Veronika Decides to Die (On the Seventh Day 2)

"...then they invited Nasrudin, the great master of the Sufi tradition, to give a lecture," he was saying.

When the door opened, everyone in the room looked at Veronika. The man in the suit turned to her.

"Sit down."

She sat down on the floor next to Mari, the white-haired woman who had been so aggressive on their first encounter. To Veronika's surprise, Mari gave her a welcoming smile.

The man in the suit went on: "Nasrudin arranged to give a lecture at two o'clock in the afternoon, and it looked set to be a great success: The thousand seats were completely sold out and more than seven hundred people were left outside, watching the lecture on closed-circuit television.

"At two o'clock precisely an assistant of Nasrudin's came in, saying that, for unavoidable reasons, the lecture would begin late. Some got up indignantly, asked for their money back, and left. Even so a lot of people remained both inside and outside the lecture hall.

"By four in the afternoon, the Sufi master had still not appeared, and people gradually began to leave the place, picking up their money at the box office. The working day was coming to an end; it was time to go home. By six o'clock, the original seventeen hundred spectators had dwindled to less than a hundred.

"At that moment Nasrudin came in. He appeared to be extremely drunk and began to flirt with a beautiful young woman sitting in the front row.

"Astonished, the people who had remained began to feel indignant. How could the man behave like that after making them wait four solid hours? There were some disapproving murmurs, but the Sufi master ignored them. He went on, in a loud voice, to say how sexy the young woman was, and invited her to go with him to France."

Some teacher! thought Veronika. Just as well I've never believed in such things.

"After cursing the people who were complaining, Nasrudin tried to get up but fell heavily to the floor. Disgusted, more people decided to leave, saying it was pure charlatanism, that they would denounce the degrading spectacle to the press.

Only nine people remained. As soon as the final group of outraged spectators had left, Nasrudin got up; he was completely sober, his eyes glowed, and he had about him an air of great authority and wisdom. "Those of you who stayed are the ones who will hear me," he said. "You have passed through the two hardest tests on the spiritual road: the patience to wait for the right moment and the courage not to be disappointed with what you encounter. It is you I will teach."

"And Nasrudin shared with them some of the Sufi techniques."

The man paused and took a strange flute out of his pocket.

"Let's take a short break now, and then we'll do our meditation."

The members of the group stood up. Veronika didn't know what to do.

"You get up too," said Mari, grabbing her hand. "We've got a five-minute break."

"I'll leave, I don't want to be in the way."

Mari led her to one corner.

"Haven't you learned anything, not even with the approach of death? Stop thinking all the time that you're in the way, that you're bothering the person next to you. If people don't like it, they can complain. And if they don't have the courage to complain, that's their problem."

"That day, when I came over to you, I was doing something I'd never dared to do before."

"And you allowed yourself to be cowed by a joke made by a lunatic. Why didn't you just stick to your guns? What did you have to lose?"

"My dignity, by being where I wasn't welcome."

"What's dignity? It's wanting everyone to think you're good, well-behaved, full of love for your fellow man. Have some respect for nature, watch a few films about animals, and see how they fight for their own space. We all heartily approved of that slap of yours."

Veronika did not have any more time to spend fighting for space, and so she changed the subject and asked who the man in the suit was.

"You're improving." Mari laughed. "You now ask questions without worrying about whether you're being indiscreet or not. He's a Sufi master."

"What does 'Sufi' mean?"

"Wool."

Veronika didn't understand. Wool?

"Sufism is the spiritual tradition of the dervishes. Its teachers never strive to show how wise they are, and their disciples go into a trance by performing a kind of whirling dance."