Attainment

Dimensions

Dreams

Ego

Elements

Guidance

Healing

Heart

Immortality

Initiation

Mastery

Meditation

Physical Body

Planes

Power

Prayers

Purpose

Relationships

Religions

School

Speaking

Stages

Sufism

World

Q. I thought you were against cremation? A. I am against nothing. You must always know that whenever a person says, "Murshid is against this," you must say, "That is a lie." However bad the thing may be, as that everybody is against it, but if they say Murshid is against it, it is a lie. Murshid is against nothing.

[This paper shows the link between realization and character development. The point is that the highest morality one can aspire to is dependent on one’s realization.]

There are three stages of morals.

1. The first stage is the moral of reciprocity. This moral is natural to the one who sees the difference between himself and another, who recognizes every man as such and such.

2. The second stage is the law of beneficence, where man, recognizing himself as an entity separate from others and recognizing others as distinct entities themselves, yet sees a cord of connection running through himself and all, and finds himself as a dome in which rises an echo of good and evil; and in order to have a good echo he gives good for good and good for evil.

3. But the third stage is the moral of renunciation, where the difference of "mine" and "thine" and the distinction of "I" and "you" fade away in the realization of the one Life that is within and without, beneath and beyond; and that is the meaning of the verse in the Bible, "In Him we live, and move, and have our being."

Every human being has an attribute peculiar to his nafs. One is tiger-like, another resembles a dog, while a third may be like a cat, and a fourth like a fox. In this way man shows in his speech, thoughts and feelings the beasts and birds, and the condition of his nafs is akin to their nature; at times his very appearance resembles them. Therefore his tendency to harmony depends upon the evolution of his nafs. As man begins to see clearly through human life, the world begins to appear as a forest to him, filled with wild animals, fighting, killing and preying upon one another.

The right attitude depends on how favorably one regards one's own shortcomings. Very often one is ready to defend oneself for one's faults and errors, and is willing to make one's wrong right. But one has not that attitude towards others. One takes them to task when it comes to judging them. It is so easy to disapprove of others! It is so easy to take a step further and to dislike others, and not at all difficult to take a step further still and to hate others. And when one is acting in this manner, one does not think one does any wrong. Although it is a condition which develops within, one only sees it without; all the badness which accumulates within, one sees in another person. Therefore man is always in an illusion; he is always pleased with himself and always blaming others. And the extraordinary thing is, that it is the most blameworthy who blames most. But it is expressed better the other way round: because one blames most, one becomes most blameworthy.

There is beauty of form, of color, of line, of manner, of character. In some persons beauty is lacking, in other persons there is more of it; it is only the comparison that makes us think that one person is better than the other. If we did not compare, then every person would be good; it is the comparison which makes us consider one thing more beautiful than another. But if we looked more carefully we should see the beauty that is in that other one too. Very often our comparison is not right for the very reason that although today we determine in our mind what is good and beautiful, we are liable to change that conception in a month's, a year's time. That shows us that when we look at something, we are capable of appreciating it if its beauty manifests to our view.

There is nothing to be surprised at when one person arrives at the stage where he says, "Everything I see in this world, I love it all in spite of all pains and struggles and difficulties; it is all worth while"; but another says, "It is all miserable, life is ugly; there is no speck of beauty in this world." Each is right from his point of view. They are both sincere. But they differ because they look at it differently. Each of these persons has his reason to approve of life or to disapprove of it. Only, the one benefits himself by the vision of beauty and the other loses by not appreciating it, by not seeing the beauty in it.

By a wrong attitude, therefore, a person accumulates in his mind undesirable impressions coming from people, since no one in this world is perfect. Everyone has a side which can be criticized and wants repairing. When one looks at that side, one accumulates impressions which make one more and more imperfect because they collect imperfection; and then that becomes one's world. And when the mind has become a sponge full of undesirable impressions, then what is emitted from it is undesirable also. No one can speak ill of another without making it his own; because the one speaking ill of others is ill himself.

Thus the purification of the mind, from a moral point of view, should be learned in one's everyday life; by trying to consider things sympathetically, favorably, by looking at others as one looks at oneself, by putting oneself in their position instead of accusing others on seeing their infirmities. Souls on earth are born imperfect and show imperfection, and from this they develop naturally, coming to perfection. If all were perfect, there would have been no purpose in their creation. And manifestation has taken place so that every being here may rise from imperfection towards perfection. That is the object and joy of life and for that this world was created. And if we expected every person to be perfect and conditions to be perfect, then there would be no joy in living and no purpose in coming here.

Purification of the mind therefore means to purify it from all undesirable impressions; not only of the shortcomings of others, but one must arrive at that stage where one forgets one's own shortcomings. I have seen righteous people who have accused themselves of their errors until they became error themselves. Concentrating all the time on error means engraving the error upon the mind. The best principle is to forget others and to forget ourselves and to set our minds upon accumulating all that is good and beautiful.

There is a very significant occupation among the street boys in India. They take the earth from a certain place and they have a way of finding in that earth some metal such as gold or silver, and all day long their hands are in the dust. But looking for what? Looking for gold and silver.

When in this world of imperfection we seek for all that is good and beautiful, there are many chances of disappointment. But at the same time if we keep on looking for it, not looking at the dust but looking for the gold, we shall find it. And once we begin to find it we shall find more and more. There comes a time in the life of a man when he can see some good in the worst man in the world. And when he has reached that point, though the good were covered with a thousand covers, he would put his hand on what is good, because he looks for good and attracts what is good.

Outlook on Life

There is an awakening from childhood to youth and from youth to mature age and during this development one's point of view, one's outlook in life changes. Also sometimes in one's life, when one has gone through an illness or a great suffering, at the end of it the whole outlook on life has changed. One also sees that a person who has taken a long journey after having come back has quite changed. Also after a friendship, after a pupilship, after a marriage a sudden change comes in the outlook of a person, and we find that there are some cases where the change is so great that we may say that he is an entirely new person.

Seeing this we can divide such changes which may be called developments into three classes:

1. One class pertains to the physical development,
2. another is connected with the development of the mind and
3. the third class with the development of the soul.

There are instances in the lives of many - who rarely will say or admit it - that they can recollect experiences in their childhood when in one moment's time their whole outlook on life changed. As ripening is a desired result, it is the result of every object in life to ripen and to develop. Therefore the fulfillment of life's purpose is to be expected in the awakening of the soul.

Soul's Awakening

One may ask what are the signs of the soul's awakening. The first sign of this awakening is just like the birth of an infant. From the time of its birth the infant is interested in hearing something, any sound that comes, and in seeing something, a color or light, whatever it be attracted to. And thus a person whose soul has awakened becomes awake to everything he sees and hears. Compared to that person everyone else seems to be with open eyes and yet not to see, to be with open ears and yet not to hear. There are many with open ears, but there is rarely one who hears, and there are many with open eyes, but there is hardly one who sees. It is therefore that the natural seeing of the awakened soul is called clairvoyance and his natural hearing clairaudience. In English there is the simple word "seer" which explains that this person not only has eyes, but together with eyes he has sight.

The moment the soul has awakened music makes an appeal to it, poetry touches it, words move it, art has an influence upon it. It no longer is a sleeping soul, it is awake and it begins to enjoy life to a fuller extent. It is this awakening of the soul which is mentioned in the Bible, "Unless the soul is born again it will not enter the kingdom of heaven." Being born again means that the soul is awakened after having come on earth, and entering the kingdom of heaven means that this world, the same kingdom in which we are standing just now, turns into heaven as soon as the point of view has changed. Is it not interesting and most wonderful to think that the same earth we walk on is earth to one person and heaven to another? And it is still more interesting to notice that it is we who change it; we change it from earth into heaven, or we change it otherwise.

This change comes not by study, nor by anything else, but only by the changing of our point of view. I have seen people seek after truth, study in books about it, write many books on theology, and in the end they were in the same place where they were standing before. This shows that all outer efforts are excuses. There is only one thing that brings us before reality and that is the awakening of the soul.

All tragedy of life, all misery and inharmony are caused by one thing and that is lack of understanding. Lack of understanding comes from lack of penetration. The one who does not see from the point of view from which he ought to see becomes disappointed because he cannot understand. It is not for the outer world to help us to understand life better; it is we ourselves who should help ourselves to understand it better.

Soul's Further Awakening

Then there is a further awakening which is a continuation of what I have called the awakening of the soul. The sign of it is that the awakened person throws a light, the light of his soul, upon every person and every object and sees that object, that condition in this light. It is his own soul which becomes a torch in his hand, it is his own light that illuminates his path.

It is just like throwing a searchlight upon dark corners which one did not see before, and the corners become clear and illuminated again. It is like throwing light upon problems that one did not understand at first; it is like seeing with x-rays persons who were a riddle before.

Since life becomes clear to the awakened soul it shows another manifestation: every aspect of life becomes communicative with him. The idea is that life is communicating, the soul is communicating, but they do not communicate until a person is awakened. Once a soul is awakened it becomes communicative with life.

As a young man I had a great desire to visit the shrines of sages, of great teachers. With every desire of hearing something of them or of asking them something I always held my tongue back. I sat quiet in their presence and had a great satisfaction and felt a greater blessing by sitting quiet there than if I had discussed and argued and talked with them; for in the end I felt that there was a communication which was much more satisfactory than these outer discussions and arguments of people who know not what they discuss. It was enlightening, it was refreshing and it gave that power and inspiration with which one can see life in a better light.

Those who are awakened become lights, not only lights for themselves but also lights for others. These may not know it but their light, their presence itself helps to make the most difficult problems easy. This brings us to realize the fact that man is light, as the Scriptures have said, a light whose origin, whose source is divine. And when this light is raised then life becomes quite different.

When the soul is awakened furthermore its condition is then as that of a person sitting in the midst of the night among hundreds and thousands of people who are fast asleep. The picture is that he is sitting among them, standing among them, he is looking at them, hearing of their sorrows, miseries and conditions-hundreds of them moving about in their sleep, in their own dreams, not awake to the condition of the other one who is next to them. They may be friends or relations or acquaintances or enemies; whatever be their relationship, little they know about one another, each one absorbed in his own troubles. This awakened soul standing among them all will listen to everyone, will see everyone, will recognize and realize all they think and feel, but his language no one understands; his thoughts he cannot explain to anyone; his feelings he cannot expect anyone to feel. He feels lonely and nothing else can be felt. No doubt in that loneliness there is a sense of perfection, because perfection is loneliness.

When it was said that the apostles knew all languages at the descent of the Holy Spirit, it did not mean knowing the languages of all countries. They knew the language of the soul; for there are several languages which are spoken in different lands, but numberless languages are spoken, as each individual has his particular language. That brings us to realize another idea of very great importance: the outer language can convey only outward things and feelings to one another, but there is an inner language, a language which can be understood by souls who are awakened. It is a universal language, a language of vibrations, a language of feeling, a language which touches the innermost sense. Heat and cold for instance are different feelings which are called by different names in different countries, but inwardly they are the same feelings. So there is love and hate and kindness, harmony and inharmony which are all called by different names in different countries, but their feeling is the same experience for all men.

When in order to know the thought of another we depend upon his outer word then no doubt we fall to understand, for perhaps we do not know that person's language. But if we can communicate with him soul to soul we can certainly understand what he means, for before he says a word he has said it within himself, and that word reaches us before it is expressed outwardly. Before the word is spoken the expression says it; before the thought has formed, the feeling speaks of it. And this shows that it is a feeling which forms a thought, a thought which comes as speech. Even before this a feeling existed, and even there it can be caught when one is able to communicate with the soul. This is what may be called communication: to communicate with the innermost being of a person. But who can communicate? The one who knows how to communicate with himself, the one who in other words is awakened.

Personality of Awakened Soul

The personality of an awakened soul becomes different from every other personality. It becomes more magnetic, because it is a living person who has magnetism; the dead corpse has no magnetism. It is the living person who brings joy, and therefore it is the awakened soul who is joyous. Never for one moment imagine, as many do, that a spiritual person means a most sorrowful, dried-up, long-faced person. Spirit is Joy, spirit is life, and when this spirit has awakened all the joy and pleasure that exist are there. As the sun takes away all darkness, so spiritual light takes away all worries and anxieties, sufferings and doubts. If spiritual awakening were not so precious what would be the use of seeking it in life? It is a treasure which nobody can take away from you, a light that will always keep and will never be extinguished. That is called spiritual awakening which is the fulfillment of life's purpose.

Certainly, the things a person once valued and considered important become less important. They lose their value, and things which are beautiful lose their color. It is just like seeing the stage in the light of the sun; all the big palaces and decorations on the stage mean nothing. No doubt this takes away the slavery to which everyone is put by the things of this world; the awakened person becomes a master, and at the same time he need not give those things up. Optimism develops naturally, but an optimism with open eyes. Power increases, the power of accomplishing things. Then as long as a person has not accomplished something he will go after it however small it is.

It is very difficult to judge an awakened soul, as they say in the East, for there is nothing outwardly to prove to you, "this person is an awakened soul." The best way of seeing an awakened soul is to waken oneself. No one in the world can pretend to be awake when he is still asleep, as a little child by putting moustaches on his face will not prove himself to be a grown-up man. All other pretences may be accepted but not the one of being an awakened soul, for it is a living light which no one can pretend to be. If there is any truth it is in the awakening of the soul, for truth is born in this awakening. Truth is not taught, truth is discovered.

Very often people make an effort - but in vain - to awaken a friend or a near relation whom they love. But in the first place we do not know if that person is not more awakened than we ourselves, and we may be trying in vain. And the other point is that a person may be asleep and needs that sleep. Waking him would be a sin instead of a virtue. We are only allowed to give our hand to the one who is turning over in his sleep, who desires to awake. Only then a hand is given.

This giving of the hand in esoteric terms is called initiation. No doubt outwardly a teacher who is acquainted with this path may give a hand to the one who wishes to journey, but inwardly there is the Teacher who gives a hand who has always given and always gives a hand to awakening souls, the same hand which has received the sages and masters of all times in a higher initiation.

Verily, the seeker will find sooner or later, if only he keeps steady on the path till he arrives at his destination.

The words "waking" and "sleeping" are familiar to us as we use them in expressing different conditions of life. Really speaking, when we look at it from the point of view of the soul, we sleep and are awake at the same time. For instance when we are looking at a certain thing and our mind is fully absorbed in looking at it, we do not hear things at the same time. And if we are hearing something, absorbed in what we are hearing, when our sense of hearing is focused, our eyes may be open and yet we are not seeing. If that is true it explains to us that when one sense is fully awakened the other senses are asleep. In the same way, when we experience a sensation through the mind the body is absent.

The more we look at sleeping and waking from a psychological point of view, the more we shall come to the conclusion that they are not as we understand them, but that every moment of the day and the night we are awake and asleep at the same time. To give another instance: when a person is asleep and experiencing a dream, he is awake to something and yet asleep to the outer things. To one world he is asleep, to the other awake. So one is always asleep and always awake.

Question: Is the ego completely destroyed by annihilation? Answer: The ego itself is never destroyed. It is the one thing that lives, and this is the sign of eternal life. In the knowledge of the ego there is the secret of immortality. When it is said in the Gayan: "Death dies, and life lives", it is the ego which is life, it is its false conception which is death. The false must fall away some day; the real must always be. So it is with life: the true living being is the ego, it lives. All else that it has borrowed for its use from different planes and spheres, and in which it has become lost, all that is put away. Do we not see this with our own body? Things that do not belong there do not remain in it, in the blood, in the veins, anywhere. The body will not keep them, it will repel them. So it is in every sphere. It does not take what does not belong to it. All that is outside it keeps outside. What belongs on earth is kept on earth, the soul repels it. The destroying of the ego is a word; it is not destroying, it is discovering.

To purify the mind from fear is of great importance, and this can be best done by analyzing what causes one fear.

• Fear is an outcome of long-collected problems unsolved. When once a person looks his own problem in the face he gets an insight into the cause of fear, and as in the sun many germs are destroyed so the germs of fear are destroyed by the light of intelligence.

• Fear comes from weakness to face the consequences of one's condition, attitude and deeds. Once a person has solved the problem how he will meet the consequences the fear is done with. The best way of getting over the fear of swallowing a bitter pill is to swallow the bitter pill and to experience by it that it is not more bitter than it is.

• Fear comes also by being too cautious for one's health, morals and reputation.

• Also by being too considerate of the feelings of those one loves, and too regardful of those under whose influence one is.

• Also by taking too much to heart what others say. Fear very often remains in the heart of man in the guise of virtues, and very often a timid one is taken for a righteous one. But the timorous well-doer is worse than a fearless sinner.

The best practice one can make is to speak with oneself, with one's own fear; to dispute with it, and to root out the reasons on whose foundations it rests. What generally happens is that all things one fears, one fears even to think of them.

But the solution of getting above fear lies in analyzing the cause of the fear and so making it non-existent.

Man by nature possesses a tremendous power hidden in his heart, the power which waits constantly to become manifest. This power is hidden by fear. The day when fear disappears this latent power manifests to view.

Fear is considered by the mystics to come from the action of the earth element, and its effect is to make the body stiff at the moment when a person is afraid. According to metaphysics fear is caused by the lack of light. Therefore the more light there is in the heart the more fearless the heart becomes.

There is a Sura of the Qur'an which supports this, where it is said, "There is no fear in the master-mind."

Fear arises from the strangeness of an object or from ignorance on the part of the person who fears.

There is a verse of a Marathi poet, who says that, "It is the self that creates for itself the object of fear -- one's fear comes from oneself."

Every attitude towards life has a re-echo, and the attitude is formed by expectation. When one expects one's fellow-man to love one, his fellow-man does love him, and when one expects harm from another, then harm comes. When a person is afraid of a dog, he gives the dog a tendency to bite him. This can be noticed so plainly in the lower creation, that every animal is afraid for another animal, and the expectation of harm makes it fear more than does the idea of the hugeness of the form or the bodily strength of another animal.

Many things in life can be brought about, not only by wanting them and thinking of them, but by fearing them, both objects and conditions.

To clear one's mind of fear is like bringing light into a dark room, and as light is needed to illuminate a dark room so the light of the soul is necessary to clear away the thought of fear.

Man is more impressionable than any other living being, owing to the fineness and sensitiveness of his nature, but at the same time man alone is capable of rising above all fear, for in him there is a torch that can show him a way through the darkness.

Man fears all that is hurtful and harmful in any form, and more than all, man fears what he calls death. As in the case of every object and condition that arouses fear, the fear is caused by ignorance, so even the fear of death is caused by ignorance.

Man is afraid if he is in the water, where even so helpless a creature as a fish feels safe. It is not only the fact that man is incapable of remaining in the water that makes him afraid, but the water is a strange world to him; he does not know what is in it. Many have died in the water of fright of the water before having actually sunk.

This life of names and forms is therefore called by the mystics Maya, an illusion, which is apt to be made into that which one would like to make it. When one fears, this world frightens one, but when one clears one's heart of all fear, the whole world of illusion turns into one single vision of the sublime immanence of God.

There are no principles that the Sufi is obliged to follow, but there are certain characteristic favorites of the Sufi, and which make his life easy on the path to perfection.

1. [The Ether Element] The first characteristic is to recognize the Divine in man, which in time develops so that he recognizes the Divine in all, deserving or undeserving, wise or foolish, saint or sinner. In all forms of life he sees God, and thereby he has toward everybody that attitude which a lover of God, a worshipper of God has toward God.

