fear usually behave One of them, having ap-
proached the Master from the back, hit Him on the
head with a heavy lamp The Master fell and lost con-
sciousness. The bandits hurriedly ran away taking the
stolen with them
Sufy heard a strange noise and ran into the
house She saw the body of the Master on the floor
with trickles of blood around She ran up to Him
This is the end, My girl! said the Master hap-
pily, having opened His eyes
No, no, dont die!
I am not going to die! Dont be afraid! The wound
is superficial! Yet now you are completely healed!
Only in this moment Sufy realized that she could
move freely on her legs!
***
Look how beautiful todays gift of Allah is!
said the Master, while Sufy bandaged the wound.
People often cry and complain when difficulties and
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adversities befall them They talk about how terrible
the evil is! However, the good and the evil often exist
in this world as two sides of one hand of destiny. This
hand acts in accordance with the Will of Allah and the
laws of the existence of the universe created by Him.
So lets thank Him! If these thieves hadnt come we
would have to spend some more years, trying to heal
you
But what about them? By causing harm to You,
they caused great harm to themselves, to their desti-
nies
Today they did what they have been doing al-
ways. But those gifts of love and gratitude that they
stole will change their lives in some way. We will see
this soon
Sufy finished bandaging the wound and looked
anxiously at the face of the Master. He smiled reassur-
ingly. At this point, He mentally observed the sixteen
years of their common hard work and the sudden com-
plete recovery of Sufy
The girl wanted to suggest that the Master lay
down, but she heard from Him something so familiar:
Well, its time for you and Me to start working!
Lets put the things in order and clean the house!
Cleanliness everywhere and in everything brings us
closer to the Perfection!
15
However, only a disciple alone can erase a certain
vice and cleanse his or her own future!
***
The man stayed in the house of the Master, and
He began to teach His new disciple to move the center
of the soul to the spiritual heart.
He explained:
To start the transformation of the soul, it is nec-
essary to know that one can live perceiving the world
not only with the mind, eyes, and ears of the body, but
also by the loving soul that consists of the spiritual
heart!
Now inhale deeply and exhale. Do this several
times.
Feel that space inside your body to which the air
is inhaled and from which it is exhaled. Now try to in-
hale the light, similar to the one radiated by the sun, in
the same way you inhale the air.
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Let that part of the light which you inhale stay
forever in your chest. Get accustomed to the fact that
you as a soul live now there. Love is born there too. Let
it illuminate your life path among all other people and
among all other living beings on the Earth and even in
intangible spaces.
After that, each day you can learn to radiate this
light, as if a tender sun were inside you, shining from
within.
Then you should expand this light to all direc-
tions as far as your strength allows you.
You can learn to live inside this space of light, to
perceive yourself there, to look from it, to speak from
it, to stretch the caring arms of the soul from it and ca-
ress everything in the Creation of Allah!
***
The new disciple of the Master began to repeat
these exercises every day.
A new fascinating perception of the world started
arising in him! It was an amazingly joyful and blissful
contact of the soul, which consisted of tenderness and
calm, with everything and everyone!
Meanwhile, the Master kept showing His disciple
new methods for cleansing the energy of the body and
expansion of the consciousness.
The flower of the soul began blossoming and giv-
ing off the fragrance of Divine Love. It became possi-
ble, because the love for Allah arose in this man and
got stronger every day!
Now he endeavored to never forget about the
Love of the Creator, Who is always around and inside
each one of us!
Gradually, this man learned to encompass every
situation with his love and calm.
It became easy for him to cope with his evil
thoughts and emotions that still arose sometimes, and
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these negative states appeared in him less and less
frequently.
Later on, he did not need even to make special ef-
fort to look at everything with the eyes of love from his
spiritual heart that grew many times!
Thus he cognized great bliss, in which a spiritual
warrior can live on the Path to Allah! He mastered that
state in which one can always feel the presence of the
Almighty and find in Him the Support in every life situa-
tion.
One year went by. This man cognized a lot, living
in the house of the Master casting no shadows togeth-
er with other disciples.
***
Once his Teacher said to him:
You have mastered the first stage of disciple-
ship: you have learned to be stably in the center of
calm and love, called the spiritual heart. However, you
have mastered this in the conditions of the ashram,
where harmony always reigns.
Now you may go into the world where ordinary
people live and learn to maintain these states also in
those situations in which not everything is favorable.
Moreover, you may teach what you have learned
to those people who will ask for your help.
Are You sending me away, my Master? But I still
know and can do only a little!
