Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Islam's Reflection

Islam’s Reflection through the Heart of Hazrat Inayat Khan.— Below is few kernels of his profound contemplations.—He uttered these words almost one century and a decade ago and they still appeal to this age and time.— The real abode of God is in the heart of man; when it is frozen with bitterness or hatred, the doors of the shrine are closed, the light is hidden.— Everybody is working for selfish ends, not caring about others, and this alone has brought about the misery in the world today.— When the world is evolving from imperfection towards perfection, it needs all love and sympathy.— Great tenderness and watchfulness is required of each one of us.— The heart of every man, both good and bad, is the abode of God, and care should be taken never to wound anybody by word or act.— According to the belief of a Sufi in remembrance of the Prophet, the heart is the shrine of God, and when the doors of the shrine are closed it is just like a light being hidden under a bushel.— The pupil sees that God is Love.— If He is love He does not stay in the heavens.— His earthly body is the heart of man. When that heart is frozen and when there is no love but bitterness, coldness, prejudice and contempt, unforgiving feelings and hatred (which all come from one source: want of tolerance) the feeling I am different and you are different comes.— Then that spirit and that light of God, that divine essence that is in the heart of man, is buried as in a tomb.— The work that one has to do is to dig it up, as one would dig the ground, discarding all mud, until one touched the water underneath.— What the Sufi calls riyazat, a process of achievement, is nothing else than digging constantly in that holy land which is the heart of man.—The first and last lesson in love is, 'I am not -- Thou art' and unless man is moved to that selflessness he does not know justice, right or truth.— The soul is the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of God lives within the shrine of the heart; this shrine can be closed or it can be open.— There are some things in life that open it and some that close it.— The things that close the heart are those which are contrary to love, tolerance and forgiveness, such as coldness, bitterness and ill-will, and a strong element of duality.— The world is more upset today than ever before; in many ways man seems to go from bad to worse, and yet he thinks that he is progressing.— It is not lack of organization or of civilization; both these things he has.— What he lacks is the expression of the soul.— He closes his door to his fellow man, he closes the shrine of the heart and by doing so he is keeping God away from himself and others.— Nation is set against nation, race against race, religion against religion.— Therefore today more than ever before there is a need for the realization of this philosophy.— What we need is not that all religions should become one nor all races; that can never be.— But what is needed is undivided progress, and making ourselves examples of love and tolerance.— By talking about it, by discussing and arguing it will not come, but by self-realization, by making ourselves the examples of what should be, by giving love, taking love, and showing in our action gentleness, consideration and the desire for service for the sake of God in whom we can all unite beyond the narrow barriers of race and creed.— It is more important to know the truth about one's self than to try to find out the truth of heaven and hell.— It is more important to find out the truth about oneself than to find out the truth about heaven and hell, or about many other things which are of less importance and are apart from oneself.— However, every man's pursuit is according to his state of evolution, and so each soul is in pursuit of something but he does not know where it leads him.— The first sign of realization is tolerance towards others.— There are the words of Christ: 'In the house of my father are many mansions' and those of the Prophet: 'Each soul has its own religion'— This means that according to his evolution so man knows the truth and the more a man knows, the more he finds there is to learn.— In order to attain truth one must make one's own life truthful.— This is life in its moral aspect.— The more truthful one is in one's everyday life the more one practices this moral despite its great difficulty, the more one approaches the only religion which there is—Truth is the very self of man.— Truth is the divine element in man.— Truth is every soul's seeking.— Therefore as soon as the clouds of illusion are scattered, that which man now begins to see is nothing but the truth which has been there all the time.— He finds that the truth was never absent; it was only covered by clouds of illusion.— By changing his own nature, by making himself more truthful, he disperses the clouds of falsehood within and without, and begins to see life as it really is both inwardly and outwardly.— From this time onwards, the meaning of religion becomes clear— When a person really wants to find the way, it is not very far from him—. It depends on the sincerity of the desire to find it whether it is far or not.— What is necessary for finding it is not much reading, or discussion or argument, but a practical study of self.— One questions one's own self:-- what am I? –Am I a material body, or a mind, or something behind a mind?— Am I myself or my coat?— Is this object "me," or something different?— Is this body my cover, or myself?— There is One Truth, the true knowledge of our being, within and without, which is the essence of all wisdom., 'Know thyself, and thou shalt know God.' –The Sufi recognizes the knowledge of self as the essence of all religions; he traces it in every religion, he sees the same truth in each, and therefore he regards all as one.— Hence he can realize the saying of Jesus; 'I and my Father are one.' –The difference between creature and Creator remains on his lips, not in his soul.— This is what is meant by union with God. It is in reality the dissolving of the false self in the knowledge of the true self, which is divine, eternal, and all pervading.— 'He who attaineth union with God, his very self must lose,' said Amir. Hazrat Inyat Khan— A selection of few Quranic verses chosen for my next book— Lo! We did reveal the Torah, wherein is guidance and a light, by which the Prophets who surrendered unto Allah judged the Jews, and the rabbis and the priests judged for such as Allah’s Scripture as they were bidden to observe, and thereunto they were witnesses.— So fear not mankind, but fear Me. –And barter not my revelations for a little gain.— Whoso judgeth not by that which Allah hath revealed, such are disbelievers. (5:45 Quran)— And We caused Jesus, son of Mary, to follow in their footsteps, confirming that which was revealed before him, and We bestowed on him the Gospel wherein is guidance and a light, confirming that which was revealed before it in the Torah—a guidance and an admonition unto those who ward off evil. (5:46 Quran)— And unto thee, Muhammad, have We revealed the Scripture with the truth, confirming whatever Scripture was before it, and a watcher over it.— So judge between them by which Allah hath revealed, and follow not their desires away from the truth which hath come unto thee.— For each, We have appointed a divine law and a traced-out way.— Had Allah willed He would have made you one community.— But that He may try you by that which He hath given you, He hath made you as ye are.— So vie one with another in good works.— Unto Allah ye will all return, and He will then inform you of that wherein ye differ. (5:48 Quran)— Is it a judgment of the time of pagan ignorance that they are seeking?— Who is better than Allah for judgment to a people who have certainty in their belief. (5:50 Quran)— Peace to the World!