Master Bahauddin was sitting after dinner one day surrounded by newcomers, young and old, each of whom was eager to learn from him. And when silence finally came, the Master allowed me to ask questions.
— What causes the greatest difficulties in learning the Path? - they asked him.
— People are guided by superficial things. They are attracted to sermons, stories, rumors - what excites them, like bees are attracted to the smell of a flower.
- But how else can a bee find a flower if not by smell? And how can a person know the truth, if not through stories about it?
The master answered:
— A person approaches wisdom by relying on rumors, stories, sermons, books, feelings. However, as he approaches, he begins to demand more and more of the same thing, but not what wisdom can give. Bees find a flower by smell, but having found it, they do not demand more and more smell, they fall to the nectar, which they must collect. This is the equivalent of real wisdom, all stories and ideas about which are its smell. There are very few “real bees” among people. While all bees are bees in the sense of being able to collect nectar, not all humans are human in the sense of doing and experiencing what they were created to do.
Then the Master said:
“Let those who came here to Qasr al-Arifin because he read something stand up.”
Many stood up.
- Now those who came here because he heard something about us.
Several more people stood up.
“Those who are still sitting,” the Teacher continued, “felt our presence and our uniqueness in some special, elusive way.” Among those who stand, old and young, there are many who need to have their senses stirred again and again, those who crave entertainment or crave peace. For them to understand what they need here, they must feel the need for knowledge, not entertainment.
Then he said:
“There are also those here who are attracted to the Teacher by his fame and reputation, and they come from afar to visit him, and will come to visit his grave after he dies, all for the same reasons. Until their aspirations are melted down, as in an alchemical retort, they will not find the truth. And finally, there are certainly those here who have come to the Master, not because he is the greatest living master, and not because they want to visit his grave, but because they sense the true nature of the Master. Someday everyone will master this gift.
The pattern master continued:
“However, in our case, the work of entire generations of people must be done by one person.” To become Moses, you will have to surpass your Pharaoh. A person who is attracted by the reputation of his Teacher must change, become different. He must become one who remains close to the Master because he senses his true nature. This is the meaning of his Work before he can learn. Until he realized this, he was more of a dervish than a Sufi. The dervish thirsts, the Sufi perceives.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru