Hazrat Inayat Khan

1:God is the answer to every question.
~ Hazrat Inayat Khan, [T5],

2:The words that enlighten the soul are more precious than jewels.
~ Hazrat Inayat Khan,

3:To be really sorry for one's errors is like opening the door of heaven.
~ Hazrat Inayat Khan,

4:He who knows the secret of sound, knows the mystery of the whole universe.
~ Hazrat Inayat Khan,

5:Why was I born, O God, if not to find Thee?
Why do I die, O God, if not to come to Thee?
~ Hazrat Inayat Khan, Sayings of Hazrat Khan,

6:Sometimes there are two persons who disagree, and there comes a third person and all unite together. Is this not the nature of music? ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan,

7:The aim of the Mystic is to stretch his range of Consciousness as widely as possible, so that he may touch the highest pride and the deepest humility.
~ Hazrat Inayat Khan,

8:There can be no rebirth without a dark night of the soul, a total annihilation of all that you believed in and thought that you were.
~ Hazrat Inayat Khan, Thinking Like The Universe: The Sufi Path Of Awakening,

9:It is more important to find out the truth about oneself than to find out the truth about heaven and hell, or about many other things which are of less importance and are apart from oneself. However, every man's pursuit is according to his state of evolution, and so each soul is in pursuit of something-but he does not know where it leads him. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan,

10:The soul of man is the spark of God. Though this spark is limited on the earth, still God is all-powerful; and by teaching the prayer 'Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven', the Master has given a key to every soul who repeats this prayer; a key to open that door behind which is the secret of that almighty power and perfect wisdom which raises the soul above all limitations. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan,

11:I have loved in life and I have been loved.
I have drunk the bowl of poison from the hands of love as nectar,
and have been raised above life's joy and sorrow.
My heart, aflame in love, set afire every heart that came in touch with it.
My heart has been rent and joined again;
My heart has been broken and again made whole;
My heart has been wounded and healed again;
A thousand deaths my heart has died, and thanks be to love, it lives yet.
I went through hell and saw there love's raging fire,
and I entered heaven illumined with the light of love.
I wept in love and made all weep with me;
I mourned in love and pierced the hearts of men;
And when my fiery glance fell on the rocks, the rocks burst forth as volcanoes.
The whole world sank in the flood caused by my one tear;
With my deep sigh the earth trembled, and when I cried aloud the name of my beloved,
I shook the throne of God in heaven.
I bowed my head low in humility, and on my knees I begged of love,
"Disclose to me, I pray thee, O love, thy secret."
She took me gently by my arms and lifted me above the earth, and spoke softly in my ear,
"My dear one, thou thyself art love, art lover,
and thyself art the beloved whom thou hast adored. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan,

12:Integral Psychology presents a very complex picture of the individual. As he did previously in The Atman Project, at the back of the book Wilber has included numerous charts showing how his model relates to the work of a hundred or so different authors from East and West.57

57. Wilber compares the models of Huston Smith, Plotinus, Buddhism, Stan Grof, John Battista, kundalini yoga, the Great Chain of Being, James Mark Baldwin, Aurobindo, the Kabbalah, Vedanta, William Tiller, Leadbeater, Adi Da, Piaget, Commons and Richards, Kurt Fisher, Alexander, Pascual-Leone, Herb Koplowitz, Patricia Arlin, Gisela Labouvie-Vief, Jan Sinnot, Michael Basseches, Jane Loevinger, John Broughton, Sullivan, Grant and Grant, Jenny Wade, Michael Washburn, Erik Erikson, Neumann, Scheler, Karl Jaspers, Rudolf Steiner, Don Beck, Suzanne Cook-Greuter, Clare Graves, Robert Kegan, Kohlberg, Torbert, Blanchard-Fields, Kitchener and King, Deirdre Kramer, William Perry, Turner and Powell, Cheryl Armon, Peck, Howe, Rawls, Piaget, Selman, Gilligan, Hazrat Inayat Khan, mahamudra meditation, Fowler, Underhill, Helminiak, Funk, Daniel Brown, Muhyddin Ibn 'Arabi, St. Palamas, classical yoga, highest tantra yoga, St Teresa, Chirban, St Dionysius, Patanjali, St Gregory of Nyssa, transcendental meditation, Fortune, Maslow, Chinen, Benack, Gardner, Melvin Miller, Habermas, Jean Houston, G. Heard, Lenski, Jean Gebser, A. Taylor, Jay Early, Robert Bellah, and Duane Elgin. ~ Frank Visser, Ken Wilber Thought as Passion,

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1:I asked for strength, ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

2:Peace is perfected activity. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

3:Reason is the illusion of reality ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

4:All ignorance is the lack of love. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

5:With love, even the rocks will open. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

6:Movement is life; stillness is death. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

7:Sarcasm is an abuse of the intellect. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

8:Patient endurance is a sign of progress. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

9:The soul is covered by a thousand veils. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

10:Selfishness keeps man blind through life. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

11:As water in a fountain flows as one stream, ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

12:One is never so strong as when one is broken. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

13:What you are speaks louder than what you say. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

14:Resignation is a quality of the saintly souls. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

15:Fana, the merging in the ideal. In order to attain ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

16:Instead of lamenting your fate, create your world. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

17:That which one can create can always be depended on. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

18:God is the answer to every question.
~ Hazrat Inayat Khan, [T5], #index,

19:for to know reality is to know all that is to be known. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

20:For a musician, music is the best way to unite with God. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

21:He who gives love will receive a thousandfold in return. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

22:Humanity, divine limitation; Divinity, human perfection. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

23:Spiritual progress is the changing of the point of view. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

24:As soon as thought is restricted, it ceases to be Sufism. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

25:Be sparing of your words if you wish them to be powerful. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

26:Every motion contains within itself a thought and feeling. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

27:Love develops into harmony, and of harmony is born beauty. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

28:Moth: I gave you my life. Flame: I allowed you to kiss me. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

29:The greatest fault of the day is the absence of stillness. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

30:A master sees the bad in the good, and the good in the bad. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

31:Words that enlighten the soul are more precious than jewels ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

32:The bringers of joy have always been the children of sorrow. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

33:Love itself is the healing power and the remedy for all pain. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

34:According to metaphysics, fear is caused by the lack of light. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

35:Everything in life is speaking in spite of its apparent silence. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

36:Externally we are a single being, but internally we are a world. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

37:The words that enlighten the soul are more precious than jewels. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

38:Everything in life is speaking in spite of it's apparent silence. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

39:It is not solid wood that can become a flute, but the empty reed. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

40:All that produces longing in the heart deprives it of its freedom. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

41:Death is the tax the soul has to pay for having a name and a form. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

42:Moth: I gave you my life.

Flame: I allowed you to kiss me. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

43:God breaks the heart again and again and again until it stays open. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

44:In ancient times the greatest of the prophets were great musicians. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

45:Nothing is as old as the truth, and nothing is as new as the truth. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

46:There is no end to one's faults. To think of them makes one humble. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

47:There is no end to one’s faults. To think of them makes one humble. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

48:The words that enlighten the soul are more precious than jewels.
~ Hazrat Inayat Khan,

49:Our virtues are made by love, and our sins caused by the lack of it. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

50:All situations of life are tests to bring out the real and the false. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

51:Don't be concerned about being disloyal to your pain by being joyous. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

52:Some people look for a beautiful place. Others make a place beautiful ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

53:As long as in love there is "you" and "me," love is not fully kindled. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

54:Some people look for a beautiful place, others make a place beautiful. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

55:He who once burns his mouth on the hot soup, blows even the buttermilk. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

56:Impression is a great phenomenon in itself: as a man thinketh so is he. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

57:To be really sorry for one's errors is like opening the door of Heaven. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

58:All that produces longing in the heart
deprives the heart of freedom. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

59:Our virtues are made by love, and our sins are caused by the lack of it. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

60:He who knows the secret of sound, knows the mystery of the whole universe ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

61:Music seems to be the bridge over the gulf between form and the formless. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

62:My heart is tuned to the quietness that the stillness of nature inspires. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

63:My intuition never fails me, it is I who fail when I do not listen to it. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

64:Therefore the Sufi attends to his own journey, and does not judge others. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

65:There is nothing better than music as a means for upliftment of the soul. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

66:To bring the sublime into the mundane is the greatest challenge there is. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

67:When we look at life from the top of the mountain, there is no limitation ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

68:I have seen all souls as my soul, and realized my soul as the soul of all. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

69:The gardener uses both roses in the flowerbed and thorns in making fences. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

70:To be really sorry for one's errors is like opening the door of heaven.
~ Hazrat Inayat Khan,

71:Failure in life does not matter; the greatest misfortune is standing still. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

72:Every soul is born with concentration; it loses this faculty as it grows up. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

73:Love that ends is the shadow of love; true love is without beginning or end. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

74:Music should be healing. Music should uplift the soul. Music should inspire. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

75:One day, music will take its rightful place as the true religion of Mankind. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

76:The heart is itself its own medicine,
The heart all its own wounds heals. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

77:He who knows the secret of sound, knows the mystery of the whole universe.
~ Hazrat Inayat Khan,

78:Indifference and independence are the two wings which enable the soul to fly. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

79:If you will not rise above the things of this world, they will rise above you. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

80:and the sense of justice makes one wish to judge oneself before judging others. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

81:To create happiness for oneself and others is the whole philosophy of religion. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

82:Wisdom is like the horizon: the nearer you approach it, the further it recedes. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

83:All names and forms are the garbs and covers under which the one life is hidden. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

84:The secret of life is balance, and the absence of balance is life's destruction. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

85:Our thoughts have prepared for us the
happiness or unhappiness we experience. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

86:There is no difference in the destination, the only difference is in the journey. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

87:Consciously or unconsciously, every being is capable of healing himself or others. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