Im not sending you away! Im just giving you the
next task: to learn to do all the same but without My
help. Ill meet you here again when youre ready to con-
tinue.
How will I know this? I still cannot perceive al-
ways the Thoughts of Allah and His Words! I havent
learned enough! How will I distinguish between the
right and the wrong? How can I learn to act correctly if
I cant ask Your advice?
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Allah can speak with the soul not only with the
help of the words.
Those who have mastered the ability to be love
can easily master the rest!
Do you remember that day when you came to Me
for the first time?
You then looked at your reflection
Thats how most people live in the world. They
live as if they are looking only at their reflections in
everything. Their horizons are limited. This is how
small individual souls who think only about themselves
live. Such souls perceive everything in the world in re-
lation to how it concerns them personally: People love
me or people dont love me, Im pleased by some-
one or Im not pleased, I want this and that and
that
This happens because one usually sees only
what one looks at!
If you, for example, look now at the reflection in
the pond, you will see much more than you saw before,
wont you?
Yes, now I will also see the reflection of this
beautiful sky with light clouds and soaring birds, as
well as tender flowers, which are reflecting so amazing-
ly on this smooth surface, as if they were growing in
Heaven! All this beauty and harmony is like music that
glorifies the Creator! I also see You and myself with
You. I cant see yet the One Who has created all this,
but I know that He is reflected here as well! He is al-
ways with us, and I feel His Presence in everything
Well, now you can assess how your horizons
have expanded!
In all that surrounds you, in all that happens to
you you can now learn to see the Manifestation of
the Will of Allah, of His Power, Beauty and Wisdom!
The whole Creation is the Manifestation of His
Plan!
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The entire world around you is like the message
of Allah to you! You can learn to perceive it. Once you
ask a question to Allah be sure that you will receive
His answer after a while!
Even if you still cant hear the revelations from
Him in the inner silent space of your spiritual heart
you, though, will be able to understand His answer!
This answer may come to you through the words
of people whom you will meet, through a book opened
to the right page, or through some other event big or
small that will answer your question and suggest a
solution.
Dont be afraid of the lessons of Allah! Dont be
afraid of your own mistakes! In this case, you will learn
gradually to hear clearly His Voice and know His De-
sires always!
***
After a while, the Master continued:
True love is devoid of selfishness. This is the cri-
terion that always permits one to differentiate between
the right and the wrong in oneself and in others.
You should love in this way!
Help others to cognize such pure love!
In this case, the Laws of Kindness and Care that
you have mastered by learning from Me will never let
you fail!
Now you can learn to live feeling the presence of
Allah always!
You will be able to feel Him and simultaneously
to walk or to sit, to be silent or to speak, to eat or just
to admire the beauty!
You will be able to see the Manifestation of the
Will of Allah in everything around you and in every-
thing coming to you! The understanding of His Love
and Wisdom will grow in you every day!
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Live in this way and help all other beings that will
be sent to your destiny by Allah!
Thus you will prepare yourself for that time when
you are ready to see the Manifestation of Allah in your-
self as well. You will cognize Him as your own Higher
I1, identical to the Universal I! Then we will meet
again!
1
Or Higher Self.
22
Then he died and I stayed all alone.
At that time, I woke up from a bad dream. I start-
ed, as in my childhood, seeing the beauty around,
hearing the singing of birds and the murmur of water in
a river. I began to see stars and the sun. This beauty
gave me the hope
I fell in love with one man, my neighbor. We
could have become a good match We spoke about
the important It seemed to me that we always under-
stood each other It seemed to me that he loved me
too and that he wanted to marry me and soon would
offer me to unite our lives
The time was passing, but he still did not speak
about the marriage
And then he married a young girl Yes, she
was very beautiful, but this was her only virtue She
was moody and not very clever She ordered her
husband about and made him satisfy all her whims
I still loved him It was the light in my life, even
though my love was not reciprocated. I forgave him for
his choice. We remained good friends.
Then one day he offended me gravely. It was as if
the light grew dark in the soul I realized that I no
longer could, as before, live by love that I gave to him,
because he didnt need my love
Even now his contemptuous and angry words
continue to sound in the soul and poison my life!
I will never be young and beautiful again. No one
needs my skills Loneliness and emptiness is all that
awaits me I dont know how to live out the time that
is left for me on the Earth I almost have no means of
livelihood. I cannot maintain the property of my ex-
husband, which has already fallen into decay
Do you know that you came to a Sufi? I will not
give you advice on how and where you can find a hus-
band. Ill talk with you about something else. Do you
want to change your life before the Eyes of Allah?
