SANGATHA II

TASAWWUF

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.

TASAWWUF

Suppose a bubble of soapy water fell into the sea. There are two things -- soap and water. When the bubble dissolves, the soapy part still remains; it is possible that there, where soap is floating, a bubble may again rise and have around it the soap. If one wishes to call that bubble the same, one may. But who can tell whether it is exactly the same or whether it is a part or more or quite a different bubble? A drop of oil remains a drop of oil when it has fallen into the water; only the water in the drop of oil is consumed in air and fire.

The human soul is the very substance of God, it cannot be a drop of oil in the sea. It is a drop of water in the sea, it is longing to be merged in the sea. It does not become less, it becomes more. It has not lost anything, but it has gained a gain which is its own. If it has lost, it is only its limitation; and it has gained in return perfection.

TASAWWUF

It is not what becomes of us that counts. It is the journey that counts, many more years, comparatively, hereafter; it is the going smoothly towards the goal.

TASAWWUF

Progress is from the point where the water rises as an individual stream to the point where it falls in the absolute store of water.

TASAWWUF

There is a minor journey and there is a major journey. The minor journey is rising through the mineral and animal to the human. In this journey the spirit is helpless; and from the human life onward the spirit becomes master of its journey. And what is taught by mysticism is knowing the journey and making the journey a good one.

TASAWWUF

There are two deaths, the inner and the external. The first is going into the center, the second going into the vastness. It is like a pebble thrown in the water. What one sees are the horizontal circles which become wider and wider. There are other lines which go deeper and deeper. These two sorts form the cross.

TASAWWUF

Life has two aspects: the still life and the active life. What we call life is the active life. What we call death is merging from the active into the still life. Because man has no knowledge of it, he calls it death; but it is only a state, the forming of the cross, which seems death.

TASAWWUF

There are two directions through which the activity of life extinguishes itself. One is by merging into the stillness of life which passes human comprehension. The other is by involving itself in the wheels of the numerous aspects of life, singly, collectively, partly, divided, or as a whole.

TASAWWUF

By the way of mysticism one can touch the source. There is a stream which is constantly in touch with the depth, this is the mystic life. There is another stream which rose and dropped. In the fountain there are two kinds of drops: the one, constantly touching the source as goal; the other rises, breaks on the way, and so drops in the source, disconnected on the way. The latter is the life of the people who simply live and die.

TASAWWUF

There is not always the same process, because God is not subject to law and His creation not subject to a process. And the habit He makes in one creation is called nature; and those who perceive its process recognize the process of the change of nature, His law. This law does not hold good in every cycle of creation, though it is significant to some extent in that particular cycle of creation; and those who have insight into that law are called seers.

TASAWWUF

In discussing matters one must always consider on what plane things are discussed. Things that seem right and wrong, respectively, on one plane, may both seem right on the other plane. Things that may seem most unjust on one plane can be justified on another plane. It is therefore that the mystic closes his lips, and sees all things, hears all things, thinks all things and feels all things in the light of the One Truth which is the only Truth.

TASAWWUF

The cobra is symbolically indicative of a mystical anatomy. The head of the cobra is the inner part of the head of man, and the body of the cobra is man's spinal cord, which runs all through the body as a coiled cobra, the nose of the cobra being the nostrils of man. Sometimes the cobra is pictured with seven heads, which denote the seven organs of the senses: two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, one mouth. Upon the snake of seven faces Vishnu rests, which is symbolical of the Sufi who has controlled his senses and risen above them, then rests on the senses as a king; whereas the person who has not yet mastered his senses is a captive and slave, tortured constantly by the power of the senses and by their demands.

There is a story told in the East in many different forms about a cobra with a diamond in its head. That whenever it sought its food, it put that diamond out and searched for its food in its light, and then it took it and put it in its head again. This is the sign of the master -- man who has sought his light within himself, the third eye, and benefited himself and others by raising that light high, making in this way clear one's own path and the path of others through the darkness of the life on earth; according to the saying of Christ, "Raise your light high," that nobody should "hide his light under a bushel."

The serpent is the sign of the two poles in life, the innermost and the outermost (head, mouth, and tail).

l. It is the sign of God.

2. It is the sign of the mystic.

3. It is the sign of wisdom.

4. It is the sign of thought power.

5. It is the sign of light.

6. It is the sign of beauty.

7. It is the sign of enemy.

8. It is the sign of revenge.

9. It is the sign of bitterness of heart.

l. The end of God is in the mouth of the beginning of God, (tail in mouth).

2. There are cobras who will not eat for three months; who will attract a bird from a mile's distance; and who will sit in a reposeful attitude for days and nights together; whose breath is most natural and powerful; who are all energy and peacefulness.

3. The Bible says, "Be wise as a snake." The wisdom of the snake is that it does not harm in the first place; the one who does not harm it, it harms not. It always keeps away from all danger. It is careful of its path; knows where it goes, however far off it went from its hole, it finds its hole again. It is the wise that, in the same way, finds his goal, however much he may be occupied in the life of the world. An Indian poet says, "However many ties there may be to chain my life to the material world, it will be as the changing of the side when from here I will return."

4. Getting food from a long distance.

5. Has a diamond in its head, which it puts out when it is searching for its food; intelligence of the snake.

6. Its skin and form are most beautiful; the subtleness, smoothness and silky nature of the skin and the fineness of it.

7. Because of its bite.

8. Hit it, it will follow wherever you go till it finds you, it has such a sense of revenge.

9. Inner bitterness is expressed in the teeth. It is the people of bitter heart that express bitter words.

TASAWWUF

The human heart is like to the sky, where the changes of light always take place -- sometimes daylight and sometimes night; sometimes a joy rises like the sun, and sometimes the joy sinks like the sunset. Depression and despair and changing of all different moods in man are like the grouping and dispersing of clouds, causing light and darkness. It is the realization of this truth which raises the soul above these constant changes which are necessary conditions of life.

TASAWWUF

Up or down, and front or back, right or left, does not exist in reality, it exists in the point of view alone. No evolution of any kind has a line. If it exists, it exists in one's point of view. And therefore to the one who looks from the south, the top of the line is the north; and to the one who looks from the north, the top of the line is the south. When one feels that there ought to be better, he sees himself standing at the foot and the top before him at some distance; but when he thinks that, this is the best, then he finds himself standing at the top and the other point he sees as the foot.

SALUK

Our dissatisfaction with our follies is beneficial only when it leads us to do better; but when our dissatisfaction is so much that it discourages the spirit from progressing and bettering our life, and when it helps to make the spirit insensible of the error, it is wrong to hold the consciousness of our wrongdoings and it is better to forget.

SALUK

The great catastrophe that the world has recently gone through is the result of man's inconsideration of the purpose of creation. Every atom of life in all its grades of evolution and through all names and form, is trying to rise on to the surface, which is the purpose of creation. Man, by his thoughtlessness, has injured the unmanifested life on its way to world manifestation. As every form of life occupies a certain place in the universe -- the more developed, the more important position it occupies in life -- its destruction makes a gap, causing thereby inharmony. This injury results in wars, plagues or floods as the reaction to the injury done to life. The lives which are destroyed which are not yet come to manifestation, it is like destroying a Divine Immanence on its process of development.

NASIHAT

My mureeds must not speak in defense of me when my goodness is questioned; for goodness and greatness belong to God alone, and man who claims goodness or greatness must sooner or later realize his poverty.

TASAWWUF

There is nothing you see which is not audible, and there is nothing you hear which is not visible; the difference is that when one aspect manifests to you the other aspect is hidden. To see or hear the hidden aspect, one must have his inner senses opened. In point of fact all that is audible is also visible and all that is visible is also audible.

KHAWAS

People who are quick to take a strong like or dislike at the first impression they have of a person, are often apt to mistake, owing to their lack of patience. Man paints another person in his imagination from his first impression, and he sees another person through the spectacles of his own attitude towards him, and every action that person does represents to him the color of his own opinion and attitude towards him. To understand man aright, patience is needed, tolerance is necessary. The tendency of imagining a person better than he is can be preferable to the tendency of picturing a person worse than he is.

KHAWAS

Trying to keep friends with the adversary in order to avoid harm coming from him is not a good policy; for your adversary gets a stronger hold on you as a friend than as an enemy.

SALUK

Man in whom consideration is born, and who takes precautions so as not to hurt another by thought, word or deed, has already started his journey on the right path.

SALUK

He who takes pleasure in hurting others feelings indeed committeth a greater sin, for in hurting the feeling of man he offendeth God

TA`LIM

A stern and proud person, sure of his opinion and who builds a wall of his own point of view, is difficult to manage; for he shuts himself by the wall of his own point of view and covers his own eyes by his own pride. In dealing with such a one it is wise to agree first with his point of view, then gently to turn him to your point of view without his knowledge. If this person knows you have a different view from his he will never agree with you, for he is too proud of his opinion. This person by nature is generally stupid.

KHAWAS

There are some who feel relieved if they can put their fault on another, and if they can make the other believe, they feel as if they were purified from their sin.

KHAWAS

There are some people who wait for you to say something different from what they believe. No sooner have you said it than they have got strength from it to argue; and it is silence which destroys the germ of their disease.

SALUK

Avoid conflict with a low person; for the ways in which he will say or do cannot be your way; therefore he will overpower you in the end if you have a conflict with him.

TASAWWUF

When a person is fast asleep, when his body is resting and mind still, his soul is able to freely breathe and absorb in itself all the energy and vitality that are necessary for his whole being.

TASAWWUF

The human body is a living wireless station. If only his senses, his mind were open to receive, he would not only receive all that comes from the world around him, but also from the world about him; in other words from the world within him. And so even such experiences as hearing something, seeing something, or perceiving a fragrance, a depression without reason or laughter without a cause, all these are the phenomena proving that man is the living wireless.

TASAWWUF

By following a certain principle in life one gains a power which comes as an intoxication; but when one breaks that principle one feels the want of that intoxication which is power.

KHAWAS

There are some people who, out of cleverness, say things to you against your friends, just in fun and to test you how you feel about it; and if you responded to their influence further, to turn you against your friend.

NASIHAT

Defend not your Murshid against any accusation; for proclaim aloud your conviction that all that is good and bad in the world is to be found in your Murshid.

NASIHAT

The Sufi Message is destined to reawaken the world and to be a warning. The power of the inner forces is constantly at work; and this promises much for the future of the nucleus of the few Mureeds formed under the name of the Sufi Movement, to be the servants of the new era in the path of God and Truth.

I wish that my Mureeds, those who feel in their heart this trust, shall not only receive the Sacred Message for their own unfoldment, but shall feel the privilege of being a nucleus for the reconstruction of (in) the coming ***of/in spiritual world. The more they will be conscious of this, the more they will feel the responsibility of their lives and the duty they must perform. Mureeds can show their devotion to the Murshid and the Cause by doing their very best, and by devoting their thoughts and efforts in action for the rebuilding of the spiritual world.

The Sufi also considers that every person is to him not only his brother but himself.

At the same time, the Sufi never claims spirituality nor goodness, neither does he judge anyone, except that he judges himself as to his own doings. His constant attitude towards others is that of love and forgiveness. His attitude towards his God is that his innermost Being is the object of worship and the Beloved Whom he loves and admires. His interest in life is art, and beauty, and his task the service of humanity in whatever form possible.

TASAWWUF

Responsiveness:

A person with the tendency to respond will succeed in all walks of life; a person who is not responsive will become disappointed in all affairs of life. Responsiveness comes by interest, also by concentration, also by power on one's mind. A person who responds to the advice that is given to him, takes instructions with responsiveness, will carry out his instructions and will accomplish all affairs perfectly. They artist who responds to nature, responds to all beauty, certainly can produce wonders. The person who sympathetically responds to the needs, to the sufferings of others, certainly lives a fuller life. A person without this quality, whatever be his interest in life, will never be able to accomplish anything worth while in life. All people who do something worth while in life are the responsive ones; those who do not respond are failures.

