HIK Study Circle • English

Welcome to Our Circle

2021-12-21T01:05:00.006-06:00

Dear Friends,

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle offers a sequential independent course of study and contemplation. This course of study can start at any time by utilizing the chronologically archived lessons found on the left.

May this study deepen your inner life and strengthen your outer life.

In loving service,
Stephanie Nuria Sabato

Brother/Sisterhood Activity | Western Hemisphere
Esoteric Inner School | United States of America

46. The God-Ideal, Part 5

2012-01-20T00:07:00.000-06:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events
Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

The Self and the Merit of God

In the terms of the Sufis the Self of God is called Zat, and His qualities, His merits are named Sifat. The Hindus call the former aspect of God Purusha and the latter Prakriti, which can be rendered in English by the words spirit and nature.

Zat, the spirit of God is incomprehensible. The reason is that which comprehends itself is Intelligence, God’s real Being; so comprehension has nothing to comprehend in its own Being.

No doubt, in our usual terms it is the comprehending faculty in us which we call comprehension, but in this it is not meant so, for intelligence is not necessarily intellect.
Merit is something which is comprehensible, it is something which is clear and distinct, so it can be made intelligible. But intelligence is not intelligible except to its own self. Intelligence knows: I am, but it does not know what I am. Such is the nature of God.

Intelligence would not know something besides itself. So God knows Himself by the manifestation. The manifestation is the self of God, but a self which is limited, a self that makes Him know that He is perfect when he compares His Own Being with this limited self which we call nature. Therefore the purpose of the whole Creation is the realisation that God Himself gains by discovering His Own Perfection through this manifestation.

Then the idea that has existed in Christianity is also a riddle to solve in order to find out the truth of life. It is the idea of Trinity. What keeps the soul in perplexity is the threefold aspect of manifestation. As long as the soul remains the puzzle it cannot arrive at the knowledge of the One. These three aspects are: The Seer, Sight and the Seen, The Knower, Knowledge and the Known. Plainly explained, I would say: “ These are three aspects of Life”.

One aspect is the person who sees, the other aspect is the sight, or the eyes, by the help of which he sees and the third aspect is that what he sees. One, therefore, cannot readily accept the idea that: what I see is the same as myself; nor can he believe for a moment that ‘the medium by which I see is myself’, for the three above said aspects seem to be standing separate and looking at one another’s face, as the first person, second person and the third person of Brahma.

When this riddle is solved by knowing that the three are one, then the purpose of the God-Ideal is fulfilled. For the three veils which cover the One are lifted up. Then they remain no longer three, then there is One, the Only Being.

As Hegel says: “If you believe in one God, you are right. If you believe in two Gods, that is true; but if you believe in three Gods, that is right also, for the nature of unity is realised by variety.”

Daily Reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 46
  
Point One: “In the terms of the Sufis the Self of God is called Zat, and His qualities, His merits are named Sifat.”

Contemplation: We can use the scientific construct of the “Big Bang” to draw comparative analogy to clarify this point. Zat is like the singularity from which all manifest qualities (Sifat) have emerged.

Point Two: “The purpose of the whole Creation is the realization that God Himself gains by discovering His Own Perfection through this manifestation.”

Contemplation: As a part of Creation we are participating in God discovering “His Own Perfection.”

Point Three: “The nature of unity is realized by variety.”

Contemplation: The nature of unity is realized by variety = It is all God!

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45. The God-Ideal, Part 4

2011-11-18T00:02:00.001-06:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Very often many who are ready to accept the God-Ideal, question the personality of God. Some say: ”If all is God then God is not a person, for ‘all’ is not a person, ‘all’ is what is expressed by the word “all.”

This question can be answered, that though the seed does not show the flower in it, yet the seed culminates in a flower and therefore the flower has already existed in the seed. And if one were to say that in the image of the seed the flower was made, it would not be wrong, for the only image of the seed is the flower. If God has no personality, how can we human beings have a personality, who come from him, out of His Own Being, and we who can express the divine in the perfection of our souls? If the bubble is water, certainly the sea is water. How can the bubble be water and the sea not be water? The only difference between the human personality and the Divine personality, God’s Personality is that the human personality can be compared; God’s Personality has no comparison. Human personality can be compared because of its opposite, God has no opposite, so His Personality cannot be compared. To call God all is like saying: a number of objects all of which exist somewhere together. The word all does not give the meaning which can explain the God-Ideal; the proper expression for God is the Only Being.

The God-ideal is so enormous that man can never comprehend it fully. And therefore the best method which the wise have adopted is to allow every man to make his own God. By this he only makes a conception which he is capable of making. He makes Him the King of the heavens and the earth; he makes Him Judge, greater than all judges; he makes Him Almighty, Who has all power; he makes Him the Possessor of all the grace and glory there is; he makes Him Beloved God, merciful and compassionate; he recognizes in Him all perfection. This ideal becomes as a steppingstone to the higher knowledge of God. The man who has no imagination to make a God and the one who is not open to the picture of God that the other man presents to him, he remains without one, for he finds no steppingstone to reach that knowledge which his soul longs for but his doubts deny.

Many would ask if it would not be deceiving oneself by making a God of one’s imagination. Someone who is not seen by the objective world. The answer is that we are the germs of imagination, our whole life is based and constructed on imagination and all that is in this objective world, if it were put together, - there is only one thing which is more lasting in life, which is imagination. The one incapable, who has no value for imagination, is void of art and poetry, of music, manner and culture. He can very well be compared to a rock, which never troubles to imagine.

Man is not capable of picturing God other than a person, - a person with all the best qualities, the ideal person. This does not mean that all that is ugly and evil does not belong to the universe of God, or, in other words is not in God Himself. But the water of the ocean is ever pure in spite of all the beings that may be thrown in it. The Pure One consumes all impurities and turns them all into purity. Evil and ugliness is man’s limited conception, in God’s great Being these have no existence. Therefore he is not wrong who makes God in his imagination the God of all beauty, free from ugliness; the God of all the best qualities, free from all evil. For by that imagination he is drawn nearer and nearer every moment of his life to that Divine Ideal which is the seeking of the soul. And once he has touched divine perfection, in it he will find the fulfillment of his life.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 45

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: Very often many who are ready to accept the God-Ideal, question the personality of God. Some say: ”If all is God then God is not a person, for ‘all’ is not a person, ‘all’ is what is expressed by the word “all.”
This question can be answered, that though the seed does not show the flower in it, yet the seed culminates in a flower and therefore the flower has already existed in the seed. And if one were to say that in the image of the seed the flower was made, it would not be wrong, for the only image of the seed is the flower.
Contemplation: Do we recognize ourselves as a “seed of God”? “Until in us be reflected Thy Grace, Thy Glory, Thy Wisdom, Thy Joy, and Thy Peace.” (From the Prayer Saum)

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: The God-ideal is so enormous that man can never comprehend it fully. And therefore the best method, which the wise have adopted, is to allow every man to make his own God.
Contemplation: “Allow us to recognize Thee in all Thy holy names and forms:
as Rama, as Krishna, as Shiva, as Buddha. Let us know Thee as Abraham, as Solomon, as Zarathushtra, as Moses, as Jesus, as Mohammed, and in many other names and forms, known and unknown to the world.” (From the Prayer Salat)

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: The Pure One consumes all impurities and turns them all into purity. Evil and ugliness is man’s limited conception, in God’s great Being these have no existence.
Contemplation: It can give us great support and reassurance to constantly remember, “The Pure One consumes all impurities and turns them all into purity.” Perhaps it is also wise to consider that there may be a difference between human and divine timing. In this regard both patience and faith are good companions.

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44. The God-Ideal, Part 3

2011-09-17T10:00:00.000-05:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

The conception of many gods has come from two sources. One was the idea of the wise to make every kind of power and attribute in a form of deity and to call it a certain god.

It was done in order to give the ordinary mind the most needed thought that God is in everything and that God is all power. Afterwards many misunderstood the idea and the wisdom behind it obscured. Therefore some wise man had to fight against the idea of the other wise men. And yet they did not fight with the idea, they fought with the conception of it. But now at the present time, when there exists no such idea in Europe of many gods, many have lost their faith after the recent war, saying: “If God is all goodness, all justice, all-powerful, why has such a dreadful thing as war been allowed to take place?” If the same people were accustomed to see among their many gods, as the Hindus have worshipped for generations, Kali, the goddess of war, it would not have been a new thing for them to know that if all is God, not only peace, but even war is from God.

The mystics of all ages have therefore given God many Names. The Sufi schools of esotericism have possessed their different names of God, with their nature and secret; and have used them in different meditations along the path of spiritual attainment. Therefore the Sufis have not many gods but many Names of God, each expressive of a certain attitude. Suppose these Names which the Sufis have used were not the Names of God, - if they had only held in thought words such as: mercy, compassion, patience, - it would have been a merit, not a person. Merit is not creative and merit is only something which is possessed. Therefore attributes is not important, the important one is the possessor of the attribute. Therefore, instead of thinking of success, the Sufi calls upon the God of success. For him the God of success is not a different God, there is only one God. But only by calling upon that Name of God which is expressive of success he attaches his soul to that perfect Spirit of Success.

The other source from whence came the idea of many gods has come is the deep thinkers and philosophers, who have seen God in every soul and every soul making a God of its own according to its stage of evolution. Therefore there is a saying among the Hindus: “There are as many gods as there are strains of music.” In other words, there are numerous imaginations and numberless gods. And if ever the idea was taught to the people, it was to break that ignorance of some people who made God confined to Heaven and kept the earth free from His divine presence. They waited for death to come, when they might be taken into the presence of God, Who was sitting on his throne of justice in the hereafter. By this they tried to show to the people that God is in every soul, and so as many souls, so many gods; some advanced, some not advanced, some further advanced and yet all gods. If there is a struggle, it is a conflict between gods, if there is harmony, it is a friendship between the gods. By these terms they wished to make man realize the most essential truth that God is all. No doubt those who misunderstand will always misunderstand.

This idea brought about corruption also, and made people who regard many gods interested in the legends of the past which narrated the wars and battles which took place among the gods.
Therefore the wise had again to come to their rescue and teach them again of the one God; that by this teaching they may again come to the realization of the oneness of life, which is best realized in the God-Ideal.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 44

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: The conception of many gods has come from two sources. One was the idea of the wise to make every kind of power and attribute in a form of deity and to call it a certain god. The other source from whence came the idea of many gods has come is the deep thinkers and philosophers, who have seen God in every soul and every soul making a God of its own according to its stage of evolution.
Contemplation: “Allow us [me] to recognize Thee in all Thy Holy Names and Forms.” (from the Prayer Salat)

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: [This]was done in order to give the ordinary mind the most needed thought that God is in everything and that God is all power. Afterwards many misunderstood the idea and the wisdom behind it obscured. Therefore some wise man had to fight against the idea of the other wise men. And yet they did not fight with the idea, they fought with the conception of it.
Contemplation: “Shatter your ideals upon the rock of truth.” (Vadan, Hazrat Inayat Khan)

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: The mystics of all ages have therefore given God many Names. The Sufi schools of esotericism have possessed their different names of God, with their nature and secret; and have used them in different meditations along the path of spiritual attainment. Therefore the Sufis have not many gods but many Names of God, each expressive of a certain attitude.
Contemplation: “The aim of the mystic is to keep near to the idea of unity, and to find out where we unite.” (Bowl of Saki, April 24, Hazrat Inayat Khan)

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43. The God-Ideal, Part 2

2011-07-21T14:55:00.006-05:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

There are different conceptions of God existing in various periods and known to different people. The people in all ages seeking for the Deity have pictured Him in some form or other. It is natural with man. If he is told about someone he has never seen or known, he makes a conception of that person and he holds his conception as his knowledge of that person until he sees him. There are some who make a conception in their mind of a person they have not seen, almost as real as the person. The human heart is an accommodation, which conceives the idea of God and pictures Him according to man’s mentality. The Buddha of China has Chinese features, and that of Japan has the eyes of Japan, The Buddha of India has the Indian likeness. Man cannot conceive of an angel being any different from a human being, except that he attaches two wings to the angel in order to make it a little different. If the angel were not pictured as man it would not be an attraction to a human being. Therefore it is natural that in every period people have conceived the personality of God as a human personality. And no better conception could they have given, for there is nothing in the world, which is a more finished personality than the human personality.

People have called God He, recognizing the might and power of the Deity. People have called God She, recognizing in the deity that Mother-principle and beauty. And it is the differences of conception from which have come the many gods and goddesses. And it is true, too; for as many conceptions, so many gods. And yet many gods mean conceptions of the One Only God. By ignorance of this truth many have fought over their different gods; and yet the wise man in every period of the world has understood God to be the One and Only being. For the ordinary mind to feel the existence of someone in the idea is not sufficient. It is too vague. One wants to feel the existence of someone with his own hands, then only he can acknowledge something to be existent. The wise, therefore, have given different objects to such mentalities and pointed them out to the people as gods. Some said: see God in the sun and the person understood, He was not satisfied to think that God was in the idea; he was much more pleased to know now that God is seen by him, and God is incomparably even as the sun and that God is not reachable.

Some wise men have said: He is in the fire. Some said, to a simpleton who asked to see God: “Go in the forest and find out a certain tree and that tree is God.” The search for that tree gave something for that man to do, which was the first essential thing. And the patience with which he sought the tree also did something to his soul. And the joy of finding a rare tree was also a pleasure. And in the end he found, for God is everywhere. Some have made images of different ideas, such as love and justice and knowledge and power and called them different goddesses, molded the into different images and have given them to man to worship. Some wise men have said the cow is sacred. Certainly it is sacred for a farmer whose farming depends on the cow. his life’s sustenance comes in every form from the cow, - it is sacred.

The wise have pointed out different objects to man which will attract man’s attention and become objects of concentration for man to still his mind, as in the mind, which if still, God manifests. Then again, the wise have presented the God-Ideal to the people in the form of symbols. To simple beings a symbol was God and to awakened minds the same symbol of God was a revealing factor of the secret of the Deity. If one could only see how marvelously, in the diversity of the conception of the Divine Ideal, wisdom has played its part, guiding the souls of all grades of evolution towards the same goal, which in the end becomes spiritual attainment!

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 43

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: The human heart is an accommodation, which conceives the idea of God and pictures Him according to man’s mentality. The Buddha of China has Chinese features, and that of Japan has the eyes of Japan, The Buddha of India has the Indian likeness.
Contemplation: “Allow us [me] to recognize Thee in all Thy Holy Names and Forms.” (from the Prayer Salat)

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: People have called God He, recognizing the might and power of the Deity. People have called God She, recognizing in the deity that Mother-principle and beauty. And it is the differences of conception from which have come the many gods and goddesses. And it is true, too; for as many conceptions, so many gods. And yet many gods mean conceptions of the One Only God.
Contemplation: The importance of remembering the concepts of Jelal (power, might, rhythm) and Jemal (grace, beauty, harmony) in religious ideals and in life.

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: If one could only see how marvelously, in the diversity of the conception of the Divine Ideal, wisdom has played its part, guiding the souls of all grades of evolution towards the same goal, which in the end becomes spiritual attainment!
Contemplation: Diversity in Unity; Unity in Diversity.

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42. The God-Ideal, Part 1

2011-06-01T23:47:00.007-05:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

The existence of God is a question that arises in every mind, whether in the mind of the believer in God or in the mind of the unbeliever. And there are moments when the greatest believer in God questions His existence - whether there really is a God. He finds it, at the second thought, sacrilegious to have a notion such as this; and he tries to get rid of it. But often this question rises in the heart of the unbeliever: if it is really true; if there is such a thing as God. The idea of God is inborn in man. The God-Ideal is the flower of the human race; and this flower blooms in the realization of God.

As everything in the objective world has its tendency to rise upwards, so the tendency of the soul can be seen in human aspiration, which always soars upwards, whatever be the sphere of man’s consciousness. The man who is only conscious of the material life, his aspirations reach as far as they can reach in material gains. And yet he proceeds higher and higher and remains discontented with all he achieves through life, owing to the immensity of life in every phase. This craving for the attainment of what is unattainable gives the soul a longing to reach life’s utmost heights. It is the nature of the soul’s constant longing to climb such heights which are beyond its power; it is the desire of the soul to see something that it has never seen; it is the constant longing of the soul to know something it has never known. But the most wonderful thing about it is that the soul already knows that there is something behind this veil, the veil of perplexity; that there is something to be sought for in the highest spheres of life; that there is some beauty to be seen; that there is someone to be known who is unknowable. This desire, this longing is not acquired. This desire is a dim knowledge of the soul which it has in itself.

Therefore disbelief in the God-Ideal is nothing but a condition which is brought about by the vapours arising from the material life of illusion and covering as clouds the light of the soul, which is its life. It is therefore that the unbeliever is not satisfied with his disbelief. Yes, sometimes his vanity is fed by it, to think that he is wise in not believing in someone whose existence is believed in by numberless blind beings. So he begins to think: after all, to believe in God is not a difficult thing; any simpleton can believe in the God-Ideal. He takes, therefore, the opposite direction, of refusing to believe. He is not honest, and yet he is like someone who stands before a wall, which hinders his path of progress.

If this world offered to one person all it possesses, even then the soul will not be satisfied, because its satisfaction is in its higher aspiration. And it is this higher aspiration that leads to God. The question: ‘Has man an aspiration because it is his nature, but at the end of the journey he may perhaps not find anything?’ may be answered: there is no question that has no answer, and there is no desire the object of which is a miss. There is appetite and there is food; there is thirst and there is water; there is sight and there is something to be seen.

So there is aspiration and there is God. Man knows not, what is not. There is no such thing that one knows and which does not exist. For one cannot know what does not exist; something must exist first in order that one may know it.

But there is a question: everyone does not know God, he only believes in some idea. - The answer is: what is the idea? The idea is that out of which all is born.

Science and art and music and poetry and religion and nation, all are born of the idea. If the idea is the source from which all comes, then why is the idea something insignificant, and why is God, Who is the Source and Goal of all, not found in the idea?

Seeking for God is a natural outcome of the maturity of the soul. There is a time in life when passion is awakened in the soul, which gives the soul a longing for the unattainable. And if the soul does not take that direction, then it certainly misses something in life which is its innate longing and in which lies its ultimate satisfaction.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 42

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: The existence of God is a question, which arises in every mind, whether in the mind of the believer in God or in the mind of the unbeliever.
Contemplation: Consider the logic of the mind versus the “knowing” of the soul.

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: Disbelief in the God-Ideal is nothing but a condition which is brought about by the vapours arising from the material life of illusion and covering as clouds the light of the soul, which is its life.
Contemplation: From the Prayer Khatum, “Disclose to us Thy Divine Light, which is hidden in our [my] soul[s]."

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: Seeking for God is a natural outcome of the maturity of the soul. There is a time in life when passion is awakened in the soul, which gives the soul a longing for the unattainable. And if the soul does not take that direction, then it certainly misses something in life which is its innate longing and in which lies its ultimate satisfaction.
Contemplation: From the Prayer Salat, “Draw us [me] closer to Thee every moment of our [my] life, until in us be reflected Thy Grace, Thy Glory, Thy Wisdom, Thy Joy, and Thy Peace."

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41. The Sufi Movement

2011-04-18T00:01:00.007-05:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

One wonders what this movement is? Is it a religious movement, is it a philosophical movement or is it a social movement? In reality this Movement is the answer to the cry of humanity. Whose answer? – God’s answer. If it is a religious movement, it is not a movement to make propaganda for one particular creed. It is a religious movement in this sense that this movement is meant to bring about peace between the followers of all religions. It is a religious movement in this sense that we all may learn - whatever our belief or faith, whatever may have been the faith of our ancestors - that we may learn to respect the religion of another. That, eventually, by doing so we may rise to that state of understanding when to our mind comes one religion as the sum total of all religions. At that moment we rise above the differences and distinctions which come from the narrow outlook of man, from his limitation; and we begin to understand that this religion or that religion, its name and its form was only a cover; a cover over that religion which always was and which is and which always will be.

God is one; the truth is one. How can there be two religions? There is one religion, the only religion. It is from the smallness of human nature that he has snatched the credit from his fellowman. If there was any religion, it was one religion at any time of the world, followed by any people or nation. Yes, we are living in different lands, but under one sky: So we have many churches but one God, many scriptures but one wisdom, many souls but one spirit, the only spirit of God.

It is to understand this ideal, that we have this Movement; and we have several different ways in which we study and in which we practice this ideal. The devotional side of our Movement is this, this Service. These candles represent the light of the different religions known to the world, and on this altar you will see all different scriptures that the great ones have given to humanity from time to time. It is a form, and yet it is all embracing. There is the Githa of the Hindus, the Koran of the Moslems, the Bible of the Christians, there is the Kabala of the Jews on this altar. What does this mean? We put on our altar wisdom, not the name. What is Christianity? True wisdom, Christ-spirit What was the Christ-spirit? That spirit which always united humanity and which will always unite. If there is any Christianity that is Christianity: to rise above the distinctions and differences, which separate humanity, humanity which was meant to unite in one brotherhood in the Fatherhood of God.

We have among us some who perhaps enjoy a formless service. There is no restriction. Whether you come to the service with form or whether you come to the formless service, as long as God, who is the father of humanity, is pursued and the search for his truth, it does not matter.

Do we call the members of our Movement infidels if they went to any other church or attended another service? Never. To whatever service, whatever church, whatever ceremony they will go with the same feeling of universal worship, wherever they will go with the same sentiment, they will receive the benediction of God. Does this not show that, as time after time, when the true religious ideal is confuse, then the Message has come to humanity, it is not for one community, it is for the whole world?

And the question: We are very few, may be answered: “Not in reality”. The members of this particular Movement may be limited, but the members of our ideal are not limited in this world. We have millions and millions and millions of members in the world. When we go with our hearts open, with the thought of brotherhood [family], when we open our arms and welcome without asking: what nationality, what race, faith, what religion have you – then, certainly we become the brothers [family] of humanity and humanity becomes our brothers [family].

Daily Reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 41
  
Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: God is one; the truth is one.
Contemplation: Repeat the phrase “God is one; the truth is one” whenever separation, distinctions and differences arises in heart and mind.

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: …humanity [is meant to unite in one brotherhood [and sisterhood] in the Fatherhood [Parenthood] of God.
Contemplation: Unity within one’s being and in the world.

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: The members of this particular Movement may be limited, but the members of our ideal are not limited in this world. We have millions and millions and millions of members in the world.
Contemplation: Unity within one’s being and in the world.

Point Four: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: When we go with our hearts open, with the thought of brotherhood [family], when we open our arms and welcome without asking: what nationality, what race, faith, what religion have you – then, certainly we become the brothers [family] of humanity and humanity becomes our brothers [family].
Contemplation: Unity within one’s being and in the world.

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40. The Message (2)

2011-03-18T12:06:00.007-05:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

As we all in this world, according to our little ability, serve God, consciously or unconsciously, we all perform that service, though it be without knowing it.

There is a saying of a great philosopher of Persia, Rumi: “Fire, water, air and earth are God’s servants and whenever He wishes them to work for Him, they are ready to obey His command.” If the elements are the obedient servants of God, and if the elements become the instruments of God, can man not be a greater and better instrument? In reality man must be the best instrument of God for the accomplishment of the purpose of His creation.

And in this way those who have been the instruments for a community He has used as instruments for the community; those who have been instruments for a nation, He has used as instruments for a nation, and the souls who have been instruments for the whole humanity have been used by God for that purpose. In whatever capacity in life, as a king, as a prophet, as a reformer, as a preacher, they have served God. The great service of is the work that is done by the Prophet to bring humanity closer to perfection. For every soul is born for this purpose and that every soul should reach, so to speak, the feet of God.

And since the Prophet brings the Message of God, it is the Message of God; it is the Message from the same Source whenever it comes. If it came a hundred thousands years ago it was His Message, and if it came two thousand years ago, it was His Message; and if it came today it is His Message. And how ignorant man has been through all the ages, and he shows his ignorance even today! For whenever the message has come, man has fought and disputed and argued. Man has held to one prophet and ignored the other; he esteemed one, and he despised the other. And the reason is that he knows the messenger but he did not know the Message; he has taken the book as his religion, but he does not know the Message. If that were not the tendency of the generality, then how could Jesus Christ with his most spiritual Message have been crucified? There had been prophecies and besides prophecies, the Master himself was the evidence of his Message, as there is a saying: ‘What you are speaks louder than what you say’. And how thickly veiled man’s eyes must be by the religion, the faith, the belief he held for him to accept one Messenger and to reject the Message, not know that there is one message, that there cannot be two!

Yes, the ways in which it is given are different ways, because the mentality of humanity at each time. Every prophet had to speak in the manner of the time at which he lived, according to the evolution of that time. Another thing is that the custom of each country differs from that of other countries – the manners and life differ. If the Messenger is born in one country and has to give his Message in one country, surely he has to consider the way in which the people in that country look at life, and to give his Message according to that. But the Message is from God. This is the reason why the external study of Buddhism will make one feel that Hinduism is different than Buddhism; that external study of Christianity and Islam will make one feel that Christianity is different from Islam. But if one saw that underlying thread that connects all religions, one would see that all religion is one, as Truth is one, as life is one, as God is one.

Humanity has had enough wars, fight and disputes and differences. Now if you ask individuals of any country, of any race, they will tell you: ”Enough, enough, now we would not have any war again.” The recent war, that has just passed, has shown us the greatest tragedy that the world has seen. Although the teaching of Christ is peace: ‘Blessed are the Peacemakers’, the innermost desire of everyone is peace, humanity does not know how to make peace; and in order to make peace it goes to war.

The message of Sufism is working towards the desire of individuals and the desire of nations to bring about that peace which every desire should and which is the teaching of Christ, and which is the nature of God. There are different activities now going on towards both peace and war. Every little activity that is working toward the unity of mankind is worth encouraging and worth helping. But it must be known that a religious peace must be brought about, because, directly or indirectly, a religious thought is working to bring about peace or war.

It is not the desire of the Sufi Movement to form a community, or to wish that the whole world should be of one religion. It is as impossible as that all the people in the world should have the same face.

But what is possible is this: that by knowing and understanding the secret of life, by understanding the nature of God, by studying and realizing the nature of life, men must surely become tolerant to one another, that man can surely rise and unite above the differences of race, faith, nation and religion.

