 Love is the essence of all religion, mysticism and philosophy. Bowl of Saki, February 3, by Hazrat Inayat Khan | |
| Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan: Love is the practice of the moral of Suluk, the way of beneficence. The lover's pleasure is in the pleasure of the beloved. The lover is satisfied when the beloved is fed. The lover is vain when the beloved is adorned. 'Who in life blesses the one who curses him? Who in life admires the one who hates him? Who in life proves faithful to the one who is faithless? No other than a lover.' And in the end the lover's self is lost from his vision and only the beloved's image, the desired vision, is before him for ever. Love is the essence of all religion, mysticism, and philosophy, and for the one who has learnt this, love fulfills the purpose of religion, ethics, and philosophy, and the lover is raised above all diversities of faiths and beliefs. from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/V/V_24.htm For the Sufi there is one principle which is most essential to be remembered and that is consideration for human feeling. If one practices in his life this one principle he need not learn much more; he need not trouble about philosophy, he need not follow an old or a new religion, for this principle in itself is the essence of all religions. God is love, but where does God dwell? He abides in the heart of man. ~~~ "Sangatha I, Khawas", by Hazrat Inayat Khan (unpublished) | |
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| Hanging out on a rock at the ocean in Northern California |
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| Kindness |
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| A street in town |
| Sincerity is the jewel that forms in the shell of the heart. Bowl of Saki, January 28, by Hazrat Inayat Khan | |
| Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan: Very few realize what power sincerity carries. A false man, however physically strong he is or however great is his willpower, is kept down by his falsehood; it never allows him to rise. It eats into him because it is rust. Those who have done great things in life, in whatever walk of life it be, have done them by the power of truth, the power of sincerity. from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/IV/IV_31.htm Sincerity is the principal thing in life. Youth is the age which is most attracted to superficiality. That is the reason why many youths adopt an artificial manner of thought, speech and action, which is very undesirable and does not benefit their life. It is important to inculcate sincerity in the character of the youth. To give a youth a love of sincerity is extremely useful, for the power of sincerity can work miracles. from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/III/III_I_6.htm The more sincerity is developed, the greater share of truth you will have. And however much sincerity a person may have, there is always a gap to fill, for we live in the midst of falsehood, and we are always apt to be carried away by this world of falsehood. Therefore we must never think we are sincere enough, and we must always be on our guard against influences which may carry us away from that sincerity which is the bridge between ourselves and our ideal. No study, no meditation is more helpful than sincerity itself. ~~~ "Supplementary Papers, Classes for Mureeds I", by Hazrat Inayat Khan (unpublished)  | |
| The heart is not living until it has experienced pain. Bowl of Saki, January 30, by Hazrat Inayat Khan | |
| Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan: Those who have avoided love in life from fear of its pain have lost more than the lover, who by losing himself gains all. The loveless first lose all, until at last their self is also snatched away from their hands. The warmth of the lover's atmosphere, the piercing effect of his voice, the appeal of his words, all come from the pain of his heart. The heart is not living until it has experienced pain. Man has not lived if he has lived and worked with his body and mind without heart. The soul is all light, but all darkness is caused by the death of the heart. Pain makes it alive. The same heart that was once full of bitterness, when purified by love becomes the source of all goodness. All deeds of kindness spring from it. from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/V/V_22.htm A person who has never experienced pain cannot sympathize with those suffering pain. ... Sympathy is something more than love and affection, for it is the knowledge of a certain suffering which moves the living heart to sympathy. from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XIII/XIII_21.htm Suffering is always a blessing. If it is for higher ideas, for God, for an ideal, it takes a person at once to the highest heaven. If it is for lower ideas, for the ego, for pride, for possessions, it takes a person to the lowest depth of hell. But there, after much suffering, after a long, long time, he loses these ideas and is purified. That is why the Christian religion shows the symbol of the cross, of suffering. How high our ideal may be, how low our ideal may be, in the end each pain has its prize. from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VIII/VIII_2_7.htm If there were no pain, one would not have the experience of joy. It is pain which helps one to experience joy. Everything is distinguished by its opposite and the one who feels pain deeply is more capable of expressing joy. If there were no pain, life would be most uninteresting; for it is by pain that penetration takes place, and the sensation after pain is a deeper joy. Without pain the great musicians, athletes, discoverers, and thinkers would not have reached the stage they have arrived at in the world. If they had always experienced joy, they would not have touched the depths of life. from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VI/VI_17.htm  | |
| The pleasures of life are blinding; it is love alone that clears the rust from the heart, the mirror of the soul. Bowl of Saki, January 31, by Hazrat Inayat Khan | |
| Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan: The heart of man, as the Sufis say, is a mirror. All that is reflected in this mirror is projected upon other mirrors. When man has doubt in his heart that doubt is reflected upon every heart with which he comes in contact. When he has faith that faith is reflected in every heart. Can there be a more interesting study and a greater wonder than to observe this keenly? from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XIV/XIV_2_16.htm There must be no feeling of revenge, of unkindness, of bitterness against anyone in the heart. When such a feeling comes, one must say: this is rust coming into my heart. When all such feelings are cleared off the heart, it becomes like a mirror. A mirror without rust reflects all that is before it; then everything divine is reflected in the heart. from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VIII/VIII_1_14.htm The heart aflame becomes the torch on the path of the lover, which lightens his way that leads him to his destination. The pleasures of life are blinding, it is love alone that clears the rust from the heart, the mirror of the soul. from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/V/V_22.htm | |
