If one is the follower of a particular religious tradition, one will have been taught stories connected with the elements of that faith. The ancient Egyptians, for example, had legends about Isis and Osiris and many other divine beings, as the Greeks had Zeus and all the gods of Olympus. Whatever the belief, the followers will – perhaps – hold these to be sacred and factual history, whereas to those of other traditions, and to those who believe that they do not believe in anything, they may be disregarded as colourful bits of fancy, no more than good material for an entertaining movie. The point of view of the Sufi, though, is that one need not practice a certain faith to see that such legends carry wisdom, sometimes obvious, but sometimes well hidden from view, like butter waiting to be churned from the milk. As always, it is the wise who take the trouble to look within and find wisdom.

The Inner Call recently posted a short tale about a moment in the great Indian epic the Ramayana, in which Lord Rama appears on the battle-field to rescue the faithful monkeys that on Rama’s behalf are fighting the rakshasa demons. The devotees of Rama, and there are millions, will easily imagine the joy of the monkeys upon discovering that their Lord has suddenly taken form around them. And those who are not devoted to Rama can still grasp the lesson that the Divine – in whatever form – has compassion for the needs of the faithful and cares for them. Since we all have battles in our lives, struggles that never seem to end, this reminder could help prop us up when we are bending under the rain of heavy blows that come from all around.

What we might overlook, though, is that the story presents us with a choice. Most probably, we automatically identify with the monkeys and not with the rakshasas – we are all on the side of ‘good’, aren’t we? But Rama appeared TO everyone on the battle-field and AS everyone. Happy and saved from danger were those who looked at their neighbours and smiled and embraced them as the image of their Ideal, whereas those who looked at their neighbours as enemies and attacked them were ultimately destroyed.

The question then, with its implicit choice, is: are we in the army of the monkeys? Or are we among the rakshasas? Are we able to embrace everyone we meet as the manifestation of the Lord? Or do we see enemies and attack? We need not fight with fire and sword; even cold silence, indifference and contempt will place us firmly in the army of the demons. On the other hand, our embraces need not be boisterous bear-hugs or delirious monkey embraces; they can also be silent, but in any case they must come from the heart, they must be sincere. Then we will perceive a welcoming response, we will feel our place amongst those who willingly serve, and we will discover the truth in this saying from Gayan Boulas : He who makes room in his heart for others will himself find accommodation everywhere.