By a personal guidance individuals are taught in the Sufi Order the problems of the deeper side of life and the methods of self-realization, in which there is the realization of God. And to this order, for study and practical guidance, all are welcome. Whatever may be their faith, or name, or nation, or religion, the Order does not interfere with it. It is not the desire of a Sufi to take anyone away from his religion, but that he should live his religion. Beyond and above all other objects that the Sufi Order has, the principal object is to draw together humanity (so divided in race, in classes, in creeds, in religions) in wisdom, in the knowledge of truth, that a human Brotherhood may be formed in the Fatherhood of God.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 40

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: In reality man must be the best instrument of God for the accomplishment of the purpose of His creation.
Contemplation: Imagine, feel, invoke the enormity of this statement that we “must be the best instrument of God for the accomplishment of the purpose of His creation”! Let us repeat again and again the line from the Prayer Saum, “Use us for the Purpose that Thy Wisdom Chooseth.”

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: It is not the desire of the Sufi Movement to from a community, or to wish that the whole world should be of one religion. It is as impossible as that all the people in the world should have the same face.
Contemplation: The beautiful and delicate wit of Murshid awakens us to the fact that beauty and harmony arise out of diversity not sameness. Let us remember this in our search for understanding of others.

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: By a personal guidance individuals are taught in the Sufi Order the problems of the deeper side of life and the methods of self-realization, in which there is the realization of God. (further) “… by knowing and understanding the secret of life, by understanding the nature of God, by studying and realizing the nature of life, men must surely become tolerant to one another, that man can surely rise and unite above the differences of race, faith, nation and religion.
Contemplation: Murshid very simply and directly outlines the Path and Purpose and the Sufi Order (Inner School): 1) discipleship leading to realization of God and Self, 2) this realization gives insight; 3) this insight leads to understanding beyond boundaries and limitations.

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39. The Message (1)

2011-02-18T01:04:00.008-06:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

There is a phrase in the Bible, ‘Knock and it shall be opened unto you.’ The Message of God is an answer to the cry of humanity. Now, as to the instrument of the Message, - in reality the whole universe is an instrument, and every object and every being in it is an instrument; through whichever instrument He chooses He gives His message. One sees in one’s life, and especially at times when one is deep down and in depression and sorrow, some answer coming to the difficulty of that situation. It may come from a friend, from a brother, from parents, from a beloved, even from one’s enemy one may get what was necessary at the moment.

But you will say: “Why should a message come in the life of an individual in the time of pain or after a great sorrow? Why should a message not come every day for one’s guidance?” There are two reasons for it: One reason is that there is constantly a guidance from above, but man, so absorbed in his life’s activities, does not open his heart to listen to that message and see where it comes from. The other reason is that the deeper the sorrow the higher the voice of the heart rises, until it reaches the throne of God and that is the time when the answer comes, when a person is drowned deep in sorrow and grief.

Now, the question what is pain may be explained thus: pain is the fullest aspect of life. And this is the reason why, however greatly afraid man is of pain, yet he always enjoys little pinpricks; he likes the tragedy of his own life or even the tragedy, performed on stage, rather than a comedy.

Plainly speaking, man’s real being is his heart and in pain the heart becomes living and without pain man seems to be living on the surface. You will often see in life that people with an intolerable nature and manner, after having gone through the agony of pain in life, develop in them a finer nature. It softens their person - ability, just as raw vegetables are softened after they are cooked. There are also characters who are pictured in the Eastern language as sandalwood and incense. When the sandalwood or the incense is on the fire, its perfume rises and there are characters in the world whose good qualities and whose merits are hidden, just as the perfume is hidden in the incense and the sandalwood and they come out in the agony of pain.

There is a story in the great traditions of India called Ramayana in which the two sons of the Lord of the Hindus Rama were dwelling in the forests and in the mountains, and they happened to arrive, accompanied by their mother, in a town where they settled, and the younger son went to see the town alone. This lad while going about in the town, saw a beautiful horse, which was allowed to run about by the State. And he became so fascinated at the sight of the horse that he asked the people whose it was. And they said: “It is the custom in our State that whenever a king is needed for the State a horse is allowed to run about the town and whoever first catches the horse becomes king of the kingdom.” This lad ran after the horse the whole day; and often he thought he had caught it, but as he approached it, the horse slipped from his hands. Many times he thought that he nearly caught it, but it always slipped away from him, and then the evening sunset approached. His mother became anxious as the evening approached and she asked the elder brother to go into the city and find where his brother had gone and had been lost for the whole day. When the elder brother came, he saw the lad running after the horse, - the whole day he had been running after it. He said: “What are you doing?” His brother said: “I will not come home until I have caught the horse.” The elder brother said: “It was the work of a moment, but you have taken all day. Instead of running after the horse, you ought to meet it.” He told him how and in a moment the brother caught the horse. Both brothers were brought before their father after receiving this great glory and the father was proud to see them both having come to victory.

This story is the picture which represents the father God and the horse is this life in the world.

And the younger brother is the one in search or in pursuit of getting the victory over this ever-changing life in the world. And the elder brother is the one who has had experience of it. And he comes and tells the other brother: “That is not the way, this is the way.” And all that man has ever learned he has always learned from his elder brother.

If one is fond of art or is a lover of science or wishes to learn a language or anything of the world, he is successful only when he can go to a friend who knows about it and ask him, what is your experience? - And that which he could not have learned in many years he has learned in one minute. We all act on the stage of the world as younger brothers and at times as elder brothers. In regard to things that we do not know and things we wish to know we act as the younger brother, and in regard to things which we know and show to others we act as the elder brother. Each one of us has the elder brother and the younger brother in him and superiority belongs only to the father, whose pride and whose satisfaction it is that the elder brother and the younger brother should both be victorious.

As the number of the aged and the very aged is few among us, so the number of the elder brothers also is very rare in all aspects of life. And in some souls there is a faculty, there is a spirit of elder-brotherhood born, just as even in a little girl who has no experience of life it seems as if the mother-spirit exists. It seems that in all different aspects of life and in all different creatures this spirit of the elder brother exists.

Even among birds and animals one sees that one leads the flocks and the others follow. If he goes to the North, the others follow and go to the North; if he goes to the South, the others follow and go to the South. At the same time, even among the lower creation this tendency of elder-brotherhood is not without purpose and is not without wisdom. In a flock of birds the one who leads knows when there will be a storm or a change of weather, or when there will be an abundance of food. The most interesting instance is that when a few elephants in the forest walk together, there is one elephant who takes the lead, and this elephant has in its trunk - held by its trunk- a stem of some tree, just like a staff and it walks examining the ground to check if there be a pit or a danger, and if it so happens it gives signal and all the other elephants run away. This tendency is pronounced and fulfills the greatest purpose of human life in man(kind).

There is a man who is conscious of his own pain and pleasure, to whom his home is the only care. There is another man who feels responsibility not only for himself but for his children, for his family, perhaps even for his friends, for his neighbors. And there is a man who even feels for everybody in his little village or town. In their distress he is distressed, in their happiness he is happy; the children of the village are like his own children, and he seems to live with his village. Then there are souls who are conscious of the condition of their nation, there is nothing they would not wish to sacrifice for their people. There are others who are conscious of their race. There are others souls, blessed by God, who are conscious of the happiness, the peace of the whole humanity; the general good only can be happiness to them. And this expansion must come naturally, and man must experience it naturally. If one pretends to be so expanded, he cannot prove it when the time of test comes. For instance, humanity has always recognized with gratitude that Jesus Christ stood the test through his life to the last hour; in other words, gave his life in order to give life and to continue giving life to humanity. Whoever in this world has had this consciousness, that love for humanity, and has been taken by God as an instrument for His love and light, has stood the test to the last moment of his life. And therefore no one can falsely claim to bear the Message.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 39

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: One sees in one’s life, and especially at times when one is deep down and in depression and sorrow, some answer coming to the difficulty of that situation. It may come from a friend, from a brother, from parents, from a beloved, even from one’s enemy one may get what was necessary at the moment.
Contemplation: How receptive and aware am I to receiving an answer through life’s difficulties? How aware am I to the blessings that come through life’s difficulties? From the Prayer Khatum: “Open our hearts, that we may hear Thy Voice, which constantly cometh from within.”

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: …the deeper the sorrow the higher the voice of the heart rises, until it reaches the throne of God and that is the time when the answer comes, when a person is drowned deep in sorrow and grief.
Contemplation: From the Prayer Saum: “Take us in Thy Parental Arms, Raise us from the denseness of the earth.”

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: Plainly speaking, man’s real being is his heart and in pain the heart becomes living and without pain man seems to be living on the surface. You will often see in life that people with an intolerable nature and manner, after having gone through the agony of pain in life, develop in them a finer nature. It softens their person - ability, just as raw vegetables are softened after they are cooked.
Contemplation: Can I recall times when I have been transformed and softened by a painful experience in life? May I retain and recall this lesson in the future during painful experiences.

Point Four: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: There are others souls, blessed by God, who are conscious of the happiness, the peace of the whole humanity; the general good only can be happiness to them. – Whoever in this world has had this consciousness, that love for humanity, and has been taken by God as an instrument for His love and light, has stood the test to the last moment of his life. And therefore no one can falsely claim to bear the Message.
Contemplation: From the Prayer Salat: “Thou comest on earth with a message as a dove from above when Dharma decayeth and speakest the Word that is put into Thy mouth as the light filleth the crescent moon. Let the Star of the Divine Light, shining in Thy heart, be reflected in the hearts of Thy devotees.”

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38. The Religion of the Heart (2)

2011-01-19T10:28:00.008-06:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

The power of love is seen in all things, and in whatever form it acts it shows in it a great virtue. And one does not know always what power love has behind it, that there is nothing in the world which is more powerful than love. Think of the hen with its little chickens. At the same time when they are so young that they seek her protection; if the horse came, if the elephant came she would fight in defense.

And how man has abused the word: love, how he uses in his false pretences the word: love! What happens is that man has made a false world and in this false world he is so absorbed that he cannot see the reality. It is for this that the saints and the sages and the up-raisers of mankind have been sent from time to time, because he is in a dream and cannot awake from it. And of what does he dream? He dreams of this false world that he has created.

And what is religion? Religion is what breaks away the barriers of falsehood and shows man, guides man toward the Truth. What we call kindness, helpfulness, gentleness, meekness or humility, where do all these virtues come from? Are they all not made of love? They are different forms of love That shows that there is only one stream of virtue and that is love, and all different virtues that man knows, they are all different drops falling in different directions. And the idea of right and wrong, good and bad, we can find among all different people in different ways, but in love we all unite, whether from East or South or West or North, for no-one who is thoughtful will argue on the question that cruelty is virtue and kindness a sin. Therefore from the point of view of love we can all unite in one conception of good and bad, of right and wrong. All that is guided by principle of love has its virtue and all that is done by coldness is that which is wrong.

When we think of the condition through which humanity has passed in all different times - in the name of religion there have been wars and battles - one wonders if it was taught by the religion. Not at all, religion was the pretence, that men by this pretence wanted to cause bloodshed, absorbed in selfishness.

And if there ever has been a kind of accusation against any religion in the world, it is not against the religion, it is against the misunderstanding of that religion by the followers of that religion. Think of the life of the great Master Jesus Christ who was the soul of religion. One sees that from the beginning to end there was nothing but love and forgiveness.

The best expression of love is that love which is expressed in forgiveness. Those who came with their wrongs, errors, imperfections, before the love that was all forgiving, there was always a stream of love which always purified.

If one had followed the idea of forgiveness and of tolerance, humanity would not have come to the condition to which it has come today. The hatred and prejudice and bitterness that exists to-day between nations is beyond words to explain. And if there were one religion or a thousand religions, if that was so, one doubts if there would be a religion. It seems that man has now the possession of it, but what is needed is to live it. Why is humanity not coming together more? It is the lack of tolerance, the lack of forgiveness, it is the lack of love. And there may be a thousand different schemes that people will make in order to make the conditions better, and every effort made in that direction is worthwhile, but at the same time there remains a question what effort would be most worthwhile. It is the making of the divine spirit which is called love, which has been buried in the heart of man. There are political institutions, social institutions and moral institutions, but what is most necessary today is the wakening of the religion of the heart. It does not matter what religion they profess if they know the depth of the religion, which is love. And then, all the different forms, the forms of religious service and the forms of prayer, behind them what secret is there? The secret is to prepare the heart of that bliss which love only can give.

The school of the Sufis, in whatever age, has been the school of the mystics. Its religion has been the religion of the heart, and it is therefore that there is a verse of Abul Allah, who says: “Koran, the Bible or a martyr’s, all these my heart can tolerate, since my religion is love alone.” For the religion of love is the religion of tolerance, the religion of love is the religion of forgiveness.

The life in the world is such that it is as difficult for the rich as for the poor. A world such as this, made by falsehood, has its blows, continual blows, that a person of good heart has to withstand. There is only one safety from all these blows that might destroy the heart all together, it is to learn how to tolerate, to learn how to forgive. For everyone says or does or thinks only according to his own particular evolution, and he cannot do better. Why not, therefore tolerate? Why not, therefore, forgive? And if there is intolerance, then there must be a continual reciprocity, it is the giving and taking intolerance. It means killing the element of love and giving life to the element which is death itself.

If there is any inspiration, any revelation, that also, is attained by a loving heart. Life’s purpose is to make use of this shrine which is the human heart and which was made for God. And if there is a shrine and no God, the shrine is purposeless. And if there is a heart and the heart has not yet attained to that ideal, the only ideal which is worthy of love, that heart has not yet attained its purpose. But no doubt it can be worthless if a person says: “I love God, but I do not love mankind.” That expression is worthless. It is like saying: “Friend I love you very much, but I cannot look at your face.” The creation is the manifestation of God. It is in the art of the artist that we recognize him. If we refuse to acknowledge the art, we do not know the artist. The man does not express his love, who does not forget himself in love, expressing it as a respect, tolerance, forgiveness, does not know religion.

Of course this is the first step, that one loves those one meets on the surface of the earth. Someone asked a great teacher if he would initiate him in mysticism. The great teacher answered: “Young man have you ever loved?” The young man said : “I have not.” The great teacher said: “Then go and love first, then come to me, that is the second step.”

No doubt the love of a human being which is not progressive and has not developed the love of God, is not yet perfect. For love is for the real Beloved, Who deserves it and alone deserves it. As children learn the lesson of home life by playing with the doll, so the soul that learns, learns in human love and completes his study in the love of God.

And the love of God is that which is the purpose of the whole creation, and if that were not the purpose, the creation would not have taken place. As the whole creation is from God., then it is of God. If it is of God, then the manifestation of love and the manifestation of God is purposed to realize the perfection of love.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 38

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: The power of love is seen in all things, and in whatever form it acts it shows in it a great virtue. And one does not know always what power love has behind it, that there is nothing in the world which is more powerful than love.
Contemplation: From the Prayer Salat: "Thy Light is in all forms, Thy Love in all beings."

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: The best expression of love is that love which is expressed in forgiveness.
Contemplation: As Jesus Christ taught us in the Lord’s Prayer: "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." During Jesus’ martyrdom on the Cross He also prayed for those who crucified Him: "Forgive them Father, they know not what they do."

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: Life’s purpose is to make use of this shrine which is the human heart and which was made for God. And if there is a shrine and no God, the shrine is purposeless. And if there is a heart and the heart has not yet attained to that ideal, the only ideal which is worthy of love, that heart has not yet attained its purpose.
Contemplation: Throughout the day concentrate on the heart space and breath in and out while concentrating on the phrase from the Prayer Salat: "Let the Star of the Divine Light, shining in Thy heart, be reflected in the hearts of Thy devotees."

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37. The Religion of the Heart (3)

2011-01-10T08:53:00.008-06:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

When we think of the different religions which are known to humanity we shall find that each of them brought to the world the message of love in some form or other. And now the question arises who brought religion in the world? And the answer is that religion has always existed in the heart of man.

Religion is the outcome of the heart, and among all the races, however primitive, a certain religion has existed, perhaps incomprehensible to people more evolved in different directions.

For religion is instinctive, and as it is instinctive, not only in the world of man but also in the lower creation, one sees a glimpse of religious tendency. For instance, one finds among pet animals, such as a dog, the cat, the horse, some such faithful creatures, and sometimes one has such experiences with them that one cannot to-day expect from mankind.

Besides this, the absorption that one sees among the birds, the little sparrows in the morning absorbed in the beauty of nature; so to speak, singing a song, a hymn to God, - that all is religion, if we can understand it. For man has made his religion so narrow that he is not able to appreciate the broad religion of nature. By being narrow he has named his creed a religion, or the particular place of worship religion, or the book religion, or the form of service, religion. If one would only think of religion when one goes in the woods, in the forests and stands alone in the forest near the silent trees standing in contemplation through the summer and winter, through all seasons! That silent contemplation, what does it give one, what thought arises? It lifts one up and makes one think that there is a religion.

One may call it a legend or a superstition or a story, but still there are experiences, - we have the experience in India with the cobras - they never bite unless someone hurts them. The affection and the attachment that the doves show to their mates, it is something to learn and to understand. And there are many instances, many experiences of thoughtfulness, of consideration and of the nature of attachment that one sees in the lower creation that makes one think that there is an instinctive religion.

But then, there are stories known in the East about the elephants. In the herd of elephants there is one who always leads the herd and he has a stem of a tree in his trump and he goes on feeling the earth - if there be a pit or if it be a good way for the elephants to pass. And if there were a pit, he gives a warning to his followers that they may not fall victims to this. When we consider the birds, we see that there is among them a leader who knows and understands the coming and continuing of rain and storm and according to that he guides them and the all follow him. By what is it all accounted for? This taking care of those who depend upon one, and then to yield, to respond, to trust someone who guides one; it is not only in the human beings, but even more in the animals. Man, who is always supposed to have a religion and thinks that he has a religion, has always opposed in all ages the ones who have served him, those who have wished to awaken him from his errors. The saints and the sages and the great souls who have continually tried to work for him, they always have to suffer and they were he ones who found opposition from all directions. And in this way man has shown a lesser tendency to religion than the animals.

But now coming to understand what is the religion of the heart, - It is said by the Sufis: “Ishq Allah, Mah’bud Allah”, the same as one reads in the Bible, that “God is love”. And if God is love, where is He to be found? Is He to be found in the seventh heaven or is He to be found in the heart of man? If He were so far away as to be in the seventh heaven then it is most unfortunate for man to be kept far away from the very life and the very reason of his being. And it is toward this realization that God is in the heart of man that all religions have taught in different ways and different forms.

But so many in this world only know the word ‘love’, to understand what love is or to speak about it or explain it is impossible. For whoever tries to express love makes an effort in vain, it is like trying to express God in words. Neither God can be expressed in words nor love. There is a saying of an Persian poet who was an emperor: ‘I was destined to have so many servants serving me, but from the moment love was born in my heart I became a slave of my every slave’. The moment love is produced, that person does not need to go and find out where the Truth is, the Truth is born. For it is the loving one, the loving heart which is capable of understanding, of comprehending Truth. The reason is that truth is not outside of self, it is within us. For instance when a person’s heart is melted by a terrible suffering in life, it is then that what he says or what he thinks or what he does, in all is a fragrance of love.

What is called in the Old Testament by words: 'tongues of flame’ or ‘words of flame’ what are they? It rises when love has risen, it revivifies the thought, word and action.

What generally man knows about love is the give and take: ‘if you give me 12 pence, I will give you a shilling’. For as long as one sees life in the form of business, in the form of given and take, he does not know love.

It is a great pity, when after knowing something of love, the heart has turned cold and bitter. And what reason is there? The reason is this: that when one digs the ground, one must dig until the water comes. But if one digs halfway, then there is no water, there is mud.

But what is love? Love is a continual sacrifice. And what does sacrifice mean? Sacrifice means forgetting of the self. As Rumi says in his poem, the Masnavi: “The beloved is all in all, the lover merely veils him. The beloved is all that lives, the lover a dead thing”. But what is this death? The death in life is life. Can anyone say: ‘I practice in life to be good’ or ’to be religious’ without having the love element? But what use can his religion be if he is praying perhaps all day or seems to be all goodness, if there is no love in his heart? What use is religion to him?

There is a story told of a young girl who was passing through a farm, and there was a person offering his prayers to God. And according to the custom of the East, no one should cross the place where a person is offering his prayers; she did not mind but passed. And when she came back, this pious man was still sitting there and he called the girl and said: “How thoughtless of you, girl, here I was offering my prayer and you passed this place.” This simple peasant girl said: What were you doing? To whom were you praying?” He said: “Praying to God.” “Oh,” she said, “I am so sorry. But I cannot understand how you, who were praying to God, at the same time could see me. I was going to see my young man and did not see you.”

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 37

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: Religion is the outcome of the heart, and among all the races, however primitive, a certain religion has existed, perhaps incomprehensible to people more evolved in different directions.
Contemplation: Jesus Christ said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
(Matthew 18:3-4)

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: If one would only think of religion when one goes in the woods, in the forests and stands alone in the forest near the silent trees standing in contemplation through the summer and winter, through all seasons!
Contemplation: Sufi Thought 3: There is one Holy Book, the sacred manuscript of nature, which truly enlightens all readers. And from the prayer Salat: Thy Light is in all form, Thy Love in all beings.

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: What is the religion of the heart, - It is said by the Sufis: “Ishq Allah, Mah’bud Allah”, the same as one reads in the Bible, “God is love”.
Contemplation: Constant Remembrance – “Ishq Allah, Mah’bud Allah” – “God is love”.

Point Four: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: “What is love? Love is a continual sacrifice. And what does sacrifice mean? Sacrifice means forgetting of the self. As Rumi says in his poem, the Masnavi: 'The beloved is all in all, the lover merely veils the beloved'.”
Contemplation: From the prayer Rasul: Spirit of Guidance, source of all beauty, and creator of harmony; love, lover, and beloved lord, thou art our divine ideal.

Point Five: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: A pious man was sitting as a peasant girl passed by him. He said, 'How thoughtless of you, girl, I was offering my prayer and you passed this place.' This simple peasant girl said: 'What were you doing? To whom were you praying?' He said: 'Praying to God.' 'Oh,' she said, 'I am so sorry. But I cannot understand how you, who were praying to God, at the same time could see me. I was going to see my young man and did not see you'.
Contemplation: How do distractions and preoccupations take us away from prayerful thoughts filled with God?

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36. Belief and Disbelief in God, Part 1 of 2

2010-10-28T13:50:00.005-05:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Belief is natural, and disbelief is unnatural, for belief is born in man and unbelief is acquired.

If the child has been born with unbelief, he would not even have learned the language of the mother. If she had said: “This is water”, the child would have answered: “No, this is bread.” Every child born on earth is born with a tendency to believe what is told him, but the experience of the individual in this world full of falsehood teaches man to disbelieve. That shows that every soul comes from the world of truth, and opens his eyes in the world of falsehood. Every child comes into the world with that purity of heart whose natural tendency is to believe and later he acquires the tendency to doubt. The Prophet has therefore said: “Every child is born a believer, it is afterwards that he becomes an unbeliever.”

The right explanation of unbelief would be that everything that is strange to man he explains by his reason, by the knowledge he has already acquired, and when it does not tally with what he already knows, he disbelieves. For doubt is earth-born and belief is heaven-born. Light is caused by the sun, and shade is caused by the earth. The light of the soul therefore is belief, and the mind gives unbelief. At the same time, in belief a hidden power exists, and that power is called self-confidence. The person who trusts another does not always trust the power and influence of another person, but by his own power and influence.

If it were in the power of the person to make another believe, then every great soul that came in the world would have made the world believe in him and his word. Belief is according to the power of one’s self-confidence.

You find the tendency to trust in a brave man, in a wise man, in a great man; but the tendency to doubt and disbelieve you will find in the weak and insignificant man, who does not know what he believes. This shows that he who trusts himself will trust all, and he who does not trust himself cannot trust anybody. The person who trusts another and does not trust himself, his trust is an illusion, his trust is not alive. It may appear as strength, but it is weakness. he holds on to something he does not know and it seems trust.

A person who cannot believe in himself, how can he believe in God, who is beyond the comprehension of man?

Now coming to the idea of the belief in God: Everything in this world, we each of us see according as our sight allows us to see it. Therefore one chooses for oneself a particular color. One chooses blue, another red, another violet. If one color had the same effect upon every person’s eye and mind, everyone would choose the same color. And so with form.

Then coming to feeling: Although we can understand words such as love, gratefulness, sincerity, beauty, yet the sense of love, sincerity, gratefulness or beauty in the heart of one person cannot in any way be compared with the same feeling in the heart of another person. Therefore each person’s belief is particular to himself. It is not only that there are so many different faiths in the world, but in one particular Church how many differences! When you come to think of this subject still further, if you think of the person attending the one church, if you examine the feelings of each person, they are different.

Everything in the world that has a name is imaginable; the One and Only Being, the imagination cannot reach, is God. And yet as God is manifested in all things and in all beings, so in all things and in all beings there is always a part which is unimaginable. That itself is proof that God is not a separate God beyond comprehension, God is all and all is God. Man can reach God only as far as his imagination can take him. But the most sensible thing man can do in the pursuit of God is to humble himself and bend in all humility, and say: “Thou art farther than I can ever reach, and all I can do is to accept Thee in all humility.” The one who, by understanding the idea ‘God in man’ claims: ‘I am God’, he, besides all errors, deprives himself of the great beauty of journeying from man to God.

Man in all ages have tried to imagine, and passed his imagination on to his fellowman, saying: “God is such and such.” He has seen in the fire the purifying influence, he has worshipped it and believed in it and said to men: “I see God in this.” He has looked at the sun as something which is standing before the world without protection and giving light. He has said: “I will worship it.” Man has imagined God in nature, he has given sacredness to trees, to some birds and animals, and he has called the sacred and has worshipped God in them. That shows that there is somewhere the ideal of the divine in man, his tendency is to reach it, but he does not know where to reach so as to admire and worship. There have been times of the world’s rise and fall, times of evolution and times of degeneration and with these have come times when man has worshipped God in nature and times when he has worshipped God in animals. He has constantly striven to reach some Ideal, for the trying to reach, brings him a happiness that nowhere else he can find in the world.

Daily reflections on the following points in the Religious Gatheka 36

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: Every child born on earth is born with a tendency to believe what is told him, but the experience of the individual in this world full of falsehood teaches man to disbelieve. That shows that every soul comes from the world of truth, and opens his eyes in the world of falsehood. Every child comes into the world with that purity of heart whose natural tendency is to believe and later he acquires the tendency to doubt.
Contemplation: Do I experience the childhood purity of my heart? In what ways has acquiring knowledge of the world caused in me the tendency towards doubt?

Disclose to us Thy Divine Light, which is hidden in our souls, that we may know and understand life better.

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: The right explanation of unbelief would be that everything that is strange to man, he explains by his reason, by the knowledge he has already acquired, and when it does not tally with what he already knows, he disbelieves. For doubt is earth-born and belief is heaven-born. Light is caused by the sun, and shade is caused by the earth. The light of the soul therefore is belief, and the mind gives unbelief. At the same time, in belief a hidden power exists, and that power is called self-confidence.
Contemplation: Can I distinguish clearly between my mind of reason and the light of my soul that gives the power of self-confidence?

Disclose to us Thy Divine Light, which is hidden in our souls, that we may know and understand life better.

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: Everything in the world that has a name is imaginable; the One and Only Being, the imagination cannot reach, is God. And yet as God is manifested in all things and in all beings, so in all things and in all beings there is always a part which is unimaginable. That itself is proof that God is not a separate God beyond comprehension, God is all and all is God.
Contemplation: How do I find a balance in this paradox and others in my life?

Disclose to us Thy Divine Light, which is hidden in our souls, that we may know and understand life better.

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34. Winding the mechanism of thought

2010-09-16T13:31:00.005-05:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

What does this service mean? The service, a religious service is a drill, a drill before the battle. And what is the battle? Our everyday life. If the service only is the religion, then we can only have once a week the religion and seven days without it. But that is not the thing. This is the winding, it winds the mechanism of thought, the thought of unity of all religions, of all people. It is for the winding every week that we come to the service; the mind is wound just like a clock to continue for the whole week. What we receive from here is the idea that God is in us, truth is one, and the religion is one. There cannot be two religions; that is the confusion, the illusion of the human mind. When people cannot understand each other, they say:”Your religion is different, my religion is different.” But the difference does not belong to God, it belongs to the earth. We are on the earth, but we are not bound to the earth. We are bound to God. And in the realization of God, and in the love of God what are we expected to do? We are expected to unite with one another in the thought of god, in the love of God. And now should we derive the greater benefit by this service we attend? By moving the idea all the time, from the time we leave here that idea must continue in our heart. If we are in the office or in the factory or in the market, the idea must be there; the prayer must continue in our heart.

And not only the prayer of glorifying the name of God but that lesson that we receive in that prayer, that all wisdom is from God; from whatever scripture, whatever religion, whatever form, it all comes from one source.

And again, remember that a person might ask, how can it be that all the scriptures and religions will be placed in the same place? For a Christian might ask: “What I consider of my religion, - how can the Buddhistic or the Hindu religion or the religion of the Hebrews be in the same place?” But he must first know that the Jewish person is thinking the same way, and the Buddhist and the Hindu also is thinking exactly in the same way, perhaps even more. And therefore the object of this Movement is the object of freedom. It is the democracy of religion, and at the same time not interfering with anybody’s faith, ideal, idea or belief. For instance there is a Christian belonging to this Movement, who thinks most of his religion, of his teacher; and there is a Hebrew who is perhaps thinking most of his religion and he is perhaps, belonging to o the Sufi Movement; and there is a Buddhist, and he is also considering his religion most.

Do you think we have any objection about it?

Do we interfere with his ideal, with his devotion to his Teacher?

It would be absurd as for a person to think that a child should think of the mother of another more than of his own. And who has the right to place the great teachers or the scriptures by comparison in such and such a place? No one. It is our hearts’ devotion to the ideal we adore, it is that place where we can place our ideal; and it is our affair, no one can interfere with it. A few girls were playing one day, and each girl said in turn that:”My mother is better.” The other said, “No, my mother is better.” And they were all discussing and arguing. But the girl who was wiser among them said:”Oh, no, it is the mother that is adorable, whether it is your mother or my mother.”

Does the Sufi Movement, therefore interfere with anybody’s devotion to his Teacher? Never. But at the same time it invites the souls to see the Source and Goal of all wisdom to be one, and it is in this truth that all the blessing that the soul is longing for will be bestowed.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 34

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: We are on the earth, but we are not bound to the earth. We are bound to God. In the realization of God, and in the love of God what are we expected to do? We are expected to unite with one another in the thought of god, in the love of God.
Contemplation: Unite us all in Thy Perfect Being. (From the prayer Khatum)

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: If we are in the office or in the factory or in the market, the idea must be there; the prayer must continue in our heart.
Contemplation: “Be unceasing in prayer.” [1 Thessalonians 5: 17]

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: ... the object of this Movement is the object of freedom. It is the democracy of religion, and at the same time not interfering with anybody’s faith, ideal, idea or belief.
Contemplation: Spiritual Liberty!

Point Four: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: It is our hearts’ devotion to the ideal we adore, it is that place where we can place our ideal; and it is our affair, no one can interfere with it.
Contemplation: Spiritual Liberty!

Point Five: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: Does the Sufi Movement, therefore interfere with anybody’s devotion to his Teacher? Never. But at the same time it invites the souls to see the Source and Goal of all wisdom to be one.
Contemplation: Spiritual Liberty!

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33. Religion

2010-08-19T13:17:00.004-05:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Religion has its place in the world, whatever be the condition. From the beginning of civilization there has been some religion or other followed by people. Of course, whenever a new religion came the old religion was routed out. But what was routed out? Was it the religion or the corruption that was rooted out? The truth is the truth, religion is religion. The religion can never be routed out. That religion which is the need of the human soul; that religion has always been and will always be. It is only the outer form, its outer dogmas, which have perhaps been corrupted at times, which did not answer the purpose of humanity at that stage of evolution.

And not understanding that man has very often revolted against religion, not knowing that it was the revolt against corruption, not against religion.

Now the world as we find it to-day, it is like an intoxication. People do not know, when they are in revolt, whether they do right or wrong. When a person is cross with his friend, by seeing de defects or the faults of the friends he forgets his merits.

Therefore man to-day, intoxicated in a revolt against religion, - which means against corruption, - revolts also, ignorantly against God, or form, or prayer, or anything which asked the deepest of his being you will find that there is some place for religion. And what has this revolt brought about in the Western world just now? It has brought about a condition where it has become the fashion to be an atheist. There are people who wish to mention the name of God, and yet they are afraid whether it will be held against the fashion, the custom of the day. It is just as in the past, - an atheist in the past did not dare to say that he did believe; he had to respect the custom. The outcome of this condition is that man is absorbed in material gain, and the spiritual gain and heavenly inspirations are away out of his sight.

The Sufi Movement is intended to play its part at the present moment in this condition of the world. And, however small and infantile, it has a wide horizon and a vast field of work before it. Its work is to bring to the world that religion which has always been the religion of humanity. That nature’s religion: to respect one another’s belief, one another’s scripture, one another’s teacher. It is not, therefore, only a Church, it is a school where we learn to respect, the religion of all the people in the world and their scriptures, and to pay homage to the teachers that they have esteemed the most. This was the object of all the great prophets, and it is at the present moment that this object, held by all prophets is being fulfilled. And in this way with us is the blessing, inspiration and the power of all souls who have for ages come in this world and wakened humanity towards that goal which is the longing of every soul.

This service of the Church of All is an universal worship. In this service a Christian service, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Hindu service, - all services are included.

Therefore the blessings of Christ is given from the altar to the seeker of Jesus Christ’s blessing; the one who seeks for the blessing of Moses, to him the blessing of Moses is given, the one who seeks the benediction of Buddha, for him there is the benediction of Buddha.

But those who seek the blessing from all these great ones who have come at different times, they are blessed by all. This service therefore is the fulfillment of the desire of Christ; this is therefore the service which Moses would have had, if he could at those times; and this is the service which Mohammed had intended, for Islam was meant for all the religions of the world. No great teacher ever came on earth with the thought of dividing people into different sects and communities.

Our Movement, therefore, is busy rendering our service to God and humanity in this direction without any intention of forming an exclusive community, but to unite in this service the people of all different religions. This Movement, in its infancy, is commencing its work, but its culmination will be a world movement. It is the World Message and that religion which will be the religion of the whole humanity; a religion which does not distract the mind of any person from his own religion, but makes it more firm and enlightened, more sympathetic to this own religion; a religion which teaches tolerance towards the faith of another; a religion which opens a person’s heart to the words of wisdom, no matter what direction they come from. This is not only a Church, but this is a school for us to learn, to learn the lesson of tolerance, a lesson for us to learn to adhere to all teachers and to respect all scriptures, a lesson which teaches us that we need not give up our religion, but we must embrace all religions in order to make the sacredness of religion perfect.

It is to learn this, to understand this idea that the Sufi Movement has this Universal Worship; that in this Universal Worship, whatever form a person has, it does not matter as long as he believes in God, he may come together with other human beings, without thinking his belief in this or that. This worship does not take away anyone from his own way, it only presents before everyone his own scripture. In this service one begins to train oneself to love one’s own religion and to tolerate the religions of the others.

At this time when the world is divided into so many sections, one working against another, it is most necessary that humanity must at least unite in God. For there is no difference. He is the Father of all humanity, and we all go before Him as His children. This Universal Worship reminds us of this, and this Universal Worship prepares us to sympathize with one another and to be blessed by all forms of wisdom which have come to us by different great Teachers of humanity. There is one God, there is one truth, so in reality there cannot be many religions, there is only one religion. And it is by the realization of this truth that we shall be truly benefited by what is called religion

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 33

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: The truth is the truth; religion is religion. That religion which is the need of the human soul; that religion has always been and will always be.
Contemplation: Thou art the first cause and the last effect, The Divine Light and the Spirit of Guidance, Alpha and Omega. Thy light is in all forms, Thy love in all beings. (From the prayer Salat)

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: The Sufi movement is intended to play its part at the present moment in this condition of the world. Its work is to bring to the world that religion which has always been the religion of humanity. That nature’s religion: to respect one another’s belief, one another’s scripture, one another’s teacher. It is not, therefore, only a Church, it is a school where we learn to respect, the religion of all the people in the world and their scriptures, and to pay homage to the teachers that they have esteemed the most.
Contemplation: Allow us to recognize Thee In all Thy holy names and forms. (From the prayer Salat)

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: At this time when the world is divided into so many sections, one working against another, it is most necessary that humanity must at least unite in God. There is no difference. He is the Father of all humanity, and we all go before Him as His children. This Universal Worship reminds us of this, and this Universal Worship prepares us to sympathize with one another and to be blessed by all forms of wisdom which have come to us by different great Teachers of humanity. There is one God, there is one truth, so in reality there cannot be many religions, there is only one religion.
Contemplation: Let the star of the Divine Light shining in Thy heart be reflected in the hearts of Thy devotees. May the Message of God reach far and wide, Illuminating and making the whole humanity as one single brotherhood in the fatherhood of God. (From the prayer Salat)

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32. The Universal Worship

2010-06-05T13:03:00.005-05:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

What is this Universal Worship? Although in its infancy, it is the religion of the day and the faith of to-morrow. But what religion is it? It is the same religion of which Jesus Christ has said: “I have come not to give a new law, I have come to give the old law.” Therefore this new Message, what is it? It is the same old Message that has ever been.

Are the workers of this Message priests? No, they are the soldiers of the army of Peace, the army which is working to bring about peace in the divers religions of this world, which have been disputed and argued, and have kept themselves away from one another, looking upon one another’s religion as something wrong. Then what is our idea in this service? Our idea in this service is learning, we learn something here. We learn by this service that wisdom, wherever and at whatever time it came to the world, was one and the same Truth, the truth which is the only religion; and it is this Truth which will save. Is it not then the religion of Christ without limiting the Master only to a certain period and only to a certain book? To the thoughtful person it is the Message of Christ. But is it not also the Message of Buddha, is it not of Mohammed and Moses, of Abraham and Solomon? Have they come with many truths, or have they come with one truth. If they came with many truths, there must be many gods, and if there are many gods and many truths, then, if we cannot understand one another’s language, beyond it, we cannot understand one another’s heart.

But it is not so; we can understand one another’s heart, even if we cannot understand one another’s language. But what does it teach us? It teaches us that the world of variety, in this world of names and forms, where we see each other separated and divided, individually and collectively, by being different nations and religions, in that Spirit we are one and the same, and in that Spirit we can unite.

Can that be religion, for one moment which can separate the children of God from one another in the name of faith, in the name of religion?

Where lies true happiness? In the understanding of one another, in our unity with one another, in our harmony with one another. Imagine the troubles that humanity has gone through the past few years, - do these troubles seem to end? Not at all. If the troubles seem to end in one form, then in some other form they arise. It seems as a blood poisoning that if one wound is healed at some other place it takes its outlet. And how can the world be purified and rise above this difficulty? Not by political and financial activities. No, the religion is the healing of the world of humanity. And which religion? Not this or that religion. “The’ religion, the only religion, the religion which is the religion of the Hindu, of Moslem, of Christian and of Jew, and of everyone.

For we all, whatever be our caste, creed, race, nation or religion, can only unite in One, and that is that one God, and in Truth. Our only happiness is in this unity which unites us in God and in truth.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 32

Point One: Nearly 100 years ago Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan gave this message: What is this Universal Worship? Although in its infancy, it is the religion of the day and the faith of to-morrow.
Contemplation: Let us ask ourselves, "How ever more vital is the call for "the religion" of today and the faith of to-morrow in our world and in my life?

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: . . . how can the world be purified and rise above this difficulty? Not by political and financial activities. No, the religion is the healing of the world of humanity. And which religion? Not this or that religion. ‘The’ religion, the only religion, the religion which is the religion of the Hindu, of Moslem, of Christian and of Jew, and of everyone.
Contemplation: "... the religion is the healing of the world of humanity."

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: Are the workers of this Message priests? No, they are the soldiers of the army of Peace, the army which is working to bring about peace in the diverse religions of this world….
Contemplation: Ask this question, "How do I live as a 'soldier in the army of Peace'?"

Point Four: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: Where lies true happiness? In the understanding of one another, in our unity with one another, in our harmony with one another. Imagine the troubles that humanity has gone through the past few years, - do these troubles seem to end? Not at all.
Contemplation: Do I realize my 'true happiness’ comes in the understanding, harmony, and understanding of others.

Point Five: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: For we all, whatever be our caste, creed, race, nation or religion, can only unite in One, and that is that one God, and in Truth. Our only happiness is in this unity which unites us in God and in truth.
Contemplation: "Our [my] only happiness is in this unity which unites us in God and in truth."

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31. Moses

2010-04-25T12:45:00.004-05:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Moses, the most shining Prophet of the Old Testament gave to the world the divine Law, the Ten Commandments which in reality was the interpretation of the divine Law that he perceived, expressed in the words of those who stood before him at that time of the world’s civilization. It is interesting to notice the Sufi saying which come from the ages which says: ‘Be the follower of love and forget all distinction’, for on this path of spiritual attainment that ‘I am so and so’ is meaningless.

Moses was found by the river by a Princess, who knew not what family he came from or who was his father or mother. Only the name of God came to the mind of every thoughtful inquirer as to the Father or Mother of Moses. When people compare the teachings of different religions and readily form their opinion upon them, they are often mistaken; it is premature to make such distinctions. There comes a stage in the evolution of an illuminated soul who begins to see the law behind nature, the true psychology. To him the whole life reveals the secrets of its nature and character; and when he gives an interpretation of these secrets to others, they become limited, for they take the color of his own personality and the form of the thought of those to whom the message is given.

The story of Moses as told by the Sufis is most interesting and helpful to the traveler on the path. Moses has been the favorite character of the poets of Arabia and Persia, and in the poems of the Persian Sufis, Moses is often mentioned as Krishna is mentioned in the poetry of the Hindus.

Moses was walking in the wilderness looking for some fire. He saw from a distance a smoke rising on the top of a mountain, so he climbed to the top of the mountain in order to find that fire. But on arriving at the top of the mountain, he saw a glimpse of the lighting which was so powerful, that it went throughout his whole being. Moses fell down unconscious on the ground and when he recovered his senses, he found himself with illumination. From that time the Mount Sinai was the place where he often went and communicated with God. The story is very enlightening when one can think that it is possible that all the illumination that is desired can come to a soul in a moment. Many think that spiritual attainment can be achieved by great labor; no, labor is necessary for material attainment.. For spiritual attainment what one needs is the seeking soul like that of Moses. Moses falling down upon the ground may be interpreted as the Cross which means: ‘I am not, THOU art.’ In order to be, one must pass a stage of being nothing. In the Sufi terms it is called Fanà. When one thinks ‘I am not’ (what I had always thought myself to be). This is the true self-denial which the Hindus called Laya and in Buddhism the term annihilation. It is the annihilation of the false self which give rise to the true self: once this is done, from that moment man approaches closer and closer to God, and stands face to face with his divine ideal with whom he can communicate at every moment of his life. The Law of God is endless, as limitless as God himself, and once the eye of the seeker penetrates through the veil that hangs before him, hiding from his eyes the real law of Life, the mystery of the whole Life manifests to him, and happiness and peace become his own for they are the birthright of every soul.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 31

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: When people compare the teachings of dif erent religions and readily form their opinion upon them, they are often mistaken; it is premature to make such distinctions. There comes a stage in the evolution of an illuminated soul who begins to see the law behind nature, the true psychology.
Contemplation: How can I shift my view in order to more fully and consistently see the law behind nature and human nature?

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: … the whole life reveals the secrets of its nature and character; and when he gives an interpretation of these secrets to others, they become limited, for they take the color of his own personality and the form of the thought of those to whom the message is given.
Contemplation: In what limited ways do I interpret the secrets of nature and character?

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: Many think that spiritual attainment can be achieved by great labor; no, labor is necessary for material attainment. For spiritual attainment what one needs is the seeking soul like that of Moses. Moses falling down upon the ground may be interpreted as the Cross, which means: ‘I am not, THOU art.’ In order to be, one must pass a stage of being nothing. In the Sufi terms it is called Fanà.
Contemplation: Let us repeat frequently, ‘I am not, THOU art.’

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30. The God Ideal

2010-03-15T12:31:00.004-05:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

God and the God-ideal may be explained as the sun and the light. And as there come times when the sun becomes covered by clouds, so there come times when the God-ideal becomes covered by materialism.

But if the cloud for a moment covers the sun that does not mean that the sun is lost to you and so if in the reign of materialism the God-ideal seems to have disappeared yet God is there all the same.

The condition of the world is just like the ever-rising and falling waves. Sometimes it seems to rise and sometimes to fall, but with every rising and falling wave the sea is the same, and so with all its changes life is the same.

We find that during the past few years all over the world there has come a phase, when the God-ideal seems entirely forgotten. It does not mean that churches have disappeared, it does not mean that God does not exist, but that a light that once was there has been covered, has ceased to light us. But at the same time, as there is night after the day so these changes of condition come in life, light and darkness.

In the age of science on the one side and materialism on the other and commercialism on the top man seems to have blinded himself in acquiring wealth and power and sees nothing else. It is not the search for light - it is the nature of every soul to search for light - but the great question is, how can the light come when nation is against nation, race against race, the followers of one religion against the followers of another? How can there be Peace and how can there come Light? The sign of the day is that all things are clear, and the sign of the night is that nothing can be found or seen, there are clouds. The most dreadful nightmare the world has ever seen has just passed away; and although that nightmare seems to have gone, its effect is still here, and the effect that is left is worse than the cause, for prejudice is worse than bloodshed.

And when man thirsts for the blood of his fellowman how can we say that there is light? If a man eats joyfully at his table when his neighbor is dying of hunger, where is the light?

That is the condition of humanity to-day. And what is the cause? It is because the Light, the God-ideal is not there.

I was once amused by a very simple answer from a maid, when somebody came to the door and knocked. The maid was not free to go at once but took her time and when at last she came the man was very cross and said: “Why did you not open the door quickly?” And then I asked the maid: “What do you think was the reason for the person being cross?” and she said with her innocent expression: “Because there is no God with him.”(story)

Friends, the word of Christ is that God is Love and if God is Love then we, every one of us, can prove God in us by expressing God in our life. Yes, according to the external customs of different religions, one goes to church, one goes to the mosque, one to the synagogue, one to the temple of Buddha, but the inner church is neither in the mosque nor in the synagogue, but in the heart of man, where God abides and which is the habitation of Christ. With this divine element lighted in man’s heart he will go to the house of prayer and then his prayer will be heard. There is a well known story in India, that a girl was crossing a place where a Moslem was performing his prayer and the law is that no one should cross where a person is praying. When the girl returned, the man said to her: “How insolent! Do you know what sin you have done?” “What did I do?” said the girl. And the man said that no one was allowed to cross. “I did not mean any harm,” said the girl, “But tell me, what do you mean by praying?” “For me prayer is thinking of God”, said the man. “Oh!” she said, “But I was going to see my young man and I was thinking of him and I did not see you; and if you were thinking of God, how did you see me?”

The idea, therefore, my friends, is that prayer becomes living if it is offered from a living heart; from a dead heart prayer has no meaning and is dead. There is a story of an Arab that he was running to the mosque where the prayer of God was being offered, but before he could arrive the prayers were finished. On his way he met a man coming from the mosque and asked him: “Are the prayers finished?” The man replied that they were finished and the other sighed deeply and said “Alas!” Then the man asked: “Will you give the virtue of your sigh in exchange for the virtues of my prayers?” And the other agreed. Next day the simple man saw the Prophet in a dream, who told him he had made a bad bargain, for that one sigh was worth all the prayers of a lifetime, for it was from the heart.

There are different human beings in different stages of evolution and it is natural that every human being according to his particular stage of evolution imagines God before he prays. And it is a question for anyone else to judge the one who prays and to say: “God is not this or that?” Persons who force their beliefs on others often put them against that belief even if that were the true belief. It requires a great deal of tact, thought and consideration to explain the belief or to correct the belief of another. In the first place it is insolent on the part of man to want to explain God, although man to-day would like not only to explain but even examine whether the spirit of God exists! The other day I was so much amused to hear that there are people who not only want to take photographs of the spirits, but even to weigh the soul! It was a good thing in the ancient times when the state had respect for the God-ideal and religion and taught that respect to humanity. To-day man wishes to use what he calls ‘freedom’ in religion, even in the foundation of all religions, the God-ideal!

But then it must be remembered that it is not the path of freedom that leads to the goal of freedom, but the path of the God-ideal that leads to the goal of Truth.

The great personalities who have descended on earth, from time to time, to awaken in man that Love which is his divine inheritance, found echo in innocent souls rather than in great intellects. Man often confuses wisdom with cleverness and cleverness with wisdom. But these two are different; man can be wise and can be clever and man can be clever and not wise, and by cleverness a person will strive and strive and will not reach there. It is a stream, the stream of love which leads towards God.

There is a story that a king was traveling and hunting in the woods, and the king was hungry and stopped at the house of a peasant who treated him very kindly. When the king was leaving this peasant he was so touched with his kindness that without telling him he was a king, he said to him: “Take this ring and if ever you are in trouble, come to me in the city and I will see what I can do for you.” After a time there was a famine and the peasant was in great trouble and his wife and child were dying , so he set out to come and see this man Of course, when he showed the ring, he was brought to the king and when he entered the room, he saw the king busy in prayer.

When the king came near to him, he said: “What were you doing?” “Praying for peace and love and happiness among my subjects” “So there is a greater one than you, to whom you must go for what you seek? Then I will go to him, who is greater and on whom even your destiny depends.” said the peasant. He would accept no help, and at last the king had to send what was needed quietly to his home, first saying that no one must tell him that it came from the king. The idea is that it is not only belief but faith which is necessary. Belief is a thing, but faith is a living being. And the warners and teachers of humanity and the great preachers who have come from time to time when darkness prevailed, what message did they bring? Did they bring new religions or new theories to the world? No, when Jesus Christ said: “I have not brought a new law but I have come to fulfill the law”, then who else at any time could bring a new theory? The scientist perhaps but not the spiritual messenger. Then what did the spiritual message bring? It brought to the world a living God, a light hidden beyond words. With the spiritual message God has sent His life and Light upon the world. What the work of the Sufi Movement is destined to do in the present epoch, is to bring about a better understanding among the followers of the different religions. The Sufi message is not a new message, although it strikes the note of the day. It is the re-echo of the same voice, the voice that we heard in all ages. At the present time when races and nations and the followers of different religions are all one against the other, this is a time when the word of unity and peace alone can unite all together in God. The Sufi Order is not a community and not a religion, it is a nucleus of the human brotherhood which is the inner call of every soul. The Sufi Message is given to all nations, it is a call to all races, to the followers of all religions. It teaches people to follow whatever religion they may profess, but to follow it truly and understanding it better; not only to believe in God and the words of Christ, but to have faith in Him and His Divine word.

We must think of the tolerance of the Master and of His forgiveness and what the world would be to-day if we had it too. If we follow the natural religion, that divine impulse that is in every heart, then we shall be living the true religion.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 30

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: It is the nature of every soul to search for light - but the great question is, how can the light come when nation is against nation, race against race, the followers of one religion against the followers of another?
Contemplation: How do I, in my search for the light, contribute to the light of the world?

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: Friends, the word of Christ is that God is Love and if God is Love then we, every one of us, can prove God in us by expressing God in our life.
Contemplation: “the word of Christ is that God is Love”.

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: What the work of the Sufi Movement is destined to do in the present epoch, is to bring about a better understanding among the followers of the dif erent religions. The Sufi message is not a new message, although it strikes the note of the day The Sufi Message is given to all nations, it is a call to all races, to the followers of all religions. It teaches people to follow whatever religion they may profess, but to follow it truly and understanding it better; not only to believe in God and the words of Christ, but to have faith in Him and His Divine word.
Contemplation: From the noon day Prayer Salat, “Allow us to recognize Thee in all Thy holy names and forms.” From the evening Prayer Khatum, “Disclose to us Thy divine light Which is hidden in our souls, That we may know and understand life better.”

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29. Sufi Movement a preparation for a world service

2010-01-30T12:15:00.005-06:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

The Sufi Movement is a preparation for a world service, a world service chiefly in three directions. One direction is the philosophical understanding of life, the other direction is bringing about brotherhood among races, nations and creeds, and the third direction is the world’s greatest need, which is the religion of the day.

Now you may ask: “What need is there for a new religion?” The answer is that it is not a new religion, it is the continuation of the same old religion which has always existed and will always exist. A religion which adheres to all the great teachers and all the great scriptures accepted by large numbers of mankind, an altar upon which there are the scriptures of the Hindus, the Hebrews, the Zoroastrians, the Buddhists, the Christians and the believers in Islam; an altar upon which are placed candles representing all the different religions of the world. Can it be ever called a new religion, are there new religions, are these scriptures new scriptures? It is the unification of religion which was the dream of Jesus and the inspiration of Mohammed, which was the object of Abraham and the desire of Moses.

