Repartee of the Wise

A story is told about Guru Nanak. The Guru was watching a group of men bathing in the Ganges. He saw them pouring water towards the sun and asked: “What is it that you are doing?”

They answered, “We are sending water to the sun.”

Hearing this, Guru Nanak stepped into the Ganges and started pouring water in the opposite direction.

The men were aghast. “What are you doing?”

Guru Nanak replied calmly: “I am sending water to my fields in Kartarpur – they are in this direction.”

“How can the water reach your fields in Kartarpur?”

Guru Nanak said innocently: “If your water can reach the sun, then my fields are much closer.”
_{Concepts & Illusions}

***

It is related that in the springtime Rabi’a entered a house and did not come out. Her serving girl said, “O mistress, come outside and see the effects of the creation!” She said, “You come in for once and see the Creator! Witnessing the Creator has preoccupied me from gazing on the creation.”
_{Rabi’a, The Woman Who Must Be Heard}

***

Shibli sought out Junayd as a teacher and said to him, “Many people have informed me that you are a supreme expert on the pearls of awakening and divine wisdom. Either give me one of these pearls or sell one to me.”
Junayd smiled. “If I sell you one, you won’t be able to pay the price; if I give you one, coming by it so easily will drive you to undervalue it. Do like me; dive headfirst into the Sea. If you wait patiently, you will obtain the Pearl.”
_{The Spiritual Guide, Vol. 2}