Frivolous
A Prince said to a scholar: 'The speech of yonder Sufi is so frivolous and so general that I do not believe that he can be a man of sincerity.' The scholar said: 'O Emir of Sheikhs! Know that there are three forms of deep knowledge: The Deep Knowledge unknown to any; The Deep Knowledge given by the results of complex speech; and the Deep Knowledge conveyed by seemingly frivolous means. One jest from the lips of that Sufi has made a hundred saints, while other men, of serious mien and threatening talk, have succeeded - in making corpses.' A goblet of the Water of Life was once handed to a man He refused to drink because the container did not please him by its outward shape If you are a man of 'shape', why do you talk about 'depth'? ✍ Idries Shah (Simla, British India, 16 June 1924 - London, United Kingdom, 23 November 1996). ◙ Artwork: John Frederick Lewis