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

PHILOSOPHY 1

PHILOSOPHY 2

PHILOSOPHY 3

PHILOSOPHY 4

PHILOSOPHY 5

MYSTICISM 1

MYSTICISM 2

MYSTICISM 3

MYSTICISM 4

MYSTICISM 5

MYSTICISM 6

MYSTICISM 7

METAPHYSICS 1

METAPHYSICS 2

METAPHYSICS 3

METAPHYSICS 4

PSYCHOLOGY 1

PSYCHOLOGY 2

PSYCHOLOGY 3

PSYCHOLOGY 4

PSYCHOLOGY 5

PSYCHOLOGY 6

PSYCHOLOGY 7

BROTHERHOOD 1

BROTHERHOOD 2

MISCELLANEOUS I

MISCELLANEOUS 2

MISCELLANEOUS 3

MISCELLANEOUS 4

MISCELLANEOUS 5

MISCELLANEOUS 6

MISCELLANEOUS 7

RELIGION 1

RELIGION 2

RELIGION 3

RELIGION 4

ART AND MUSIC 1

ART AND MUSIC 2

ART AND MUSIC 3

ART AND MUSIC 4

CLASS FOR MUREEDS 1

CLASS FOR MUREEDS 2

CLASS FOR MUREEDS 3

CLASS FOR MUREEDS 4

CLASS FOR MUREEDS 5

CLASS FOR MUREEDS 6

CLASS FOR MUREEDS 7

CLASS FOR MUREEDS 8

Sub-Heading

-ALL-

Art

Nature

Copying (1)

Improving

Copying (2)

Improvement

Illusion in Art

The Art of Copying Nature

The Art of Improvement

The One Who Improves

Observation

Symbology

THE SUPPLEMENTARY PAPERS

ART AND MUSIC 3

Improvement

The artist who improves indeed develops creative faculty, and this is rooted in that spirit which is the spirit of the Creator. To improve upon nature is to add to nature that which human nature has produced by a certain angle of vision. Improving is the perfection of nature. The path of the improver is risky. He sometimes has to produce what the human eye has never seen. Therefore his art, instead of appealing to the sense of beauty, often appeals to the sense of curiosity; and instead of bringing satisfaction, which must come through beauty, it may create a feeling of marvel. The artist must have a wonderful grace of form in order to improve to satisfaction.

There are many artists who develop an art which produces confusion in the spectator, and these are called "illusionists." They sometimes answer to the symbolical fancies of humankind; sometimes they appeal to the spiritualistic point of view; sometimes they produce a vision in their art, a feeling of something in a mist. This kind of art becomes of course a means of expressing the mystical ideas, but in the hands of the incompetent it is nothing but a meaningless art. And in the hands of the pretentious who wish to mystify people with their skill, it is nothing but a means of entertainment. The best way of improving upon nature is by keeping close to nature and yet amplifying the beauty of nature in painting, which is no doubt the true art.