Be aware even if you make a mistake; it can also be an opportunity. When you realize, feel in your heart, that you have gone against your personal truth, that you have made a deal, allow the tears to flow very deeply within you. They can be transformational.
No one else in Sufism can compare with al-Hillai Mansur. Many people have been killed in the past by so-called religious people. Jesus was simply crucified and Mansur was cut into pieces. First he was crucified, then his legs were cut off, but he was alive. Then his hands were cut off. Then they tore out his tongue, gouged out his eyes - he was alive - and, finally, they cut off his head...
But what crime did Mansur commit? Only that he said: "Ana'l Hag!" This means: “I am the truth, I am God!”
In India he would have been worshiped for centuries, but Muhammad does not tolerate this. One hundred thousand people threw stones at Mansur, mocking him. Mansour laughed. When his legs were cut off, he took the blood in his palms. Someone asked him what he was doing. Mansur said:
- How can you wash your hands with water? The crimes you commit are in your blood, your sins are in your blood; only blood can wash them away. I wash my hands, I prepare for prayer.
When they began to cut off his hands, he said:
- Wait a little! Let me pray now because without hands it will be difficult.
He looked up to the sky and said to God:
- You won't deceive me! I see you in everyone present here! Did you come as a killer? How's the enemy? You will not deceive me: no matter what form you come in, I recognize you, because I recognized you within myself!
People threw stones and dirt at him, and Mansur laughed and smiled. But suddenly he began to cry because Shibli, his friend, his student, threw a rose at him. Again people were surprised and again asked him why he cried. Mansur said:
“The people throwing stones at me don’t know what they are doing, but Shibli knows.” It will be very difficult for him to receive God's forgiveness.
Shibli was later asked why he threw the rose and he said:
— I was afraid of the crowd. If I hadn't thrown something, their anger might have turned on me. I couldn't throw a stone because I know Mansour is innocent. But I didn’t have the courage not to give up anything. The flower was just a compromise. And Mansur cried because of my fear, my cowardice.
Mansur's tears completely changed Shibli and became a transformation for him. This took at least 12 years of travel; like a tramp, a beggar, constantly crying, in incredible heartache. All his life he repented. He said:
- I killed Mansur. No one but me could do this, but I could understand, I could protect him. And I followed the crowd: I threw a flower at this man.
Repentance can become a very, very deep phenomenon in you if you understand responsibility. Even the smallest thing, if it goes deep into your core, if tears flow not just from your eyes, but from every part of your body, can become your transformation.
That's what a Master, a great Master, can do. The master tries while he is alive, or dying, or has already died. He tries to use every opportunity to transform people.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru