Friday, November 18, 2011

Another Year Marked By A Birthday



Perfect morning of absolute silence in the ashram with only Gurudev reading his paper.  Secrets of Jaipur--thin crust pizza and killer latte.  Delightful birthday lunch and flowers--thank you!  Also found a hair stylist who could cut stylish short hair! More of the kaleidoscope.  And to sleep on a cloud again...


Education for women appears to be their hope for social freedom.  So much to be grateful for.



The soul of all is one soul, and the truth is one truth, under whatever religion it is hidden.
                        Bowl of Saki, November 18, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
With all the opposition to the Master at the time when the [chief priests] demanded his crucifixion, did those who were present sincerely think the Master was guilty? No, each one of them was more or less impressed by the truth of the message, yet torn by convention and custom, bound by laws, held fast by the religious authority that was in power. They could not express their sincere feelings, and so law governed instead of love. And this state of things has existed in all ages. Blinded by conventions and by the laws of his time and the customs of his people, man has ignored and opposed the truth. Yet at the same time the truth has never failed to make its impression upon the soul, because the soul of all is one soul, and truth is one truth under whatever religion it is hidden.

In reality there cannot be many religions; there is only one. There cannot be two truths; there cannot be two masters. As there is only one God and one religion, there is one master and there is one truth. And the weakness of man has been that only what he is accustomed to consider as truth he takes to be truth, and anything he has not been accustomed to hear or think frightens him. Just like a person in a strange land, away from home, the soul is a stranger to the nature of things it is not accustomed to. But the journey to perfection means rising above limitations, rising so high that not only the horizon of one country, of one continent, is seen, but that of the whole world. The higher we rise, the wider becomes the horizon of our view.
   from  http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/IX/IX_29.htm


If we come face to face with truth, it is one and the same. One may look at it from the Christian, from the Buddhist, or from the Hindu point of view, but in reality it is one point of view. One can either be small or large, either be false or true, either not know or know. As long as a person says, 'When I look at the horizon from the top of the mountain I become dizzy. This immensity of space frightens me,' he should not look at it. But if it does not make one dizzy it is a great joy to look at life from above. And from that position a Christian, Jew, Muslim and Buddhist will all see the same immensity. It is not limited to those of any one faith or creed. Gradually, as they unfold themselves and give proof of their response to the immensity of the knowledge, they are asked to go forward, face to face with their Lord.
   from  http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XI/XI_III_5.htm

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