Responsiveness may be explained as faith, trust, concentration, singlemindedness, a living interest, contemplation, and love. To respond means to give full attention and not divided attention but single attention. Responsiveness is focusing one's whole being to something of interest. When a person has developed this faculty even in his interest in worldly affairs has so developed his faculty of responsiveness, then it becomes easy for him to respond to the call of the spirit.***weird sentence It is therefore that in the spiritual path, responsiveness is of the greatest importance.

The mystery of responsiveness is that the responsive one must forget himself in order to respond; and the same mystery may be called the path to perfection. A person who is not capable of forgetting himself, however good, pious, or spiritual, will always prove imperfect in his life. All misery comes from the consciousness of the self. The one who does not forget is constantly called by his own limited life, which enslaves him constantly. The one who forgets himself receives the call of God, if he was able to respond to God.

TASAWWUF

Chemistry:

The mystics of ancient times have used a form of development which they have called by the name of chemistry, in Arabic, "al-Kímiyá." The mind has five different faculties, and by the outlet of any one of these faculties the soul becomes robbed of its real property, which is called in the mystical language "mercury." The faculties of the mind are the mind, memory, ego, the heart (in other words the faculty of feeling), and reason. The more one uses these faculties, the more one loses their substance. It is not true that by not using these faculties one would lose one's hold on them. Another thing is that there is no faculty which is awake that can be blunted by not using it; one only gets a greater control over the faculty and the faculty becomes more substantial by the conserving of energy.

The mystic, therefore, has less things to remember, few things to reason out, fewer imaginations than the average man; little excitement in life, and little thought of self. The first thing he does is to avoid many things to remember at a time, by keeping one object in view. He troubles little about arguing small things in life which can just as well be overlooked. He does not let his mind go from one thought to another every moment in life; this he accomplishes best by holding one thought in mind. The mystic avoids all things and occasions that cause any sort of excitement; for it is excitement which robs of man most part of his energy. The mystic keeps back from self-assertion and all actions which are prompted by it. Not only in pride or conceit does one assert self, but even in humility.

When energy of mind, which is life itself, is so conserved, the mind becomes a reservoir of power and magnetism; and it is this which enables the mystic to impart the over-running magnetism and power to others who are in need. In speaking, in teaching, in healing, in helping another person, this power, so attained by reserve of mind, becomes useful as a store of spiritual power. All he says or does becomes clear and distinct and powerful enough to fulfill its purpose. Others who spread energy by the activity of these different faculties of mind, unduly, so to speak, in activity of mind, waste at the same time their energy, time, and effort.

TASAWWUF

Chemistry:

The control of one's sentimental nature is what is called chemistry, or alchemy, in mystical terms. There are nine different feelings which are as nine expressions of the sentimental nature: Weeping, laughter, anger, sympathy, love, passion, wonder, fear, and indifference. A person who has a pronounced emotional nature easily feels inclined to express his emotion in any of these nine forms. The process of alchemy is to control these expressions without killing them. There is a difference between controlling and killing. By controlling, one possesses power without allowing it to express itself, but by killing it one loses that power which is life. As all things can be made useful, so the feelings of different kinds have their use in life, and the proper use of every sentiment is the right thing; though the life of the mystic has a certain aim to accomplish and for him the control of different emotions is most necessary. For things for which he would not ordinarily blame others he must blame himself; for control is the power of the mystic, and in the lack of control lies his error.

When every feeling is controlled from a free expression, in time it becomes a collected energy; the heart of the mystic becomes a reservoir of power, his every feeling begins to speak beyond words. The secret of the word and presence of the mystic is in the reserve of his sentimental expression. One sees in life those who freely express emotion, every sentiment that comes along, not only lose power and magnetism but become exhausted, their thought, speech and action becomes powerless. By this it does not mean that the life of the mystic must be cold, The one who is warm by nature can never be cold. If a flame does not rise from the fire, it will spread its influence as heat; but in some form or other the fire will prove its existence, being warm. It is not word or action which is love, it is love itself which is love. Word or action limits the life of the heart, and when there is a control over word or action the power of feeling is greater. That which was feeling then becomes phenomenon. Love is life, and this is proved by this process of alchemy by which the mystic develops his heart quality.

TASAWWUF

What everybody thinks is a fact. As soon as he realizes the ultimate Truth, all the facts that appeared to him as Truth fall flat. They are like the leaves of a tree, they fall and new ones arrive.

TASAWWUF

Truth has no sides. Truth is one mass of light, and on whichever part of knowledge it falls, it makes clear.

NASIHAT

It is not only trust in the spiritual guide and appreciation of his work which a mureed should cultivate, but he must develop in himself his teacher's outlook on life, consideration, and charity of heart.

TASAWWUF

One's every thought, feeling, and action, one's affairs and environment in life, all these things depend upon the rhythm of one's life.

SALUK

Justice is developed by judging one's own actions, not those of others. By judging others the eyes of the sense of justice are opened, but by judging oneself the heart of justice opens, which puts all things before one's view in a clear light. Justice is a form of harmony; harmony is the outcome of balance; and balance is born of rhythm. Therefore the development of justice is the first step toward the realization of ultimate Truth.

TA`LIM

The real mureed borrows the eyes of his Murshid to see, thus he is enabled to see from his Murshid's point of view, sacrificing his own.

TA`LIM

Murshid's dignity should become a part of the mureed's self-respect. It is then that the mureed will attain some day to the dignity of the Murshid.

KHAWAS

It is of no use to argue in order that your friend may see your point of view. If he cannot see easily, do not try to force him to see it. Simply know that the hour of seeing from that point of view has not arrived for him and wait patiently until that hour arrives.

SALUK

The heart of a spiritual man vibrates constantly. The more it is alive, the more it responds to every reflection of beauty on every plane of existence. It is therefore not right to judge the attitude or action of a spiritual person from the ordinary point of view.

TASAWWUF

What touches one's soul least is the experience by the sense of touch; the experience by the sense of taste touches deeper, but the experience through the sense of smell has a deeper effect. The experience that one receives through the sight reaches deeper still; but the experience that goes into the innermost being of man is that which he receives through the sense of hearing.

TASAWWUF

The soul rises to enjoy every experience in life. To see it rises more than it does in hearing, it rises still more in smelling, it must rise higher still in tasting, and it rises to the surface in the sense of touch. It is therefore that the sense of touch makes a greater appeal to the sensitiveness of some than any other experience of life.

TASAWWUF

Spiritual Healing:

Spiritual healing is still higher in its nature than either of the former. It can be performed by a single being just as well as by a group of people. In this case the heart of the healer can send forth its feelings as vibrations, and in accordance with their intensity the subject is healed. In absent spiritual healing the desire spreads forth its rays and reaches the patient wherever he may be, curing him without the presence of the healer. The concentration of several people united together works still more wonderfully. The power of the healer depends upon the warmth of his heart. Devotees by their power of concentration and by their purity of life and by their divine love become wonderful healers. Their every tear and sigh becomes a source of healing for themselves and those around them.  Devotion is the fire in which all infirmities are consumed, and the devotee becomes illuminated within himself. And the joy of the devotee and his pain cannot possibly be compared with any other joy of life.

Spiritual healing does not require the fixed gaze; the touch of the fingers, or the power of breath, and tawajjuh (a kind glance) or Du'á (a good thought) of the healer serves the purpose.

TASAWWUF

The question naturally arises, "Then what are we to do with those in life who act differently from how we expect them to act toward us?" And the answer is, "To leave them alone." People take unnecessary trouble, which could just as well be avoided. Worry about another person's action is unnecessary. Everyone has his own worry about himself, and his own action is quite enough for him. When should he have time to worry about others? Every person has his own life before him and the answer to his own action. If he is hot, cold, good, bad, foolish, wise, he has to answer to that. And suppose we love him? We love him, but why force upon him to act as we do? In the first place, no one is ideal, so as to say, "Everyone should act as we do." As we take freedom ourselves to act as we like, so we should give freedom to another to act as he likes. And the only way of living happily in the world is to leave another alone. If he is kind, "Thank you." If he is not kind, "Thank you." Instead of your giving him punishment, let him go a step forward and get the punishment of his action. Those walking in the spiritual path must not trouble about others. A lifelong time is not sufficient if we are to bother about others. Every moment of life is too precious to waste on bothering about others. Another thing is that every person has a nature peculiar to himself, every person has an object, a purpose different from that of others, the conduct of every person's life is different. And when one thinks, "Everybody in the world should speak, act, think and feel as I want them to," he must try and become God. Even God would let everybody alone and free to do as they want.

And suppose if it happened that everyone in life acted as we want them to, would life be perfect? No. We are not always satisfied with our own action, often we ourselves cannot call ourselves our ideal. Do we satisfy ourselves by our action, thought and speech? Then what right have we to blame another person if he does not act as we wish him to? However dear and near that person may be to you, he is a separate individual, he has his separate individuality, he has his own ideas. In some ideas he may be with you, but in other ideas he may differ. Without difference, life cannot exist. Suppose we all had the same face and form, we should not be able to recognize each other, life would not be interesting. And suppose the whole humanity were good, as good as we can picture it to be, the world would be the most wretched place to live in. Man would be so tired of goodness that every soul would hunger and thirst for badness. There is no better principle than to leave everyone alone, not to force our sympathy upon another to such an extent that he must change his individuality. The best way of expressing our love is to leave one alone to choose his way in life.

Yes, if we wish that the others should yield to our wish and act as we wish them to act, then the best way is to reverse that desire, to practice that oneself toward others, instead of expecting that from others. It is not said in the Bible, "Ask another to walk with you two miles if he be only willing to walk with you one mile;" it is said otherwise. By wanting others to act as one wishes, one attracts disappointments and unhappiness in life, one becomes weak, dependent, sorehearted, for human nature will always disappoint. But the one who is ready to answer others' wishes, regardless of others' returning the same, he becomes strong, independent and master of life, he becomes an example; he need not force others, they most willingly yield to him.

TASAWWUF

The question arises, "What may be done if one is tied with another person in business, or in a tie of relationship, or in a certain enterprise, where both have the same interest, the same destiny and to a certain extent the same goal?" This question is most difficult to answer in a few words. In the first place we must know the reason why another person does not act as one wishes him to act; and then one must realize one's position in connection with that person. There are connections where one has perhaps more experience of life or more responsibility of life than the other, and one has more right to differ from what is expected than the other. It is necessary to realize in what capacity one stands with another in considering this question; for it is more the work of the elder, or superior in position, to think why the younger one, or the one who assists him, acts differently from what was expected, instead of the younger one and the one who assists thinking, "Why does the one whom I assist act differently from what I expect of him?"

However, whatever be one's position in connection with another in life, there is one principal thing to be remembered: That by annoyance, by grudging, by complaining, by criticizing, most often one turns things from bad to worse.

Do not think that another person wishes to be corrected by you, be he wise or foolish, older or younger; as soon as one takes the step to correct a person, one, so to speak, does violence to his pride, to his ego, and by doing so one upsets his right thinking. There are ways of doing things. The wiser one is, the more beautifully he accomplishes his purpose in whatever position he may be. If one has to be humble in doing it beautifully, if one has to bend in doing it nicely, instead of making another person bend, it really matters very little. Criticizing a person, accusing a person of his fault is no less than slapping his face, perhaps worse.

In all cases it is consideration which is needed, a respectful attitude towards human nature, whatever be his position in life in connection with you; it is that which gives you a complete mastery. The great kings of the world very often have been pulled down from their thrones by those who for years bowed and bent and trembled at their command, but the Christlike souls who have washed the feet of the disciples are still held in esteem, and will be honored and loved by humanity forever. Their example is the example to follow in life's path, which is full of thorns; and those who have followed their principle, even to the smallest degree, they have arrived safely at their destination.

