A man came to Bahauddin Naqshbandi and said:
“I wandered from Teacher to Teacher, I comprehended many Paths, and all of them brought me great benefits and many gains. And now I would like to join the circle of your students in order to fall to the spring of knowledge and thereby move further along the tariq - the mystical Path.
Bahauddin, instead of answering directly, ordered the table to be set.
They brought pilaf with lamb, and he began to generously treat the guest. After this, fruits and sweets were brought in, then pilaf again, then fruit again, and so on.
At first the man was flattered, and, seeing that Bahauddin rejoiced at every piece he put into his mouth, he tried to eat more. When he, having had enough, became less agile, the sheikh began to show annoyance and obvious displeasure, and the poor fellow ate more and more through force.
Finally, having eaten to his fill, he leaned back heavily on the pillows, unable to swallow another grain of rice.
Then Bahauddin said to him:
“You came to me as full of undigested teachings as you are now full of meat, rice and fruits.” You felt discomfort, and since you are unfamiliar with real spiritual restlessness, you perceived it as hunger and a thirst for new knowledge. Indigestion is your real condition.
I will undertake to teach you if from now on you will follow my instructions and remain here with me, digesting what you have absorbed through activities that will seem to you in no way related to initiation, but will be tantamount to a nutritional supplement and will allow you to assimilate the food and convert it into nutrition, instead of heaviness in the stomach.
The man agreed.
He spoke about all this after many decades, when he became known as the great Sufi Teacher Khalil Ashraf-zadeh.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru