The symbol of the Sufi Movement is a heart with wings. It explains that the heart is between soul and body, a medium between spirit and matter. When the soul is covered by its love for matter, it is naturally attracted to matter. This is the law of gravitation in abstract form, as it is said in the Bible, "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." When man treasures the things of the earth, his heart is drawn to the earth. But the heart is subject not only to gravitation, but also to attraction from on high, and as in the Egyptian symbology wings are the symbol of spiritual progress, so the heart with wings expresses that the heart reaches upward towards heaven.

The crescent in the heart suggests the responsiveness of the heart. The crescent represents the responsiveness of the crescent moon to the light of the sun, for naturally it receives the light, which develops it until it becomes the full moon. The principal teaching of Sufism is that of learning to become a pupil, for it is the pupil who has a chance of becoming a teacher, and once a person considers that he is a teacher, his responsiveness is gone. The greatest teachers of the world have been the greatest pupils. It is this principle which is represented by the crescent: the crescent in the heart signifies that the heart which is responsive to the light of God is illuminated.

The explanation of the five-pointed star is that it represents the divine light. For when the light comes, it has five points; when it returns, it has four, the former suggesting creation, the latter annihilation. The five-pointed star also represents the natural figure of man, though that with four points represents all forms of the world. But the form with five points is a development of the four-pointed form. For instance, if a man is standing with his legs joined and arms extended he makes a four-pointed form, but when a man shows activity--dancing, jumping, or moving one leg--he forms a five-pointed star, which represents a beginning of activity; in other words, a beginning of life.

It is the divine light which is represented by the five-pointed star, and the star is reflected in the heart which is responsive to the divine light. The heart which by its response has received the divine light is liberated, as the wings show. In brief, the meaning of the symbol is that the heart responsive to the light of God is liberated.

The Sufi message is the answer to the cry of humanity today; for it is in agreement with science, and it stands in defence of all religions. Our movement renders service to God and humanity, without any intention of forming an exclusive community, but of uniting in this service people of all the different religions. This movement, in its infancy, is only beginning its work, but its culmination will be a world movement. It is the world message, and the religion which will be the religion of the whole of humanity; a religion which does not distract the mind of any person from his own faith, but makes it more firm, more enlightened, more sympathetic to his own religion. It is a religion which teaches tolerance towards the faith of another; a religion which opens the heart to words of wisdom, no matter what direction they come from. This is not only a church, but a school in which to learn a lesson, the lesson of tolerance; to learn to revere all teachers and to respect all scriptures; a lesson which teaches us that we need not give up our own religion, but that we should embrace all religions in order to make the sacredness of religion perfect.

Was it not the wish of Krishna and of Buddha that wisdom in all its aspects should be understood, and was it not the desire of all those who have sacrificed their lives and energies in the service of man that humanity might be blessed and benefited by what they brought? Was it not the wish of Rama that all men in the world should come together in the understanding that there is only one religion? It was the unification of religion that was the dream of Jesus and the inspiration of Mohammed, that was the object of Abraham and the desire of Moses. That which the prophets of the past could not bring about, owing to the difficult conditions in their time, is brought about today as the fulfillment of their prayers offered for thousands of years. The blessing which we receive in this service is the blessing of all the great teachers and prophets and illumined souls, all in one.

The Universal Worship, therefore, is the religion of the future, which brings to humanity the ideal of the unification of religion; the ideal of getting above the sectarianism and the limited outlook of communities and groups. And we must remember that no political or social efforts will be complete without holding fast the ideal of truth, of uniting in God. This is the only source in which ultimately humanity must unite.