Sufism, Vol. 1 Sufis: The People Of The Path Chapter 2: In Hiding, Question 4

The fourth question:

Question 4

ONCE I LOVED A WOMAN BUT SHE REFUSED ME, AND EVER SINCE I HAVE BEEN MISERABLE. I HAVE LOST ALL HOPE IN LIFE. WHAT SHOULD I DO?

You meditate on this story:

A visitor to an insane asylum found one of the inmates rocking back and forth in a chair in a contented manner, cooing repeatedly, 'Lulu, Lulu.... '

'What's the matter with this man?' the visitor asked the attendant.

'Well, you see, sir, Lulu was the woman who jilted him,' the attendant explained.

Baffled with the explanation, the visitor proceeded on the tour.

Later he came to a padded cell, where an inmate was batting his head repeatedly against the wall and crying, 'Lulu, Lulu...'

'Now why is this man crying "Lulu"?' asked the visitor.

'Oh, he's the fellow Lulu finally married,' the attendant explained.

Don't be so miserable. Just find the man whom Lulu has married and all misery will disappear.

Sufism