Go sweep out the chamber of your heart,
make it ready to be the dwelling place of the Beloved,
when you depart, He will enter,
in you, void of yourself, will He display His beauties.

“As Hazrat Inayat Khan says in no uncertain terms in The Inner Life, a person needs to be whole to take the journey. The point of this is to get your basic self in tune with your higher self. We are talking here about wounded psyches, fractured consciousness and dysfunction. Without addressing these issues, a person can become quite advanced in many ways, and yet at a certain point find it necessary to self-destruct because she/he has not made a true accommodation in her/himself to sustain realization. Many of us started on the path even sneering at the psychological aspect of things, but had to go back to do such things as address our inner child, align the three selves, do a 12 step program, or some form of individual or group therapy.”

"... the necessity of character building is not generally appreciated in sufficient degree... [which] results generally in failure, frustration and a consequent loss of faith... It is only when the aspirant has developed the requisite traits of character and a dynamic urge to find the Truth that he can steadily tread the path... It is only when the ground has been well prepared by self-discipline and upāsana [worship, recitation, service, lit. "sitting near"] that the aspirant can successfully take up the practice...

Before any spiritual light from the innermost recesses of our being can break through into the realms of our mind, much has to be accomplished. Impurities have to be removed, distortions have to be straightened out, the vehicles have to be harmonized. It is only in such a prepared mind, freed from these ordinary defects, that the light of higher knowledge can manifest. But when this light of knowledge does appear, the sadhaka [worshiper] has lit his own lamp and in the light shed by this lamp can tread steadily the path which leads ultimately to Self Realization. But the preparatory work must be done before this spiritual light can appear... "

And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;  And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:  Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:  And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:  But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

The Buddha’s penetrating insight attracted many intellectuals, one of whom, Malunkyaputra, grew more and more frustrated as the Buddha failed to settle certain basic metaphysical questions. Finally he went to the Buddha in exasperation and confronted him with the following list:

“Blessed One, there are theories which you have left unexplained and set aside unanswered: whether the world is eternal or not eternal; whether it is finite or infinite; whether the soul and the body are the same or different; whether a person who has attained nirvana exists after death or does not; or whether perhaps he both exists and does not exist, or neither exists nor does not. The fact that the Blessed One has not explained these matters neither pleases me nor suits me, I will give up spiritual disciplines and return to the life of a layman.”

“Malunkyaputra,” the Buddha replied gently, “when you took to the spiritual life, did I ever promise you I would answer these questions?”

Malunkyaputra was probably already sorry for his outburst, but it was too late. “No Blessed One, you never did.”

“Why do you think that is?”

“Blessed One, I haven’t the slightest idea!”

“Suppose, Malunkyaputra, that a man has been wounded by a poisoned arrow, and his friends and family are about to call a doctor. ‘Wait!’ he says. I will not let this arrow be removed until I have learned the caste of the man who shot me. I have to know how tall he is, what family he comes from, where they live, what kind of wood his bow is made from, what fletcher made his arrows. When I know these things, you can proceed to take the arrow out and give an antidote for the poison.’ What would you think of such a man?”

“He would be a fool, Blessed One,” replied Malunkyaputra shamefacedly. “His questions have nothing to do with getting the arrow out, and he would die before they were answered.”

“Similarly, Malunkyaputra, I do not teach whether the world is eternal or not eternal; whether it is finite or infinite, whether the soul and the body are the same or different, whether a person who has attained nirvana exists after death or does not, or whether perhaps he both exists and does not exist, or neither exists nor does not. I teach how to remove the arrow: the truth of suffering, its origin, its end, and the noble eightfold path.”

“Perhaps,” a disciple suggested discreetly on another occasion, “these are matters which the Blessed One himself has not cared to know.”

The Buddha did not answer, but smiled and took a handful of leaves from the branch of a tree under which they sat. “What do you think,” he asked, “are there more leaves in my hand or on this tree?”

“Blessed One you know your handful is only a small part of what remains on the branches. Who can count the leaves of a shimshapa tree?”

“What I know,” the Buddha said, “is like the leaves of that tree; what I teach is only a small part. But what I offer, I offer to all with an open hand. What do I not teach? Whatever is fascinating to discuss, divides people against each other, but has no bearing on putting an end to sorrow. What do I teach? Only what is necessary to take you to the other shore.”