The Labyrinth of Practice

Spiritual practice is a mixture of struggle and integration, of confusion and clarity, of discouragement and aspiration, of feeling failure and going deeper. Don't imaging that the spiritual path is a straight line to a fixed goal.

Ezra Bayda

Often times our path work can get very cluttered and chaotic. Sometimes the best antidote that keeps us afloat are the two wings of humility and humor. Many Wisdom traditions have a crazy trickster figure that helps us see, in a humorous way, what is of true value versus what we're really up to. In the Sufi tradition, this Jerry Lewis-guy is Mullah Nasruddin. The following story helps to remind us to see what's really going on:

One night Mullah Nasruddin awoke to hear a thief entering his house. Mullah went downstairs and began to help the thief load possessions into a bag.

"What are you doing?" asked the thief.
"It looks like I'm moving, so I'm helping you!" said Mullah.

Another time Mullah woke up to hear the same thief breaking in again. This time Mullah hid in the closet and listened to the thief banging around, trying to find something to steal. Finally the thief came to the closet and opened it to find Mullah there.
"What? Have you been there all along?" said the thief, afraid that Mullah would call the police.
"Yes, " said Mullah. "I was so embarrassed that I had nothing to steal that I thought I should hide."