To a Sufi, to be a mureed, a disciple, is a thing quite different from being a student. A student adds to his knowledge of the names and forms of this world the knowledge of things and beings, but the disciple does not add anything to his knowledge of the names and forms of this world. In the East they do not enter upon this path to acquire psychic power, to become very magnetic so as to make others do their will or to work wonders, to look into things unseen or to communicate with spirits. All these things are curiosities. If anyone has an interest in them he goes to the juggler, the magicians. There are some of these in every street. They come from the low classes, the low castes. They are very ignorant, but certainly they are very powerful.

The knowledge that the disciple seeks is of quite another sort. In Arabic this knowledge is called Ilmal - Batim, the knowledge not of the world, the knowledge that has nothing to do with this world. When the desire comes for another knowledge -- to know what it is that has given the fishes the ability to swim in the water, which they have not been taught; what it is that has given the birds the ability to fly -- then they seek for a guide, someone who can show them the way to this other knowledge. And they find a teacher, for where there is a need, it is supplied.

Whatever we ask of the Divine Power, that He gives, if we really desire it. The question is whether we really desire it, whether we are not really wishing for something else. If we ask for one thing and really we are wishing for another, then we dupe the Divine Providence and we get nothing. But until a person is ready for this way he will not be able to enter upon it.

To tell you my own case, though I was interested from my early years in philosophy and mysticism, I was twenty-three when I became a mureed. Before that whenever I heard the name of a great man and then I saw him, either I did not accept him as a teacher or he did not wish to initiate me, until I found my destined teacher.

Therefore in the East they do not become disciples from childhood. Firstly their parents would not allow them to. They become disciples at that time when they have already the experience of life. And then they do not become initiated until they have found that teacher in whom they have confidence; and when they have found him, they do not change. Their moral is that in whose hand they have taken Bayat, initiation, there they remain. Some have to wait a long time, some at once find their guide, it differs. When they have found the murshid and when they have taken the initiation, they go before the murshid as a child. They forget all that they have learnt before. They ask him questions, certainly, about something they have not understood, but they never question what the murshid has said or argue about it.

Sometimes a person who otherwise would wish to enter upon the path of discipleship is afraid of losing his individuality. In France there was a friend of ours, a venerable old man, very much interested in Sufism and very anxious to enter upon this way, but he was afraid of losing his individuality and so he did not take initiation. But, in reality, what is our individuality and who is another when we have realized that all is one life, one being?

What does the murshid do? Does he teach anything? Does he demand anything? He does none of these things.

He does only one thing: he helps that light that is in every soul to disclose itself. The light is there, inherent in all souls, but it is covered. He reflects the light that is in his own soul into the soul of the mureed. If the sun is shining in one mirror and other mirrors are focused with that mirror, then the light of the sun will be reflected in all. In the Hadith there is the saying of Muhammed, "I am knowledge, and my disciple (Ali) is the gate of knowledge." He did not say, "The scripture is knowledge," but "I am knowledge." Man is knowledge and through him it is handed down.

There are, of course, certain things that the disciple is told to do during his training, and certain spiritual practices are given, which are different for each one. The disciple during his training does not make use of any knowledge or any powers that he acquires. That would be as if every medical student, as soon as he entered the medical college, were to prescribe for patients. It would be terrible. He would kill everybody. Sometimes they become impatient and use their powers before the right time, and the results are very bad.

And do you think the murshids are harsh, severe in correcting a mureed? No, they are very gentle. Do you think they are stern in requiring anything? No, they are much too gentle for that.

My murshid was very fond of hearing music, and my being a musician naturally gave him sometimes the thought of hearing some music. I was an eastern mureed, sitting before him, but he never asked me to sing. Sometimes, if he wished it very much, he said, "What are the notes of that raga?" I thought, "He wants me to sing the raga."

When the time of training is over then the murshid says, "Now you are free. I have shown you what the soul is, what life is, here and hereafter, why you are here, what is the purpose of life, and where you will go. Now you are free and I am no longer responsible."

They make no assumption of authority, superiority, of being something different. They are one as you are, but one who has journeyed on the path, who has experienced it. There is only one thing that matters to the murshid. If the mureed does not study, he does not mind that. If he is given some spiritual practice and he does not do it for months, that does not matter to the murshid. It is the disciple's life that matters. Because if he does the practices for perhaps two hours and all the rest of the time he is without them, if he behaves like an angel for two hours and the rest of the time he is rude, rough, or inconsiderate, that is of very little value.

The great and most needful thing is to be human. How few beings there are in the world of whom it can be said that they are human. All have the human form, but how few are really man. The world has such great need of human beings. If you have become really human, then you have opened the way to all bliss. God bless you.