There are perhaps mystics in all peoples, and there is a mystic side to all religions. This shows that mysticism does not come from the East or from the West, it is a human inheritance and belongs to the soul. Every religion: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, has a mystic aspect, and this shows that mysticism belongs to every religion, and it also shows that religion needs a mystical aspect to manifest in its fullness.

In its last stages, the world has passed through so much, so many centuries of materialism, that when one nowadays speaks of mysticism, it is looked upon as something vague and incomprehensible. Mysticism has always existed as a human inheritance, but the waves of materialism have effaced it. We should understand the difference between religion, morality, mysticism and philosophy.

Religion is a law of beauty given to humanity by the masters of life. Morality is a prescription of principles adopted by a number of persons at a given period. Philosophy is an explication of names, forms, conditions and circumstances which are known by logic and knowledge. Mysticism is a way that is incomprehensible to most people, because it is a way of getting to the center of life and things, which the other ways take centuries to get to. The source where mystics get their knowledge from is the Divine Source, of which Christ says, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and all things shall be added unto you." The ordinary person cannot understand that by sitting down and closing his eyes a man can get knowledge. He also cannot see how one can get knowledge without learning from exterior sources, because all his life he has been used to that. [Note: In the place ("prescription") and ("explication") there were open spaces in the original text. These two words were added, and therefore are not authentic.]

And so it is that no religious man or philosopher however good and pure can get at the knowledge of the mystic, because the mystic's knowledge is the greatest of all. Just as a man standing on the mountain sees more than he who stands at the bottom. Or, can a man who wants to see the moon see it by looking on the ground? The words of Christ, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God" are so simple, and yet understood by so few. The Christ-spirit is the mystic spirit. Even before Christ mysticism has always existed. Buddha, Krishna, Moses and Mohammed, all walked the path of the mystic. Can you tell me of Krishna going to an academy to learn? Or Christ or any other teacher learning from outer sources? No, their knowledge came from the Divine Source.

Of course it makes the materialist wonder: What can be the source where all the knowledge of the world is accumulated.

There is a very interesting story about Firdausi, the great Persian poet, who has written the Shahnama. One shah of Persia once desired documents of the ancient history of Persia which no one could find; there was only this poet who offered to do so. Everyone wondered how that could be done, but he said: "Wait and you will see." He went to the solitude for ten years and then he came back to the court with his book called Shahnama.

As he was still linked with the current of his solitary life he was not quite himself; and when one of the knights who was very critical asked where one could find that knowledge, Firdausi called him and said: "Come and sit by me, and close your eyes and see." And then that skeptical man saw all the pictures of the ancient past pass before his eyes.

But a man may say: "If one is to become a mystic for the knowledge that mysticism gives, it is not worth while, because there is already so much knowledge in the world." But it is not only knowledge that the soul seeks, there are other things. and one is the longing for a lasting happiness which man never has. Whatever his condition or occupation there is always something to complain of.

And this means that the home of the fish is water, and on earth, even on a even on a tray of gold, it is not happy. The real home of man is the spirit of God, and elsewhere he will never be satisfied. Man cannot understand this, because he gets a little substitute called pleasure. Another thing is that this pleasure is momentary, and he must always suffer to get it; there is always pain attached to pleasure and one must pat a good price for it. The true happiness is never experienced by man until he has touched that happiness that lives in his own heart. If you ask me what that happiness is like, I will tell you that it is impossible to explain to someone who has never tasted sugar, to know what sugar is like. So one cannot explain this happiness except to someone who has felt it.

There is another thing mystics experience, and this is ecstasy, and this cannot either be explained to one who has not felt it. As there are many people who profess to be mystics, the real mystic keeps his experiences to himself. As now in the Western world these thoughts are coming to be known, many people make a profession of clairvoyance and spirit communication, a degeneration of real mysticism, which is the greatest thing. In the East these things are under the protection of religion.

Think of what loss the world has to face when mysticism degenerates into these forms becoming commercialized and a sacrilege. Ecstasy is a well of light and love which rises from the bottom of man's heart, and so high that it washes away all worries and troubles of life. The condition of man's heart depends on its reflection of this Divine Light, as the condition of the sea depends on its reflection of the Cosmic Light. The cosmic changes make the sea agitated or calm. In one's heart there are moments of calm so great that it charges the whole atmosphere, and moments when the forces rise in man, and wash away all troubles and worldly things. A poet or a gifted musician feels the same, and if you ask me why, I will say that it is that he could not create beauty, unless he were an instrument of Divine Beauty, which is the greatest creator.

Of course a mystic who dives deep, and makes his heart an instrument of the Divine Being, experiences a greater ecstasy. And as the sea responds to the cosmos more than the land, so the heart of the mystic responds to the Divine Light more than the heart of the average man. His heart is liquid, and that of the average man as frozen snow. Where does this freezing come from, since snow is also water. It comes from the thought of "I", "my father, my mother, my beloved, my friend, mine, and separate from yours." Whereas the first lesson of the mystic is, "Thou art, and not I." It is not only complete surrender to God, it is self-effacement. And what does the symbol of the cross explain? That "Thou art, not me, my hands are not for me, my feet are not for me, my head is not for me, they are all Thine."

The saying of the Qur'an, "Die before death," does not mean suicide, it means the death of the "I", the separate self. It is an error of man to call his tent his home. It is not a home, it is a tent. The body is also a tent which is temporary, he calls it I, but it is not "I." The pleasures of life make him forget what it is in him that says "I." Think only of the helplessness, sickness and death of the body. Man never thinks of it, but acts as though he should live thousands of years on the earth. There is no condition, rank or wealth that can secure man's life. What is it that makes him think he is something when he is really nothing? If he can only think of what is nothing, he will realize that what was, is, and shall be is one Being, God.

Living with God is immortality. The Bible from the beginning teaches us to look for immortality within ourselves. Therefore the mystic's path is not one of study, but of meditation. In eastern language this is called Yoga, which means connection, yoke, and this is to connect oneself with the Divine Spirit. And what disconnects one is the realization of one's separate entity, and what connects one is the thought of God. Sufis, as all other mystics have had their schools in all ages of this inner cult. And it must be considered a privilege that East and West are coming closer together, that the poetry and music and philosophy of East and West are becoming known to each other. And the happiness of humanity lies in friendship and harmony between East and West. And there are many ways of doing this, but there is none better than the thought of God, and love between men. It is the essential spirit, and by this all can unite.

The Message of the Sufis has been given in America, France and England, and is now being given here in Switzerland, and all are welcomed, because in the love and light of the path of God, there is no distinction or difference. No doubt the Movement of the Sufis is working to bring about a better understanding between races and peoples, but its essential work is to open the inner eyes of man.