The Teaching of Hazrat Inayat Khan
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Volume SayingsSocial GathekasReligious GathekasThe Message PapersThe Healing PapersVol. 1, The Way of IlluminationVol. 1, The Inner LifeVol. 1, The Soul, Whence And Whither?Vol. 1, The Purpose of LifeVol. 2, The Mysticism of Sound and MusicVol. 2, The Mysticism of SoundVol. 2, Cosmic LanguageVol. 2, The Power of the WordVol. 3, EducationVol. 3, Life's Creative Forces: Rasa ShastraVol. 3, Character and PersonalityVol. 4, Healing And The Mind WorldVol. 4, Mental PurificationVol. 4, The Mind-WorldVol. 5, A Sufi Message Of Spiritual LibertyVol. 5, Aqibat, Life After DeathVol. 5, The Phenomenon of the SoulVol. 5, Love, Human and DivineVol. 5, Pearls from the Ocean UnseenVol. 5, Metaphysics, The Experience of the Soul Through the Different Planes of ExistenceVol. 6, The Alchemy of HappinessVol. 7, In an Eastern Rose GardenVol. 8, Health and Order of Body and MindVol. 8, The Privilege of Being HumanVol. 8a, Sufi TeachingsVol. 9, The Unity of Religious IdealsVol. 10, Sufi MysticismVol. 10, The Path of Initiation and DiscipleshipVol. 10, Sufi PoetryVol. 10, Art: Yesterday, Today, and TomorrowVol. 10, The Problem of the DayVol. 11, PhilosophyVol. 11, PsychologyVol. 11, Mysticism in LifeVol. 12, The Vision of God and ManVol. 12, Confessions: Autobiographical Essays of Hazat Inayat KhanVol. 12, Four PlaysVol. 13, GathasVol. 14, The Smiling ForeheadBy DateTHE SUPPLEMENTARY PAPERS | Heading 1. Man, the Purpose of Creation2. Character-Building3. Human Nature4. Self-realization5. The Art of Personality6. Man is likened to the Light7. Truth8. Selflessness - Inkisar9. Indifference - Vairagya10. Independence and Indifference11. Overlooking - Darquza12. Graciousness - Khulq13. Conciliation - Ittifaq14. Consideration - Murawwat15. Tact16. Spirituality17. Innocence18. Holiness19. Resist not Evil20. Resignation21. Struggle and Resignation22. Renunciation23. Sacrifice24. Ambition25. Satisfaction26. Harmlessness27. A Question about Vegetarianism28. Unselfish Actions29. Expectations30. Be a Lion Within31. Humility31. Moral Culture33. Hope34. Patience35. Confidence36. Faith37. Faith and Doubt38. The Story of Orpheus39. Happiness40. The Privilege of Being Human |
Sub-Heading -ALL-Echo in the DomeMorality with GodMorality with friendsMorality towards enemies |
Vol. 8, The Privilege of Being Human31. Moral CultureEcho in the DomeWe distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong by our own experiences. One man has a good experience from a certain thing and at once calls it good; another has a bad experience from the same thing and calls it bad. A person who may seem very bad to some is called good by his friend. In a person who leads a merry life one may be sure, by looking carefully, to find some good, such as may not be found in persons of great repute for their holiness and spirituality. Man is born with such a critical tendency and has so much developed this tendency that he easily seeks what is bad in everything. The Sufi takes the contrary way; he seeks for what is good in everyone and everything. The way of morality is to think that if someone has done us some good it is very great, and if we have done good to someone to think that it is very little and that we might have done more. If a person has done something bad to us we should forget it as soon as possible, and if we have done something bad we should think that a great fault. If we see something that seems bad to us we should overlook it, disregard it, forgive it. This is the only way of happiness and peace. We must never think, "You did so much good to me, I do so much good to you." That makes all goodness and kindness a commercial transaction: you give me a hat, and I give you a pair of gloves! If someone finds fault with another, he will try to get us to agree with him. He will say, "That person is doing this. Is it not dreadful?." If we say, "Yes, yes, it is terrible", our fault will be as great, or greater, than his. Whatever is said or done echoes in the world as in a dome, and what good or bad a person does comes back to him. It may not always come back from the same person to whom he did good or harm. It may come from quite another side, because the universe is not many beings, but one Being. If a man does harm to a person who did nothing to him, that person is receiving back what bad he once did to another. However, that does not justify you, as an individual, in doing harm. When good is done, it also comes back as good, maybe from another side. Only the Murshid who is responsible for his mureeds, or the father who is responsible for his children, may say to the face of the mureed or the child, "My child, this is not right for you", but he may not tell it to others. |