In India Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Parsis, and Sufis have lived harmoniously for many centuries. India is a melting pot. Whoever visits India gets into this pot. This has been the history of Indian civilization. In the subcontinent of India people were peaceful, but the aliens who ruled India created hatred among the various religious groups because of their policy of divide and rule.

Sufis from all over the world go to India to pay homage to Indian Sufis. Even today India is the home of Sufism. Sufism is a religion of love and is not followed by Mohammedans exclusively. Among the several Sufi sages I have met, one of the greatest was a woman who lived in the city of Agra, 120 miles away from Delhi. This city is famous because of the Taj Mahal, a symbol of love and one of the wonders of the world.

Once I traveled from the Himalayas to visit this old woman sage, who lived completely naked in a small dargah [dwelling and worshipping place of a holy Moslem fakir]. She was ninety-three years of age and never slept at night. I used to call her Bibiji; this word is used for “mother.” She would call me “my son” (Bete). During my stay at Agra I regularly visited this Sufi woman sage between twelve and one in the morning. My visiting Bibiji at nights was misunderstood—so much that people started thinking I had lost my equilibrium. Several high army officials and learned people also used to visit her. Colonel J. S. Khaira was her great devotee. Although she was adored by Hindus and others equally, many people in the city did not understand this great Sufi mystic and her mysterious way of living. Her compassion toward her visitors was immense, but her attitude toward the mundane world was self-explanatory: “The people of the world have learned how to fill up earthen bowls with grains and coins, but no one knows how to fill the bowl of the heart.”

One night Bibiji told me that it would be easy for me to meet God. I asked, “What is the way?” She said, “To be one with the Divine, one has simply to detach oneself from this mundane world and be linked with the Beloved. It is so simple. Offer your rooh [soul] to the Lord and then there is nothing to be done or realized anymore.”

I said, “Bibiji, but how?” She started using a dialogue. I am narrating it exactly as she related it to me.

She said: “As I went to see my Beloved, He asked, ‘Who is that standing at the entrance of my shrine?’ I said, ‘Thy lover, Lord.’ The Lord said, ‘What proof can you give?’ I said, ‘Here is my heart on my palms and tears in my eyes.’

“And the Lord said, ‘I accept thy offering, for I also love thee. Thou art mine. Go and live in the dargah.’ Since then, my son, I live here. I wait for Him day and night, and I will wait for Him till eternity.”

I remembered the words of a great man, who said, “This poisonous tree of life has but two fruits: contemplation on immortality, and conversing with the sages.” Many times I would watch a very powerful light emanating from Bibiji’s eyes. She impressed me deeply because of her superb divine ecstasy, her complete self-surrender, and her unfathomable love for God. She said, “The pearl of wisdom is already hidden within the shell in the ocean of the heart. Dive deep and one day you will find it.”

One day she smilingly cast off her body. A light like that of a star was witnessed by twelve of us who were sitting around her. The light came out of her heart and sped toward the sky like lightning. She remains in my heart always. I remember my Bibiji with great love and reverence.

Editor’s Note:

This is an excerpt from Living with the Himalayan Masters by Swami Rama, published by the Himalayan Institute Press, 2007.