The Teaching of Hazrat Inayat Khan1
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Topic ArchetypesAstrologyAttainmentChakrasCharacterChristCompassionDervishDesire and renunciationDestiny and Free WillDimensionsDiscipleshipDreamsDuties and debtsEgoElementsGodGuidanceHealersHealingHealthHeartImmortalityInitiationLight and LoveLoversMagnetismMasteryMaterial lifeMeditationMessageMindPhysical BodyPlanesPoetsPowerPrayersPurposeReconstruction of WorldRelationshipsReligionsSaintsSchoolScientistsSexualitySleepSpeakingStagesStoriesSufismTeaching StyleVoiceWomenWorldWounds of the Heart | Sub-Topic Class for Mureeds 3Class for Mureeds 6DiscipleshipFive LessonsFive Steps on the PathFour Kindsqualities adviceThe Right AttitudeVision of God and Man |
Vol. 10, The Path of Initiation and Discipleship4. The Different Steps on the PathFive Steps on the PathThere are several steps on the path. This is a vast subject, but condensing it I would say that there are five principal steps.
The time of initiation is meant to be a time for clearing away all the sins of the past. The cleansing of sins is like a bath in the Ganges. It is the bath of the spirit in the light of knowledge. From this day the page is turned. The mureed makes his vow to the murshid that
Sufis engage in Halka, a circle of Sufis sitting and practicing Zikr and Fikr so that the power of the one helps the other. Furthermore they practice Tawajjeh, a method of receiving knowledge and power from the teacher in silence. This way is considered by Sufis to be the most essential and desirable. Sometimes a receptive mureed attains in a moment greater perfection than he might attain in many years by study or practice, because it is not only his own knowledge and power that the murshid imparts, but sometimes it is the knowledge and power of Rasul; and sometimes even of God. It all depends upon the time and upon how the expressive and receptive souls are focused. The task of the Sufi teacher is not to force a belief on a mureed, but to train him so that he may become illuminated enough to receive revelations himself. |