TASAWWUF

Everything has its time. This principle seems to support the idea of fatalism. Nevertheless, the keener one's outlook becomes through life, the more one sees this principle as a law of nature. The plants, the fruits, have their time of seedling, blossoming and bringing forth fruit and flower. Then there are seasons which come at a certain time of the year, the rising and the setting of the sun. All these show appointed hours for their movements and changes. And so it is with the life of individuals. There are different stages in life and each stage has its experience. Yet man, absorbed in his affairs in the world and vain of his free will and power of doing and managing things, becomes somewhat deluded through life; thereby he denies this principle.

In the Qur'an one reads in clear words, "For everything we have appointed a time," and in another place, "Not one atom moves (which always moves) without the command of God;" in a third place, "We have the power to raise and to bring down any soul, whatever be his position in life." And this shows that not only are all things appointed to happen at a certain time, but they are directed by the One so perfect in power and wisdom. When man says, "I have done this," or "I can do it," or "I will do it," the one perfect in power and wisdom smiles as a grown-up person would smile at a child saying, "I will remove mountains." It does not mean there is no free will, but if one only knew what is behind one's free will he would never call it free will, he would call it His Will.

When a person thinks about things wrong and undesirable and says, "But God would not have done it or even allowed it to be done, if it were within His power He would not have permitted it to be done," he is making himself a child. What is man to judge the doings of God from his limited standard of good and bad? He knows not beyond what he knows. He says he knows if he knows one cause, but there is cause after cause, hidden one behind another; and when once the soul perceives the Cause of all causes, he then realizes that all other causes are as illusions. There is one single Cause behind all things, constantly working as an engineer would work the whole machinery. When something is not meant to be done, then with every means applied to its accomplishment, man finds himself unable to accomplish it. Then he blames friends or enemies, or unfavorable conditions, and finds out some reason for the failure, yet not realizing the meaning of the saying that man proposes and God disposes. All that is meant to be done will be done, even if there did not seem to be the means to accomplish it, for in His power there is every means, to Him there is no lack of anything.

And there is a question which very often one asks, "What does the Perfect One care for the worthless affairs of individuals, and when has the King of the whole universe, before Whom there may be large problems, the time to think about the little fancies, desires and griefs of the beings on this earth?" This way man looks at the subject because he is limited. He sees God as himself, he thinks God is as limited as he is, capable of being busy with one thing at a time and thinking of one thing at the moment. He does not know that God is the sum total of all souls, the spirit of the whole universe. If one can feel even the movement of a fly near him, God can feel every movement which takes place in the whole universe at the same time. How does man see and hear and smell and taste and feel touch at the same time? By the help of different organs of the body. The body of God is the whole universe. How can He not feel every experience that is comprehensible in life? A Sufi need not go in search of miracles to believe in God and in His power. For him the wisdom and power which is constantly directing every affair of this world, and the connection that one thing has with another thing, and so all the actions and every activity of the universe has connection and is one. This gives a sufficient proof to the Sufi for a belief in God with perfect conviction.

TASAWWUF

The Secret of Inspiration:

The question where inspiration comes from may be answered, it comes from within. There are some who are inspired by some unseen entities, some receive from living personalities, but only that inspiration can be called inspiration which comes directly from within.

Now the question is, does inspiration come to a poet in words, to a musician in notes, to a painter in lines and colors? No, although it seems so. The language is one, and in the same language inspiration comes to a poet, a painter and a musician. And yet very often those inspired ones even do not know the mystery and truth about it, except those who have reached to the point of revelation, for the revealed one hears the voice and the inspired one hears the re-echo.

Inspiration is not only the act of the spirit within, it is a mutual action which results in inspiration. It is an action performed by the inspiring spirit within and the soul of the inspired one from without. It is hunger, desire for inspiration and concentration on the part of the inspired one which works; and pouring out of all knowledge concerning it from the divine store, and directing it with a lighted torch, is the work of the inspiring spirit within. If the above-said three things are not active in the soul desiring inspiration, the inspiring spirit from within becomes helpless. For the inspiring spirit is more willing to inspire than the soul that desires inspiration.

As the sound needs capacity to manifest and become audible, so the inspiring spirit wants capacity to manifest itself. The light comes from the Divine Spirit, and the knowledge comes from the subconscious mind of the universe. These two things together function in the accommodation that the one desiring inspiration offers them. It is thus that inspiration becomes clear and complete.

TASAWWUF

There are three things which those who follow the inner cult use as exercises for spiritual attainment. One thing is concentration; the other thing is contemplation; another thing is meditation.

Concentration is an exercise to train the mind to hold a certain object steadily, without wavering; and by the power of concentration there is nothing in the world that cannot be attained. But concentration is a very difficult exercise to accomplish; for the nature of the mind is such that when the mind takes by itself something, worry or trouble or a grudge against someone, or insult, it holds it without any effort; but when one desires to hold an object in mind for the sake of concentration, the mind acts like a restive horse. Once concentration is mastered, one has mastered life on earth.

Contemplation is not much different from concentration, the difference being only that in concentration the mind holds an object, in contemplation the object holds the mind. Concentration itself, when mastered, turns into contemplation. The contemplative person is he who easily holds in mind all he thinks about. The mystics contemplate upon the sacred names which signify the different attributes of God. By contemplating upon divine attributes man wakens the same attributes within himself, his heart reflects the light of that divine attribute which he contemplated upon.

Meditation is something different. It is a training of the mind not in activity but in passivity, the training of the mind to receive some inspiration, power or blessing from within. Meditation is more important and less difficult. The mystical temperament is a meditative temperament. The mureed who is receptive can benefit most from the contact of Murshid. Therefore meditation is considered by Sufis the thing of greatest importance in spiritual attainment.

SALUK

The Good Nature Against Life in the World:

It is a question that rises in the mind of every thoughtful soul when a soul begins to realize the beauty of goodness and refinement, such as patience, endurance, thoughtfulness, consideration, yielding, when one has to deal with people of various natures, various dispositions, people of various grades of evolution in the world. And it is right that only learning to be good and refined through life is not sufficient. A step farther is necessary to know, that can be made practicable, when one has to live in the world. For the sages who lived in the forests, in the caves of the mountains, where nobody could touch them, for the kings and sovereigns who are always in the palaces, surrounded by the most cultured and refined souls waiting on them, it is easy; but for those who have to make their life in the world, coming against all sorts of different temperaments, some hot, some cold, some warm, some lukewarm, some high, some low in their character manner, in their personality some facing the South, others North, some looking up, others looking down, it is most difficult to make a standard of action to fix one's attitude in one's thought, speech and deed.

It is therefore that when a religious person makes a kind of law for action, the Sufi sees its impossibility. The standard of the Sufi is what he makes at every moment of his life; change for him is not a new thing; life changes, he changes. Every experience in life brings a new change with an inspiration which directs the action of the Sufi. If you asked a Sufi "this does not agree with what you have spoken the day before yesterday," he will say, "What was for the day before yesterday, this is for just now; for tomorrow I will speak to you tomorrow." A fresh inspiration every moment, which Hafiz explains so beautifully in his first poetry in the Divan, "Mutribá khush ..***should we find the Persian?.........," "O, singer of delightful voices, sing a song every moment new, new, fresh, fresh."

What is necessary, therefore, in life, is not only learning of goodness and fineness of manner, for that is only the alphabet, that is not the book. After learning that alphabet you must read the book of life and see the demands of every moment, what every moment in life demands of us, what every moment in life asks of us, and how to deal under different circumstances.

There comes a moment when silence is good, there comes a moment when an advice is desirable, there is a moment when you must become indifferent, there is a moment when the serious expression is needed. There is a time when the faces must be smiling. If one does not do what is asked of him by the circumstance, by the moment, he certainly loses the opportunity offered to him by life, which will never come again, once it is offered. Every moment is an opportunity and it is only once offered. If it is lost it is lost. If one has made use of it one has gained. Therefore no teaching on the subject can be sufficient; words can never fully express how one must deal in life. If there is any source from where one can get the direction on how to act in life, it is to be found in one's heart. The exercises of the Sufi help to get to the source where one can get the direction, the right direction, where there is a spark of the Spirit of Guidance. Those who care to be guided by the spirit, they are always guided, but those who know not whether such a spirit exists or does not exist, they wander through life as a wild horse in the woods, not knowing where it goes, why it runs, why it stands. It is a great pity to be thirsty and remain thirsty when the spring of fresh water is within one's reach. There can be no loss so great in life as having the spark glittering in one's heart and yet groping in the darkness through life.

SALUK

Five Characteristics That the Sufi Develops On His Path To Perfection:

There are no principles that the Sufi is obliged to follow, but there are certain characteristic favorites of the Sufi, and which make his life easy on the path to perfection.

The first characteristic is to recognize the Divine in man, which in time develops so that he recognizes the Divine in all, deserving or undeserving, wise or foolish, saint or sinner. In all forms of life he sees God, and thereby he has toward everybody that attitude which a lover of God, a worshipper of God has toward God. Therefore the Sufi complains no more, has no grudge against anyone, has nothing to grumble about: "That person insulted me," or ". . .treated me badly," or ". . .behaved unjustly," or ". . .acted unkindly," -- no complaint whatever, for complaint comes to a person who thinks of himself most of the time. He is inclined to self-pity at every moment, self pity, which is the worst poverty. The one who is sensitive to all things that come from the people around him will have a thousand complaints, whatever be his life's position. In a palace or in a cottage, be he poor or rich, he is always full of complaints. Nothing is right to him, nothing is just, except himself, everybody is cruel to him; and for that poor person life is death.

If this person thinks of his health, then he has many complaints to make about different pains and aches and disagreeable things he feels, and if he thinks of his friends and foes then he has many things to say about them. The Sufi therefore, finds the only way out of the distress of life, the life which will always fail to prove true to one's ideal. He rises above it, taking all things as they come, patiently. He does not mind how he is treated. His principle is to do his best, and in that is his satisfaction. Instead of depending on another person to be kind to him, the Sufi thinks if he were kind to another person, that is sufficient. Every wise man in the long run through life will find in this principle the solution of happiness. For we cannot change the world, but we can change ourselves; and if we made ourselves as we wish others to be to us, it would not be a small achievement in life.

The fourth characteristic of the Sufi is to fulfill his obligations, to think what he is expected to do by all those with whom he comes in contact in life, to answer their demands to the best of his ability, willingly, patiently.

The fifth characteristic of the Sufi is to practice forgiveness, showing thereby the Divine Spirit reflected in his heart. Forgiveness can be practiced in different ways. In all such things as tolerance, forgetting, overlooking, forgiveness acts in different forms. The Sufi need not speak about these five principles, but practice them. The Sufi does not profess to have these five characteristics, but he tries to practice these principles, which enables him to tread the path with less difficulty and with ease.

RIYAZAT

The mystical breathing is different from the breathing which is for voice culture and for physical development. Breathing in Fikr must be without any restraint on the lungs or on any part of the body. The breath must run smoothly and rhythmically.

TASAWWUF

Thought has a voice which the mind can hear, and the voice of the heart is audible to the heart; there is also a voice of the soul, which reaches to the soul. In the same way the voice of consciousness is heard by consciousness alone. While only spoken words are audible to the unintelligent an intelligent person knows what is thought about him, a heartful person perceives the feelings of another, and in a holy soul a picture of every soul is reflected.

Not in singing only, but even in ordinary speech, the voice easily conveys the quality of the heart. A weak voice conveys an idea of timidity, a gruff voice shows a roughness in nature, a high pitched voice shows a higher reach of thought, and a deep voice shows a greater depth of mind, the resonant voice shows courage and power, and a soft voice refinement of personality. A female voice in a man shows womanishness, and a woman with a man's voice is most manly. Thus the various qualities of the voice distinguish the different minds.