88:What one really wants is attracted by one, and one is attracted by what one wants. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

89:You carry all the ingredients to turn your existence into joy. Mix them, Mix them! ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

90:For every loss, there is a hidden gain. And for every gain, there is a hidden loss. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

91:As one can see when the eyes are open, so one can understand when the heart is open. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

92:Silence is the adornment of the wise, and for the foolish the only dignity possible. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

93:By our trust in the divine beauty in every person we develop that beauty in ourselves. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

94:Heaven and hell are the material manifestation of agreeable and disagreeable thoughts. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

95:It is a presumption on the part of man when he demands in words an explanation of God. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

96:He who with sincerity seeks his real purpose in life is himself sought by that purpose. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

97:Love is the Divine Mother's arms; when those arms are spread, every Soul falls Into them. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

98:Joy and sorrow are the light and shade of life; without light and shade no picture is clear. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

99:There should be balance in all our actions; to be either extreme or lukewarm is equally bad. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

100:The soul of all is one soul and the truth is one truth, under whatever religion it is hidden. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

101:Stand through life firm as a rock in the sea, undisturbed and unmoved by its ever-rising waves ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

102:To attain peace, what one has to do is to seek that rhythm which is in the depth of our being. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

103:Everyone has his own imagination of God. It is best if everyone is left to his own imagination. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

104:By love, harmony and beauty you must turn the whole of life into a single vision of divine glory. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

105:Language is made up of names of comparable objects, and that which cannot be compared has no name. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

106:We are always searching for God afar off, when all the while He is nearer to us than our own soul. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

107:Each human personality is like a piece of music, having an individual tone and a rhythm of its own. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

108:Love manifests towards those whom we like as love; towards those whom we do not like as forgiveness. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

109:The soul apart from the body and mind is a sound, a note, a tone, which is called in Sanskrit Svara. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

110:In the eyes of a seer, every leaf of a tree is a page of the Holy Book and contains divine revelation. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

111:The teaching of Jesus Christ has as its central theme unfoldment towards a realization of immortality. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

112:It is living in sensation that makes man material, and after some time he becomes ignorant of the spirit. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

113:The voice therefore naturally expresses the attitude of mind whether true or false, sincere or insincere. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

114:To be resigned means to find satisfaction in self-denial (Self-denial is the denial of one's lower self). ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

115:When we pay attention to nature's music, we find that everything on the Earth contributes to its harmony. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

116:Many say that life entered the human body by the help of music, but the truth is that life itself is music. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

117:Atmosphere is a silent music. It has its effect upon the listener, exciting or peaceful, whatever it may be. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

118:for only the eye of sincerity can see. The eye of curiosity has the cataract of doubt, and is blind already. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

119:In love abides all knowledge. It is mankind's love and interest in things that in time reveals their secret. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

120:I can see as clear as a daylight that the hour is coming when women will lead humanity to a higher evolution. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

121:Great as it is, the knowledge of self, if there is not that natural desire raging like fire does not manifest. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

122:He who has spent has used; he who has collected has lost; but he who has given has saved his treasure forever. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

123:One moment standing in the midst of nature with open heart is a whole lifetime, if one is in tune with nature. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

124:The man who tries to prove his belief superior to the faith of another, does not know the meaning of religion. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

125:Life is a continual series of experiences, one leading to the other, until the soul arrives at its destination. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

126:The solution to the problem of the day is the awakening of the consciousness of humanity to the divinity within. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

127:Those who have a desire to teach while coming to learn should not pose as disciples; they must come as teachers. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

128:All things we possess are taken from others, and others in their turn await with outstretched hands to seize them. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

129:There is a light within every soul; it only needs the clouds that overshadow it to be broken for it to beam forth. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

130:It is a very high stage in the path of love when man really learns to love another with a love that asks no return. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

131:Life is a symphony, and the action of every person in this life is the playing of his particular part in the music. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

132:The only way to live in the midst of inharmonious influences is to strengthen the will power and endure all things, ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

133:What is inspired comes already arranged beforehand and there is very little to be done by the brain and by the mind. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

134:Why was I born, O God, if not to find Thee?
Why do I die, O God, if not to come to Thee?
~ Hazrat Inayat Khan, Sayings of Hazrat Khan,

135:While people judge others from their own moral standpoint, the wise person looks also at the point of view of another. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

136:If someone strikes my heart, it does not break, but it bursts, and the flame coming out of it becomes a torch on my path. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

137:Love is the merchandise which all the world demands; if you store it in your heart, every soul will become your customer. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

138:The existence of illness in the body may no doubt be called a shadow of the true illness which is held by man in his mind. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

139:Belief and disbelief have divided humankind into so many sects, blinding its eyes to the vision of the Oneness of all Life. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

140:Divine sound is the cause of all manifestation. The knower of the mystery of sound knows the mystery of the whole universe. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

141:To make a friend, forgiveness is required which burns up all things, leaving only beauty; but to destroy friendship is easy. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

142:Every passion, every emotion, has its effect upon the mind. Every change of mind, however slight, has its effect upon the body. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

143:evolved. This evolution only means that the soul has adopted a more finished instrument in order to experience life more fully. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

144:A person does not hear sound only through the ears; he hears sound through every pore of his body. It permeates the entire being. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

145:Music is the language of the soul; and for two people of different nations or races to unite, there is no better means than music ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

146:When one looks at the ocean, they can only see that part of it which comes within their range of vision; so it is with the truth. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

147:The person who is in tune with the Universe becomes like a radio receiver, through which the voice of the Universe is transmitted. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

148:We can be under the power of a spell, but we must overcome such a power; we must liberate ourselves from evil. Everyone can fight. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

149:Your heart is not living intil it has experienced pain... the pain of love breaks open the heart, even if it is as hard as a rock. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

150:If people but knew their own religion, how tolerant they would become, and how free from any grudge against the religion of others. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

151:What a great thing is understanding! It is priceless. No man can give greater pleasure to his fellow man than by understanding him. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

152:Every man's path is for himself; let him accomplish his own desires that he may thus be able to rise above them to the eternal goal. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

153:From the metaphysical point of view there is nothing that can touch the formless except the art of music which in itself is formless. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

154:Sometimes there are two persons who disagree, and there comes a third person and all unite together. Is this not the nature of music? ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

155:There can be no rebirth without a dark night of the soul, a total annihilation of all that you believed in and thought that you were. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

156:The warmth of the lover's atmosphere, the piercing effect of his voice, the appeal of his words, all come from the pain of his heart. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

157:Sometimes there are two persons who disagree, and there comes a third person and all unite together. Is this not the nature of music? ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan,

158:The peace for which every soul strives and which is the true nature of God and the utmost goal of a man is but the outcome of harmony. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

159:It must be remembered as the first principle of life that manifestation was destined for keener observation of life within and without. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

160:Living in the world without insight into the hidden laws of nature is like not knowing the language of the country in which one was born. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

161:How can you be that which you possess? You cannot be the horse and rider at the same time. Herein lies the secret of mortality and immortality. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

162:People often ask me questions that I cannot very well answer in words, and it makes me sad to think they are unable to hear the voice of my silence. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

163:We, the human beings in this world, if there is a spark of goodness or kindness in our hearts, avoid judging people. We prefer forgiving to judging. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

164:If one being or thing, however apparently useless, were missing in this universe of endless variety, it would be as it were a note missing in a song. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

165:life is one, but that it exists in two aspects. First as immortal, all-pervading and silent; and secondly as mortal, active, and manifest in variety. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

166:The secret of mysticism, therefore, is to feel, think, speak, and act at the same time, for then all that is said, or felt, or done, becomes perfect. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

167:The highest and greatest goal that every soul has to reach is God. As everything needs renunciation, that highest goal needs the highest renunciation. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

168:The lover's pleasure is in the pleasure of the beloved. The lover is satisfied when the beloved is fed. The lover is vain when the beloved is adorned. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

169:The human heart must first be melted, like metal, before it can be molded into a desirable character. The mystic does not wait until the hereafter, but ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

170:The aim of the Mystic is to stretch his range of Consciousness as widely as possible, so that he may touch the highest pride and the deepest humility.
~ Hazrat Inayat Khan,

171:The world is evolving from imperfection to perfection. It needs all love and sympathy; great tenderness and watchfulness are required from each one of us. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

172:It is the empty pitcher that makes a noise when you knock upon it, but the pitcher which is full of water does not make any sound; it is silent, speechless. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

173:There are two aspects of life: the first is that man is tuned by his surroundings, and the second is that man can tune himself in spite of his surroundings. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

174:Once you have given up your limited self willingly to the Unlimited, you will rejoice so much in that consciousness that you will not care to be small again. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

175:What science cannot declare, art can suggest; what art suggests silently, poetry speaks aloud; but what poetry fails to explain in words, music can express. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

176:A person however learned and qualified in his life's work in whom gratitude is absent, is devoid of that beauty of character which makes personality fragrant. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

177:He cannot act except with kindness, he cannot feel anything but forgiveness; every movement he makes, everything he does, speaks of his love, but not his lips. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

178:In the hours of contemplation and solitude, and in the hours when he is in the midst of the world, the music is always there, he is always enjoying its harmony. ## ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

179:The nature of the ray is to extend and withdraw, to appear and disappear; and the duration of its existence is short when compared with the duration of the eternal ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

180:Whatever your life's pursuit -- art, poetry, sculpture, music, whatever your occupation may be -- you can be as spiritual as clergy, always living a life of praise. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

181:Music, the word we use in our everyday language, is nothing less than the picture of our Beloved. It is because music is the picture of our Beloved that we love music. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

182:It is easy to know truth, but most difficult to be truth. It is not in knowing truth that life's purpose is accomplished; life's purpose is accomplished in being truth. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

183:The one who is happy is he who is ready to be friends with all. His outlook on life is friendly. He is not only friendly to persons, but also to objects and conditions. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

