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 Superstitions, Customs, and BeliefsInsightSymbologyBreathMoralsEveryday LifeMetaphysics |
Sub-Heading -ALL-1.1, Saf1.2, Tat Twam Asi1.3, The Glance of the Seer1.4, Divine Evidence1.5, Openness1.6, Movement (1)1.7, Movement (2)1.8, The Study of the Whole1.9, The Mystery of Expression1.10, Different Qualities of Mind2.1, The Reproduction of the Mental Record2.2, Impression2.3, The Balance of Life2.4, The Language of the Mind2.5, The Influence of Experience2.6, Intuition2.7, Evidence of the Thought2.8, The Activity of Mind2.9, Likes and Dislikes2.10, Viparit Karna3.1, Reason Is Earth-Born3.2, The Word and the Idea3.3, The Expression and the Idea3.4, The Power of Words3.5, The Re-Echo of the Past3.6, Interest in All Things3.7, Vairagya3.8, A Silent Music3.9, Three Ways To Develop Insight3.10, Tranquility |
Vol. 13, GathasInsight2.5, The Influence of ExperienceBeneath the five senses there is one principal sense that works through the others. It is through this sense that one feels deeply, and distinguishes between the impressions which come from outside. Every impression and experience gained by this sense is recorded on the mind. This record is made up of deep lines, and the nature of these lines deeply set in the mind is to want the same thing that has already been recorded, according to the depth of the line. And it is according to the depth of these lines that one needs the thing that one has once experienced. For instance the liking for salt, sour, or pepper are acquired tastes, and the sign of this acquisition is the deep line on the mind. Each line so produced wishes to live upon its impression, and the lack of that experience is like death to that line. Unpleasant flavors, such as that of fish, or vinegar, or cheese, become pleasant after the line is formed; tastes even more unpalatable than these may become excessively agreeable once the line is well-engraved on the mind. The same rule is applicable to notes of music. A certain combination of notes, or a certain arrangement, when once impressed on the mind, may become very agreeable to it. The more one hears the music which has once been impressed on our mind the more one wants to hear it. And one never becomes tired of it, unless another, deeper line is formed; then the first line may be neglected and become a dead line. It is for that reason that the music that belongs to a certain people, whether evolved or unevolved, is their ideal music. Therefore it is not the music written without, it is the music written within the mind that has influence. This is the reason why composers resemble each other in their music, for the lines that are impressed upon their minds have been created by what they have heard, and as the first lines are inherited from other composers there is a resemblance in their music. In this way the music of every people forms its own character. The same law works in poetry. One enjoys poetry from one's previous impressions. If the poetry that one reads is not in harmony with the first impressions one will not enjoy it so much. The more one reads a certain poetry the more one enjoys it, because of the deep impression on the mind. From this we learn that not only what is desirable but also what is undesirable may become a favorite thing. Even things that one would never like to have, such as pain, illness, worry or death, if they are deeply impressed on one's mind, one unconsciously longs to experience again.
It is very interesting to find that if a man has formed an opinion about a certain thing or person and after a time there has been everything to disprove that opinion, he will still hold on to his impression and will not like to change his opinion, because of these lines deeply impressed on his mind. How true is what the mystic says, that the true ego of man is his mind! And it is still more amusing to find that after spending his life under the influence of the deep impressions on his mind man still boasts of what he calls his free will. |