The idea of the Sufi Message in the conception of each mureed is different. Naturally it cannot be the same. For according to the point of view that each person has, he thinks about it.

Perhaps one thinks that it is a message for some individuals who are seeking after truth.
There is another one who thinks that this is the Message for humanity.
There is another person who thinks that it is the Message for the most deep and most intelligent and subtle mind.
And there is another person who thinks that this is the Message for the simple ones.
There is a person who thinks that this is the Message of wisdom.
And another person calls it the Message of God.
There is another person who says, "Murshid's Message."
There is one person who says, "This is the Message."
And another person who says, "This is a message."

But at the same time each has come to drink at this pool of water, whatever they call it; if they call it a lake, or the sea, or the ocean, or a river, or a tank, or a jug full of water, they have come to it looking for the water. The difference is that perhaps one calls it the sea, another the river, the other a well, the other a pool of water, the other calls it a stream.

And now if the one who said, "This is the sea," became cross and annoyed with the one who called it a pool of water, by his annoyance he would spoil the conception of this person still more. First he said, "It is a stream of water." Now he says, "It is a drop." Why? Because you say that it is the sea. The psychology of human nature is very strange. The susceptibility of mankind is so subtle.

Therefore I wish to say that every mureed -- whatever conception of the Message he has -- is a defender of the Cause, is our collaborator, and is eager to serve in a lesser degree or in a greater degree.

No doubt, one thinks that, "I can serve the Message best by working at home."
And another thinks that, "I can serve the Message better by doing my business better."
Another says, "I can serve the Message best if I do my profession better."
"I can serve the Message best by doing active work."
And another thinks, "I can serve the Message best by thinking about it."
And another one says, "By developing spiritually I can serve the Message."

And each of them has reason, and each one of them says the truth. It is so.

Maybe one person can help the Message better by not doing anything, while another person can help the Message better by acting in the Cause.
There is another person who can help us by thought, another person who can help us by word.
And there is another person whose sympathy can help us more than action. Perhaps his action would spoil the work more, because in order to act one must know how to act. That is another lesson. A person eager enough, who wishes to act before knowing how to act, may himself become disappointed and may disappoint others.

Nevertheless, there is a part in the Sufi Order for every mureed. No mureed must for one moment think that because he is not given a particular work, he has nothing to do for the Cause. Each one can do something in his own way, can render some little service to the Cause just the same.

How the Work Is Done

And now, how this work must be done. This work must be done by harmonious cooperation, with appreciation for those who are doing something and with eagerness on one's own part to do one's best. The person who is focused only on the work he is doing, without appreciating the work that others are doing, does not cooperate, although he serves the Cause. Cooperation is very necessary, and that comes by the appreciation of the work of the others in the Cause.

No matter what particular work has been given to certain mureeds, those who have not any work, even they in their turn have a certain duty, have a certain work to do for the Cause, if they only knew it, if they only thought about it. A service that is a world service, a work that is to be done for the whole humanity, has a very vast scope; and it is so vast that if we were one thousand times greater in number, still the scope of our work would be too large for each of us to manage. The wider we look at the work of the Sufi Movement, the more we shall see that for each one of us there is a scope of working. There is no reason for us to think, "Another has got the work; we need not do the work." No, for each there is much to be done for the Cause if he only realized it, if he only knew it. But then one has to make this clear, what one must do.

The first work of the Sufi Message can be done by thinking within oneself and finding in what way one can make oneself a better instrument every day and every hour of the day. And if the work makes one forget that, then no doubt in the end one will find greater and greater difficulty as one goes further. But if one finds within oneself the capability, the scope, the desire of working, and ever-growing enthusiasm and sympathy, then intuitively he will begin. But if he sees inwardly he will see it is a very large scope of work, he will begin to see a wide horizon of work before his eyes, and he will say that, "It is too large a horizon for me to work. " He will never say that it is a small scope of work to do. Even the smallest scope of work--which from outer understanding seems to be small--as soon as we have the inner understanding of the same it will be the largest work.

The work of the Cause must be looked at as a magic work. It is a load. If you don't know what it is and you carry it, it is small, but as soon as you become conscious of it, it is very large. Because then you know your responsibility, your duty in what you say and in what you do and how you act toward it.

It is always the case when you work in this world, whether you work rightly or wrongly, there is always criticism for you and praise at the same time. There will be some who will praise and there will be others who will criticize. Know therefore that those who will criticize your capability probably only have seen the part that is to be criticized, and those who praise have seen the part that is to be praised. You need not be too confident about yourself, nor should you be too discouraged because another one criticizes you. Besides, horseback riders fall many times before they become good riders. And those who work in the world in a great Cause, as they go they make errors, they make mistakes.

It is natural. One should not feel discouraged because one has made a mistake; one should not feel discouraged that one did wrong. One should only think, "There is the whole life for us to learn. If today we do wrong, tomorrow it will be better." There will always be a hope. One must never think, "No, no, I don't know how to do the work. I shall always be doing wrong." Never think about it. Life is a school where one learns a lesson; every day we do wrong, and every day we improve if we care to learn from it. If we only study, we can go forward by doing wrong. But if we lose our hope and enthusiasm and say, "I made a mistake yesterday; I am not fit for the work," that is not right.

