The name "Sufi Order" is used to define the esoteric school of our movement. Initiation is given to those who desire this, and by this the door is opened to the esoteric school, and one enters the order. There are no obligations or discipline as would make it difficult for anyone to follow it.

Now about what is taught in the esoteric school. In a few words: it is the raising of the consciousness from the limitations of our person. How is this done? By the way of concentration and meditation. How is this to be done? By the sacred word, the elementary explanation of which [Emile] Coué has been giving. Coué says, by repeating a certain number of times to yourself that your health is good, you can regain that health. He has been opposed very much, and has been very successful. Now when a person is using the word and its repetition in order to regain his health, very few things are accomplished, and compared with the spiritual attainment it is still small. But, intellectually, Coué is explaining the same thing the Sufi Order explains for the higher attainment. No comparison can there be between those two things. There are pebbles and precious stones, but all are called stones.

Man seems to have lost at this time a communication with himself by the tremendous responsibilities of everyday life. The Sufi Order by its initiation helps one to come in communication with oneself. This opens the door to the heart. All the mysteries and wonders of life are gained when one has got in communication with one's own heart. It is therefore that we in the Sufi Order do not occupy ourselves with wonder-working or any other sort of communication; we only pay attention to communicating with ourselves to find our deeper self.

What is the difference between the work a Sufi does and that of another mystic? In the East the Yogi mystics are the most known, and it is worth while to consider what difference there is.

The Yogi tries to touch the infinite by diving deep into his innermost being; and the process he takes is to close himself and move as far away from the world as he can. And by doing this he reaches that depth which is the goal everyone is seeking.
The methods of the Sufi differ from those of the Yogis in that the Sufi opens himself to all that is good and beautiful. He says that to go back to the infinite without having known all that is beautiful here is absurd. He wants to love all the beauty of the earth, and so he opens himself. Therefore his path is very difficult -- to love and yet not to be attached; to be in the crowd, and yet in the solitude; to be in the world and yet be above it.

And by this process the Yogi reaches in thousands of years what the Sufi reaches in one year. He believes in opening himself to the beauty of the world.

Self-denial to a Sufi is different to those who deny themselves all things of life. Self-denial for the Sufi is the denial of the false self which one had as the conception of self. His whole concentration and meditation is meant to get rid of that false conception of himself. A Sufi says: Man's very being is truth. It cannot be taught nor learned. It exists. The realization must come by itself. There are no doubt some studies to go through, but that is not the main thing. Meditation and concentration are only taught to make it easy for a person to advance. Truth is not an object to be given, it is one's own being. One can realize the truth by communicating with oneself.

In what way are we Sufis doing our work in the Western world? Sufis always have adopted the ways of the different people they were living among and of the countries they were staying in. Here in the Western world we give it partly in the form of the Christian religion and partly in the form of the modern terminology. Truth is truth and those who understand it, to them it does not make any difference in what outer form it shows itself.

The path that we tread is a delicate path. The less spoken of it the better. We cannot keep it too sufficiently in a humble garb. For the more we value it, the more it is necessary to keep it humbly. Nor do we urge our ideas upon others. Our service is a most delicate one and therefore we have a great responsibility, and we must not force our ideas upon any earnest seeker after truth. Our task is difficult, but by realizing it every day more, you understand my difficulty from your own difficulties. Our sacrifices a thousand times are blest in the service of humanity and the blessing of light, of God. We must overcome the feeling of physical weakness.

The secret is one, which is: to try and to maintain harmony in every situation. It is a very difficult task to begin with, but in time one will get accustomed to it. The first thing to be thought of is whether it will bring harmony, as God asks from us to do his higher work.

You can only live in the world in one of two conditions: either being a peacemaker or a fighter, but one must be a good fighter in order to win every battle. Life is a continual battle, but warfare does not only ask strength, it requires some sense also. And to be a peacemaker one must be friends with everyone. However insignificant the person is, you must harmonize, else it would be impossible to live. This strain to harmonize causes a strain upon one every day. But still, in trying to harmonize his life becomes easier and easier. And then it's like a wonder-working.

It is not only a story that Daniel tamed lions. It is much more difficult to tame human beings; for this one must understand the psychology of human nature. There is a slang expression, which says: "They've rubbed him raw." it takes a long time of getting over this little error of rubbing raw.

People think that there is an art to study or practice, but I say: Life itself is an art and if one can learn how to live, one has learned the only thing one really wants. Besides if one knows the psychology of human nature, one sees how very often one overlooked an act of human kindness to be done. Some natures there are who only need a word of human sympathy and of comfort, of kindness. If we do not listen to people at the right moment, very often we lose a battle which we might have won by having listened to him and having understood his wants. No strength is needed, only tact.

