you will stumble...

Now that you have been enrolled in the ranks of the Seekers,
it is more than ever likely that you will stumble:

for forgetting
that self-esteem can manifest itself anywhere, you may think
that you are immune from it.

Just as the gains of enlistment among the Friends are great,
the requirements of the disciple are higher than is needed in
ordinary affairs.

Hasan of Basra illustrated this with the following tale:

'I saw a drunken man trying to walk through a marsh, and I
said, "Take care that you do not sink, for that is a quagmire."

"The drunkard answered, "Hasan, if I am swallowed up,
only I shall be the loser.

Think of yourself instead: for if you
sink, your followers will go with you."'


As collected by Idries Shah