Voice can also express in what grade of evolution a person is, and what kind of fate he has or will have in life. All the merits and defects of one's life and personality are easily audible to awakened ears. The voice changes numberless times during the day and night, as well as in each period of life. Each emotion and feeling produces a different effect in the voice during its influence. No matter how hard the voice may be naturally, as soon as a thought of kindness arises in the mind it produces its effect in the voice; and no matter how mild a person's voice may be, when aroused the mildness is lost. In the first case the vibrations are melted by the fire of love, in the second case they are frozen owing to the coldness of thought.

The strength of armies depends upon the commander. All the courage and bravery that the commander has in his heart he expresses in his command. His word does not convey to his army only its meaning, but it imparts to the whole army his bravery and courage. It is a well known fact that when Hazrat `Alí commanded the armies on the battlefield his "hara" (command) was so powerful that it not only charged the hearts of his soldiers with courage and bravery, but it startled the heart of the enemy.

There is a well known story of the Murshid of Sayyed Shaikh Mohammed abu-Hashim Madani, of how he heard, in an assembly, a voice calling him by name, and the voice was heard by all present. He sprang up, saying that he was being called by his Murshid. He took the train, and after some hours arrived at the house, where he found his Murshid about to pass from this earthly plane. The Murshid said to him, "My cup of life in this place is already filled, and the call has come since last night. I have been holding on that I might see you and bless you; and now I am passing on from this mortal plane to the life everlasting."

There is a recent well known case that occurred at Ajmer, India, where a Murshid promised to explain to his disciples a verse of Quddusi which says, "Thou of Thine own will becamest manifest, and Thou canst of Thine own will cease to be." This verse was being chanted at the Samá, the sacred musical assembly of the Sufis, and the Murshid, instead of explaining the words, demonstrated them to his disciples, and withdrew by his will his everlasting soul from its mortal garb. This is really done by the power of will, which controls life's rhythm.

NASIHAT

What attitude must a mureed take towards his co-mureed, if he does not seem to get in with his co-mureed, if he thinks that there is something lacking in him? He, instead of correcting him, must overlook that part and must try and appreciate all that is good in his co-mureed by showing his sympathy. In this manner he will be able to establish a connection with his co-mureed by which there will be a mutual help given to one another. Psychologically it is true that two persons with different temperaments cannot get on; but at the same time the Sufi path teaches us to try and get on with personalities which we cannot get on with. The greater a soul, the greater power it shows in getting on with everyone. If that is the sign of the soul's evolution, then we must always try our best to get on with all personalities, however difficult it may be. It is only a matter of understanding. There are things in other persons which hurt us, but they hurt us because we take that point of view. We take them so deep to our heart. If we kept them on the surface, then they do not need to hurt. One must make a shield by one's will, a shield on which to take every attack of knives or swords or pinpricks, not to allow that to touch one; and at the same time one must take all that is desirable without shielding oneself. In this way one can live in the world a harmonious life. It would seem very unpracticable to read that teaching in the Bible, "If one strikes you on one cheek, turn the other cheek." But it is unpracticable because one does not know the theory of it. The theory is that if a person strikes another on his cheek, the person who is able to turn his other cheek is the person who was able to take the first blow also on his shield. The person whose face is struck, he surely will not turn the other side of his face. It is the other person, he who strikes, who thinks that he is struck on his faces; but it only fell on his shield. He does not mind if another time his shield receives one more. In order to understand that lesson one must learn this, to make around oneself a shield, in other words, not to take things so seriously. Things which we need not take seriously, one must keep them on the surface, not allowing them to enter one's heart.

NASIHAT

What do I expect from my mureeds? I expect a right attitude towards that motive for which they have taken this journey in the spiritual path. What is the right attitude? In the first place to be clear as to their spiritual motive. It is not promised to my mureeds that they will be made wonderful people, that they will work wonders, that they will perform miracles, that they will make prophecies, that they will show phenomena, that they will cast out devils. It is not meant that they should see colors or lights, or phantoms, fairies or houris, in order to become spiritual. It is not wished for that my mureeds will become so learned that they will dispute and argue, and gain a success in arguments and disputes. What we mean by spiritual attainment is that my mureeds will try and make themselves best fitted to serve their fellow man. If I, at the end of my life, could claim this, I will be most satisfied, and the purpose of my life will be fulfilled. And if I will see this motive, in whatever degree, being fulfilled in the lives of my mureeds, it is this which will bring me satisfaction.

You may ask, "How are we to make ourselves fitted for service? Do you give us any studies for it? Do you give us some exercises?" The answer is, "Yes;" but even the studies and exercises will not make an effect if we shall not try ourselves to make our attitude towards our fellow man right. By all occult studies, mystical attainments, by the knowledge of philosophy, by piety, and by religion, what we arrive at is only one thing, and that is to be best suited to serve our fellow man. And if we do not attain this, then nothing else has been profitable, we have accomplished nothing.

Buddha has taught as the main principle of all religion harmlessness. But how is that harmlessness to be learnt? By considering the feeling of all those we come in contact with in our everyday life. If you will express yourself thoughtlessly, many will take it quietly, and one may go on being thoughtless, not knowing that one has caused anyone hurt or harm. I have not advised you yet to go and work in an antivivisection league, to prevent cruelty to animals, for there is so much to be done for human beings. If we cannot consider our brother, we will not consider our neighbor. If we will not be conscientious with regard to our fellow creature, we shall not be able to consider our duties towards the lower creation. How often unconsciously we hurt and harm one another, by just a little thoughtlessness, a lack of consideration. If we have not consideration for others, with all our knowledge, goodness, and piety we cannot prove spiritual. The struggle of life is such that it gets on a person's nerves; and, without meaning to, he moves carelessly, not knowing if his movements cause a hurt or harm to those who come in his way. I will repeat the saying in the Gayan, "My bare feet, walk gently, that the thorns may make no complaint, saying, `We were trampled on thoughtlessly.'"

If you will receive any harm or hurt from others, know that is the nature of life, you cannot expect better. You must be thankful that it is not more; it could have been worse. Take it quietly, and veil it. It is not for those who walk in the spiritual path to take revenge, to return evil for evil. If that is done then what difference there is between the spiritual and material? It is true that all the pleasure and pain that comes to man, it all comes from God, but it comes through the mediumship of man very often. Will you, therefore, be the instrument for punishment? No. You will be the means of reward. In this way you will be different from others. It is this quality in my mureeds which will bring me satisfaction. Furthermore, if evil is returned for evil, it only increases evil more and more in the world. Therefore to return good for evil is the only thing that one must try to do. A question arises how evil must be answered. The answer is, with forgiveness. One might ask, "If the evil was greater than the forgiveness we have, then how shall we answer it?" Answer it with tolerance. But if one thought that the evil was greater still than the tolerance one has, "How shall one answer it?", the reply will be, "Answer it with indifference." Life is an opportunity, and every moment that is spent thoughtlessly in causing hurt or harm, moved by passing emotions and impulses, is lost, it will never come again. The best way of taking advantage of this opportunity that we have of living under the sun, is to do our best to bring pleasure to another in thanksgiving.

TASAWWUF

Abstract Healing:

In abstract healing, the soul, heart and body are healed of all diseases and weaknesses therein. This healing is only possible during the ecstasy of the healer. The strong psychical vibrations which run through the pores of his body from his inner self naturally pierce through the bodies, hearts and souls of all around him, who receive them in accordance with their power of receptivity. Murshids have frequently inspired their mureeds without reading or discussing, and such mureeds have reached perfection. It is a wonderful phenomenon which an exceptional mureed once in a while experiences under the guidance of his murshid.

There is a story told of Hafiz Shirazi, who, together with ten other huffaz, was being trained under the same Murshid. A certain time was set apart for their meditation and other practices and a certain time for food and sleep. Hafiz Shirazi kept awake during the night in rapt contemplation of Alláh. After years of patient waiting, one evening the Murshid, in ecstasy, called for Hafiz. The wakeful Hafiz was the only one who heard, and he answered the call and was blessed by the Murshid, who chose this ideal time to inspire all his mureeds. Each time he called for Hafiz, the same Hafiz answered the call, all the others being asleep. So the wakeful one received an elevenfold blessing, his own and that of the ten others who lost this precious opportunity by their sleep. And Hafiz became the greatest spiritual healer of his time, whose every word from that day to this has been powerful to heal.

WASIAT

The Prophetic Mission:

The prophetic mission has had in all ages difficulties and trials to go through. It was not only that the Masters had to go through difficulties and trials, but also those who sincerely followed them and stood for the Cause. One reads in the life of Jesus Christ how it began with trials and difficulties, how the youth of the Master had been full of trials and difficulties, and they who followed him, what difficulties they had. The same thing happened at the time of Moses. It was so also at the time of Mohammed. The difficulties had no end and how his pupils and defenders sacrificed their lives one reads in his life.***syntax His most sincere devotee, `Alí, on hearing that there was a plot made by his adversaries to assassinate him on a certain night, managed to get the Prophet away that night from home, and he slept in the bed of the Prophet that evening, that any danger that was to come on the Prophet he might take on himself. And the bravery that the Prophet had shown at different times, that gives the proof what the prophetic mission means, and the pictures of its difficulties and trials. Three times Mohammed was exiled from Mecca, and among those folk, his relatives; and the lives of many devoted followers of the Prophet were sacrificed in this struggle. For they did not want to have one person left in Mecca who believed in the Message. They did not exile only Mohammed, but all his pupils, and not one single paper of his writings might be left in Mecca. One day in exile, on the way, they heard the noise of many horses coming; and the Prophet had one disciple with him and there was a party of riders following them in order to assassinate the Prophet. When they heard they sat behind a large rock, but Siddiq, the pupil of the Prophet, was trembling. He said, "But they are many."  The Prophet said, "And what are we?" The pupil said, "We are only two." "No," said the Prophet, "We are three, I, you, and God." With this courage and strength the Prophet endured the struggle that the prophetic mission brought in his life. And do not think that Buddha or Krishna went smoothly through their prophetic lives and had no struggles; there were wars and battles and troubles of all sorts.

Now, when we come to the Message which it has been the destiny of the Sufi Movement to give and spread, it has not less difficulties, it has difficulties of its own kind. In many ways the difficulties are similar, the difficulties with friends and the difficulties with foes. And therefore if we shall say that history repeats itself, it will never be an exaggeration. But at the same time we see that during all the times whenever the prophetic Message was given to the world there have been real sincere friends who have proved to be so during all difficulties and trials, whose names have been engraved in the history of the religion of the world, having stood through all difficulties and trials which have fallen upon the prophets, and after thousands of people came and turned their back to the prophet, they have not so, they have stuck. When Jesus Christ was asked, "What is the evidence of your prophecy?" he said, "The devotion of my disciples." He did not say that it was his power of miracle or his qualification that was the evidence. No, for it is the friend of God who is the friend of his disciples, and that friendship, as my Murshid has once said, the friendship in the path of Truth and God, is greater than any friendship in the world. I should be very happy and I am happy to feel that among my mureeds there are some souls whom I can count upon in my times of difficulties and trials. I have not the slightest doubt about this. But there is something which I should like to bring to the minds of my mureeds, and that is the importance of every moment of our lives in the world, how precious and invaluable is every moment of our lives, since we are blessed to strive in the path of serving God and humanity in giving the Sufi Message. We cannot, therefore, put off something which we can do today until tomorrow.

And now the greatest need that we have before us is the need of workers. Some of my mureeds may perhaps feel, "There are some who have already a charge given, it is their duty to work, we are only simple mureeds, why should we work hard? Perhaps when we shall be appointed to some certain work, then we will do it." But they must not think like this, they must know that, whatever be their position in life, if they at all intend to serve the Cause, they can serve it in some way or other. And if they only know the greatest need of serving the Cause at the moment when it has come as an answer to the cry of humanity, and if they only knew every moment that is being lost, what loss it is, they would feel in the same way as I feel very often, my heart full of anxiety and eagerness for the way that the Movement is progressing and spreading. If I see this and at the same time the work that we have to accomplish, I cannot help being very much discouraged. If it was not for my trust in God and in His Message, it would have been most difficult for me to carry on the work. And now every day the time of the Message is becoming more precious, and I wish that my mureeds will remember that saying that "Life is an opportunity," and if this opportunity is lost, that which will be accomplished will be accomplished, but that privilege is lost.

