Once a man came to the great Sufi Bayazid Bistami and said:
“Because of your teaching, my whole life has been ruined.” Twenty years ago I came to you, and you told me that if you don’t ask, wealth will follow you; if you do not seek, everything will be given to you; If you don’t desire it, the most beautiful woman will come. It took twenty whole years! If only some ugly thing would come! And I’m generally silent about wealth! I became sick, you ruined my whole life. Well, now what do you tell me?
Bayazid replied:
- Yes, all this would have happened, but you looked around too much, looked again and again whether they were coming or not. There was a desire. You missed everything because of desire, not because of me. You kept waiting: now the most beautiful woman will come to knock on my door; Now the goddess of wealth will come to me. You weren't silent. You were not in a state of unwillingness!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru