Date: 28/12/2005

The brain speaks through words; the heart in the glance of the eyes;
and the soul through a radiance that charges the atmosphere, magnetizing all
Bowl of Saki 1-26, Hazrat Inayat Khan
                       
New Year’s Greeting 2006

The all-pervading “Goal” drives each of us without mercy into the Future, while at the same time hurling us into the ever-receding Past; and in our illusion of the Present, the magic game of Time deceives that Eternity, where the opposite poles Spirit and Matter meet in a continuum of space, inspiring our speculative concepts of reality or unreality, which are just only the reflections of our own point of view. There is no experience in life which is really worthless, and there is not one moment which is really wasted, providing one is wise enough to carefully assemble the elements of past memories and learn from these, with the idea of accomplishing one’s life’s purpose.
As we proceed courageously through the darkness of the clouds of such concepts as preconceived ideas, communicating with each in their own language, and steadfastly displaying the banner of “Spiritual Liberty”, our example could be interpreted as an invitation to the privilege of becoming living altars of all beliefs, while firmly holding on to the only secret that there is to inner peace, to happiness, and to spirituality: “The Supremacy of Truth”, which cannot be defined in speculative human terminology.Although one’s vision of right and wrong does not always correspond to that of others, yet each time that we set aside our own ego, even for a moment, we then offer a bit of our heart, and in return, the light of the “Spirit of Guidance” becomes brighter and brighter, clearing away the shadows of our limitations, as we sail on the great waters of Life, heading toward the unknown, where one may perhaps begin to realize that the sailor is at the same time the all –pervading “Goal”.

The Radiance of the Soul (Volume V, part 2) God is within you; you are His instrument, and through you He expresses Himself to the external world.  

Bowl of Saki 11-24, Hazrat Inayat Khan

 
The heart of man is like a globe over the light of the soul. When the globe is dusty, naturally the light is dim; when it is cleaned, the light increases. In fact the light is always the same; it is the fault of the globe when it is not clear. When this radiance shines out, it shows itself not only through the countenance and expression of a man, but even in the man's atmosphere. The soul-power, so to speak, freely projects outward and the surroundings feel it. The radiance of the soul is not only a power, but it is an inspiration too. A man understands better; there is less confusion; and if he is absorbed in the contemplation of something, be it art, science, music, poetry, or philosophy, he can get inspirations clearly, and the secret of life and nature is revealed to him.
 
Love is the best means of making the heart capable of reflecting the soul-power--love in the sense of pain rather than as pleasure. Every blow, it seems, opens a door in the heart whence the soul-power comes forth. The concrete manifestations of the soul-power can be witnessed in the depth of the voice, in the choice of words, in the form of a sentence or a phrase, in every movement, pose, gesture, and especially in the expression of the man; even the atmosphere speaks, though it is difficult for everyone to hear it.
 
The heart may be likened to soil. Soil may be fertile or a barren desert, but the soil which is fertile is that which bears fruit. It is that which is chosen by living beings to dwell in, although many are lost in the soil of the desert, and lead in it a life of grief and loneliness. Man has both in him, for he is the final manifestation. He may let his heart be a desert, where everyone abides hungry and thirsty, or he may make it a fertile and fruitful land, where food is provided for hungry souls, the children of the earth, strong or weak, rich or poor, who always hunger for love and sympathy.

Date: 28/12/2005
 
Desk of the Peshkar of the Brother/Sisterhood Activity
 
The brain speaks through words; the heart in the glance of the eyes;
and the soul through a radiance that charges the atmosphere, magnetizing all.
Bowl of Saki 1-26, Hazrat Inayat Khan
 

God is within you; you are His instrument, and through you He expresses Himself to the external world.
Bowl of Saki 11-24, Hazrat Inayat Khan
 
The Radiance of the Soul (Volume V, part 2)
 
The heart of man is like a globe over the light of the soul. When the globe is dusty, naturally the light is dim; when it is cleaned, the light increases. In fact the light is always the same; it is the fault of the globe when it is not clear. When this radiance shines out, it shows itself not only through the countenance and expression of a man, but even in the man's atmosphere. The soul-power, so to speak, freely projects outward and the surroundings feel it. The radiance of the soul is not only a power, but it is an inspiration too. A man understands better; there is less confusion; and if he is absorbed in the contemplation of something, be it art, science, music, poetry, or philosophy, he can get inspirations clearly, and the secret of life and nature is revealed to him.
 
Love is the best means of making the heart capable of reflecting the soul-power - love in the sense of pain rather than as pleasure. Every blow, it seems, opens a door in the heart whence the soul-power comes forth. The concrete manifestations of the soul-power can be witnessed in the depth of the voice, in the choice of words, in the form of a sentence or a phrase, in every movement, pose, gesture, and especially in the expression of the man; even the atmosphere speaks, though it is difficult for everyone to hear it.
 
The heart may be likened to soil. Soil may be fertile or a barren desert, but the soil which is fertile is that which bears fruit. It is that which is chosen by living beings to dwell in, although many are lost in the soil of the desert, and lead in it a life of grief and loneliness. Man has both in him, for he is the final manifestation. He may let his heart be a desert, where everyone abides hungry and thirsty, or he may make it a fertile and fruitful land, where food is provided for hungry souls, the children of the earth, strong or weak, rich or poor, who always hunger for love and sympathy.

December 2005

The inner life is not contrary to worldly life, but is life lived in all its fullness, making God a reality in the midst of one’s worldly responsibilities, awakening to the beauty which is in all things of this world, and forgetting one’s self in contemplation of the all-pervading Divine wisdom.
                                                 
Reflections IV, no 87, Hidayat Inayat-Khan                                                    
 
The Inner Life (Volume VI)
 
There is one aspect of life which is known to us, our everyday life in which we are conscious of all that we do, and this aspect may be called the outer life. There is another part of our life of which we are very often unconscious and which may be called the inner life. To be without inner life is like being without an arm or a leg or an eye or an ear; but even that does not really illustrate the idea of the inner life. The reason is that the inner life is much greater and nobler and much more powerful than the outer life. Man gives great importance to the outer life, being absorbed in it from morning till evening and not being conscious of the other aspect. Thus all that matters to man is what happens to him in his outer life, and the occupations of his outer life keep him so absorbed that he has hardly a moment to think of the inner life.
 
The disadvantage of not being conscious of the inner life is incomparably greater than all the advantages that one can gain by being conscious of the outer life, for the inner life makes one richer, the outer life poorer. With all the riches and treasures that the earth can offer man is poor; and very often the richer he seems the poorer he is, for the greater the riches, the more limitation he finds in his life. The inner life makes one powerful, whereas the consciousness of the outer life makes one weak because it is the consciousness of limitation. The consciousness of the inner life makes one powerful because it is the consciousness of perfection. The outer life keeps one confused; however intellectual or learned a person may be, his mind will never be clear, for his knowledge is based upon reasons which in turn are founded upon the outer things that are liable to change and destruction. That is why, however wise this person may seem to be, his wisdom has limitations.
 
The inner life makes the mind clear, for it is that part of one's being which may be called divine, the essence of life, the pure intelligence; and wherever the light of pure intelligence is thrown things become clear. Absorption in the outer life, without that which the inner life can give, makes one blind; all that one says, thinks, or does is based upon outer experiences; and one cannot realize to what extent the power gained by the inner life enables one to see through life. There is such a thing as belief in a third eye; in reality the third eye is the inner eye, the eye that is opened by one's awakening to the inner life.
 
Inner life may also be called spiritual life. One can see it in the forest where it is the rain from above that makes the forest beautiful; this means that the forest alone does not have all that it needs, but that it needs something that comes from above: the light and the rain. It is the sun and the rain that make the forest complete. In the desert there is no rain, and therefore it is incomplete; there is the earth, but there is no water nor is there water from above. The water that gives life to the forest is not to be found in the desert. The desert is unhappy, and the man in the desert is unhappy too, looking for shade from the hot sun; for the desert is longing, and the man in the desert is longing too for something he cannot find; whereas in the deep forest there is joy, there is inspiration, the heart is lifted up because the forest is a picture of the inner life; not just the earth, not just the trees and plants, but because something which it needs has been sent down to it. And so it is with man: man who is solely occupied with the things of the world is in the midst of the world, but he is in the desert. It is the inner life which produces in him, not artificial virtues and man-made qualities, but those virtues which can only arise from the inner life, and also the insight which makes the eyes see more than mortal eyes can see.
..
          
If man only knew that besides what he says or does or thinks, and the effects which are manifest to him, there is another kind of action which also creates things in a person's life and which makes his world! And perhaps in a week or in a month, or perhaps in a year or ten years, that which he has thus created one day comes before him as a world, as a world created by him. Such is the phenomenon of life. How insignificant a human being appears to be, just like a drop in the sea, yet what effects does he create by every thought, by every feeling, by every act! And what influence they spread; what influence they have on the lives of others! If one only realized this one would find that the results of all one thinks, says, or does in the outer life are incomparably smaller than the results produced by what one thinks, says, or does in the inner life. Thus the consciousness of the inner life makes man more responsible than that of the outer life. The responsibilities of the outer life, compared with the responsibilities of the inner life, are much smaller. For the moment they might appear to be heavy burdens, but they are nothing compared with the responsibilities one has in one's inner life.
 
If one sees what one creates, the responsibility becomes much greater. There is a saying in the East that the donkey seems to be much happier than the Chakor, which is supposed to be the most intelligent bird. Man seems quite pleased in outer life, because his responsibilities are less, his outlook small, his horizon narrow, and what he sees of the world is very little; but when the horizon is opened up, when the heart has penetrated through the barrier that divides the here and the hereafter, when he begins to see behind the veil and all that appears on the surface becomes a screen behind which something else is hidden, then he experiences life quite differently.

November 2005

The more a man explores himself, the more power he finds within.
 
Gayan, Hazrat Inayat Khan 
 
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
 
In our last letter you read that knowledge is important on your journey through daily life. One of the most necessary aspects, however, is will power. Will power is needed in order to do the things we have to do, but also to refrain from what we shouldn’t do.  You can’t continue your journey without will power. Also dwelling on your self in order to discover the difference between self-deceit and self-realisation needs will power. Even to take steps back on your path asks for will power. Hazrat Inayat Khan says in the Gayan:

The closer one approaches reality, the nearer one comes to unity.

With sisterly love,
Maharani


The illusion of the false self seeks for happiness elsewhere, whereas happiness is found within one's own being, when the heart is open to that discovery

Reflections 1, Hidayat Inayat-Khan

Will-power (Volume III, Character-building)

The will-power plays a great part in character-building. And the will-power becomes feeble when a person yields to every little tendency, inclination, and fancy he has; but when a person fights against every little fancy and tendency and inclination he learns to fight with himself, and in this way he develops will-power. When once a person's inclinations, fancies, and tendencies have grown stronger than his will-power, he experiences in his life several enemies existing in his own self, and he finds it difficult to combat them. For inclinations, fancies, and tendencies, when powerful, do not let will-power work against them. If there is any such thing as self-denial, it is this practice; and by this practice in time one attains to a power which may be called mastery over oneself.

In small things of everyday life one neglects this consideration because one thinks, 'These are my tendencies, my fancies, my inclinations, and by respecting them I respect myself, by considering them I consider myself.' But one forgets that what one calls my is not oneself, it is what wills that is oneself. Therefore in the Christian prayer it is said, Thy Will be done, which means, Thy Will when it works through me; in other words, my will which is Thy Will, be done. It is this illusion of confusing one's possession with oneself that creates all illusion and keeps man from self-realization.

Life is a continual battle. Man struggles with things that are outside him, and so he gives a chance to the foes who exist in his own being. Therefore the first thing necessary in life is to make peace for the time being with the outside world, in order to prepare for the war which is to be fought within oneself. Once peace is made within, one will gain by that sufficient strength and power to be used through the struggle of life within and without.

Self-pity is the worst poverty. When a person says, 'I am . . .' with pity, before he has said anything more he has diminished himself to half of what he is; and what is said further, diminishes him totally; nothing more of him is left afterwards. There is so much in the world that we can pity and which it would be right for us to take pity upon, but we have no time free from our own self we cannot give our mind to others in the world. Life is one long journey, and the further behind we have left our self, the further we have progressed towards the goal. Verily when the false self is lost the true self is discovered.

September 2005Earthly knowledge is as clouds dimming the sight,
and it is the breaking of these clouds in other words,
purity of heart that gives the capacity for
the knowledge of God to rise

Bowl of Saki 10-31, Hazrat Inayat Khan
 
 

Dear Sisters and Brothers,
 
What kind of luggage do we need during the journey towards the Goal?
One of the important things can be: knowledge. But what kind of knowledge?
Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan teaches us that in Sufism we distinguish between three aspects of knowledge.
It looks like there are different levels in the luggage we carry.
Some knowledge is located at the top and can be easily reached.
Other knowledge is more hidden and is harder to reach.
And then there is the knowledge that is hidden so deep that we sometimes forget that it exists.
Do you know what you carry? Put your luggage down and take your time and let yourself be surprised. Maybe there are pearls in it.
I wish you luck with your exploration. When you find pearls, let me know!
 
With sisterly greetings, Maharani
 
 
There are things that are worthwhile knowing and others that are not worth troubling about. In spending all ones energy to know what one need not know, one loses the opportunity to discover more about ones true self, and in discovering ones responsibilities as a human being resides the purpose of life

Reflections 37, Hidayat Inayat-Khan
 
 
 
Knowledge (Volume X)
 
 
There are three aspects of knowledge: self-knowledge, the knowledge of another person, and the knowledge of the collectivity. Also, there are three ways of looking at the world: its past, its present, and its future. By yesterday is meant the past; by today is meant the present; and by tomorrow is meant the future. The knowledge of the past gives wisdom; the knowledge of the present gives power; the knowledge of the future gives peace. The one who is anxious to acquire knowledge must consider all these three aspects to be equally important.
 
For those who are treading the spiritual path it is as necessary to think of the world, especially at the present time, as it is to think of someone else and of themselves. No one should think that by position or rank, by profession or occupation, by condition or situation, he is too limited to think of the world; but each of us should realize that we are a self-sufficient particle of the whole. Each particle is responsible for the evolution of the world in proportion to the place it occupies in the cosmos; and everything a man naturally knows first about himself, and then about another, is of the greatest importance when he also begins to know something about the world at large. What he should know is what the world was, what the world is now, and what it will be in the future.
 
In the self-knowledge of past and present and future one has to learn what was the origin of the soul, how the soul has formed itself, how it has come to manifest, the knowledge of the process of manifestation, and the different stages through which it has passed towards manifestation. Regarding the present one should learn one's own condition, the condition of one's spirit, of one's mind and body, one's situation in life, and one's relationship to others; one should also realize how far the soul reaches in the spiritual spheres. And regarding the future one should find the answers to the questions, 'Am I preparing for something that is to come, and what is there to come? If life is a journey, what is the object of this journey? What is the destination and how shall I reach it? What preparations must I make for this journey and what must I carry to make the journey easy? What are the difficulties that I may meet on my way?' It is the understanding of these questions which is the knowledge of the future. And it is self-knowledge which helps man to know the past, the present, and the future of another. For those who know themselves another person is like an open book; they can read him clearly; his past is clear to them, and also his present and his future.
 
There are many ways in which people try to know about past, present, and future: by astrology, by palmistry, by physiognomy, by reading the features, and in many other ways. Although all such methods can often be helpful and give us some knowledge - for knowledge is within our reach and we only have to ask for it and it is given - yet by self-realization we can understand this knowledge so clearly at a certain stage, that no other method is necessary. It becomes natural; as it is natural for the eyes to see, so it becomes natural for the heart to see into the past, present, and future.
 
Looking into the past is just like looking deep down from great heights. It means probing the depths of life. Looking into the present is just like observing a wide horizon, as wide as we can see. Looking into the future is like looking upward to the zenith. And the feeling we experience is different with each of these three ways of looking. One gives knowledge; the other gives power; and the third gives peace, as I said before. Knowledge is man's birthright and it is the sustenance of the soul. It is to gather knowledge that the soul has come on earth; the acquisition of knowledge is the only purpose the soul has in coming here. In knowledge lies the satisfaction of the soul, the fulfilment of the purpose of life.

Desire for Life Volume I CHAPTER I To repress desire is to suppress a divine impulse

Gayan: Hazrat Inayat Khan

THE first thing that a seeker after truth must realize, is the purpose of life. No sooner does a soul begin to feel sober from the intoxication of life, than the first thing it asks itself is, ' What is the purpose of my life?' Each soul has its own purpose, but in the end all purposes resolve into one purpose, and it is that purpose which is sought by the mystic. For all souls, by the right and the wrong path, either sooner or later, will arrive at that purpose, a purpose which must be accomplished, a purpose for which the whole creation has been intended; but the difference between the seeking soul and the soul who blindly works towards that purpose is like that between the material and the maker of it. The day works towards the purpose of forming a vessel and so does the potter; but it is the potter's joy and privilege to feel the happiness of the accomplishment of the purpose, not the clay' s; and so it is with the beings who are unconsciously striving towards that purpose and the souls who are consciously striving towards it, both in the end coming towards the same accomplishment; the difference is in the consciousness.

The first step on the spiritual path is when a soul realizes its outer purpose in life. For it is not every soul in the world which even realizes its outer mission in life. And the soul who does not realize it, may go on, perhaps, for its whole life and may not realize it even to the end of its life, but the one who cares to realize it, must sooner or later realize it. For the answer to his question is continually being heard in his own heart. As Sa' di says: 'Every soul is created for a certain purpose and the light of that purpose has been kindled in that soul. 'If there is already a flame lit even before the person was born on earth, it remains for the person to find out for himself the purpose of his life, although everything outside himself also points to that purpose.’

One may ask,' What is the best way for a person to understand his life's purpose?' If one follows the bent of one's own mind, if one follows the track to which one is attracted, if one follows one' s inner inclination, which is not satisfed with anything else, one feels, 'There is something waiting for me (which one does not know at the time), which will bring me satisfaction.' Besides, if one is intuitive and mystical, it is easier still, because then one is continually told what is the purpose of one's life. For nature has such a perfection of wisdom. One sees that the insects are given the sense to make their little houses and to protect themselves and to make a store of their food. The bees, who have the gift of making honey, are taught how to make honey. So nature has taught every soul to seek its purpose. It has made every soul for that purpose, and it is continually calling that soul to see that purpose. If the soul does not hear the call and sleeps, it is not the fault of nature, which is continually calling. Therefore, if I were to say in a few words how to find one' s purpose, I would say: by waking from sleep.

One might ask, ‘Would the outer purpose lead to the inner purpose of life?' Certainly it would. Everything a person does, spiritual or material, is only a stepping-stone for him to arrive at the inner purpose, if he can only take it to be so. If he is mistaken, the mistake is in himself; he is working towards the inner purpose just the same. For all is created to work as one scheme, and therefore each individual is acting towards the accomplishment of the divine purpose. If there is a difference, the difference is of that particular individual.

There are five aspects which give one the tendency towards the accomplishment of the inner purpose: desire to live, desire to know, desire for power, desire for happiness and desire for peace.

These five things work consciously or unconsciously in the profound depth of every soul. Working within one, they prompt one either to do right or to do wrong, and yet these five aspects belong to the one purpose in the accomplishment of which the purpose of the whole creation is fulfilled.

When the desire to live brings one in touch with one' s real life, a life which is not subject to death, then the purpose of that desire is accomplished; when one has been able to perceive fully the knowledge of one' s own being, in which is to be found divine knowledge and the mystery of the whole manifestation, then the purpose of knowledge is attained; when one is able to get in touch with the Almighty Power, then the desire for power is achieved; when one has been able to find one' s happiness in one' s own heart, independent of all things outside, the purpose of the desire for happiness is fulfilled; when one is able to rise above all conditions and influences which disturb the peace of the soul and has found one' s peace in the midst of the crowd and away from the world, in him the desire for peace is satisfied. It is not in one or the other of these five desires that there is the accomplishment of the purpose; it is in the fulfilment of these five desires that one purpose is accomplished, the purpose for which every soul was bom on earth.

Dear Brothers and Sisters all over the world,

“Happiness alone is natural”. However, nothing seems so vulnerable as happiness. One day you feel so happy and another day, under the same circumstances, you feel really unhappy. A woman asked me, “How is it possible that now, when I am ill and have a lot of pain, I can’t walk anymore, I even can’t play the piano anymore, that I feel so happy, more happy than I ever felt?”

What is the base for happiness? Hazrat Inayat Khan gives us the possibility to find the answer for happiness in our lives. I wish you a good journey on your way to happiness. May Love and Light be your guide, Maharani

It is often the attitude which draws friends or repels them, just as it brings happiness or unhappiness. Attitude is the source of energy behind the mechanism of the thought, but it is not thought itself. It is the nature of that energy of attitude which influences the characteristic of the thought, resulting in a successful outcome. Reflection IV Hidayat Inayat Khan

Happiness, which is sought after by every soul, has its secret in the knowledge of the self. Man seeks for happiness, not because happiness is his sustenance, but because happiness is his own being. Therefore, in seeking for happiness, man is seeking for himself. What gives man inclination to seek for happiness is the feeling of having lost something which he had always owned, which belonged to him, which was his own self. The absence of happiness, which a soul has experienced from the day it has come on earth and which has increased every day more and more, makes man forget that his own being is happiness. He thinks happiness is something, which is acquired. As man thinks that happiness is something, which is acquired, he continually strives in every direction to attain to it. In the end, after all his striving, he finds that the real happiness does not lie in what he calls pleasures. Pleasures may be a shadow of happiness. There is an illusion of happiness, because all the illusion, which stands beside reality, is more interesting for the average man than reality itself.

A happiness, which is momentary, a happiness which depends upon something outside oneself, is called pleasure. Very often we confuse, in our everyday language, the distinction between pleasure and happiness. A pastime, an amusement, merriment, gaiety that take one’s thoughts away from the responsibilities and worries and limitations of life and give one a moment’s consolation – one begins by thinking that these are the ways of happiness. But as one cannot hold them, and as one often finds that, seeking for what may be called a pleasure, the loss is greater than the gain, then one begins to look for something that will really be the means of happiness. It is this, very often, that wakens a soul to look for the mystery of mysticism, in case he can find some happiness there. But even all these things only help one to find happiness. They are not happiness themselves. It is the soul, which is happiness itself, not all outer things which man seeks after, and which he thinks will give him happiness. The very fact that man is continually craving for happiness shows that the real element, which may be called man’s real being, is not what has formed his body and what has composed his mind, but what he is in himself.

The mind and body are vehicles. Through the mind and body man experiences life more fully, more clearly; but they are not happiness in themselves, nor does what is experienced through them give the real happiness. What he experiences through them is just pleasure, an illusion of happiness for a time. It is not only that the pleasures cost more than they are worth, but very often in the path of pleasure, when a person is seeking after happiness, as he goes further, he creates more and more unhappiness for himself. Very often it happens. Every way he turns, everything he does, every plan he carries out, thinking that this will give him happiness, only produces a greater trouble, because he is seeking after happiness in a wrong direction.

A person might ask, ‘Is, then, the secret of happiness in the way of the ascetics, in tormenting and torturing oneself as they have done for ages?’ Even that does not give happiness. It is only a distraction from the worldly pleasures, which produces illusion. The ascetic shuts himself up in order to have an opportunity of taking another direction. But very often it so happens that the one who lives an ascetic life is himself unaware of what he is doing and what it is intended for. And therefore, even if he lives his whole life as an ascetic, he cannot derive a full benefit from it. His loss is then greater than his gain. For even asceticism is not happiness. It is only a means of self-discipline. It is a drill in order to fight against temptations which draw one continually in life and which hinder one’s path to happiness.

Not understanding this, a person may go on living an ascetic life but can never be benefited by it, like a soldier who has drilled all his life and never fought. Many have understood self-denial as the way to happiness, and they interpret self-denial as the way to happiness, and they interpret self-denial in the form of asceticism, to deny oneself all pleasures, which are momentary. There is another point from which to look at it. The creation is not intended to be renounced. We read in the Qur’an that God has made all that is in the heavens and on the earth subservient to man. Wherefore, all that is beautiful and pleasing, all that gives joy and pleasure, is not to be renounced. The secret of all this is that what is made for man, man may hold but he must not be held by it.

When man renounces the path of happiness, real happiness, in order to pursue pleasures, it is then that he does wrong. If in the pursuit of happiness, which is the ultimate happiness, he goes on through life, then for him to be an ascetic and deny himself all pleasures is not necessary. There is a story told of Solomon, that he had a vision that God revealed Himself to him and said, ‘Ask what I shall give thee.’ Solomon said, ‘Give me an understanding heart, wisdom and knowledge.’ And God said to him, ‘Because thou hast asked this thing and hast not asked long life for thyself, neither hast thou asked riches for thyself, but hast asked for thyself understanding, behold, I have done according to thy word. I have given thee an understanding heart. And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches and honour, and I will lengthen thy days.’ This shows that the true way is not the renouncing of things, but it is making the best use of them, making the right use of them. It is not going away from life, but being among the crowd, being in the midst of life, and yet not being attached to it. One might say, that it would be a cruel thing to be detached from anybody who wants our love and kindness and sympathy. You can attach yourself to the whole world if you will not be of the world. If one keeps one’s thoughts centred upon the idea of the real happiness which is attained by the realization of the self, and if one does not allow anything to hinder that, then in the end one arrives at that happiness which is the purpose of the coming on earth of every soul.

Date: 3/3/2005 

The inner life is not contrary to worldly life, but is life lived in all its fullness, making God a reality in the midst of one’s worldly responsibilities, awakening to the beauty which is in all things of this world, and forgetting one,s self in contemplation of the all-pervading Divine wisdom.                                                                                              Reflection IV by Hidayat Inayat-Khan Selflessness - Inkisar (vol. VIII, part. 3)

Selflessness does not only beautify one's personality, giving grace to one's word and manner, but it also gives a dignity and power, together with a spirit of independence which is the real sign of a sage. It is selflessness which often produces humbleness in one's spirit, taking away the intoxication which enriches the soul.

Independence and indifference, which are as the two wings which enable the soul to fly, spring from the spirit of selflessness. The moment the spirit of selflessness has begun to sparkle in the heart of man, he shows in his word and action a nobility which nothing earthly - neither power nor riches - can give.

There are many ideas which intoxicate man, many feelings there are which act upon the soul as wine, but there is no stronger wine than the wine of selflessness. It is a might and it is a pride that no worldly rank can give. To become something is a limitation, whatever one may become. Even if a person were to be called the king of the world, he would still not be emperor of the universe. If he were the master of earth, he would still be the slave of Heaven. The selfless one is the person who is no one and yet is all.

The Sufi, therefore, takes the path of being nothing instead of being something. It is this feeling of nothingness which turns the human heart into an empty cup into which the wine of immortality is poured. It is this state of bliss which every truth-seeking soul yearns to attain. It is easy to be a learned person, and it is not very difficult to be wise. It is within one's reach to become good. And it is not an impossible achievement to be pious or spiritual. But if there is an attainment greater and higher than all these things, it is to be nothing. It may seem frightening to man, the idea of becoming nothing; but human nature is such that it is eager to hold onto something. What man holds on to most is his personality, his individuality. Once he has risen above this, he has climbed Mount Everest; he has arrived at the spot where the earth ends and heaven begins.

The whole aim of the Sufi is, by the thought of God, to cover his imperfect self even from his own eyes, and that moment when God is before him and not his own self, is the moment of perfect bliss to him. My Murshid, Abu Hashim Madani, once said that there is only one virtue and one sin for a soul on the path: virtue when he is conscious of God and sin when he is not. No explanation can fully describe the truth of this except the experience of the contemplative to whom, when he is conscious of God, it is as if a window facing heaven were open, and to whom, when he is conscious of the self, the experience is the opposite. For all the tragedy of life is caused by being conscious of the self. All pain and depression is caused by this, and anything that can take away the thought of the self helps to a certain extent to relieve man from pain, but God-consciousness gives perfect relief.

In every aspect of life it is our attitude which counts and which in the end
proves to be creative of all kinds of phenomena. Both success and failure
depend upon it, As in the Hindu saying: ‘If the attitude is right, all will come right’.   

Optimism and Pessimism (Vol. XIV, ch IX)

OPTIMISM represents a spontaneous flow of love; optimism also represents trust in love. This shows that it is love, trusting love which is optimism. Pessimism comes from disappointment, from a bad impression which is there of some hindrance in the past. Optimism gives a hopeful attitude in life, whereas by pessimism one sees darkness on one's path. No doubt sometimes pessimism shows conscientiousness and cleverness - and pessimism also shows experience. But in point of fact can we ever be conscientious enough if we only think what difficulties we have before us in our life? It is trust which solves the problems in the end. Very often the wise have seen that cleverness does not reach far; it goes a certain distance and there it stands, for cleverness is a knowledge which belongs to the earth. As to experience - what is man's experience? One is only proud of one's experience in life as long as one has not seen how vast the world is. In every line of work and thought no mountain of experience is needed, and the further man goes in experience the less he realizes that he has none.

The psychological effect of optimism is such that it helps to bring success, for it is by the optimistic spirit that God has created the world. Optimism therefore comes from God, and pessimism is born out of the heart of man. From what little experience of life he has man feels, "This will not be done, that will not succeed, this will not go, that will not come right." For the optimistic one, if things will not come right in the end, it does not matter; he will take his chance. And what is life? Life is an opportunity. To the optimistic person the opportunity is a promise, and for the pessimistic person this opportunity is lost. It is not that the Creator makes man lose it, but it is man who withdraws himself from the possibility of seizing the opportunity. Many in this world prolong their illness by giving a pessimistic thought to it. Mostly you will find that for those who have suffered for many years from a certain illness their illness becomes so real that its absence seems unnatural. They believe this illness to be their nature and its absence something they do not know. In this way they keep the illness in themselves. Then there are pessimistic people who think that misery is their share in life, that they are born to be wretched and cannot be anything else but unhappy, that heaven and earth are against them. In fact they - and nobody else - are against themselves, they themselves are their own misery and their pessimism is their misfortune.

Man's life depends on what he concentrates upon. If he concentrates upon misery he cannot but be miserable. If he has a certain habit or a certain nature of which he does not approve, he thinks he is helpless before it because it is his nature, his own.

Nothing is man's nature, except that which he makes for himself. As the whole of nature is made by God, so the nature of each individual is made by himself. As the Almighty has the power to change his nature, so the individual is capable of changing his nature - if only he knew how. Among all the creatures of this world man is most entitled to be optimistic, for man represents the nature of God on earth: God as judge, as Creator and as the Master of all his creation. So is man master of his own life, master of his affairs - if only he knew it.

A man with an optimistic view will help another who is drowning in the sea of fear or disappointment. A pessimist, on the contrary, if somebody comes to him who is ill or downhearted by the hardness of life, will pull that person down and let him sink to the depths with him. So on the side of the one there is life, on the side of the other there is death. The one climbs to the top of the mountain, the other goes to the depth of the earth. Is there any greater helper in one's sorrow, in misfortune, at moments when every situation in life seems dark, than that spirit of optimism which knows, "All will be right." Therefore it is no exaggeration if I say that the very Spirit of God comes to man's rescue in the form of the optimistic spirit.

It does not matter how hard a situation in life may be, however great the difficulties, they all can be fought, they all can be surmounted. But what matters is that his pessimistic spirit weighs a person down low, when he has already come to low waters. Death is preferable to being weighed down in misery by a pessimistic spirit. The greatest reward there can be in the world is the spirit of optimism, and the greatest punishment that can be given to man for his worst sins is the spirit of pessimism.

Verily, hopeful is the one who in the end will succeed.

MORE LESSONS IN BROTHERHOOD/SISTERHOOD

2006

2005

2004