In this story,
The person that approaches the master does not seem to feel at peace,
Otherwise he would not waste so much time and energy proving that he can defeat a venerable person in a dialectical battle.
The reason behind this desire is related to his personal difficulties,
Rather than to his qualities.
We could allude to difficulties in his own esteem,
And of course in his sense of fulfillment.
This story reminds me in part of the same tale of a cup of tea,
Although in the latter case the visitor's attitude did not seem so consciously malicious.
This Sufi master,
Like all great masters,
Immediately knows how to act,
And it seems that he decided to give his visitor a taste of his own medicine.
First,
The master flatters him,
And by the time his interlocutor is more confident,
He delivers a knockout blow.
Let's remember that this man does not come with good intentions.
He approaches the master with the aim of winning a debate,
Which implies leaving the teacher defeated,
And I dare to add,
Humiliated in front of others.
I imagine you agree with me that the sacred trap he sets must have hit the visitor's ego hard.
At the same time,
I am convinced that this response is based on a compassionate attitude.
Otherwise,
This teacher would not be recognized as such by his community,
Nor would he appear in this wisdom tale.
The symbology used in his dream is also very accurate.
The visitor exposes that he behaves impeccably,
But his way of boasting reveals a striking vain attitude.
So the master chose images for the dream that matched his reality.
The master at first pictures him as an ideal person,
With his hand full of honey,
Representing the way he tries to pretend before the world.
And eventually,
In a second scene,
He shows us his inner reality.
Again,
His attitude is not so attractive and immaculate anymore,
Rather unwholesome and defective.
Finally,
I want to emphasize again that,
Although his intervention may seem violent to us,
I encourage you to conceive it with a loving intention.
Not as the reaction of the type,
Now you are going to find out what is what,
You'll be sorry.
If that were the case,
He would be putting himself on the same level as this man and his shortcomings.
And I believe that this teacher was recognized as such for his actions and his extensive spiritual development.
Likewise,
He estimated that his intervention should give a good shake to his visitor.
To finish,
I want to encourage you to share your own perspective on this inspirational story.
