Baba remarked to Kenmore, "By involving me in this discussion, you people have created a headache for me. To remedy this, tell me something funny."
Kenmore immediately complied.
Baba then said to him, "Now stop. You made me laugh so much that my jaws are paining."
Baba used to tease Pukar by prodding his stomach with an aluminum basin used by Baba to wash his hands, and which was kept by his side in mandali hall.
One morning when Baba prodded Pukar, he smiled at the resultant sound it produced and said, "Pukar is full of emptiness," and added, "To be full of emptiness is the ideal state. Do you understand its real meaning?"
Kenmore replied, "It means to empty yourself of all the ideas, wants and attachments experienced in maya, like squeezing out the dirty water from a sponge."
Baba nodded and explained further:
It means turning one's heart and mind inside out — becoming empty and naked. To be empty means to be rid of all desires, and it concerns the heart. To be naked concerns the mind, and means not to care for the opinions, criticism or censure of others in one's pursuit of the true Goal.
This is what Junaid's Master meant when he told Junaid to become both empty and naked.1
[Prophet] Muhammad referred to the populace of his time as deaf, dumb and blind because they did not know about God. "Whatever they see is not real, whatever they hear is not true and whatever they say is also not true," he said. "Thus with eyes wide open they are sightless; having ears, they are deaf; and having a mouth to speak, they are dumb."
Bayazid, on the other hand, once told one of his disciples, to know God you should become deaf, dumb and blind. This statement is just the opposite of Muhammad's, but both have their own point of references.
Baba asked Kenmore what he understood by this. He replied, "Not to be attached to worldly things."
Baba added, "It is correct. Only if you become deaf, dumb and blind to the world can you get God. Ego cannot then attack you from any direction. Once he acquires this state, a jewel like Francis will never get irritated with Aloba!"
Footnotes
- 1.Junaid (also spelled Junayd) was a Muslim saint, known as the Sufi Sheikh, who lived in Baghdad and died in 910 AD.