The land of Truth...

A certain man believed that the ordinary waking life, as people know
it, could not possibly be complete.
He sought the real Teacher of the Age. He read many books and
joined many circles, and he heard the words and witnessed the deeds
of one master after another.

He carried out the commands and
spiritual exercises which seemed to him to be most attractive.
He became elated with some of his experiences. At other times
he was confused; and he had no idea at all of what his stage was, or
where and when his search might end.

This man was reviewing his behaviour one day when he suddenly
found himself near the house of a certain sage of high repute. In
the garden of that house he encountered Khidr, the secret guide who
shows the way to Truth.

Khidr took him to a place where he saw people in great distress
and woe, and he asked who they were. "We are those who did not
follow real teachings, who were not true to our undertakings, who
revered self-appointed teachers," they said.

Then the man was taken by Khidr to a place where everyone was
attractive and full of joy. He asked who they were. "We are those
who did not follow the real Signs of the Way," they said.
"But if you have ignored the Signs, how can you be happy?" asked
the traveller.

"Because we chose happiness instead of Truth," said the
people, "just as those who chose the self-appointed chose also
misery."
"But is happiness not the ideal of man?" asked the man.
"The goal of man is Truth. Truth is more than happiness. The
man who has Truth can have whatever mood he wishes or none," they
told him. "We have pretended that Truth is happiness, and happiness
Truth, and people have believed us, therefore you, too, have until
now imagined that happiness must be the same as Truth. But happiness
makes you its prisoner, as does woe."
Then the man found himself back in the garden, with Khidr beside
him.

"I will grant you one desire," said Khidr.
"I wish to know why I have failed in my search and how I can
succeed in it," said the man.
"You have all but wasted your life," said Khidr, "because you
have been a liar. Your lie has been in seeking personal
gratification when you could have been seeking Truth."
"And yet I came to the point where I found you," said the
man, "and that is something which happens to hardly anyone at all."
"And you met me," said Khidr, "because you had sufficient
sincerity to desire Truth for its own sake, just for an instant. It
was that sincerity, in that single instant, which made me answer your
call."

Now the man felt an overwhelming deaire to find Truth, even if
he lost himself.
Khidr, however, was starting to walk away, and the man began to
run after him.
"You may not follow me," said Khidr, "because I am returning to
the ordinary world, the world of lies, for that is where I have to
be, if I am to do my work."
And when the man looked around him again, he realized that he
was no longer in the garden of the sage, but standing in the Land of
Truth.

as collected by Idries Shah