The Doorkeeper

[Guest guest]

Posted to Sufimystic by Steve Toth, poet.

 

A Sufi was asked: "What are you doing? You do not let us, who want to

learn from you, study books. You do not perform rituals; you refuse to

answer questions; you take no heed of praise or blame."

He said: "I am a doorkeeper. The doorkeeper makes sure that the

door is open when it should be open, and that it is shut when it has to

be shut. He permits the entry of whatever or whoever should enter, and

he denies entry to what must be excluded.

"If you want him to make a noise, to 'bang the door,' to create an

effect, to wear rich or poor clothes, to hold out promises or to argue,

to mime, to sccept bribes or to discuss instead of working--you are not

a person to have transactions with the keeper of a door."

 

as collected by Idries Shah