184:The voice is not only indicative of man's character, but it is the expression of his spirit. Other sounds can be louder than the voice, but no sound can be more living. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

185:Sound is the force of creation, the true whole. Music then, becomes the voice of the great cosmic oneness and therefore the optimal way to reach this final state of healing. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

186:The purpose of creation is beauty. Nature in all its various aspects develops towards beauty, and therefore it is plain that the purpose of life is to evolve towards beauty. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

187:I gave up my music because I had received from it all I had to receive. To serve God one must sacrifice the dearest thing, and I sacrificed my music, the dearest thing to me. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

188:If a man through his life became like an angel he would accomplish very little; the accomplishment which is most desirable for man is to fulfill the obligations of human life. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

189:Mankind is interdependent, and the happiness of each depends upon the happiness of all, and it is this lesson that humanity has to learn today as the first and the last lesson. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

190:Toward the One, the perfection of love, harmony and beauty, the only being, united with all the illuminated souls who form the embodiment of the master, the spirit of guidance. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

191:All labor and toil, however hard and difficult, is made easy by the power of rhythm in some way or other. This idea opens to the thinker a means for a still deeper study of life. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

192:For the value of everything exists for man only so long as he does not understand it. When he has fully understood, the value is lost, be it the lowest thing or the highest thing. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

193:For the value of everything exists for man only so long as he does not understand it. When he has fully understood, the value is lost, be it the lowest thing or the highest thing. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

194:And yet the most valuable things are attained with the least effort. But one does not realize their importance. One would rather have something which is attained with a great effort ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

195:Some day music will be the means of expressing universal religion. Time is wanted for this, but there will come a day when music and its philosophy will become the religion of humanity. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

196:The reason why man seeks for happiness is not because happiness is his sustenance, but because happiness is his own being; therefore in seeking for happiness, man is seeking for himself. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

197:When I open my eyes to the outer world I feel myself as a drop in the sea. But when I close my eyes and look within, I see the whole universe as a bubble raised in the ocean of my heart. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

198:At each step from the inner being to the surface there is an apparent improvement, which appears to be more positive; yet every step towards the surface entails limitation and dependence. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

199:Mostly, every soul seems to be busily occupied with the lives of others. And what do they know in the end? Nothing. If there is a kingdom of God to be found anywhere, it is within oneself. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

200:The happiness of this world is something we cannot keep; it is just like the horizon - the nearer you go, the farther it goes. As soon as you get it, you see it is not the thing you wanted. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

201:There can be no rebirth without a dark night of the soul, a total annihilation of all that you believed in and thought that you were.
~ Hazrat Inayat Khan, Thinking Like The Universe: The Sufi Path Of Awakening,

202:Music touches our innermost being, and in that way produces new life, a life that gives exaltation to the whole being, raising it to that perfection in which lies the fulfillment of man's life. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

203:When one bell is rung, by the sound of that one bell other bells will also vibrate. So it is with the dancing of the soul...it produces its reaction, and that again, will make other souls dance. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

204:The more one studies the harmony of music, and then studies human nature, how people agree and how they disagree, how there is attraction and repulsion, the more one will see that it is all music. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

205:A soul who is not close to nature is far away from what is called spirituality. In order to be spiritual one must communicate, and especially one must communicate with nature; one must feel nature. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

206:People have fought in vain about the names and lives of their saviors, and have named their religions after the name of their savior, instead of uniting with each other in the truth that is taught. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

207:What makes us feel drawn to music is that our whole being is music: our mind and body, the nature in which we live, the nature which has made us, all that is beneath and around us, it is all music. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

208:Be contented with what you possess in life; be thankful for what does not belong to you, for it is so much less care; but try to obtain what you need, and make the best of every moment of your life. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

209:... The wise in all ages... have tried to learn one thing only, and that was resignation to the Will of God. By doing this, they have reached a stage at which they could see from God's point of view. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

210:The body with its perfect mechanism loses power, magnetism, beauty, and brightness, when the soul departs from the body. This shows that the power, magnetism, beauty, and brightness belong to the soul. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

211:Then again it may be said, there is a purpose above each purpose, and there is again a purpose under each purpose; and yet beyond and beneath all purposes there is no purpose. The creation is, because it is. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

212:For instance man feels the sensation of joy and depression in the center called solar plexus; however, this does not mean that joy or depression is there, but that this center is sensitive to such experiences. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

213:Music is the basis of the whole creation. In reality the whole of creation is music, and what we call music is simply a miniature of the original music, which is creation itself, expressed in tone and rhythm. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

214:Be contented with what you possess in life; be thankful for what does not belong to you, for it is so much care the less; but try to obtain what you need in life, and make the best of every moment of your life. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

215:He who is of lower evolution cannot love a higher object. But a person of higher evolution can love the lower as well as the higher. He who once loves cannot hate. The one who hates is he who cannot appreciate. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

216:If anybody asks what Sufism is, what kind of religion is it, the answer is that Sufism is the religion of the heart, the religion in which the thing of primary importance is to seek God in the heart of mankind. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

217:If the rays are the souls of living beings, then the light of that same divine Sun is the spirit of the whole of nature. It is the same light; but not divided, not distinct, as are the rays which we call souls. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

218:The object attained by both good and bad methods is the same, but the way one tries to attain it turns the object into right or wrong. It is not the object which is wrong, it is the way one adopts to attain it. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

219:The souls of all are from one and the same source but a soul which is unveiled shines out. Love and light come continually from such souls. We need no proof of it for it is living all else is dead in comparison. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

220:The soul's true happiness lies in experiencing the inner joy, and it will never be fully satisfied with outer, seeming pleasures. Its connection is with God, and nothing short of perfection will ever satisfy it. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

221:If the soul does not hear the call and sleeps, it is not the fault of nature, which is continually calling. Therefore, if I were to say in a few words, how to find one's purpose, I would say: by waking from sleep. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

222:For those on the spiritual path, thinkers, students and meditative souls, it is of the greatest importance to know the condition of their spirit from time to time by consulting their voice. That is their barometer. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

223:The wise man should keep the balance between love and power; he should keep the love in his nature ever increasing and expanding, and at the same time strengthen the will so that the heart may not easily be broken. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

224:We grown-up people think that we appreciate music, but if we realized the sense that an infant has brought with it of appreciating sound and rhythm, we would never boast of knowing music. The infant is music itself. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

225:And the beauty of music is that it is both the source of creation and the means of absorbing it. In other words, by music the world was created, and by music it is withdrawn again into the source which has created it. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

226:I have found in every word a certain musical value, a melody in every thought, harmony in every feeling, and I have tried to interpret the same things with clear and simple words to those who used to listen to my music. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

227:There is nothing in the world that does not speak to us. Everything and everybody reveals its own nature, character and secrets continuously. The more open our inner senses, the more we understand the voice of everything. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

228:When we are face to face with truth, the point of view of Krishna, Buddha, Christ, or any other Prophet, is the same. When we look at life from the top of the mountain, there is no limitation; there is the same immensity. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

229:True power is not in trying to gain power; true power is in becoming power. But how to become power? It requires an attempt to make a definite change in oneself, and that change is a kind of struggle with one's false self. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

230:What is rooted out in the quest of truth is ignorance; it is entirely removed from the heart, and the outlook becomes wide; as wide as the Eye of God; therein is born the divine Spirit, the spirit, which is called Divinity. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

231:Every living being on earth loves life above all else. The smallest insect, whose life lasts only an instant, tries to escape from any danger in order to live a moment longer. And the desire to live is most developed in man. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

232:If there is anything that gives kingliness to the soul, it is patience. What was the secret of the masters who have accomplished great things, who have inspired many and who have helped many souls? Their secret was patience. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

233:There must be something besides you to cause the sensation. But peace is independently felt within oneself. It is not dependent upon the outer sensation. It is something that belongs to one, something that is one's own self. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

234:Therefore it is the law of the mystics to see all things, to experience all things, either of heaven or earth, and yet to say little; for the souls incapable of understanding the possibility of their reach will ridicule them. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

235:The religion of the Sufi is the religion of the heart. The principal moral of the Sufi is to consider the heart of others, so that in the pleasure and displeasure of his fellow-man he sees the pleasure and displeasure of God. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

236:I first believed without any hesitation in the existence of the soul, and then I wondered about the secret of its nature. I persevered and strove in search of the soul, and found at last that I myself was the cover over my soul! ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

237:It is through this physical body that the highest and greatest purpose of life is achieved. A person only calls it the physical body in ignorance. Once the knowledge has come...he begins to look upon it as the sacred temple of God. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

238:Each note, each scale, and each strain expires at the appointed time; and at the end of the soul's experience here the finale comes; but the impression remains, as a concert in a dream, before the radiant vision of the consciousness. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

239:Love is the essence of all religion, mysticism, and philosophy, and for the one who has learned this, love fulfills the purpose of religion, ethics, and philosophy, and the lover is raised above all diversities of faiths and beliefs. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

240:Es gibt zweierlei: Wissen und Sein.
Es ist leicht, die Wahrheit zu wissen,
aber sehr schwer, Wahrheit zu sein.
Nicht im Wissen der Wahrheit erfüllt sich der Zweck des Lebens;
er erfüllt sich dadurch, dass man Wahrheit ist. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

241:Now if I do anything it is to tune souls instead of instruments. To harmonize people instead of notes. If there is anything in my philosophy, it is the law of harmony: that one must put oneself in harmony with oneself and with others. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

242:Music should be healing, music should uplift the soul, music should inspire; then there is no better way of getting closer to God, of rising higher towards the spirit, of attaining spiritual perfection, only if it is rightly understood. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

243:The more he is open to all that is beautiful and harmonious, the more his life is tuned to that universal harmony and the more he will show a friendly attitude towards everyone he meets. His very atmosphere will create music around him. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

