bollywood sufi metaphore

laaga chunari me daag chhupaau kaise

nahi hona tha -- from dil se

fen di maine gali mejhoothi rasmo ki angoothi
tod diye sab laaz ke pahre mein har kaid se chhooti
vaapis kar aayi baabul ko mein shaadi ka joda
maine pyaa rko pahan liya re pyar ko sar pe oodha
pag pag thokar khaau chalti jaau ankhiya meeche
aage mere saajan ka ghar duniya rah gayi piichhe
ek dua maangoo rab se bichhada yaar mujhe mil jaaye
mere peer-o-muurshid mera pyar mujhe mil jaaye
apna laal dupatta maine il ke khoon se ranga
ye sangam ho jaaye saagar se mil jaaye ganga

Teraa Tujhko SauNp de, kya laagat hai mor

Mera mujhme kuchh naahi hai jo hove sab tor.

A beautiful couplet from a hindi song “Laagi tujhse man ki lagan” from a bollywood movie ‘paap’ describing the theme of total devotion towards GOD. This theme has always been there in poetry and music. Translation of these lines are as follows: “I am submitting myself to you as I am all yours only.”

This kind of total devotion can also be seen in poetry in other forms, such as a drunkard’s devotion towards wine. No matter what, he always goes to drink. Without drinking, he can’t live and there is no fixed time or routine for drinking. He drinks whenever he feels like and he drinks by denying all social and other obligations.

Another form of devotion in poetry is “moth and candle” as in Hindi “shamma-parwana”. A moth just loves the light of the candle, even though it would burn into the candle by reaching it. But that fear never occurs to the moth. No matter what, the moth always tries to reach the candle and submits itself into the flame of the candle by destroying it’s very self.

And nonetheless, Love between two human beings. Many love stories are casted upon True Love or total devotion towards one’s beloved. Like Laila-Majnu, Heer-Ranjha and many more. Lover, whether it is a moth, a drunkard or a majnu, welcomes not only goodness or blessing or love but evil or curse or hate of beloved as well.

These four themes have been widely used in poetry, Love towards the Beloved with total devotion. If all this is to be taken into account as forms of metaphor for GOD, this is the best description of Sufism. Sufism’s main belief is to devote yourself toward God and do all that is possible, to reach God. “I for you, you for whomever you want to be, I will love you forever without any expectation” -- This is what they call “True Love” or “Sufi Love”.

Often the great Sufi poets lived during times of religious fundamentalism. The authorities censored them, because they openly taught that man could have a direct contact with God. As a result poets developed an increasing array of metaphors and synonyms to describe God. Frequently we come across references such as Friend, Beloved, Father, Mother, the Wine seller, the Problem giver, and the Problem solver. This ambiguity in describing God served a dual purpose. Firstly it made it difficult for his poetry to be censored for its unorthodox mystical ideas. It also illustrates the inherent difficulty a poet has in describing the nature of God. The infinite is beyond all names and form, how can the poet describe that which is beyond words?

Here is a piece of poetry of Rumi (1207-1273 CE), (a very famous Sufi poet) whose book was the best selling poetry work in America in 2006. This particular poem describes the advancement towards God in death and incarnation and finally being united with God:

I died as mineral and became a plant,

I died as plant and turned to animal.

I died as animal and became Man.

What fear I, then, I cannot diminish by dying?

Once when I die as Human, I’ll become an angel,

And I shall give up angelhood,

I shall become what no mind ever conceived.

For Not-Being, ‘adam, calls in an organ like tune:

“Verily we are His, and to Him we return!”

However, Sufism is often considered to be an off-shoot of Islam, as most of the Sufi Masters happened to be Muslim and their basic beliefs were also from the Quran. Sufis do follow the Kalima that is “la-illaha-il-allah”, which means “there is no deity except God”. They believe that Muhammad (PBUH) was a messenger of God, to whom God Him-self revealed the Holy Quraan. The basic philosophy of Sufism can be described as “Wahdat-al-Wajood” the "Unity of Being", emphasizing that 'there is no true existence except the Ultimate Truth (God)'.

But it is also speculated that the concept of “wahdat-al-wajood” could be the product of Arab interaction with Hindu mystics and literature, specifically in reference to the non-dualistic teachings of the Upanishads, which preach very similar concepts in regards to reality being an illusion and the only true existence being Brahman.

But Sufism is not bound to Islam or any other religion. A well known example of that is ‘Meera Bai’ from ChittorGarh (Rajasthan), who devoted herself, to Lord Krishna. She loved God as her beloved and continued to do so even after her marriage. After the death of her husband, she left the palace and started wandering from temple to temple in search of Lord Krishna and finally, it is said, that she immersed into an idol of Lord Krishna. A classic example of Sufism, and I find no reason to discard it from Sufism.

In love, nothing exists between breast and Breast.

Speech is born out of longing,

True description from the real taste.

The one who tastes, knows;

The one who explains, lies.

How can you describe the true form of Something,

In whose presence you are blotted out?

And in whose being you still exist?

And who lives as a sign for your journey?

-- a beautiful poem by a female Sufi Poet, ‘Rabi'a-al-Adawiyya’ (717-801 CE), who first expressed the relationship with the divine referring to God as the Beloved.

The Sufi sees the truth in every religion. If invited to offer prayers in a church, a mosque, a synagogue, or a temple, the Sufi is ready to do so, knowing that all people worship the same God, the Only Being, no matter what Name they use. Yet the Sufi's true house of worship is the human heart, in which the Divine Beloved lives. Sufism is a religion for those who wish to learn religion from it, a philosophy for those wanting wisdom from it, a mystical path for any who would be guided by it to the unfoldment of the Soul, and yet it is beyond all these things. It is the Light of Life, which is the sustenance of every soul. Sufism is the Message of Love, Harmony, and Beauty.