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Sufism-The Essence of Islam
poverty; The saint comforted him by pointing out that he was very fortunate that he could get his poverty "free of charge". The man was astonished by such response of the saint and asked whether even poverty could be purchased. The saint at once retorted "Why not? Look at me; I have purchased poverty by sacrificing everything which the world could offer to me, and I am not willing to sell even a part of my poverty even for hundreds of such worlds". This reminds me of a Jain story about an event in the life of Lord Mahavir. Emperor Bimbisar of Magadh, better known as Shrenik was a staunch follower of Mahavir. He once asked the master what was the easiest way to attain peace of mind. The master told him that if he could get even a fraction of the "Samayik" (a Jain form of meditation) performed by one of his devotes named Puniya, he would be able to obtain the desired peace. The kind thought that that was a very easy task as he could pay anything to the poor devotee to purchase the fruits of his Samayik. When he approached that devotee and asked him to name
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