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

The Alchemy of Happiness

The Aim of Life

The Purpose of Life (1)

The Five Inclinations

The Purpose of Life (2)

The Four Ways People Take

The Ultimate Purpose of Life

The Art of Personality

The Development of Personality

The Attitude

The Secret of Life

What is Wanted in Life?

Life, a Continual Battle (1)

Life, a Continual Battle (2)

The Struggle of Life (1)

The Struggle of Life (2)

Reaction

The Deeper Side of Life

Life, An Opportunity

Our Life's Experience

Communicating with Life

The Intoxication of Life (1)

The Intoxication of Life (2)

The Meaning of Life

Receiving the Knowledge of Life

The Inner Life

The Inner Life and Self Realization

Steps in the Spiritual Journey

The Interdependence of Life Within and Without

Interest and Indifference

The Four Kinds of Interest

The Four Kinds of Indifference

From Limitation to Perfection (1)

The Aspects of Religion

From Limitation to Perfection (2)

The Path of Attainment (1)

The Path of Attainment (2)

Stages on the Path of Self-realization

Stages of Belief in God

The Stages toward Perfection

Man, the Master of His Destiny (1)

Aspects of the Master-Mind

Man, the Master of His Destiny (2)

The Three Spheres

The Law of Action

2. Aspects of Law

Grades of Personality

The Three Laws

Purity of Life

Acknowledgment

Responsibility

The Continuity of Life

Sub-Heading

-ALL-

1. Concept of God

2. The Teacher

3. Manner of Worship

4. Morals

5. Self-realization

Vol. 6, The Alchemy of Happiness

The Aspects of Religion

2. The Teacher

Another aspect of religion is the aspect of the teacher. For instance, Christ. There are those who see divinity in Christ. They say, "Christ was God, Christ is divine." And there are others who say, "Christ was a man, one like all of us." When we come to look at this question, we see that the man who says, "Christ is divine" is not wrong. If there is any divinity shown it is in man. And the one who says, "Christ was a man" is not wrong either. In the garb of man Christ manifested.

Those who do not want Christ to be a man, drag down the greatness and sacredness of the human being by their argument, by saying that man is made of sin, and by separating Christ from humanity. But there is nothing wrong in calling Christ God or divine. It is in man that divine perfection is to be seen. It is in man that divinity is manifested.

There are Christ's own words, "I am Alpha and Omega." Many close their eyes to this, but the one who said, "I am Alpha and Omega" existed also before the coming of Jesus, and the one who says, "first and last", must exist also after Jesus.

In the words of Christ there is the idea of perfection. He identified himself with that spirit of which he was conscious. Christ was not conscious of his human part, but of his perfect being when he said, "I am Alpha and Omega." He did not identify himself here with his being known as Jesus. He identified himself with that spirit of perfection which lived before Jesus and will continue to live to the end of the world, for eternity.

If this is so then what does it matter if some say, "Buddha inspired us", and millions are inspired by Buddha? It is only a difference of name. It is all Alpha and Omega. If others say Moses, or Mohammed, or Krishna, what difference does it make? Where did the inspiration come from? Was it not from one and the same spirit? Was it not the same Alpha and Omega of which Jesus christ was conscious? Whoever gives the message to the world, whatever illuminated human beings have raised thousands and millions of people in the world, they cannot but be that same Christ whom the one calls by this name and the other by another name.

Yet human ignorance always causes wars and disasters on account of different religions, different communities, because of the importance they give to their own conception, their own corrupted conception which differs from another. Even now on the one hand there is materialism and on the other there is bigotry. What is necessary today is to find the first and last religion, to come to the message of Christ, to divine wisdom, so that we may recognize wisdom in all its different forms, in whatever form it has been given to humanity. It does not matter if it is Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism. It is one wisdom, that call of the Spirit which awakens man to rise above limitation and to reach perfection.