2. [The Air Element] Therefore the Sufi complains no more, has no grudge against anyone, has nothing to grumble about: "That person insulted me," or " . .treated me badly," or " . .behaved unjustly," or " . . acted unkindly," -- no complaint whatever. For complaint comes to a person who thinks of himself most of the time -- he is inclined to self-pity at every moment, self pity, which is the worst poverty.

   The one who is sensitive to all things that come from the people around him will have a thousand complaints, whatever be his life's position. In a palace or in a cottage, be he poor or rich, he is always full of complaints. Nothing is right to him, nothing is just, except himself, everybody is cruel to him; and for that poor person life is death. If this person thinks of his health, then he has many complaints to make about different pains and aches and disagreeable things he feels, and if he thinks of his friends and foes then he has many things to say about them.

   The Sufi therefore, finds the only way out of the distress of life, the life which will always fail to prove true to one's ideal. He rises above it, taking all things as they come, patiently. He does not mind how he is treated.

3. [The Fire Element] His principle is to do his best, and in that is his satisfaction. Instead of depending on another person to be kind to him, the Sufi thinks if he were kind to another person, that is sufficient. Every wise man in the long run through life will find in this principle the solution of happiness. For we cannot change the world, but we can change ourselves; and if we made ourselves as we wish others to be to us, it would not be a small achievement in life.

4. [The Earth Element] The fourth characteristic of the Sufi is to fulfill his obligations, to think what he is expected to do by all those with whom he comes in contact in life, to answer their demands to the best of his ability, willingly, patiently.

5. [The Water Element] The fifth characteristic of the Sufi is to practice forgiveness, showing thereby the Divine Spirit reflected in his heart. Forgiveness can be practiced in different ways. In all such things as tolerance, forgetting, overlooking, forgiveness acts in different forms.

The Sufi need not speak about these five principles, but practice them. The Sufi does not profess to have these five characteristics, but he tries to practice these principles, which enables him to tread the path with less difficulty and with ease.

Each grade of development prepares a person for a higher one, and perfects him in five different grades of humanity:

1. Adam--the ordinary man

2. Insan--the wise man

3. Wali--the holy man

4. Qutb--the saint

5. Nabi--the prophet

The five natures corresponding to these five grades are:

1. Ammara--who acts under the influence of his senses;

2. Lauwama--one who repents of his follies;

3. Mutmaina--one who considers before taking action;

4. Alima--one who thinks, speaks and acts aright;

5. Salima--one who sacrifices himself for the benefit of others.

Harmony is the source of manifestation, the cause of its existence, and the medium between God and man.

The peace for which every soul strives, and which is the true nature of God and the utmost goal of man, is but the outcome of harmony. This shows that all life's attainments without a sense of harmony are but vain. It is the attainment of harmony which is called heaven, and it is the lack of it which is termed hell. The master of harmony alone understands life, and he who lacks it is foolish in spite of all other knowledge that he may have acquired.

The Sufi gives great importance to the attainment of harmony, believing that light is for angels and darkness for the devil, but that harmony is necessary for the human being in order to keep a balance in life.

There are three aspects of harmony: eternal, universal and individual.

Eternal Harmony

Eternal harmony is the harmony of consciousness. As it is in itself eternal, all things and beings live and move in it; yet it remains remote, undisturbed and peaceful. This is the God of the believer and the God of the knower. All vibrations, from the finest to the grossest, as well as each atom of manifestation, are held together by this harmony. Both creation and destruction take place in order to uphold it. Its power ultimately attracts each being towards the everlasting peace.

Man is drawn in two opposite directions by the power of harmony: towards the Infinite and towards manifestation. He is less conscious of the former than of the latter, and by facing towards one direction he loses sight of the other. The Infinite being, the essential spirit of all, finally attracts all to itself. The Sufi gives the greatest importance to harmony with the Infinite, which he realizes through resignation to the will of God, the Beloved.

Universal Harmony

The existence of land and water, the land for the water and the water for the land, the attraction between the heavens and the earth - all demonstrate a universal harmony. The attraction of the sun and moon to each other, the cosmic order of the stars and the planets, all connected and related with each other, moving and working under a certain law; the regular rotation of the seasons; the night following the day, and the day in its turn giving place to the night; the dependence of one being on another; the distinctiveness, attraction and assimilation of the five elements - all prove the universal harmony.

The male and female, beast and bird, vegetable and rock - all classes of things and beings - are linked together and attracted to each other with a chord of harmony. If one being or thing, however apparently useless, were missing in this universe of endless variety, it would be as it were a note missing in a song. As Sa'adi says: "Every being is born for a certain purpose, and the light of that purpose is kindled within his soul." All famines, plagues and disasters such as storms, floods, volcanic eruptions, wars and revolutions, however bad they appear to man, are in reality for the adjustment of this universal harmony.

There is a story told in India how once all the inhabitants of a village which had suffered from drought gathered together before the temple of their God, praying that for this year an abundance of rain might fall. A voice from the unseen replied: "Whatever We do is for the betterment of Our purpose. Ye have no right to interfere with Our work, Oh ye men!" But they again cried for mercy, and continued to do so more persistently. Then came the answer saying: "Your prayers, fastings and sacrifices have induced Us to grant for this one year as much rain as ye desire." They all returned home rejoicing. In the autumn they worked vigorously on their farms, and after having prepared the ground and sown the seed they prayed for rain. When they considered that sufficient had fallen they again had recourse to prayer, and the rain ceased. In this way an ideal crop of corn was produced and all the inhabitants of that country made merry over it.

This year more crop was grown than ever before. After the crops were gathered in however, all those who ate the corn died and many were the victims. In perplexity they again sought the God bowing low before the temple, crying: "Why hast Thou shown such wrath to us, after having shown so great a mercy?" The God replied: "It was not Our wrath, but your folly for interfering with Our work. We sometimes send a drought, and at other times a flood, so that a portion of your crops may be destroyed. But We have Our reasons for so doing, for in this way all that is poisonous and undesirable in them is also destroyed, leaving only what is beneficial for the preservation of your life."

The villagers prostrated themselves in humble prayer, saying: "We shall never again try to control the affairs of the universe. Thou art the Creator, and Thou art the Controller. We are Thine innocent children, and Thou alone knowest what is best for us." The Creator knows how to control His world, what to bring forth, and what to destroy.

Individual Harmony: between body and soul

There are two aspects of individual harmony: the harmony between body and soul, and the harmony between individuals.

The soul rejoices in the comforts experienced by the external self, yet man becomes so engrossed in them that the soul's true comfort is neglected. This keeps man dissatisfied through all the momentary comforts he may enjoy, but not understanding this he attributes the cause of his dissatisfaction to some unsatisfied desire in his life. The outlet of all earthly passions gives a momentary satisfaction, yet creates a tendency for more. In this struggle the satisfaction of the soul is overlooked by man who is constantly busied in the pursuit of his earthly enjoyment and comfort, depriving the soul of its true bliss. The true delight of the soul lies in love, harmony and beauty, the outcome of which is wisdom, calm and peace; the more constant they are the greater is the satisfaction of the soul.

If man in his daily life would examine every action which has reflected a disagreeable picture of himself upon his soul and caused darkness and dissatisfaction, and if on the other hand he would consciously watch each thought, word or deed which had produced an inward love, harmony and beauty, and each feeling which had brought him wisdom, calm and peace, then the way of harmony between soul and body would be easily understood, and both aspects of life would be satisfied, the inner as well as the outer. The soul's satisfaction is much more important than that of the body for it is more lasting. In this way the thought, speech and action can be adjusted, so that harmony may be established first in the self by the attunement of body and soul.

Individual Harmony: between individuals

The next aspect of individual harmony is practiced in one's contact with another. Every being has an individual ego produced from his own illusion. This limits his view which is led in the direction of his own interest; and he judges of good and bad, high or low, right or wrong in relation to himself and others through his limited view, which is generally partial and imaginary rather than true. This darkness is caused by the overshadowing of the soul by the external self. Thus a person becomes blind to his own infirmities as well as to the merits of another: the right action of another becomes wrong in his eyes and the fault of the self seems right. This is the case with mankind in general, until the veil of darkness is lifted from his eyes.

The nafs, the ego of an individual, causes all disharmony with the self as well as with others, thus showing its unruliness in all aspects of life.

Inharmony of Animals

The lion, the sovereign among all animals, most powerful and majestic, is always unwelcome to the inhabitants of the forest, and he is even unfriendly to his own kind. Two lions will never greet one another in a friendly way, for their nafs is so strong. Although the lion is the ruler of all other animals, he is a slave to his own passions which make his life restless. The nafs of herbivorous animals such as sheep and goats is subdued; for this reason they are harmless to one another, and are even harmonious enough to live in herds. The harmony and sympathy existing among them makes them mutually partake of their joys and sorrows, but they easily fall a victim to the wild animals of the forest. The masters of the past, like Moses and Muhammed, have always loved to tend their flocks in the jungles, and Jesus Christ spoke of himself as the Good Shepherd, while St. John the Baptist spoke of the Lamb of God, harmless and innocent, ready for sacrifice.

Inharmony of Birds

The nafs of the bird is still milder; therefore upon one tree many and various kinds can live as one family, singing the praise of God in unison, and flying about in flocks of thousands. Among birds are to be found those who recognize their mate and who live together harmoniously, building the nest for their young, each in turn sitting on the eggs and bearing their part in the upbringing of their little ones. Many times they mourn and lament over the death of their mate.

Inharmony of Insects

The nafs of the insects is still less; they walk over each other without doing any harm, and live together in millions as one family without distinction of friend or foe. This proves how the power of nafs grows at each step in nature's evolution, and culminates in man, creating disharmony all through his life unless it is subdued, producing thereby a calm and peace within the self, and a sense of harmony with others.

