Useful men, carrying useful work, do not become angry if they are called useless. But the useless who imagine that they are operating in a significant manner become greatly infuriated if this word is used about them.
'I visited', says Kazwini, 'one group of sincere-enough sufis. They practiced the invocations and strummed music on strings. ...
'I donned the patched robe and begged from door to door, as recommended in the classics. I prayed, I fasted and I gave charity.
'I learned the intricate gyrations and litanics, and took part in the Stillness.
I mastered teh ability to containt the inner agitation.
'I learned how to erase my "I", and how to restore it, purged
'Then I met the Proof himself. The Proof said to me:
"What do you seek?"
'I said:
"I seek the Master."
'The Proof said:
"Had you asked for more action, I would have given it to you. But as you desire Truth, I shall conduct you to the Truth."
'He conveyed me to the Master. And the Master taught me what all the outwardness which I had studied really meant.
'When I returned to the world, none would listen, and the outwardness continues. As the Master predicted to me, it will continue until the end of time.'
:: This wonderful sufi story is taken from the book, Thinkers of the East by Idries Shah, which i'm reading currently.
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