Remember that I do not ask of my mureeds to give as a return for all they receive their service to the Cause, because that would be commerce, that would be business; but I wish that such mureeds who really have sympathy, devotion, feeling for their Murshid and the Cause, that they should understand how best they can be serviceable to the Cause. Imagine, there is one Murshid and a Message to be given to the whole world, how many places will he go to, one person limited in a physical body? Do you, then, not think that we want several speakers in our Movement? It is very easy for a person to say, "Well, I do not think that I have a gift of speaking, I cannot help it." All comes with belief. When you have the belief that you can speak, you can speak. When you trust in what Murshid says, when Murshid says, "Go and speak," that is enough for you. When the Prophet said, "Go and defend the Message," they went with their swords and risked their lives. If Murshid says, "Go before the people and speak of the Message," it is perhaps not so very difficult as going with a sword and fighting. We ought to be thankful that today there is no need of taking sword, but at the same time the sword of words is necessary. Besides that, we want people to be engaged in translating the different books and Gathekas and different literature, that they may be heard by those who do not understand the English language. Then there are others who have some social influence; they, in their own society, among their friends, can spread the interest, in order that the Message may take root in the heart of people of their class. I shall be going out in different countries, I shall need some people to go and create interest. I will need some people, after I have given the Message to gather people together, form a group and to continue the work there. I do not mean to say that you should all leave all your home responsibilities and activities in order to give all your time to the Message. Some of you may be able to do it, some not. But in some way or the other all my mureeds can help. If only they thought that their help is needed and badly needed, at this time when the Message should spread through the whole world. Now, for instance, I may be going to Italy, there may be some among you who may to going there too; I may be going perhaps to the North of Europe, may be that some of you may be going there. If it happens that you go before my going, you may, by visiting that place, create interest, so that I will have a facility when I shall be there; and perhaps you may be there at the time that I shall be there. You can be so useful to me in a place where there is nobody. Some of you may be staying after I have visited the place. You can always keep that gathering intact as long as you are there, and then give it in the hands of someone else. Then, besides this, one can always do something with one's friends; the one who wishes to serve the Cause, has every chance doing things for it. When travelling in the trains one can do so much, making a voyage in the ship one can do a great work. It all depends upon the idea that the Message must be given to any part of the world. And I am sure if for one moment you gave thought to what difficulty it must have been in the life of the Murshid to have brought the Sufi Message to the point where it is now, something which was not known in the Western world -- have I not spoken before three people for six months continually? Have I not gone where people have called me, whether appreciative or not, poor or rich, to spread the Message when there was no trace of our Sufi Movement, no organization, no one knew, no friends except God? Even this feeling can create in your heart that sympathy for your Murshid. And now the time has come that your devotion can best be expressed in serving the Cause.

KHAWAS

What I have found in my study and experience of the mentality of mureeds is that with one mureed it is most easy to go on further and with another it is most difficult; and I have asked myself what is the reason of it. The one with whom it is difficult to go on very often is intelligent, learned, qualified; the one with whom it is easy, is sometimes not so learned in the world's sense of the word. And I have found that always, whenever there is a difficulty, it is a kind of twist in his own mind, in the mind of the pupil, that he has made a kind of knot in his mind and the thread is not smooth all through, there is a knot. It takes a long time to unravel the knot, it takes a great effort and patience; and even then it is not always easy to unravel it. With the one who easily understands there is also a reason for it. The reason is that all other knowledge is acquired, but the knowledge of divine Truth belongs to the soul. When it is given to the soul it is not something that is new, it is something that the soul has always known, to which the soul is wakened. I very often found with some pupils in giving them the idea of divine knowledge, which was given perhaps, for the first time in their lives, yet they seemed to have had it always in their heart; it was just a kind of wakening to something which was there. That is the real way of attaining to the spiritual knowledge; and that is the true knowledge which belongs to the soul, which has always been there. For the soul itself is Truth, the soul itself is divine knowledge. When the soul becomes self-conscious it understands spirituality; it does not need to learn or acquire it, it knows it, it is its belonging. But with the children of this world the difficulty is that what is simple they do not value; what is difficult, head-breaking and heart breaking, something which puzzles them, which they cannot understand, which confuses them, they think that is something, because it gives an exercise to their mind. The simple Truth they think is too simple, but they do not know that by giving one's mind to the simple Truth, one enters another world; and the whole life changes for that person. His attitude changes, his outlook on life changes, and so the vision of the same world which he has once seen changes entirely, turning it into another world.

RIYAZAT

The Contact With Murshid:

By concentration, by singlemindedness, by sympathy one can establish a contact with Murshid, in which distance would make no difference; and it is for that reason that to some, capable of concentration, concentrations are given to contact Murshid in their thought. The qualities of the Teacher manifest after that in the mureed; and as the mureed goes onward he feels in himself the heritage of his Teacher, as if he had inherited from the Teacher the power and inspiration which would help him in the path of Truth. Many ask, "Can one not take the direct road to God, without the help of a Teacher?" I say, "There is nothing impossible. A ladder is only a means to go from the ground floor to the upper floor; but if one can climb without a ladder, it is not impossible." As the ladder is a convenience, so the teacher takes the same place in the spiritual path. It is therefore that in the East great importance has been given to the guidance under the Teacher, and that guidance is considered so sacred, as sacred as one could consider one's own faith; because faith in the form of religion is a conception, but when the faith is given in the form of allegiance to Murshid, then that is a living faith. Therefore in the East it becomes easy for a a murshid, since those who come under his guidance know beforehand what a murshid means. They do not need, any more, for their object of concentration the idols of the temple;***syntax once they have come to Murshid they have found the living example which they wish to follow.

There are three forms of concentration. The first form of concentration, or the first stage of concentration, is to see Murshid before one; the next form of concentration is to see the Teacher within one; and the third stage of concentration is to forget oneself in the realization of the Teacher's presence. The first stage of concentration is that the Teacher is before you; just you see the Teacher before you, visualize him. The thought must be without any picture of anything. In the East, when we have singing practice, we do not have any piano or harmony or anything with us, only singing, for by singing without that the voice becomes stronger and truer, you touch all the notes you wish to touch. In the same way when you have a photograph you have a help; without it the mind is put to exercise. The second way of concentration is that the Teacher is within you; you can see inside you the Teacher. The third way on concentration is that you lose yourself, you do not even think that you are you; it is the presence of the Teacher that is all there is. Rumi says of this:

What he means by it is that when there is an object, when in that object you lose yourself, you do not live; but then you live as that object. In connection with the Teacher you rehearse that. When you have rehearsed, then the performance is different again, then there is God. After the rehearsal there is God; only you cannot begin the same thing with God, because God is formless. When you are able to do this with the form, then the next step is to do the same with the formless. The concentration of the Murshid is not the prayer to Murshid; because prayer only belongs to God and no man deserves a prayer. These three stages of concentration develop naturally. One must not think, "Because the other stage is a higher one I must leave one and go to a higher," for one stage helps the other stage.

One may say, "Is this something not at all known in the West?" No, the thing is this, that the esoteric schools happen to be in the East. Therefore there have not been many ways. There have been either the way through the Guru or the way through the idol in the temple; there have only been these two ways, and the third way, which was through the sun. To look at the sun, to worship the sun, that was the ancient way of the multitude. Even through the sun they got the vigor, life, power, energy, but not that human tenderness and gentleness. All the human qualities are got from the human being, not from the sun. One may ask, "Are not the images in the Roman Catholic Church there for the same idea?" There is much of the same idea, but that idea has been mixed. Two things have been mixed. The Sufi idea is there too, but at the same time there is a mixture of the other idea. The mixture of the idea is this, that there is attached a particular story. That story takes away the mind from the form. Besides that, when you have pictures of a great many saints, then the mind is not focused on one object.

Now in America, to my great disappointment, I found this one great drawback. It seems that thousands and thousands of people are every day after the spiritual pursuit. One day they go to one thing, another day to another thing. Just as one goes to one of many theaters, so they go to a great many discussions on subjects, to anything new and sensational. Therefore even the spirituality has become sensational, it is a diffusion of the whole thing. It is a kind of stage that they are going through, that they really do not know what they are seeking. After hearing a hundred lectures and after having read five hundred books they really do not know which is which. Now there is a book which is very popular, on the Masters of the East, written by a man who never went to the East. Everybody has read it; everybody asked me, "Have you read this book? It is such a wonderful book," and some people think, "Is it not a good thing that some people got interested in these things?" Really speaking, this book has helped me very much, because wherever people had read this book they came to hear me. It helped me very much in advertising; at the same time how many people are deluded by it. And anything that you further by falsehood, it leads to falsehood. Besides, the success of a falsehood is false. He has made a very nice novel; the book is like a novel. It tells about the Mahatmas, Masters, sitting in the caves of the mountains of the Himalayas, it describes the scenery from imagination. He is a good play-producer. He has made a beautiful play out of it, made a book of it. This book is read by hundreds and thousands of people. But then, when something impresses them, do you think they will leave him alone? No, they will follow him, they pursue him and pull him to pieces. He never even went to India once. Suppose fifty, hundred persons have found it. And tens of thousands have read his book, they all believe in him. It is a state of chaos. Now there is so much spiritualism going on in the United States. And then there is a man, whose name is Houdini. He does magic performances, something like a juggler; he has a great name. Now he is after spiritualists, he wants to see every spiritualist in every town. I think one thing is that people are interested in spiritualism, another thing is that people are interested in Houdini. I thought, "What interest has Houdini in it?" The whole interest Houdini has in it is to make a sensation and make his performance known, also a monetary interest. The man who is after Truth does not pursue after falsehood; a man who is after Truth has no interest in it. He is doubting if he can find Truth in the garden of falsehood somewhere. People say, "Is he a faqír?" It is a false faqír. Would you think that a true faqír is so little evolved as to disbelieve in the hereafter and the soul? Houdini disbelieves; he has no belief. He is in the pursuit and wants to find belief somewhere, if he can; at the same time some material gain because it makes him known.

It is after these three concentrations that one is able to soar upwards. The concentration on objects has a different aspect from the concentration of a living being. Concentration of objects helps one to gather one's mind and to focus it on a certain object; but it takes one no further, because an object is something dead. Concentration of a living being is life; and by that concentration one touches the same attributes which have brought one under the guidance of one's Teacher.

WASIAT

The Attitude That the Mureed Is To Have:

There is a trust between the Murshid and mureed which establishes a link between them, a link which is known by the symbol of the sacred thread among Brahmans and among the followers of Zarathustra. They only have a thread, but that thread in reality is that link which is established between a Murshid and a mureed. If this link is not solid, if this link is not sincere, then there is no connection between them, then there is a gap. The initiation is the outward sign of that link, a link which can alone be maintained by the faith that a mureed has and by the confidence which Murshid returns in answer to that faith. In the Sufi Order a book study is not placed in an important place; it is secondary. In the Sufi Order meditation is not considered to be the only thing, even that is secondary; for this is not only a mystical philosophy, but it is a religious philosophy, and in this the delicacy of this sacred thread, which we call by the word link, is the most essential thing. A mureed may be advanced in meditation, qualified in his studies, but that alone is not sufficient. Without the sacred thread which is this link between Murshid and mureed, the object of joining the Sufi Order is not fulfilled.

