The Water of Life

I heard a Persian Sufi Story from the land of Rumi . . .

This tells us right away that this story is about something more than what it's about.

This suggests to us that it is a story worth considering

for a jewel that is hidden in the mud.

This tells us it is a dream about Reality or the Reality of the Dream

that we find ourselves in.

This tells us that this is a story about ourselves . . . .

Once upon a time, a wise man said that the day would come

when all the water in the world,

except that which had been collected and gathered for oneself would disappear,

and then different waters would come to replace what had been lost.

But, the wise man continued, anyone who drank the new water would lose their mind.

So, one man took the prophecy seriously, and he began to store up water

for the coming of the drought.

And, the day that had been predicted came, and every body of water

was emptied out and dried up.

The man who had stored up his own supply of water drank from it while many died.

Then, as suddenly as it had gone, the water returned again

and the lakes and rivers and streams and wells and ocean all filled up with water again.

People thirst-fully drank this water, and then they went crazy.

But the man who had listened to the wise man's prophecy

continued to drink from his own supply,

and he kept his sanity.

He was the only sane person left among the madmen,

and therefore, he was called crazy.

After a time of being criticized by all as a crazy man,

even though he thought and felt that he was the only one who was sane,

he poured out his own water onto the ground, and drank the new water . . .

He lost his mind,

but all the madmen now decided that he was sane

and welcomed him amongst them.

Mevlani Dervishes of Kanya

Peter Malakoff: Stories and Considerations from the Great Tradition of Religion and Spirituality

WEBSITE: www.petermalakoff.com