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

PHILOSOPHY 1

PHILOSOPHY 2

PHILOSOPHY 3

PHILOSOPHY 4

PHILOSOPHY 5

MYSTICISM 1

MYSTICISM 2

MYSTICISM 3

MYSTICISM 4

MYSTICISM 5

MYSTICISM 6

MYSTICISM 7

METAPHYSICS 1

METAPHYSICS 2

METAPHYSICS 3

METAPHYSICS 4

PSYCHOLOGY 1

PSYCHOLOGY 2

PSYCHOLOGY 3

PSYCHOLOGY 4

PSYCHOLOGY 5

PSYCHOLOGY 6

PSYCHOLOGY 7

BROTHERHOOD 1

BROTHERHOOD 2

MISCELLANEOUS I

MISCELLANEOUS 2

MISCELLANEOUS 3

MISCELLANEOUS 4

MISCELLANEOUS 5

MISCELLANEOUS 6

MISCELLANEOUS 7

RELIGION 1

RELIGION 2

RELIGION 3

RELIGION 4

ART AND MUSIC 1

ART AND MUSIC 2

ART AND MUSIC 3

ART AND MUSIC 4

CLASS FOR MUREEDS 1

CLASS FOR MUREEDS 2

CLASS FOR MUREEDS 3

CLASS FOR MUREEDS 4

CLASS FOR MUREEDS 5

CLASS FOR MUREEDS 6

CLASS FOR MUREEDS 7

CLASS FOR MUREEDS 8

Sub-Heading

-ALL-

The Aim of Life (1)

The Aim of Life (2)

The Journey Towards the Goal

THE SUPPLEMENTARY PAPERS

PHILOSOPHY 4

The Journey Towards the Goal

"Every being is from God and will return unto Him."

This Sura of the Qur'an tells us the fact that for all, good and bad, wise and foolish, believers and unbelievers, pious and infidel, there is one goal in the end, that which has been the origin of all. You may call it God, consciousness or the first cause of all causes. Also the above Sura explains that the journey from the original source to the manifestation is as necessary as the return from manifestation to the origin. Either by an effort or without it the circle will be accomplished by both willing and unwilling, developed and undeveloped, the difference only lies in time, in sooner or later, which seems not different and yet it makes a vast difference.

The various aspects of the manner of reaching or attaining can be described as a person journeying on foot, or on horseback, or on a bicycle, or in a motor, or in the electric train, or in a balloon, or he may reach his destination in an airplane. There is no fixed period for the time of arriving, for some it needs but a moment of time for their upliftment, while for others a thousand such lives would not be sufficient. The speed of accomplishment depends alone on the proportion of one's illumination. Generally speaking there are five paths chosen by the seekers after truth: devotion, morality, wisdom, power and annihilation.

Although each one of them is equally important and necessary, yet the attainment of self-realization is necessary, and without self-realization they are not of great use for perfection. Of course one helps the other, the heartfelt devotion causes morality to spring forth in the nature, and the development of morals illuminates a person, making him wise and it is wisdom which gives unchallengeable power and it is that power which fights against delusions and conquers the mortal self.

This Sura explains that the original source, the true self of all the selfs has journeyed through different planes in order to manifest in the universe, and its necessary re-action is the journey back towards the goal. Therefore man, beast bird, insect, all things and beings are attracted to Him. All are journeying toward the goal unconsciously, with the exception of man, and yet man has to go also without the knowledge of his journey for some time through life until he has found the true cause of his life's miseries. There is an innate yearning for something comforting, agreeable and beautiful, but at first man seeks the object to satisfy his yearning among the seeming objects on earth. This goes on until at each earthly attainment he experiences either a momentary satisfaction or a disappointment for certain. He then chooses the freedom from dependence upon the objects without and seeks the true object which always attracted and which was within himself. God bless you.