Inharmony of Humans

Question: What is indifference. Answer: This is a word that I always find difficult to explain, and I have made many people angry by talking about indifference, for they say: "Where is the love which you have come to preach to us? Indifference is quite contrary to love, to the message, to the teaching." And when people read in Buddhism and Yogism about renunciation, nirvana, vairagia - which in the Sufi terms of the Persian poets is fana - they begin to ask: "Have they all taught to become indifferent, have they taught such cruelty?" But in reality it is quite a different thing. Indifference is not lovelessness nor is it lack of sympathy. Indifference is most useful at the time when a soul has arrived at that sensitiveness when every little thing hurts. Then it is only indifference which keeps it alive.

I will give an explanation of two questions which I have very often been asked: What was the object of the prophetic mission? Why is it necessary for man to be taught by another, by his fellowman? Why cannot each one find within himself the way to the light, to illumination?

The prophetic tendency exists in every part of the manifestation. Among the jinn and the heavenly beings there is the prophetic tendency and also in every part of nature: in the mineral and vegetable kingdoms, among the animals as well as among men.

There would be no diamond mines in the earth if there were not one spark of a diamond which causes every other atom of the earth with which it comes in contact to become a diamond. It is the same with the ruby. The diamond wants to make everything else become a diamond; the ruby wants to make every other atom into a ruby.

Among the plants in the jungle-not where man has planted and sown, but in the jungle which has not been touched-you will see that if there is one mango tree, it will make a thousand mangoes grow; if there is one fragrant flower, a thousand fragrant flowers will be near it; if there is one sweet fruit, there will be hundreds of sweet fruits.

Among the animals there are many instances of this tendency of which I will tell you some cases that I have seen. Sometimes in India the monkeys come to a village from the forest and break down all the roofs of the houses. There is always one among them who is the leader. When he jumps, all the other monkeys jump after him; when he wants to go back to the forest, they all want to go back to the forest.

Three Paths

There are three roads to spiritual attainment, which meet in the end at one junction. One road is of the Master; another comes from quite a different point, and is the road of the Saint; and the middle path between the two is of the Prophet.

The Master

The path of the Master is a path of war--war with outer influences which prevent one from making one's way through life. The path of the Master wants self-discipline and will power to make headway through life. He conquers himself; he battles with life; he is at war with destiny; he crusades against all that seems wrong to him; he finds the key to the secrets unknown to him; he turns all conditions, all things, all people, into the shape that he wishes, and molds as he likes the personalities that come in touch with him; he tunes personalities to the tone which would suit his orchestration.

It is a path of accomplishment. All that the Master takes up, he accomplishes; all that the Master desires, he attains sooner or later. Yet the Master's one desire is spiritual attainment at its fullest. Therefore all other attainments, spiritual or material, are nothing before him other than many steps on a staircase.

The struggle in the path of the Master is great; he has struggle all along. Every condition that meets him on the way to accomplishment is harder to get through than the condition before. No doubt, as he proceeds on the path of attainment, he gains power through struggle. The greater the struggle through life, the greater his power. He has command over objects; he produces effects in objects, which are not there naturally.

He can even rise to a state where he can command Nature, and the spiritual hierarchy is made of the Masters. For the world is ruled; it is governed. Although outward governments are different, inward government is the spiritual hierarchy. In the East such are called Wali, whose thought, whose feeling, whose glance, whose impulse, can move the universe. And the Master may advance gradually through the five principal stages of attainment, and may even arrive at the stage of Rasul in the end.

The Saint

The path of the Saint is one of love, harmony, and beauty; ready to give, ready to sacrifice, ready to renounce, ready to give in and to yield. The saintly soul takes all insults as one would take something as a purifying process. He is resigned to every loss, for there is no loss without some gain and there is no gain which is without any loss; there is always a hidden loss in the gain and a gain in the loss. Renunciation is not difficult for that soul, for in renunciation that soul finds its freedom. No sacrifice is too great for the saintly soul, for it gives him happiness. Generosity that soul need not learn: it is its nature, its character. Modesty, humility, tolerance, forgiveness, are part of his being; he cannot do otherwise, for he knows no differently.

Through this path, no doubt in the beginning the saintly soul finds difficulty. The path of the Saint has a constant battle with the self, for there is no end to the world's demands; in this world no one can be too good or too kind. The better one is, the more good is asked of one; the kinder one is, the more kindness is expected from one; and so it goes on through life. The happiness a saintly soul finds, through all the continual sacrifices that he makes as he goes through life, is in his will gradually becoming harmonized to the Will of God, so that God's Will and his will in time become one. And that happiness no one can imagine except the souls who have experienced the feeling of resignation through all the crosses that one has to meet in life. The spirit of a Saint results in being tuned to the whole universe.

He is in tune with the climates, with the weather, with nature, with animals and birds; he becomes in tune with the trees and plants, in tune with all atmospheres, with all human beings of various natures, because he becomes the keynote to the whole universe. All harmonize with him; the virtuous souls, the wicked souls, angels and devils; all become in tune. He becomes in harmony with every object, with every element; with those who have passed from this earth he is in tune; with those in the atmosphere he is in tune, and in tune with those who live on earth. The moral of a Saint is very difficult, but the spirit of the Saint is a benediction to himself and blessing to others.

The Work of the Master

The work of the Master is to protect individuals and protect the world. The work of the Master is to keep away all disasters that might come about, caused by the inharmony of the nature of individuals and of the collectivity. The work of the Master is to help the feeble but right, the weak but just, when he is in a situation where he is opposed by a powerful enemy.

The Work of the Saint

The work of the Saint is to console the wretched, to take under the wings of mercy and compassion those left alone in life, to bless the souls that come in his way.

The Prophet

The way of the Prophet is a more balanced way, for in the life of the Prophet there is a balance of these two attributes--the power of attainment and the patience to resign to the Will of God. So the Prophet is a warrior and a peacemaker, both at the same time. This line is called kemal, the perfect, or balanced.

The Work of the Prophet

The work of the Prophet is not only his own spiritual attainment, but he has some certain service of great importance to perform. As the Prophet goes through the above said five stages, he acts on his way towards the fulfillment of his life's mission as a warner, as a healer, as a reformer, as a lawyer, as a teacher, as a priest, as a preacher.

Therefore such service keeps the Prophet away from what his soul always craves for, and that is the solitude in the wilderness. He longs for one place, and he is put in another place. The soul who yearns constantly to fly away from the crowd is put, owing to his mission, in the very midst of the crowd. In this way the work of the Prophet in the world becomes as hard as if a person were asked to jump into the water and then come out dry. He must live in the world and not be of the world. However, it is the prophetic soul whose life's mission very often is to serve humanity in the time of its need, and it is the fulfillment of this service which makes him Rasul, the Messenger.

The Prophet is the Message bearer; the Prophet is master and a servant at the same time; the Prophet is a teacher and at the same time a pupil, for there is a great deal that he must learn from his experience through life, not in order to make himself capable to receive the Message, but in order to make himself efficient enough to give the Message. For God speaks to the Prophet in His divine tongue, and the Prophet interprets it in his turn in the language of men, making it intelligible to them, trying to put the finest ideas in the gross terms of worldly language.

Therefore all that the Prophet comes to give to the world is not given in words, but all that cannot be given in words is given without words. It is given through the atmosphere; it is given by the presence; it is given by the great love that gushes forth from his heart; it is given in his kind glance; and it is given in his benediction. And yet the most is given in silence that no earthly sense can perceive. The difference between human language and divine words is this: that a human word is a pebble; it exists, but there is nothing further; the divine word is a living word, just like a grain of corn. One grain of corn is not one grain; in reality it is hundreds and thousands. In the grain there is an essence which is always multiplying, and which will show perfection in itself.

The Prophet is the manifestation of the same Spirit who can rightfully be called Alpha and Omega in its fullest expression, although the spirit of Alpha and Omega is in all beings--in a loving mother, in a kind father, in an innocent child, in a helpful friend, in an inspiring teacher. The Prophet is a mystic, and greater than a mystic; the Prophet is a philosopher, and greater than a philosopher; the Prophet is a poet, and greater than a poet; the Prophet is a teacher, and greater than a teacher; the Prophet is a seer, and greater than a seer. Why greater? Because he has a duty to perform, together with the blessing that he brings upon earth.

Prophet: Nabi & Rasul

In the terms of the Eastern people, the Prophet is termed Paghambar. There are also two other names, Nabi and Rasul; and although each of these names is expressive of the Prophet, yet each name is significant of a certain attribute of the Prophet: also each of those words denotes a certain degree of his evolution. Paghambar verbally means "the Message bearer", and this word is used for the Holy Ones who from time to time brought a Divine Message to a certain community, nation, or race, whenever there was need of wakening a certain people. The Paghambar has worked as an alarm to warn people of the coming dangers; the Paghambar has brought reforms to improve the condition of his people.

There are two steps in the life of the Messenger, one minor and the other major. One stage is when he begins to give the Message; the next stage is when the Message is fulfilled. Nabi, therefore, is the one who begins to give the Message; Rasul is the one who fulfills the Message.

Nabi is the Prophet who is not only for a certain section of humanity. Although he may live and move only in a limited region of the world, yet what he brings has its bearing upon the whole of humanity. It may not be fulfilled in his lifetime, but a day of fulfillment comes some time, even if it be in some centuries, that all he brought reaches the whole of humanity. Rasul is a term which denotes an advanced degree, where the Prophet has not only brought a Message to the world, but fulfilled his task during his lifetime, through all tests and trials that a Prophet is meant to meet in life.

