The Teaching of Hazrat Inayat Khan      

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Volume

Sayings

Social Gathekas

Religious Gathekas

The Message Papers

The Healing Papers

Vol. 1, The Way of Illumination

Vol. 1, The Inner Life

Vol. 1, The Soul, Whence And Whither?

Vol. 1, The Purpose of Life

Vol. 2, The Mysticism of Sound and Music

Vol. 2, The Mysticism of Sound

Vol. 2, Cosmic Language

Vol. 2, The Power of the Word

Vol. 3, Education

Vol. 3, Life's Creative Forces: Rasa Shastra

Vol. 3, Character and Personality

Vol. 4, Healing And The Mind World

Vol. 4, Mental Purification

Vol. 4, The Mind-World

Vol. 5, A Sufi Message Of Spiritual Liberty

Vol. 5, Aqibat, Life After Death

Vol. 5, The Phenomenon of the Soul

Vol. 5, Love, Human and Divine

Vol. 5, Pearls from the Ocean Unseen

Vol. 5, Metaphysics, The Experience of the Soul Through the Different Planes of Existence

Vol. 6, The Alchemy of Happiness

Vol. 7, In an Eastern Rose Garden

Vol. 8, Health and Order of Body and Mind

Vol. 8, The Privilege of Being Human

Vol. 8a, Sufi Teachings

Vol. 9, The Unity of Religious Ideals

Vol. 10, Sufi Mysticism

Vol. 10, The Path of Initiation and Discipleship

Vol. 10, Sufi Poetry

Vol. 10, Art: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Vol. 10, The Problem of the Day

Vol. 11, Philosophy

Vol. 11, Psychology

Vol. 11, Mysticism in Life

Vol. 12, The Vision of God and Man

Vol. 12, Confessions: Autobiographical Essays of Hazat Inayat Khan

Vol. 12, Four Plays

Vol. 13, Gathas

Vol. 14, The Smiling Forehead

By Date

THE SUPPLEMENTARY PAPERS

Heading

The Alchemy of Happiness

The Aim of Life

The Purpose of Life (1)

The Five Inclinations

The Purpose of Life (2)

The Four Ways People Take

The Ultimate Purpose of Life

The Art of Personality

The Development of Personality

The Attitude

The Secret of Life

What is Wanted in Life?

Life, a Continual Battle (1)

Life, a Continual Battle (2)

The Struggle of Life (1)

The Struggle of Life (2)

Reaction

The Deeper Side of Life

Life, An Opportunity

Our Life's Experience

Communicating with Life

The Intoxication of Life (1)

The Intoxication of Life (2)

The Meaning of Life

Receiving the Knowledge of Life

The Inner Life

The Inner Life and Self Realization

Steps in the Spiritual Journey

The Interdependence of Life Within and Without

Interest and Indifference

The Four Kinds of Interest

The Four Kinds of Indifference

From Limitation to Perfection (1)

The Aspects of Religion

From Limitation to Perfection (2)

The Path of Attainment (1)

The Path of Attainment (2)

Stages on the Path of Self-realization

Stages of Belief in God

The Stages toward Perfection

Man, the Master of His Destiny (1)

Aspects of the Master-Mind

Man, the Master of His Destiny (2)

The Three Spheres

The Law of Action

2. Aspects of Law

Grades of Personality

The Three Laws

Purity of Life

Acknowledgment

Responsibility

The Continuity of Life

Sub-Heading

-ALL-

1. Making Wealth

2. Duty

3. Make the Best of the Present

4. Preparing for the Future

Vol. 6, The Alchemy of Happiness

The Four Ways People Take

3. Make the Best of the Present

The third purpose one chooses in life is to make the best of the present. It is the point of view of Omar Khayyam who told one to "Drink the cup of life just now." There is a quatrain in the Rubayat where he says:

O my Beloved, fill the cup that clears
Today of past regrets and future fears.
Tomorrow! why, tomorrow I may be
Myself with yesterday's sev'n thousand years!

It is the point of view of the person who says, "If I was great in the past, what does it matter? The past is forgotten. And the future who knows what will come out of it? No one knows his future. Let us make the best of this moment, let us make life as happy as we can." It is not a bad point of view. It is a philosophical point of view. Those who adhere to it are happy and give happiness to others.

No doubt all these different points of view have a wrong side also. But when we look at their right side there is something in it to appreciate.

People nowadays use a phrase: "He is a jolly good fellow." In songs and on different occasions this phrase is used to show appreciation for that tendency of mind which tries to make this moment happy. It is difficult, very difficult, and not everyone can manage to do it; for life has so many conflicts, so many troubles. One has to face so many difficulties in life that to be able to keep on smiling is not everyone's achievement. In order to keep smiling a person must either be very foolish and not feel or think about anything, but just close both his eyes and his heart to the world, or a person must be as high as the souls meant by the story of the miracle of Christ walking upon the water. There are some who sink and some who swim, and others who walk over the water. Those who are drowned in life's misery are those who cannot get out of it; they are tied down in the depths of life; they cannot get out and they are miserable there; they are the ones who sink. Then there are others who are swimming; they are those who strive through the conflicting conditions of life in order some day to reach the shore.

There are, however, others who walk upon life. Theirs is the life which is symbolically expressed in the miracle of Christ walking upon the water. It is like having in the world and not being of the world, touching the world and not being touched by it. It needs a clear perception of life, keen intelligence and thorough understanding, together with great courage, strength, and bravery. By this I do not mean to say that the man who makes the best of each present moment is the same as the man whom we call happy-go-lucky, the simple man. That man is the one who lives in another world; he is not aware of life's conditions, he is not awake to the conflicting influences of life; if he is happy it is not surprising, for he is happiness himself. I mean those who are awakened to life's conditions, those who are tender and sensitive to the thoughts and feelings of others. For them it is very difficult to go on living and at the same time to keep smiling. If a man can do it, it is certainly a great thing.