Hazrat Inayat Khan(1882–1927)

This is a daily guide. This booklet contains wisdom and enlightenment for daily use. Open it and read the inspired words by Hazrat Inayat Khan. Moreover one may use it as a reminder of the birthdays of one's relatives and friends. Request them to sign the book on the date of their birth, and it will be as a treasure house of your dear ones.

Many consider Mastery Through Accomplishment to be the most practical place to begin working with the teachings of Inayat Khan. Accomplishment in worldly affairs is not viewed as a hindrance on the spiritual path, but is seen as the means of developing the ability to achieve what one wishes, and ultimately to achieve the purpose of one's life

The first teacher to bring Islamic mysticism to the West presents music’s divine nature and its connection to our daily lives in this poetic classic of Sufi literature Music, according to Sufi teaching, is really a small expression of the overwhelming and perfect harmony of the whole universe—and th

Indifference! My most intimate friend, I am sorry I have always to act against thee as thy opponent. My modesty! Thou art the veil over my vanity. My humility! Thou art the very essence of my vanity. Vanity! Both saint and sinner drink from thy cup. Vanity! Thou art the fountain of wine on the earth, where cometh the King of Heaven to drink. Peacock! Is it not thy vanity that causeth thee to dance? My bare feet! Step gently on life's path, lest the thorns lying on the way should murmur at being trampled upon by you. My ideal! I imagine at moments that we are playing see-saw; when I rise up, thou goest down below my feet; and when I go down, thou risest above my head. My self-dependence! Thou makest me poor but at the same time rich. My beloved ideal! When I was looking for thee on the earth, wert thou not laughing at me in heaven? My feeling heart! I so often wish thou wert made of stone. My limitation! Thou art as a mote in the eye of my soul. Money! Thou art a bliss and a curse at the same time. Thou turnest friends into foes and foes into friends. Thou takest away anxiety in life and at the same time givest it. Waves: We are Upsaras of the ocean. When the wind plays music we dance; earth's treasure is not of our seeking; our reward is Indra's one glance. Time! I have never seen thee, but I have heard thy steps. Time! In my sorrow thou creepest; in my joy thou runnest; in the hours of my patient waiting thou standest still. Time! Thou art the ocean, and every movement of life is thy wave. Sky! Thou art a sea whereon the boat of my imagination sails. My thoughtful self! Reproach no one, hold a grudge against no one, bear malice against no one; be wise, tolerant, considerate, polite and kind to all. My independence! How many sacrifices I have made for thee, and yet thou art never satisfied. My simple trust! How often thou has disappointed me, yet I still go on following thee with closed eyes. My moods, what are you?--We are the waves rising in your heart. My emotion, where do you come from?--From the everflowing spring of your heart. My imagination, what are you?--I am the stream that feeds the fountain of your mind.

Illness is disharmony, either physical disharmony or mental disharmony; the one acts upon the other. What causes disharmony? The lack of tone and rhythm. How can it be interpreted in physical terminology? Prana, or life, or energy is the tone. Circulation, regularity is the rhythm; regularity in the beatings of the heart, of the pulse and the circulation of the blood through the veins. In physical terms, the lack of circulation means congestion; and the lack of Prana, or life, or energy means weakness. These two conditions attract illness and are the cause of illness. In mental terms the rhythm is the action of the mind, whether the mind is active in harmonious thoughts or in disharmonious thoughts, whether the mind is strong, firm, and steady, or whether it is weak. If one continues to think harmonious thoughts it is just like regular beating of the pulse and proper circulation of the blood. If the harmony of thought is broken, then the mind becomes congested. Then a person loses memory; depression comes as the result, and what one sees is nothing but darkness. Doubt, suspicion, distrust, and all manner of distress and despair come when the mind is congested in this way. The Prana of the mind is maintained when the mind can be steady in thoughts of harmony; then the mind can balance its thoughts, then it cannot be easily shaken, then doubt and confusion cannot easily overpower it. Whether it is nervous illness, whether it is mental disorder, whether it is physical illness, at the root of all these different aspects of illness there is one cause, and that cause is disharmony. The body, which has once become disharmonious, turns into a receptacle of disharmonious influences, of disharmonious atoms; it partakes of them without knowing it; and so it is with the mind. The body which is already lacking in health is more susceptible to illness than the body which is perfectly healthy; and so the mind which already has a disorder in it is more susceptible to every suggestion of disorder, and in this way goes from bad to worse. Scientists of all ages have found that each element attracts the same element, and so it is natural that illness should attract illness; thus in plain words disharmony attracts disharmony, whereas harmony attracts harmony. We see in everyday life that a person who has nothing the matter with him and is only weak physically, or whose life is not regular, is always susceptible to illness. Then, we see that a person who ponders often upon inharmonious thoughts is very easily offended. It does not take long for him to get offended. A little thing here and there makes him feel irritated, because irritation is already there. It wants just a little touch to make it a deeper irritation.