And suppose we have done right, we have done the work to our satisfaction, and others don't show appreciation? We have criticism all the same, with wrong--and right--doing. Then also never be discouraged, because the best judge is God Himself. Since you are working in the path of God and you are devoting your time and energy to the Cause of God, God is the Judge. So long as you are sincere in your work and you are doing your best, what does it matter if the whole world says you are doing wrong? You are in the right just the same.

The most needed thing in working for the Movement is not only the work, but good will: a sympathetic attitude toward one another. One must always know that work, no matter what kind of work it is, is intoxicating. It makes one forget many things -- it makes one forget oneself, it makes one forget the principle, it makes one forget many different things because life itself intoxicates. And to keep oneself wide awake through it and accomplish one's work and help another with good will -- appreciating what each one does in his own way and trying to do one's best and allow another to do his best -- is the right attitude to take in the Sufi work.

In my opinion, although it is many years since the Sufi Message began its activity, yet when you look at it from a mystical point of view, in the time that it has to cover in the world's life, it is only an infant. It is in its cradle, it is not known to the world. And if it is known to some few of us, I can't dare say that it is known to all of us; I can only say, to some few of us. And as it is infant work, then those of us who know more or less about the Message must know that we are in the most critical time, for the very reason that it is just beginning. An infant which cannot stand on its feet is in a helpless condition. It is just born, it requires great care.

And who ought to take care? God from above. And we, some few who are brought by Providence closer together to work hand in hand, it is we who are the guardians of this infant on earth. Then imagine how great is our responsibility. Something which should have been guarded by numberless swords, something which should have been guarded by machine gun, by forces, by fortification of rocks, something so important in the life of the world is in our care. And it is our work now to take care of it. Each of us is responsible for it for the coming generation, for humanity, for the world. It will reach as breath into the nations, it will run as electric current through the hearts. But let it stand, it is just born.

And this we can only do to our best by extending our sympathy first to one another, those who are working hand in hand in the Cause. Our sympathy to others is the next step. Our first step is to one another here among ourselves. Some of us have faults, some of us have errors, some of us will make mistakes; but still we are together. If we make mistakes, if we make errors, then we expect the other one to forgive us, to take care of us. For the reason that we make a mistake, the others must help us. It is by this unity that we shall keep strong and will supply the numberless swords and machine guns and forces made of rock: by our sympathy with one another, by our enthusiasm, and by our rock-like faith.

I do not wish to say this to mureeds who have not yet conceived the idea of the Sufi Message; but those who have a little spark in their heart somewhere hidden, they cannot say it in words, they cannot speak about it, and yet they cannot help feeling for it. To them there is my appeal that this is the most critical time for us because we are beginning. It is the same as with a little seedling which has not yet grown into a plant. Birds can come, animals can come, insects can eat it up, or anyone can walk over it and spoil it. But when it turns into a tree, then it supports itself, then its own strength will support it. Our responsibility therefore is to keep this little seedling with such care, to rear it, to water it, to let it have the sun and the air, and to consider it our sacred responsibility to let it grow and spread and bring the fruits and flowers that it has to bring to humanity.

Those who have a little time and those who are blessed by Providence, who can leave their country and go to another country, must consider this: that at this time we need workers of the Cause more than we have ever needed them before. There are so many cities and so many countries where interest is growing, where there is great demand and where there is such a great need for someone to further the Cause. And what is lacking? The person is lacking, the person who should go there and stay and do the work. In the United States there is such a great need of workers. If we had two hundred workers just now to begin in the United States, they could easily have a wide scope of work, each of them. In Germany it has just begun; it requires so much help and so much work to be done. And it is without workers that the work in Munich is suffering. If one of the old workers had stayed in Munich for some time there could have been great progress made. There are places in Switzerland and in Scandinavia where it has just begun. It greatly needs the help of mureeds who can go there and work and further the Cause.

We must therefore become conscious of our need. Our greatly felt need is the workers. Never think for one moment that I have ever had anxiety about the means. When we began there was nothing. At that time I had no anxiety; neither today have I any anxiety about it. If my heart has any anxiety, it is for the workers. All else will come. If we had a business, an industry, it would be different; then I would be thinking about something else. Our work is the service of humanity. If we have no roof to begin with, we shall do it outside the roof; the roof will come next.

If we have no money to advertise, we shall call our friends first. If there are five or ten or twenty gathered together, we shall begin doing it in the park. What is necessary is that enthusiasm, that consciousness of our need in furthering the Cause. And in what way will my friends, my mureeds show their sympathy, their devotion to their teacher? I will always appreciate most their sympathy, their devotion, their love, their friendship in helping me further the Cause, because this is the greatest burden. And if in this burden the mureeds will help in every way they can, that is the help that will be valued and most appreciated. God Bless You.