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. Background on Sufism2. Sufism--The Spirit of All Religions3. Sufism--Beyond Religion4. Sufism: Wisdom Of All Faiths5. Different Schools of Sufism6. The Intoxication of Life8. The Path of Initiation9. Reincarnation9. The Interdependence of Life Within and Without11. The Truth and the Way12. Sufi Mysticism, I: The Mystic's Path in Life13. Self-Realization: Awakening the Inner Senses14. The Doctrine of Karma15. The Law of Life: Inner Journey and Outer Action16. Sufi Mysticism, II: The Use of the Mind to Gain Understanding17. Sufi Mysticism, III: Preparing the Heart for the Path of Love18. Sufi Mysticism, IV: Use of Repose to Communicate with the Self19. Sufi Mysticsim, V: Realizing the Truth of Religion20. Sufi Mysticism, VI: The Way Reached by Harmonious Action21. Sufi Mysticism, VII: Human Actions Become Divine22. The Ideals and Aim of the Sufi Movement23. Working for the Sufi Message24. The Need of Humanity in Our Day25. The Duties of a Mureed26. The Path of Discipleship27. Divine Manner, I28. Divine Manner, II29. Our Sacred Task: The Message30. Sufi Initiation31. What is Wanted in Life? |
Sub-Heading -ALL-Ancient TraditionThe Sufi OrderThe Sufi Message |
Social Gathekas5. Different Schools of SufismThe Sufi MessageIn all periods of the history of the world and in all ancient traditions one finds traces of a call from above being given to communities, nations, races and the world at large. In the Koran it is said, "We have sent our messengers to every part of the earth, that they may not say they were not warned in time." All traditions declare that a messenger is given to the world at the time of the world's need. No doubt people have given an unnecessary and excessive importance to the personality of the messenger rather than to the message, and this is the very great error that humanity has made in every age. In taking the messenger instead of recognizing the message, they regarded the pen that wrote the letter instead of the contents of the letter. The letter and the writer are important; the pen is only the instrument. Thus differences came about in religion. The message has always been given at all periods; when it was more needed it was given with a loud voice, when it was less needed, gently. Christ has said, "I am Alpha and Omega." This means that he is first and last and thus is ever there, not that he is absent between time. The prophesy of Mohammed was: "Now that all the world has received the message through a man who is subject to all limitations and conditions of human life, the message will in the future be given without the claim." The Sufi message is destined to reawaken the world and to be a warning. The power of the inner force is constantly at work and this promises much for what is now formed as a nucleus composed of a few mureeds under the name of the Sufi Order to be the servant of the new era in the path of God and truth. I wish that my mureeds who feel in their hearts this trust shall not only receive the sacred message for their own unfoldment but shall feel the privilege of being a nucleus for the coming spiritual reconstruction of the world. The more conscious they will be of this, the more they will feel the responsibility they have in their life and the duty they must perform. Mureeds can show their devotion to Murshid and to the Cause by doing their very best and by devoting their thoughts and efforts in action to the rebuilding of the spiritual world. A Sufi is one who guards one's knowledge and wisdom and power in humble guise. A Sufi does not dispute on spiritual subjects with everyone, for this reason: the spiritual evolution of each one differs from that of the other, the knowledge of one cannot be the knowledge of the other, nor is the understanding of one the understanding of the other. A Sufi does not discuss beliefs, for the Sufi knows that at every step in spiritual evolution a person's belief changes until one arrives at a final belief which words cannot explain. The Sufi learns not only by the study of books but by the study of life. The whole of life is like an open book to a Sufi and every experience is a step forward in one's spiritual journey. A Sufi would rather learn than teach. A Sufi begins one's life by discipline and resignation, realizing that the path that leads to the goal of freedom is the path of self-control, patience, resignation, and renunciation. Freedom is the object of all esoteric schools, but one must not make the mistake of thinking that one can begin with that which is the end. To expect liberty in the beginning is to be like the seed thinking, "I must be a tree at once and bear fruit." The fruit is the outcome and object, the culmination if its existence; so is freedom the result of the journey. The path of freedom is an ideal, to understand the real meaning of which is not everyone's work. The method of the Sufi consists in this:
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