There are three steps which lead the seeker to the altar of divine wisdom. One is philosophy, the next is psychology, and the third is mysticism. Philosophy is learned by the analysis and synthesis of all that we perceive through the five senses. Psychology is learned by the analysis and synthesis o

Mysticism is the essence and the basis of all knowledge, science, art, philosophy, religion and literature. These all come under the heading of mysticism. When one traces the origin of medicine, which has developed into the pure science it is today, one will find that its source was in intuition. It

Many think that it is some deformity of the body, a curve in the spine or cavity in the brain that affects the mind. Few realize that very often the mind produces an irregularity in the spine or in the brain, thereby causing an illness. The ordinary point of view regards an illness as a physical dis

It is never too soon in the life of a child for it to receive education. The soul of an infant is like a photographic plate which has never been exposed before, and whatever impression falls on that photographic plate covers it. No other impressions which come afterwards have the same effect. Therefore when the parents or guardians lose the opportunity of impressing an infant in its early childhood they lose the greatest opportunity. In the Orient there is a superstition that an undesirable person must not be allowed to come near an infant. If the parents or relatives see that a certain person should not be in the presence of an infant, that person is avoided, for the very reason that the infant is like a photographic plate. The soul is negative, fully responsive, and susceptible to every influence; and the first impression that falls on a soul takes root in it. In the first place an infant brings with it to the earth the spirit with which it is impressed from the angelic spheres and from the plane of the jinn; it has also inherited from the earth qualities from both its parents and of their families. After coming on earth the first impression that an infant receives is from the environment, the surroundings, from those who touch it and move and work in its surroundings. And the impression after coming to earth is so strong that very often it erases the impressions that an infant has inherited from the higher spheres, and also the heritage from its parents. This happens because the mind that has been formed of the impressions which the infant has brought from the higher spheres is not yet positive. It is just like a pot of clay which has not yet gone through the fire; it has not yet developed.

There is a remarkable phrase in the Bible, here it says, 'Eat My flesh and drink My blood', says Christ. What does He mean by saying this? He means in the first place that what a living being loves most is his food, what he loves most he eats. It has been proved in ferocious and dreadful famines, by people eating their own children, that food is dearer than their own child. The word of Christ, therefore, 'Find out, what it is in Me that you love, which may become your nourishment, which may become your food. It is not this, My flesh and blood; this will not be sufficient to satisfy your appetite. There is another part of My being, which is in abundance and can nourish My numberless devotees. Therefore before trying to eat My flesh and blood, try to find out on what plane I really exist and what is My true being'. The lives of all the great saints show that not only their adversaries and opponents but also their near and dear friends have proved to be among their worst enemies. There is a creature which loves its mate so much that it eats it. Now as to the question: what it is that Christ speaks of as his flesh and blood. His flesh is the knowledge of God and His blood is the love of God; because it is love that has a tendency, so to speak, to excite the circulation, and it is knowledge which has the tendency to strengthen, making man firm of which flesh is the symbol. One thing without the other would be abnormal. For instance flesh without blood, or blood without flesh, both are not normal conditions. What gives normal health to the body and to the soul is flesh and blood both. In the religious custom of the sacrament of bread and wine it is this secret which is symbolically expressed.

