Osho on Sufi Msytic Al-Hillaj Mansoor

Born in 858 CE in the Farz town of Persia, Al-Hillaj Mansoor was a Persian mystic, poet and a teacher of Sufism. He is best known for his saying: "I am the Truth" (Ana'l-Ḥaqq). Al-Ḥallāj was attracted to an ascetic way of life at an early age. Not satisfied with merely having learned the Qurʾān (the Islāmic scripture) by heart, he was motivated to understand its deeper and inner meanings. During his adolescence (c. 874–894), at a time when Islamic mysticism was in its formative period, he began to withdraw from the world and to seek the company of individuals who were able to instruct him in the Ṣūfī way.

His best known written work is the Book of al-Tawasin (كتاب الطواسين), in which he used line diagrams and symbols to help him convey mystical experiences that he could not express in words. Among other Sufis, Al-Hallaj was an anomaly. Many Sufi masters felt that it was inappropriate to share mysticism with the masses, yet Al-Hallaj openly did so in his writings and through his teachings. This was exacerbated by occasions when he would fall into trances which he attributed to being in the presence of God. The milieu in which al-Ḥallāj preached and wrote was filled with social, economic, political, and religious tensions—all factors that contributed to his later arrest. His thought and activity had been provocative and had been interpreted in various ways, some of which left him highly suspect in the eyes of civil and religious authorities. Not long before his arrest al-Ḥallāj is said to have uttered the statement “Anā al-ḥaqq” (“I am the Truth”—i.e., God), which provided cause for the accusation that he had claimed to be divine. Such a statement was highly inappropriate in the view of most Muslims. After his arrest in Sūs and a lengthy period of confinement (c. 911–922) in Baghdad, al-Ḥallāj was eventually crucified and brutally tortured to death. A large crowd witnessed his execution. He is remembered to have endured gruesome torture calmly and courageously and to have uttered words of forgiveness for his accusers

Osho, when he mentions about Mansoor, says “Mansoor they murdered, butchered, and now Sufis go on claiming that he is one of the greatest Sufis. When he was being killed, even these Sufis were standing in the crowd and watching. And nobody even protested -- not even a very famous Sufi, Junaid, who was present in the crowd and who knew perfectly well that Mansoor was innocent, that Mansoor's declaration "I am God!" was not against God. Mansoor's declaration that "I am God!" was not a sin. In fact, Mansoor was no more there -- God had declared himself through him. Junaid knew it, but still was afraid of the crowd, kept quiet. And when people were throwing stones and mud to humiliate and to insult the dying man, he also threw a roseflower -- for two reasons. Must have been a very diplomatic mind: so people knew that he was also throwing something, that he was not in favour of Mansoor, and Mansoor would know that he had not thrown a stone or mud -- he had thrown a roseflower. But the story is tremendously beautiful... When he was being hit by stones and his whole body was oozing blood, he was laughing, he was in a state of celebration, because he was being sacrificed in the name of God. It was a moment to celebrate! But when he was hit by the rose flower, he wept -- the story says Mansoor wept. Somebody standing nearby asked him, "What is the matter with you? Stones are being thrown at you; all over the body you have been wounded, blood is flowing from everywhere, and you kept laughing and smiling. And a rose flower hit you, and you wept?"Mansoor said, "Yes, because the man who has thrown the rose flower knows that I am innocent. Still he is not courageous enough to say so. The others who are throwing stones at me are ignorant -- I am praying for them, I am praying to God, 'Forgive them because they know not what they are doing.' But I cannot pray for this man who has thrown the rose, that's why I am crying and weeping. What should I do now? I cannot say to God, 'Forgive this man because he knows not what he is doing' -- he knows perfectly well what he is doing, and he knows perfectly well that I am absolutely innocent." Now, Sufis go on claiming that Mansoor was one of the greatest enlightened people of the world, now they worship him. The ways of man are very strange. This world is really very flat as far as spirituality is concerned. And the so-called spirituality is very boring too. And the so-called spirituality is more or less rubbish -- rubbish that has gathered down the ages: theories, thoughts, systems, but not a single iota of experience.”

Buddha says: The first thing to remember when you move into the masses is to hold your tongue. Once he was convinced of the fact that people are in need of great help he insisted his whole life that, unless you find it absolutely contrary to your innermost nature, become a bodhisattva. But there are a few people for whom it may be against their inner nature; then they have to remain arhatas. Don't force them. Remember: people need help. If you can be of any help, do whatsoever you can, but if you cannot, if it feels simply something totally against your intrinsic nature, your inner voice, then forget all about it.