What the prophets of the past could not bring about, owing to the difficulty of conditions at the time of their coming, it is this which is brought about t-day as the granting of their prayers which have been made for thousands of years in the past. Therefore although the Sufi Movement is in its infancy, yet it is the servant of God and the whole of humanity, and the fulfillment of the object of this mission is the world Message and the blessing that we receive in this service is the blessing of all the great teachers and prophets and illuminated souls, all in one.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 29

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: What need is there for a new religion? The answer is that it [the Universal Worship] is not a new religion, it is the continuation of the same old religion which has always existed and will always exist. A religion which adheres to all the great teachers and all the great scriptures accepted by large numbers of mankind….
Contemplation: How do I realize and actualize in my life the unity of religious ideals that honors all great teachers and scriptures?

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: Therefore although the Sufi Movement is in its infancy, yet it is the servant of God and the whole of humanity, and the fulfilment of the object of this mission is the world Message….
Contemplation: In 2010 the infancy of the Message will be celebrating 100 years in the West. What vision do I hold and how will I contribute towards to fostering and nurturing the Message in the coming years?

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: … and the blessing that we receive in this service [the Universal Worship] is the blessing of all the great teachers and prophets and illuminated souls, all in one.
Contemplation: From the Prayer Salat, “Allow us to recognize Thee in all Thy holy names and forms.”

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28. Universal Worship is a service‌│a worship│a training to tolerate

2009-12-18T12:02:00.005-06:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

The different candles which are lighted only mean our adherence and our respect to all different teachers, different religions and different scriptures. Therefore this universal worship, the Church of All, is in reality all Churches. It is a service, it is a worship and at the same time it is a training to our mind to tolerate the religion of different people. And if one reads the history of religions, how the followers of different religions have had their battles, wars against one another for the defense of the outer form of religions, a person with a just mind will admit that the followers of the great teachers have not followed their belief or the teachings of the great ones thoroughly. It is this universal worship, it is this religion which is the religion of all those teachers who have come and gone.

It is this which was the Message of Jesus Christ and all other great teachers of humanity Therefore it is not a separate line, it is the same line, it is the same Message which is being given to the world. It is the continuation of all the great religions which have come from time to time and a unification of all which was the desire of all prophets. And in reality the wish of the great teachers of humanity is fully gratified in this worship, because it was this that was their idea. To come as the result of their teaching and of giving the Message to humanity, and although we are very few, whose destiny it is to serve God and humanity in this direction, we ought to feel ourselves blessed, and in the strength of that blessing, we should feel fully encouraged and helped, to serve God and humanity.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 28

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: It [Universal Worship] is a service, it is a worship and at the same time it is a training to our mind to tolerate the religion of different people.
Contemplation: What is the true meaning and living expression of religious tolerance? How do I actualize this expression in my life?

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: It [Universal Worship] is the continuation of all the great religions which have come from time to time and a unification of all which was the desire of all prophets.
Contemplation: From the Prayer Salat, “Allow us to recognize Thee in all Thy holy names and forms.”

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: ...although we are very few, whose destiny it is to serve God and humanity in this direction, we ought to feel ourselves blessed, and in the strength of that blessing, we should feel fully encouraged and helped, to serve God and humanity.
Contemplation: Do I realize/feel this strength, blessing, encouragement of which Murshid speaks in my service?

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27. Sufism is “the” religion

2009-11-29T11:47:00.005-06:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

The question is sometimes asked whether Sufism is a religion. Yes, Sufism is ‘the’ religion, not ‘a’ religion. And it is the religion, it has always been and will always be. What we call Judaism, Christianity or Islam, it is all Sufism in its essence. And the question if the Sufis have a religion, a form or a dogma may be answered: “The Sufi is not subject to a form or dogma, but the Sufi uses the form and the dogma as the soul uses a name and a form.” The one who questions the importance of a name and form must first come out of his body and then ask: “Why is there a form?” So he must become free from the name and form he has. A man carries in his heart his own name and says: “Anything that has a name, I am against it.” But he has his own name.

In this world of names and forms it is absurd to say we do not need a name, we do not need a form. Therefore what a Sufi does with his realization of the essence of religion, is that he arrives at the understanding of the use of names and forms. He does not allow the names and forms to blind him, he takes names and forms to use them towards that purpose, the purpose which he has to accomplish through life. And the Sufi worship is a worship of all scriptures and all religions. But this does not mean we have a discussion or a debate on comparative religions by this worship. Neither by these scriptures which are there on the table, do we mean that we believe only in certain scriptures, that these are the ones to which we adhere and will respect and that we reject the other scriptures. And by kindling the lights in the name of the religions of the world we do not mean by this, that only these particular religions we have, that these are the only religions that we believe in and we reject the other religions. By this it is only meant that our religion is what may be called ‘the’ religion, a religion which embraces all scriptures and all religions, a religion which recognizes the values of wisdom, and a religion the God of which can be found in truth alone.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 27

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: And the question if the Sufis have a religion, a form or a dogma may be answered: “The Sufi is not subject to a form or dogma, but the Sufi uses the form and the dogma as the soul uses a name and a form.
Contemplation: How do we rise above form and dogma and yet use form and dogma in order to illuminate our understanding of the various world religions and Sufi Ideal which is Spiritual Liberty and the Unity of Spiritual Ideals?

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: And the Sufi worship is a worship of all scriptures and all religions.
Contemplation: From the Prayer Salat, “Allow us to recognize Thee in all Thy holy names and forms.”

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26. Krishna

2009-10-18T11:36:00.005-05:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

The life of Krishna is an ideal which gives the picture of the life of a perfect man. The real meaning of the word Krishna is God, and the man who was identified with that name was the God-conscious, one who fulfilled his Message in the period he was destined to give his Message. The story of Krishna, apart from its historical value and interest, is of great importance to the seeker after truth. No one knows of the father and mother of Krishna. Some say he was of royal birth. It means of kingly origin from that King Who is the King of all. Then he was given in the care of Yashoda, who brought him up as his guardian-mother. This is symbolical of the earthy parents, who are the guardians, the real father and mother being God. In the childhood Krishna, it is said, he was fond of butter and he learned as a child to steal butter from everywhere. And the meaning is that Wisdom is the butter of the whole life. When life is churned through the wheel, then out of that comes butter-wisdom, is gained from it. He was stealing it, which means wherever he found wisdom he learned it; from everybody’s experience he benefited - that is stealing.

Plainly speaking, there are two ways of learning wisdom. The one way of learning wisdom is that a person goes and drinks to excess, and then falls down in the mud, and then the police takes him to the police station, and when he recovers from his drunkenness he cannot find his clothes and he is horrified at his own appearance. This makes him realize what he has done. This is one way of learning, and it is possible that he does not learn. The other way of learning is that the young man is going in the street, he sees a drunken man and sees how terrible it is to be in this position; he learns from that. That is stealing the butter.

But then the latter part of Krishna’s life has two very important aspects. One aspect teaches us that life is a continual battle and the earth is the battlefield where every soul has to struggle, and the one who will own the kingdom of the earth must know very well the law of warfare. The secret of the offensive, the mystery of defense, how to hold our position, how to retreat, how to advance, how to change position, how to protect and control all that has been won, how to let go what must be given up, the manner of sending an ultimatum, the way of making an armistice - the way by which peace is made - all this is to be learned in this life’s battle.

Man’s position is most difficult for he has to fight on two fronts at the same time; one for himself and the other is another. If he is successful on one front and on the other front he proves to have failed, then his success is not complete.

And the battle of each individual has a different character. The battle depends upon man’s particular grade of evolution. Therefore every person’s battle in life is different, of a peculiar character. And no person in the world is free from that battle; only one is more prepared for it, the other perhaps is ignorant of the law of warfare. And the success of this battle there is the fulfillment of life. The Bhagavad-Gita, the Song Celestial, from beginning to end is a teaching of the law of life’s warfare.

The other outlook of Krishna on life is that every soul is striving to attain God, but God not as a judge or a king - but as a beloved.

And every soul seeks God, the God of Love in the form it is capable of imagining. And in this way the story of Krishna and the Gopies signifies God and the various souls seeking perfection.

The life and teaching of Krishna has helped the people of India very much in broadening the thought of the pious. The religious man, full of dogmas, is often apt to make dogmas too rigid and expects the godly or the God-conscious to fit in with the standard of goodness. If they do not fit in with his particular idea of piety he is ready to criticize the. But the thought and life of Krishna was used by the artist and the poet ant the musician, and out of it was made a new religion, a religion of recognizing the divine in natural human life, and that idea of considering a spiritual person exclusive, remote, stone-like and lifeless ceased to exist. The people of India became much more tolerant toward all different aspects of life, looking at the whole life at the same time as an immanence of God.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 26

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: The story of Krishna, apart from its historical value and interest, is of great importance to the seeker after truth. No one knows of the father and mother of Krishna. Some say he was of royal birth. It means of kingly origin from that King Who is the King of all. Then he was given in the care of Yashoda, who brought him up as his guardian-mother. This is symbolical of the earthy parents, who are the guardians, the real father and mother being God. In the childhood Krishna, it is said, he was fond of butter and he learned as a child to steal butter from everywhere. And the meaning is that Wisdom is the butter of the whole life. When life is churned through the wheel, then out of that comes butter-wisdom, is gained from it. He was stealing it, which means wherever he found wisdom he learned it; from everybody’s experience he benefited - that is stealing.
Contemplation: Do we experience our "real father and mother being God"? Are we in touch with our Divine Inheritance? Do we realize the "butter of the whole life", and benefit from "everybody's experience”?

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: Krishna’s life has two very important aspects. One aspect teaches us that life is a continual battle and the earth is the battlefield where every soul has to struggle, and the one who will own the kingdom of the earth must know very well the law of warfare. The secret of the offensive, the mystery of defense, how to hold our position, how to retreat, how to advance, how to change position, how to protect and control all that has been won, how to let go what must be given up, the manner of sending an ultimatum, the way of making an armistice - the way by which peace is made - all this is to be learned in this life’s battle.
Contemplation: How does the example of Krishna's life help me in our own life's battles?

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: And the battle of each individual has a dif erent character. The battle depends upon man’s particular grade of evolution. Therefore every person’s battle in life is dif erent, of a peculiar character. And no person in the world is free from that battle; only one is more prepared for it, the other perhaps is ignorant of the law of warfare. And the success of this battle there is the fulfillment of life. The Bhagavad-Gita, the Song Celestial, from beginning to end is a teaching of the law of life’s warfare.
Contemplation: We can through both reflection and preparation determine if we have been and are prepared for our own life's battle in accordance with our own character and evolution?

Point Four: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: The life and teaching of Krishna has helped the people of India very much in broadening the thought of the pious. The religious man, full of dogmas, is often apt to make dogmas too rigid and expects the godly or the God-conscious to fit in with the standard of goodness. If they do not fit in with his particular idea of piety he is ready to criticize the. But the thought and life of Krishna was used by the artist and the poet ant the musician, and out of it was made a new religion, a religion of recognizing the divine in natural human life.
Contemplation: We can ask ourself, "Is my outlook broad or rigid?" and "Do I recognize the divinity in a "natural human life"?

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25. Mohammed

2009-09-15T09:51:00.004-05:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Mohammed is the one among the prophets, the account of whose life is to be found in history Born of the family of Ishmael, Mohammed had in him the prophetic heritage, and before him that purpose was to be fulfilled by the prophecy, which had been made by Abraham in the Old Testament.

The Prophet became an orphan in his childhood and had known what it is in the world to be without tender care of the mother and without the protection of the father, when a child. And this experience was the first preparation for the child, who was born to sympathize in the pain of others. He showed traces of the sense of responsibility in his boyhood, when looking after his cows. A cowherd came and said: “I will look after your herd and you may go to the town and enjoy yourself. And then you must take charge of my cows and I will go there for some time.” Young Mohammed said: “No, I will take charge of your herd, you may go, but I will not leave my charge.” The same principle he showed through his life.

Some say once, others say twice, others say three times that a miracle happened, that the breast of the Prophet was cut open by the angels and some say they took something away and instantly his breast was healed. What is it? It is the poison which is to be found in the sting of a scorpion and the teeth of a serpent; it is the same poison which exists in the heart of man.. All manner of prejudice, hatred, bitterness in the form of envy and jealousy are the small expressions of this poison, when it is hidden in the heart of man.

And when this poison is taken away in some form or other, then it is the serpent with its beauty and wisdom, without its poisonous teeth, and so it is with man. Man meets with hardships in life, sometimes too hard to stand for the moment, but often such experiences become as higher initiations in the life of the traveler on the path. The heart of man which is the shrine of God, once purified of that poison, becomes the holy abode where God Himself resides.

As a youth Mohammed traveled with his uncle, who went to Syria on a business trip. he knew the shortcomings of human nature, which have a large scope to play their role in the world of business; he knew what profit means, what loss means, what both mean in the end. This gave him a wider look on life where he saw how one is eager to profit by the loss of another. The human beings live in this world no better than the large and small fish in the water, who live upon each other.

When the time came to defend the country against a powerful enemy, young Mohammed stood shoulder to shoulder with the strong men of his land to defend his people in their most terrible strife. His sincerity in friendship and honesty in his dealing endeared him to all those far and near, who called him Amin, which means trusty or trustworthy. His marriage to Khatidja showed him a man of devotion, a man of affection, an honorable man as a husband, as father and as a citizen of the town he lived in.

Then came the time of contemplation, that time of the fulfillment of that promise which his soul had brought in the world. There came moments when life became to seem sad with all the beauty and comfort it could offer. He then sought refuge from that depression in the solitude. Sometimes for hours, sometimes for days, for weeks sitting in the mountains of Gare Hida he tried to see if there was anything else to be seen.

He tried to hear if there was anything to be heard, he tried to know if there was anything to be known. Patient as Mohammed was, he continued on the path of the search after truth. In the end he began to hear a word of inner guidance: ‘Cry on the sacred Name of Thy Lord’ and as he began to follow that advice, he found the re-echo of the word his heart repeated in all things of nature; as the wind repeated the same name as he did, the sky, the earth, the moon, the planets, all said the same that he was saying. When once in tune with the infinite, realizing his soul, one within and without, the call came: “Thou are the man, go forward into the world and carry out Our command, glorify the name of God. Unite them who are separated, waken those who are asleep and harmonize one with the other, as in this is the happiness of man.”

Often Khatidja found Mohammed had covered himself with a mantle, that he might not see himself, trembling at the sight of the responsibility that was thrown on him. But she kept telling him: “You are the man, a man so kind and true, so sincere and devoted, forgiving and serving. It is your part of work to perform. Fear not, you are destined to it by the Almighty, trust in His great power, in the end success will be yours.”

The day when Mohammed gave his Message, to his surprise not only the enemies but the friends who were near and dear to the Prophet turned against him, would not listen to a new gospel taught. Through the insults and the harm and injury they caused him and those who listened to him, he still continued in spite of being exiled from home three times and proved in the end, as every real prophet must prove, that Truth alone is the conqueror and to truth belongs all victory.

Daily reflection on the following points in Religious Gatheka 25

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: The Prophet became an orphan in his childhood and had known what it is in the world to be without tender care of the mother and without the protection of the father, when a child. And this experience was the first preparation for the child, who was born to sympathize in the pain of others.
Contemplation: In what ways has my past prepared me for my future?

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: All manner of prejudice, hatred, bitterness in the form of envy and jealousy are the small expressions of this poison, when it is hidden in the heart of man. And when this poison is taken away in some form or other, then it is the serpent with its beauty and wisdom, without its poisonous teeth, and so it is with man. Man meets with hardships in life, sometimes too hard to stand for the moment, but often such experiences become as higher initiations in the life of the traveler on the path. The heart of man which is the shrine of God, once purified of that poison, becomes the holy abode where God Himself resides.
Contemplation: Are these "expressions of poison" hidden my own heart? How do I meet "hardships in life"? Do I take these hardships as "higher initiation in the life of a traveler on the path"?

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: Then came the time of contemplation, that time of the fulfillment of that promise which his soul had brought in the world. There came moments when life became to seem sad with all the beauty and comfort it could offer. He then sought refuge from that depression in the solitude. Sometimes for hours, sometimes for days, for weeks sitting in the mountains of Gare Hida he tried to see if there was anything else to be seen. He tried to hear if there was anything to be heard, he tried to know if there was anything to be known. Patient as Mohammed was, he continued on the path of the search after truth. In the end he began to hear a word of inner guidance: ‘Cry on the sacred Name of Thy Lord’ and as he began to follow that advice, he found the re-echo of the word his heart repeated in all things of nature; as the wind repeated the same name as he did, the sky, the earth, the moon, the planets, all said the same that he was saying.
Contemplation: All the prophets experienced a dark night of the soul. In our life we too may have such experiences. What can we learn and apply in our own life from Mohammed's experience recounted above?

Point Four: Murshid teaches in this Gatheka that every real prophet must prove, that Truth alone is the conqueror and to truth belongs all victory.
Contemplation: "Truth alone is the conqueror and to truth belongs all victory."

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24. Abraham

2009-08-13T09:36:00.004-05:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Abraham, whose name seems to come from the Sanskrit root Brahma, which means the creator, was the father of four great religions of the world. For it is from the descendants, who were called Beni Israel, that came Judaism. Christianity, Islamism, besides Zoroastrianism.

Abraham was the first to bring the knowledge of mysticism from Egypt, where he was initiated in the most ancient order of esotericism. And the place which on his return he chose to establish a center, with the idea that some place must be the world center, was Mecca, wither not only in the age of the Islam did the people make pilgrimage to, but at all times the sacred center of Mecca was held in esteem by the pious who lived before Mohammed. The family of Jesus Christ is traced in the ancient tradition from the family of Isaac and Mohammed came from the family of Ishmael.

The prophecies of Abraham have always been living words though various people made their different interpretations according to their own ideas. But to the mind of the Seer the prophecies of Abraham have a very deep meaning.

With his great knowledge of esotericism, he has been a great patriarch among his people. He was interested in everybody’s trouble and difficulty. He was thrown in the midst of worldly responsibilities, to learn all he has learned from it and to teach his knowledge and experience to those who looked to him for the bread of knowledge. No doubt the stories of the ancient times very often strike our modern ears as most childish. But it was the way they were told and by the people who told them, which made a great difference.

In the first place there was such a scarcity of lettered people in those days, therefore the stories were told by the unlettered, and certainly they must have improvised upon every legend they told and pictured it according the artistic development of their particular age. Nevertheless truth is there if we only know how to lift the veil.

Abraham’s life does not only make him a Prophet but a Murshid at the same time. He was a mystic who gave counsel to those who came to him in need. He examined them, treated their minds, healed their souls according to their needs. The most remarkable thing one notices in Abraham is, that besides him being a prophet and a mystic, he lived the life of an ordinary human being, ‘one with his fellowmen’ in their times of pleasure and sorrow.

One story of the life of Abraham has been the source of great argument in the East is that is the sacrifice of Isaac. It is not only an argument in the East, but alarming to a Western mind. They can put a thousand questions forward, asking to give proper reason and justification to such an act. But at the same time if we looked from the ideal point of view, no sacrifice for a beloved ideal can be too great. There are numberless souls whose dear ones, their beloved mates, husbands or sons have been sacrificed in this recent war. They could do nothing else, they had to surrender their will to the ideal of the nation and offer the sacrifice for the cause of the nation, without thinking for a moment that it was unusual. When we think deeply on the problem of life, there is no path in the world whether spiritual of material which we can thread successfully without a sacrifice. Sometimes the sacrifice is great and sometimes small, sometimes the sacrifice is made before achieving the success and sometimes afterwards. As sacrifice is necessary in life, it is made by everyone in some form or other, but when it is made willingly it turns into virtue.

The greater the ideal the greater the sacrifice it demands, and if one saw wisely the process of advancement through life, in any direction of life, it is nothing but a continual sacrifice, and happiness comes from the understanding of this nature of life, and not being hurt or troubled by it, but knowing that it is by sacrifice made to the end, and that man attains the desired goal.

Daily reflections on the following point in Religious Gatheka 24

Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: The most remarkable thing one notices in Abraham is, that besides him being a prophet and a mystic, he lived the life of an ordinary human being, ‘one with his fellowmen’ in their times of pleasure and sorrow.

Contemplation One: When we think deeply on the problem of life, there is no path in the world whether spiritual of material which we can thread successfully without a sacrifice.

Contemplation Two: Sometimes the sacrifice is great and sometimes small, sometimes the sacrifice is made before achieving the success and sometimes afterwards. As sacrifice is necessary in life, it is made by everyone in some form or other, but when it is made willingly it turns into virtue.

Contemplation Three: The greater the ideal the greater the sacrifice it demands, and if one saw wisely the process of advancement through life, in any direction of life, it is nothing but a continual sacrifice, and happiness comes from the understanding of this nature of life, and not being hurt or troubled by it, but knowing that it is by sacrifice made to the end, and that man attains the desired goal.

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23. Rama

2009-04-25T09:23:00.004-05:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

RAMA, the great prophet and ideal of the Hindus was at the same time the example of the Godhead. The character of Rama is said to have been foretold by Valmiki. At the same time the training which was given to Rama by a great Rishi, whose name was Vashishta, was a training to bring out that kingdom of God which is hidden in the heart of man. In this respect Rama was not only an ideal of the Hindus of that particular age, but was a model to mould the character of those who thread the spiritual path in any age.

Rama was a prince by birth, but was given to be trained under a sage, where he lived the life in the solitude, the life of study and play together. He was not only taught to read and write, but he was trained in athletic exercises, in sports and had a training in all the manner of warfare. This shows what education the ancient people had, an education in all the directions of life. And being trained such Rama completed his course of study about the time of the prime of his youth.

The story of Rama has been always considered as the most sacred scripture for the Hindus, it is called Ramayana. The Brahman recites this story in a poetic form which the devotees of the master listen to for hours without being tired of it. For they take it as their religious training.

The most interesting part of Rama’s life is his marriage. In the ancient times there was a custom that the husband was chosen. This custom came owing to the tendency to warfare. At every little trouble the princes of the tine were up in arms even in such matters as marriage.

In order to avoid war the father of Sita invited all the princes and potentates of his land and gave the right of selection to his daughter. There was a time appointed when they all gathered in the royal gallery, all adorned in their regal ornaments and garbs.

Rama lived a simple life. He had not yet known what princely life means, for he was being trained under a saint where he ate the same food as the sage did, wore the same simple clothes as the sage and lived in the woods in the solitude. Yet the brightness of the soul shines out even without ornaments. When Sita entered among this assembly, with a garland of flowers in her hands, her first glance fell upon Rama and she could not lift her glance from that ideal of her soul to anyone else, for her soul recognized the pearl in his heart. Without a moment’s pause Sita came immediately to him and put the garland around the neck of that youth, so simple unassuming, standing with an innocent expression behind all the shining hosts.

Many marveled at this choice, but many more became as glowing fire with the thought of envy and jealousy. Among them, the one who was most troubled was the king of Lanka, Ravana. For Sita was not only known as the most beautiful princess of the time, but also was called Padmani, the ideal maiden. As Rama was an example in his character, so in Sita the ideal character was born. Then came the separation of the two: Sita, who had followed Rama in his twelve years Vandavasa, which means roaming in the forest, was once left alone in the woods, and Rama had gone to fetch some water. At that time Sita disappeared. After a great difficulty and a great grief the trace was found. She had been taken prisoner by Ravana. She steadily lived for Rama in this captivity and would not yield to Ravana’s temptations and threatenings. In the end victory was won. Rama fought the battle with Ravana and brought Sita back home.

This story gives the picture of life being a struggle for everyone, in a small way or a big way. The outer nature of the struggle may be different for everyone, but at the same time no one can live in the midst of this world and be without a struggle. In this struggle, the one who wins in the end has fulfilled the purpose of his life, who loses in the end has lost.

The life of Rama suggests that, spiritual strife apart, the struggle in the world is the first thing to face; and if one keeps to one’s own ideal through every test and trial in life, one will no doubt arrive at a stage when he will be victorious. It does not matter how small be the struggle, but victory won in the end of every struggle is the power that leads man further on the path towards life’s goal. The life of a man, however great and spiritual, has its limitations. Before conditions of life, the greatest man on earth, the most powerful soul will for a moment seem helpless.

But it is not the beginning that counts, it is the end. It is the last note that a great soul strikes which proves that soul to be real and true.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 23

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: [The] kingdom of God which is hidden in the heart of man. In this respect Rama was not only an ideal of the Hindus of that particular age, but was a model to mould the character of those who tread the spiritual path in any age.
Contemplation: What does Hazrat Inayat Khan imply when he says, “to mould the character of those who tread the spiritual path”? Reflections on the teachings of the “art of personality” and “character building” may offer us further insights.

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: ...life [is] a struggle for everyone, in a small way or a big way. The outer nature of the struggle may be dif erent for everyone, but at the same time no one can live in the midst of this world and be without a struggle. In this struggle, the one who wins in the end has fulfilled the purpose of his life, who loses in the end has lost.
Contemplation: From this perspective can we see the opportunity and meaningful benefit that struggle gives towards the fulfillment of the “purpose of our life”?

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: The life of Rama suggests that, spiritual strife apart, the struggle in the world is the first thing to face; and if one keeps to one’s own ideal through every test and trial in life, one will no doubt arrive at a stage when he will be victorious. It does not matter how small be the struggle, but victory won in the end of every struggle is the power that leads man further on the path towards life’s goal.
Contemplation: We can ask ourselves, “How do I view the test and trials in my life?” Do I see these tests and trials as developing inner power that supports my life’s goal?

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22. Zarathustra

2009-03-31T09:09:00.005-05:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

The life and teachings of Zarathustra give an example to those who thread the spiritual path, of the manner in which to begin the spiritual journey. Zarathustra is said to be born of the Huma tree. The interpretation of this idea is that the “Spirit of Guidance; does not come direct from Heaven, he is born from the human family: The tree is the family.

It has been a great error of some religious people, that out of their devotion for their Master, that they placed him through their imagination on a pedestal., where they themselves could not ever prove him to be when it came to reasoning. It can only stand in the horizon of faith. No doubt faith is the foundation. Faith is the lamp which lightens the path, but reason is the globe over it to make the light appear.

The purpose of this whole creation is fulfilled in attaining that perfection which is for a human being to attain. All the saints, sages, prophets and masters of humanity have been human beings and they have shown divine perfection, in fulfilling the purpose of being human.

Zarathustra’s spiritual attainment came by his communication with nature first. He appreciated, adored and worshiped the sublimity of nature and he saw wisdom hidden in the whole creation. He learned and recognized from that the being of the Creator, acknowledged His perfect wisdom and then devoted his whole life in glorifying the name of God. To those who followed him on the path of spiritual attainment, he showed the different aspects of nature and asked them what they could see behind it. He pointed out to his followers that the form, line, color and movement that they saw before them, and which attracted them so much, have been accomplished by an expert artist. It could all work mechanically and be perfect. No mechanism, however perfect can run without the help of an individual. Therefore he showed to them that God is not an object which the imagination has made, though He is molded by man’s imagination outwardly. In reality God is the Being; such a perfect Being, that if compared to other living beings of this world. He is beyond comparison. He is the Only Being.

The way of worship taught by Zarathustra was to worship God by paying homage to Nature. For nature suggests to the soul the Endless and Unlimited Being hidden behind it all.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 22

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: The interpretation of this idea is that the “Spirit of Guidance; does not come direct from Heaven, it is born from the human family: The tree is the family.
Contemplation: Ask oneself, “What is my experience of the Spirit of Guidance?”

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: He [Zarathustra] pointed out to his followers that the form, line, color and movement that they saw before them, and which attracted them so much, have been accomplished by an expert artist.
Contemplation: Ask oneself, “Do I recognize and remember the source of All? How would my life be transformed if I strove for constant remembrance.”

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: The way of worship taught by Zarathustra was to worship God by paying homage to Nature. For nature suggests to the soul the Endless and Unlimited Being hidden behind it all.
Contemplation: Take a little time each day to pay homage to nature and so that the soul experiences this suggestion of the Endless and Unlimited Being hidden behind it all.

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21. Buddha

2009-02-07T08:55:00.005-06:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Buddha was the title of Gautama. He was called Buddha because his spirit expressed the meaning of the word Buddhi. The word Buddhi in Sanskrit means reason. In the Buddhist terminology The ‘Spirit of Guidance’ is named Bodhisattva, which means the essence of reason. Reason in its essence is of a liquid form, it is the cream of intelligence. When it is crystallized it becomes rigid. Very often ‘intellectuality’ explains a knowledge formed by reasons, most of them of rigid character. The fine reason is subtle, the finer the reason the less it can be explained in words. It is therefore that people with fine reason cannot very well put their reason into words. Reason in its essence is the depth of intelligence. The intelligence ‘knows’, not because it has learned, it knows because it ‘knows’. In this higher reason the ‘Spirit of Guidance’ is conceived and from that fountain of reason all the great Prophets have drunk.

In the teaching of true Buddhism Buddha has never been considered an exclusive personality. Buddha has been known to the Buddhists who have understood his Message rightly as a man who attained realization of that essence of reason in which is the fulfillment of life’s purpose.

Worshipping Buddha does not mean that the Buddhists worship the personality of his spiritual master. He only means by this that, if there is any object that deserves worship most, it is a human being. It is the person from whose heart the essence of reason: Buddhi has risen as a spring. By this knowledge, he recognizes the possibility for every soul whatever be his grade of evolution of attaining that bliss, whatever be his grade of evolution, trusting in that the innermost being of every soul is divine.

The honey of life is hope. If the knowledge of God does not give hope to attain the divine bliss which is attained in life, that knowledge is of no use. Man may believe in God for years and yet may not be benefited by the spiritual bliss, for the spiritual bliss is not only believing but it is in knowing God.

Buddhi, which is subtle reasoning is the path which leads to the goal. The absence of that keeps a person in obscurity. As the sun is the source of light which shows outwardly things in life, so Buddhi is the inner source of light which enables the person to see life clearly, inwardly and outwardly. The true aim of the disciples of Buddha has been not to adhere Buddha, his name or his ideal, but by taking Buddha as an example before them; their idea is the secret of Sufism.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 21

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: The word Buddhi in Sanskrit means reason. In the Buddhist terminology The ‘Spirit of Guidance’ is named Bodhisattva, which means the essence of reason. Reason in its essence is of a liquid form, it is the cream of intelligence. When it is crystallized it becomes rigid. Very often ‘intellectuality’ explains a knowledge formed by reasons, most of them of rigid character. The fine reason is subtle, the finer the reason the less it can be explained in words.
Contemplation: Can we assess for ourselves if we and when we are “crystallized” around “intellectuality”? Can we experience and know when we are being guided by the “Spirit of Guidance” and experiencing the more subtle dimensions of “reason”? Do we recognize the difference and perhaps what catalyzes these two states, “crystallized” and “subtle”?

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: The honey of life is hope. If the knowledge of God does not give hope to attain the divine bliss which is attained in life, that knowledge is of no use. Man may believe in God for years and yet may not be benefited by the spiritual bliss, for the spiritual bliss is not only believing but it is in knowing God.
Contemplation: Do I experience the “honey of life” which Hazrat Inayat Khan defines as “hope”?

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: Buddhi, which is subtle reasoning, is the path which leads to the goal. The absence of that keeps a person in obscurity. As the sun is the source of light which shows outwardly things in life, so Buddhi is the inner source of light which enables the person to see life clearly, inwardly and outwardly.
Contemplation: Do I experience “Buddhi is the inner source of light which enables the person to see life clearly, inwardly and outwardly”?

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20. Christ

2009-01-06T05:15:00.004-06:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

The Christ ideal is unexplainable in words. The omnipresent intelligence, which is in the rock, in the tree, in the animal. In man it shows its gradual unfoldment.

It is a fact accepted by both science and metaphysics. This intelligence shows its culmination in the complete development of human personality and in the personality such as that of Jesus Christ, which was recognized by his followers to be. The followers of Buddha recognized the same unfoldment of the object of creation in Gautama Buddha and the Hindus saw the same in Sri Krishna. In Moses, the followers of Moses recognized that and maintained their belief for thousands of years. And the same culmination of the all-pervading intelligence was recognized in Mohammed by his followers.

No man has the right to claim this stage of development, nor can anyone compare very well two persons recognized by their followers as the perfect spirit of God. For a thoughtless person it is easy to express his opinion and to compare two people, but a thoughtful person first thinks whether he has arrived at that stage where he can compare two such personalities. No doubt a question of belief is different. Neither can the belief of the Muslim be the same as that of the Jewish people, nor can the Christian belief be the same of that of the Buddhists. However, the wise understands all beliefs for he is one with them all.

And the question if a person was destined to be a complete personality may be answered that there is no person who is not destined to be something. Every person has his life destined beforehand and the light of the purpose, for which he was born and to accomplish in life, has already been kindled in his soul. Therefore, whatever be the grade of a person’s evolution, he is certainly destined to be so. Discussion of the lives that the different prophets have lived and of the superiority of one over the other seems to be a very primitive attempt on the part of man. Not knowing the condition of that particular time when the prophet lived or the psychology of the people at the time when the prophet existed, he is ready to judge that personality by the standard of ideas which he knows to-day does not do that personality justice. And when a person compares one particular teaching of a prophet with the teaching of another prophet, he also makes a great mistake, because the teachings of the prophets have not always been of the same kind.

The teaching is like the composition of a composer who writes music in all the different keys, and who puts the highest note and the lowest notes and all the notes of different octaves in his music.

The teachings of the prophets are nothing but the answer to the demands of the individual and the collective souls. Sometimes a childlike soul comes and asks and an answer is given appropriate to his understanding. And an old soul comes and asks and he is given an answer suited to his evolution. When two teachings are brought together, a teaching which Krishna gave to a child and a teaching which Buddha gave to an old soul, it is not doing justice to compare. It is easy to say: “I do not like the music of Wagner, I simply hate it.” But I should think it would be better to become Wagner first and then to hate if one likes. To weigh, to measure, to examine, to pronounce an opinion on a great personality one must rise to that development first, otherwise the best thing is a respectful attitude. Respect in any form is the way of the wise.

Then there are simple people who hear about miracles, who give all the importance to what they have read, perhaps in the traditions about the miracles performed by the great souls, but that is the way how they limit the greatness of God to a certain miracle. If God is eternal, then His miracle is eternal, it is always there. There is no such a thing as unnatural or such a thing as impossible. Things seem unnatural because they are unusual, things seem impossible because they are beyond man’s limited reason. Life itself is a phenomenon, a miracle. The more one knows about it, the more one lives conscious of the wonderfulness of life, the more one realizes that if there is any phenomenon or miracle, it is man’s birthright. Who has done it? It is man who can do it and who will do it. But what is essential is not a miracle; the most essential is the understanding of life.

The soul who realized before he claimed to be Alpha and Omega is Christ. To know intellectually that life is eternal or that the whole life is one is not sufficient, although it is the first step in the direction towards perfection.

The actual realization of this comes from the personality of the God conscious soul as a fragrance in his thought, speech and action and proves in the world as incense put on fire.

There are many beliefs, such as that of salvation through Christ, and the man who is agitated against religion closes the doors of his heart before having the patience to understand what really it means. It only means there is no liberation without an ideal before one. The ideal is a stepping-stone toward that attainment which is called liberation.

There are others who cannot conceive the thought of Christ’s divinity. The truth is that the soul of man is divine and that divine, when with the unfoldment of the soul reaches the point of culmination then deserves being called divine.

And there is a great difference in the beliefs of people who have various opinions about the immaculate birth of Jesus. And the truth is when the soul arrives at the point of understanding the truth of life in its collective aspect, he realizes that there is only one Father and that is God, and this world out of which all the names and forms have been created is the Mother, and the Son, who deserves by his recognizing the Mother and Father, and by fulfilling the aim of creation, is the son of God.

And then the question of the forgiveness of sin. Is not man the creator of sin? If he creates it, he can destroy it also. If one cannot destroy, his elder brother can. The one who is capable of making, he is capable to destroy. He, who can write with his pen, can rub it with his eraser from the surface of the paper. And when he cannot do it then that personality has not yet arrived at completeness, at that perfection to which we all have to go. There is no end of faults in man’s life and if they were all recorded and there was no erasing them, life would be terrible to live, impossible to live. The impression of sin in the terminology of metaphysics maybe called an illness, a mental illness, not physical. And as the doctor is able to cure illness, so the doctor of the soul is able to heal. If people have said that through Christ sins are forgiven that can be understood in this way: that love is that shower by which all is purified. No stain remains.

What is God? God is love. When His mercy, His compassion, His kindness are expressed through a God-realized personality, then the stains of one’s faults, mistakes and wrongdoings are washed away and the soul becomes as clear as it has always been. For in reality no sin or virtue can be engraved or impressed upon a soul, it can merely cover a soul.

The soul itself is Divine Intelligence and how can Divine Intelligence be engraved either by sin or virtue or happiness or unhappiness? For the time it becomes covered with the impression of happiness or unhappiness and when these clouds are cleared, then it is divine in its essence.

And the question of the crucifixion of Christ, apart from its historical aspect, may be explained as such, that the life of the wise is on the cross all the time. The wiser the soul will become the more it will realize the cross, because it is the lack of wisdom which causes the soul to do all actions, good or bad. As it becomes wise, the first thing is that its action is suspended. And the picture of that suspension of action becomes a helpless picture, the hands nailed and the feet nailed. Neither can he go forward, nor can he go backward, nor can he act, nor can he move. And this inactiveness outwardly may show helplessness but in fact it is the picture of perfection.

There are two questions which come to mind:
What is then the meaning of the sacrament which is said to be symbolical of the flesh and blood of Christ? It teaches that those who give importance to the flesh and blood of the Master are mistaken, that the true being of the Master was bread and wine. If he had any flesh and blood, it was the bread and wine. And what is bread and wine? The bread is that which is the soul’s sustenance, and the soul’s sustenance is the knowledge of God. It is by this knowledge that the soul lives the eternal life. And the blood of Christ is the love element, the love principle, the intoxication which is a bliss and if there is any virtue, it all comes from that principle.

And there is another question: ‘Why Christ gave his life to save the world?’

It only explains sacrifice: No man in this world going toward a goal will escape from the test to which life will put him, and that test is sacrifice.

At every step towards the final goal to the attainment, he will be asked a sacrifice which will be a greater and greater one as he will continue on the path.
He will arrive at a point where there is nothing, whether it is his body or mind or action or thought or feeling that he keeps back, from sacrifice for others. And it is that by which man proves that realization of divine truth. In short the Christ-ideal, in other words, is the picture of the perfect man, and the possibility of the perfect man can be seen in the verse of the Bible: ‘Be ye perfect as your Father in Heaven’.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 20

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: The omnipresent intelligence, which is in the rock, in the tree, in the animal. In man it shows its gradual unfoldment..… This intelligence shows its culmination in the complete development of human personality and in the personality such as that of Jesus Christ, which was recognized by his followers to be.
Contemplation: Do I recognize my own gradual unfoldment? If so, how? If not, what prevents me for recognizing this about myself?

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: Every person has his life destined beforehand and the light of the purpose, for which he was born and to accomplish in life, has already been kindled in his soul.
Contemplation: Do I know my life’s destined purpose? Am I living towards that purpose?

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: Life itself is a phenomenon, a miracle. The more one knows about it, the more one lives conscious of the wonderfulness of life, the more one realizes that if there is any phenomenon or miracle, it is man’s birthright.
Contemplation: Do I recognize and am I grateful that life is a miracle?

Point Four: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: And then the question of the forgiveness of sin. … There is no end of faults in man’s life and if they were all recorded and there was no erasing them, life would be terrible to live, impossible to live. The impression of sin in the terminology of metaphysics maybe called an illness, a mental illness, not physical. And as the doctor is able to cure illness, so the doctor of the soul is able to heal. If people have said that through Christ sins are forgiven that can be understood in this way: that love is that shower by which all is purified. No stain remains.
Contemplation: Am I freed and healed of all stains and impressions of sin? If not, why am I carrying this cross? Can I experience the union with Christ that forgives all my sins so that I may be living more fully in the moment and in accordance with my life’s purpose?

Point Five: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: What is then the meaning of the sacrament which is said to be symbolical of the flesh [bread] and blood [wine] of Christ? And what is bread and wine? The bread is that which is the soul’s sustenance, and the soul’s sustenance is the knowledge of God. It is by this knowledge that the soul lives the eternal life. And the blood [wine] of Christ is the love element, the love principle, the intoxication which is a bliss and if there is any virtue, it all comes from that principle.
Contemplation: With every morsel of food consider this thought/prayer: “My soul’s sustenance is the knowledge of God.” With every sip of drink consider this thought/prayer: “I drink as if partaking from the cup of Christ which overflows with the love element.”

Point Six: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: ‘Why Christ gave his life to save the world?’ It only explains sacrifice: No man in this world going toward a goal will escape from the test to which life will put him, and that test is sacrifice. ‘Why Christ gave his life to save the world?’ It only explains sacrifice: No man in this world going toward a goal will escape from the test to which life will put him, and that test is sacrifice.
Contemplation: Do I recognize challenges and difficulties as tests and sacrifices that are signs that I am moving towards my life’s goal?

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19. The Message

2008-11-24T05:11:00.005-06:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

In the first place we must see whether it is an affair of individuals or a work that can be done collectively. To see the truth as a whole is beyond the power of the generality.

The ordinary point of view of life would be like that of a man in an forest, who would see horses running about, one to the North another to the South. If one could see the purpose of things behind things, every little coincidence in life proves this, that man often thinks about his free will and sees a kind of freedom and pride in what he calls free will, and the more he deeply thinks about it, the more he finds that ‘man proposes and God disposes’. Man, individually and collectively, tries to get all that is best in life, all happiness, wealth, comfort, power, all that seems to him worthwhile, and if free will really existed everyone would have these things. yes, there seems to be free will, man feels it, because it springs from his heart, and as long as he understands that it is his own impulse that has come to manifestation, he cannot understand the real meaning of free will.

But the more one studies life, and the deeper one sees into life, the more one sees that all things adjust themselves. And perhaps it would confuse many and would seem exaggeration if I said, as any mystic would say, that all is truth and that truth is all. Of course it is a deep question and difficult to be understood by an explanation unless one rises above the generality and looks at life from a different point of view. Sa’di, the great poet of Persia said that each soul is created for a special purpose and that to fulfill this purpose a light is in his heart. This may confuse many of course. Some may say: “If I am created for a special purpose what is the use of progress. Why not stay where I am since it is my destiny?” One can help others to understand, but one cannot make them understand. If someone thinks he is a chair or a table, he will remain such, but if the thinks he is a living being, he feel that action is the object of life, and that everything adjusts to that, and that every part is made for a purpose, as for instance the parts of a the parts of a table or a chair. And if we think of life and the whole world and see into it deeply, we shall find that we live and move and have our being for a certain purpose. A person may say it is the ides of a fatalist that everything must go through to its destiny. It is not the idea of a fatalist, it is the idea of a seer, of a mystic, because the fatalist makes human beings as chairs and tables, the mystic makes even chairs and tables living beings.

Jelaluddin Rumi says: “The fire and the water and the earth and the air are as dead things to every person, but before God they are His living servants, who work according to His command.”

The fatalist makes the living dead and the mystic makes things into living beings.

Now coming to the point of view of the subject: ‘What is after all the purpose of life’? No doubt when we take an individual there is a separate purpose in his life and when we take the multitude we see that there is a common purpose, and looking at the whole we can see that there is a purpose for the whole of humanity. Every purpose whether for an individual or collectively has a certain value, but the purpose of all beings is beyond value, and when every individual is engaged in a certain purpose, and a group of individuals also and the whole is also accomplishing a purpose, this is under a direction, which is called a Hierarchy. What does a person who has not seen the four walls of his own village know of the North Pole? If we talk to him, he cannot understand.

How can one understand what the ocean is like if one has before him only a little tank of water? Friends, to see the planets we must raise our heads and therefore that spiritual direction that is working on the whole cannot be imagined by one whose whole life has been spent in worldly things. This is a subject which is studied by initiates who are trusted with life’s mysteries. They are plain things but are called mysteries because the sneering world is always ready to laugh at that what it does not understand.

And again what is this direction? And how may one call it? It is the same direction that one may call Christ. But it has its work in all parts of the world and if people of some parts call it by another name, are they wrong? It is only another name. You may ask what determines the destiny of man to be included in this direction, his birth or his rank, his inheritance or a special education? Perhaps some may give you the reason of many years continual development from life to life.

But to avoid complications and make things simple, as is always the tendency of the mystic, I would say: “What determines one piece of wood to be made into the floor under one’s feet and another piece of the same wood as the ceiling over one’s head? Or if the keys of the pianoforte complained of their unequal places in the octave, what would you answer?” Jesus Christ gave a beautiful answer when asked why a person was blind, whether for his faults or the faults of his parents. He answered: “For neither, but that the works of the Lord may become manifest.” The Koran says that man is egoistic and asks a question of the Lord of the Universe why this or that is so, being unjust and himself a slave of the law. It is as though a child watched a painter who has painted all his life and criticized him. The painter would answer: “I have done this all my life and you judge me according to your little experience, but I know what I am doing.” Of course the wise are forgiving and tolerant and do not hurt the childish tendency in man, but always try to explain. Once an Indian child asked me, “Why should we bow our heads to the earth, when God is in heaven?” Could I answer with metaphysics or philosophy? I said that the head of the Lord is in Heaven and his feet are on the earth. And so the child understood, and thus humanity has been consoled and comforted through the ages. But the knowledge that consoles and comforts is only a step towards the knowledge that gives real peace.

There are different views about the Hierarchy. Some people think it must be either in Heaven or in the Himalayas or in Tibet. Now where is this Himalayas or Tibet? It is that place, that sphere, which is beyond the understanding of ordinary people. Friends, what is precious and inspiring, what elevates you and helps you, cannot be far from you. If it were, it would be the worst injustice. If the agency of conveyance such as steamers and ships and trains exists in all parts of the world, how is it possible that the agency of the conveyance to the peace, for which every soul yearns, is not also everywhere? The spiritual Hierarchy is constituted of those who are unseen - and they live among you in the crowd like everyone. But people want a sign: ‘If you are a King show me your crown, if you are a millionaire show me your check book.’ Man lives from morning till evening in this life of illusion, and his eyes cannot see the truth. There is a great expectation all over the world just now that the Teacher is coming.

And the expectation is such as though the Teacher will come directly from the sky and as though the whole world will be already accepting and expecting him on their knees; that the lawyers, scientists, materialists and teachers of the different sects will all agree at once, and He will come. If we will only think of the coming of Jesus Christ in that humble garb and that no-one accepted Him during life, in his unassuming life, preaching to some fishermen! Was he accepted as Christ or is he not Christ to-day? In looking at lives of different Prophets or Teachers: “Were they accepted at once?” Mohammed was three times chased out of Mecca and had to go in the night. Buddha had to leave India and go to China and Japan; and during the whole life’s struggle of Moses, he could only work at the end, because of permission of the King. Krishna passed his whole life in Brindaban, unknown until the war of Mahabharata, when Arjuna asked for his blessing and fought. It was only then that the movement of the Message had come. Does the Messenger care whether the world recognizes him or not? The Messenger is dead, it is only the Message that lives in him. It is the dead harp that gives the music and not the living dog or cat, when one tries to play on them. The Cross is the symbol of annihilation and it is after the annihilation of the false personality that the Message of God comes. The Messenger never claims.

Thousands will listen to those who claim to be messengers, but the wind of the spirit will destroy all that is false. It is not the claim that makes the Messenger, it is the Message that does it.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 19

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: In the first place we must see whether it is an affair of individuals or a work that can be done collectively. To see the truth as a whole is beyond the power of the generality… The ordinary point of view of life would be like that of a man in an forest, who would see horses running about, one to the North another to the South. If one could see the purpose of things behind things, every little coincidence in life proves this, that man often thinks about his free will and sees a kind of freedom and pride in what he calls free will, and the more he deeply thinks about it, the more he finds that ‘man proposes and God disposes’.
Contemplation: In my own life, in what ways has “free will and pride” prevented me from a greater experience of Divine Will?

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: But the more one studies life, and the deeper one sees into life, the more one sees that all things adjust themselves.
Contemplation: What is my experience? Do I study life and see deeper into life?

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: Jelaluddin Rumi says: 'The fire and the water and the earth and the air are as dead things to every person, but before God they are His living servants, who work according to His command'.
Contemplation: Do I experience the elemental world as a living reality?

Point Four: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: But to avoid complications and make things simple, as is always the tendency of the mystic, I would say: "What determines one piece of wood to be made into the floor under one’s feet and another piece of the same wood as the ceiling over one’s head? Or if the keys of the pianoforte complained of their unequal places in the octave, what would you answer?"
Contemplation: Do I make things simple, as is the tendency of the mystic, or do I make things complicated?

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18. The Coming World Religion

2008-10-18T05:05:00.004-05:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

There are many prophecies and several beliefs on this subject, but in this lecture I have no desire to make any prophecy on the subject. I only wish to explain what religion means. The present religion or the coming religion, or the past religion is for those who divide the truth, which is one, into many. As a point of fact what was is, and what is will be. Was this idea not supported by Jesus Christ, who said: “I have not come to give a new law, I have come to fulfill the law”? If Jesus Christ said this, who else can come out and say: “I give you a new religion”?

There cannot be a new religion; one could as well say: “I wish to teach you a new wisdom”. There cannot be a new wisdom, wisdom is the same, which was and is and always will be.

There arises the question in the heart of the enquirers,”Then what is this variety of religions which has engaged humanity for years in conflict with one another, so that most of the wars and battles were fought in the name of religion?” This only shows the childish character of human nature. The religion which was given for unity, for harmony, for brotherhood was used by the childish nature to fight and to dispute and to engage themselves in battles for years and years. And the most amusing thing for a thoughtful person is to think and to see how they have given in the past history a most sacred character to war, to battle, and called it sacred war or holy war.

And the same tendency of making war with one another which began in their religion persisted in the time of materialism; the same tendency turned into war between nations. And at the same time the differences and distinctions which existed between the different faiths and beliefs still exist, and that prejudice and that difference and the bigotry which existed between nations still exist in a smaller or greater degree. What does it show? It shows that the meaning of true religion has not been understood by the majority. And therefore that mission that religion has to fulfill in connection with humanity still remains unfulfilled. And it is at that fulfillment that Jesus Christ has hinted: ‘I have come to fulfill the law, not to give a new law.’

Religion can be seen from five different points of views:

One Religion which is known to us as certain dogmas, laws of teachings.
When we think and see the condition of the world, we see that the law is now given by the nation. Every nation now is responsible for the order and peace of the people.

The second aspect of religion is the church and the form of service. In this of course there are differences and there will always be differences; it is a matter of temperament, it is a matter of tendency and it also depends upon the customs and beliefs of the people who have inherited that tendency from their ancestors.

Some of them have in their house of prayer different forms and different ceremonies which help them to feel elevated; the others have a simple service. One appeals to one ant the other appeals to the other. No doubt the world is evolving to uniformity, and as now we see no very great difference between the form, the form of everything, of different customs of meeting, of dressing and many other things, so people are coming to a certain uniformity. At the same time when we look at the subject from a different point of view we shall find that uniformity very often takes away the beauty of life. The countries so civilized and advanced where the architecture and houses are all built on the same custom, all dressed in the same way, they become so tired that they like to go to a different country and see houses distinct and different one from the other, and also the people. For instance the method of writing music and the form of notation for the whole Western world is the same, but the distinction between the music of the French, Italian, German and Russian gives a stimulus to the lover of music. And so it is in the distinction of the forms. To want to make all people live alike and do alike means to turn all people into the same form and same face, and what would happen then? The world would become very uninteresting. It is like turning all the keys of the piano to the same note. It is not necessary to change the notes of the piano. What is necessary is to know the way of harmony, to know how to create harmony between the different notes.

The third aspect of religion is the religious ideal: the Lord and Master of the religion. The Lord and Master that a soul has esteemed as the ideal. It is something which cannot be discussed, something which cannot be argued upon. The less spoken about it, the better it is. It is the outcome of the devotion of a sincere heart which gives birth to that ideal which is too sacred to mention, an ideal which cannot be compared, an ideal which cannot be explained. And when the followers of diverse religions come to this question and dispute over their ideals, the sacred ideals of which they have only some tradition, - which they have not known, but of which they have only had a tradition, - and wish to prove one better than the other, they merely lose time and they destroy that sacred sentiment which can only be preserved in the heart.

The religious ideal is the medium, the medium by which one rises towards perfection. Whatever name a person gives to his ideal, that name is for him, and that name is most sacred for him. But that does not mean that that name limits that ideal. There is only one ideal, the divine ideal ...call him Christ, and let the same Christ be known by different names, given to him by various communities. For instance, a person who has great devotion, a great love and attachment for his friend, is speaking of friendship in high words and he is saying what a sacred thing it is to become friends. But then there is another one who says: “Oh, I know your friend, what he is; he is no better than anybody else.” The answer to this idea is given by Majnun, in the story told by the ancients, where someone said to Majnun, “Leila, your beloved is not as beautiful as you think.” He said. “My Leila must be seen with my eyes. If you wish to see how beautiful Leila is, you must borrow my eyes.” Therefore if you wish to regard the object of devotion of whatever faith, or whatever community, of whatever people you will have to borrow their eyes, you will have to borrow their heart. There is no use in disputing over the points of history, over each tradition in history; they are made by prejudice. Devotion is a matter of heart and is made by the devotee.

The fourth aspect of religion is the idea of God. There will always be fights and discussions that ‘The God of our family is one and the God of your family is another.’ There have always been fights. In the old times there was a dispute between the people saying that the God of Beni Israel was a special God; and so every community and every church made its God a special God.

If there is a special God it is not only a special God of a community, but a God of every individual. For man has to make his own God before he realizes the real God. But that God which man makes within himself becomes in the end, the door by which he enters that shrine of his innermost being, the real God, which is in the heart of man. And then he begins to realize that God is not a God of a certain community or people, but God is the God of the whole being.

And then we come to another aspect of religion, which is not necessarily the law or ceremony or the divine ideal or God, which is apart from all these four. That is something living in the soul, in the mind, and in the heart of man, the absence of which keeps man as dead, and the presence of which gives him life. If there is any religion it is that particular sense. And what is that sense?

The Hindus have called it in the Sanskrit language ‘Dharma’, which in the ordinary meaning of the word is ‘duty’. But it is something much greater than we know in our every-day life as duty. I do not call it duty. I call it life itself. When a person is thoughtful, when a person is considerate, when a person feels obligations that he has towards his fellowman, towards his friend, towards his father or mother, or in whatever relation he stands to man; it is something living, it is something like water which gives the sense of the living soul; the soul is not dead. It is this living soul which really makes a person alive. And the person who is not conscious of this, this tenderness, this sacredness of life, he lives but the soul is in the grave. You do not need to ask that man what is his religion, what is his belief, for he is living it; life itself is his religion and this is the true religion. The man conscious of honor, the man who has the sense of shame, who has the feeling of sincerity, whose sympathy, whose devotion is alive, that man is living, that man is religious.

And it is this religion which has been the religion of the past and which will be the religion of the future. Religion if ever it was taught by Christ or any other great ones was to awaken in man that sense which is awakened when this religion is living.

Is does not matter in which house you go and pray, for every moment of your life there is religion. Then it is not a religion in which you believe, but it is a religion which you live.

What is the Message of Sufism? Sufism is the message of digging out that water like life which has been buried by the impressions of the material life.

There is an English phrase: ‘A lost soul’. The soul is not lost, the soul is buried, when it is dug then the divine life springs out like a spring of water. And then the question is: “What is digging? What does one dig in oneself?” Is it not true, is it not said in the scriptures that God is love? Then where is God to be found? Is He to be found in the seventh heaven, or is He to be found in the heart of man? He is to be found in the heart of man which is his shrine. But if this heart is buried, - the heart which has lost that light, that life, that warmth, what does this heart become? It becomes as a grave. There is a popular song in English, a beautiful line which says: ’the lights of life dies when love is done.’ That living being in the heart is love. It may come as kindness, as friendship, as sympathy, as tolerance, as forgiveness. In whatever form this living water rises from the heart, it proves the heart to be a divine spring. And when once this spring is open and rising, all that man does as an action, as a word, as a feeling, it is all religion; that man becomes religious.

If there is any coming religion, a new religion to come, it will be this religion, the religion of the heart. After all the suffering that has been caused to humanity by the recent war, man is beginning to open his eyes. And as the time will pass he will open his eyes to know and understand that the true religion is in opening his heart, in widening the outlook and in living the religion which is one religion.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 18

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: Religion can be seen from five different point of views:

1. Laws of Teachings [dogmas];
2. The Church and the Form of Service […depends upon the customs and beliefs of the people who have inherited that tendency from their ancestors];
3. The Religious Idea [The religious ideal is the medium, the medium by which one rises towards perfection.];
4. The Idea of God [For man has to make his own God before he realizes the real God. But that God which man makes within himself becomes in the end, the door by which he enters that shrine of his innermost being, the real God, which is in the heart of man.];
5. Dharma [The Hindus have called it in the Sanskrit language ‘Dharma’, which in the ordinary meaning of the word is ‘duty’. But it is something much greater than we know in our every-day life as duty. I do not call it duty. I call it life itself. When a person is thoughtful, when a person is considerate, when a person feels obligations that he has towards his fellowman, towards his friend, towards his father or mother, or in whatever relation he stands to man; it is something living, it is something like water which gives the sense of the living soul; the soul is not dead. It is this living soul which really makes a person alive.].
Contemplation: What understanding do I have of each of these five religious points of view?

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: What is the Message of Sufism? Sufism is the message of digging out that water like life which has been buried by the impressions of the material life.
Contemplation: In what ways am I buried by the impressions of the material life?

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: In whatever form this living water rises from the heart, it proves the heart to be a divine spring. And when once this spring is open and rising, all that man does as an action, as a word, as a feeling, it is all religion; that man becomes religious…true religion is in opening his heart, in widening the outlook and in living the religion which is one religion.
Contemplation: Is my heart a divine spring, wide in outlook, experiencing the one religion?

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17. The Sufi Message

2008-04-16T04:58:00.004-05:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Beloved ones of God. My subject for this evening is the Sufi Message. The word message conveys a different meaning from that of an intellectual philosophy. There are two ideas prevailing in the world, the one is that man has evolved through years and centuries, and the other idea is that as Solomon has said, ‘there is nothing new under the sun.’ And that explains to us that divine truth has always been and always will be the same. No-one can improve upon it and nobody can give a new Message. It is the Divine Tongue which at times has spoken louder, and at times in a whisper and it is the consciousness of the Divine Spirit which makes Christ say: “I am the Alpha and Omega.” Those who limit Christ to the historic period of the life of the Prophet of Nazareth surely limit the message, in spite of His open declaration that He is the First and the Last. Also Christ said: “I have not come to give a new law, but I have come to fulfil the law,” which means that no new religion has ever been given, although the world has taken it so. Man divides, God unites humanity. Man’s pleasure is in thinking and feeling, ‘I am different from you’, ‘You are different from me’ - by nationality, by race, in creed or religion. The animals do that. Did Jesus Christ come to form an exclusive community to be named Christian or Buddha to found a creed called Buddhism? Or was it Mohammed’s ideal to form a community called Mohammedan? On the contrary the Prophet warned His disciples that they should not attach His name to His message, but that it should be called Islam - the message of peace.

Not one of the masters came with the thought of forming an exclusive community or to give a certain religion. They came with the same message from one and the same God. Whether the message was in Sanskrit, Zend or Arabic, it had one and the same meaning. The difference between religions is external, the inner meaning of all is one.

If only man had understood this, the world would have avoided many wars, for war has mostly been caused by religion. Religion given to the world to establish peace and harmony! What a pity that from the same source should come war and disaster!

The Sufi message is a reminder to humanity, not to anyone nation but to all, not to one but every creed, - a reminder of the truth taught by all the great teachers of humanity - that God, Truth, Religion are one, duality only a delusion of human nature.

Think then what a great service lies before the message. At this time when nation is against nation, race against race, when the followers of one religion are constantly working against the followers of another religion, class working against class; competition, hate, prejudice prevailing everywhere. What will be the outcome? What can poison produce? Not nectar only poison. The message is not for one nation, race or community, it is as already stated for the whole of humanity. Its one and only object is to bring about a better understanding between the divided sections of humanity by awakening the consciousness to the fact that humanity is one family. If one person in the family be ill or unhappy, certainly he must cause unhappiness in the whole family.

Even this is not the most appropriate simile. Humanity is one body, the whole life being one in its source and its goal, its beginning and its end. No scientist can deny this! If part of the body is in pain, sooner or later, the whole body is affected. If your fingers ache, your body is not free from pain. No action, race or section can be considered as a separate part of humanity.

To-day education, politics, all directions of life seem to be working with an individualistic view, but where must a tendency end, where will it lead humanity? If each says: “I must get the better of the other”, where will be the harmony and peace for which all are longing, no matter of what race or religion they be?

No doubt this condition has been brought about by a long-continued materialism and commercialism, which have taught every soul the spirit of competition and rivalry, the whole life of each absorbed in guarding his own interests, trying to take the best in life for himself.

Life is one continual fight and only one thing can ease this fight - consideration for others, reciprocity, give and take of good instead of selfishness as the central theme. Progress will never lead to the soul’s desire and aim. It must culminate in destruction and as at one time there was a call from everywhere to guard self-interest, now the moment has come that the message be given to men to understand and consider one another, for the happiness and peace of each individual depends on the happiness and peace of all.

There is an order of the Sufis, which is constituted of these who have the same ideals of service to God and to humanity, who have the ideal to devote a part of the whole of their life to the service of humanity, on the path of truth. This order exists throughout the world in most of the European countries and in America. This order has its groups, the members of which belong to all the different religions - all are welcome - Christians, Buddhists, Parsees, Muslims. No-one’s faith or belief is questioned; each can follow his own church, religion, creed. No-one must believe in any special creed or dogma. Freedom of thought is given. At the same time personal guidance is given on the path, in the problems of life, and in the inner life.

Those who belong to the Esoteric school of this Order, besides personal guidance, are given the studies which are entrusted only to those who are fitted to receive them. There are subtleties of ideas, of spiritual, moral or philosophical ideas, which cannot be given to everyone at first, but can be given gradually to those, who are serious enough to walk in the path of truth. Every seeker after truth must remember one thing, that the first step on the path of truth is to become true to oneself.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 17

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: …divine truth has always been and always will be the same. No-one can improve upon it and nobody can give a new Message.
Contemplation: In the context of the above statement by Hazrat Inayat Khan what is the Sufi Message? How do you define, express, and live the Sufi Message?

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: Man divides, God unites humanity. Man’s pleasure is in thinking and feeling, ‘I am different from you’, ‘You are different from me’ - by nationality, by race, in creed or religion. The animals do that. Did Jesus Christ come to form an exclusive community to be named Christian or Buddha to found a creed called Buddhism? Or was it Mohammed’s ideal to form a community called Mohammedan? On the contrary the Prophet warned His disciples that they should not attach His name to His message, but that it should be called Islam - the message of peace.
Contemplation: Give consideration to the statement above and throughout the month seek more to find ways that one is like others instead of different from others.

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: The Sufi message is a reminder to humanity, not to anyone nation but to all, not to one but every creed, - a reminder of the truth taught by all the great teachers of humanity - that God, Truth, Religion are one, duality only a delusion of human nature.
Contemplation: Whenever the thought of self and other arises, recall these words by Hazrat Inayat Khan, “God, Truth, Religion are one, duality only a delusion of human nature.”

Point Four: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: Humanity is one body, the whole life being one in its source and its goal, its beginning and its end. No scientist can deny this! If part of the body is in pain, sooner or later, the whole body is affected. If your finger aches, your body is not free from pain. No action, race or section can be considered as a separate part of humanity.
Contemplation: Can we, do we recognize and live in this experience of wholesomeness and unity?

Point Five: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: Life is one continual fight and only one thing can ease this fight - consideration for others, reciprocity, give and take of good instead of selfishness as the central theme. … the happiness and peace of each individual depends on the happiness and peace of all.
Contemplation: Let us be ever mindful of consideration, reciprocity, and the happiness and peace of others. In doing so, let us see if we can discover the wellspring of all happiness and peace that will emerge from within while living in this mindfulness.

Point Six: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: There is an order of the Sufis, which is constituted of these who have the same ideals of service to God and to humanity, who have the ideal to devote a part of the whole of their life to the service of humanity, on the path of truth.
Contemplation: In what ways do we live the ideals of service to God, humanity, and the path of truth?

Point Seven: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: Every seeker after truth must remember one thing, that the first step on the path of truth is to become true to oneself.
Contemplation: Am I true to myself?

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16. The Message

2008-03-18T04:55:00.005-05:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

There are three stages of action which the sincere followers of the message have to pass through, and the difficulty is that each stage has the tendency to keep back the followers of the Message from going on to the next stage. And the reason is that every stage that the sincere follower of the divine Message has to go through in his life has no end of interest and happiness in it. Another thing is that one stage is quite different from another stage and therefore each stage is a kind of contrary action to the previous stage.

Now these three stages may be called: 1) Receiving the Message, 2) Assimilating the Message and 3) Representing the Message. For a sincere mureed the first stage can be so interesting that he may think it is never enough, - that endless knowledge and the heart of the seeker after truth - which is never full, fill it, and there is still a place to fill - may receive for ages and it is yet never enough.

And when the receiver of the Message is in that stage then the activity of the further stages remains unaccomplished.

For the next stage, which is the stage of assimilation, is most necessary; very few can imagine how long it takes for the spirit to assimilate knowledge of truth.

One assimilates it by the power of contemplation, by pondering over the subjects that one hears, by practicing the teachings in one’s life, by looking at the world from the point of view which has been told, by observing one thing in its thousand different positions. Many, before assimilating the knowledge, wish to reason it, wish to discuss it, wish to justify it and see how it fits in with one’s preconceived ideas. In this way they disturb the digestive fire of the spirit, for as the mechanism of the body is always working to help to assimilate the food, so the spirit is constantly working to assimilate all that one learns through life. Therefore it is a matter of patience and it is taking life easily without troubling the mind too much over things, and allowing the knowledge which one has received as a food of the spirit to have time to be assimilated. By trying to assimilate knowledge before the time, man loses his normal health; it is just like taking a drug to help food, which is not beneficial in the end.

But the third stage is also necessary, and those who care little for the third stage of representing miss a great deal in life. A person who has seen something beautiful, who has heard something harmonious, who has tasted something delicious, who has smelt something fragrant alone, has enjoyed it, and yet not completely. The complete joy is in sharing one’s joy with another. The selfish one who enjoys himself and does not care for the others, whatever he enjoys, things of the earth or things of Heaven, his enjoyment is not complete. So it is in this third stage that the following of the Message is fulfilled, when a soul has heard and has pondered upon it and has passed the same blessing to the others.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 16

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: There are three stages of action which the sincere followers of the message have to pass through, and the difficulty is that each stage has the tendency to keep back the followers of the Message from going on to the next stage. And the reason is that every stage that the sincere follower of the divine Message has to go through in his life has no end of interest and happiness in it.
Contemplation: Can one recognize these three stages within oneself?

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: Now these three stages may be called: 1) Receiving the Message, 2) Assimilating the Message and 3) Representing the Message.
Contemplation: Assess for oneself how adept one is to “receiving the Message”, assimilating the Message”, and “representing the Message”.

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: One assimilates it by the power of contemplation, by pondering over the subjects that one hears, by practicing the teachings in one’s life, by looking at the world from the point of view, which has been told, by observing one thing in its thousand different positions.
Contemplation: Assess for oneself how adept one is remaining open, pliant, and observant things in the world a “thousand different positions”.

Point Four: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: A person who has seen something beautiful, who has heard something harmonious, who has tasted something delicious, who has smelt something fragrant alone, has enjoyed it, and yet not completely. The complete joy is in sharing one’s joy with another.
Contemplation: Assess for oneself how adept on is at “representing the Message” with equanimity and with a conscious transparency that allows the Message to be seen.

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15. The Message

2008-01-21T04:49:00.004-06:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

There are seven grades recognized by the Sufi of those in the spiritual hierarchy - Pir, Buzurg, Wali, Ghous, Kutub, Nabi, Rassoul. These are the degrees which come from the inner initiations - the inner initiations to which one becomes entitled to, after having had the outer initiations, which are necessary. It is beyond words to express what inner initiations means and in what form it is given. Those to whom the inner initiation is unknown may explain it as a dream or as a vision, but in reality it is something higher and greater than that. I can only explain it by saying that the definite changes which take place during one’s journey through the spiritual path are initiations, and it is these initiations which include man in the spiritual hierarchy.

In the life of a Saint or a Master there are five degrees known, and in the last degrees the progress of the Saint and the Master is silent. But in the life of a Prophet these seven degrees manifest to view. For a Saint or a Master there is one facility, that he can do his work by avoiding the notice of the world. But the life of a Prophet necessitates his coming into the world, and thus as he progresses from grade to grade through his life, he cannot very well cover himself, however much he may want to, from the gaze of the world, though the sage of every category, saint, master or Prophet, and every degree, always prefers not being known to the world, and as he progresses so, that desire increases more. But it is not only out of modesty or humbleness, but also for it attracts dangers of all sorts, by being exposed to the common gaze.

All beauty is veiled in nature, and the higher the beauty the more it is covered. And that makes it easy for a wise person to find out the difference between a true Prophet and a false Prophet, for one beats his drums and the other tries to keep in the background, - if only his work in the world would let him keep back. It is his efforts in accomplishing something that bring him to the notice of the world. However, his longing is to be unknown, for the one who really deserves being known is God alone.

The work of the Pir is helping individuals toward the unfoldment of their soul. The work of the Buzurg is to help by the power of his soul those who wish to advance spiritually. The Wali controls a community, keeping it on the right track. The Ghous helps its spiritual well-being. Kutub spiritually governs a country, a nation. Nabi elevates individuals and bears a divine message. Rassoul is the one who has fulfilled the message he has borne.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 15

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: There are seven grades recognized by the Sufi of those in the spiritual hierarchy - Pir, Buzurg, Wali, Ghous, Kutub, Nabi, Rassoul. The work of the Pir is helping individuals toward the unfoldment of their soul. The work of the Buzurg is to help by the power of his soul those who wish to advance spiritually. The Wali controls a community, keeping it on the right track. The Ghous helps its spiritual well-being. Kutub spiritually governs a country, a nation. Nabi elevates individuals and bears a divine message. Rassoul is the one who has fulfilled the message he has borne.
Contemplation: What is my experience of these seven grades of initiation? Do I recognize these initiations in members of my community and possibly even myself?

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: It is beyond words to express what inner initiations means and in what form it is given. Those to whom the inner initiation is unknown may explain it as a dream or as a vision, but in reality it is something higher and greater than that. I can only explain it by saying that the definite changes which take place during one’s journey through the spiritual path are initiations, and it is these initiations which include man in the spiritual hierarchy.
Contemplation: Am I able to recognize the challenges and triumphs, pains and joys in my life as initiations? In reflection do I have insight regarding the Path of Initiation in relationship to both inner and outer experiences?

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: All beauty is veiled in nature, and the higher the beauty the more it is covered. And that makes it easy for a wise person to find out the dif erence between a true Prophet and a false Prophet, for one beats his drums and the other tries to keep in the background, - if only his work in the world would let him keep back. It is his ef orts in accomplishing something that bring him to the notice of the world. However, his longing is to be unknown, for the one who really deserves being known is God alone.
Contemplation: Can I recognize the difference between rejoicing in the virtues and accomplishments of others and myself versus being either envious or egoist about such accomplishments?

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14. Three aspects of the work of the Sufi Movement

2007-12-21T04:46:00.005-06:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Before the service commences I would like to speak a few words to introduce the idea of our movement. The Sufi Movement has three aspects of its work: the esoteric work, the devotional service and the third, the activity of brotherhood, the activity, the meeting which took place this afternoon and the religious activity you will see here. In spite of the different opinions of all the different people in the world, it is an undeniable fact that humanity needs religion greatly. But which religion does it need? Does it need the sectarian religions as of old? No. Mankind is getting tired of that idea of being confined in a sect. And the new generation to-day is beginning to see that there is no such religion in this world which can be considered inferior to its own and therefore that narrow outlook of the sectarians of the religions does not appeal to them.

Now the question, - if the Sufi message is a new religion. Certainly it cannot be a new religion. When Jesus Christ has said that ‘I have come to fulfill the law, not to give a new law’. It is the same religion which Jesus Christ has brought still continued further. It is one and the same stream which all prophets have brought and given to humanity, it is carried along. It is the same stream which is always there. The Message of the Sufi is the answer to the cry of humanity to-day, for it is in agreement with the science and it stands to defend all religions. The Sufi does not say this religion is greater than the other, nor does he come out and say this religion and that religion are equal. He leaves it to the individual to thinks as he thinks. He only holds his service as the proof of adhering all the teachers and respecting all the scriptures which are respected by the collectivity.

But with all its forms the Sufi ideal has also the formless ideal of worship. The form is to help the one who can be helped by seeing the form, because all education is an education in names and forms. If there was no form and no name we would not have learned the. The form is only suggestive of what is behind it, of the one and same truth which is behind all religions. Therefore this service is a teaching at the same time and yet every Sufi is free to take up a form or not take up a form; a Sufi is not bound by a form. The form is for his use, not to make him captive.

And one may ask, is there priesthood in the Sufi Movement? Priesthood, not in the sense as it is understood; priesthood only to conduct the service and to answer the need of a priest which is always in everyday life. Those ordained in the Sufi Movement are called Cherags and by other names. There is no distinction between woman and man; the worthy soul is ordained, who has the desire to serve humanity by this, showing the example to the world that in all places, in the church, in the school, in the house of parliament, in the court, it is woman and man together who complete evolution. But at the same time every Sufi is a priest, a preacher, is a teacher and is a pupil of every soul that he meets in the world.

Since the only ideal in working is to qualify oneself in order to be a proper servant to serve the cause of God.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 14

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: The Sufi Movement has three aspects of its work: the esoteric work, the devotional service and the third, the activity of brotherhood, the activity, the meeting which took place this afternoon and the religious activity you will see here [referring to the Universal Worship Service].
Contemplation: Do we clearly understand three aspects, purposes, and functions of the various activities of the Sufi work as established by Hazrat Inayat Khan?

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: The Sufi does not say this religion is greater than the other, nor does he come out and say this religion and that religion are equal. He leaves it to the individual to thinks as he thinks. He only holds his service as the proof of adhering all the teachers and respecting all the scriptures, which are respected by the collectivity.
Contemplation: Do we uphold these words of Hazrat Inayat Khan, “The Sufi does not say this religion is greater than the other, nor does he come out and say this religion and that religion are equal. He leaves it to the individual to thinks as he thinks.”?

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: But with all its forms the Sufi ideal has also the formless ideal of worship. The form is to help the one who can be helped by seeing the form, because all education is an education in names and forms. If there was no form and no name we would not have learned. The form is only suggestive of what is behind it, of the one and same truth, which is behind all religions. Therefore this service is a teaching at the same time and yet every Sufi is free to take up a form or not take up a form; a Sufi is not bound by a form. The form is for his use, not to make him captive.
Contemplation: Do we understand and practice the meaning of Harzat Inayat Khan’s words: “Therefore this service is a teaching at the same time and yet every Sufi is free to take up a form or not take up a form; a Sufi is not bound by a form. The form is for his use, not to make him captive.”?

Point Four: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: …every Sufi is a priest, a preacher, is a teacher and is a pupil of every soul that he meets in the world.
Contemplation: Do we take up our roles as “a priest, a preacher, is a teacher, and a pupil of every soul that he meets in the world” as Hazrat Inayat Khan teaches us? Have we done our inner and outer work in order to fully take up these roles?

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13. The Message of God

2007-11-19T04:40:00.006-06:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Where is God? God is in the heart of man. When it is the voice of God that rises in the hearts of man it is a divine word. The words of Christ are a tongue of fire that pierces the heart of man.

Christ’s saying, ‘fishers of man’ does not mean making yourself clever that you may take advantage of man. It is not cleverness. On the contrary the message of Christ is simplicity, sincerity, gentleness, innocence, which beyond and above all proves the purity of the heart. In the East the Christ attribute is called Mansumiat, innocence. It takes a different point of view from the ordinary one to see the value and power of innocence.

Every person when born on earth is born an innocent soul. He gets the experience of the world and becomes worldly. Then the more worldly he becomes the more the beauty and angelic attributes are covered by the knowledge of the complications of the world. As he develops he tries to learn still more and to bury the spirit of innocence as deep as possible, until the Christ-spirit is altogether covered. What he knows is what he has learned in this mortal life, this false life. And what can the knowledge of falsehood bring? Falsehood. The generality is seeking falsehood and gets falsehood. This can be seen by the simple fact that the man clad with artificial clothes is welcome in society. This shows that that man cannot stand the bare truth.

What were the prophets who came in all ages? Whose message did they bring? It was the message of Christ, the Christ-spirit spoke through them. The message has never been advertised. It has never been made an object of publicity. They sacrifice their lives to all the opposition on their path. The path of the prophet is the path of constant trouble. The question arises: If it was the voice of Christ in the words of the prophet, why cannot he speak now or why will he not speak in the future? It is only one voice calling all the time, but man closes the doors of his heart. The explanation of what the prophet is, is that the prophet is the artist. As the artist draws the picture of nature and brings its beauty before man in a form that man can tolerate and admire, so it is the work of the prophet to bring before man that bare truth that man cannot tolerate in a form that he can tolerate and can admire. Whether man understands it or not, that is another question.

Another work of the prophet is that he is all things to all men and for each one he has a special message. There is no world-message; there cannot be a world-message. A world-message, yes, in the spirit, but not in the manifestation. In manifestation to every individual, to every sect, nation, race, there is a special message. Although the people of every sect have made the prophet their own, yet that is as absurd as to limit the sky to one’s own country, as if Switzerland has a special sky, as if there were a special sky for England, one for France. How can one limit the sky? The earth can be limited, not the sky. Can the Musulman, the Jews, the Christians limit Christ? Can they say Christ was of the East, not of the West? Could the West limit Christ, as they say Christ was the Master of the West. This means limiting the spirit which was for the blessing of all. Limitation is in the shield that hides the spirit, not in the Christ self. In the same way people limit the spirit of Christ by saying it is only spoken of in one particular book. In the book it is kept as the water from the ocean in the pitcher, but to say that it is only there means that the ocean is only in the pitcher, there exists no ocean.

No doubt from everywhere in the world the answer of Christ will come if you call him. If you look above or below, Christ is before you if your eyes are opened. If everything is closed you do not know Christ nor does Christ know you. This shows there is a wall covering, separating man from Christ externally and inwardly. That means that if a person will find him within, he will find him without, but if he does not find him within, neither will he find him without.