In this volume, the second of The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan, an attempt has been made to group together most of the Sufi mystic's teaching concerning sound and music – sound as the basis of creation and music as an essential means towards spiritual development. Having been a musician of renown before he gave up his art in order to dedicate himself entirely to the Sufi Message with which he was entrusted, Inayat Khan readily followed the practice of the ancient Sufis in expressing esoteric truths in terms of sound and music. He once described this as follows: 'I gave up my music because I had received from it all that I had to receive. To serve God one must sacrifice what is dearest to one; and so I sacrificed my music. I had composed songs; I sang and played the vina; and practicing this music I arrived at a stage where I touched the Music of the Spheres. Then every soul became for me a musical note, and all life became music. Inspired by it I spoke to the people, and those who were attracted by my words listened to them, instead of listening to my songs. Now, if I do anything, it is to tune souls instead of instruments; to harmonize people instead of notes. If there is anything in my philosophy, it is the law of harmony: that one must put oneself in harmony with oneself and with others. I have found in every word a certain musical value, a melody in every thought, harmony in every feeling; and I have tried to interpret the same thing, with clear and simple words, to those who used to listen to my music. I played the vina until my heart turned into this very instrument; then I offered this instrument to the divine Musician, the only musician existing. Since then I have become His flute; and when He chooses, He plays His music. The people give me credit for this music, which in reality is not due to me but to the Musician who plays on His own instrument.'

By forehead is meant man's expression. The smiling forehead is the pleasant expression; it depends solely upon man's attitude to life. Life is the same for the saint and for Satan, and if men are different it is because of their outlook on life. The same life is turned by the one into heaven and by the other into hell. There are two attitudes: to one all is wrong, to the other all is right. Our life in the world from morning to evening is full of experiences, good and bad, which can be distinguished according to their degree. And the more we study the mystery of good and bad the more we see that there really is no such thing as good and bad. It is because of our attitude and the conditions that things seem good or bad. It is easy for an ordinary person to say what is good or bad, just or unjust – it is very difficult for a wise man. Although everyone, according to his outlook on life, turns things from bad to good and from good to bad, everyone has his own grade of evolution and reasons accordingly. Sometimes one thing is subtler than others and then it is difficult to judge. There was a time when Wagner's music was not understood, and another time when he was considered the greatest of musicians. Sometimes things are good, but our own evolution makes them less good for us. What we considered good a few years ago may not seem good at a later degree of evolution. At one time a child appreciates a doll most, later it will prefer the work of great sculptors. This proves that at every step and degree of evolution man's idea of good and bad changes. Therefore a thinker will understand that there is no such thing as right or wrong. If there is wrong, all is wrong; if there is right, all is right.

SUFISM has never had a first exponent or a historical origin. It existed from the beginning, because man has always possessed the light which is his second nature; and light in its higher aspect may be called the knowledge of God, the divine wisdom – in fact, Sufism. Sufism has always been practiced

We often confuse unity with uniformity. In reality it is the spirit of unity which creates uniformity for the sake of its beauty and protection it gives. Throughout all ages both have existed: unity as the inner nature of every soul and the only purpose of life, and uniformity to help to fulfill that purpose. Unity is the goal and uniformity the means to reach that goal, but often the means has obscured the purpose. All through the ages the different religions, which have been given to man for his spiritual development with the sole idea of unity, have gradually become a kind of community or nationality. Many people who belong to a Church accept its dogmas, claim a certain name for their religion, and consider all other children of God as separate; by doing so they lose the very seed of wisdom for whose development that religion was given. This error has existed from the beginning, so that instead of touching the true spirit, people have lost reality by seeking a false objective. Religious differences have caused endless wars and disasters for the human race. The reason of this is that the spirit of unity has not been recognized, while undue regard has been paid to uniformity. In the present age, when the spirit of religion is at its lowest ebb and only the uniformity remains, divisions of classes and discords of all kinds spring up; one party, one class against another, the spirit of rivalry, jealousy, and destruction everywhere. The effect of this has been to keep man away from the consciousness of God. Very few indeed recognize Him; all humanity is laboring under a great unrest; and yet man thinks he is progressing while all the time he only progresses towards still greater unrest. There can never be true progress when nations and kingdoms and peoples are divided; for when the races are divided then subdivisions come, and classes and parties also become divided. The same spirit of destruction is at work all the time, and even families become separated. Unity seems to be rooted out from the hearts of men.

