“What can you ask for? [God] has already given all that can ever be received by you.”
It is said of a great Sufi mystic, Bayazid, that one night, Khidr, the great angel who goes on helping people on the path, appeared to him.
The dark room, where Bayazid was meditating, became suddenly illuminated. He opened his eyes; the light was so much that he could see it, even with closed eyes. He opened his eyes: Khidr was there.
And Khidr said, ”God is very happy with you. You can ask for anything and your desire will be fulfilled.”
Bayazid said, ”But you came a little late. All my desires have disappeared; now I have no desire.”
Khidr insisted. He said, ”This will be insulting to God. You have to ask! You can ask for anything, but you have to ask. This will be an insult to God, because when he offers, you have to ask for something.”
He insisted so much. Again and again, Bayazid looked and thought, but no desire was arising. And he would say, ”But what can I do? I cannot find a thing to ask. All is always fulfilled. His compassion is such that before I can feel the desire, it is already fulfilled; before I can even formulate the desire in my head, it is fulfilled. Before it reaches me, it reaches him – so what can I ask for?”
But Khidr was insisting and saying, ”This is insulting and God will be very angry.”
So Bayazid said, ”Okay, if you insist, and if you think that this is not adab – that this is not the right manner to behave with God – then tell him that I desire only him and nothing else.”
Khidr laughed and said, ”You fool – you missed!”
Even to say, “I want God” is to ask. Even to desire God is a desire. […]
What can you ask for? He has already given all that can ever be received by you. Your cup is full! Just look within: your cup is full, nothing is lacking.
That’s why I go on saying to you: You are gods already, all is fulfilled. See it! Nothing is missing, nothing is lacking in you, you are perfect as you are. This is the greatest declaration, and of all the mystics of the world, that you are perfect as you are.
The Upanishads say, “Out of perfection, only perfection can come.”
Osho, Unio Mystica, Vol 2, Ch 7
Series compiled by Shanti
All excerpts of this series can be found in: 1001 Tales
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