It is this wonder-working of a person which has done miracles. There is no greater miracle to perform than to create harmony in one's life, one's home, one's office, one's work.

The more you advance in life, the more you will see people like children. If you rise above it, you will be able to create harmony. You must feel grown-up yourself; you must feel the power of the grown-up person. No grown-up will fight with a child. The best thing to do is to waken in everybody the good that is in everyone. Very often a proud person, as you have overlooked his pride, feels his pride melt away at once. As soon as your pride stands against the proud person then there will be a battle.

It is the continual desire to create harmony which creates the greatness in life.

Resignation and Struggle

Beloved Ones of God,
I would like to speak on the subject of the different paths through which one attains the spiritual goal. There are two distinct paths, and both are quite contrary one from another. The one is the path of resignation, the other is the path of struggle. No doubt in the path of struggle there is also resignation, and in the path of resignation there is also struggle. The only thing is, that the one who is treading the path of resignation has only one thought: to be resigned. And for the one who strikes the path of struggle, the main object is to struggle.

Christ has taught these two paths in a symbolical way when he says to Peter: "Take your sword and sheathe it" [John 18:11].

The taking of the sword means struggle, to cover it is resignation. The necessity of these two paths is so great; it is not possible that the one is ignored, and that only one is accepted.

Often people make the meaning of Sufism as passivism. But it is not passivism, it is activism and passivism both. It is the knowing of the secret of life of man on earth, of what he needs, for his character, for his condition. When we reflect upon these principles, we find that in life there are things to which we can only be resigned. It is easy to be resigned to things that one cannot help, but if one has the power to struggle it is difficult to be resigned. But a person who is resigned in easy conditions and does not find it difficult, that person does not know resignation.

For instance, there is a person whose poor relations wanted a part of his capital because they were in great need, and in spite of all needs, this person could not be resigned to let them have that part of it. Then in the night came the robbers. They broke in the house and went away with the fortune. The next day this person resigned himself to that. This resignation is no virtue.

To resign is when one has the power to manage, and then resigns.

All the great ones have seen the value of resignation and have taught it.

Christ has said: If someone wants you to walk a distance with him, walk with him a longer distance. [Matthew 5:41]

What does that teach? Resignation. One might think that resignation is impractical. This selfish world will take the best of one. Yes, it is true, but the loss is much less, compared to the gain. If only the heart can sustain the loss. If one is not contented with what has been done it is better not to resign.

For an instance: if an acquaintance comes to your house and asks to take your umbrella, and you say yes. Now comes the time that you want to go out; it is raining and your umbrella is taken. Now you grumble about that acquaintance: how stupid of him, how could he have the boldness to ask my only umbrella? That resignation is of no good, it bears no fruit. This resignation would only be a virtue when going in the rain yet you were satisfied because the other person was safe from it; that only is virtue of resignation.

One who is really resigned does not show it; it is not an easy thing. How many people in this world try to learn wonderful spiritual things. But the simple thing of resignation is miraculous. For this virtue is not only beautiful, it is a miracle. And there are little things in which there is resignation, in which we do not see resignation, and where yet it is.

Those around us might ask us to do something to which we feel not pleased.
Those around us perhaps say something that we do not wish to take silently, we wish to talk back.
Then there are the little pin-pricks from those around us in everyday life.

If we are not resigned we feel excited every moment. Therefore to be resigned is not weakness, it is a great strength.

When one goes further one finds that one can be resigned even to cold and heat, with places congenial and uncongenial; that all has a meaning, a benefit. And if we do not form a habit of being resigned, we just as well could have resigned. Not having resigned to an experience is a loss of occasion.

Besides this there are two forces working: the individual power and the collective power. In Sufi terms the one is qadr, the other qaza. Very often the individual power will not surrender. If this is not so, it is crushed. For an instance, in a country someone is called to the arms, but he says he will not join. In spite of all the beauty of his ideal he is helpless before the might of the whole nation. Here one must resign under the condition where there is a conflict between a less and a greater power; here resignation is the only solution.

No doubt everything must be understood rightly. Resignation preached foolishly is not a benefit.

There was a mureed learning from a murshid the lesson of resignation, and the simple mureed, thinking of this subject, was walking when a mad elephant was coming from the other side. As this mureed was going in the thought of resignation, he stayed in the midst of the road. There was a wise man who told him to go away, but he would not because he was resigning to the elephant, until he was pushed away by the strength of the elephant. They brought him to his murshid who asked him: "How are you hurt so much?" He answered that he was practicing resignation. The murshid said: "But was not there anybody who told you to go away?" "Yes", he answered, "but I would not listen". "But", said the murshid, "why did not you resign to that person?"

Therefore often beautiful principles can be practised to the greatest disadvantage.