Those with closed hearts will implore Christ to come and will wait for thousands of years and he will not come. How will they recognize him if they do not recognize Christ in their hearts first?

Everything is recognized first in the heart. The pearls are pebbles before the swine. Have they no eyes? They have, but the eyes of the heart have not recognized the pearls. Man recognises the pearls and distinguishes them from the pebbles. Do not think that there is not a gulf between man and man as between the swine and man!

Man can prove to be worse than the animal; man can act worse than the devil. The devil is a miniature of man’s wickedness, as the angel is the miniature of man’s greatness. It was the human being which was honored by being Christ, it is the human being who is pictured in the form of Satan. Think what a gulf there is between man and man!

To take off the cover separating man from Christ a process is necessary. This process is the same that is taken to take away the stains and lines from paper by rubbing. The process is Safa from which comes Sufi. Safi means to clean, to wash, to erase and by this the soul is purified. This shows the mission of Sufism, and the work of the Sufi Order.

Every process of meditation and concentration is to wash the soul of the stains of earthy experiences. The real use of any exercise or practice is that the Christ-voice may become audible, that the light may manifest. Once a person has heard this voice, once he has seen the light, do you think that he hears or sees anything else afterwards? No, the ears are dedicated to Christ when once one has found Christ in one’s own heart.

The principal teaching of Sufism is that the heart of man is the shrine of God, to recognize God in one’s own heart, to feel His existence, presence, virtue, goodness, all manner of beauty. It must be remembered that the whole life around us is a life of falsehood.

The more you see and experience the more you see how false it is, how much disillusionment there is. The only way of getting over it is to light the lamp in the darkness of the night and all will be cleared. The secret of life is this, to produce beauty in ourselves. When beauty is produced in the heart, then all that breaks the heart vanishes and the whole universe becomes one single vision of the sublimity of God.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 13

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: Where is God? God is in the heart of man. When it is the voice of God that rises in the hearts of man it is a divine word. The words of Christ are a tongue of fire that pierces the heart of man.
Contemplation: What thoughts and ultimately what words arise in my own heart?

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: Every person when born on earth is born an innocent soul. He gets the experience of the world and becomes worldly. Then the more worldly he becomes the more the beauty and angelic attributes are covered by the knowledge of the complications of the world. As he develops he tries to learn still more and to bury the spirit of innocence as deep as possible, until the Christ-spirit is altogether covered. What he knows is what he has learned in this mortal life., this false life. And what can the knowledge of falsehood bring? Falsehood. The generality is seeking falsehood and gets falsehood. This can be seen by the simple fact that the man clad with artificial clothes is welcome in society. This shows that that man cannot stand the bare truth.
Contemplation: This is a potent teaching Murshid gives us. Let us examine our hearts and minds regarding complexities and complexes that keep us unaware of our Christ-spirit and the truth of our being.

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: Man can prove to be worse than the animal; man can act worse than the devil. The devil is a miniature of man’s wickedness, as the angel is the miniature of man’s greatness. It was the human being which was honoured by being Christ, it is the human being who is pictured in the form of Satan. Think what a gulf there is between man and man!
.
To take off the cover separating man from Christ a process is necessary. This process is the same that is taken to take away the stains and lines from paper by rubbing. The process is Safa from which comes Sufi. Safi means to clean, to wash, to erase and by this the soul is purified. This shows the mission of Sufism, and the work of the Sufi Order.
Contemplation: By examining our hearts and minds we can assess our inner and outer life in relationship to this aspect of the teaching. Then the next step is to "take of the covering" separating us from our Christ consciousness.

Point Four: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: Every process of meditation and concentration is to wash the soul of the stains of earthy experiences. The real use of any exercise or practises is that the Christ-voice may become audible, that the light may manifest. Once a person has heard this voice, once he has seen the light, do you think that he hears or sees anything else afterwards? No, the ears are dedicated to Christ when once one has found Christ in one’s own heart.
Contemplation: Here Murshid is teaching us the significance and benefit of our spiritual practice.

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12. The Message of Christ

2007-10-18T04:35:00.003-05:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

The words of Christ in the Bible are: “I am Alpha and Omega”, which means ‘I am the First and the Last’. Would this then not mean, ‘I came to earth only when I was called Jesus, I gave the message and went, and never came again?’

If that were the meaning of ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega’ it would have no meaning. Really the meaning is: ‘I was and shall be’.

Now about the question that arises in the enquiring mind: “Who may this Alpha and Omega be?” What he was before Jesus Christ? What would he be like after the time of Jesus Christ?” For those who put the water of the Ocean in a pitcher, that water is from the Ocean but really the Ocean is the Ocean. For those of the different creeds who have different forms of worship and dogma’s say: “This is the teaching of Christ”. Yes it is true, but it is not all the teaching of Christ. It is as true as to say, “This is the Ocean” as if one brought water from the ocean in a pitcher, it is true, but there is an Ocean. This shows that a shield called Jesus Christ brought the message. It was the shield that was Jesus. This is the secret of that Alpha and Omega spirit of Christ. If one can only see that spirit hidden behind different shields one would be constantly in the vision of Christ. In the smile of the innocent child, there is a Christ; in the warmth of the mother's heart for her child Christ is hidden. In that unselfish, self-sacrificing love of the father, there Christ shows himself. In the kindly attitude of a friend, you can see the spirit of Christ. What is there which has beauty, tenderness, gentleness, which has not the spirit of Christ?

From those who keep Christ away from them, He is far, but in reality they have covered their eyes themselves. It is not the fault of Christ, it is their own fault, not that of Christ who speaks in the whisper of the wise people of the centuries, who speaks aloud in the voice of the Prophet, the Warner who comes now and then; the same, coming sometimes, sometimes hiding himself, the same always. Man’s doubt and skepticism prevent his seeing him. When Christ came in the form of Jesus those who saw him, did not recognize him.

Another side to consider is that the idea of miracles is attached to the person of Christ. In reality the greatest miracle of Christ that any wise man can see is the miracle of Christ’s living heart; not wonderworking but the living God presented to the world. It was the lighted faith which helped the darkness to vanish, not dogmas or doctrines or theories, all that came afterwards. He went to the fishermen and said to them: “Come hither, I will make you fishermen of men.”What does it mean? Does ‘fishers of men’ mean fishers of money? No, he meant by this: ’Let love be alive in your hearts, that the whole world may become your customers.’

If you analyze what he said, what he taught was very simple. It was not elaborate words and theories; there was not any great literary skill. What was it? It was the depth of his being. In the Bible it is often said the revelation came with fiery tongue. What does it mean? If the heart is burning, the flame comes in a word.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 12

Point One: The words of Christ in the Bible are: “I am Alpha and Omega”, which means ‘I am the First and the Last’.

Point Two: Now about the question that arises in the enquiring mind: “Who may this Alpha and Omega be? What he was before Jesus Christ? What would he be like after the time of Jesus Christ?”

Point Three: For those of the different creeds who have different forms of worship and dogma’s say: “This is the teaching of Christ”. Yes it is true, but it is not all the teaching of Christ. It is as true as to say, “This is the Ocean” as if one brought water from the ocean in a pitcher, it is true, but there is an Ocean.

Point Four: This shows that a shield called Jesus Christ brought the message. It was the shield that was Jesus. This is the secret of that Alpha and Omega spirit of Christ. If one can only see that spirit hidden behind different shields one would be constantly in the vision of Christ. In the smile of the innocent child, there is a Christ; in the warmth of the mother's heart for her child Christ is hidden. In that unselfish, self-sacrificing love of the father, there Christ shows himself. In the kindly attitude of a friend, you can see the spirit of Christ.
What is there which has beauty, tenderness, gentleness, which has not the spirit of Christ?

Point Five: From those who keep Christ away from them, He is far, but in reality they have covered their eyes themselves. It is not the fault of Christ, it is their own fault, not that of Christ who speaks in the whisper of the wise people of the centuries, who speaks aloud in the voice of the Prophet, the Warner who comes now and then; the same, coming sometimes, sometimes hiding himself, the same always. Man’s doubt and scepticism prevent his seeing him.

Point Six: Another side to consider is that the idea of miracles is attached to the person of Christ. In reality the greatest miracle of Christ that any wise man can see is the miracle of Christ’s living heart; not wonderworking but the living God presented to the world. It was the lighted faith which

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11. The Message

2007-09-30T04:31:00.005-05:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

There are two distinct paths opposite to each other, those of the Master and of the Saint. The path of the Master is a path of war, war with outer influences which prevent one from making one’s way through life. The path of the Saint is also a battle, but it is a battle with oneself. No doubt in the path of the Master also battle with oneself is necessary, for if one did not fight with oneself one would not be able to make his way through life. But the path of the Saint has a constant battle with the self, for the nature of the world is such that from the good person more good is asked, from the kind person more kindness is demanded, from the person who is patient more patience is expected, and from a person who is gentle more gentleness is asked. There is no end to the world’s demand, all one gives to the world, and more is asked; and always do right, and it is always wrong. Therefore there is no end to the battle in both the paths that the wise take and it is the warrior in life’s path who in the end becomes victorious. Those who have not that power remain wandering about in the same place.

The work of the Master is to comfort individuals and comfort the world; the work of the Master is to keep away all the disasters that might come about, caused by the disharmony of the nature of the individuals and the collectively; the work of the Master is to help the feeble but right, the weak but just, when he is in a situation where he is opposed by the powerful enemy. The work of the Saint is to console the wretched, to take under his wings of mercy and compassion those left alone in life, to bless the souls that come in their way.

But there is a third line of the wise in which there is a balance of the spirit of the Master and of the Saint. This line is called Kemal or perfect or balanced, and it is on this line that the destiny of the Prophet leads him. For the Prophet’s work is more difficult and complicated than that of the Master and of the Saint. To the souls who ask from him that compassion which they would ask from the Saint, he gives it., to those who ask of him that power, that strength which is necessary to be able to stand through the sweeping waves of life, the Prophet gives that. But besides the Prophet is the Message-bearer, the Prophet is the master and the servant at the same time. The Prophet is a teacher and at the same time a pupil, for there is a great deal that he must learn from his experience through life, not in order to make himself capable to receive the message, but in order to make himself efficient enough to give the Message. For God speaks to the Prophet in his divine tongue, and the Prophet interprets it in his turn in the language of men, making it intelligible to them, trying to put the finest ideas in the gross terms of worldly language.

Therefore all that is not given, that the Prophet comes to give to the world, in words, but all that cannot be given in words is given without words. It is given through the atmosphere. It is given by the presence, it is given by great affection that gushes forth from the heart, it is given in his kind glance, and it is given in his benediction, and yet the most is given in silence that no earthy sense can perceive. The difference between human language and divine words is this: that a human word is a pebble, it exists, but there is nothing further, the divine word is a living word, just like a grain or corn. One grain of corn is not one grain, in reality it is hundreds and thousands. In the grain there is an essence which is always multiplying and which will show the perfection in itself.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 11

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: There are two distinct paths opposite to each other, those of the Master and of the Saint. The pathof the Master is a path of war, war with outer influences which prevent one from making one’s way through life. The path of the Saint is also a battle, but it is a battle with oneself.
Contemplation: Do I understand the two distinct paths of the Master and the Saint? Do I manifest these attributes in my life’s path?

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: The work of the Master is to comfort individuals and comfort the world; the work of the Master is to keep away all the disasters that might come about, caused by the disharmony of the nature of the individuals and the collectively; the work of the Master is to help the feeble but right, the weak but just, when he is in a situation where he is opposed by the powerful enemy.
Contemplation: Am I able to offer comfort to individuals and in what ways do I offer comfort to the world? How do I deal with disharmonious individuals and situations?

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: The work of the Saint is to console the wretched, to take under his wings of mercy and compassion those left alone in life, to bless the souls that come in their way. But there is a third line of the wise in which there is a balance of the spirit of the Master and of the Saint. This line is called Kemal or perfect or balanced, and it is on this line that the destiny of the Prophet leads him.
Contemplation: Do I console the wretched, bringing them under the wings of mercy and compassion? Do I practice the way of balance?

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10. The way how the Wise make life in the World

2007-09-24T04:25:00.004-05:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

It is not easy to learn, and after learning to practice how to make life in the world with harmony and peace. The desire of every person in the world is to possess all he wants, whether it belongs to him or whether it belongs to anybody else. He wants all things to last if they are any use to him; he wants all those dear and near to him should abide close to him.

All he doesn’t wish to see must be exiled from the town, and at the same time even the whole nature must work to suit him, the cold must not be more than he wants, the heat must not exceed his desire, the rain must obey him, pain must not approach near. There must not be anything difficult in life and all things and people must be perfect in the perfection of God. Everybody must act in life as he wishes them to, he alone must be the engineer and all others his machines. They must have all the endurance he demands of them, at the same time all must be as sensitive as he wants them to be.

No one should move against his desire, nor even a bird must fly in the sky, nor must even a leaf make a flutter - all under his command.

He alone must live and all others must live, but under him. This attitude, I have not spoken of someone in the world, but every individual. The world is a place where every individual wishes to be king, so many kings and only one Kingdom.

The whole tragedy of life is accounted for by this.

The wise out of Wisdom make life easy. But among the wise there are two categories, one is the Master, the other is the Saint. The attitude of both in life is quite contrary. The attitude of the Saint is to feel sympathy for the others and to see the difficulties of the situation in life of others as of himself and to sacrifice his wants for the need of others, realizing that he knows that life is difficult, and those who are void of wisdom have more difficulties as they know not how to surmount the difficulties in life. Out of his love, mercy and compassion he thus sacrifices his life to the service of his fellowmen by making life easy for them.

In the first place the sees the worst enemy of his fellowman in himself, knowing that the nature of every ego is hostile, and by being resigned to the will of his fellowmen. By sacrificing his life’s advantages for his brother he feels he has given his fellowman some relief that he could give him on his part.

By practicing this moral through life at every step that a wise man takes, he becomes a source of happiness to all he meets and with whom he comes in contact in life, and his spirit becomes deepened in saintliness. The spirit of a saint results in being tuned to the whole universe, he is in tune with the climates, with the weather, with nature, with animals, birds, he becomes in tune with the trees and plants, in tune with the atmosphere, with all human beings of various natures, because he becomes the keynote to the whole universe.

All harmonize with him, the virtuous souls, the wicked souls, angels and devils, all become in tune. He becomes in harmony with every object, with every element, with those who have passed from this earth he is in tune; those in the atmosphere he is tune with them and in tune with those who live on earth. The moral of a Saint is very difficult, but the spirit of the saint is a benediction to himself and a blessing to others.

Then there is the way of the Master which is quite opposite. He conquers himself, he battles with life, he is in war with destiny, he invades all that seems wrong to him, and he finds the key to the secrets unknown to him. Instead of being resigned to all conditions, all things, all people, he turns them to the shape that he wishes and moulds as he likes the personalities which come in touch with him. He turns personalities in the tune which would suit his orchestration.

He has command over objects; he produces effects in objects which naturally are not there. He can even rise to a state where he can command nature. The spiritual hierarchy is made of Masters, for the world is ruled, it is governed. Although outward governments are different, inward government is the spiritual hierarchy. In the East such one are called Wali, whose thought, whose feeling, whose glance, whose impulse can move the universe.

And yet neither of them Saint or Master comes to claim before the world: ‘Look at me - I am a Saint’, ‘I am a Master’, ‘I can do this’ or ‘I am such a virtuous person or a good person’. They keep themselves in humble guise, one like everyone in the world. It is not a claim; it is an action which proves the Master. And yet what do they care in the world acclaims them a Saint or as a Master? What benefit is it to them? It is only a benefit to the one who is false, because he is glad to be something he is not. He who is all, he does not wish that everybody should recognize him as such.

A person with his riches knows that he is rich, he needs not put on fifty rings to tell everybody how rich he is, but the one who puts on fifty rings is seldom rich. There is a beautiful simile known in India that it is the empty vessel that makes the noise, when it is filled with water it makes no noise. In short sincerity is the principal thing to attain in life. What little is gained sincerely and held unassumingly is worth much more than a great gain void of sincerity, for it is a hill of sand, once the storm will come and blow it away.

Verily, truth is the treasure that every soul is seeking.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 10

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat in the first four paragraphs of this teaching lists a number of attitudes that are possessed by so many in the world, and He states: This attitude, I have not spoken of someone in the world, but every individual. The world is a place where every individual wishes to be king, so many kings and only one Kingdom. The whole tragedy of life is accounted for by this.
Contemplation: What are my attitudes in life and toward others? Do I create tragedy inwardly and outwardly through my attitude/s?

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: The wise out of Wisdom make life easy. But among the wise there are two categories, one is the Master, the other is the Saint. The attitude of both in life is quite contrary. The attitude of the Saint is to feel sympathy for the others and to see the difficulties of the situation in life of others as of himself and to sacrifice his wants for the need of others, realizing that he knows that life is difficult, and those who are void of wisdom have more difficulties as they know not how to surmount the difficulties in life. Out of his love, mercy and compassion he thus sacrifices his life to the service of his fellowmen by making life easy for them.
Contemplation: How can I make positive change in my attitude/s? By doing so, how can I through developing Wisdom like the wise, make life more easy for myself, and others?

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: Then there is the way of the Master which is quite opposite. He conquers himself, he battles with life, he is in war with destiny, he invades all that seems wrong to him and he finds the key to the secrets unknown to him. Instead of being resigned to all conditions, all things, all people, he turns them to the shape that he wishes and moulds as he likes the personalities which come in touch with him. He turns personalities in the tune which would suit his orchestration. He has command over objects; he produces effects in objects which naturally are not there. He can even rise to a state where he can command nature. The spiritual hierarchy is made of Masters, for the world is ruled, it is governed. Although outward governments are different, inward government is the spiritual hierarchy. In the East such one are called Wali, whose thought, whose feeling, whose glance, whose impulse can move the universe.
Contemplation: Do I take the Path of the Saint, Master, or Wali? How can I take measures to develop the attitude of the Wali in my life?

Point Four: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: There is a beautiful simile known in India that it is the empty vessel that makes the noise, when it is filled with water it makes no noise. In short sincerity is the principal thing to attain in life. What little is gained sincerely and held unassumingly is worth much more than a great gain void of sincerity, for it is a hill of sand, once the storm will come and blow it away. Verily, truth is the treasure that every soul is seeking.
Contemplation: In what ways can I practice whole heartedly sincerity and, by doing so gain the truth which is the treasure that every soul is seeking?

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9. Prayer (2)

2007-08-19T04:22:00.004-05:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Often mankind thinks, ‘Since God is the knower of the heart of every man what does it matter if prayer is recited and gestures or action made? Would it not be sufficient if one sat in silence and thought of God?’ And the answer is that it is according to the extent of your consciousness of prayer that your prayer reaches God. If your body is silent and only your mind is working, part of your being is praying and part is not, for you are constituted by both mind and body. Therefore, when the mind is praying the body must pray too, to make it complete. In reality God is within you, and as he is within you, you are the instrument of God, through you God experiences the external world and you are the best instrument of conveying yourself to God. Therefore your thought, action and word makes prayer complete.

Then there is another idea. The next question is, when God already knows what we want what is good for us, what we need, why should we ask Him for it? He knows it. For this in the first place I would quote Christ’s words: “Knock and it shall be opened unto you; ask and ye shall receive.” In other words God knows your need, He knows what you want, but your want becomes clear when it is expressed not by the mind or the body only but by your whole being. That is the secret.

The question “Why does God need praise from us? Who are we that we should praise God?” is answered thus. We can never praise him enough, and our praise can never be sufficient, but at the same time our soul is blessed with the impression of the Glory of God whenever we praise Him. The soul could praise God every moment and yet be wanting to praise Him more. It is constantly hungering and thirsting to find the perfection of beauty. When to our utmost we praise the beauty of God our soul is filled with bliss. Even to utter the name of God is a bliss which fills the soul with light and joy and happiness as nothing else can.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 9

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: Often mankind thinks, 'Since God is the knower of the heart of every man what does it matter if prayer is recited and gestures or action made?' And the answer is that it is according to the extent of your consciousness of prayer that your prayer reaches God. Therefore your thought, action and word makes prayer complete.
Contemplation: Is my prayer complete? Is my thought, action, and word involved when I pray?

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: The next question is, when God already knows what we want what is good for us, what we need, why should we ask Him for it? … God knows your need, He knows what you want, but your want becomes clear when it is expressed not by the mind or the body only but by your whole being. That is the secret.
Contemplation: Are my wants and needs clear, and do I express my wants and needs with my whole being to God?

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: The question “Why does God need praise from us? Who are we that we should praise God?” is answered thus. We can never praise him enough, and our praise can never be sufficient, but at the same time our soul is blessed with the impression of the Glory of God whenever we praise Him.
Contemplation: Do I wholeheartedly praise God thus enabling my soul to be blessed with the impression of the Glory of God?

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8. Prayer

2007-07-11T04:19:00.004-05:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

If we can only know the joy of asking pardon even of our fellowman, when we realize we are at fault, however little it may be! And when we ask the Father of all to forgive our fault, joy beauty, happiness spring in the heart in a way unknown until it is experienced. And then to think we can ask pardon of Him Whose love is unlimited, while our errors are numberless and our ignorance limitless! Think of the joy of asking forgiveness from God! Every moment of our life, if we can see wisely, contains some fault or error, and asking pardon is just like purifying the heart and washing it white. Only think of the joy of humbling yourself before God! There is a story of Akbar.

He was mourning for the death of his mother and for a long time his grief was so great he could not overcome it. His ministers and friends tried to comfort him, telling him how fortunate he was, how great was his influence and power. He answered, “Yes, I know it, but one thing grieves me. I have everyone to bow before, but there was one, when I came in the palace, before whom I could be humble. I could be as nothing before her and I cannot tell you the joy of that.”

Think then of the greater joy of humbling yourself before that Spirit, that Ideal, who is the true Father and Mother, on Whose love you always can depend; - it is a spark of His love which expresses itself in the earthy father and mother - and in whatever manner you must humble yourself before Him, it can never be enough. To humble your limited self before His Perfection, that is to deny yourself. Self-denial is not renouncing things, it is denying the self, and its first lesson is humility.

And the blessing one can receive by prayer becomes a thousand fold greater when the blessing is received by some few who are united in the same thought and are praying together.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 8

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: If we can only know the joy of asking pardon even of our fellowman, when we realize we are at fault, however little it may be! And when we ask the Father of all to forgive our fault, joy beauty, happiness spring in the heart in a way unknown until it is experienced.
Contemplation: Do I experience joy “in asking pardon of [my] fellowman and the Father”, as Hazrat Inayat Khan indicates in this lesson? Recollect how you experience joy in asking pardon. Recollect when you do not.

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: Think of the joy of asking forgiveness from God! Every moment of our life, if we can see wisely, contains some fault or error, and asking pardon is just like purifying the heart and washing it white. Only think of the joy of humbling yourself before God!
Contemplation: Ask yourself, “Do I feel that my heart is being purified and washed white when I ask for pardon?”

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: To humble your limited self before His Perfection, that is to deny yourself. Self-denial is not renouncing things, it is denying the self, and its first lesson is humility.
Contemplation: How do I experience self-denial? Do I believe it is renouncing things? Do I realize what it means to denounce the self on the path of humility?

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7. Religion

2007-06-18T04:13:00.005-05:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Is a certain religion an important thing or is living it an important thing?

Perhaps a person belongs to the best religion there is in the world, he does not live it, but he belongs to it. He says he is a Mussulman or a Christian or a Jew. He is sure it is the best religion but at the same time he does not care to live it, he just belongs to it, and thinks belonging to a certain religion that is an accepted religion, is all that is needed. And people of all different religions have made it appear so, owing to their enthusiasm and forced by their mission in life; for they have made facilities for those who belong to their particular religion, saying that by the very fact of their belonging to that particular religion, they will be saved on the Day of Judgment, while others with all their good actions will not be saved, because they do not belong to that particular religion.

This is a man-made idea, not God-made. God is not the Father of one sect, God is the father of the whole world and all are entitled to be called his children, whether worthy or unworthy. And in fact it is man’s attitude toward God and truth which can bring him closer to God, which is the ideal of every soul. And if this attitude is not developed, then whatever a man’s religion may be he has failed to live it. Therefore what is important in life is to try and live the religion to which one belongs, or that one esteems, or that one believes to be one’s religion.

But one always has to know that religion has a body and has a soul. But whatever body or religion you may touch you touch the soul, and if you touch the soul you touch all its bodies, which are like its organs. And all the organs constitute one body, which is the body of the Religion, the religion which is the religion of the Alpha and Omega, which was and which is and which will always be. Therefore the dispute, ‘I am right and you are wrong’ in the path of religion is not necessary. We do not know what is in the heart of man. If outwardly he seems to be a Jew, a Christian, a Moslem or a Buddhist, we are not the judge of his religion, for every soul has a religion peculiar to itself, and no-one else is entitled to judge its religion. There may be a person in a very humble garb, without the appearance of belief in God or of piety or orthodoxy, and he may have a religion hidden in his heart which not everybody can understand. And there may be a person who is highly evolved and his outward conduct, which alone manifests to people’s view, may appear to be altogether contrary to their own way of looking at things. They may accuse him of being a materialist or an unbeliever or someone who is far from God and truth, and yet we do not know. Sometimes appearances are merely illusions, behind them there may be the deepest religious devotion, the highest ideal, hidden, of which we know very little.

For the Sufi, therefore the best thing to do is to respect man, his belief, whatever it may be, his ideal, whatever it may be, his way of looking at life, even if it be quite different from our own way of looking at it. It is in this spirit of tolerance that, when developed, will bring about the brotherhood which is the essence of religion and want of the day.

The idea, ‘You are different and I am different, your religion and mine religion is different, your belief is different and my belief is different’, that will not unite, that will only divide humanity. Those who, with their excuse of their great faith in their own religion, hurt the feeling of another and divide humanity, whose source and goal is the same; they abuse religion, whatever be their faith. The message, whenever, at whatever period it came to the world, did not come to a certain section of humanity; it did not come to raise only some few people who perhaps accepted the faith, the Message, or a particular church. No, all these things came afterwards. The rain does not fall in a certain land only, the sun does not shine upon a certain country only. All that is from God is for all souls. If they are worthy they deserve it, it is their reward; if they are unworthy they are the more entitled to it. Verily, blessing is for every soul, for every soul whatever be his faith or belief belongs to God.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 7

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: Perhaps a person belongs to the best religion there is in the world, he does not live it, but he belongs to it.
Contemplation: What ways are we challenged in living our Path? Do we just belong to our Sufi community or do we practice and live the Message?