23
Yes, I want to try if something still can be
done
The first thing you need to learn is to forgive of-
fenses. Look, everything bad that happens to you now
comes from your resentment!
Everyone should learn to change situations in
his or her own life from his or her end.
It often happens that we cannot change the
events that come into our lives, because they are be-
yond our control. However, we always can choose our
own point of view on those events, our attitude to what
is going on.
And we should always remember that everything
that comes to our lives is sent by Allah and that He
sends it for our good!
For example, it is raining. You can be sad that
the weather is not good and that you cant even leave
your house. Or you can be happy that this living mois-
ture is nourishing crops and grasses, trees and
shrubs.
You can be sad because the intense heat does
not let you enjoy a stroll. Or you can be glad that this
warmth will help the harvest to ripen.
You are speaking like my father, and I am listen-
ing to you like a little girl!
You were offended, and I even know that what
happened to you was unfair if we look at this situation
with the eyes of an ordinary person. Nevertheless, it
depends on you whether you continue accumulating
the bile of bitter resentment and suffer because of it
or forgive and let the whole situation go so that you
can open yourself for a new and clean life in harmony
with Allah!
Many people live dreaming of revenge for years,
hatching up plans of murder You are not like them:
you do not want to harm that man. Still youre doing
bad to yourself! You harm yourself by spoiling all the
best that is in you! This is a sin before Allah! You poi-
24
son the soul slowly with your state of resentment! This
can result in a serious illness and then in an untimely
death of your body.
Its up to you to continue being offended or to
forgive! You managed to forgive him when he didnt
choose you as his helpmate. So, why not forgive him
right now as well?
Each time we can decide how to react to what is
sent by Allah to our lives, and the only correct decision
in each case is to thank Him for all that He sends.
Thanks to these lessons, we can become better
kinder and cleverer!
It is completely in our power to choose how to
react to what comes to us from Him! You once were
learning to do this a long time ago.
You dont know yet what a wonderful gift from
Allah came to your life with that event and that now
you have an opportunity to change a lot in your desti-
ny!
Your father was a great master and could teach
you how to live by the spiritual heart. A heart with
wings is a symbol of Sufis. This heart can soar in the
world of Love and Light even when everything around
takes a very unfavorable turn!
However, you have recalled the lessons of your
father only a few times during your entire adult life!
This is why many things in it were not as good as they
could have been
Now you can recollect how you were taught to
live being full of love for Allah and for everything
around you! You can live as the developed spiritual
heart and no longer break down due to outside events
that seem to be unwanted at first sight
You should see and understand what happens
when a soul submerges into the emotions of resent-
ment, anger, sadness, despair, desire to get, or en-
vy Any low state of a soul makes this soul move to
that layer of the multidimensional universe where the
25
winds of the same emotions reign. They capture this
soul, enslave it and do not let it swim out to the light, to
the joy of life in Purity and Love
One should learn to purify oneself as a soul, ac-
customing oneself to living in the Subtlety and Light,
so that the layers of Love, Harmony, Tenderness, and
Care will become ones natural habitat!
Look, the one who lives being entangled with low
emotional states, such as depression, creates around
oneself similar dull and lifeless space The same can
be said about a soul that splashes the filth of hatred
and anger around itself. Those black and sticky states
pollute intensively the surrounding area! This evil af-
fects negatively other people and all other souls, in-
cluding plants, animals, and other beings! Thus sad-
ness and filth multiply in the space of our planet!
The longer the soul resides in heavy and dirty
states, the harder it will be for it to stand up, to cleanse
and accustom itself to living in the transparent purity,
kindness, and tenderness!
Sufi path is the Path of Purity!
So you need to begin with obtaining the purity of
yourself as a soul! Only then you will be able to trans-
form the surrounding space with this purity!
If one, having woken up in the morning, opens
ones spiritual heart, fills it with calm, love, and tender-
ness, and sends these emotions to all directions
forward, backward, left, right, up, and down wishing
to give love and calm to everything around then the
pure and subtle space of the spiritual heart opens, and
Allah joyfully fills it with Himself!
You can also learn to merge with the Flow of
Light of Allah that runs from top to bottom and ask Him
to help you in the purification of your body and the
soul. Then a waterfall of Purity will flow down abun-
dantly! This Shining Flow will help you to cleanse your
body and the soul, to wash yourself with the Light and
become filled with It!
26
All this is very simple! You should do it every
day!
Having filled yourself with Purity, you will be able
to merge with the River of the Divine Light That flows
above the expanse of fields, meadows, steppes, or de-
serts. In this way, you also will be able to give love
together with Allah to everything and everyone
around you!
To begin with, these several methods of purifica-
tion of the soul will be enough for you. Then I will teach
you other methods. There are many of them! This is the
Path of Purity the Path of a Sufi!
Right now another very simple technique can
help you. If suddenly dark and heavy thoughts and
emotions due to your habit formed during years
try to overcome you once again, then you can cultivate
a habit of appealing immediately to Allah in such situa-
tions. Exclaim in your spiritual heart: Allah Akbar!
and then thank Him, remembering that He Great and
Omnipresent is looking at you, loving you, and want-
ing to help you His reciprocal Love then will kindle
every time in your heart!
You will be able to do this if you want!
All this is great, but Id like to bring at least some
benefit to others! Its so hard to live, knowing that you
are useless, that your life does not warm anyone, does
not give fruits!
You received a good education. Could you re-
write some of the books that contain wise sayings of
Sufi Masters and some edifying stories? I have very
valuable manuscripts that exist only in one or few cop-
ies in the entire world. You could help a lot of people to
become familiar with that wisdom which is contained in
them
Yes, Ill be able to do this well!
Then My disciples will bring you the texts and
some money so that you do not have to think about
what to buy food with This work is very important for
27
many people. It will also bring great benefit to you if
you do not just copy these texts but use the wisdom
contained in them in your life.
The Master gave her one of the manuscripts,
and she, full of gratitude, went home to try to start a
new life.
***
Some time passed since then. On the surface,
almost nothing had changed in her life, but her attitude
to everything that was happening became quite differ-
ent.
The disciples of the Master brought her new
books and some money from time to time and helped
her with housework. Besides, at the request of the
Master, they explained the new methods of cleansing
and development of the soul to her.
She also quite often found valuable advice on the
pages of the books that she copied for others. When
she was working with those texts, it seemed to her that
she was speaking with the Master and that He was in-
dicating what she should pay special attention to. She
tried to follow His advice at all times.
However, one day a young disciple gave her latest
work back to her, saying that the Master was not satis-
fied with the ornament, in whose design, according to
Him, there was no harmony. That is why He was asking
her to do this work over again
The young man left without lingering on.
She stayed alone
Despair seized her: Can it really be true that I
wasnt able to do even this simple work? Oh Allah! Is
there any hope for me?
Tears streamed from her eyes
Then she set to work again, trying hard to feel
harmony and the Love of Allah
28
She repainted the ornament and then began to
rewrite a new text. The words were falling into place,
forming nice and neat lines. The text was saying the
following:
If a person makes a mistake and then under-
stands it and repents, unavoidably there will be a simi-
lar situation in his or her life in which he or she should
act correctly. In that way, this person will prove to Al-
lah that His lesson was learned.
If, on the other hand, the mistake persists, then
the tests will be also repeated until this person erases
all the facets of this vice of the soul.
The same thing will happen with every vice.
As a result, the soul should become like a crystal
clear glass vessel, in which the Light of Allah shines!
The one who understands this accepts difficul-
ties of these tests with joy and humility and praises Al-
lah for every possibility to become better!
She laughed happily, realizing that she had un-
derstood the idea of this lesson received from Allah:
she repeated her mistake! How unstable her achieved
level of purity and love turned out to be!
She saw the smiling face of the Master that con-
sisted of Light and thanked Him for this lesson!
Light and Love filled her! She comprehended how
Allah was helping her to become better!
The happiness of life under His Guidance flooded
her, and she continued her work.
***
Time went by She kept learning to feel the Will
of Allah and the joy of life dedicated to Him.
The disciples of the Master liked to be in her
house. They liked simplicity and purity that now
reigned there. They also liked how she rewrote books,
how she decorated them with delicate ornaments, and
29
how she took part in discussions by expressing hum-
bly and simply wise thoughts sometimes.
The Master was also pleased with the success of
His female disciple
Villagers started coming to her with their requests
or questions, and she never refused anyone and ex-
plained to them what she knew. She also retold stories
that she copied. She told them in a very simple way,
and what was difficult to understand turned into wise
tales or parables from her lips
Now children frequently visited her! They loved
her stories and fairy tales very much! Thus her house
became filled with laughter and joy, and she could
teach those children the Laws of Love of Allah Even
though they were not her own, they loved her and
called her among themselves Sufi storyteller.
Her neighbor changed as well. He apologized for
having offended her once and even offered her to be-
come his second wife She answered him kindly that
she no longer remembered that offense, but the past
could not be returned, and now both he and she
had new lives
One day some travelers from the distant land
came to that village and began to ask where the fa-
mous Sufi woman lived. All local people were very sur-
prised and did not know what to answer them
***
It so happened that the Master sent to her a new
disciple who was not young already. He was traversing
the path of the heart slowly, since in all his born days
earthly love had never happened to him, and therefore
his love for Allah also was not filled with vivid emo-
tions. His efforts were either obedient execution of the
instructions or the attempts to conquer his bad quali-
ties He succeeded greatly in the understanding of
ethical truths and was diligent, but he tried to perform
30
the meditative trainings taught by the Master as just
some given tasks. His spiritual heart did not start sing-
ing because of the love for Allah He asked again and
again new initiations from the Master, for he truly
wanted to become better
The Master once suggested that he live in the
house of that woman and learn her simple way of life,
in which she did everything only for Allah. He also em-
phasized that she had visited Him only once and had
not looked for new initiations. In spite of this, she was
one of His best disciples: she successfully developed
herself as the soul and helped others to do the same.
And Allah guided her!
What happened next was the gift of Allah for
those who seek to become better and perform the acts
of kindness: their mutual love tinged their life together!
All around them was lit up by the Presence of Al-
lah, since they lived and worked for Him!
32
Well, try to convey what you have comprehended
to others!
Sufy began to speak:
When one of the spiritual seekers comes to the
end of the Path towards the Light, to the direct cogni-
tion of Allah he or she becomes fascinated with the
Beauty of the Beloved and wants to tell everyone about
how it is possible to cognize His Blissful Love! So this
seeker describes his or her own Path and everything
that helped him or her on it.
Another seeker also cognizes the Wonderful and
Great Light of Love of Allah and describes for people
everything that has helped him or her, every detail of
the Path that seems important to this person!
This is similar to the beautiful views of the sun-
rise or sunset that we contemplated. So one could see
the sunrise in the east, another the sunset in the
west In one case, the path led to the mountain peaks;
in another, it passes through the quiet contemplation
in the midst of a blooming garden
Many call the spiritual Path the road to their true
Home, the Way Home! And there is no greater joy than
to merge with the Greatest Beloved in His Abode,
where the soul obtains the Highest Happiness of Mer-
gence and the complete understanding of the Truth,
Which is Allah!
All successful seekers of the Truth cognize the
same Universal Creator, in the same way we have seen
the beauty and splendor of the same sun but with little
differences.
If the followers of Those Who have cognized the
Creator also saw and understood the essence them-
selves, then they would see the shining Splendor of the
Divine Love and Wisdom. In this case, there would be
no disagreement among them.
But in reality people begin to argue about the di-
rection in which a body should be turned while wor-
shiping or about the stones with which the steps of the
33
staircase are faced In such cases, discordances mul-
tiply infinitely.
Well done, Sufy! You can explain complicated
things with simple examples!
But You are the One Who showed this to us!
Allah has showed this during thousands of
years. In spite of this, bloody discords that happen due
to the differences in faith and that are stirred up by
people living in the states of hatred and aggression
continue taking place up to this day.
We should learn to see and distinguish the true
and the false in the teachings about the cognition of
the Divine!
While doing this, we should remember that the
Truth always shines with the Light of Love!
That variant of the spiritual advancement is true
in which the basis is the ethical purity and the devel-
opment of oneself as a spiritual heart. This is the Path
of Love, the Path of the Spiritual Heart! This is the
Straight Path!
Yes, such a Path may have variations, and it
makes sense to know and use them intelligently. Each
next generation of the spiritual seekers will be able to
benefit from the experience of their predecessors and
make their own contribution to the treasury of
knowledge about the purification of the souls and
about the Path that allows one to come closer to the
Divinity. All this helps to accelerate the progress of the
true spiritual seekers on the Path of Evolution of the
Universal Consciousness!
34
Parable about the Sufi Path
and the Life in the Embrace of
Allah
Everything that you see, taste, touch,
and hear is I!
Yet I am much bigger than all this!
I am Boundless!
When you being in the great love for Me disap-
pear in My Primordial Calm,
you are born again
and become One with Me!
35
That girl had a gift of prophecy and could easily
read other peoples thoughts.
Once, when guests were in her fathers house, the
girl came close to one of them and said:
I feel sorry for you, since they are going to cut off
your arm!
The guests were so surprised to hear this that
they even forgot to scold the girl for entering a room
and breaking into the conversation without permission.
They asked her:
What are you talking about?
He took the box with someone elses jewels and
pretended that robbers had done this.
A few moments before, the guests had just been
discussing that incident.
What nonsense you are saying! Apologize im-
mediately! How can you insult like this my honorable
guest?! the girls father exclaimed in anger.
How can I apologize if I am telling the truth? The
box is buried in his garden under the plum tree, on that
side where the sun rises!
Of course, they decided to verify this and
found the box!
This story caused quite a stir in that village.
After some similar cases, in which the girl, having
been asked by adults, named easily those who had
committed a theft or fraud or in which she said to the
faces of influential people about their evil thoughts and
intentions, everyone became afraid of her and started
avoiding her.
Soon her parents began even to lock her in their
house so that she could not create any additional prob-
lems for them. Only occasionally they tried to use her
insights for their own sake.
All people feared her and almost no one loved her.
Growing up, the girl gradually realized what a
stranger she was in her family and in the entire sur-
rounding world
36
One day a Sufi Master came to their village and
had a long talk with that girl.
Since then she changed, and her parents could
not be happier with their daughter. She did not lose her
abilities but did not create any problems for people
around her anymore. Calm and stable light of heart
love flared up in her and burnt brighter and brighter
day after day. From that moment on, she helped only
those who had asked her for help and only sometimes
warned good people about future undesirable events...
Yet no one knew about her inner life.
When her parents decided to marry her off, she
suddenly refused point-blank and then even left her
home.
She moved to a secluded place. Here only Allah
was her Beloved, and she began to compose poems
about her love for Him.
Having loved the spiritual heights inaccessible to
ordinary people, she started living as a hermitess.
Enraptured by the Divine, she was not alone in her
solitude: her Beloved was always there with her!
She cognized that the life of the soul can be like
a smooth dance in the Embrace of Allah.
She cognized how wonderful it is to live in the ec-
stasy of Union with the Beloved or in the tender calm
of being dissolved in Him.
In this case, the corporal container of the soul be-
comes filled with His Love and Light so fully that no
room remains inside it for the former I!
When the life of the soul reaches this limit, the Di-
vine Light begins to flow through the body of such a
person.
Here are her words with which she expressed
what she felt, but only being the spiritual heart, you will
be able to perceive the One Who is behind them.
Oh, my Beloved!
I look at You
37
And cant stop looking!
Oh, my Beloved!
I kiss Your lips
And drink the nectar of Your Bliss!
Oh, my Beloved!
I breathe You,
And I am flying on the wings of happiness!
Oh, my Beloved!
I tremble in the Flame of Your Love
And flow in the River of Your Light!
Oh, my Beloved!
I embrace You
And cant encompass Your Infinity!
Oh, my Beloved!
I want to give all myself to You,
And then I become filled with You!
Oh, my Beloved!
You kiss me,
And I forget myself in Your Bliss!
Oh, my Beloved!
You embrace me,
And I disappear in Your Embrace!
Oh, my Beloved!
You absorb me,
And I submerge into the Depths of Your Calm!
Oh, my Beloved!
Our hearts have merged inside the Ocean of Your
Fire
And live now as One Heart!
38
Amazed by this story and ashamed of their yes-
terdays conversation, the disciples asked the Master:
Whose words are these? Are You telling us a
made-up story to heal our arrogance or such a Sufi
woman actually lived?
Do you really need to see to be sure? Well, you
will have this possibility. Her name is Sulia. She asked
Me to send someone of My disciples after the book that
she wrote down listening to the words of her Master
Grand Master of Sufism Who isnt embodied right
now.
***
The next day those disciples who had wished so
went on a journey to learn from the Sufi woman whose
name was Sulia. The girl Sufy was also among them.
The path promised to be long.
On their way to those lands, the disciples asked
sheikhs and murids about this Sufi woman but did not
find out much. They were only told that she lived a soli-
tary life and that sometimes people came to her for ad-
vice and healing.
After a long travel, they came to the village that
was, as they found out, the closest one to the house of
Sulia. Here they began to ask how to find a way to her
house. One local female dweller said to them:
Why are you looking for this woman? She has
neither husband nor children and lives all alone. What
can a lonely woman understand in life? Perhaps, she is
not too happy, since her destiny and the circumstanc-
es of her life werent good, as it seems.
You look healthy. Usually sick people come to
her, and she can heal their illnesses.