Then there is a question, "Is it a condition that a mureed can only prove to be a mureed or will be considered as a mureed, if he is a worker?" And the answer is, "Not in the least." It is not necessary in order to be a real mureed that one must be a worker for the Cause. As long as a person is engaged from the day of initiation in working out his own liberation he is fulfilling the obligation of a mureedship. I would consider it most unjust on my part if I asked as a return for my service to a mureed his service to the Cause. It would be give and take; I would call it a business. He alone can be a worker who is in sympathy with Murshid, most sincerely wishes to take on himself some of his burden, to relieve him a little of the heavy load he has to carry through life; also that mureed who thinks that in working for the Cause he does not only help Murshid, but also he renders his service to God and humanity. If there was not this reason, there seems to be no other reason to become a worker.

In what way shall a mureed show his faith to his Murshid? In the first place he has faith in Murshid's personal being; in the second place he has faith in Murshid's teaching; in the third place he has faith in Murshid's way of working. If he lacks in any of these three aspects of faith, he certainly does not show full capacity of being a mureed. If a mureed is a worker, then these three forms of faith must be more developed. If absorption in the work takes away the faith in any of these three aspects, that work will not prove of a great importance, of a great value.

One mureed with a real faith is preferred to a thousand mureeds lacking that substance. One worker linked with the sacred thread, who has the understanding of Murshid's point of view, his attitude towards life, is greater than a thousand workers. Anything half done is like not done; it is better to do or not do, instead of doing half; because half doing is waste of time. It is better to do a little thing, but perfectly, than a great thing without perfection.

Reality is the origin of every soul, and reality it is which every soul is seeking after, wise or foolish, righteous or wicked. In the search of reality, therefore, either to be real in every path that one goes or not to take that path; but to avoid unreality in everything, if one can possibly manage to. As I have said, it is love of Truth which helps the realization of Truth. Our need of workers is indeed great; but at the same time it is only the genuine workers, who understand the above-said idea fully, who will be able to answer our need. No doubt it is His Cause and He is responsible for it, He will provide our greatly-felt need of workers. Only it is for us to find out in ourselves the real and the sure way of working. Among my mureeds there are many who have the greatest wish to do their utmost to serve the Cause, I know and I am most thankful for it. And as they will know and understand more and more what is asked of a mureed and waken to mureedhood, that will strengthen Murshid and the Cause greatly to go on further in spite of all difficulties he may have to meet.

RIYAZAT

Certain Practices Which Help a Person in Speaking.***dup in Sgath3

One practice is to breathe through the nostrils deep and to bring the breath from the diaphragm and then to exhale that breath by blowing it out by the mouth; and a hundred such breaths must be taken, either lying in bed or sitting on the floor cross-legged or standing.

Besides that, closing the eyes and looking at the five-pointed star, holding the thought of the star still and not allowing the mind to waver. These practices will help you to keep on your subject, on the subject that you are speaking. Every day for five minutes.

With closed eyes see the five-pointed star and repeat Wazifa at the same time, "Ya Wahhabo," inhale and exhale, repeat again. It means "Divine flow of inspiration," the sacred Name of God, the God who represents the flow of inspiration, or the flow of life. It is in many ways a very useful word in business, in profession, in reading, in writing. One must picture sometimes, with Ya Wahhabo, the flowing of life or running water, because that symbolizes progress in life. To do this the first thing in the morning.

Besides this there is a concentration which must be done just before you are speaking, and that concentration is, "With all those who are in this room I unite in God with my whole heart." There must not be a barrier: "This person who is sitting in that corner is my enemy," or "That person in that corner is my worst opponent." That thought must not be there. The thought must be, "All those who are sitting here are my friends, I wholeheartedly unite with them all in God." That produces a wonderful effect. When you are one with all, there is no barrier. That is a great secret.

That feeling, "Sometimes some people are very difficult to talk to," is not right. That feeling must be put out of one's mind. It would spoil your whole lecture. When there is a thought of antagonism the whole thing is spoiled. You may repeat in your mind, "You are all my friends. I sympathize with all and I unite with you all in God."

You may ask, "Does someone who is making a speech see the audience?" It depends. In my case, if there were a thousand persons in my audience, each person I see separately, not as he appears outside, but as he is inside, his attitude towards my lecture and towards me. I see each person individually.

NASIHAT

After a lecture, if anyone asked a question, there are some considerations in giving the answer. There are answers which you cannot give or which you must not give. In that case it is better to say that this is a question which can be answered privately afterwards. Then there are personal questions a person may ask, and the speaker must be wise enough not to commit himself; if not, he is gone. For instance: "What do you believe?" "What is your opinion about it?" "What do you think about it?" The speaker is not there to say his personal opinion or what he personally believes, or perhaps his belief is so great and so high that it cannot be put in words. Therefore always avoid it. Say, "That is a personal question." One says, "What would you do in this case?" Always say, "Well, I would not advise you to do the same as I would do in this case, because every person must do what he would do, not what another person would do in that case; because it is not only the case, it is the person also to be counted."

Then there are questions in which people want you to commit yourself, and if you commit yourself, then you are the loser; if you do not commit yourself, then you have gained. It is just like a game, when there is a question and answer between the audience. Either the speaker can be caught or he can keep above it. To keep above it is never to commit oneself. As soon as once a speaker commits himself, hundreds of questions will come to bring him down. So you see, he must feel at the same time, "I must not commit myself." But now you may ask what committing oneself means. Committing oneself means saying something which gives you in the hand of the other in such a way that he can contradict you, and you have no support of your own word (from your own self) remaining there to hold your argument high. Very often you may be right and yet you may commit yourself. That is the dreadful part of it. It is not by saying something wrong that you commit yourself, but by saying something right; it is by standing responsible for what one has said. That is what one has to be very careful of. Or committing yourself means that from your own principle, you say what is right, but from the principle of others you could be defeated. (But if you had not said it you would not be defeated).***parenthesis? For instance, a speaker has told a story. He says that when the saint was sitting under the tree and the thief came and said, "I want a place to hide in; the police are after me." The saint said, "Climb on the tree and sit on the branch." The police came and asked, "Have you seen that thief?" He said, "No." And now the speaker has said it. The speaker appreciated on the part of the saint, and felt that is all right. The audience asks, "Are you of the same opinion as the saint? Was the saint not against the State?" or, "Did the saint not encourage him to thieve?" and, "The saint told a lie." The saint could be accused of three things. If the speaker were headstrong he would say, "But it was a saint." Then the speaker has done wrong, because he thought what the saint did was right, but the others do not think so. He stands guilty before the others. That is the delicate point: The higher you evolve, the less you are caught be principles of the ordinary mob. But at the same time if you commit yourself, you are attacked by all, condemned by all. Someone may say, "But how could the saint encourage the thief and tell a lie?" The eyes of the saint did not see the thief. The eyes have only seen God and nothing else. If it was a thief, then everybody is a thief for the saint, in one form or the other. Only in one form it is not seen as a thief, in another form it is. He is above it. Therefore he can see from his point of view. If others follow his point of view, they will be wrong. If they will encourage it, they will do wrong.

For a speaker it is a difficult thing. The speaker's position is difficult. He is before the public. They can condemn him, and they can never understand his point of view. So the speaker must know the game. It is a game. You may just take one word and slip out; put one word as a screen and get out. The person is looking at the screen and the speaker is out. It is just like a juggler who says, "Look, look here," and the object is gone there.

TASAWWUF

The Message:

It is most essential for my mureeds to think what motive, what object they have in their working with the teaching and meditations given in the Sufi Order. Is it that they wish to develop occult powers? Then such powers are not promised. Is it that they wish to learn very much? But there is not much study given here. Is it that they want to be good? No special principles of goodness are taught here. If they want to be spiritual, we have not yet made solitudes and seclusions as they have on the top of the Himalayas and in the caves of the mountains, that we may give up our life in the world and retire there, nor do we wish for it. Then what is the motive which keeps us busy in the Sufi Order, what is our object in taking this path of initiation? Our object in this is to become human, to find the way how to become human, how to live a human being's life to its fullness, how to live a life of love, harmony and beauty.

If anyone calls it a religion, let him call it so; if anyone says this is spirituality let him say it; if anyone says this is the thing that we have to study, so much the better; if anyone says this is the thing we have to achieve by seclusion, meditation or silence, that is really the object. Now, in order to achieve this aim of ours, what must we be, what is expected of us? Are we expected to study much or to meditate much, or to become very good, as they say too good to live, or are we supposed to be too pious to attain to it? No, it is attained by the understanding of life. And understanding of life is in the understanding of human nature. And it is the very thing that many in the world neglect. What is the reason that everyone neglects it? The reason is that man is so interested in his own life, absorbed in his affairs and busy in pursuing the object that outwardly he sets before himself, that he neglects the most essential thing to be done in life. So to speak, a person starts to build a house without building a foundation. One might ask, "How is it to be learned?" The answer is that every intelligent person begins it, but does not finish it. The one thing that an intelligent person does is that he weighs and measures another person, and so he judges another person; besides, on what impression he gets from the other person he unconsciously reacts, and therefore he partakes of the fault of the one whom he weighs and measures and judges. The words of Christ will remain: "Judge not, that ye be not judged." That was the lesson to understand human psychology in the right way. It is to see and not to see at the same time. It does not mean that one must close one's eyes to the faults of the others; that would be a wrong thing also, because then one will not be acquainted with human nature fully. If one is a student of human nature, if one is seeking after Truth, he need not close his eyes to the faults of the others to study them; and instead of reacting, one must find those faults in oneself. What generally one does is that one sees the fault of another and one never traces that fault in oneself. It is very amusing that when two persons discuss another person's lacks, they become such great authorities, as if each of them never knew that the wrong that the third person does, he does. One talks with the other as if they were faultless for the whole life. By finding in oneself that which is lacking the others one corrects oneself, at the same time one studies human nature.

The next step toward the understanding of human psychology is to find out the cause behind the faults people have. For every person sees only the faults, he does not see the cause which is behind the fault. Sometimes the cause is in the mind of the person; sometimes the cause is in the body of the person; sometimes the cause is deeply rooted in his spirit. And as soon as one realizes these causes, then one realizes in oneself also the same cause hidden behind one's own faults. And by reaching the cause and by correcting oneself, one is able to understand another person better. It is not by thinking, "We must be tolerant," that a person can be tolerant; because knowing of the virtues is not necessarily living a virtuous life; it is by seeing the cause of every fault in oneself that one is able to have an insight in human nature. It is possible that another person has perhaps ninety-nine degrees of the same fault of which we have one grain. But, generally, what happens is that when we accuse another person of a certain lack, perhaps there is one grain there and ninety-nine in us. One must not be surprised to see this phenomenon, because it is generally the case. It is the person who has ninety-nine degrees of the same fault who is most inclined to find one grain of the same fault in another person, and is very happy to find it. The one who has realized even one grain of the same fault of which the other person has ninety-nine grains, that person does not speak about it. He is so sorry about the one grain that he has, that he keeps his lips closed, his eyes downcast.

And there is a step further in understanding the psychology of human nature, to see the delicate light and shade in the picture of human life. This only comes when a person has acquired fine perception, keen insight in human nature. It is then that the most interesting study of psychology begins. A fine person, a person with fine perception, is really a spiritual person. Even if he were not so outwardly, inwardly he is so. He may not show outwardly religious, spiritual or godly, but by the very fact that he has a fine perception, he is certainly spiritual. A person who sees cause and effect of every word, of every thought, of every movement, of every change of expression, that is the person who reads between the lines, that is the person whose glance is like an X-ray; it sees through a person. No doubt it is this person who will find more faults, lacks, wants in human nature naturally, and it is this person who will be less affected by it or at least less react upon it, overlook it and rise above it. The person who sees the most complains the least, the person who sees the least complains the most. The reason is that he does not see the lack, but he sees the cause; and when he sees the cause he sees the effect. Is there another study, history or geography or chemistry or science, another study more interesting than this study of human nature? The study of human nature builds a bridge between man and God.

