"It is the silent thirst of an empty being, a silent prayer without any words of a mind which is no more, of an ego which is dissolved.

"Once it happened that Mulla Nasruddin came to me, very much disturbed, sad, perplexed, and he said: 'I am in deep trouble. A problem has arisen – and I am not a blind believer, I am a rational man.'

"So I asked him, 'What is the problem?'

"He said, 'Just this morning I saw a mouse sitting on the Koran, the Holy Koran! So I am disturbed: if the Koran cannot protect itself against an ordinary mouse, how can it protect me? My whole faith is shattered, my whole being is troubled. Now I cannot believe in the Koran anymore. What should I do?'

"So I told him, 'This is the logical step. Now you start believing in the mouse, because you have seen with your own eyes that the mouse is stronger than the Holy Koran.'

"And, of course, strength is the only criterion for the mind; power is what the mind is in search of – Friedrich Nietzsche is right.

"I told Mulla Nasruddin, 'Man is nothing but a will to power. And now you have seen with your own eyes that a mouse is more powerful than the Holy Koran.'

"He was convinced. Of course there was no way to escape from logic, so he started worshipping the mouse. But soon he was in trouble because one day he saw a cat jump on the mouse. But this time he didn't come to ask me; now he had the key in his own hand – he started to worship the cat. Soon he was in trouble again. A dog chased the cat and the cat was trembling, so he started to worship the dog. But then again he was in trouble.

"One day his wife beat the dog to death. Then he came again. He said, 'Now this is too much. I can worship a mouse, a cat, a dog, but not my own wife.'

"So I told him, 'Nasruddin, you are a rational man, and this is how reason moves. You cannot go back, you have to accept it.'

"So he said, 'Then I will do one thing."