Quotes About Understanding

The Book of Wisdom. Simab said: 'I shall sell the Book of Wisdom for a hundred gold pieces, and some people will say that it is cheap.' Yunus Marmar said to him: 'And I shall give away the key to understanding it, and almost none shall take it, even free of charge.

Exaggeration is a standard peculiarity of man. To deprecate is often a form of exaggeration which people do not notice, because it appears to be its opposite.

The mine is always bigger than the gem.

When you realise the difference between the container and the content, you will have knowledge

The secret of Sufism is that it has no secret at all'.

He who knows himself, knows his Lord' means, among other things, that self-deception prevents knowledge.

You can learn more in half an hour's direct contact with a source of knowledge (no matter the apparent reason for the contact or the subject of the transaction) than you can in years of formal effort.

A man's capacity is the same as his breadth of vision.

It is as true as anything else which can be spoken to say that all knowledge is really available everywhere.

Scholars of the East and West have heroically consecrated their whole working lives to making available, by means of their own disciplines, Sufi literary and philosophical material to the world at large. In many cases they have faithfully recorded the Sufis' own reiteration that the Way of the Sufis cannot be understood by means of the intellect or by ordinary book learning.

It is a Sufi contention that truth is not discovered or maintained by the mere repetition of teachings. It can only be kept understood by the perpetual experience of it. And it is in the experience of truth that the Sufis have always reposed their trust. Sufism is therefore not 'Do as I say and not as I do', or even 'Do as I do', but 'Experience it and you will know'.

Never follow any impulse to teach, however strong it might be. The command to teach is not felt as an impulsion.

From a personal experience and the examination of literature, I feel that we cannot take for granted that a dialogue, without information and perhaps without understanding, is possible between any individuals or groups on all levels. So the prerequisite is information.

There is no wisdom where there is no common sense: it cannot under those conditions find any expression.

Stages First I thought that a Teacher must be right in all things. Then I imagined that my teacher was wrong in many things. Then I realised what was right and what was wrong. What was wrong was to remain in either of the first two stages. What was right was to convey this to everyone. (Ardabili)

Sufism is therefore not 'Do as I say and not as I do', or even 'Do as I do', but 'Experience and you will know'.

Definitions from Mulla Do-Piaza Wisdom: Something you can learn without knowing it.

The Sufis,' runs the saying, 'understand with their hearts what the most learned scholars cannot understand with their minds

The answer to a fool is silence. (Proverb)

Muchas cosas que son llamadas "secretos" son únicamente cosas que les son negadas a la gente hasta que puedan comprenderlas o efectivamente vivenciarlas.

The intellect is not sovereign: knowledge is.

The would-be students wish to transcend books. But, ask yourselves: if someone says that books do not contain wisdom, and yet he writes books; books do not contain Sufism, and yet he continues to publish books on Sufism, what is really happening? It really is your duty, and not mine, to ask and to find the answer to that question, if you are interested enough.

As the Eastern saying, by the sage Hilali, has it, 'one person who understands is worth a hundred who merely obey a custom.

You may not appreciate Sufism at first, but once you do you will appreciate it until the end of your days.