An arhata also helps in his own way; without helping he helps -- by his presence. He remains in his silence, he lives his ordinary life without telling anybody anything, without manifesting his experience, without expressing his joy. He lives joyously, but he makes no deliberate effort to communicate. Still, a few sensitive souls will be attracted to him. They will start following him silently, they will sit by his side. He will not say anything; they will listen to his silence. If he has arrived then there is an aura around him; they will be nourished by this aura. If he has found his home there will be such peace radiating that you will be bathed in it, you will be blessed to be with him. He will be able to help you only indirectly.

A hot and flustered city gent in his big car was hopelessly lost in a maze of country lanes. Spotting a local sitting on a gate, chewing a piece of straw, he drew up opposite and shouted, "I say, my good man, can you tell me where this road goes to?"

"No," was the reply.

"Can you tell me where that road goes to, that turns off to the left?"

"No."

Getting quite a bit irritated the city gent yelled, "Well, where does that road that goes off to the right go to?"

"Don't know," was the reply.

"You must be some sort of idiot!" yelled the frustrated gent.

"Maybe," said the cool man, "but at least I know where I am."

This is the way of the arhata: he knows where he is. He will not say anything about any road, anything about any way, but he knows where he is and he is utterly contented with that. You can sit by his side, you can be nourished by his presence, but he is not going to make any direct effort. Indirectly... if you can drink out of his presence you are welcome, but he will not call you forth, he will not seek and search for you.

Buddha says: Mostly it happens that fifty percent of the enlightened ones are arhatas and fifty percent are bodhisattvas. That's how nature keeps its balance on every plane. So don't be worried if you feel one day that you have arrived, but there is no desire to help anybody; then don't force it. Forcing it will be ugly, will be violent, will be destructive. If it is not there it is not there. Then God is happy with you as you are. But if you feel that there is a desire arising in you to help, to be compassionate, to hold somebody's hand, to make a boat and take people to the further shore, then don't be worried about the troubles. The troubles ARE there, but the world needs some people who can show the way, and only those who know can show the way. Even for them it is difficult. And the world is in immense need because it is being led by stupid people. It is being guided by politicians and priests, all kinds of people who don't know what they are doing. That's why it is always in such chaos.

Mulla Nasruddin's son came home late from school. The Mulla grabbed him and gave him a beating, saying, "Let this be a lesson to you not to come home late!"

The next day the boy came home with his clothes dirty from playing. The Mulla gave him a good smacking, saying, "Let this be a lesson to you not to dirty your clothes!"

The following day the boy came home with bad grades. The Mulla beat him again, saying, "Let this be a lesson to you not to get bad grades!"

The fourth day, as soon as the son came home, the Mulla just grabbed him and beat him.

"What is the matter, father?" asked the boy, crying. "Today I came on time, with clean clothes, and with good grades!"

"Let this be a lesson to you," said Mulla Nasruddin. "There is no justice in the world!" Now these are the people who have created the world and who are guiding it and who are teaching and who are bringing up new children -- to create more chaos in the world.

Yes, bodhisattvas are needed, but their path is far more arduous than the path of the arhatas. The mystic enjoys his bliss. He is like a beautiful roseflower, fragrant, dancing in the wind, in the sun, in the rain, but unconcerned about anything else. The bodhisattva takes the burden of others on his shoulders. He tries to help people who are mostly incapable of taking any help, who are not only incapable of taking any help but who are also very stubborn in their refusal of it, who feel offended if you try to help them. That's why Buddha says: HOLD YOUR TONGUE.

Be very conscious of what you are saying, to whom you are saying it, for a few reasons. The first: the truth that you have found cannot be said; language is inadequate. You can only indicate, you can only make a few gestures -- fingers pointing to the moon. You cannot argue for it. You can persuade, but you cannot convince anybody. It is not their experience, so don't be angry if they don't listen to you. If they go against you, don't feel that they are ungrateful. They are simply behaving the way they can behave. You have to be very very patient with them. You have to accept all kinds of abuse that they will throw on you. You have to accept their stones as flowers. Even if they kill you, you have to die loving them. That's how Jesus died: with a prayer on his lips to God, "Forgive them, for they know not what they are doing."

Secondly: to say the truth is to falsify it -- so try to say it indirectly; never make direct statements about it. Don't say "God is" or "God is not." These direct statements have created much confusion in the world; rather than helping people they have created conflict, wars, murders. Don't make any direct statement about God or truth or nirvana. You have to be very very subtle. You have to live in such a way that people become aware that you have attained something which is missing in their lives, that there is something more in life which is not available to them. That's all that you can do. Speak not in prose but in poetry. Sing a song -- no syllogism is needed. Let your laughter and your joy trigger some process in them so that they can also start searching and seeking. Let YOU be the proof rather than making great arguments. A bodhisattva is not a theologian, he does not argue for anything. He IS the proof; he gives no other proof.

