THE SUPPLEMENTARY PAPERS MYSTICISM 4 The Certitude of Life in the Hereafter
A. There was a king who thought that he would give up his kingdom, and he would become a mureed, that is to say to become a disciple of a Teacher, and to give up all the worldly things, and just go in the spiritual thought. And when he went to Bukhara under the guidance of a Teacher, the Teacher gave him the probationer's work. The work was to sweep and clean the whole house where all the pupils lived, and to collect the garbage and to take it out of the village.
Of course, the pupils were very much in sympathy with this man, and they were very shocked for this man who used to sit on the throne and be a king, - this is a thing which he was never accustomed to do; it must be a terrible thing for him ! No doubt the Teacher knowing the object that he had before him, could not do otherwise. He said: "He must do it, for he is not yet ready." Once all the disciples went and they said: "Teacher, we are all in sympathy with this man, and we think he is so fine and so nice and so cultured, and we would so much like if you would relieve him of this duty." And then they said to the Teacher: "It is a long time now; he must be relieved of it."
The Teacher said: "we shall have a test." One day when he was taking his garbage-pail outside of the town, somebody knocked against him and all was spilled on the ground. He looked back and said: "Well, it is not the days of the past, what can I tell you?" And when the report was brought to the Teacher he said: "Did I not say that the time has not yet come?" And next time a test was made again, after a little time. And when the same thing was done, this man looked at him and said nothing. The Teacher said: "Did I not say that the time has not yet arrived?"
And the third time when he was tested he did not even look at the man who spilled his basket. He took all that was there in the basket and carried it along. The Teacher said: "Now is the time, now he can play death."
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