She gathers herbs and prepares remedies. Or
maybe you too want to become healers like she?
39
In spite of everything, this woman, keeping won-
dering, led them to the path to the house of Sulia.
When they came, she joyfully welcomed them:
Im so glad to see you, friends! This is so great
that you have come!
They had lunch. Even the most ordinary activi-
ties seemed to be sacred in the marvelous harmony of
her house. Sulia gave them very simple and modest
food she had: honey, nuts, and dried fruits.
The disciples themselves brought with them all
kinds of eatables that they bought, but very simple
food of Sulia was much more delicious!
When they had taken a rest and then gathered
near the hearth, Sulia began to tell them about the
book:
My Grand Master dictated me a book about the
Sufi Path. I will pass it on to your Master through you.
Once, in my childhood, your Master helped me a lot! I
know that He is a Great Teacher and will be able to use
and guard this knowledge, which was given to people
from the One Who has maintained the purity and wis-
dom of Sufi teachings for centuries.
Sulia gave them the book.
The disciples passed it around carefully and read
from it aloud as much as every one of them felt by the
inner desire:
40
Every person then is seen not just as a relative
or a stranger, a friend or an outsider, but as a child of
the Creator!
41
Beauty can teach the soul many things! It is so,
because beauty is the bridge from the world that is vis-
ible through the eyes of the body to the world that is
Divine and perceived by the heart love only.
Blessed are those who create true beauty! They
help the Light of Allah to be seen by those who were
previously blind to It!
42
Silence that exists in the expanded spiritual heart
is not empty! It is full of Love! It is possible to feel Al-
lah there, and then the soul becomes aware of His
Boundlessness!
The death of the lower I is not the end but the
beginning of a different life of the soul.
A river, having flowed into the Ocean, does not
die but only begins its new life in the Unity with the
Ocean!
43
Does He need your prayers and material offer-
ings?
Or is this a way in which you in your weak-
ness and naivety want to approach Him by bringing
donations to the temples and asking for mercy for
yourselves?
There is only one gift that delights the Almighty:
this is the gift from the soul, the gift that is called
HEART LOVE!
It is not enough for this just to utter some words!
Think deeply about which of your todays deeds
will please the Almighty!
44
Let human bodies become like vessels filled with
the Light of Life of the All-creating One!
Whose fault is this that your vessel is dirty?
If, on the other hand, Allah began to live in your
heart, then guard this Lamp and dont let the winds of
life blow it out and the torrents of human malice extin-
guish it!
If one always keeps the Fire of Allahs Love in
ones heart, then ones entire life becomes trans-
formed!
Such one becomes similar to a new star that ig-
nited in the universe and should allow the Light of Al-
lah to shine with all Its fullness and power!
45
Some receive it with joy and gratitude, but some
avoid its cleansing and nourishing streams.
When the soul reaches the Creator of everything
in His Universal Abode, it like a river that flowed into
the ocean gives Him everything valuable that it has
accumulated during many lives. In return, the soul re-
ceives all the Wisdom, Love and Power of the Ocean!
Thus the Ocean the Great United We is en-
riched over and over again!
46
His loving Eyes are everywhere and see you al-
ways!
He hears each of your thoughts!
Dont try to hide anything from the Beloved be-
cause there are no secrets for Him!
In your spiritual heart, there is the Door to the
world of your Beloved!
While your heart is pure, the Beloved does not
leave it!
So purify the temple of your heart, and then Allah
will be able to look from it into the world of His Crea-
tion!
47
Later on the Mergence interrupts only to say one
to another about love over and over again and after
this to lose oneself again in the Embrace of the Be-
loved!
As the lovers separate their lips only to unite
them again in a kiss, in the same way the soul seeks
for the Unity again and again to experience the ecstasy
of Mergence!
This is the most enjoyable stage of the Path
when all around give the Bliss of the Connection with
the Divine!
The body then seems to be soaring in the trans-
parent Fire of Allah! This Fire does not burn, since It
almost coincides with the fire of your love.
However, the soul attains complete happiness
only when it has submerged into the Depths of the Al-
mighty, and even the memory of its separateness
abandons it.
I asked Allah: Oh Allah shining in my heart! Take
my entire body and use it so that this receptacle be-
longing to You can let Your Love manifest Itself and
shine in Your Creation!
Let Your Eyes look through my eyes at this
world! Let Your Lips tell people with my lips what You
want to tell!
In this way, my life was passing.
