The Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship
Children's Stories
Hunger
My love you, my grandchildren. Do you know how much trouble you undergo just for the sake of this one-span stomach? It constantly demands to be fed. Even though it is very small, you spend your entire life feeding it. You run about under all kinds of circumstances searching for food. Somehow you manage to feed it, even if you have to steal or lie or use deception and trickery. All this effort is made to satisfy the one-span stomach.
But there is also another kind of hunger, a hunger of the soul, a hunger for that complete treasure which is millions of years old, a hunger for life, a hunger for wisdom, love, and compassion, a hunger for justice and good conduct, a hunger for the kingdom of God. This is an enormous hunger.
My grandchildren, if you strive to appease this hunger of the soul, then the hunger of the one-span stomach will leave. If you can satisfy the hunger of the soul, it will redeem you from slavery and give you the absolute liberation of your soul. Your troubles, your difficulties, and your sadness will leave you, and you will attain peace. If the hunger of the soul is satisfied, all other hungers will end. But you have not worked toward that goal.
Children, do you know how to cut down a tree? You cannot just remove its branches. You must cut the trunk off at ground level and then dig down into the earth and cut the roots. In the same way, in order to end your soul's hunger, you must sever the roots of your karma, with wisdom. If it takes too long to uproot your karma, then at least try to cut off desire. At least separate the trunk of mind and desire from their connection to the earth. It will take a long time for them to sprout up again, and in the meantime you can do whatever needs to be done and accomplish a great deal of work. But never stop trying to uproot those deeper connections. If you remove only the branches and let the roots remain, you will never be able to complete your task. Eventually karma must be totally uprooted. That can only be done with wisdom.
My love you, my grandchildren. You must consider the reason for your hunger and then control it with wisdom. You must understand which hunger you need to appease before you can control anything else. That is the only way to attain peace in your life. May God help you. Amin.
- M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen
Come to the
Secret Garden: Sufi Tales of Wisdom