The Prophet is an interpreter of the divine law in human tongue. He is an ambassador of the spiritual hierarchy, for he represents to humanity the illuminated souls who are known and unknown to the world, who are hidden and manifest, who are in the world or on the other side of the world. The Prophet is an Initiate and initiator, for he is an answer to the cry of humanity, of individuals, and of the collectivity; the one who sympathizes with those in pain, guides those in darkness, harmonizes those who are in conflict and brings peace to the world, which always, when excited with its activity of centuries, loses its equilibrium.

The Prophet can never tell the ultimate Truth, which only his soul knows and no words can explain. His mission is, therefore, to design and paint and make the picture of the Truth in words that may be intelligible to mankind. The bare Truth not every man can see. If he can see, he needs no more teaching. The Prophet, so to speak, listens to the words of God in the language of God, and he interprets the same words in the human tongue. He speaks to every man in his own language; he converses with every man, standing on his own plane. Therefore he has little chance to disagree, unless there were someone who wanted disagreement and nothing else; there he cannot help.

Besides the words which even an intellectual person can speak, the Prophet brings the love and the light which is the food of every soul. The very presence of the Prophet may make a person see things differently, and yet he may not know that it was because of the Prophet. He may only think that that which was not clear to him, or for a moment seemed difficult to him, is now right and clear. For the Prophet is a living light, a light which is greater in power than the sun, for the light of the sun can only make things clear to the eyes, but the light that the Prophet brings to the world makes the heart see all that the eyes are not capable of seeing. The Prophet brings Love--the Love of God, the Father and Mother of the whole humanity: a Love that is Life itself. No words or actions can express that Love. The presence of the Prophet, his very being, speaks of it, if only the heart had ears to listen. Verily, to the believer all is right, and to the unbeliever all is wrong.

The principal work of the Prophet is to glorify the Name of God, and to raise humanity from the denseness of the earth, to open the doors of the human heart to the divine beauty which is everywhere manifested, and to illuminate souls which are groping in darkness for years. The Prophet brings the Message of the day, a reform for that particular period in which he is born. A claim of a prophet is nothing to the real Prophet. The being of the Prophet, the work of the Prophet, and the fulfillment of his task, is itself the proof of prophethood.

The Spirit of Guidance

The Spirit of Guidance in other words may be called the Divine Mind; and as the human mind is finished after its coming on earth, so the Divine Mind becomes completed after manifestation. Plainly speaking, the Creator's Mind is made of His own creation. The experience of every soul becomes the experience of the Divine Mind; therefore, the Divine Mind has the knowledge of all beings. It is a storehouse of perfect wisdom. It is the Soul of Christ, and the Spirit of prophecy. Intuition, inspiration, vision, or revelation, all have the Divine Mind as the Source from whence every kind of revelation comes.

There are some who receive the knowledge from the Divine Mind indirectly, and some receive it directly. Souls who happen to receive the central current of the Spirit of Guidance, in such souls the spirit of prophecy is conceived. The Messengers of all times, of whom we hear in the histories and traditions of the world, have been souls in whom the central current of the Divine Light has functioned. In other words, the Prophets of all ages have been the reflections of the Divine Mind on earth. No one has ever seen God, and if the evidence of God has ever been manifested, it was in man who reflected God. Besides all the Prophets have taught, it was the personality of the Prophets which proved their prophecy. In their thought, speech, and word they reflected God, which was more than morals, doctrines, and teachings could do.

Every inspired person reflects in his own way some divine spark hidden in his soul, which wins the world. A musician may show his inspiration in music; a poet may show it in his poetry; an artist may show his inspiration in his art; but the central ray of light which the Prophets reflect, falling upon every plane and every aspect of life, makes all things clear to their sight. Therefore their presence clears away perplexity from the minds of the confused ones. A person in the presence of the Prophet can feel and think more clearly, even without having spoken to the Prophet. Many forget their questions when before a Prophet, for the light, falling upon their hearts, brings them the answer, and they find out that the answer was in themselves, something that they had already known. No doubt it is true that the question and answer both are in the soul. The first step of the soul's progress raises questions, and the second step is the answer. It is, therefore, that a prophetic soul is a physician at the same time; a prophetic soul is a scientist, an artist, is capable of commerce, industry, and business, qualified in warfare and competent in peacemaking.

The Spirit of Guidance is as the yeast which is used to make bread, to prepare humanity for the purpose for which it was created. The Spirit of Guidance is a plant that grows and blossoms when it receives response and care; and when it is watered by the rainfall of divine inspiration it blooms in the light of the Divine Sun. The Spirit of Guidance is the Light of God, which may be likened to a lantern that the farmer carries when walking on the farm in the darkness of night. The Spirit of Guidance is like a searchlight. Any object on which the searchlight is thrown, it shows clearly; so the Spirit of Guidance thrown upon any aspect of life gives one a keen insight into it. In the Spirit of Guidance one finds a living God active in the heart of every person.

One who depends upon the Spirit of Guidance to guide his life is guided aright. We always have a counsel within, but the one who ignores the existence of such a thing as the Spirit of Guidance is left alone for some time by the Spirit of Guidance to look out for himself. It is like the mother and the dependent child, who tries to hold the hand of the mother at every step it takes; so the mother's whole attention is drawn to every step of her child. But when the child tries to move about by his own will, and tries to keep away, then the attention of the mother, to some extent, becomes released. This does not mean that the mother gives up entirely the care of the child; it only means that the mother allows the child to have its own way to some extent, and feels sorry when the child falls and hurts itself. In point of fact, all souls are children of God, but such souls as are conscious of their relation to God, as between a child and his parents, certainly deserve to be called the children of God. They are especially cared for; they are always guided, because they ask for guidance.

The soul of the Prophet, therefore, shows the innocence of the child. Of what is known about Jesus Christ and His life to the world, the most lovable attribute of the Master was His innocence in spite of His perfect wisdom. Certainly He deserves to be called the Only-Begotten Son Who has all His life depended for everything He said or did upon the guidance from God.

The Form of the Message

This is a question which is always asked: how the prophetic soul receives the Message of God: in what form? Does the Angel Gabriel bring this, as it is said in the scriptures of Beni Israel? Does it come as a voice? Does it come in a form which is visible? And the answer is that everything which has been said in the ancient scriptures regarding it has so much truth in it, though very often some symbolical ideas are misinterpreted by the uninitiated. Gabriel as a Messenger is, in part, imagination.

The real Gabriel is that Spirit of Guidance which is the soul of the Prophets. Its voice is intuition, but to the attentive mind of the Prophet sometimes this voice is so distinct that it becomes much louder than what one hears through the ears. For in their hearts a capacity is produced; in other words, their hearts become as domes which give echo to every word. The heart of the ordinary person does not give that echo; so the inner voice becomes inaudible to one's own soul. As a voice is necessary, so hearing is necessary also; without the hearing the voice is inaudible. The hearing is the capacity in the heart. When the heart becomes as an ear, then it begins to hear the voice that comes from within.

And now the question comes whether a Gabriel manifested to the Prophets in a certain form. That is true also. There is nothing in this world which is void of form, except God, Who is formless. The form of some things is visible, and of other things invisible. Even thoughts and feelings have forms. You may call them results, but form is always a result. The heart which can hear the inner voice louder than the spoken words can certainly see the form, even the form which is not seen by every soul. The question: "Do the eyes of the Prophet see a form?"--may be answered: "Yes." For what the heart sees fully, that becomes reflected in the eyes also. It is not seen from without, but from within, and yet it is seen. Every person cannot conceive of such an idea as this: one who is accustomed to see and hear all that comes from outside. But it is as clear as the day for the wise to know that the eyes and the ears are not only the organs in which the impressions from the outer life are reflected, but even the impressions from the life within are also reflected in them.

It matters little to a Prophet whether his ears hear or his heart hears, whether his eyes see or his heart sees. He knows that he hears and sees, and that is sufficient evidence for him of a living God. One may ask: do you mean by this that God is so personal as to speak and manifest as a phantom to a certain soul? If it were so, it would be nothing but limiting God! In answer to this, I would say that the limitless God cannot be made more intelligible to our limited self unless He was first made limited. That limited ideal becomes as an instrument, as a medium of God Who is perfect and Who is limitless.

The Nature of the Prophetic Soul

The soul of the Prophet represents both the human and the divine. His feet on the earth and his head in heaven, he has to journey on the path of life, to respect and regard reason, and yet to cling to that rope which hangs down from heaven, which he calls faith--one thing contrary to the other. The world of variety, with its numberless changes, compels him to reason out things, and the world of unity promises to his unwavering faith the answer to every demand of life. In the Sufi terms there is a word called Akhlak-iAllah, which means "the Manner of God." This Manner is seen in the prophetic soul. For no one knows the Manner of God, as God is not seen by all; and if there is any sign of God seen, it is in the God-conscious one; and it is the fullness of God-consciousness which makes a prophetic soul.

The life of the Prophet is like that of someone walking upon a wire--matter on one side and spirit on the other, heaven on one side and earth on the other--with the imperfect self journeying towards perfection and at the same time holding upon itself the burden of numberless souls, many among whom have not yet learnt to walk even upon the earth. In the history of the Prophets, in whatever time they have come on earth, one reads of their struggle being fourfold: struggle with self, struggle with the world, struggle with friends, and struggle with foes; and yet many wonder, why should a Prophet be a warrior? Many know of the Prophet Muhammed being a warrior, but are ignorant of the fact that Moses had the same experience. And very few know the lives of the Prophets of India, Rama and Krishna, whose whole lives were nothing but warfare from the beginning to the end. Their scriptures are full of the wars and battles through all their lives, and if some apparently did not have a war, they had some other form of warfare to go through. The blood of the martyrs was the foundation of the church.