The first part of this twelfth volume of The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan consist of a number of lectures the Master gave at different times, and which for various reasons have not been included in the proceeding volumes. They are published here for the first time, except 'Wealth.' Which appeared in the Sufi Quarterly of June 1931. In his Confessions, which were published in 1915 in a limited edition, long since out of print, Inayat Khan gave some reminiscences of his early life. He tells us about his home life, which was centered round the towering figure of his grandfather, the celebrated musician, Maulabakhsh, who so profoundly influenced him, about the career he himself made as a musician, and about his searching on the spiritual path, and how these led him to the Realization that he had to bring the message of Sufism to the Western world. Thirdly this volume contains the four plays written by Hazrat Inayat Khan. Their style is very different from that of the plays we are accustomed to see performed on Western stages; it is much closer to the traditional Indian theater. But they form an important part of his teachings and convey to those who read them or see them performed the reality of the deeper side of life, a reality that manifest when the way had been opened for the attainment of Self-realization, in which lies the fulfillment of the purpose of life. To Inayat Khan it is God who is acting through man in order to realize Himself. Thus he wrote in the Vadan,' The scriptures have called Him the Creator, the Masons have called Him the Architect, but I know Him as the Actor on this stage of life.'

The Sufi understands that although God is the source of all knowledge, inspiration, and guidance, yet man is the medium through which God chooses to impart His knowledge to the world. He imparts it through one who is a man in the eyes of the world, but God in his consciousness. It is the mature soul that draws blessings from the heavens, and God speaks through that soul. Although the tongue of God is busy speaking through all things, yet in order to speak to the deaf ears of many among us, it is necessary for Him to speak through the lips of man. He has done this all through the history of man, every great teacher of the past having been this Guiding Spirit living the life of God in human guise. In other words, their human guise consists of various coats worn by the same person, who appeared to be different in each. Shiva, Buddha, Rama, Krishna on the one side, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad on the other; and many more, known or unknown to history, always one and the same person. Those who saw the person and knew Him recognized Him in whatever form or guise; those who could only see the coat went astray. To the Sufi therefore there is only one Teacher, however differently He may be named at different periods of history, and He comes constantly to awaken humanity from the slumber of this life of illusion, and to guide man onwards towards divine perfection. As the Sufi progresses in this view he recognizes his Master, not only in the holy ones, but in the wise, in the foolish, in the saint and in the sinner, and has never allowed the Master who is One alone, and the only One who can be and who ever will be, to disappear from his sight. The Persian word for Master is Murshid. The Sufi recognizes the Murshid in all beings of the world, and is ready to learn from young and old, educated and uneducated, rich and poor, without questioning from whom he learns. Then he begins to see the light of Risalat, the torch of truth which shines before him in every being and thing in the universe, thus he sees Rasul, his Divine Message Bearer, a living identity before him. Thus the Sufi sees the vision of God, the worshipped deity, in His immanence, manifest in nature, and life now becomes for him a perfect revelation both within and without.

"How the words 'love', 'harmony' and 'beauty' delight the heart of everyone who hears them" is the opening sentence of this volume. The author, Hazrat Sufi Inayat Khan, has labelled his message as the Sufi message of Love, Harmony and Beauty, because in the present world these qualities seem to be u