244:Consciously or unconsciously we call to us that element which makes us what we are. What we experience in life, therefore, has either come from what we have already called to us in the past, or from what we call at the present moment. It ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

245:Repose is the secret of all contemplation and meditation, the secret of getting in tune with that aspect of life which is the essence of all things. When one is not accustomed to take repose, one does not know what is behind one's being. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

246:Our spirit is the real part of us, the body but its garment. A man would not find peace at the tailor's because his coat comes from there; neither can the spirit obtain true happiness from the earth just because his body belongs to earth. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

247:The true way of progressing through music is to evolve freely, to go forward, not caring what others think, and in this way, together with one's development in music, to harmonize the life of one's soul, one's surroundings and one's affairs. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

248:Besides this it is necessary that man, before starting his journey, realizes that he has fulfilled his duties, his duty to those around him and his duty to God. But one who considers his duty to those around him sacredly does his duty to God. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

249:I have known good and evil, sin and virtue, right and wrong; I have judged and been judged; I have passed through birth and death, Joy and sorrow, heaven and hell; And in the end I realized that I AM in everything and everything is in me. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

250:Man may have rank and position and a thousand qualifications, he may possess all the good of the earth, but if he lacks the art of personality he is poor indeed. It is in this art that man shows the nobility which belongs to the kingdom of God. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

251:Self-pity is the worst poverty. When a person says, 'I am...' with pity, before he has said anything more he has diminished himself to half of what he is; and what is said further, diminishes him totally; nothing more of him is left afterwards. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

252:The rain does not fall in a certain land only; the sun does not shine only on a particular country. All that comes from God is for all souls. Verily, blessing is for every soul; for every soul, whatever be one's faith or belief, belongs to God. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

253:The first lesson to learn is to resign oneself to the little difficulties in life, not to hit out at everything one comes up against. If one were able to manage this one would not need to cultivate great power; even one's presence would be healing. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

254:The heart becomes wide by forgetting self, but narrow by thinking of the self and pitying one's self. To gain a wide and broad heart you must have something before you to look upon, and to rest your intelligence upon - and that something is the God-ideal. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

255:To a soul which is wide awake, the Judgment Day does not come after death.
For that soul every day is a Judgment Day.
The Judgment Day is every day, and one realizes this as one's sight becomes more keen. Every hour, every moment in life has its judgment. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

256:But why must man suffer and sacrifice for God? At the end of his suffering and sacrifice he will find that though he began to do so for God, it has proved to be for himself. It is the foolishly selfish who is selfish, and the wisely selfish proves to be selfless. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

257:The Sufi, realizing this, takes the path of annihilation, and, by the guidance of a teacher on the path, finds at the end of this journey that the destination was he. As Iqbal says: I wandered in the pursuit of my own self; I was the traveler, and I am the destination. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

258:The sage said, "The best thing is not to hate anyone, only to love. That is the only way out of it. As soon as you have forgiven those whom you hate, you have gotten rid of them. Then you have no reason to hate them; you just forget. spiritual Dimensions of Psychology." ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

259:He is thoughtful whose mind is directed by his will, whose mind fulfills his intentions, whose mind is under the control of his intention... It is not till a person has gained mastery over his mind, till he is above this activity, that he is a ruling power, a true person. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

260:So he went into the wilderness and lived on fruits and nuts. After a long time he returned to his old school, and when he saw the teacher he said to him, 'I think I have learned it. See if I have. Shall I write on this wall? And when he made his sign the wall split in two. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

261:The truth is that man is one individual with two aspects, just like one line with two ends. If you look at the ends, it is two. If you look at the line, it is one. One end of the line is limited, the other end of the line is unlimited. One end is man, the other end is God. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

262:Once you have linked yourself with love, a flood of inspiration is revealed to you, whatever the subject, whatever the problem in life may be. Whatever it be that your eye casts its glance upon, it will disclose itself. Then you are on the real road, and what a joy this is! ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

263:The discrimination between good and evil is in man's soul. Every man can judge that for himself, because in every man is the sense of admiration of beauty. Happiness only lies in thinking or doing that which one considers beautiful. Such an act becomes a virtue or goodness. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

264:The sighing of the devotee clears a path for him into the world unseen, and his tears wash away the sins of ages. All revelation follows the ecstasy; all knowledge that a book can never contain, that a language can never express, nor a teacher teach, comes to him of itself. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

265:The whole of life is as music and in order to study life we must study it as music. It is not only study, it is also practice which makes man perfect. If someone tells me that a certain person is miserable or wretched or distressed, my answer will be that he is out of tune. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

266:Prayer from the depth and prayer from the surface are two prayers. One can utter what Christ has called 'vain repetitions', just repeating the prayer; one does not fix one's mind on the meaning of the prayer. If the depth of one's heart has heard the prayer, God has heard it. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

267:Sufism is not a religion or a philosophy, it is neither deism nor atheism, nor is it a moral, nor a special kind of mysticism, being free from the usual religious sectarianism. If ever it could be called a religion, it would only be as a religion of love, harmony, and beauty. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

268:In this world of illusion, where at the end of the examination, we find everything to be of little importance, of little worth, if there is a sign of reality, of something one can depend upon, and in which one can recognize a sign of eternity, it is in the constancy of friendship. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

269:A person does not hear sound only through the ears; he hears sound through every pore of the body. It permeates the entire being, and according to its particular influence, either slows or quickens the rhythm of the blood circulation; it either awakens or soothes the nervous system ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

270:The one thing to rely upon is God's favor. Do not build either on your study or on your meditation, although they both help you. But you are dependent on God, not even on your murshid. Seek Him, trust Him. In Him lies your life's purpose, and in Him is hidden the rest of your soul. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

271:The greatest is to have a tendency to friendship; this is expressed in the form of tolerance and forgiveness, in the form of service and trust. In whatever form he may express it this is the central theme: the constant desire to prove one's love for humanity, to be the friend of all. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

272:There are two aspects of individual harmony: the harmony between body and soul, and the harmony between individuals. All the tragedy in the world, in the individual and in the multitude, comes from lack of harmony. And harmony is the best given by producing harmony in one's own life. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

273:Every sacred scripture, holy picture or spoken word, produces the impression of its identity upon the mirror of the soul; but music stands before the soul without producing any impression of this objective world, in either name or form, thus preparing the soul to realize the Infinite. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

274:There are two aspects of individual harmony: the harmony between body and soul, and the harmony between individuals. All the tragedy in the world, in the individual and in the multitude, comes from lack of harmony. And harmony is the best given by producing harmony in one's own life. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

275:Therefore, the person living the inner life never condemns and does not criticize the objects of another, however small or ridiculous they may appear, for he knows that every object in the life of a person is but a stepping stone which leads him forward if he only wishes to go forward. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

276:He who sincerely seeks his real purpose in life is himself sought by that purpose. As he concentrates on that search a light begins to clear his confusion, call it revelation, call it inspiration, call it what you will. It is mistrust that misleads. Sincerity leads straight to the goal. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

277:This is the picture of the spirit world. It is the world of the optimist. The pessimist has no share in its great glory, because he refuses to accept the possibility which is the nature of life. Thus he denies to himself all he desires, and even the possibility of achieving his desires. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

278:To the question, 'What is God?' and 'What is man?' the answer is that the soul, conscious of its limited existence, is 'man', and the soul reflected by the vision of the unlimited, is 'God'. In plain words man's self-consciousness is man, and man's consciousness of his highest ideal is God. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

279:The wonderful thing is that the soul already knows to some extent that there is something behind the veil, the veil of perplexity, that there is something to be sought for in the highest spheres of life, that there is some beauty to be seen, that there is Someone to be known who is knowable. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

280:Life is revealing. It is not only human beings who speak; if only the ears can hear even plants and trees and all nature speak, in the sense that nature reveals itself, reveals its secret. In this way we communicate with the whole of life. Then we are never alone, then life becomes worth living. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

281:Have you known what it is to give your meal to another and to go without yourself? It gives a happiness that no dinner eaten by yourself can give. Have you known what it is to give your coat to another and do without it yourself? It gives a joy that the satisfaction of your own wants cannot give you. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

282:If one has learned while on earth to create joy and happiness for oneself and for others, in the other world that joy and happiness surrounds one. And if one has sown the seeds of poison while on earth the fruits of these one must reap there; that is where one sees justice as the nature of life. The idea of ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

283:One makes one's nature by one's likes and dislikes, by what one favors or disfavors. When a person says, 'I don't like this food,' he has built something into his nature. And then that food, when eaten, will often disagree with him. It is not that it was meant to disagree with him, but he made it disagree by disliking it. By ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

284:The Sufi recognizes the knowledge of self as the essence of all religions; he traces it in every religion, he sees the same truth in each, and therefore he regards all as one. Hence he can realize the saying of Jesus; 'I and my Father are one.' The difference between creature and Creator remains on his lips, not in his soul. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

285:People have fought in vain about the names and lives of their saviors, and have named their religions after the name of their savior, instead of uniting with each other in the truth that is taught. ~ Inayat Khan, in The Spiritual Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan Vol. I, The Way of Illumination Section I - The Way of Illumination, Part III : The Sufi

286:The true use of music is to become musical in one's thoughts, words and actions. One should be able to give the harmony for which the soul yearns and longs every moment. All the tragedy in the world, in the individual and in the multitude, comes from lack of harmony, and harmony is best given by producing it in one's own life. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

287:Things of heaven cannot be obtained by perseverance; they are the grace of God. To open to this and trust in it is how belief is crystallized into faith. We cannot pay for it in any form, in any way, by our goodness, by our piety, by our great qualities, merits, or virtues; nothing. It is a gift, and all we can do is receive it. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

288:I had composed songs, I sang, and played the vina. Practising this music I arrived at a stage where I touched the music of the spheres. Then every soul became a musical note, and all life became music. Inspired by it I spoke to the people, and those who were attracted by my words listened to them instead of listening to my songs. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

289:In a small affair or in a big affair, first consult yourself and find out if there is any conflict in your own being about anything you want to do. And when you find no conflict there, then feel sure that a path is already made for you. You have but to open your eyes and take a step forward, and the other step will be led by God. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

290:It is I who was, if there were any. What I had thought to be myself was not myself, but was my experience. I am all that there is, and it is myself who will be, whoever there will be. It is I who am the source, the traveler, and the goal of this existence. 'Verily truth is all the religion there is; and it is truth which will save. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

291:Belief is of four kinds. The first kind is a belief accepted because it is believed by all. The second is a belief accepted because it is believed by someone in whom the believer trusts. The third belief is the belief that reason helps one to believe. The fourth belief is conviction, of which one is as sure as if one were an eyewitness ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

292:People in the world wish to make things rigid, things which are of the finest nature which words cannot explain. When a person describes the hereafter, it is just like wanting to weigh the soul or photograph the spirit. I personally think that you must be able to realize yourself what the hereafter is. You must not depend upon my words. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

293:It is more important to find out the truth about oneself than to find out the truth about heaven and hell, or about many other things which are of less importance and are apart from oneself. However, every man's pursuit is according to his state of evolution, and so each soul is in pursuit of something—but he does not know where it leads him. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

294:It is more important to find out the truth about oneself than to find out the truth about heaven and hell, or about many other things which are of less importance and are apart from oneself. However, every man's pursuit is according to his state of evolution, and so each soul is in pursuit of something-but he does not know where it leads him. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan,

295:The life absolute from which has sprung all that is felt, seen, and perceived, and into which all again merges in time, is a silent, motionless and eternal life which among the Sufis is called Zat. Every motion that springs forth from this silent life is a vibration and a creator of vibrations. Within one vibration are created many vibrations. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

296:When people came to Christ accusing a person of doing wrong, the Master could not think of anything else but forgiveness. For he did not see in the wrongdoer what the others saw. To distinguish between right and wrong is not the work of an ordinary mind, and the curious thing is that the more ignorant a person is, the more ready he is to do so. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

297:Love is like the fire;
its glow is devotion,
its flame is wisdom,
its smoke is attachment,
and its ashes detachment.
Flame rises from glow,
so it is with wisdom,
which rises from devotion.
When love’s fire produces its flame
it illuminates the devotee’s path in life like a torch,
and all darkness vanishes. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

298:It is the soul which is happiness itself, not all outer things which man seeks after, and which he thinks will give him happiness. The very fact that man is continually craving for happiness shows that the real element, which may be called man's real being, is not what has formed his body and what has composed his mind, but what he is in himself. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

299:the seed has in it the leaf and the flower and the fruit. But the fulfillment of the purpose of that seed is that it is put in the ground, that it is watered, that a seedling springs up and is reared by the sun; it brings forth its flowers and fruits. This is the fulfillment of that seed which already contained in itself the fruit and the flower. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

300:I played the vina until my heart turned into the same instrument. Then I offered this instrument to the Divine Musician, the only muscian existing. Since then I have become His flute, and when He chooses He plays His music. The people give me credit for this music which, in reality, is not due to me, but to the Musician who plays his own instrument. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

301:If there is such a thing as saintly renunciation, it is renouncing small gains for better gains; not for no gains, but seeing with open eyes what is better and what is inferior. Even if the choice has to lie between two momentary gains, one of these would always be found to be more real and lasting; that is the one that should be followed for the time. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

302:It is the peaceful one who is observant. It is peace that gives him the power to observe keenly. It is the peaceful one, therefore, who can conceive, for peace helps him to conceive. It is the peaceful who can contemplate; one who has no peace cannot contemplate properly. Therefore, all things pertaining to spiritual progress in life depend upon peace. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

303:One must always say every word with consideration, and should not say what one does not wish to happen. Those who do not understand the value of suggestion walk after their own fate with a whip in their hand, and those who understand its value and control their word and use it rightly, they are a bliss to themselves and a source of happiness to others. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

304:Things appear different from every different plane from which you look at them, and when a person standing on flat earth asks a person standing on top of a mountain, "Do you also believe something?" the person cannot tell much. The questioner must come to the top of the mountain and see. There can be no link of conversation between them until that time. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

305:All the great persons of the world, whatever had been their mission in life, proved their greatness by this one quality: endurance. The enduring personality is like a ship that can stand storms and winds under all conditions, the ship that saves itself and others. Such blessed personalities, showing the strength of God have been called the saviors of humanity. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

306:Every moment of life brings an opportunity for being conscious of human feeling, in prosperity, in adversity, in all conditions. It costs very little; only a little thought is necessary. There is no greater religion than love. God is love; and the best form of love is to be conscientious regarding the feelings of those with whom we come in contact in everyday life. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

307:There are two ways in which we may attain control over our activity. The first is confidence in the power of our own will; to know that if we have failed today, tomorrow we will not do so. The second is to have our eyes wide open, and to watch keenly our activity in all aspects of life. It is in the dark that we fall, but in the light we can see where we are going. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

308:People who have never had an ideal may hope to find one; they are in a better state than the people who allow the circumstances of life to break their ideal. To fall beneath one's ideal is to lose one's track in life; then confusion rises in the mind, and that light which one should hold high becomes covered and obscured, so that it cannot shine out to light one's path. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

309:The individual soul is a shoot that springs from the all-pervading Spirit, its goal being its origin; and every attachment it has on its way is, no doubt, a detaining on the journey. The soul is never fully satisfied so long as it has not reached its destination. The love of the external world is a rehearsal before the performance, which is the love of God, the Inner Being. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

310:God is not justice. Justice is in his nature, but love is predominant. People attach such importance to actions and their results. They do not know that above action and result is a law which can consume the fire of hell, which can dominate even if the whole world were being drowned in the flood of destruction; they do not know that the power of love is greater than any other. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

311:The mystery of sound is mysticism; the harmony of life is religion. The knowledge of vibrations is metaphysics, the analysis of atoms is science, and their harmonious grouping is art. The rhythm of form is poetry, and the rhythm of sound is music. This shows that music is the art of arts and the science of allsciences; and it contains the fountain of all knowledge within itself. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

312:And then we think that if these conditions would only change into something that we wish, it would make our life easier. But that is an inexperienced expectation. If we were placed in the very conditions that we had just desired, believing them to be the best, we would not even then say that we were quite satisfied. We would surely find something lacking in that condition also. For ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

313:The study of one year and the meditation of one day are equal. By this meditation is meant the right kind of meditation. If a person closes his eyes and sits doing nothing, he may just as well go to sleep. Meditation is not only an exercise to be practiced; in meditation the soul is charged with new light and life, with inspiration and vigor; in meditation there is every kind of blessing. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

314:Mastery lies not merely in stilling the mind, but in directing it towards whatever point we desire, in allowing it to be active as far as we wish, in using it to fulfill our purpose, in causing it to be still when we want to still it. He who has come to this has created his heaven within himself; he has no need to wait for a heaven in the hereafter, for he has produced it within his own mind now. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

315:Very often in everyday life one sees that by losing one's temper with someone who has already lost his, one does not gain anything but only sets out upon the path of stupidity. He who has enough self-control to stand firm at the moment when the other person is in a temper, wins in the end. It is not he who has spoken a hundred words aloud who has won; it is he who has perhaps spoken only one word. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

316:The soul of man is the spark of God. Though this spark is limited on the earth, still God is all-powerful; and by teaching the prayer 'Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven', the Master has given a key to every soul who repeats this prayer; a key to open that door behind which is the secret of that almighty power and perfect wisdom which raises the soul above all limitations. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

317:The soul of man is the spark of God. Though this spark is limited on the earth, still God is all-powerful; and by teaching the prayer 'Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven', the Master has given a key to every soul who repeats this prayer; a key to open that door behind which is the secret of that almighty power and perfect wisdom which raises the soul above all limitations. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan,

318:Vocal music is considered to be the highest, for it is natural; the effect produced by an instrument which is merely a machine cannot be compared with that of the human voice. However perfect strings may be, they cannot make the same impression on the listener as the voice which comes direct from the soul as breath, and has been brought to the surface through the medium of the mind and the vocal organs of the body. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

319:We are all in this world travelers, and those near to us or those whom we see, they are the ones we meet on our journey. And therefore, it is an opportunity of thinking of our duty towards them. Neither shall we be with them always, nor will they be with us. Life is a dream in which we are thrown, a dream which is ever changing. Therefore an opportunity lost of considering our little obligations in our everyday life, which ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

320:The sound of water is deep, its form is serpent-like, its color green, and it is best heard in the roaring of the sea.

The sound of fire is high pitched, its form is curled, and its color is red. It is heard in the falling of the thunderbolt and in a volcanic eruption.