The Seers and Saints, who live a life of seclusion, are happy when compared to the life of the Prophet, whose life's work is in the midst of the crowd. When he is known to be a Prophet, jealousy and prejudice arise; if he is not known, he can do but little. When he goes into the world, the world absorbs him; when he thinks of God, God attracts him--one spirit pulled from both sides; and it is this that the picture of the cross signifies. The Prophet, representing God and His Message, is tested and tried and examined by every soul; a thousand searchlights are thrown upon him; and he is not judged under one judge, but numberless judges; every soul is a judge, and has his own law to judge him with. The mystic is free to speak and act; what does he care what people think of him? The Prophet must care what they think of him--not for himself, but for those who follow him.

Besides all difficulties, in the end he finds no comprehension of his ideal or service in the world, except in God, Who alone is his consolation. Many follow the Prophet, but very few comprehend his ideal. It is this that made Muhammed say, "I am knowledge; Ali is the door." In the first place, to express a high thought in words or action is the most difficult thing, because what is expressed in words and actions is the thought on the surface;" to express deep feeling in words and action is, in the same way, difficult. And so is the Message of the Prophet; it is often difficult to be put into words. The best way of following a prophetic Message--which has been known to very few--is to adopt the outlook of the Prophet; for the point of view of every person one can fully understand by seeing from that person's point of view.

We find in the traditions of the ancients that there were many among the Prophets of the past who, in a worldly sense, were not educated, among them the Prophet Muhammed, who was given the name Umrni, by which many called him, which means "unlettered"; although, according to the idea of that time, the Prophet was very well-versed in the Arabic language. This shows that worldly education does not make the Prophet. No doubt it helps to express the spiritual Message which his heart receives in a more intelligible form.

We see in the world's scriptures four different forms in which the prophetic Message was given:

1. the ancient Hindu form, which can be traced in the scriptures of India and which was continued by Buddha;
2. then the form of Beni Israel, which is to be found in the Old Testament, from the time of Abraham to the time of Muhammed;
3. the third form is the form of Zarathustra, which shows two aspects--the one aspect is the Gayatri of the Hindus and the other aspect is the prayer of Beni Israel;
4. and the fourth form is the form of the New Testament, which gives the legend and interpretation of the teaching of Jesus Christ, and which was made, at every new version, more intelligible to the mind of the people in the West.

But the moment a soul dives deeper into these scriptures it begins to realize the One Voice within all these outer forms, and that it is the same Voice that has adopted these different forms, to answer the need of every age.

What the Prophet says is much less than what he really hears, and the sense of what he says is much deeper than what his outer words mean. For the work of the Prophet is a most difficult one; it is trying to present to the world the whole ocean in a bottle. No one has ever been able to do it; yet They have all tried, for that has been their destiny. People have taken these bottles given to them, and have said, "See, here is the ocean; I have the ocean in my pocket!" But, by what the Prophets have taught in the scriptures, they have only tried to point out the way; but they have not pictured the Goal, for no one can put the Goal into a picture. The Goal is above all form and beyond the power of words to explain.

Those who have benefited by the life and the Message of the Divine Message Bearers are not necessarily the followers of their Message, but the imitators of their life; for they have not followed the teaching only, but followed the Teacher, who is the living example of his teaching. All the ancient traditions of the religious evolution tell us how those around the Prophets have benefited by the imitation, rather than by following the strict laws and by arguing upon the differences between the laws. There is no scripture in which contradiction does not exist. It is the contradiction which makes the music of the Message. The Message would be rigid, like pebbles, if there were no contradiction. Even all pebbles are not alike; how can all words mean the same? The Message is nothing but an answer to every question, every need, every demand of the individual and collective life.

Rumi has tried to explain in the Masnavi, from the beginning to the end, the nature and character of the heart of the Prophet, and by this he has given the key to the door which opens to the prophetic path. Therefore in reading any scripture we must remember first that it is not the words we read which are so important as what is hidden behind. To the ordinary mind, that only sees on the Surface, the words of the scriptures are nothing but simple phrases, and sometimes the ideas appear simple, even childish. But the one who tries to know what is behind them will find out in time that there is a vast field of thought hidden behind every word that has come from the lips of the Prophets. Verily the words of the Prophets are as seals upon the Secret of God.

The Attunement of the Prophet

What is asked of a Prophet? The prophetic soul must of necessity rise so high that it may hear the Voice of God, and at the same time it must bend so low that it may hear every little whisper of human beings. Every little lack of consideration or regard for all those who wish to call the attention of the Prophets has been noticed and remarked in the lives of the Prophets. It means to live in heaven and to live on the earth at the same time. The heart of the Prophet is meant to be the harp, every string of it to be tuned to its proper pitch, so that God may play upon it His music. And it is that celestial music which is called the Divine Message. It is therefore that all the ancient scriptures were named Githas, or Gathas, which means the same thing: "music." The Song Celestial of Krishna is called Bhagavad Gita, which means the "Song of God"; and the Parsis call their sacred scripture Gatha. The Jewish scriptures are chanted when recited; also the Qur'an is recited in the form of singing.

Every musician knows how difficult it is to keep his violin in tune, especially when it is shaken wherever he has to move in the crowd. The heart, therefore, is incomparably more susceptible to get out of tune. It is therefore that the seers and mystics sought solitude, and kept themselves away from the crowd; but the Prophet, by his natural mission, is placed in the midst of the crowd. It is the problem of life in the crowd which he has to solve, and yet not solve it intellectually, as everyone wishes to do, but spiritually, by keeping that instrument, the heart, in proper tune to the Infinite, that he may get the answer for all questions arising at every moment of the day.

It is therefore that even the presence of the Prophet is the answer to every question: without having spoken one word, the Prophet gives the answer; but if a mind, restless and confused, cannot hear it, then that mind receives the answer in words. The answer of the Prophet uproots every question; but the answer always comes from the heart of the Prophet without his even having been asked a question. For the Prophet is only the medium between God and man; therefore the answer is from God. It is not true that the Prophet answers a question because he reads the mind; it is the mind of the one who asks the question that strikes, in the inner plane, the divine bell, which is the heart of the Prophet; and God, hearing the bell, answers. The answer comes in a manner as if words were put into the mouth of the Prophet.

The Prophet, therefore, need not think on the question he is asked; it is all automatic, so that the question draws out of him the answer. This rule is not applied only to individuals, but to the multitude. A. thousand people listening to a Prophet at the same time, and each having a different question in his mind, the question of every one of them has been answered. So the true character of the sacred scriptures is that even the book answers the question, if a person opens it automatically in order to find out a solution to a certain problem. Imagine, if the book answers, then one could expect more from the Prophet; for the soul of the Prophet is the living book: his heart is the sacred scripture.

What is religion? In the outer sense of the word, a form given to worship God and a law given to a community to live harmoniously. And what does religion mean in the inner sense of the word? It means a staircase, made for the soul to climb and reach that plane where Truth is realized. Both these aspects of religion may be found in the words and in the soul of the Prophet: his words, the law; his Message, the wisdom; and his being, that peace which is the seeking of every soul. God has never manifested as Himself in this world of variety, where every thing and every being is a divine expression, yet with its limitations. And if the world has been able to believe in God and to recognize God in a being, it is in the godly, it is in the soul which reflects God. With all the arguments for and against the divinity of Christ, no sincere believer in God can deny that God reflects through the Personality of the Master.

The Prophetic Claim

There are two different conceptions of the prophetic soul. One is as among the Hindus, who call the prophetic souls Avataras, which means "Godhead." They have also distinguished the characters of their Avataras from their claims: some claimed to be the Avatar, or the incarnation, of Vishnu; some claimed to be the incarnation of Shiva. It was easy for the people of India to grasp the idea of a Prophet being a God incarnate, rather than to accept a Prophet to be as every other being. Among the Beni Israel, the long line of Prophets was not called incarnations; they were only called the godly, or the ones who were connected with God. And if there are any distinctions, four such distinctions are known.

1. Abraham was called Habib Allah, the Friend of God;
2. Moses was distinguished as Kalim Allah, a Communicator with God;
3. Jesus was called Ruh Allah, the Spirit of God;
4. Mohammed was called Rasul Allah, the Messenger of God.

The difference between the Prophets among the Hindus and among the Beni Israel that can be noticed, is one: the Hindu Prophets claim to be God themselves. The reason was that the people in India, owing to their philosophical evolution, were ready to accept the divine in man; but, on the contrary, in Arabia and Palestine even the prophetic claim aroused such opposition against the Prophets that their lives were in danger and their mission became most difficult for them to perform.

After the claimants of Godhead there have been many reformers in India, to whom people responded without much difficulty, but in the Near East it has always been difficult, and will always be so. It is for this reason that the ancient school of esotericism, the ancient Order of the Sufis, found it difficult to exist under the reign of orthodoxy. The lives of many great Sufis have been made victims of the orthodox powers which reigned. Sufism, therefore, which was as a mother of the coming reform in the religious world, was protected by Persia, and, in the end, found a greater freedom in the land of India, where the Hindus respected it and Muslims followed it without the slightest hesitation. In the houses of the Sufis the followers of all religions met together in friendliness and in the feeling of brotherhood.

The Sufi Message which is now being given in the Western world is the child of that mother who has been known for many years as Sufism. The Sufi Message which is being given to the world just now, therefore, connects the two lines of the prophetic mission, the Hindu line and that of Beni Israel, in order that they may become the medium to unite in God and Truth both parts of the world, East and West. It is the same Truth, the same religion, the same ideal, which the wise of all ages have held. If there is anything different, it is only the difference of the form. The Sufi Message given now has adopted the form suitable for the age. It is a Message without claim; and the group of workers in this Message, and those who follow it, are named the Sufi Movement, whose work it is to tread the spiritual path quietly, unassumingly, and to serve God and humanity, in which is the fulfillment of the Message.

Everyone Wishes to Be King

It is not easy to learn--and after learning to practice--to make life in the world full of harmony and peace.