To my mureeds therefore, a word of advice that I have to give is to waken to the subtleties of human nature, cultivate and make your perceptions keen so as to get an insight into human nature. It is by this that you will probe the depths of life's secret, and it is in understanding this secret that all the mystery is revealed, a mystery which is mysticism. It is to find this mystery that we take the path of initiation; it is in this revelation that the purpose of our spiritual pursuit is accomplished.

TASAWWUF

A mureed who is on the path must have an object before him to accomplish. If it is a spiritual object, so much the better. If he has a material object, he must first think and find out if that object is just or unjust, right or wrong, beautiful or ugly, profitable or disadvantageous. As Emerson says, "Know what you ask, for you will get it." A human being retains a childish nature throughout his life, which he shows in his fancies and fantasies, wrong or right, not knowing that life is a repetition. Life is not an experience which ends, but which continues, if not on the physical plane, in the inner planes; if not in the seen, in the unseen. Once a mureed has decided that this is the object, spiritual or material, that he wants to place before him, he must not only think of that object in his practices, he must even dream of it; and the best time to think of it is during the night. When a moment he wakes up, that time he must occupy with the object, with his exercises, the effect of which is so great that one moment of time given at that time of the night is more than the meditation of the whole day. Night is conceiving. The effect of the night-time is conceiving; the effect of the daytime is expressing. A thought which is brought to materialization must be conceived first, and that thought is conceived in the heart of the night. A person who works in this manner sees the fulfillment of things which could be attained in three years being accomplished in three days.

Waking up must be spontaneous. For instance, there used to be days in my young age that I used to wake up about two o'clock at night for my meditations, the latest three o'clock. And the sleep of youth is terrible. At that time a person wants to sleep day and night, an alarm clock would not wake you. And a thought used to come. It was a kind of distinct advice from a spark of my being which would say, "How cruel you are to yourself! Is there any wisdom in it, at this time when perhaps everybody in the city is asleep and you want to wake up. Even God will not have leisure to listen to your prayers, He would find it very disagreeable to listen at this time of calm and peace when everybody is asleep." That would be my thought. And I would say, "No, this is the devilish voice. I will not hear it. You are my worst enemy. Either you are myself or someone else. It is the devil who is speaking to me. I will wake up." And the sleep would be hanging over me, I would feel like dropping down at every step I took, so heavy. Then I would put cold water on my face and hands and wake up; and then would sit and be so thankful to have conquered that nature which is man's enemy. Of course, I would not teach such an asceticism to my mureeds, never. But I can tell you how profitable the night vigil is, because one can say best when one has experienced oneself.

TASAWWUF

There is a function in which one centralizes. Even with two eyes one only sees one side at the same time; one cannot see right and left, up and down at the same time; both eyes must be centered on one spot. So the sun, though it shines on East and West and all over the world, yet functions in something which is just opposite. So in the moon the sun especially functions; though it functions through the stars, they also reflecting the light.***words missing? weird sentence

This is the meaning behind the whole Spiritual Hierarchy. The stars and planets all reflect the light of the sun, but the Central Light functions in one center though its light is everywhere.

NASIHAT

The Message:

***dup in Sgath3?

Sufism as a philosophy is one thing and Sufism as the Message is another thing; and when you take the Sufi Message, it means the rain of this year, the rain of this season. And if a person says that the rain that came three years ago, from that rain I filled my tanks, and I have sufficient water to last for twelve years more, yet you still have an argument to make that the tanks which were filled by the rain three years ago, that water is water, and yet that magnetism, that electricity, that life, that vigor, that energy which is to be found in the fresh water coming from the sky is different, it cannot be compared. And if it was meant that the rain of five years ago or ten years ago must be the answer for the demand of the earth, then every season there would be no rain. Because it rains every year, that itself proves the theory that every year needs a rain. As it is necessary that every year there should be a rain, so it is also necessary that every cycle must have at its end God's Message. Sufi Message therefore is not Sufi philosophy. Sufi philosophy is apart, Sufi Message is the rain of this season, it comes to answer the demand for the rain.

***title?

The Thoughts That Help One in Speaking:

One must absolutely give up the fear what opinion others will form on one's speech. One must not say anything that one is not sure of, and therefore what one says must be a word of power, because what one says one means. That is the only speech which will penetrate through those who listen. Someone who begins to be a public speaker must formulate ideas beforehand, but not too long before, just before speaking, so that they are fresh in one's memory. Those who keep ideas which they intend to speak for a week before the lecture, they wear out their memory, it is too much strain on the memory to hold that thought in it. Once you are sure of what you are going to say and of the truth of it, then never mind the antagonistic attitude of others, but only garb your words in such a beautiful form and soften them so much that they will not strike a person too much. For that you will have to make a choice of words in the expression of thought, you will have to put a mute, and that mute is a touch of humor or a sympathetic touch together with it, that it will not strike too hard. Consideration of human feeling must be always there in the speaker; that is the speaker's greatest responsibility; and it comes in a long time's practice. The speaker must know how far he must go, and that he must not go further than that. The speaker must know how far he must assert himself, and how far he must not assert himself; how much he must commit himself, and how much he must not commit himself. He must know that he is responsible for his speech, and at the same time he must stand above all that makes him anxious and that makes him self conscious.

The speaker must be so lost in his idea, the subject that he speaks upon, that he must not for one moment think of himself while speaking. Anything that one has spoken that was not meant by one, one must not try to bring excuses for it, one must not try to correct it. By doing so one will engrave deeper still the idea which he himself did not like. He must pass it by,he must not think about it, only be careful for what he will speak then.

An intuitive speaker will certainly catch the thoughts of his audience, thoughts springing from their heart as a question mark, and will automatically answer every question, that when they go from the lecture they each have received their answer. This no doubt will interfere with his plan which was made first to speak before the audience, but he must put it so beautifully in it that it is woven inside like an embroidery work. That the work of embroidery seems that it was meant to be there; that it is not a patch.

Never utter a word of which one is not sure, and never say something only to please the others; it all weakens the power of speech. Often a speaker is influenced by his own personal condition of mind to speak, and he may put in his speech a substance that will bring him forward before others -- his weakness, his lacks, his deficiencies, his infirmities -- he must be careful of it. In that way all that is stored in the mind will come out. Besides, if there is in the audience someone at whom the speaker wants to hit, that is still worse, because that is again personal, and it ruins the lecture. A speech given before the audience must be above any personal feeling of oneself or someone in the audience. The subject must be the central theme, and one's knowledge of the subject is the power behind it. The way one speaks is the skill of the speaker. One must not concern oneself with the thought that one will interest or one will win the audience after having spoken. One must only feel that, "It is my destiny to give this talk, and by doing so sincerely and wholeheartedly I fulfill my duty." A little touch of indifference in this way will help the speaker a great deal.

Q. Is speaking not a gift?

A. Every thing is a gift. One must never say that one has it not. God is such a Giver, when you ask Him, He gives all you want sooner or later. Very often what happens is, that one has a poor opinion of oneself, and that brings about a terrible poverty; it brings about an effect upon the nerves.

Q. But when there is too much nervousness?

A. In that case it is better not to do it.

Q. How can one get above it?

A. Still, you can feel in a way that, as I have said, if they think they have the right to expect something, then we also have the right to say something. It may be poor or rich, what it is, we are given the tongue and voice and lips, that shows that it is meant that we should speak.

Q. But one feels oneself so inferior.

A. We are inferior, but not God. When we think of God, then where is inferiority? We, as human beings are limited, but God is not limited. We give ourselves to God. If there are ten thousand persons standing, you can speak before them the least idea. What they expect God can give them, you can only be the channel.

Of course very often people expect stupid things. They expect very much else than what you can give them; that very often happens. In my early days of work one day I came in contact with a family who were supposed to know music very much. So when I went there they said, "We cannot have anything which is not up to the mark." I said, "That is what I want." "We have heard that you can give some song," they said. I said, "Yes," and then sang. They said, "This is not what we want, excuse me." Well, I thought, that a little still higher I must sing. So I sang. "This is not quite the thing we want," they said. Then I understood what they wanted. So I sang a little lower thing. They said, "This is somewhere nearer." Now, I thought, I know what you want, and I sang a little lower thing still. They said, "That is

the best thing, that is what we wanted."

There are people who will say, "It is so simple, we have also known it." Some say, "It is not intellectual," others say, "It is all muddled," but never care. As they have the right to form an opinion, you have to form ideas; they have the right to hear, you have the right to speak.

Ecstasy:

Ecstasy is exaltation, which is above what is called sensation. It does not mean to say that in sensation there is no exaltation. It means that in sensation exaltation is reflected. But exaltation stands independent of sensation. When a person is feeling exaltation he is feeling also the same as sensation; at the same time it is not only a sensation, it is an exaltation together with it. As a pitch of sound is determined by so many notes, so the pitch of exaltation can be determined by the different grades of which consciousness rises. Sufis are fond of experiencing all its grades, whereas yogis experience the highest grade only. He calls this highest grade Samadhi. The Sufi calls his every experience on his way to the highest grade Wajad. And a word which explains this more fully in Hindustani is Hal, which means "condition." There is a saying that it is not what one says, but it is what one is which counts. Hal means what one is. One is that of which one is conscious. I have seen dervishes who experience the same in the ordinary sense of the word, even by having flowers by their side and perfume. I have seen dervishes coming into a condition of ecstasy on hearing a lyric sung by a singer. Because they have prepared their spirit to rise to that height by the help of such an earthly thing as flower or scent. There is a sect of yogis, which is very small in number, who have tried to get an impetus to be exalted by the dense things of the earth. However, those who soar upwards, what they have considered as best thing to rise in exaltation is to see the Divine Beloved in the form of human nature, in its agreeable form and its disagreeable form in all its various forms and conditions; and in this way to elevate their soul. Hafiz has provided food for them, besides many other Persian Poets. Their poetry is not understood by many in the West, for this reason, that they do not make any philosophical statements. Their art of poetry is a painting of pictures. Hafiz was an artist of human nature, and in his poetry he has made different pictures of human nature, coloring them all with Divine light, Divine color, that those who may want to take it as a means of elevating their souls may find the best means to elevate, even staying in the midst of the world; that this worldly turmoil and the falsehood of human nature, and the ugly side of life in the world, that nothing may disturb that soul who wishes to soar upwards. It is a kind of opposite method to that of the yogi. The yogi, in order to elevate himself, leaves the world, goes to the forests. Being by himself, he naturally soars upwards, and reaches the highest ecstasy. The Sufi takes the contrary path; he stands in the midst of the world, and sees all the ugliness and beautiful side of it, looks into human nature on its surface, in its depth. And such great artists as Hafiz help him by giving before him pictures, what beautiful pictures they have made of the very life of the world, which frightened the yogi, who ran away from it. No doubt, the highest ecstasy is in the communion with God, and that ecstasy is completed when one has forgotten oneself to that degree that there remains nothing of himself but God. And it is in that ecstasy that the purpose of life is fulfilled.

TASAWWUF

Psychometry:

What is called psychometry? Very often, people claiming clairvoyance are supposed to know the history of an object. No doubt is comes as a person advances spiritually. It comes by itself, you do not need to learn it. And at the same time there is one way of developing in that direction; that way is distinguishing between intuition and imagination. No sooner you separate intuition from imagination, you begin to come closer to what is called psychometry. For instance, when you look at this chair, and say, "Its appearance is as if it was made in the Orient, may be it was made in the Orient." Then you go in the detail, and say, how it is carved, how it is made, what is inlaid, all that is of the Orient. That particular part of the country. All this is imagination, it is not intuition. But as soon as you look at this chair, do not allow your imagination to work, only let knowledge spring from your heart, that knowledge will be a suggestion from your intuitive faculty. An idea has sprung from your mind, that this chair was belonging to a certain person who was sad, who was happy, who was unhappy, who was restless; a certain person made it, a certain person used it, a certain atmosphere comes from it, there is a certain history you see at the back of it. That comes from intuition. But in order to make the intuition clear, the best thing is to stop imagination. As soon as you mix your intuition with imagination, then psychometry is impossible. Now I will tell you about the ordinary faculty which many show in clairvoyants, most of them are nervous people, and some of them quite unbalanced. And it is by the very fact that they are unbalanced, that they are more clairvoyant. The reason is that there are some unbalanced people who have lost intuition. Imaginative and talkative and disputing, they seem to be very intelligent, they are always disputing, arguing, they seem very balanced, but they are unbalanced too.

