Manzoor was a man who had long been practicing a spiritual discipline. He believed himself to be wise, and he believed that he loved God.
One day he heard a shepherd on the road praying, "God, where are you? I want to help you, to fix your shoes, and comb your hair. I want to wash your clothes. I want to bring you milk and kiss your little hands and feet when it is time for you to go to bed. I want to sweep your room and keep it neat. God, my sheep and goats are yours. All I can say, remembering you, is... ahhh!"
Manzoor could stand it no longer and said, "To whom are you talking?"
"The one who made us and made the earth and sky," the shepherd replied.
Angered, Manzoor said, "Do not talk about shoes and socks with God! What is this with your little hands and feet? It sounds like you are chatting with your uncles. God doesn't need shoes. He has no feet. He cannot drink milk. Use appropriate terms. Your words are OK for us human beings, but not for addressing the origin, not for God!"

The shepherd repented and tore his clothes, sighed, and wandered out into the desert. Then a sudden revelation came to Manzoor.
It was as if a voice said, "You have separated me from one of my own. Did you come as a person to unite, or to sever? I have given each being a separate and unique way of seeing, knowing, and saying that knowledge. What seems wrong to you is right for him. What is poison to one is honey for another. Purity and impurity, sloth and diligence in worship, these mean nothing to me. I am apart from all that.

"Ways of worshipping are not to be ranked as better as or worse than one another. It is not me that is glorified in acts of worship. It is the worshippers! I don't hear the words they say. I look inside at the humility. That open-hearted lowliness is the reality, not the language! Forget phraseology. I want burning. Be friends with your burning. Burn up your thinking and your forms of expression!

"Manzoor, those who pay attention to ways of behaving and speaking are one sort. Lovers who burn are another. Don't scold the lover. The 'wrong' way he talks is better than a hundred 'right' ways of others. The love of God has no code or doctrine. So the ruby has nothing engraved on it! It does not need markings."

God began speaking deeper mysteries to Manzoor. Then Manzoor ran after the shepherd. He followed the bewildered footprints and finally caught up with him.
He said, "I was wrong. God has revealed to me that there are no rules for worship. Say whatever your loving tells you to. Your sweet blasphemy is the truest devotion. Through you a whole world is freed."
The shepherd replied, "Manzoor, I have gone beyond even that. You applied the whip and my horse shied and jumped out of itself. The divine nature and my human nature came together. Bless your scolding hand. I cannot say what has happened. What I am saying now is not my real condition. It cannot be said." The shepherd was then silent.

Reprinted with permission from http://www.zensufi.com/shepherd.htm. For further information, please contact zs@zensufi.com..This story was narrated by Rumi, the famous Sufi poet.

Q: Outward appearances can be deceiving. This story shows us that the attitude and thought behind any action is more important than the outward expression of the action. The spiritual practitioner, Manzoor, believed he was superior to the shepherd, and more spiritual. He saw the shepherd as blasphemous. In fact, the inner state of the shepherd was very pure and loving, and Manzoor had not understood this. What is the difference between looking at the outward appearance of a person's attitude to God through their practice, and their inner condition?

A relevant quote:
"Character is the sum total of one's thoughts, which depends partly on one's training and partly upon the surroundings in which one moves." Swami Vivekananda

Q: Spend some time observing your thoughts and reactions. Do you try to understand the deeper attitude behind things before you judge people and situations? Remember, your character is expressed in your thoughts, not in other people's behavior.

O, Master!
Thou art the real goal of human life.
We are yet but slaves of wishes
Putting bar to our advancement,
Thou art the only God and power
To bring us up to that stage.