And now coming to the idea of aristocracy or democracy, what does Sufism teach? It is the greatest pity -- and every thoughtful person of every nation will realize it, if he would stand to look at life -- that the chivalry of the knights and the noble manners, the noble ideals that the ancient people, the aristocratic people had, seem to be finished today. And although they are not realizing it today, there will come a day when we will realize that something which was most beautiful in humanity has been lost. I do not mean to say that we must become today what the world was a hundred years before. It is not necessary, and it cannot be. But at the same time we need not forget and we need not disregard all that was beautiful at that time.

The human tendency is such that when something has gone down or when some idea has become an old idea, or an idea which they despise, they turn their back to it and forget all the good that the idea had. Many live their lives today without ideal, without principle, without a manner, and call it freedom. If that is freedom! That is the wrong meaning of freedom. That freedom cannot spread happiness, cannot produce beauty of manner and spirit. Therefore the work of Sufism is to create the nobleness of the spirit in man, not only occult powers and psychic powers and esoteric things and clairvoyance.

This is the foundation: a person must develop in his soul, cultivate in his spirit the nobleness of the soul. That is aristocracy. And then he will rise to the democracy, and that democracy is to be kind and good and respectful, tolerant and forgiving and friendly to the saint and sinner both. You go and see the Sufis in the world today: wherever you will go, you will find that spirit with a beautiful manner, with humility, with gentleness, meekness, dignity. Another thing is developed, and that is the democratic feeling. Never to despise anyone, never to hate, never to condemn, never to look down upon anyone, but to see the divine expression in all beings.

That is the balance of life. That is the aristocratic spirit of nobleness and the democratic spirit of tolerance that brings about equality, that brings about the balance we should strike in life.