Nevertheless resignation has proved to be the path of saints, because it develops patience in man. And what is patience? It is all treasure there is. Nothing is more valuable, nothing a greater bliss than patience.

There is a story of a prophet who was very ill, and who suffered many years. But through his suffering his insight became more clear. His suffering was so great that those around him became tired of it, and so he had to seek the refuge of God in the forest, to relieve them of his pain. As his sight was keen and the ears of his heart were open, he heard from trees: "I am the medicine of your disease". The prophet asked: "Has the time of my cure come?" There came a voice: "No". Then he said: "Why shall I take you then?" Another time he had another experience. He heard: "I am the medicine of your disease". He asked: "Has the time of my cure come?" The answer came: "Yes". The prophet said: "Why shall I take you?" For he could still not resign.

When we think of this extreme ideal we might ask: "But is this not unpractical?" Specially in this time, where there are so many treatments, so many mechanical things. But a thoughtful person will find how many people have ruined their lives by going from one treatment to another, lacking patience and resignation in which reside their absolute cure. The remedy is not always the answer of the difficulty; often patience is the answer. It seems as if man becomes more and more impatient every day owing to his superfluous life. There is hardly any resignation to little things. But it is better to resign than to struggle.

When we put the mystic light upon this subject, we find that we form a harmonious connection with the infinite by being resigned. How to learn it? Must we do it by being resigned to God? No, that is a greater lesson to learn. The first thing to learn is to resign to the little difficulties in life. And what is that? Not to be as something that strikes against everything coming against it. When one were able to manage this, one would not need to cultivate a great power. Then the presence of that person is a healing. Such a person is in the world more than every branch of the rose: they have many thorns, and there is hardly one flower.

Question: Some people say, "I cannot rise above my faults". What could they do to overcome them?
Answer: As I have said: struggle in the spiritual path, struggle is the only thing.

I shall give an example of a person facing a struggle: a person who has a disagreeable conversation, who has an inclination to retort. At the same time this person has no battle with this, of giving back. By letting his force go out, by insulting back, he has lost his power. By controlling this inclination, one has a thousandfold greater power. For the moment that it happens, to humiliate oneself, to crush one's pride, to crush oneself, one feels crushed both sides, by not answering and then by crushing oneself. "I have given back too" gives a little pride, a satisfaction.

Question: What is the way the dance of the soul expresses itself?
Answer: The difference is of the water in the tank and the running water of a stream. In the tank, it is still, lying dead. So a person can be dull, heavy, depressed. The water of the running stream is dancing at every step. So the dancing soul is ready to see the beauty of music, truth, colour, line. The dancing soul it is which attracts to itself as the little stream of water, and will bring pleasure and satisfaction to all who see.

Crucifixion and Fana

from PoL 1924-07-07

As long as man is striving for power, as everyone is striving in some way or the other, without the knowledge of that power which is all-sufficient, there will always be a disappointment, for he will always find limitedness. His ideal will always go forward and he will find himself short of power. It is only by getting in touch with the almighty power that he will begin to realize the all-powerful and the phenomena of the almighty. And the question is, how should one get in touch with that almighty power?

As long as before one stands one's little personality, as long as one cannot get rid of it, as long as one's own person and all that is related and connected with it interests one, one will always find limitations. And that power is touched only by one way, and that is the way of self-effacement, which in the Bible is called self-denial.

People interpret it otherwise; self-denial means, they say, to deny to oneself all the happiness and pleasures of this earth. If it was to deny the happiness and pleasure of this earth", then why this earth was made? Only to deny? If it was made to deny it was very cruel. For the continuing seeking of man is for happiness. Self-denial is to deny that little personality which creeps up with everything, to efface this false ego which prompts one to feel his little power in this thing or that thing.

And how is it to be attained? It is to be attained not only by prayer or by worship or by believing in God. It is to be attained by forgetting oneself in God. Belief in God is the first step. What is to be attained by the belief of God is forgetting oneself in God.

If one is able to do it, one has attained then a power which is beyond human comprehension. The process of attaining this is called fana by the Sufis. Fana is not necessarily a destruction in God. Fana results into what may be called a resurrection in God, which is symbolized by the picture of Christ.

The Christ on the cross is narrative of fana, which means: I am not." And the idea of resurrection explains the next stage, which is baqa and which means "Thou art," which means the rising towards the almighty. Divine spirit is to be recognized in that rising towards almighty.

This fana is not attained by torturing oneself, by tormenting oneself, by giving oneself a great many troubles, as many ascetics do, for even after torturing themselves, they will not come to the realization if they were not meant to. It is by denying one's little self, the false self which covers one's real self, in which the essence of divine being is to be found.

By Date

1924

-ALL-

By Date

1924

The Inner Meaning of the Sufi Order

Resignation and Struggle

Crucifixion and Fana