The Teaching of Hazrat Inayat Khan
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Volume SayingsSocial GathekasReligious GathekasThe Message PapersThe Healing PapersVol. 1, The Way of IlluminationVol. 1, The Inner LifeVol. 1, The Soul, Whence And Whither?Vol. 1, The Purpose of LifeVol. 2, The Mysticism of Sound and MusicVol. 2, The Mysticism of SoundVol. 2, Cosmic LanguageVol. 2, The Power of the WordVol. 3, EducationVol. 3, Life's Creative Forces: Rasa ShastraVol. 3, Character and PersonalityVol. 4, Healing And The Mind WorldVol. 4, Mental PurificationVol. 4, The Mind-WorldVol. 5, A Sufi Message Of Spiritual LibertyVol. 5, Aqibat, Life After DeathVol. 5, The Phenomenon of the SoulVol. 5, Love, Human and DivineVol. 5, Pearls from the Ocean UnseenVol. 5, Metaphysics, The Experience of the Soul Through the Different Planes of ExistenceVol. 6, The Alchemy of HappinessVol. 7, In an Eastern Rose GardenVol. 8, Health and Order of Body and MindVol. 8, The Privilege of Being HumanVol. 8a, Sufi TeachingsVol. 9, The Unity of Religious IdealsVol. 10, Sufi MysticismVol. 10, The Path of Initiation and DiscipleshipVol. 10, Sufi PoetryVol. 10, Art: Yesterday, Today, and TomorrowVol. 10, The Problem of the DayVol. 11, PhilosophyVol. 11, PsychologyVol. 11, Mysticism in LifeVol. 12, The Vision of God and ManVol. 12, Confessions: Autobiographical Essays of Hazat Inayat KhanVol. 12, Four PlaysVol. 13, GathasVol. 14, The Smiling ForeheadBy DateTHE SUPPLEMENTARY PAPERS | Heading Superstitions, Customs, and BeliefsInsightSymbologyBreathMoralsEveryday LifeMetaphysics |
Sub-Heading -ALL-1.1, An Ocean in a Drop1.2, The Symbol of the Sun1.3, The Symbol of the Cross1.4, The Two Forces1.5, The Symbol of the Dove1.6, The Symbol of the Sufi Order1.7, Symbology of the Dot and the Circle1.8, Symbolism of Lines --1.9, The Symbolism of the Triangle1.10, Symbology of the Mushroom2.1, "Die Before Death"2.2, Fruitfulness2.3, The Symbol of the Dragon2.4, Water2.5, Wine2.6, The Curl of the Beloved2.7, The Glance2.8 The Myth of Balder2.9 The Tree of Wishes2.10 The Hindu Symbolical Form of Worship3.1, Layla and Majnun (1)3.2, Layla and Majnun (2)3.3, Christ Walking on the Water3.4, Shaqq us-Sadr, the Opening of the Breast of the Prophet3.5, Miraj, the Dream of the Prophet3.6, The Flute of Krishna3.7, Tongues of Fire3.8, The Story of Lot's Wife3.9, The Symbology of Religious Ideas3.10, The Ten Virgins |
Vol. 13, GathasSymbology2.1, "Die Before Death"There is a symbolical picture known in the philosophical world of China that represents a sage with one shoe in his hand and one on his foot. It signifies the hereafter, that the change that death brings is to a wise man only the taking off of one shoe. The body of the philosopher in the picture represents his soul, or his person; the one shoe still on his foot represents his mind, which exists after death; and the withdrawal of the soul from the body is like taking one foot out of the shoe. For the mystic, therefore, the physical body is something he can easily dispense with, and to arrive at this realization is the object of wisdom. When, by philosophical understanding of life, he begins to realize his soul, then he begins to stand, so to speak, on his own feet; he is then himself and the body is to him only a cover. The teaching of the Prophet is to die before death, which means to realize in one's lifetime what death means. This realization takes away all the fear there is. By the symbol of the shoe is shown also the nothingness of the material existence, or the smallness of the physical being, in comparison with the greatness of the soul, or the spirit. Hafiz says in Persian verse, "Those who realize Thee are kings of life," which means that the true kingdom of life is in the realization of the soul. The idea that one must wait until one's turn will come after many incarnations keeps one far away from the desired goal. The man who is impatient to arrive at spiritual realization is to be envied. As Omar Khayyam says, "Tomorrow? Why, tomorrow I may be myself with yesterday's seven thousand years." He means by this, "Don't bother about the past, don't trouble about the future, but accomplish all you can just now." Life has taken time enough to develop gradually from mineral to vegetable, from vegetable to animal, and from animal to man, and after becoming man delay is not necessary. It is true that the whole lifetime is not sufficient for one to become what one wishes to be. Still nothing is impossible, since the soul of man is from the spirit of God; and if God can do all things why cannot man do something? |