Search Inside or Outside?
A famous Sufi mystic, Rabiya, was searching for something on the street outsider her small hut. The sun was setting and darkness was descending, as few people gathered around her. "What have you lost? What are you searching for? Perhaps we can help," they said to Rabiya.
Rabiya said, "I have lost my needle."
One amongst the people said, "Well, the sun is setting now and it will be very difficult to find the needle. Where has it fallen? That'll help us narrow down the area on this big road. If we know the exact place, it will be easier to find it."
Rabiya told them, "It is better not to ask me that question -- because, actually, it has not fallen on the road at all. It has fallen inside my house."
Everyone started giggling as if she was joking. Then a skeptic says out loud, "We always knew that you were a little insane! If the needle has fallen inside the house, then why are you searching for it on the road?"
"For a very simple reason: inside the house there is no light and on the outside a little light is still there," Rabiya replied.
The people laughed and started dispersing. Rabiya called them back and said, "Listen! That’s exactly what you are doing: I was just following your example. You go on seeking bliss in the outside world without asking the most fundamental question: where exactly have I lost it?"
After a pause, she continues, "You have lost it inside, and yet you are looking for it on the outside for the very same reason -- your senses are outward bound, your ears hear sounds on the outside, your hands touch things on the outside. That's the reason why you are searching outside. For a very long time, I was also just searching on the outside. But the day I searched inwards, I was surprised. That is where I lost it and that is the only place it can be found."
Rabia Basri was born ​between 713 and 717 AD in Basra, Iraq. ​Much of her early life is narrated by Farid ud-Din Attar, a later Sufi Saint and poet, who used earlier sources. Rabia herself did not leave any written works.
SEED QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: What does searching inwards mean to you? Can you share a personal experience of a time you searched inwards? What practices of searching inwards work well for you?
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23 Past Reflections
On Sep 27, 2014 Prakash Talathi wrote :
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On Aug 28, 2014 Pooja G Avinash wrote :
A very inspiring story. Troubles are everywhere. And we as humans tend to be disturbed easily. Hence getting disturbed we try and find a solutions by conveying our issues to others but we forget to ask ourselves. We are the best judge of the situation or the problem we have faced. Hence searching inwards means questioning our own self our mind and soul. As they are the best witness and hence can provide the best justice to our issues.
1 reply: Paashi | Post Your Reply
On Aug 26, 2014 Murlidhar Rao wrote :
It is very true. Pleasures are in the out side world real happiness is inside. We see and feel the world by our scenes (Indrias) which can see only the external world. We get attracted by its glamor and desire to posses them. whole life is spent in this process. we never get it because it is not there as rightly said by the Sufi Saint. exhausted by the mad race to posses when we sit quietly and look in side we find the true happiness.Then we realize how foolishly we have wasted our life.
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On Aug 26, 2014 Amit wrote :
Searching inwards is like looking at a mirror! You are looking at the reflections produced by it, reflection is not the original. similarly we are looking at any events or objects in this cause and effect world. our interpretation of this event or object is not the original. Beauty here is that our manifested awareness can produce infinite possibility of interpretations. best one it can produce is when you are in peace, in love and in alert awarefullness!!
1 reply: Rebecca | Post Your Reply
On Aug 25, 2014 Dandapani Y wrote :
Simple and yet profound. I have a related observation to make. As I search in the outside word without knowing what I am searching for , I am generally joined by a few others who, I think, will help me in my search. In the process I am taken far far away from my original search though that itself was unclear to me. It dawns on me that I am the only one who knows what I am searching for and I am the only one who can identify it when my search ends in success.
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On Aug 25, 2014 sharad wrote :
v r spending lots of our energy in unnecessary thinking n actions towards understanding of ways for getting peace,happiness etc Just spend the same energy in simply being good n doing good.u will get wat u r looking for.
1 reply: Joginder | Post Your Reply
On Aug 24, 2014 Jagdish P Daveh wrote :
2 replies: Neeti, Joginder | Post Your Reply
On Aug 24, 2014 david doane wrote :
1 reply: Rebecca | Post Your Reply
On Aug 23, 2014 Rebecca wrote :
3 replies: Paashi, Neelam, Me | Post Your Reply
On Aug 22, 2014 Kristin Pedemonti wrote :
Profound and so true as humor often is. Searching inward means being mindful and allowing oneself to slow down and Listen. Listen to the heart and inner voice which often reveals our true calling or even answers to questions. When we are peaceful inside, when we are loving inside, then it goes forth outside of us as well. I heard this story before too, it was attributed to Nassrudin who lived in Turkey in around the late 1200s. Thank you for sharing what is most likely the seed for this story.
1 reply: Blessings | Post Your Reply
On Aug 22, 2014 Abhishek Thakore wrote :
When I find myself searching for happiness too feverishly, I realise that it is like any other ambitious search that others are on (search for money, or for fame for example).
So for me searching inwards is better done as trying and resting inwards i.e. waiting and actually letting go of any 'search'. As I see what is happening, between the joys and sadness, and extreme agitation and peace, there is awareness....that is what I find myself searching for....
And in the rare glimpses that I have of it, happiness and sadness matter much lesser, and I can't even tell which is which or which will lead to which....
The inner and the outer dynamically interplay for me....the shifts in the inner reflect in the way I see the outer, and the beauty of the outer permeates within as well...