The sound of air is wavering, its form zigzag, and its color blue. Its voice is heard in storms, when the wind blows, and in the whisper of the morning breeze. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

321:A keen observation shows that the whole universe is a single mechanism working by the law of rhythm; the rise and fall of the waves, the ebb and flow of the tide, the waxing and waning of the moon, the sunrise and the sunset, the change of the seasons, the moving of the earth and of the planets, the whole cosmic system and the constitution of the entire universe are working under the law of rhythm. Cycles of rhythm, with major and minor cycles ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

322:Life is a place where it is necessary to move gently. Whether it be in thought, speech, or action, the rhythm must be controlled; the law of harmony must be observed in all that one does. If there is anything that will bring satisfaction it is diving deep into Love, and then we shall realize that there is nothing which is not just; we shall never again say that anything is unjust. This is the point the wise reach, and they call it the culmination of wisdom. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

323:Before making peace, war is necessary, and that war must be made with our self. Our worst enemy is our self: our faults, our weaknesses, our limitations. And our mind is such a traitor! What does it? It covers our faults even from our own eyes, and points out to us the reason for all our difficulties: others! So it constantly deludes us, keeping us unaware of the real enemy, and pushes us towards those others to fight them, showing them to us as our enemies. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

324:One should never think or speak against one's desire, for it weakens the thought-vibrations and often brings about contrary results. A variety of thoughts springing up at the same time naturally enfeebles the power of mind, for none of them has a chance to mature, just as twins are often imperfect and triplets seldom live. The disharmony between one's desire and one's ideal always causes a great confusion in life, for they constantly work against each other. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

325:The one Spirit of life is given different names, the sacred names. We more easily recognize the Spirit of life by the particular name to which we are accustomed. So far we are right, but the mistake we make, and it is to our loss, is to ignore or deny the same truth because it is given to us in another form and under another name. We limit it. We say the truth existed only in that period when certain teachers came to the world, and that after that it stopped. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

326:There is not anything one should not be ready to tolerate, and there is nobody whom one should not forgive. Never doubt those whom you trust; never hate those whom you love; never cast down those whom you once raise in your estimation. Wish to make friends with everyone you meet; make an effort to gain the friendship of those you find difficult; become indifferent to them only of you cannot succeed in your effort. Never wish to break the friendship once made. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

327:Every form seems to be derived from another, all figures being derived from Alif which is originally derived from a dot and represents zero, nothingness (In Arabic the zero is written as a dot.) It is that nothingness which creates the first form Alif. It is natural for everyone when writing to make a dot as soon as the pen touches the paper, and the letters forming the words hide the origin. In like manner the origin of the One Being is hidden in His manifestation. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

328:all things that seem good and evil are the opposite ends of one line, and it is difficult to say where evil ends and good begins, for these are comparative terms. A lesser good would seem evil when compared with a greater good, and the lesser evil in comparison with the greater evil would appear good. If there were no evil, good would not have been valued. Without injustice, justice would not have been appreciated. Therefore the whole of life's joy is expressed in duality. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

329:We are all in this world travelers, and those near to us or those whom we see, they are the ones we meet on our journey. And therefore, it is an opportunity of thinking of our duty towards them. Neither shall we be with them always, nor will they be with us. Life is a dream in which we are thrown, a dream which is ever changing. Therefore an opportunity lost of considering our little obligations in our everyday life, which form part of our duty, is like forgetting our religion. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

330:Among all the valuable things of this world, the word is the most precious. For in the word one can find a light which gems and jewels do not possess; a word may contain so much life that it can heal the wounds of the heart. Therefore, poetry in which the soul is expressed is as living as a human being. The greatest reward that God bestows on man is eloquence and poetry. This is not an exaggeration, for it is the gift of the poet that culminates, in time, with the gift of prophecy. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

331:Very often pessimistic people speak against their own desire. They want to undertake some work, and they say, 'I will do this, but I don't think I shall succeed in it.' Thus they hinder themselves in their path. Man does not know that every thought makes an impression on the consciousness and on the rhythm with which the consciousness is working. According to that rhythm that reflection will come true and happen; and a man proves to be his own enemy by his ignorance of these things. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

332:What we call music in our everyday language is only a miniature, which our intelligence has grasped from that music or harmony of the whole universe which is working behind everything, and which is the source and origin of nature. It is because of this that the wise of all ages have considered music to be a sacred art. For in music the seer can see the picture of the whole universe; and the wise can interpret the secret and nature of the working of the whole universe in the realm of music. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

333:‎"Intellect is the knowledge obtained by experience of names and forms; wisdom is the knowledge which manifests only from the inner being; to acquire intellect one must delve into studies, but to obtain wisdom, nothing but the flow of divine mercy is needed; it is as natural as the instinct of swimming to the fish, or of flying to the bird. Intellect is the sight which enables one to see through the external world, but the light of wisdom enables one to see through the external into the internal world. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

334:The truth is to be realized from all things, from religion, from philosophy, from science, from art, from industry. The only difference is that one takes a shorter way and the other takes a longer way. One goes round about and the other takes a straight path. There is no difference in the destination; the only difference is in the journey, whether one goes on foot or whether one drives, whether one is awake or whether one is asleep and is taken blindly to the destination, not knowing the beauties of the way. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

335:The man, who shuts himself up from all men, however high spiritually he may be, will not be free in Malakut, in the higher sphere. He will have a wall around him, keeping away the jinns and even the angels of the angelic heavens; and so his journey will be exclusive. It is therefore that Sufism does not only teach concentration and meditation, which help one to make one-sided progress, but the love of God which is expansion; the opening of the heart of all beings, which is the way of Christ and the sign of the cross. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

336:The louder a person speaks in an assembly the more attention he attracts and all those present perforce give him a hearing. In the same way, if a Sufi sends forth the vibrations of his thought and feeling, they naturally strike with a great strength and power on any mind on which they happen to fall. As sweetness of voice has a winning power so it is with tenderness of thought and feeling. Thought-vibrations to which the spoken word is added are doubled in strength; and with a physical effort this strength is trebled. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

337:A person (lacking mastery) holds a thought in mind, whether it is beneficial to him or not, without knowing the result which will come from it. It is like a child who holds a rattle in his hand and hits his head with the rattle and cries with the pain, and yet does not throw the rattle away. There are many who keep in their mind a thought of illness or a thought of unkindness done to them by someone and suffer from it, yet not knowing what it is that makes them suffer so, nor understanding the reason of their suffering. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

338:His constant fight is with the Nafs (self-interest), the root of all disharmony and the only enemy of man. By crushing this enemy man gains mastery over himself; this wins for him mastery over the whole universe, because the wall standing between the self and the Almighty has been broken down. Gentleness, mildness, respect, humility, modesty, self-denial, conscientiousness, tolerance and forgiveness are considered by the Sufi as the attributes which produce harmony within one's own soul as well as within that of another. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

339:In Sufi terms the crushing of the ego is called Nafs Kushi. And how do we crush it? We crush it by sometimes taking ourselves to task. When the self says, 'O no, I must not be treated like this,' then we say, 'What does it matter?' When the self says, 'He ought to have done this, she ought to have said that,' we say, 'What does it matter, either this way or that way? Every person is what he is; you cannot change him, but you can change yourself.' That is the crushing. ... It is only in this way that we can crush our ego. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

340:The more sincerity is developed, the greater share of truth you will have. And however much sincerity a person may have, there is always a gap to fill, for we live in the midst of falsehood, and we are always apt to be carried away by this world of falsehood. Therefore we must never think we are sincere enough, and we must always be on our guard against influences which may carry us away from that sincerity which is the bridge between ourselves and our ideal. No study, no meditation is more helpful than sincerity itself. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

341:If a person is cold and rigid, he feels within himself as if he were in a grave. He is not living, he cannot enjoy this life for he cannot express himself and he cannot see the light and life outside. What keeps man from developing the heart quality? His exacting attitude. He wants to make a business of love. He says, 'If you will love me, I will love you.' As soon as a man measures and weighs his favors and his services and all that he does for one whom he loves, he ceases to know what love is. Love sees the beloved and nothing else. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

342:Each individual composes the music of his own life. If he injures another, he brings disharmony. When 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 not, 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 grows more in harmony. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

343:The artist, the poet, the musician and the philosopher show in their gifts throughout their lives the heritage of the jinn. The words genius and jinn come from a Sanskrit word Jnana, which means knowledge. The jinns. Therefore, are the beings of knowledge; whose hunger is for knowledge, whose joy is in learning, in understanding, and whose work is in inspiring, and bring light and joy to others. In every kind of knowledge that exists, the favorite knowledge to a jinn is the knowledge of truth, in which is the fulfillment of its life's purpose. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

344:The greatest error of this age is that activity has increased so much, that there is little margin left in one's everyday life for repose. And repose is the secret of all contemplation and meditation, the secret of getting in tune with that aspect of life which is the essence of all things. When one is not accustomed to take repose, one does not know what is behind one's being. This condition is experienced by first preparing the body and the mind by means of purification; and by making the senses fine one is able to tune one's soul with the whole Being. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

345:In the traditions of the Sufis Raqs, the sacred dance of spiritual ecstasy which even now is prevalent among the Sufis of the East, is traced to the time when contemplation of the Creator impressed the wonderful reality of his vision so deeply on the heart of Jalaluddin Rumi that he became entirely absorbed in the whole and single immanence of nature, and took a rhythmic turn which caused the skirt of his garment to form a circle, and the movements of his hands and neck made a circle; and it is the memory of this moment of vision which is celebrated in the dance of dervishes. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

346:Every mind has its particular standard of good and bad, and of right and wrong. This standard is made by what one has experienced through life, by what one has seen or heard; it also depends upon one's belief in a certain religion, one's birth in a certain nation and origin in a certain race. But what can really be called good or bad, right or wrong, is what comforts the mind and what causes it discomfort. It is not true, although it appears so, that it is discomfort that causes wrongdoing. In reality, it is wrongdoing which causes discomfort, and it is right-doing which gives comfort. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

347:It is the state of vibrations to which man is tuned that accounts for his soul's note. The different degrees of these notes form a variety of pitch divided by the mystics into three distinct grades. First the grade which produces power and intelligence, and may be pictured as a calm sea. Secondly, the grade of moderate activity which keeps all things in motion, and is a balance between power and weakness which may be pictured as the sea in motion. Thirdly, the grade of intense activity, which destroys everything and causes all weakness and blindness; it may be pictured as a stormy sea. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

348:Such powerful nations as Russia and Germany, who could ever have thought that they would fall down in a moment; nations which took hundreds of years to become strong and to build themselves up? But when their time came their downfall did not take long. If such great powers are subject to falling in a moment and their whole construction can be broken, if that is the nature and character of life, no thoughtful person will deny the fact that there must be some mystery behind it, some secret of which he would like to find the key. At least he would want to know what life is and what is behind it. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

