{"id":381,"date":"2011-06-26T12:19:49","date_gmt":"2011-06-26T12:19:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/d39426fe-df1e-4259-9950-b588c3fba68b"},"modified":"2011-06-26T12:19:49","modified_gmt":"2011-06-26T12:19:49","slug":"a-teaching-story-on-mercy-from-the-conference-of-the-birds-a-sufi-fable-by-farid-ud-din-attar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/?p=381","title":{"rendered":"A Teaching Story on Mercy from the Conference of the Birds, a Sufi Fable by Farid ud-Din Attar"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt\"><font style=\"LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-SIZE: 14pt\" face=calibri><iframe style=\"WIDTH: 120px; HEIGHT: 240px\" marginHeight=0 src=\"http:\/\/rcm.amazon.com\/e\/cm?t=blogthewonder-20&amp;o=1&amp;p=8&amp;l=as1&amp;asins=1566564808&amp;ref=tf_til&amp;fc1=000000&amp;IS2=1&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;m=amazon&amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;bc1=000000&amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;f=ifr\" frameBorder=0 marginWidth=0 scrolling=no><\/iframe>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;* <iframe style=\"WIDTH: 120px; HEIGHT: 240px\" marginHeight=0 src=\"http:\/\/rcm.amazon.com\/e\/cm?t=blogthewonder-20&amp;o=1&amp;p=8&amp;l=as1&amp;asins=B001AO6TCI&amp;ref=tf_til&amp;fc1=000000&amp;IS2=1&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;m=amazon&amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;bc1=000000&amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;f=ifr\" frameBorder=0 marginWidth=0 scrolling=no><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The Conference of the Birds, by Farid ud-Din Attar is one of my favorite pieces of spiritual literature.&nbsp; I first read it nearly 20 years ago and it has stuck with me as a regular source of inspiration and comfort.&nbsp; What follows is one of many stories from the book, which is essentially a long poem about a group of birds that go about trying to find a king (God).&nbsp; A hoopoe bird leads them on their quest to find, what Attar calls, the Simurgh, which is an old Iranian mythological winged being.&nbsp; The birds go through many trials and tribulations all told through stories.&nbsp; Here\u2019s a story I have plucked out of this vast treasure house of stories after which I offer just a wee bit of commentary.<\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt\"><font style=\"LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-SIZE: 14pt\" face=calibri>\u201c<em>A man who drank too much often came to the point when he lost both his senses and his self respect.&nbsp; Once, a friend came across him in this deplorable state, lying on the road.&nbsp; So he got a sack and put him in feet first and put the sack over his shoulder and set off for home.&nbsp; On the way, another drunk appeared, reeling along, supported by a companion.&nbsp; At this, the man whose head hung out of the sack, woke up, and seeing the other in this pitiable state said reprovingly: \u201cAh, unhappy man, in future drink two cups of wine less, then you will be able to walk as I do now\u2014free and alone.\u201d<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 3pt dotted; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-BOTTOM: 1pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-TOP: 0in\">\n<p style=\"BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-TOP: 0in\"><font style=\"LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-SIZE: 14pt\" face=calibri><em>Our own state is not different.&nbsp; We see faults because we do not love.&nbsp; If we had the least understanding of real love, the faults of those near to us would appear as good qualities<\/em>.\u201d<\/font><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt\"><font style=\"LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-SIZE: 14pt\" face=calibri><br \/>When I first read that story I was convicted to the quick!&nbsp; For years I went around criticizing others (usually in my head, but sometimes out loud with words or with rolled eyes), never once realizing I was just afraid to look at my own faults.&nbsp; <\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt\"><font style=\"LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-SIZE: 14pt\" face=calibri>Now I know everyone is a mirror, everyone is a teacher.&nbsp; If I see a good quality in someone it is because I possess that quality, whether I am consciously aware of it or not.&nbsp; Likewise, when I am critical and condemning of someone, I too possess the fault I am pointing out, and am simply unable or unwilling to deal with it.<\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt\"><font style=\"LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-SIZE: 14pt\" face=calibri>And while Attar tells us real love overlooks the faults of others, he never says to condone abuse or irresponsibility.&nbsp; He is talking about those things that we are always critical about in other people\u2014all the fault finding and nit-picking.&nbsp; Focus on ourselves, he is saying, and look for the good.&nbsp; If I truly want to follow my dreams I will need to not only learn real love of others, but of myself.&nbsp; I need to learn to look for the good in myself also.&nbsp; <\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt\"><font style=\"LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-SIZE: 14pt\" face=calibri>My own brand of self-centeredness used to manifest in my constantly putting myself down.&nbsp; Just as I used to only see the bad in others, I used to only see the bad in myself.&nbsp; Oh, I could idolize you and see good in you sometimes, but I didn\u2019t know it was because I had it in myself too\u2014I used it to compare myself with and to further put myself down when I always came out lacking.&nbsp; My self-image, my self-esteem used to be horribly low\u2014dangerously low.&nbsp; <\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt\"><font style=\"LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-SIZE: 14pt\" face=calibri>Today I extend Attar\u2019s advice about overlooking the faults of others to overlooking some of my own.&nbsp; I no longer have to be perfect at everything I do, think, or feel (and interestingly, the more&nbsp;I accept myself, the &#8220;perfect&#8221; I am becoming&#8211;in terms of being at peace with myself the way I am&#8211;the shame is lessoning).&nbsp; I can extend the mercy I show towards others to myself.&nbsp; And as far as dealing with those things that I do need to change in myself, for those&nbsp;I need other people that I trust to help me work through them\u2014it\u2019s hard for me to objectively see them\u2014I\u2019m too emotionally involved.<\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt\"><font style=\"LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-SIZE: 14pt\" face=calibri>Lastly, I have EFT to help me accept and love myself.&nbsp; Tapping through&nbsp;my&nbsp;issues, which live in the cell of my cells, has helped free me up <br \/>to become a channel for love and mercy, towards others and myself.<\/p>\n<p style=\"MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt\" align=center><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"WIDTH: 301px; HEIGHT: 167px\" id=rg_hi class=rg_hi src=\"http:\/\/t3.gstatic.com\/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQIinSeftONJisvuXjnAWPVnK2Ru251NxKYnYgxk4qGljVTApae\" width=301 height=167 data-width=\"301\" data-height=\"167\" sb_id=\"ms__id911\"><\/p>\n<p style=\"MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt\">\n<p>*while the second edition is much more expense it is the better of the two in terms of translations&#8211;very accessible.&nbsp; And it is a prose translation.<\/font><\/p>\n<p>Copyright Joseph Anthony of the Wonder Child Blog<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;* The Conference of the Birds, by Farid ud-Din Attar is one of my favorite pieces of spiritual literature.&nbsp; I first read it nearly 20 years ago and it has stuck with me as a regular source of inspiration and comfort.&nbsp; What follows is one of many stories from the book, which is essentially a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}