• The desire of every person in the world is to possess all he wants, whether it belongs to him or to anybody else.
• He wants all things to last if they are of any use to him;
• he wants all those dear and near to him to abide close to him.
• All he doesn't wish to see must be exiled from the town.
• Even the whole of nature must work to suit him:
• the cold must not be more than he wants;
• the heat must not exceed his desire;
• the rain must obey him;
• pain must not approach.
• There must not be anything difficult in life, and
• all things and people must be perfect in the perfection of God.
• Everybody must act in life as he wishes them to;
• he alone must be the engineer and all others his machines.
• They must have all the endurance he demands of them, and
• at the same time all must be as sensitive as he wants them to be.
• No one should move against his desire,
• no bird must bird must fly in the sky, nor even a leaf make a flutter except by his command;
• he alone must live and all others must live under him.

By this attitude I have not described someone in the world, but every individual. The world is a place where every individual wishes to be the king: there are so many kings and only one kingdom, and the whole tragedy of life is accounted for by this. The wise out of wisdom make life easy.

Among the wise there are two categories: one is the master, the other is the saint. The attitude of each in life is quite contrary.

By this attitude I have not described someone in the world, but every individual. The world is a place where every individual wishes to be the king: there are so many kings and only one kingdom, and the whole tragedy of life is accounted for by this. The wise out of wisdom make life easy.

Among the wise there are two categories: one is the master, the other is the saint. The attitude of each in life is quite contrary.

The Saint

The attitude of the saint is to feel sympathy for others, to see the difficulties of the situations of others as of himself, and to sacrifice his wants for the needs of others. He realizes that life is difficult, whereas those who are void of wisdom have still more difficulties as they know not how to surmount the difficulties of life. Out of his love, mercy, and compassion, he thus sacrifices his life to the service of his fellowman by making life easy for them.

In the first place, he sees the worst enemy of his fellowman in himself, knowing that the nature of every ego is hostile. By being resigned to the will of his fellowman and by sacrificing his life's advantages for his brother, he feels he has given his fellowman some relief. By practicing this moral through life at every step, a wise man becomes a source of happiness to all he meets and with whom he comes in contact in life, and his spirit becomes deepened in saintliness.

The spirit of a saint results in being tuned to the whole universe. He is in tune with the climates, with the weather, with nature, with animals, and with birds, he becomes in tune with the trees and plants, with all atmospheres, keynote of the whole universe. All harmonize with him--the virtuous souls, wicked souls, angels, and devils--all become in tune. He becomes in harmony with every object and with every element. He is in tune with those who have passed from this earth, those in the atmosphere, and those who live on earth. The moral of a saint is very difficult, but the spirit of the saint is a benediction to himself and a blessing to others.

The Master

Then there is the way of the master which is quite the opposite. He conquers himself; he battles with life; he is at war with destiny; he invades all that seems wrong to him; he finds the key to the secrets unknown to him. Instead of being resigned to all conditions, all things, and all people, he turns them to the shape that he wishes and molds as he likes the personalities which come in touch with him. He tunes personalities to the tune which suits his orchestration.

He has command over objects, he produces effects in objects which are not naturally there. He can even rise to a state where he can command nature. The spiritual hierarchy is made of the masters. For the world is ruled and governed; although outward governments are different, the inward government is the spiritual hierarchy. In the East such ones whose thought, whose feeling, whose glance, and whose impulse can move the universe are called wali.

Sincerity

Neither of them, saint or master, comes to claim before the world, "Look at me, I am a saint," or, "I am a master," or, "I can do this," or, "I am such a virtuous person," or, "a good person." They keep themselves in humble guise, one like everybody in the world. It is not a claim, it is an action which proves the master. What do they care if the world acclaims them as a saint or as a master? What benefit is it to them? It is only a benefit to the one who is false, because he is glad to be something he is not.

He who is all does not wish that everybody should recognize him as such. A person with riches knows that he is rich; he need not put on fifty rings to tell everybody how rich he is. The one who puts on fifty rings is seldom rich. There is a beautiful simile known in India: the empty vessel makes the noise; when it is filled with water it makes no noise. In short, sincerity is the principal thing to attain in life. What little is gained sincerely and held unassumingly is worth much more than a greater gain void of sincerity, for it is a hill of sand, and the storm will come and blow it away. Verily, truth is the treasure that every soul is seeking.

There are two distinct paths opposite to each other, those of the master and the saint.

The Master

The path of the master is a path of war, war with the outer influences which prevent one from making one's way through life. The path of the saint is also a path of battle, but it is a battle with oneself. No doubt in the path of the master battle with oneself is also necessary, for if one did not fight with oneself one would not be able to make one's way through life.

The Saint

But the path of the saint is a constant battle with the self, for the nature of the world is such that from the good person more good is asked; from a kind person more kindness is demanded; from a person who is patient more patience is expected; from a person who is gentle more gentleness is asked. There is no end to the world's demands: all one gives to the world and more is asked. Always do right, and it is always wrong. Therefore there is no end to the battle in both the paths taken by the wise, and it is the warrior in life's path who in the end becomes victorious. Those who do not have that power remain wandering about in the same place.

The Work

The work of the master is to comfort individuals and comfort the world; the work of the master is to keep away all disasters that might be caused by the disharmony of the nature of individuals and of the collectivity. The work of the master is to help the feeble but right and the weak but just, when he is in a situation where he is opposed by a powerful enemy. The work of the saint is to console the wretched, to take under the wings of mercy and compassion those left alone in life, and to bless the souls that come their way.

The Prophet

But there is a third path of wisdom in which there is a balance of the spirit of the master and of the saint. This line is called kemal, perfect or balanced, and it is on this line that the destiny of the prophet leads him. For the prophet's work is more difficult and complicated than that of the master or the saint. To the souls who ask him for that compassion which they would ask from a saint, he gives it; to those who ask him for that power and strength which are necessary to be able to stand through the sweeping waves of life, the prophet gives that.

But besides, the prophet is the message-bearer; the prophet is master and servant at the same time; the prophet is a teacher and at the same time a pupil. There is a great deal that he must learn from his experience through life, not in order to make himself capable to receive the message, but in order to make himself efficient enough to give the message. For God speaks to the prophet in his divine tongue, and the prophet interprets it in his turn in the language of men, making it intelligible to them and trying to put the finest ideas in the gross terms of worldly language.

Therefore all that the prophet comes to give is not given to the world in words, but all that cannot be given in words is given without words. It is given through the atmosphere; it is given by the presence; it is given by the great affection that gushes forth from his heart; it is given in his kind glance; and it is given in his benediction. Yet most is given in silence that no earthly sense can perceive. The difference between human language and divine words is this, that a human word is a pebble: it exists, but there is nothing further; but the divine word is a living word, just like a grain of corn. One grain of corn is not one grain; in reality, it is hundreds and thousands. In the grain there is an essence which is always multiplying and which will show the perfection in itself.

Questions and Answers (July 19, 1923)

Q: Will you please explain what you said yesterday about the two paths, the one which leads to saintliness, and the one which leads to mastership?

A: There are two paths which lead to the goal, one of the saint and the other of the master.

• In one path the will is used in outward things, in the other path the will is mostly used to control oneself, in other words for the time being against oneself. This is the saintly path. It is wise, before one knows of the will of God, first to handle one's own will, and to use it knowing that it is given for some great purpose in life. This one is the path of renunciation, abnegation, resignation, self-denial, from the beginning to the end. And by doing this one arrives to that meeting ground where one touches that divine perfection.

• And then there is the path of the master. The path of firmness and obstinacy, breaking and penetrating through every difficult situation that comes before him. And so fighting all along from the beginning to the end. In this he has to fight with himself and with the life outside. Therefore the struggle is both sides. And there is all the time the work of the will-power, and all through there is a battle; and in this battle all the conditions that one has to go through are of the same character and nature as of the warfare. To be wounded and to cause wounds, and to be hurt and to hurt another also. And in this way it is a constant struggle. But still for the higher aim, and for the greater gain.

  In the end [the master] strikes the same note which the saint has struck. Neither the path of the saint is easy, nor of the master. The place where they meet, both become one. For the resignation brings the saint to the same realization of the harmony with the Infinite, as the struggle brings the master to the same conviction in the end.

• There is a third temperament, and that is the middle temperament, in which temperament there is the saintly temperament and the temperament of the master; that is the prophetic temperament, because the prophet begins his life with both, struggle and resignation. One moment struggle, and another moment resignation; gain and resignation, continually going on. And therefore in the prophet one sees the saint and the master, both in one.

It is most difficult to forget what one has once learned. Learning is one thing; and unlearning is another. The process of spiritual attainment is through unlearning. People consider their belief to be their religion. In reality belief is a steppingstone to religion. Besides, if I were to picture belief, it is just like a staircase that leads on to higher realization. But instead of going up the staircase people stand on it. It is just like running water that does not flow any more. People have made their belief rigid, and therefore instead of being benefited by their belief they are going backwards. If it were not so one would have thought that all the believers in God, in truth, and the hereafter would be better than the unbelievers. But what happens is that they are worse, because they have nailed their own feet to their belief.

Very often I am in a position where I can say very little, especially when a person comes to me with his preconceived ideas and wants to take my direction, my guidance on the spiritual path; yet at the same time his first intention is to see if his thoughts fit in with mine and if my thoughts fit in with his thoughts. He cannot make himself empty for the direction given. He has not come to follow my thoughts, but wants to confirm to himself that his idea is right. Among a hundred persons who come for spiritual guidance, ninety come out of that tap. What does it show? That they do not want to give up their own idea, but they want to have it confirmed that the idea they have is right.