But there is another unbalanced person who is not intellectual, and yet who keeps his mind blocked. By nature it happens, and in that blocked mind functions intuition more clearly, and that person begins to sense of the history of an object. When this faculty of sensing from an object, its history, its origin, its nature, its character, is developed, then in the second stage one begins to sense the condition of the house. In any house you go, as soon as you enter you feel the house; as soon as you go in a room, the room begins to talk to you, to tell you its history, what was then, what is now and how it stands. And when you go still further then you begin to have a kind of insight into past, present and future.

There is a story of Firdausi, the author of Shanamah, that the Shah of Persia wanted the history of Iran, of his country, to be written; and so far there was no tradition to be had, in order to make a book like that. And this great poet, whose fame was known all over in Persia, Firdausi, was attached to the court, he said, "I will do it." After six months or a year's time, after he had gathered intuitively all the records of the past, he brought the manuscript to the Court. And anyone, who could not understand the possibility of getting such a record, denied the truth of it. And the king, who had promised one ashrafi for one verse -- that means one gold coin for one couplet -- refused, on hearing the criticism of all the people. So Firdausi got up in the Court and called a man who was opposing Firdausi's work and he put one hand on his back, and said to the other man, "Now you read." And Firdausi pointed out in the sphere and said, "Now, do you see it?" All that was being read the man saw exactly before him. He said, "In this way I have seen. What to you is blank, for me is living. I look into the past, that for me it is going on, it is in the same process." Afterwards he got another person, and another person, and he showed them by their own eyes what he saw. Then the king thought that Firdausi really deserved one ashrafi for each couplet. But then when the ashrafi were brought to be given to him, he refused. He said, "No, from someone who cannot know the value, I do not accept." Then he made one verse of insult and went. That is the book which is called Shahnamah.

Furthermore, one might ask, something which is past is past, how can you see it? Where is it? And if it is, it must be standing still. It must not be going on. But in reality there is nothing that is past, all that is past is working on. In the photographic plate we see that it is standing still. But in the sphere it is acting, it is working; the sphere is such a photographic plate, that it is working on. Therefore every word we speak is going on repeating itself, every action, every imagination, every thought, that we let that thought out, it is working on towards its desired goal.

TASAWWUF

The effect of the aura works especially in the brain, because in the head is the center which is most sensitive to it; and the condition of the brain is manifested in the eyes. It is therefore that joy and sorrow and courage and confidence and confusion and trust and faith, all these things can be read in the eyes. There is no other means which can be as proper a medium as the eyes, which express a person's thought and feeling and evolution and attitude and outlook. A person who is critical, who is unfavorable, suspicious, doubting, fearing, of little faith, void of confidence, shows it first in his eyes. And therefore those who cannot feel from the atmosphere of a person and those who cannot read a person's thoughts, even they can see from the eyes of the person his mood. Mothers very often, or parents, show their pleasure and displeasure to their children just by looking at them. I have seen a father, who could strike his children so that they could tremble, merely by his looks. Besides, as a commander is so, not always out of position, not by his particular rank, nor by his loud voice, nor by his important appearance, but by his eyes; for through the eyes the willpower of man goes out as a command, which is even stronger than words. There may be a hundred persons sitting and looking at a certain thing and there may be one person -- a thing which you can see from his eyes -- absorbing, assimilating all that he is seeing. Even the eyes can be so powerful that they can perform magic. The eyes can teach and the eyes can inspire, the eyes can elevate, and at the same time the eyes can work as a vampire. There is a story of the Maharajah of Gaipor***chk spelling, that in his kingdom there was a culture of vampires, and he sent for the chief of that cult. He said, "Can you show some phenomena of your powers?" The Wizard said, "Yes." "Then come on," the Maharajah said, "and show something what you can do." And he said, "Yes." Before each one of them, according to their request, one melon was kept, and each looked at the melon for about five minutes; and afterwards the melon was cut, and there was nothing left. It was only the outer rind, the inner part was all eaten. There is a belief in the East which is called the evil eye, that if the evil eye falls on the food you eat, you cannot digest it; if that evil eye falls on a little child, it will cry; if it falls on a certain person, an artist, a performer, someone who comes before people, he will become ill instantly. Therefore, as many bad results can be produced by the eyes, so many good results, or more good results can be produced. But as the aura affects the brain and the brain affects the eyes, so what the eyes take affects the brain and the brain affects the aura, both things together. Just as what we have in our body, with the exhaling of the breath, all those gasses go out, and with the inhaling all the fine forces of our nature, when we inhale, we draw them into ourselves. In the same way we inhale through the eyes, so to speak, all that we wish to inhale, and we exhale, so to speak, through the eyes, the same which we have inhaled.

Q. Is it true, that the animals cannot stand the look of man as a rule? Is it for the same reason?

A. It is not only for that reason, but the thing is this, the glance of human beings is very painful. But the animals are very glad to look at a little child. A cat or dog likes very much to look at an infant, but not so with a grown up person.

Q. The aura is only seen by very few persons?

A. Oh, no. It depends upon how the person is evolved. If the person is evolved a person can see the aura.

Q. ?

A. I was very interested about the eyes of the animals, with especially an experiment which I made with a cat. After some time first the cat began to be very uncomfortable, and began to go away the first days. Then I found the cat again, and established a friendship again. So once, twice, three times. Then the cat began to stand the glance; then it began to look, after about three days time; then the cat liked it so much to look that I used to get tired. And then, if I would go in any other room of the house, the cat would follow me to look again.

Q. The attachment for man from an animal is sometimes very great?

A. Oh, yes

Q. I knew a person whose eyes shone in the dark like a cat's eyes, or dog's. From what did that come?

A. Yes, well, I think that person was very near to the missing link, as Darwin's theory is the missing link. But in the East there is a certain kind of practice that the mystics make, and after they have made that practice they become like that.

Q. It is more powerful?

A. More powerful.

Q. ?

A. Sometimes an angry person's eyes, if once you have seen them, you never want to see them again.

Q. I heard that in a monastery, all the monks had shining eyes. Is it a sign of spirituality?

A. It is not a sign of spirituality in any way, but it is a sign of a certain practice. Maybe they were doing that particular practice.

Q. Why does the evil eye have such a bad effect?

A. It is because the soul, the spirit is reflected through the eyes; and if the spirit is evil, then the eye is the best medium through which it expresses itself.

Q. Are there some people who unconsciously have the vampire attributes?

A. Certainly.

Q. Are they unconscious of it themselves?

A. Oh, yes.

Q. The person they are meeting may be conscious of it.

A. Mostly not. Mostly neither the person who has the vampire eye, nor the person who meets, only the things happen.

Q. Is it because they cannot see very clearly, that they get this?

A. Not at all. It has nothing to do with seeing or not seeing.

Q. Is it a look of magnetism in themselves?

A. No, it is the inharmony of the soul.

Q. Those tales of vampires, that they suck the blood of other people, are they true?

A. Certainly.

Q. Is there any special color of eye which is more powerful?

A. Please write down the different colors of eyes.

Q. When someone is of an evil eye, then it depends upon another powerful person who could overpower the bad power?

A. No, it goes with the general state of the person. If the person is evolving, then naturally that evil power will go.

Q. ?

A. Black eyes signify sadness, depth, sentiment and assimilating power, the power of assimilating all that they see. Brown eyes have sentiment, kindness, constructive and protecting quality. Gray eyes are, again, all-assimilating and with deep insight, also exclusive. Blue eyes show imagination, high reach of thought, intelligence, wit, love of beauty. Eyes of light color have a lighter effect, dark eyes have a deeper effect. Green eyes are observant, intelligent, deep and indicate changing moods. They change with weather and pliable and fine. People with one eye different from the other have two different temperaments. That is very difficult. If they have two different temperaments, they are very difficult to deal with, because one time they are angelic and another time quite the opposite. Sometimes there may not be such a difference.

Q. What to do with a person who continually asks, and does not follow your advice?

A. I would answer them, even if it were for a thousand times, I would continually answer.

Q. What to do with a person who is artistically inclined, but has not the gift to express himself?

A. I think that just like a fruit which is meant to be sweet one day, and is not yet ripe. Therefore the sweetness is in the fruit, you have to put it in the heat, in the straw or something. You must give so much heat in order to ripen. If this person has no expression, he must be given such an artistic surrounding where that person sees art exhibited, where he sees artists, reads about it, is in that atmosphere, so that faculty will develop. I know of the story of a young man, who was from a good class of people, they were very sad about it, because he could not stand the noise of gunfire. The parents, therefore, put him among soldiers, and he always heard the talk of the soldiers, moved about with them, went with them when they went shooting. Being in their company all the time, he forgot all the fear of the noise, and began to be one with them. Association is a great thing. If you put a person in that atmosphere which has a flourishing influence on his talent, that is a great blessing. There is something unripe, which can be ripened afterwards.

Q. When you attack a person's deepest feelings, that will make him speak, give him courage?

A. Yes, sometimes, and sometimes not. It is a very dangerous thing to attack. Sometimes a person will be so affected by it; we never know the reaction of an attack. Sometimes an attack may react in a very bad way.

No, it is a gross way of doing it. May be that in one case it may be right; because I know of a healer, who used to heal a person by striking. Any patient that came, he gave a slap or a blow, or hit him hard, and instantly the person was cured. Thousands and thousands and thousands of people used to go to him. But that was a violent way of doing it.

Q. It always succeeded, even with sensitive people?

A. He then became a saint.

Q. What method did he take?

A. People then began to recognize him as a saint, when so many people were healed. The same way he did all his life, slapped or gave a blow or a hard push. Always, violently, he attacked a person; and that attack was the illness was attacked by it. But the patient had a blow just the same, and a very hard blow too. It appears very funny, but at the same time it has a great secret in it. The secret is this that there is a rhythm. Illness is a rhythm, a certain rhythm that has brought the person to the state of illness. The striking hard unexpectedly brings a person to a different rhythm, because the patient does not know that the healer is going to strike him. He comes for compassion to the healer, because of his weakness, and he receives a hard blow. The saint himself was a prayer. His striking was a prayer just the same.

Q. In America a healer scolded the person terribly.

A. No, but this is a gross idea again, scolding one's illness.

Q. But is a blow not also gross?

A. It has an effect, because it is the touch of the hand of the saint, that is a different thing.

Q. Does he still live, that saint?

A. No, there is a tomb of that saint; people go to that tomb. During his life all at once he felt angry, he slapped. It is the idea that the illness was slapped. He got up, and slapped it hard, that it never again must appear. They do not get a slap now.

Q. Do they get better by touching the tomb?

A. Ah, yes. Then there was a saint, who did not want any person to get near him. And since he died, if now anyone comes near his tomb they get fever. They must always keep away.

Q. Is that the magnetism?

A. Not only the magnetism, but the spirit of the saint is centered in the place where he was buried. Through his life he kept people at a bamboo's distance, and after his death people could not even come near his tomb. They are held from a distance. His motto was, "Keep away and be happy."

Q. The tomb of Tut-Ankh-Amon, those who excavated the bodies, many of them have already died.

A. It is not a saint's tomb, it is a king's tomb. Therefore they died. This is something I have seen with my eyes, if you believe it, that in Baroda, the Maharajah gave an ord