This is the tale of the Sufi mystic Rabi’a. +
It is a good story that illuminates our relation not only to death but also to suffering in this life. Rabi’a was so immersed in god-love that she did not bother about her material conditions. Some mystics tried to argue with Rabi’a about faith. What is faith, asked one. He answered it himself, saying, “Faith means being patient with suffering that god inflicts.” Rabi’a answered: “That stinks of egotism.” Another mystic argued that faith meant being grateful for suffering that god inflicts. Rabia felt that was not very clear either. She answered from her own experience: “Faith means having such a clear vision of the master that one is oblivious to the suffering he inflicts.”
Mmmm, maybe sometimes, u feel that in a pose, the distancing and indifference to pain -- when the body seems to disappear and with it, its obsessive awareness of itself... then the coin drops, ringing of something more and beyond:)
Reading about Rabi'a al adawiyya is very poignant...If u like mystic stories, hers are fantastic... U must get to know her, to understand the idea of yoga ...and its mystic underpinnings and how the mystic experience is common world around...
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