Nasruddin rode through the market on his donkey, looking up and down as if he had lost something.
"Hey, Nasruddin!" one of his friends shouted. "Stop for a minute and have some tea."
"I can't!" replied Nasruddin. "I'm busy. I'm looking for my donkey!"
Nasruddin's friend laughed, thinking the old man was joking.
But it was no joke: Nasruddin's donkey is like our ego. It carries us around, and we don't even realize it. The ego occupies our attention, distracting us from life itself. You need to get down off the donkey, and then you will see things more clearly.
Inspired by: Sacred Laughter of the Sufis by Imam Jamal Rahman
Notes: This story is on p. 3 of the book. Rahman pairs this story with the story of Bayazid looking for himself: Finding Bayazid.
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