Nasreddin and The Wise Men

[Mystique Enigma]

The philosophers, logicians and doctors of law were drawn up at Court to examine Nasreddin. This was a serious case, because he had admitted going from village to village saying: "The so-called wise men are ignorant, irresolute and confused." He was charged with undermining the security of the state.
"You may speak first," said the King.
"Have paper and pens brought," said the Hoca.
Paper and pens were brought.
"Give some to each of the first seven savants."
They were distributed.
"Have them separately write an answer to this question: "What is bread?"
This was done.

The papers were handed to the King, who read them out:
The first said: "Bread is a food."
The second: "It is flour and water."
The third:" A gift of God."
The fourth:" Baked dough."
The fifth:" Changeable, according to how mean 'bread'."
The sixth:"A nutritious substance."
The seventh:"Nobody really knows."

"When they decide what bread is," said Nasreddin, "it will be possible for them to decide other things. For example, whether I am right or wrong. Can you entrust matters of assessment and judgment to people like this? Is it or is it not strange that they cannot agree about something which they eat each day, yet are unanimous that I am a heretic?

 

[silent thunder]

*deep bow*

thanks!

[Nungali]

What a prankster he was !

 

Seven of them eh ? Curious how 'other' Sufi teachings suggest that to actually understand reality we need to view it 7 ways (and I think, implied is, to then form a view based on all 7). The explanations 'ascend' through the levels, all the way up to the 'unknowable' . Some times the 7 levels appear to equate to the planets, or maybe more correctly, considering the influence of Hermetics on Islamic philosophy, 7 spheres , or some variant order depending on the Order (of Sufism).

 

The idea can be extended to 'what is a brick' ... a full meditation and resultant realisation can even improve architecture and design . {A similar thing was done at Sydney Uni with bricks, the architecture lecturer arranged for the room to have a pile of bricks delivered so they were present when the students came in. he posed the question and bid them examine them ... some realised, although back then, that was going to be their main medium, they had never touched one before or really considered them as a component in their designs.

 

Some great inventions have come about by people seeing variant usages or purposes (definitions) in things.

 

How does the story end ? Did 'The Mullah' get away with it?

 

You gotta watch him .... he rides his donkey facing the wrong way sometimes (or is it the donkey facing the wrong way ? )

 

He probbaly just rode the donkey out under their noses - the 'wrong' way.

[Nungali]

Oh ... and was he a heretic?

 

No ... he was a seven (at least) faceted jewel .

 

I like this one ... lets say it was after the above event ... and several others ... in short people were getting pissed at him, so they called his bluff and asked him to speak at the mosque and share his wisdom next friday. So he agreed:

 

"Oh people, do you know what truth I must impart to you?"

 

"No we do not Mullah, please inform us."

 

"How then can I impart such truth to anyone so ignorant," and he stormed off in a huff.

 

So they tried again , he agreed. Next friday:

 

"Oh people, do you know what truth I must impart to you?"

 

"We do Mullah, but please inform us anyway."

 

"Well, if you already know, there is no point. " and he scurried off.

 

... okay ... one more time;

 

He waited until the mosque was full, he strode forward and eyeballed them " Right! Let's get straight to the point; do you, or do you not know?"

 

"Some of us know ... but some of us do not ."

 

"Well then, let those that do know tell those that do not. "

 

And he walked off.

 

[ Sometime later the Sultan got so sick of his antics that he ordered him captured and beheaded, Nasruddin defrayed the execution for a short time (and permanently if he achieved it) as he promised to teach the Sultan's horse to fly. " If I haven't done it by two months, you get to chop my head off anyway ,,, but if I do it, you will be the Sultan that has a flying horse ... you have nothing to loose. " ( ... you gotta admit ... a flying horse would be pretty cool ! )

 

http://www.bilgimanya.com/nasreddin-hoca-kimdir-hayati-ve-firkalarinin-ozellikleri/18118

Edited September 13, 2014 by Nungali

[9th]

Someone asked Nasreddin to guess what he had in his hand.

“Give me a clue,” said the Mullah.

“I'll give you several,” said the wag. “It is shaped like an egg, egg-sized, looks, tastes and smells like an egg. Inside it is yellow and white. It is liquid within before you cook it, coalesces with heat. It was, moreover, laid by a hen…”

“I know!” interrupted the Mullah. “It is some sort of cake.”

[voidisyinyang]

bread is the cause of white people - check out the NEW SCIENCE on this - http://innersoundqigong.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-white-man-disease-light-skin-as.html

 

So the question is kind of self-limiting.

[Nungali]

make that 8 levels of understanding