Sufi Story: In the city of Bastan where Bayazid made his home, there lived a very respected and venerable ascetic. He enjoyed Bayazid's circle, though he never became one of his disciples. One day he said to Bayazid, "O Master! For the last thirty years, I have been fasting from the world and keeping vigils at night, but I have to be honest with you: I do not find in myself that knowledge you have been talking about, though I acknowledge your wisdom and I would like to understand it."
Bayazid replied, "O Sheikh, even if you continue your ritual prayer and fasting for the next three hundred years, you would still not be able to understand the smallest portion of this wisdom." "Why?" asked the ascetic. "Because you are a prisoner of your own ego", responded Bayazid.
"Is there any remedy for my condition?" asked the ascetic. "There is, but you would not be able to do it", replied Bayazid.
"I promise I will accept whatever you suggest, for I have been seeking this knowledge for years", insisted the ascetic.
"Then," continued Bayazid, "You must first take off your ascetic clothes and wear rags instead; let down your hair and go sit with a bag full of walnuts in a neighborhood where people know you best. Then call all the children around you and tell them, I will give a walnut to whosoever smacks me on the face, two walnuts for two smacks, and so on. After you finish with that neighborhood, go to other neighborhoods until you have covered the whole town. This is your remedy."