349:The sound of the abstract is called Anahad in the Vedas, meaning unlimited sound. The Sufis name it Sarmad, which suggests the idea of intoxication. The word intoxication is here used to signify upliftment, the freedom of the soul from its earthly bondage. Those who are able to hear the Saut-i Sarmad and meditate on it are relieved from all worries, anxieties, sorrows, fears and diseases; and the soul is freed from captivity in the senses and in the physical body. The soul of the listener becomes the all-pervading consciousness, and his spirit becomes the battery which keeps the whole universe in motion. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

350:The length of time that the thought is held has also much to do with its accomplishment, for the thought-vibrations have to be active for a certain time to bring about a certain result. A certain length of time is required for the baking of a cake; if it is hurried the cake will be uncooked; with too great a heat it will burn. If the operator of the mental vibrations lacks patience then the power of thought will be wasted, even if it were half-way to its destiny, or still nearer to a successful issue. If too great a power of thought is given to the accomplishment of a certain thing it destroys while preparing it. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

351:The build of his form depends upon the balance and regularity of his life, and upon the impressions he receives from the world; for in accordance with the attitude he takes towards life, his every thought and action adds or takes away, or removes to another place, the atoms of his body, thus forming the lines and muscles of form and feature. For instance the face of a man speaks his joy, sorrow, pleasure, displeasure, sincerity, insincerity, and all that is developed in him. The muscles of his head tell the phrenologist his condition in life. There is a form in the thought and feelings which produces a beautiful or ugly effect. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

352:There are many moral principles, just as many drops fall from one fountain; but there is one stream that is at the source of all, and that is love. It is love that gives birth to hope, patience, endurance, forgiveness, tolerance, and to all moral principles. All deeds of kindness and beneficence take root in the soil of the loving heart. Generosity, charity, adaptability, an accommodating nature, even renunciation, are the offspring of love alone. The great, rare and chosen beings, who for ages have been looked up to as ideal in the world, are the possessors of hearts kindled with love. All evil and sin come from the lack of love. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

353:The reach of vibrations is according to the fineness of the plane of their starting-point. To speak more plainly, the word uttered by the lips can only reach the ears of the hearer; but the thought proceeding from the mind reaches far, shooting from mind to mind. The vibrations of mind are much stronger than those of words. The earnest feelings of one heart can pierce the heart of another; they speak in the silence, spreading out into the sphere, so that the very atmosphere of a person's presence proclaims his thoughts and emotions. The vibrations of the soul are the most powerful and far-reaching, they run like an electric current from soul to soul. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

354:the true way is not the renouncing of things, but it is making the best use of them, making the right use of them. It is not going away from life, but being among the crowd, being in the midst of life, and yet not being attached to it. One might say, that it would be a cruel thing to be detached from anybody who wants our love and kindness and sympathy. You can attach yourself to the whole world if you will not be of the world. If one keeps one's thoughts centered upon the idea of the real happiness which is attained by the realization of the self, and if one does not allow anything to hinder that, then in the end one arrives at that happiness which is the purpose of the coming on earth of every soul. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

355:In the Bible it is said that no one will enter the kingdom of God whose soul is not born again. Being born means being alive. It is not only a gay disposition or an external inclination to merriment and pleasure that is the sign of a living soul. External joy and amusement may come simply through the external being of man. However, even in this outer joy and happiness, there is a glimpse of the inner joy and happiness, and that is a sign of the soul having been born again. What makes the soul alive? It makes itself alive when it strikes its depths instead of reaching outward. The soul, after coming up against the iron wall of this life of falsehood, turns back within itself; it encounters itself, and this is how it becomes living. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

356:If man in his daily life would examine every action which has reflected a disagreeable picture of himself upon his soul and caused darkness and dissatisfaction, and if on the other hand he would consciously watch each thought, word, or deed which had produced an inward love, harmony and beauty, and each feeling which had brought him wisdom, calm and peace, then the way of harmony between soul and body would be easily understood, and both aspects of life would be satisfied, the inner as well as the outer. The soul's satisfaction is much more important than that of the body, for it is more lasting. In this way the thought, speech and action can be adjusted, so that harmony may be established first in the self by the attunement of body and soul. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

357:We then come to think that what we had was but a little and that perhaps more would satisfy us, and still more would suffice our need; but this is not so. Even if the whole universe were within our grasp it would be impossible fully to satisfy our life's demands. This shows that our true life has quite different demands from those with which we are familiar. It does not want the joy experienced by this individual self only; it desires joy from all around. It does not wish for a momentary peace, but for one that is everlasting. It does not desire to love a beloved held in the arms of mortality. It needs a beloved to be always before it. It does not want to be loved only for today and perhaps not tomorrow. It wishes to float in the ocean of love. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

358:I first believed without any hesitation in the existence of the soul, and then I wondered about the secret of its nature. I persevered and strove in search of the soul, and found at last that I myself was the cover over my own soul. I realized that that in me which believed and that in me that wondered, that which was found at last, was no other than my soul. I thanked the darkness that brought me to the light, and I valued this veil that prepared for me the vision in which I saw myself reflected, the vision produced in the mirror of my soul. Since then, I have seen all souls as my soul, and realized my soul as the soul of all. And what bewilderment it was when I realized that I alone was, if there were anyone, that I am whatever and whoever exists, and that I shall be whoever there will be in the future. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

359:But the soul which arrives at this stage of realization consciously has a different experience. The difference is like that of one person having been pulled, with his back turned to the source, and another person having journeyed towards the goal, enjoying at every step each experience it has met with, and rejoicing at every moment of this journey in approaching nearer to the goal. What does this soul, conscious of its progress towards the goal, realize? It realizes with every veil it has thrown off a greater power, and increased inspiration, until it arrives at a stage, after having passed through the sphere of the jinns and the heaven of the angels, when it realizes that error which it had known, and yet not known fully; the error it made in identifying itself with its reflection, with its shadow falling on these different planes. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

360:Love is the divine Mother's arms; when those arms are spread, every soul falls into them.

The Sufis of all ages have been known for their beautiful personality. It does not mean that among them there have not been people with great powers, wonderful powers and wisdom. But beyond all that, what is most known of the Sufis is the human side of their nature: that tact which attuned them to wise and foolish, to poor and rich, to strong and weak -- to all. They met everyone on his own plane, they spoke to everyone in his own language. What did Jesus teach when he said to the fishermen, 'Come hither, I will make you fishers of men?' It did not mean, 'I will teach you ways by which you get the best of man.' It only meant: your tact, your sympathy will spread its arms before every soul who comes, as mother's arms are spread out for her little ones. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

361:People say, 'Let us enjoy ourselves and be happy; there is plenty of sorrow in the world without choosing to mourn,' and they strive after happiness in whatever way they can. But these passing and momentary joys do not give lasting happiness, and the people who pursue them are either asleep or dead. The soul's true happiness lies in experiencing the inner joy, and it will never be fully satisfied with outer seeming pleasures. Its connection is with God, and nothing short of perfection will ever satisfy it. ... Everybody has an ideal in life, and that ideal is the religion of his soul, and coming short of that ideal is what we term sin. The thoughtful and serious-minded man repents in tears for his shortcomings, and thus proves himself to be alive, while the shallow man is angry at his fall, and is ready to blame those who seem to him to have caused it. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

362:Therefore, in seeking for happiness, man is seeking for himself. What gives man inclination to seek for happiness is the feeling of having lost something which he had always owned, which belonged to him, which was his own self. The absence of happiness, which a soul has experienced from the day it has come on earth and which has increased every day more and more, makes man forget that his own being is happiness. He thinks happiness is something, which is acquired. As man thinks that happiness is something which is acquired, he continually strives in every direction to attain to it. In the end, after all his striving, he finds that the real happiness does not lie in what he calls pleasures. Pleasures may be a shadow of happiness. There is an illusion of happiness, because all the illusion which stands beside reality is more interesting for the average man than reality itself. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

363:No doubt it often happens that a child possesses qualities of his ancestors which were perhaps missing in his parents, or even two or three generations back; however, this is another heritage, a heritage which is known to us as such. I might express this by saying that a soul borrows a property from the spheres of the jinn, and a more concrete property from the physical world; and as it borrows this property, together with this transaction it takes upon itself the taxation and the obligations as well as the responsibilities which are attached to the property. Very often the property is not in proper repair, and damage has been done to it, and it falls to his lot to repair it; and if there be a mortgage on that property that becomes his due. Together with the property he becomes the owner of the records and the contracts of the property which he owns. In this is to be found the secret of what is called Karma. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

364:One may ask, 'Which of these four ways is the best way of arriving at the purpose of life?' That way is best which suits you best. The way of one person is not for another person, although man is always inclined to accuse another person of doing wrong, believing that he himself is doing right. In reality, the purpose is beyond all these four things. Neither in paradise nor in the ideal, neither in pleasures nor in the wealth of this earth is that purpose accomplished. That purpose is accomplished when a person has risen above all these things. It is that person then, who will tolerate all, who will understand all, who will assimilate all things, who will not feel disturbed by things which are not in accordance with his own nature or the way which is not his way. He will not look at them with contempt, but he will see that in the depth of every being there is a divine spark which is trying to raise its flame toward the purpose. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

365:There is a story of a dervish who was standing in the middle of the street when the procession of the king was approaching. First came the pages who ran before the procession, and they pushed him and said, “Don’t you see, the king is coming! Go away!” And the dervish smiled and said, “That is why,” and he remained in the same place. Then there came the horsemen, the bodyguards. They said, “Get out of the way, the procession is coming!” The dervish smiled and said, “That is why.” Next the courtiers came and saw the dervish standing there, and instead of telling the dervish to go away, they moved their horses a little away from where he stood. And again the dervish said, “That is why.” Finally came the king, and when the king saw the dervish standing there, he greeted him first; and the dervish in reply said, “That is why.” An intelligent young man asked him, “What is it you mean by this remark?” The dervish answered, “You can see that is why he is what he is.” People ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

