This idea belongs to the inner cult of all ages, and in the secret teaching there is this teaching about the word that was lost. Very few at present know, or at least seem to know, the meaning of it. There is not much difference in belief between the mystic and the materialist; there is very much difference in the ideal. For instance, the scientist, the materialist who seeks for the source of the whole creation comes to the same conclusion, that there is only one source of the life of variety, the composition and decomposition of atoms. And both the mystic and the materialist come at the end of the path to the same thing, truth. It is chiefly in the ideal that the two differ.

The materialist thinks all this consciousness and intelligence that one sees in man is the natural development of life. Whether it is the consciousness of the rock or the stone, of a tree, of a plant, or the consciousness of man, all is the same. the mystic says; "That is not so." The consciousness and intelligence are the same as the unlimited consciousness or intelligence, only they are put in different channels, and from that intelligence that existed in the beginning the rest has come. Picturing the unlimited consciousness or intelligence as the ocean, the consciousness or intelligence of man is like a drop compared to the ocean.

Therefore the materialist sees the intelligence of man as the natural development of humanity, while the mystic sees it as the divine essence, as one, as the source of all things. In the belief of the mystic it is not only man that is seeking for something, it is the plants, the animals, even the rocks and mountains: all look for something. Man who analyzes life, distinguishes one object as a thing, another entity as a being. This way divides life into so many aspects, so many things, but in reality it is one. Therefore he sees intelligence in living beings only. But though it is especially developed in man, there is a mind also in animals, in plants, in a tree; each mind is a particle of the unlimited intelligence.

Often an animal thinks more than man, only one can say that an animal is not so much developed. According to the mystic mind exists also in plants and trees; in rocks and mountains mind is hidden somewhere. Mind is working in all things imperceptibly, in all things that man only recognizes as objects. Comparison between two minds shows a vast difference between them, but it is difficult to define it. Some will have experienced in life how plants often respond to influences, especially to the human beings around them: how they often wither in a home where there is distress or disturbance or disharmony, and often live longer where there is harmony. And when their owners understand plants, they become responsive to love and harmony and sympathy; often plants feel the absence of these qualities. The condition of a person's mind can be seen in its effect on the plants in his surroundings.

The human being is so much absorbed in his own affairs that he sees no further than he sees. Generally mankind is too unaware of the condition of others; very often man does not know even the condition of those who are near and dear to him. If it were not so, there could not be some nations happy and comfortable while people in other countries are starving and dying by millions.

This can be see in the ancient fables. There is a fable which tells that there once was an argument between a man and a lion about whose life was more important, man's fate or the lion's. When they voted, it proved that each had said his own was more important.

This fable proves that the reason is that man is unaware of the secret of his own being: what he needs is to interest himself in the life of the beings in another phase of evolution before he can come to the fundamental basis, the consciousness of his own being. If you have every been far away in the forests or the mountains, far away from all population, you will know that there comes, consciously or unconsciously, a feeling of romance: the wind that repeats the sound that comes from the trees and the rock, the murmur of the water running, all are wanting to get back something that has been lost. This feeling comes to human beings even in the pleasure of everyday life.

Then there is a joy that opens something in us, then there comes this yearning; and that feeling one feels on every side in the wilderness, in the forest. There comes the feeling of longing, the deep yearning of the heart, the searching for something that has been lost. When we look at the beings living around us, we see the same thing. For instance, look at the birds and contemplate their restless flight, the ceaseless roaming of animals in the forest. The first thought that might come is that they are searching for food. But he who has a deeper insight into nature certainly will feel the restlessness sooner or later, the searching for that which is lost.

There is the same tendency in human beings. Although the human being has much interest in life through his various occupations and various moods, he finds a thousand and one excuses for his restlessness, for his depression. And illusion is so much developed in man that a reason always comes at his command. There is always someone that will say to a poor man, "It is sad for you that you are not rich." Someone comes and says, "You look depressed. I know there is so much sorrow, that is the reason." But reason is always at his command and is employed without, and so man cannot find the real reason that is within. That reason is suppressed beneath all the reasoning, and man seeks more than the animal kingdom does to get back something that has been lost.

Nowadays life never gives man a moment to be quiet that he might have time to ponder upon the true cause of his constant unhappiness. Also it keeps him in an illusion, always looking outward, and he can never find the cause outside himself. It is as if he were looking for the moon on earth, though the moon is in the sky. But then you may ask, "What has man lost?" And the answer is God Himself. That perfect intelligence that is in every being, that intelligence that the Vedanta calls "Light." The verses of Qur'an say, "God is light, Nur," which means that the light of God is immanent in the world of names and forms, in all that exists in this world of variety. In this world of variety different forms of activity are producing different results. And man in this life of illusion has yet the same intelligence, which he can realize in its perfection in that state of consciousness where he can be aware of his own perfection.

The religions, the mystics, the philosophers of all ages give the key to the secret. That is what the Sufi Message is bringing back to humanity. Christ has said it so beautifully: "Be ye perfect, as your Father in Heaven is perfect." And the yearning of every soul is for the realization of that perfection that is the longing consciously or unconsciously of everything, of every being in this world. There is one thing in the whole creation which is like an alarm clock, set for certain time to make a sound so that one may awaken. That clock sounds through all the activity of evolution, and when this is touched, man is wakened by the alarm. That was the word that was lost, and it has its echo in the longing.

And now you will ask, "How can one listen, how can one find it?" That word rises from one's own heart, re-echoing in everything in this universe. If it does not rises from one's own heart it cannot be heard in the outer world. And you may ask, "What is the sign, what makes it rise? Who can hear it?" And the answer comes, "As soon as this word rises in your own heart, you touch God, you touch perfection. And then one begins to understand the divine tongue; the secret that was closed for so long seems to be revealed."

Ancient stories, the stories in the Bible, tell of men speaking with trees, with running water; of sounds coming from the rock. A man without patience will not stop to listen. He hurries on; he is ready to laugh at such a thing. But there is nothing surprising or impossible in this. This world which is around us resounds continually the inheritance of man. It is a true picture. The word re-echoes in all things, only man must be aware of his privilege, of their underlying oneness. The whole treasure of the universe is in the understanding of the mystical idea.

Friends, this lack of religion, this increasing of materialism, by what is it caused? It is caused by the lack of knowledge of religion; it is the spirit of religion that is lost. Mankind cannot be tuned all one way. The form does not matter, it is nothing without the spirit. What is wanted? What is wanted is to understand each other's faith, to respect each other's ideal, to regard that which is dear to our fellow man and to the other creatures. The attempt to make the whole world believers of one faith would be -- if it could succeed -- as if all men had the same face; it would become a very uninteresting world.

The work that the Sufi Message has to accomplish, therefore, is to bring that idea of the mystics: that it is the spirit, not the form, that matters, and that one should leave the belief of others out of the question. To understand their belief, to come to the realization of the word that was lost, the seeking of every soul, that man may be enabled to respect that picture of oneness, and so to hear the word that was lost, to hear it sounding again in his own heart.