Sunday, 3 November 2019

"..after that, in every face, I can see that same face....because they cannot divide... Even if the devil comes to stand before me, I see the same face....."
It happened: one Mohammedan mystic woman, Rabiya al- Adabia, changed many lines in her Koran. Wherever it is said, 'Hate the devil,' she crossed it out. Then once another mystic, Hassan, was staying with Rabiya, and on the journey, he had forgotten his own copy of the Koran somewhere, and in the morning, for morning prayers, he needed it. So he asked for Rabiya's copy; Rabiya gave it to him. He was a little surprised in the beginning because the Koran had collected so much dust -- that meant it was not used every day. It was not used at all it seemed; for many months it had not been used -- but he thought it would be impolite to say something so he opened the Koran and started his morning prayer.
Then he was surprised even more, even shocked, because NOBODY can correct the Koran, and there were many corrections. Wherever it is said, 'Hate the devil,' Rabiya had simply crossed it out completely, rejected it.
He couldn't pray, he was disturbed so much: this Rabiya had gone heretic, she had become an atheist, or what?... because it is impossible for a Mohammedan to conceive that you can correct the Koran. It is God's word, nobody can correct it. That's why they say that now no more prophets will be coming because if a prophet comes again and he says something which is not in the Koran, it will create trouble. So the doors have been closed after Mohammed -- he is the last prophet.
And they are very clever. They say there have been many other prophets in the past: he is not the first, but he is the last. And now no more messages will be coming from God -- he has given the final one with Mohammed. So how dare this woman Rabiya! She is correcting the Koran? He couldn't pray, he was so much disturbed. He finished somehow, went to Rabiya.
Rabiya was an enlightened woman. Very few women have become enlightened in the whole world; Rabiya is one of them. Looking at Hassan she said, 'It seems you couldn't do your prayer. It seems the dust on the Koran disturbed you. So, you are still attached to things like dust? And it seems my corrections in the Koran must have shocked you very much.'
Hassan said, 'How... how could you know?'
Rabiya said, 'I passed by when you were praying and I felt all around you much disturbance; it was not a prayerful prayer at all. It was so neurotic, the vibrations -- so what is the matter? Tell me and be finished with it!'
Hassan said, 'Now that you have started yourself, don't think I am impolite, but I couldn't believe a woman like you could correct the Koran!'
Rabiya said, 'But look first at my difficulty: the moment I came to realize, the moment I came face to face with the divine, after that, in every face I can see that same face. No other face is possible. Even if the devil comes to stand before me, I see the same face. So how can I hate the devil now that I have realized the face of the divine that I have come to see? Now every face is his. I had to correct, and if ever I meet Mohammed I have to tell him frankly that these words are not good. They may be good for the ignorant because they divide; but they are not good for those who know, because they cannot divide.'
Source - Osho Book "And the Flowers Showered"