Robert Frager > Quotes

“There is really no good English translation for adab. It means behaving well or good etiquette. It is acting with heedfulness, beauty, refinement, graciousness, and respect for others. The Koran teaches us the importance of acting beautifully. "Do what is beautiful. God loves those who do what is beautiful." (2:195) ”
― Robert Frager, Heart, Self & Soul: The Sufi Psychology of Growth, Balance, and Harmony

“Sufis love and respect Moses as much as they do Jesus. Moses is known as the one who talks with God. According to an old Sufi story, one day some of the children of Israel went up to Moses and said, “You talk to God. Please tell him that we want to invite him to dinner.” Moses became extremely angry. He said that God does not eat or come to dinner. But the next time Moses went up to Mt. Sinai, God said to him, “Why didn’t you inform me of my dinner invitation from my servants?” Moses said, “But my Lord, You don’t eat. You don’t answer foolish invitations like this.” God replied, “Keep what you know between you and Me. Tell them that I will come in answer to their invitation.” So Moses came down from Mt. Sinai and announced that God was coming to dinner after all. Of course, they all, including Moses, prepared an incredible feast. While they were busy cooking the finest dishes and preparing everything, an old man unexpectedly showed up. He was poor and hungry, and he asked for something to eat. The busy cooks said, “No, no, we are waiting for God. When God comes, we will all eat. Why don’t you make yourself useful and help fetch water from the well?” They gave nothing to this poor man. Time passed, but God did not appear. Moses became terribly embarrassed and did not know what to tell everyone. The next day Moses went up on Mt. Sinai and said, “God, what are you doing to me? I’m trying to convince everybody that you exist. You said you would come to our feast, and then you never showed up. Nobody is going to believe me anymore!” God replied, “But I did come. If you had fed my poor servant, you would have fed me.” God said, “I, who cannot be fit into all the universes, fit into the heart of my believing servant.” When you serve one of God’s servants, you serve God. Not only the prophets, but also the saints can be called God’s servants. The general principle is that when you serve the created, you serve the Creator.”
― Robert Frager, Essential Sufism

“Many saints are hidden. That is, their outer lives do not look any different from the lives of their neighbors, although their inner lives are radiant with the Divine Presence.”
― Robert Frager, Essential Sufism

“moral, ethical, and disciplined life-style is like a solid container that can hold the Sufi’s mystical experience without its leaking or dissipating.”
― Robert Frager, Essential Sufism

“God is the owner of everything: everything that you can see and everything that you cannot see.”
― Robert Frager, Essential Sufism

“Just as a river that passes through many countries and is claimed by each as its own is still only one river, all mysticism has the same goal: the direct experience of the Divine. One who practices Sufism is called a Sufi, or dervish, or faquir”
― Robert Frager, Essential Sufism

“Real self-knowledge consists in knowing the following things: What are you in yourself and where did you come from? Where are you going and for what purpose are you tarrying here awhile? In what does your real happiness and misery consist?”
― Robert Frager, Essential Sufism

“In many ways, our whole university system has institutionalized this failure to stay true to our intentions. In most universities, teaching is barely given lip service. Faculty members are promoted on the basis of research and publications, and most university administrators have never taught. When academic administrators do not understand good teaching, their decisions are likely to weaken the teaching process instead of strengthening it. And yet, universities and their faculties still cling to the myth that they are bastions of learning and teaching. It would be far more honest to call them educational factories, designed to turn out thousands of graduates a year.”
― Robert Frager, Sufi Talks: Teachings of an American Sufi Sheihk

“It also means one who is at the threshold (between awareness of this world and awareness of the Divine).”
― Robert Frager, Essential Sufism