Remove duality and do away with all disputes
by Bulleh ShahEnglish version by J. R. Puri and T. R. Shangari
Original Language Punjabi
Remove duality and do away with all disputes;
The Hindus and Muslims are not other than He.
Deem everyone virtuous, there are no thieves.
For, within every body He himself resides.
How the Trickster has put on a mask!
 | -- from Bulleh Shah: The Love-Intoxicated Iconoclast (Mystics of the East series), by J. R. Puri / Tilaka Raja Puri |
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/ Image by GollyGforce /
Today is the beginning of Eid ul Adha, the Muslim holiday of sacrifice, a time to offer what is precious in life to God.
That word "sacrifice"... many of us instinctively recoil on hearing it. It conjures ideas of self-impoverishment, a sort of self-cruelty. We imagine giving up something valuable, handing it over to some other vaguely defined person we name God. Sacrifice, properly understood, is not that at all.
Sacrifice is really about opening the heart and the recalibration of our relationship to every person and every thing. It is consciously acknowledging the value of what is specific, while recognizing it as part of the greater Whole. Doing this, we restore the vision of vast Unity, establishing that at the center of the heart; orienting from that perspective, we can then understand the true value of a human relationship, a job, a home, a meal, a possession.
When we don't regularly do this, we start to take the Trickster's game too seriously. Instead of delight at the endless variation of existence, we become bewildered by the mask and forget how to see into the heart of things. Seeing, we once again become participants in the game, not pieces.
Sacrifice, in other words, is not about loss; it is about balance and clear vision. It is about removing duality. To sacrifice means to make sacred, to reawaken awareness of the sacred.
Have a wonderful weekend, with renewed awareness of the sacred everywhere.
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