One day my Grand Master said that once He had
written a book about the Sufi Path, but it did not remain
on paper so that people could read it. Those thoughts
and sayings about the Truth asked again and again to
be manifested in the form of words and lines on paper.
I saw Him sitting at a table over the book and
writing those words. The rays of the sun were falling
on it. The book was shining! The lines under His hand
were lying on the pages. Allah was in Him and the
Words of Allah were becoming visible.
I took a pen and paper then and began to rewrite
this Book.
48
Now I give you this major work of my life. Guard
it not only as words written on paper, but as the Path of
Heart, which is waiting to be traversed by each of you!
Then Sulia stopped talking and continued Her
story without words.
They were sitting in silence. Each one perceived
what he or she could perceive from the infinite Source
of Wisdom called Sulia:
I feel each of you as Allah feels!
I know about you that which is still hidden even
from you yourselves, because His Love opened for Me
all secrets.
You, as souls, are naked before Me!
I know your past, all your burdens and sorrows!
I know your accomplishments and your desires!
Even your innermost thoughts are not hidden
from Me!
Allah lives in Me, shines with His Flame through
My Heart, and looks through My eyes! My lips utter His
Words!
We have not separated for so long that I even
forgot about how it is to be separated!
I am the One Who left myself, and therefore only
Allah abides here now!
My thoughts are filled with His wisdom!
My arms are united with His Power, and My heart
is merged with the Boundless Ocean of His Love,
Which has no limits in the universe!
I gave Him My life entirely and in return received
His Life in Me!
I am like the bottomless Vessel that is full of
Love of Allah! You can drink from It!
It will never be empty! I want to bring it to the lips
of everyone who is thirsty!
I am like the Lamp in which His tenderest and in-
finite Flame is burning! You can also light your lamps
from It!
49
Everyone needs to find God within himself or
herself! Carry the Flame of His Love in your hearts! Let
the heart be filled with the Flame of Love of Allah!
I am one of Those Who cognized His Infinity!
We all in Him are equal and merged!
The cognition of His Love awaits each of you!
Recommended Literature
1. Antonov V.V. (ed.) The Beauty of Pure Islam. Ban-
croft, New Atlanteans, 2008.
2. Antonov V.V. (ed.) Classics of Spiritual Philosophy
and the Present. Bancroft, New Atlanteans, 2008.
3. Antonov V.V. Ecopsychology. Bancroft, New At-
lanteans, 2008.
4. Antonov V.V. (ed.) Forest Lectures on the Highest
Yoga. Bancroft, New Atlanteans, 2008.
5. Antonov V.V. The Bhagavad Gita with Commen-
taries. New Atlanteans, 2008.
6. Antonov V.V. (ed.) Tao Te Ching. Bancroft, New
Atlanteans, 2008.
7. Antonov V.V. Spiritual Heart Religion of Unity.
Bancroft, New Atlanteans, 2008.
8. Antonov V.V. How God Can Be Cognized. Autobi-
ography of a Scientist Who Studied God. Bancroft,
New Atlanteans, 2009.
9. Teplyy A.B. Book of the Warrior of Spirit. Bancroft,
New Atlanteans, 2012.
50
Our video films:
10. Immersion into Harmony of Nature. The Way to Para-
dise. (Slideshow), 90 minutes (on CD or DVD).
11. Spiritual Heart. 70 minutes (on DVD).
12. Sattva (Harmony, Purity). 60 minutes (on DVD).
13. Sattva of Mists. 75 minutes (on DVD).
14. Sattva of Spring. 90 minutes (on DVD).
15. Art of Being Happy. 42 minutes (on DVD).
16. Keys to the Secrets of Life. Achievement of Immortal-
ity. 38 minutes (on DVD).
17. Bhakti Yoga. 47 minutes (on DVD).
18. Kriya Yoga. 40 minutes (on DVD).
19. Ecopsychology. 60 minutes (on DVD).
20. Yoga of Krishna. 80 minutes (on DVD).
21. Yoga of Buddhism. 130 minutes (on DVD).
22. Taoist Yoga. 91 minutes (on DVD).
23. Ashtanga Yoga. 60 minutes (on DVD).
24. Agni Yoga. 76 minutes (on DVD).
25. Yoga of Sathya Sai Baba. 100 minutes (on DVD).
26. Yoga of Pythagoras. 75 minutes (on DVD).
27. Psychical Self-Regulation. 112 minutes (on DVD).
51
You may order our books at Lulu e-store:
http://lulu.com/spotlight/spiritualheart
and at Amazon:
http://astore.amazon.com/spiritual-art-20
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