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: God is not the Father of one sect, God is the father of the whole world and all are entitled to be called his children, whether worthy or unworthy. And in fact it is man’s attitude toward God and truth which can bring him closer to God, which is the ideal of every soul. And if this attitude is not developed, then whatever a man’s religion may be he has failed to live it.
Contemplation: Do we live and experience the unity of God among all people and religions?

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: Sometimes appearances are merely illusions, behind them there may be the deepest religious devotion, the highest ideal, hidden, of which we know very little. For the Sufi, therefore the best thing to do is to respect man, his belief, whatever it may be, his ideal, whatever is maybe, his way of looking at life, even if it be quite dif erent from our own way of looking at it. It is in this spirit of tolerance that, when developed, will bring about the brotherhood which is the essence of religion and want of the day.
Contemplation: Do we get caught in appearances? Do we practice and live the spirit of tolerance?

Point Four: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: The message, whenever, at whatever period it came to the world, did not come to a certain section of humanity; it did not come to raise only some few people who perhaps accepted the faith, the Message, or a particular church. No, all these things came afterwards. The rain does not fall in a certain land only, the sun does not shine upon a certain country only. All that is from God is for all souls. If they are worthy they deserve it, it is their reward; if they are unworthy they are the more entitled to it. Verily, blessing is for every soul, for every soul whatever be his faith or belief belongs to God.
Contemplation: Do we practice equanimity loving all without discrimination? How about those who are difficult and challenging in our life? Do we love them equally as we do those who bring us comfort and love? What is Hazrat Inayat Khan instructing us to do?

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6. “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven”

2007-05-16T04:08:00.005-05:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

In the prayer of the Christian Church there is a sentence: ‘Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.’ This gives a great key to metaphysics. It gives a hint to the seer - that his Will, which is easily done in Heaven has difficulty in being done on earth. And who stands against His Will? Man. And where lies the Will of God? In the inner most being of man. And what stands as obstacle? The surface of the heart of man, and this means struggle in man himself. In him there is the Will of God and in him there is the obstacle. In the sphere within him, there is the will of God, as in Heaven; and where there is the obstacle to it, there is the earth.

By this prayer man is prepared to remove the obstacle which stands before the will of God. Now how can we distinguish between those two aspects of will: the Will of God and the obstacle, which is the will of man? It is easy for a person with a clear mind and open heart to distinguish, if he only knew the secret of it. For to that which is the will of God his whole being responds and in doing so His will, his whole being becomes satisfied. When it is his will only one side of his being is perhaps satisfied for a certain time and there comes a conflict in himself. He himself finds fault with the idea or action. He himself finds dissatisfied with his own being. The wider the scope in which he sees his idea or his action the more dissatisfied he will become. When in this manner by the ray of intelligence, one sees life, one begins to distinguish between his will and the Will of God. The Kingdom of God, which is in Heaven, then comes to earth. It does not mean that it disappears from Heaven, but it only means that not only Heaven remains as a kingdom of Heaven, but even earth becomes a kingdom of Heaven. The purpose behind all this creation is that Heaven may be realized on the earth. If one did not realize it on earth, he cannot realize it in Heaven.

One may ask: “What do I mean with Heaven?” Heaven is that place where all is the choice of man and everything moves at his command. Heaven is the natural condition of life. When on earth life becomes so entangled that it loses its original harmony, Heaven ceases to exist and the motive of the soul is to gain in life the kingdom of Heaven which the soul has lost. Nothing does one attain in life which will give that satisfaction which can only be attained by bringing Heaven on earth.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 6

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: In the prayer of the Christian Church there is a sentence: ‘Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.’ This gives a great key to metaphysics. It gives a hint to the seer - that his Will, which is easily done in Heaven has difficulty in being done on earth. And who stands against His Will? Man. And where lies the Will of God? In the inner most being of man. And what stands as obstacle? The surface of the heart of man, and this means struggle in man himself.
Contemplation: What stands as an obstacle to my realization of my inner most being? And what struggles arise as a result of this/these obstacles?

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: By this prayer ‘Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven’ man is prepared to remove the obstacle which stands before the will of God. Now how can we distinguish between those two aspects of will: the Will of God and the obstacle, which is the will of man?
Contemplation: Can I distinguish between the two aspects of will – the Will of God and my personal will?

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: It is easy for a person with a clear mind and open heart to distinguish, if he only knew the secret of it. For to that which is the will of God his whole being responds and in doing so His will, his whole being becomes satisfied. When it is his will only one side of his being is perhaps satisfied for a certain time and there comes a conflict in himself. he himself finds fault with the idea or action. He himself finds dissatisfied with his own being.
Contemplation: What dissatisfaction arises when my will is only one-sided and personal.

Point Four: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: One may ask: 'What do I mean with Heaven?' Heaven is that place where all is the choice of man and everything moves at his command. Heaven is the natural condition of life. When on earth life becomes so entangled that it loses its original harmony, Heaven ceases to exist and the motive of the soul is to gain in life the kingdom of Heaven which the soul has lost. Nothing does one attain in life which will give that satisfaction which can only be attained by bringing Heaven on earth.
Contemplation: Can I identify and reflect those circumstances when I have experienced “Heaven on earth”? Those times when I experienced the “natural condition of life”?

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5. The Present Need of the World

2007-04-16T03:59:00.003-05:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

If one truly observes the present condition of humanity, no-one with sense will deny the fact that the world to-day needs the Religion. Why I say the religion and not a religion is because there are many religions existing to-day called a religion, but what is needed to-day is the Religion. And now coming to the question what the Religion must be. Must it be a new religion? If it were a new religion, it could not be called the religion; then it would be like many religions. I call the Religion that religion which one can see by rising above the sects and differences which divide men, and by understanding the religion, we shall understand all religions which may be called religion.

I do not mean that all the religions are not religion; they are the notes, there is the music, and that music is the religion. Every religion strikes a note, a note which strikes the demand of humanity in a certain epoch. But at the same time the source of every note is the same music which manifests when the notes are arranged together. In this way I want to explain that all religions are different notes and when they are arranged together they make music. You may ask why at each epoch all the music was not given but only a single note? In answer I say, there are times in the life of an infant when a rattle is sufficient, for the violin another time in life comes. During the time of the Chaldeans, Arabs, Romans, Greeks, different religious ideals were brought. To the few music was brought, to the many only a note. This shows this music has always existed; only that man in general was not ready to grasp it, and so was given only one note. But the consequence was that the person who was given the C note and another the G note, they fought together, each saying: “The note given to us is the right note.” and there have always existed souls who have said: “G is right”, and others who said: “C is right”; all are right notes and when they are mixed together then there is music. This shows that there is an outer substance of religion which is the form, and the inner essence which is wisdom.

When wisdom has blessed the soul, then the soul has heard the divine music. And the words of Christ: ‘I am Alpha and Omega’ what do they mean? That it was only when he came as Jesus? No, that music belongs to Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last.

Those who tuned their hearts to listen to music, who elevated their soul high enough, they heard the divine music.

But those who played with their rattle, their unique note, they disputed one with the other, they would have refused a violin, they were not ready for it, they would not have known how to use it.

To-day the world is starved more for religion than ever before, and what is the reason? The reason is that some simple souls, attached to the faith of their ancestors, held their faith with esteem, considering religion necessary in life. But many souls with intelligence and reason and understanding of life rebelled against religion as the child when grown up, he throws away his rattle since he no longer is interested in it. So to-day the condition is that religion remains in the hands of those who have kept it in its outer form, out of devotion and loyalty to their ancestor’s faith. And those who are, so to speak, grown up in mind and spirit and want something better, they can find nothing. Their souls hunger for music, and when they ask for music, they are given a rattle, and they throw away the rattle and say they do not care for music, and yet there is the inner yearning for music, the soul’s music and without it their life becomes empty. How few recognize this fact, and fewer still will admit it. The psychological condition of humanity has become such that a person with intelligence refuses the music, he does not want the music, he wants something but he calls it by another name.

I will tell you my own experience in the Western world. Travelling for 10 years I have come in contact with people of intelligence, thinkers, people of science, and in them I have seen the greatest yearning for that religious spirit. They are longing every moment of their life for it, for they find with all their education and science there is some space empty in themselves. They want it filled but at the same time if you speak of religion, they say: “No, no, speak of something else, we do not want religion.” This means they know only the rattle part of religion and not the violin part. They do not think such a thing exists which can be different from a rattle and yet there is a perplexity in themselves, a spiritual craving, that is not answered even by all their learned and scientific pursuits.

Now, therefore, what is needed to-day in this world is reconciliation between the religious man and the one who runs away from religion. But what can we do when we see in the Christian religion so many sects, one opposing another; and besides the Christian and Muslim religion, the Buddhist, Jewish and many others, each considering their own and thinking the others not worth thinking about. To me these different religions are like different organs of the body, cut apart and thrown asunder. Therefore, to me personally, it seems as if one arm of the same person were cut off and rising to fight the other. Both are arms of the same person and this person is complete when all these parts are brought together; then there is the Religion.

Then what is the effort of the Sufi Order? To make a new religion? No, it is to bring together the different organs of the one body which is meant to be united and not thrown away.

Now you may ask what is our method? How do we work to bring about reconciliation? By realizing for ourselves that the essence of all religion is one and that essence is Wisdom; and considering that Wisdom to be our religion whatever be our own form. The Sufi order has persons belonging to many different faiths among its members. Do you think they have given up their own religion? No. On the contrary they are firmer in their own faith by understanding the faith of others. From the narrow point of view fault may be found because they do not hate, mistrust and criticize the religion of others. They have respect for the Scriptures that millions of people have held as sacred, though those scriptures do not belong to their own religion. The desire to study and appreciate other scriptures and so to find out that all Wisdom comes from the one source: the Wisdom of the East and of the West. The Sufi Order is therefore not a sect; it can be anything but a sect.

And if it ever became one, it would be quite contrary to the idea with which it has been begun, because its main idea is to remove differences and distinctions which divide mankind; and this ideal is attained by the realization of the one Source of all human beings, and also the goal, which we call God.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 5

Contemplation One: If one truly observes the present condition of humanity, no one with sense will deny the fact that the world today needs the Religion. Why I say the religion and not a religion is because there are many religions existing today called a religion, but what is needed to-day is the Religion…. I call the Religion that religion which one can see by rising above the sects and differences which divide men, and by understanding the religion, we shall understand all religions which may be called religion.

Contemplation Two: When wisdom has blessed the soul, then the soul has heard the divine music. And the words of Christ: ‘I am Alpha and Omega’ what do they mean? That it was only when he came as Jesus? No, that music belongs to Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last…. Those who tuned their hearts to listen to music, who elevated their soul high enough, they heard the divine music.

Contemplation Three: Now, therefore, what is needed today in this world is reconciliation between the religious man and the one who runs away from religion. But what can we do when we see in the Christian religion so many sects, one opposing another; and besides the Christian and Muslim religion, the Buddhist, Jewish and many others, each considering their own and thinking the others not worth thinking about. To me these different religions are like different organs of the body, cut apart and thrown asunder. Therefore, to me personally, it seems as if one arm of the same person were cut off and rising to fight the other. Both are arms of the same person and this person is complete when all these parts are brought together; then there is the Religion.

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4. The Manner of Prayer

2007-03-20T03:54:00.005-05:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

There are three kinds among those who are in the habit of offering prayer.

There is one who by praying fulfils a certain duty which he considers as one among all the duties of life. He does not know to whom he is praying, he thinks to some God. If he is in the congregation he feels out of necessity, to do as the others do. He is like one among the sheep who goes on, he does not know where and why. Prayer to him is something that he must do because he is put into a situation where he cannot help it. In order to fall in with the custom of the family or community, and in order to respect those around him, he does it as everybody else. His prayer is mechanical, and if it makes any effect it is very little.

And the second kind of person who offers his prayers is the one who offers the prayers because he is told to do so and yet is confused if there is any God, if his prayers are really heard. He may be praying and at the same time confusion may be going in his mind: “Am I doing right or wrong?” If he is a busy man he might think: “Am I giving my time to something really profitable or am I really wasting it? I see no one before me; I hear no answer to my prayer.” He does it because he was told by someone to do it or because it might bring him some good. His prayer is a prayer in the dark. The heart which must be opened to God is covered by his own doubt, and if he prayed in this way for a thousand years it is never heard. It is this kind of soul who in the end loses his faith, especially when he meets with a disappointment, and he prays, and if his prayer is not answered, that puts an end to his belief.

Then there is a third person who has imagination which is strengthened by faith. He does not only pray to God but he prays before God, in the presence of God. Once the imagination has helped man to bring the presence of God before him, God in his own heart is wakened. Then before he utters a word it is heard by God. When he is praying in a room he is not alone, he is there with God. Then God to him is not in the highest Heaven but next to him, before him, in him. The Heaven to him is on earth and the earth for him is Heaven. No one to him is then so living as God, so intelligible as God, and the names and forms before him are covered under Him. Then every word of prayer he says, it is a living word. It does not only bring him blessing, but blessings to all those around him. It is this manner of prayer which is the only right way of prayer, and by this manner the object that is to be fulfilled by prayer is accomplished.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 4

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: There are three kinds among those who are in the habit of offering prayer. There is one who by praying fulfils a certain duty which he considers as one among all the duties of life. He does not know to whom he is praying, he thinks to some God. Prayer to him is something that he must do because he is put into a situation where he cannot help it. In order to fall in with the custom of the family or community, and in order to respect those around him, he does it as everybody else. His prayer is mechanical, and if it makes any effect it is very little.
Contemplation: Is my prayer habitual and mechanical?

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: The second kind of person who offers his prayers is the one who offers the prayers because he is told to do so and yet is confused if there is any God, if his prayers are really heard. His prayer is a prayer in the dark. The heart which must be opened to God is covered by his own doubt, and if he prayed in this way for a thousand years it is never heard. It is this kind of soul who in the end loses his faith, especially when he meets with a disappointment, and he prays, and if his prayer is not answered, that puts an end to his belief.
Contemplation: Do I have a firm belief in God and prayer to God?

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says: Then there is a third person who has imagination which is strengthened by faith. He does not only pray to God but he prays before God, in the presence of God. Once the imagination has helped man to bring the presence of God before him, God in his own heart is wakened. Then before he utters a word it is heard by God. When he is praying in a room he is not alone, he is there with God. Then God to him is not in the highest Heaven but next to him, before him, in him. The Heaven to him is on earth and the earth for him is Heaven.
Contemplation: Do I experience the presence of God when I pray?

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3. Religion

2007-02-26T03:39:00.005-06:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

In the ancient Sanskrit language the word for religion is Dharma, which means duty. Now, there are two things in the world, one of which we may describe as free choice of action and the other as duty. Everyone follows either the way of free choice or the way of duty. As an example we may think of the child who sees the fire, and wants to touch it, and does so. This action will show a certain disagreeable result which teaches the child a certain thing. This teaching might also have come to the child as a warning from the parents, telling the child that the result of the action would be burning. The child might thus refrain from doing a certain action for the reason that it accepted the warning of the parent before burning its hand.

Every child is born in life a pupil, one who is willing to learn and willing to believe. As the Prophet Mohammed says, “Every soul is born on earth a believer; it is only afterwards that he turns an unbeliever”.

It is certain if one had not been born a believer one would never have learned the language of one’s country, because if anyone had tried to teach the words and one had refused to accept the teachings as true, one would never have learned the names and character of things. For instance, if it were said, “This is water”, and one had not believed it, and had thought, “It is fruit”, then one would never really have known what was water and what was fruit. A child is born with the tendency to believe and learn what it is taught.

The divine life has a certain capability to give life, and it gives this life as teaching to the children of earth, and this teaching is called Dharma, religion. Religions are many and different from one another, but only in form, for water is one channel which holds it and which it uses for the accommodation; and so the name water is changed into river, lake, sea, stream, pond, etc. So it is with religion; the essential truth is one, but the aspects are different. Those who fight about external forms will always fight; those who recognize the inner truth will not disagree, and thus will be able to harmonize the people of all religions.

Dharma has been given from time to time to the world, at times quietly, and sometimes with a loud voice; but it is a continual outpouring of the inner knowledge of life, and of divine blessing. Those who stick to their old forms, closing their eyes from the inner truth, paralyze their Dharma by holding on to an old form, while refusing the present stream that is sent. As life is the cause of activity, so such persons lose their activity; they remain where they are and are as dead. And when man has been thus paralyzed and shut out from the spiritual progress, he clings to outer forms which are not progressing. There was a time when the message was given while the people were wanting a messenger to come. During the time of Jesus Christ there were thousands and millions waiting for a messenger to come from above. The Master came, and did his service, and went away. Some realized then, and some are still waiting. But the One Who claimed to be Alpha and Omega is never absent; sometimes he appears on the surface, sometimes he is reserving himself.

When directed by the new spiritual inspiration, law, morals, education, and all departments of life come to a new life; but if the spiritual current is lacking, then there is no further progress in the forms of life. People mostly think that the spiritual message must be something concrete and definite in the way of doctrines or principles, but that is an human tendency and does not belong to the divine nature, which is unlimited and life itself. The divine message is the answer to the cry of souls, individually and collectively; the divine message is life, and it is light. The sun does not teach anything, but in its light we learn to know all things. The sun does not cultivate the ground nor does it sow seed, but it helps the plant to grow, to flower, and to bear fruit.

The Sufi Message, in its utter infancy, strikes the note of the day, and promises the fulfillment of that purpose for which, now and then, the blessing from above descends, for spreading love and peace on earth and among men.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 3

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: In the ancient Sanskrit language the word for religion is Dharma, which means duty. Now, there are two things in the world, one of which we may describe as free choice of action and the other as duty.
Contemplation: In contemplating Pir-o-Murshid’s definition of Dharma, what are those things in my life that I consider my “duty”?

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: The divine life has a certain capability to give life, and it gives this life as teaching to the children of earth, and this teaching is called Dharma, religion.
Contemplation: In the context of the divine life – that which is life giving and which comes through the teaching of Dharma, religion, may I reflect on the life giving sustenance I have been blessed with on the Path.

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: Religions are many and different from one another, but only in form, for water is one channel which holds it and which it uses for the accommodation; and so the name water is changed into river, lake, sea, stream, pond, etc. So it is with religion; the essential truth is one, but the aspects are different.
Contemplation: Reflect on the inner truth of all religions beyond all external forms and ideologies.

Point Four: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: The divine message is the answer to the cry of souls, individually and collectively; the divine message is life, and it is light. The sun does not teach anything, but in its light we learn to know all things. The sun does not cultivate the ground nor does it sow seed, but it helps the plant to grow, to flower, and to bear fruit.
Contemplation: How has the divine message answered the cry of my soul? Do I the equanimity of the light (as the sun) of the divine message?

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2. Belief in God

2007-01-19T03:31:00.006-06:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

It is the spirit of all souls which is personified in all ages as God. There are periods when this spirit is materialized in the faith of humanity and worshipped as God, the Sovereign and the Lord of the world as Judge, Sustainer and Forgiver, but there are periods when this realization has become less in humanity, when mankind has become absorbed in the life of the world more than in the spiritual ideal. Therefore the belief in God comes to humanity like tides in the sea. Every now and then it appears on the surface mostly with the Divine Message given as an answer to the cry of humanity at a certain period. So in the life of individuals at times the belief in God comes as tides in the sea, with an impulse to worship, to serve God, to reach for God, to love God and to long for God communication. The more the material life of the world is before one’s eyes the more the spiritual impulse is closed; the spiritual impulse therefore follows times of sorrow and of disappointment through life.

The belief in God is natural, but in life both art and nature are necessary. So God, Who exists independent of our making Him, must be made by us for our own comprehension. To make God intelligible first man must make his God. It is on this principle that the idea of many gods and the custom of idol worship was based in the ancient religions of the world. God cannot be two. The God of each is the God of all, but in order to comprehend that God we each have to make our own God. Some of us seek justice, we can seek for God who is just. Some of us look for beauty, we must find it in the God of beauty. Some of us seek for love, we must find it in the God of mercy and compassion. Some of wish for strength and power, we must find it in the God Almighty. The seeking of every soul in this world is different, distinct and peculiar to himself, and he can best attain to it by finding the object of his search in God.

The moment one arrives at this belief no question need he ask for his fellowman, for the answer to every question that springs from his mind he finds in his own heart. The dwelling place of God, which is called Heaven, is then found in his own heart. The friend on Whom one can constantly depend, someone Whom one can always trust, someone Whose sympathy and love is secure, someone Who will never fail, someone Who is strong enough to help, someone Who is sufficiently wise to guide in life, he will find in his own heart.

Those who out of their materialistic view cannot belief in the God ideal lose a great deal in their lives. That ideal which is the highest and best ideal, the only ideal worth loving, worth worshipping, worth longing for, worth sacrificing all one has, and worth depending upon during the daylight and through the darkness of night, is God; and he who has God in his life has all he needs; he who has not God, he having all things of this mortal world, is lonely, he is in the wilderness even if he be in the midst of the crowd. The journey of the Sufi therefore, is to God. It is Divine Knowledge which he seeks, it is the realisation of God. It is Divine Knowledge which he seeks, it is the realisation of God consciousness which is his goal.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 2

Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: To make God intelligible first man must make his God. It is on this principle that the idea of many gods and the custom of idol worship was based in the ancient religions of the world. God cannot be two. The God of each is the God of all, but in order to comprehend that God we each have to make our own God.

Point One: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: Some of us seek justice, we can seek for God who is just. Some of us look for beauty, we must find it in the God of beauty. Some of us seek for love, we must find it in the God of mercy and compassion. Some of wish for strength and power, we must find it in the God Almighty. The seeking of every soul in this world is different, distinct and peculiar to himself, and he can best attain to it by finding the object of his search in God.
Contemplation: In which form is it that I comprehend God? Is God justice, love, beauty, mercy and compassion, strength, power? How has my comprehension of God changed and evolved?

Point Two: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: The moment one arrives at this belief no question need he ask for his fellowman, for the answer to every question that springs from his mind he finds in his own heart. The dwelling place of God, which is called Heaven, is then found in his own heart. The friend on Whom one can constantly depend, someone Whom one can always trust, someone Whose sympathy and love is secure, someone Who will never fail, someone Who is strong enough to help, someone Who is sufficiently wise to guide in life, he will find in his own heart.
Contemplation: Do I experience my heart as the dwelling place of God? As Heaven? Do I realize all others hearts as being the dwelling place of God?

Point Three: Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in the lecture says: The journey of the Sufi therefore, is to God. It is Divine Knowledge which he seeks, it is the realisation of God. It is Divine Knowledge which he seeks, it is the realisation of God consciousness which is his goal.
Contemplation: I am on the journey of the Sufi, which is to realize God. In witnessing my realization, what is my assessment toward that realization?

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1. The Religion of the Heart

2006-12-23T03:21:00.007-06:00

The Hazrat Inayat Khan Study Circle • Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan • Murshida Nuria Stephanie Sabato - Archived Special Events

Religious Gatheka
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

If anybody asks you: “What is Sufism? What religion is it?”, you may answer:“ Sufism is the religion of the heart, the religion in which one thing is most important, and that is to seek God in the heart of mankind.”

There are three ways of seeking God in the human heart. The first way is to recognize the divine in every person and to be careful of every person with whom we come in contact, in our thought, speech and action. Human personality is very delicate. The more living the heart the more sensitive it is; but that which cause sensitiveness is the love-element in the heart, and love is God.

The person whose heart is not sensitive is without feeling, his heart is not living, it is dead; in that case the divine spirit is buried in his heart. A person who is always concerned with his own feelings is so absorbed in himself that he has no time to think of another. His whole attention is taken up with his own feelings, he pities himself, he worries about his own pain and is never open to sympathize with others. He who takes notice of the feeling of another person with whom he comes in contact practises the first essential moral of Sufism. The next way of practising this religion is to think of the feeling of the person who is not at the moment before us. One feels for a person who is present, but often neglects to feel for someone who is out of sight. One speaks well of someone to his face, but if one speaks well of someone when he is absent, that is greater.

One sympathises with the trouble of someone who is before one at the moment, but the greater to sympathise with one who is far away. And the third way of realising the Sufi principle is to recognise in one’s feeling the feeling of God; to realise every impulse that rises in one’s heart as a direction of God; realising that love is a divine spark in one’s heart as a direction from God; realising that love is a divine spark in one’s heart, to blow that spark until the flame may rise to illuminate the path of one’s life.

The symbol of the Sufi Order, which is a heart with wings, is symbolical of its ideal. The heart is both earthly and heavenly. The heart is a receptacle on earth of the divine spirit, and when it holds the divine spirit it soars heavenward; the wings picture is rising. The crescent in the heart symbolises responsiveness; it is the heart that responds to the spirit of God that rises. The crescent is a symbol of responsiveness because it grows fuller by responding more and more to the sun as it progresses. The light one sees in the crescent is the light of the sun; as it gets more light with its increasing response so it becomes fuller of the light of the sun. The star in the heart of the crescent represents the divine spark which is reflected in the human heart as love and which helps the crescent toward its fullness.

The Sufi message is the message of the day. It does not bring theories or doctrines to add to those existing already, which puzzle the human mind. What the world needs to-day is the message of love, harmony and beauty, the absence of which is the only tragedy of life. The Sufi message does not give a new law; it wakens in humanity the spirit of brotherhood, with tolerance on the part of each for the religion of the other, with forgiveness from each other for the fault of the other; it teaches thoughtfulness and consideration, so as to create and maintain harmony in life; it teaches service and usefulness, which alone can make life in the world fruitful, in which lies the satisfaction of every soul.

Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 1

Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan in this lecture says that there are three ways of seeking God in the human heart.

Point One: The first way to recognize the divine in every person and to be careful of every person with whom we come in contact, in our thought, speech and action.
Contemplation: How can I make these “ways of seeking God in the human heart” a living expression in my life?

Point Two: The next way of practicing this religion is to think of the feeling of the person who is not at the moment before us. One feels for a person who is present, but often neglects to feel for someone who is out of sight. One speaks well of someone to his face, but if one speaks well of someone when he is absent, that is greater.
Contemplation: What are the ways that I express these teachings now in my life?

Point Three: And the third way of realizing the Sufi principle is to recognize in one’s feeling the feeling of God; to realize every impulse that rises in one’s heart as a direction of God; realizing that love is a divine spark in one’s heart as a direction from the flame may rise to illuminate the path of one’s life.
Contemplation: What are the ways I do not express these teachings in my life, and what measures can I take to more fully practice this teaching in my daily life?

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