Truth is something which is beyond words and beyond even meaning. It is closer to music. So let there be a music around you: HOLD YOUR TONGUE... otherwise your words may destroy the music. Silence is more musical, more eloquent. Words give to truth a certain meaning, naturally, because words have meanings. Meaning gives a frame to the truth which is infinite. It is like when you are looking from the window towards the starry sky and your window gives a frame to the sky. The sky has no frame; it begins nowhere, ends nowhere, but now your window is making a frame on the sky. That frame belongs to the window, but the person who has always lived inside the window and has never gone out of it will think that the sky is square like the window, that it has the same shape and form. People live in words, they have never known anything wordless, so give them an experience of wordlessness. Help them to meditate. Rather than giving them a doctrine give them an experience.

Third: remember always, whatsoever you say is bound to be misunderstood by millions. So don't feel offended, don't feel angry, don't feel judged. When they are misunderstanding you they are simply saying something about themselves, not about you. Unless you can remain cool with all kinds of misunderstandings being heaped upon you, you cannot be of any help to them; then you yourself will need help.

Two very hippie hippies were walking down a country lane.

One hippie turned to the other and asked, "Did you shit in your pants?"

"No," replied the other.

A little further down the lane the first hippie again asked the other, "Are you sure you haven't shit in your pants?"

"Quite sure," said the other.

Further on down the lane the first hippie said, "Come on, take down your pants and let me see."

When the other hippie had obliged, the first hippie exclaimed, "There, I told you so!"

"Oh," said the other, "I thought you meant today!"

People understand according to themselves…People have their own language, their own minds, their own prejudices, their own concepts, their own systems of philosophy, religion. When you talk to them you are talking to a mind which is full of garbage; you are not talking to somebody who is silent. And unless one is silent one is bound to misunderstand. Hence Buddha says: HOLD YOUR TONGUE.

And the fourth reason is: truth is something existential, it is not philosophical. Philosophy can be talked about; in fact, you can't do anything with philosophy except talk about it. About and about it goes, round and round it goes. The word 'about' means round and round. But truth is existential. You have to help people to taste it. So talk only if you see that through talk you can persuade a person to meditate, to be silent. It is a very paradoxical effort, hence the difficulty. You have to talk to people to help them become silent. You have to talk about silence because people can't understand silence directly. It is very absurd -- talking about silence, teaching people to be silent -- but that has to be done, particularly in the beginning.

DO NOT EXALT YOURSELF....

It is very natural when you become enlightened. It is not egoistic, it happens very naturally. It has nothing to do with the ego because if the ego is still there you cannot become enlightened.

Buddha says: HOLD YOUR TONGUE. DO NOT EXALT YOURSELF... because when you become enlightened the ego HAS disappeared -- you can become enlightened only when you have fulfilled that condition -- but now the experience is so vast, so overflowing, so ecstatic that it starts expressing itself. You have to learn....

It is said of al-Hillaj Mansoor -- who was crucified like Jesus, in a far more inhuman and cruel way than Jesus himself -- it is said about him that the day he became enlightened, he shouted, "ANA'L HAQ -- I am the truth! I am God!"

His master, Junnaid, was present. He came close to him, whispered in his ear, "Mansoor, keep it inside you. Please keep it inside you! Contain it! I know it is very difficult to contain it -- it is so vast, almost uncontainable. It expresses itself. I know you are not uttering it, it is being uttered by some unknown force, by God himself, but still I say to you, hold your tongue!"

And Mansoor promised, "I will hold my tongue." He understood the point, but again and again he would forget. Again and again he would come into that same state of inner light, joy, bliss, and again the shout -- the lion's roar, as Buddha used to call it -- would come out of him in spite of himself.

He would come and apologize to Junnaid, his master, but the master would say, "Mansoor, something has to be done; otherwise you are going to get into trouble unnecessarily. You could be of great help to humanity, but this way you will be unnecessarily in trouble. And not only you, you will stop my work too. It happened to me too, but I had to contain it and you have to contain it too."

But Mansoor was not capable of it. Junnaid sent him to Kaaba for a three-year pilgrimage. "Maybe on this three-year-long journey, being with many mystics, he may cool down. The experience is so new; by and by he will become accustomed to it." But he could not become accustomed to it; when he came back he was again in the same state. He was caught by the king, by the people... because it was a Mohammedan country and it was one of the greatest crimes, the greatest sins, to call oneself God, to declare oneself God. He was killed.

For centuries it has been discussed among Sufis who was greater, Junnaid or Mansoor. Ordinarily one would say Mansoor: he was really a great martyr: he suffered and suffered laughingly. He died with laughter. Even Jesus had gone a little forsaken. When the last nail was put in his hands he looked at the sky and said, "God, have you forsaken me? Have you forgotten me? Why is all this happening to me?" There must have been a little doubt, just a shadow of doubt. He understood immediately, he apologized. He said, "No, forgive me. Let thy will be done." But for a moment he had wavered. Mansoor never wavered. And he was killed so mercilessly that Jesus' crucifixion seems to be very humane compared to Mansoor's. First his legs were cut off, then his hands were cut off, then his eyes were destroyed, then his tongue was cut off, then his head was cut off. But even though all this suffering was there he was all laughter.

