Seeker After Truth by Idries Shah

Short Story from Seeker after truth:

The One without the Other

It is recorded that a man went to Ahmad Yasavi, the Sufi
master of Turkestan, and said:
‘Teach me without books, and let me learn to understand
without the intervention of a master between me and Truth,
for humans are frail, and reading books does not enlighten
me.’
Yasavi said:
‘Do you seek to eat without a mouth, or to digest without
a stomach? Perhaps you would like to walk without feet and

buy without paying.... I could do as you ask only if you could
first dispense with physical organs, as you wish to avoid those

things which have been devised for the spiritual organs.