366:Sufis have no set belief or disbelief. Divine light is the only sustenance of their soul, and through this light they see their path clear, and what they see in this light they believe, and what they do not see they do not blindly believe. Yet they do not interfere with another person's belief or disbelief, thinking that perhaps a greater portion of light has kindled his heart, and so he sees and believes that the Sufi cannot see or believe. Or, perhaps a lesser portion of light has kept his sight dim and he cannot see and believe as the Sufi believes. Therefore Sufis leave belief and disbelief to the grade of evolution of every individual soul. The Murshid's work is to kindle the fire of the heart, and to light the torch of the soul of his mureed, and to let the mureed believe and disbelieve as he chooses, while journeying through the path of evolution. But in the end all culminates in one belief, Huma man am, that is, 'I am all that exists'; and all other beliefs are preparatory for this final conviction, which is called Haqq al-Iman in the Sufi terminology. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

367:The Sufi is free from beliefs and disbeliefs, and yet gives every liberty to people to have their own opinion. There is no doubt that if an individual or a multitude believe that a teacher or a reformer will come, he will surely come to them. Similarly, in the case of those who do not believe that any teacher or reformer will come, to them he will not come. To those who expect the Teacher to be a man, a man will bring the message; to those who expect the Teacher to be a woman, a woman must deliver it. To those who call on God, God comes. To those who knock at the door of Satan, Satan answers. There is an answer to every call. To a Sufi the Teacher is never absent, whether he comes in one form or in a thousand forms he is always one to him, and the same One he recognizes to be in all, and all Teachers he sees in his one Teacher alone. For a Sufi, the self within, the self without, the kingdom of the earth, the kingdom of heaven, the whole being is his teacher, and his every moment is engaged in acquiring knowledge. For some, the Teacher has already come and gone, for others the Teacher may still come, but for a Sufi the Teacher has always been and will remain with him forever. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

368:I passed away into nothingness -- I vanished; and lo! I was all living.' All who have realized the secret of life understand that life is one, but that it exists in two aspects. First as immortal, all-pervading and silent; and secondly as mortal, active, and manifest in variety. The soul being of the first aspect becomes deluded, helpless, and captive by experiencing life in contact with the mind and body, which is of the next aspect. The gratification of the desires of the body and fancies of the mind do not suffice for the purpose of the soul, which is undoubtedly to experience its own phenomena in the seen and the unseen, though its inclination is to be itself and not anything else. When delusion makes it feel that it is helpless, mortal and captive, it finds itself out of place. This is the tragedy of life, which keeps the strong and the weak, the rich and poor, all dissatisfied, constantly looking for something they do not know. The Sufi, realizing this, takes the path of annihilation, and, by the guidance of a teacher on the path, finds at the end of this journey that the destination was he. As Iqbal says:

'I wandered in the pursuit of my own self; I was the traveler, and I am the destination ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

369:I have loved in life and I have been loved.
I have drunk the bowl of poison from the hands of love as nectar,
and have been raised above life's joy and sorrow.
My heart, aflame in love, set afire every heart that came in touch with it.
My heart has been rent and joined again;
My heart has been broken and again made whole;
My heart has been wounded and healed again;
A thousand deaths my heart has died, and thanks be to love, it lives yet.
I went through hell and saw there love's raging fire,
and I entered heaven illumined with the light of love.
I wept in love and made all weep with me;
I mourned in love and pierced the hearts of men;
And when my fiery glance fell on the rocks, the rocks burst forth as volcanoes.
The whole world sank in the flood caused by my one tear;
With my deep sigh the earth trembled, and when I cried aloud the name of my beloved,
I shook the throne of God in heaven.
I bowed my head low in humility, and on my knees I begged of love,
"Disclose to me, I pray thee, O love, thy secret."
She took me gently by my arms and lifted me above the earth, and spoke softly in my ear,
"My dear one, thou thyself art love, art lover,
and thyself art the beloved whom thou hast adored. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan,

370:I have loved in life and I have been loved.
I have drunk the bowl of poison from the hands of love as nectar,
and have been raised above life's joy and sorrow.
My heart, aflame in love, set afire every heart that came in touch with it.
My heart has been rent and joined again;
My heart has been broken and again made whole;
My heart has been wounded and healed again;
A thousand deaths my heart has died, and thanks be to love, it lives yet.
I went through hell and saw there love's raging fire,
and I entered heaven illumined with the light of love.
I wept in love and made all weep with me;
I mourned in love and pierced the hearts of men;
And when my fiery glance fell on the rocks, the rocks burst forth as volcanoes.
The whole world sank in the flood caused by my one tear;
With my deep sigh the earth trembled, and when I cried aloud the name of my beloved,
I shook the throne of God in heaven.
I bowed my head low in humility, and on my knees I begged of love,
"Disclose to me, I pray thee, O love, thy secret."
She took me gently by my arms and lifted me above the earth, and spoke softly in my ear,
"My dear one, thou thyself art love, art lover,
and thyself art the beloved whom thou hast adored. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

371:When one completely denies oneself, there are no words to speak. What can one say? Praise and blame are the same to one; there is nothing to be said. And how is this 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. The belief in God is the first step. By the belief in God, is attained the losing oneself in God. If one is able to do it, one has attained 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 in 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; it means 'I am not.' And the idea of resurrection explains the next stage, which is Baqa, which means 'Thou art.' and this means rising towards All-might. The divine spirit is to be recognized in that rising towards All-might. 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 that 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. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

372:A young lad was sent to school. He began his lessons with the other children, and the first lesson the teacher set him was the straight line, the figure “one.” But whereas the others went on progressing, this child continued writing the same figure. After two or three days the teacher came up to him and said, “Have you finished your lesson?” He said, “No, I’m still writing ‘one.’ ” He went on doing the same thing, and when at the end of the week the teacher asked him again he said, “I have not yet finished it.” The teacher thought he was an idiot and should be sent away, as he could not or did not want to learn. At home the child continued with the same exercise and the parents also became tired and disgusted. He simply said, “I have not yet learned it, I am learning it. When I have finished I shall take the other lessons.” The parents said, “The other children are going on further, school has given you up, and you do not show any progress; we are tired of you.” And the lad thought with sad heart that as he had displeased his parents too he had better leave home. So he went into the wilderness and lived on fruits and nuts. After a long time he returned to his old school. And when he saw the teacher he said to him, “I think I have learned it. See if I have. Shall I write on this wall?” And when he made his sign the wall split in two. —Hazrat Inayat Khan The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan ~ Ram Dass

373:Integral Psychology presents a very complex picture of the individual. As he did previously in The Atman Project, at the back of the book Wilber has included numerous charts showing how his model relates to the work of a hundred or so different authors from East and West.57

57. Wilber compares the models of Huston Smith, Plotinus, Buddhism, Stan Grof, John Battista, kundalini yoga, the Great Chain of Being, James Mark Baldwin, Aurobindo, the Kabbalah, Vedanta, William Tiller, Leadbeater, Adi Da, Piaget, Commons and Richards, Kurt Fisher, Alexander, Pascual-Leone, Herb Koplowitz, Patricia Arlin, Gisela Labouvie-Vief, Jan Sinnot, Michael Basseches, Jane Loevinger, John Broughton, Sullivan, Grant and Grant, Jenny Wade, Michael Washburn, Erik Erikson, Neumann, Scheler, Karl Jaspers, Rudolf Steiner, Don Beck, Suzanne Cook-Greuter, Clare Graves, Robert Kegan, Kohlberg, Torbert, Blanchard-Fields, Kitchener and King, Deirdre Kramer, William Perry, Turner and Powell, Cheryl Armon, Peck, Howe, Rawls, Piaget, Selman, Gilligan, Hazrat Inayat Khan, mahamudra meditation, Fowler, Underhill, Helminiak, Funk, Daniel Brown, Muhyddin Ibn 'Arabi, St. Palamas, classical yoga, highest tantra yoga, St Teresa, Chirban, St Dionysius, Patanjali, St Gregory of Nyssa, transcendental meditation, Fortune, Maslow, Chinen, Benack, Gardner, Melvin Miller, Habermas, Jean Houston, G. Heard, Lenski, Jean Gebser, A. Taylor, Jay Early, Robert Bellah, and Duane Elgin. ~ Frank Visser, Ken Wilber Thought as Passion,

374:And the fifth aspect of our duty is to God, our Creator, Sustainer, and the Forgiver of our shortcomings. One might say, 'We have not desired to come here. Why were we sent here?' But it is said in a moment of disturbance of mind. If the mind is still, if a person shows good sense he will say, 'Even if there were nothing else given to me in life, to be allowed to live under the sun is the greatest privilege.' One says, 'I toil and I earn money, and that is my living which I make. Who is to be given credit for it?' But it is not the money we eat; what we eat is not made in the bank. It is made by the sun and the moon and the stars and the earth and the water, by nature, which is living before us. If we had not air to breathe, we should die in a moment. These gifts of nature, which are before us, how can we be thankful enough for them? Besides, as a person develops spiritually he will see that it is not only his body that needs food, but also his mind, his heart, his soul; a food that this mechanical world cannot provide. It is the food that God alone can give, and it is therefore that we call God the Sustainer. Furthermore, at a time when there was neither strength in us nor sense enough to earn our livelihood, at that time our food was created. When one thinks of this, and when one realizes that every little creature, a germ or worm that no one ever notices, also receives its sustenance, then one begins to see that there is a Sustainer; and that Sustainer we find in God, and towards Him we have a duty. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

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