Before his tongue was cut off, somebody asked, "Why are you laughing?"

He said, "I am laughing because you cannot destroy my experience; whatsoever you do is irrelevant. And I am laughing because you are killing one person and I am somebody else. You are such fools, that's why I am laughing! And I am also laughing at God. I am laughing at him, 'You cannot deceive me. In whatsoever form you come I will recognize you. I recognize you in the butcher who has cut off my feet, who has cut off my hands. It is you who are in him, and nobody else.'"

In fact, Junnaid seems to be a little cowardly; many people think that he was a little cowardly. Why should he tell Mansoor to keep it inside? But that is not true -- he was not a coward. In fact, he sacrificed far more than Mansoor. Mansoor's sacrifice is apparent; Junnaid's sacrifice is not apparent, it is very subtle. To contain the truth when it happens is a superhuman feat, it is a miracle. And he tries to contain it so that he can help people. He is a bodhisattva and Mansoor is an arhata. He cares nothing for the work, he cares nothing for anybody else. He has attained, now there is no problem. Death is not a problem at all, he knows he is immortal. Junnaid is working silently, in the dark, to help people who are blind. And you don't know HIS suffering. His suffering is that he has to contain something which is uncontainable.

Buddha says: DO NOT EXALT YOURSELF.... Avoid any exaltation, avoid any declaration -- unless you find it is going to help, unless you find it is going to prepare the way; then it is okay.

Buddha himself declared, "I am the most perfect enlightened one." He knew that this was going to help. But if Jesus had asked him he would have said, "No, contain it," because Jesus was in a wrong country with wrong people. To declare there that, "I am God" was just asking for your death, nothing else. Jesus could only work for three years. Hence Christianity is so poor, because the master lived only three years. Up to his thirtieth year he was working for his own enlightenment. When he was ready he came out of the monasteries, started working, and then lived only three years. By the age of thirty-three he was crucified. Now, three years' time is not enough at all. Buddha worked for forty-two years; even that is not enough.

If Jesus had asked Buddha, Buddha would have told him, "Keep quiet, work silently. Just be an ordinary rabbi. There is no need to declare that you are the Son of God. You know it, that's enough; and God knows it, that's enough." But in India, Buddha himself declared it. It is a totally different milieu, it is a totally different climate. For centuries buddhas have happened in this country, they have prepared the way; hence it is very simple to declare, no problem. Still Buddha says: Be very cautious, because your function is to LIGHTEN THE WAY. Don't create more trouble for people who follow you. They are already in trouble, they are living in hell. You have to make their burden light.

FOR YOUR WORDS ARE SWEET.

If your words come out of silence, compassion, understanding, out of absolute emptiness -- if your words don't come from somebody who is extraordinary but from somebody who is just ordinary -- then they will be sweet and they will help people far more deeply than anything else.

FOLLOW THE TRUTH OF THE WAY.

What is the truth of the way? Buddha is always for experience and never for believing. He says: Whatsoever you have experienced, now follow it. Don't believe it because it has been told by other buddhas; follow it only when you have experienced and follow it only to the extent that you have experienced. If you follow it to that extent, your light will fall a little further ahead and you will be able to follow in that light a little more and a little more. And just by a small lamp one can travel thousands of miles; one can pass the dark night of the soul very easily, howsoever long it is. And remember never to find a shortcut. Belief is a shortcut; experience is not a shortcut.

Source:
Listen to complete discourse at mentioned below link.
Discourse Series: The Dhammapada: The Way of the Buddha, Vol 11, Chapter #1
Chapter title: Hold your tongue
11 April 1980 am in Buddha Hall

References:
Osho has spoken on Sufi Masters and Mystics Al-Hillaj-Mansoor, Farid, Junnaid, Rabiya Al Adabiya, Jalaladdin Rumi, Sarmad, Omar Khayyam and many more in His discourses. Some of these can be referred to in the following books/discourses:

1. Be Still and Know
2. Come Come Yet Again Come
3. The Perfect Master, Vol 1, 2
4. Beyond Enlightenment
5. The New Dawn
6. The Sword and The Lotus
7. Om Shantih Shantih Shantih
8. And the Flowers Showered
9. The Razor’s Edge
10. The Revolution
11. Sufis: The People of the Path, Vol 1, 2
12. The Empty Boat
13. Light on the Path
14. Tao: The Three Treasures, Vol 2
15. Zen: The Quantum Leap From Mind to No-Mind