The Sufi elder Junaid taught by demonstration, using a method where he showed with his very life what he wanted to demonstrate. Here's an example:
One day a group of seekers visited him and saw him sitting surrounded by unimaginable luxury. These people left him and went to the house of an extremely stern and ascetic holy man, whose surroundings were so simple that he had nothing but a mat and a pitcher of water. One of the seekers said:
“The simplicity of your behavior and the harsh environment are much more to our taste than the ostentatious and flashy excesses of Junaid, who seems to have left the Path of Truth.”
The ascetic sighed heavily and cried:
- My dear friends, so easily deceived by external signs that block a person’s path at every step, understand this and stop being losers! The great Junaid is now surrounded by luxury because he is immune to luxury, but I am surrounded by simplicity because I am immune to simplicity.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru