The Khalifa (representative) of one Sufi teacher allowed almost everyone he met to perform mystical exercises. Many, upon learning about this, remarked with disapproval:
— Don’t the Sufis themselves constantly say that exercises can only be done by those who are able to benefit from them, otherwise this is not Sufism?
Khalifa responded:
“They also say that profits and losses are calculated at the end of the market day, and not at the beginning,” and he continued to recruit everyone in a row as students.
Every day he asked his followers how serious and sincere they were. They all swore that their intentions were serious and sincere. But he caught them by how often their words differed from their deeds. And then he stopped talking to them, announcing before that:
“I make sinners out of you when I encourage you to say something, and you say it contrary to the truth.”
Then many left him in disgust, saying:
- We are not some hypocrites! - although they were precisely hypocrites.
He began to criticize those who remained with him, and more and more students moved away from him. Then he pretended to be crazy, and almost everyone who remained left him. And the most generous ones said:
“Poor guy, he would be perfect if he hadn’t lost his mind.”
And then the day came when only six disciples remained with him. One of them said:
“I believe that those who have passed the test are finally with you and will learn from the master himself?”
“No,” answered the representative, “unfortunately, only a few of the remaining ones are real students.” The rest are so obsessed with the search for secret knowledge, and in fact so self-interested, that they are ready to do anything and endure any test. Before I present the final selection of candidates to our master, I will have to banish them or encourage them to banish themselves.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru