48. The God-Ideal, Part 7
Religious Gatheka
By Hazrat Inayat Khan
God is called King of Heaven and of the earth, and of the seen and unseen beings only because we have no better words than the words we use for all the things of this world. To call God King does not raise Him in any way higher than the position He has, it only helps us to make his power and glory more intelligible to our mind. And yet there are certain characters, which are kingly characters, and such characters may be seen in God in their perfection. It does not mean that every person has not that character. It only means that from a higher position a soul shows out that character more, perhaps, than in an ordinary capacity. And that character is love hidden behind indifference. In Sufi terms this character is denoted by a Persian word, Binayaz, which means hidden. It does not mean: the hidden God, it means hidden beauty. Love expressed is one thing and love hidden is another thing. Under the veil of indifference, love is often hidden and the Sufi poets have pictured it most beautifully in their verses, which are nothing but pictures of human life and nature.
There are examples in the histories of the kings, which show this character. Sometimes a person whom the king favored the most was kept back from being the primo minister. This does not mean that it was not the wish of the king, it only meant that the king considered the sympathy and admiration he had for the person more than the prime-minister-ship. In other aspects one sees it: the king did not speak to a person for a long time; this did not mean that the king disfavored him so, it only meant that the king knew that he would understand. There are instances that the patience of the saints and the sages has been tried to the uttermost. The pain and the suffering has been greater than the average person’s. Behind the indifference there are many reasons.
And the one sees the other part of kingliness: that those who the king, sometimes, cared little for were graciously received and amply rewarded. And the ordinary mind could not conceive the reason behind. The one who is responsible for his subjects is the king, he understood rightly, like a gardener who knows which plant to rear and which tree had better be out of the garden. In spite of all opposition from all around the kings, they have held their idea, conscious of their duty.
So it is with God.
But King apart, even the manner and method of a responsible person, is not always understood by another whose responsibility is to the same. So how can man always understand the ways of God, the only King in the true sense of the word, before Who all other kings are nothing but imitations? And it is the Kingship of God, which manifests in the blooming of every soul. When a soul arrives at its full bloom, it begins to show the colour and spread the fragrance of the Divine Spirit of God.
Daily Reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 48
Point One: “… love hidden behind indifference. In Sufi terms this character is denoted by a Persian word, Binayaz, which means hidden. It does not mean: the hidden God, it means hidden beauty. Love expressed is one thing and love hidden is another thing. Under the veil of indifference, love is often hidden and the Sufi poets have pictured it most beautifully in their verses, which are nothing but pictures of human life and nature.”
Contemplation: In order to understand Murshid’s words, we must rise above our ordinary understanding of “love” and “indifference”.
(Excerpt below from Sufi Message Volume I - The Way of Illumination, The Object of the Journey)
The work of the inner life is to make God a reality, so that God is no more an imagination; that this relationship that we have with God may seem more real than any other relationship in the world; and when this happens, then all relationships, however near and dear, become less binding. But at the same time, one does not thus become cold; one becomes more loving. The person who is in love with God, the person who has established a relationship with God, that person’s love becomes living.
Point Two: “There are examples in the histories of the kings which show this character [indifference]. Sometimes a person whom the king favored the most was kept back from being the primo minister. This does not mean that it was not the wish of the king, it only meant that the king considered the sympathy and admiration he had for the person more than the prime-minister-ship. – In other aspects one sees it: the king did not speak to a person for a long time; this did not mean that the king disfavored him so, it only meant that the king knew that he would understand.”
Contemplation: Do we understand this level of love displayed outwardly through indifference, or do our own expectations lead to disappointment?
Point Three: “When a soul arrives at its full bloom, it begins to show the colour and spread the fragrance of the Divine Spirit of God.”
Contemplation: “When a soul arrives at its full bloom, it begins to show the colour and spread the fragrance of the Divine Spirit of God.”
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