Religious Gatheka
By Hazrat Inayat Khan
The God-Ideal is meant to waken in the soul God, that he may realize his Kingship. It is this, which is suggested in the prayer of Christ, where it is said: ‘Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done.’ It is on this realization that the kingdom of God comes; and what follows is that His Will is then done. But when a person does not know who is the king, he does not know what is the kingdom.
The Kingdom of the earth, from the time man has evolved so as to understand his affairs, have been established, where man has learned the first lesson when he first knew what a king means, what a kingdom means, he knew that there was someone whose command was obeyed by all, great or small, in the kingdom. Who is the up raiser and the judge of all those who deserve honor and respect, who possess a treasure in the kingdom; who is as a Mother and a Father of his subjects. Once this was learned, it gave the person an education to understand what a kingdom means, as a child after playing with her dolls begins to understand the cares of the household.
The next step was taken on the spiritual path when the spiritual hierarchy was recognized. The prophet or the high priest was recognized, representing the spiritual head. Then there was the hierarchy. And in this way the next step was taken with the realization that it is not the outer environments, money and possession, which make a king, but it is the spiritual realization which can make a person greater than a king with all his kingly surroundings. And this was proven to people when the king, who was accepted as the principal and head of the community, went with bend head, before the high-priest and knelt down in the p[lace of prayer.
This gave the next lesson that the kingship is not in outer wealth but in spirituality that even the king stands humbly at the door of the God-realized man.
When once this step was taken, then there was the third step. And that was to see that the high-priest - considered as such even by the king - knelt down and bent his head low to the Lord, King of humanity, showing his greatness as dust before God, to Whom alone belongs all greatness. When the greatness of God was realized, God was glorified and the purpose of aristocracy was fulfilled, for it was nothing but a rehearsal before the battle. Once man realized that it is God alone before Whom man should bow, it is God alone Who is rich and all are poor, it is God alone Whose wisdom and justice are perfect, then before him the kingship of the king and the holiness of the high-priest faded away; before him remained only one King of kings; on Him he depended and under Him he sought refuge under all the different circumstances in life.
After one had taken these three steps towards the goal, he found that the goal to be quite different from the way that he had taken. And the goal was finding out the traces of that King within oneself; a spark of that divine light which is the illumination of one’s own heart; a ray of the Sun that is the light of the whole universe. And so self-realization developed in which the soul found that wisdom, illumination and peace, which was the purpose of the God-Ideal.
Daily reflections on the following points in Religious Gatheka 50
Point One:
The God-Ideal is meant to waken in the soul God, that he may realize his Kingship.
Contemplation: “Draw us closer to Thee every moment of our life, Until in us be reflected Thy Grace, Thy Glory, Thy Wisdom, Thy Joy and Thy Peace. Amen” (from the Prayer Saum)
Point Two:
Spiritual realization can make a person greater than a king with all his kingly surroundings.
Contemplation: We can come to know assess deeply our spiritual realization within the context of this statement. We can ask ourselves: Do I identify with my divine heredity beyond the limitations of the material world.
Point Three:
When the greatness of God was realized, God was glorified and the purpose of aristocracy was fulfilled.
Contemplation: We can ask ourselves: Do I realize God’s greatness? Does my lower self bow to this greatness? In this surrender am I risen up to true aristocracy and the nobility of my soul?
Point Four:
The goal was finding out the traces of that King within oneself, a spark of that divine light, which is the illumination of one’s own heart.
Contemplation: Disclose to us Thy Divine Light, which is hidden in our souls, that we may know and understand life better. (from the Prayer Khatum)
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