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

1920

1921

1922

1923

1924

1925

1926

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-ALL-

Constancy

On Spheres

Sufism

By Date

1920

On Spheres

Handwritten, for publication
in "The Sufi", Oct 1920

Each one has his circle of influence, large or small; within that sphere so many souls and minds are involved, with his rise they rise, with his fall they fall.

"Where your treasure is there will your heart be also." The size of a man's sphere corresponds to the extent of his sympathy, or we may say to the size of his heart. His sympathy holds his sphere together. As it grows, his sphere grows, as it is withdrawn or lessened so his sphere breaks up and scatters.

If he harms those who live and move within his sphere, those dependent upon him or upon his affection, he of necessity harms himself. His house, his palace, his cottage - his satisfaction or disgust in his environments are the creation of his own thought. Acting upon his thoughts and part of his own thoughts are the thoughts of those near to him, they depress him and destroy him, or encourage and support him, in proportion as he repels those around him by his coldness, or attracts them by his sympathy.

Each individual composes the music of his own life. If he injures another, he leaves his musical tract, he becomes inartistic, his sphere is disturbed, he is disturbed himself and there is a discord in the melody of his life.

If he can quicken the feeling of another to joy, or to gratitude, by that much he adds to his own life, he becomes himself by that much more alive. Whether conscious of it or unconscious, his thought is affected for the better by the joy or gratitude of another and his power and vitality increase thereby and the music of his life flows more masterly.

The worlds are held together by the heat of the sun. Each of us are atoms held in position by that eternal sun we call God. Within us is that same central power, we call it the light of God, or the love of God, and by it we too hold up the human beings within our sphere; or lacking it, we let them fall.

So God keeps all, and so we keep our friends and surroundings. With this knowledge life in the world becomes a glorious vision. Not that we are compelled to keep away from sin, but we learn what power virtue has.