In Gayan Boulas, Hazrat Inayat Khan says, “You need not look for a saint or a master:
a wise man is sufficient to guide you on your path.” It is counsel that can serve at any time in life, but especially in the stage when the soul first begins to stir restlessly and seek for something beyond the too-familiar boundaries that hold it captive. At such a moment Pir-o-Murshid’s words are reassuring, for in our journey through life we seldom come across anyone who seems to be either a master or a saint. It appears to be much easier to find people who are pretending to be great, or marketing their holiness or, worse, who are behaving wickedly or even diabolically.

There are several explanations for this. The really great souls often prefer to remain unseen. They see no purpose in advertising themselves, and frequently do all they can to veil their light from the public view. Hazrat Inayat Khan has spoken of the Madzubs, the realised beings who sometimes pretend to be crazy so that the world will leave them alone. Another reason for the apparent scarcity of illumination is that we perceive the world according to our own understanding. The story of Mullah Nasruddin ‘solving’ the conflict of the picture illustrates this perfectly; the farmer saw his revered father; the wife saw the husband’s secret girlfriend; and Nasruddin saw a handsome and erudite Mullah. Therefore, if we find more malice around us than love, it is perhaps because we are not looking with loving eyes.

But, someone might say, does that also apply to the search for a wise person? How could a foolish person, lacking wisdom, ever find someone wise to guide them? And the answer is that the really foolish person will indeed have great difficulty finding help, but if we are seeking spiritual guidance, it means we are already wise enough to admit that we don’t know how to progress. To learn, we must admit our ignorance. Recognising that we don’t know opens a capacity in us that the Spirit of Guidance lovingly seeks to fill; humility unlocks the door.

The wise person is willing to bow whereas the foolish one is rigid, and the more rigid the person, the more does he or she stumble over distinctions, differences and separation, even tripping over a simple pencil line drawn on the floor. That is why the Sufi respects two points of view, their own and that of the other person. Encountering a teacher is a great blessing, but doubly blessed is the one whose attitude allows them to recognize the Teacher in everyone. We can recollect the anecdote that Pir-o-Murshid told, of meeting a dervish who first called him ‘Murshid,’ and then addressed everyone else on the street with the same title. It is an inspiring example. The best student would find the wisdom in their heart to sit at the feet of everyone that comes into their life.