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everything in the world, but you have not seen me. Look who is standing before you. "
Majnu is reported to have said, "Get lost. I have decided only to see Laila; nothing else is worth seeing. You may be God, but I am not concerned. Just get lost, don't disturb me."
Shocked, God said, "What are you saying? I have never come to anyone on my own. Seekers and devotees pray and search and practice -- then too it is very, very difficult to see me -- and I have come on my own and you have not even asked for me. I am coming just as a gift, and you are rejecting?"
And Majnu said, "If you really want to be seen by me, come as Laila, because I cannot see anything else. Even if I open my eyes I cannot see anything else. I look at a tree, and Laila is there. I look at the stars, and Laila is there. Laila is in my heart and she has possessed my whole heart, and whatsoever I see I see through my heart. I am sorry, but there is no possibility, because there is no space left in my heart for anything else. I am sorry. Excuse me, but go away. Don't disturb me."
This is ishq. Even God... yes, even God can be renounced.
When you love, when you really love, there are no conditions. It is unconditional. You love for the sheer joy of it. And love is absolute -- it knows no wavering, it knows no hesitation.
Sufism is a great experiment in human consciousness: how to transform human consciousness into ishq. It is alchemy.
And this is what I am doing here with you. You may be aware, you may not be aware of it, but this whole experiment is to create in you as much love energy as possible. Man can be transformed into pure love energy. Just as there is atomic energy discovered by physics, and a small atom can explode into tremendous power, each cell of your heart can explode into tremendous love. That love is called ishq. Sufism is the path of love.
Remember that it is a path, it is not a dogma. Mohammedans have a particular word for dogma: they call it shariat. Dogma, doctrine, religion, morality, philosophy, theology, all are contained in shariat. Sufism is not a shariat, it does not depend on books. Sufis are not the people of books.
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