Spiritual attainment, from beginning to end, is unlearning what one has learnt. But how does one unlearn? What one has learnt is in oneself. One can do it by becoming wiser. The more wise one becomes, the more one is able to contradict one's own ideas. The less wisdom one has, the more one holds to one's own ideas. In the wisest person there is willingness to submit to others. And the most foolish person is always ready to stand firm to support his own ideas. The reason is that the wise person can easily give up his thought; the foolish holds on to it. That is why he does not become wise became he sticks to his own ideas; that is why he does not progress.

Mental purification therefore is the only method by which one can reach the spiritual goal.

1. Take another's point-of-view

In order to accomplish this one has to look at another person's point of view. For in reality every point of view is one's own point of view. The vaster one becomes, the greater the realization that comes to one, the more one sees that every point of view is all right. If one is able to expand oneself to the consciousness of another person, one's consciousness becomes as large as two persons. And so it can be as large as a thousand persons when one accustoms oneself to try and see what others think.

2. Look for the right in the wrong and the wrong in the right

The next step in mental purification is to be able to see the right of the wrong and the wrong of the right, and the evil of the good and the good of the evil. It is a difficult task, but once one has accomplished this, one rises above good and evil.

One must be able to see the pain in pleasure and the pleasure in pain; the gain in the loss and the loss in the gain. What generally happens is that one is blunted to one thing and that one's eyes are open to another thing; that one does not see the loss or that one does not see the gain; if one recognizes the right, one does not recognize the wrong. Mental purification means that impressions such as good and bad, wrong and right, gain and loss, and pleasure and pain, these opposites which block the mind, must be cleared out by seeing the opposite of these things. Then one can see the enemy in the friend and the friend in the enemy. When one can recognize poison in nectar and nectar in the poison, that is the time when death and life become one too. Opposites no more remain opposites before one. That is called mental purification. And those who come to this stage are the living sages.

3. Identify with what you are not

The third field of mental purification is to identify oneself with what one is not. By this one purifies one's mind from impressions of one's own false identity.

I will give as an example the story of a sage in India. The story begins by saying that a young man in his youth asked his mother, who was a peasant-woman living in a village, "What is the best occupation, mother?" And the mother said, "I do not know son, except that those who searched after the highest in life went in search of God." "Then where must I go, mother?" he asked. She answered, "I do not know whether it is practical or not, but they say in the solitude, in the forest." So he went there for a long time and lived a life of patience and solitude. And once or twice in between he came to see his mother. Sometimes his patience was exhausted, his heart broken.

Sometimes he was disappointed in not funding God. And each time the mother sent him back with stronger advice. At the third visit he said, "Now I have been there a long time." "Yes," said his mother, "now I think you are ready to go to a teacher." So he went to see a teacher. And there were many pupils learning under that teacher. Every pupil had a little room to himself for meditation, and this pupil also was told to go into a certain room to meditate. The teacher asked, "Is there anything you love in the world?" This young man having been away from home since childhood, having not seen anything of the world, could think of no one he knew, except of the little cow that was in his house. He said, "I love the cow in our house." The teacher said, "Then think of the cow in your meditation.'

All the other pupils came and went, and sat in their room for fifteen minutes for a little meditation; then they got tired and went away; but this young man remained sitting there from the time the teacher had told him. After some time the teacher asked, "Where is he?" The other pupils answered, "We don't know. He must be in his room." They went to look for him; the door was closed and there was no answer.

The teacher went himself and opened the door and there he saw the pupil sitting in meditation, fully absorbed in it. And when the teacher called him by name, he answered in the sound of the cow. The teacher said, "Come out." He answered, "My horns are too large to pass through the door." Then the teacher said to his pupils, "Look, this is the living example of meditation. You are meditating on God and you do not know where God is, but he is meditating on the cow and he has become the cow; he has lost his identity. He has identified himself with the object on which he meditates."

All the difficulty in our life is that we cannot come out of a false conception.

I will give another example. Once I was trying to help a person who was ill, who had had rheumatism for twenty years. This woman was in bed; she could not move her joints. I came to her and told her, "Now you will do this and I will come again in two weeks" time." And when after two weeks I came, she had already begun to move her joints. And I said, "In six weeks I will come back." And in six weeks she got up from bed and had still greater hope of being cured. Nevertheless her patience was not so great as it ought to have been. One day she was lying in bed and thought, "Can I ever be cured?" The moment she had that thought she went back to the same condition; because her soul had identified itself with a sick person. For her to see her own well-being was impossible, she could not imagine that she would ever be quite well; she could not believe her eyes that her joints were moving; she could not believe it.

People can be well in their bodies but not in their minds. Very often they hold on to an illness which they could get rid of. And the same thing happens with misery. People who are conscious of misery attract miseries. They are their own misery. It is not that misfortune is interested in them, but that they are interested in misfortune. Misfortune does not choose people; people choose misfortune. They hold that thought and that thought becomes their own. When a person is convinced that he is going downward, he goes downward; his thought is helping him to sink.

Therefore the third aspect of mental purification is to be able to identify oneself with something else. The Sufis have their own way of teaching it. Very often one holds the idea of one's spiritual teacher; and with that idea one gains the knowledge and inspiration and power that the spiritual teacher has. It is just like a heritage.

The man who cannot concentrate so much as to forget himself and go deep into the subject on which he concentrates, will not succeed in mastering concentration.

The man who cannot concentrate so much as to forget himself and go deep into the subject on which he concentrates, will not succeed in mastering concentration.

4. Free your thinking from form

The fourth mental purification is to free oneself from a form and have the sense of the abstract. Everything suggests to the eye a form, everything; even so much that if the name of a person whom one has never seen is mentioned, one makes a form of him. Even such things as fairies and spirits and angels, as soon as they are mentioned, are always pictured in a certain form. This is a hindrance to attaining the presence of the formless; and therefore this mental purification is of very great importance. Its purpose is to be able to think of an idea without form. No doubt this is only attained by great concentration and meditation, but once it is attained it is most satisfactory.

5. Relax the Mind

And the fifth way is to be able to repose one's mind. In other words to relax the mind.

Imagine, after having toiled for the whole day, how much the body stands in need of rest; how much more then must the mind stand in need of rest! The mind works much faster than the body; naturally the mind is much more tired than the body. And not every person knows how to rest his mind and therefore the mind never has a rest. And then what happens after a while is that the mind becomes feeble; it loses memory, the power of action; it loses reason. The worst effects are mostly brought about by not giving the mind proper repose. If such infirmities as doubt and fear happen to enter the mind, then a person becomes restless, he can never find rest. For at night the mind continues on the track of the same impressions. Simple as it seems to be, very few know the resting of the mind and how wonderful it is in itself.

And what power, what inspiration, comes as a reaction from it, and what peace does one experience by it, and how it helps the body and mind! The spirit is renewed once the mind has had its rest. The first step towards the resting of the mind is the relaxation of the body. If one is able to relax one's muscular and nervous system at will, then the mind is automatically refreshed. Besides that, one must be able to cast away anxiety, worries, doubts, and fears by the power of will, putting oneself in a restful state; this will be accomplished by the help of proper breathing.

Great magnetism is produced by having stilled and purified the mind. And the lack of it causes lack of magnetism. The presence of those whose mind is not purified and stilled becomes a source of unrest for others as well as for themselves. And they attract little because the power of attraction is lost; everyone is fired by their presence, and their atmosphere causes uneasiness and discomfort. They are a burden to themselves and to others.

6. Cultivate the Heart-Quality

Once the mind is purified, the next step is the cultivation of the heart-quality which culminates in spiritual attainment.

Question: Why not call it detachment. Answer: Detachment is not really the right word.

By considering the mystery of our being we arrive at the knowledge of self.

All that is in our mind and body has a certain use, and by knowing to what advantage it must be utilized, all the property of the body and the mind can very well be used to the best advantage. The flesh, bone and blood, as well as the saliva and all the properties that are produced and expelled have a chemical significance in connection with the perfect use of our physical body.

All feelings, such as attachment, detachment, passion, anger, grief, hilarity, fear, and bewilderment, have their use in our lives and by each of the above mentioned feelings we can be profited if we know their mystery.

By all thoughts and imaginations and by all faculties of mind, such as will, memory, thought, reason, and the ego, we can bring out desirable products.

By the six great enemies of man, which are anger, passion, attachment, greed, conceit, and malice, we can produce desired results.

By thoughts, speech and action, by feeling, we can bring our purpose to accomplishment. We learn from this that there is nothing undesirable nor unimportant, there is nothing useless, there is no waste, if only we waken to the knowledge of the alchemy of life.

It does not matter how hard a situation in life may be, however great the difficulties, they all can be fought, they all can be surmounted. But what matters is that his pessimistic spirit weighs a person down low, when he has already come to low waters. Death is preferable to being weighed down in misery by a pessimistic spirit. The greatest reward there can be in the world is the spirit of optimism, and the greatest punishment that can be given to man for his worst sins is the spirit of pessimism.

As long as man is striving for power, as everyone is striving in some way or other, without the knowledge of that all-sufficient power, there will always be a disappointment. For he will always find limitation. His ideal will always go forward and he will find himself short of power. It is only by getting in touch with the Almighty Power that he will begin to realize the All-powerful and the phenomena of the Almighty.

Now the question is, "How can one get in touch with that Almighty Power?" As long as one's little personality stands before one, as long as one cannot get rid of it, as long as one's own person and all that is connected with it interests one, one will always find limitations. That Power is touched only by one way, and that is the way of self-effacement, which in the Bible is called self-denial. People interpret it otherwise. Self-denial, they say, means to deny oneself all the happiness and pleasures of this earth. If it were to deny the happiness and pleasure of this earth, then why was this earth made? Only to deny? If it was made to deny, it was very cruel. For the continual seeking of man is for happiness. Self-denying is to deny this little personality that creeps into everything, to efface this false ego which prompts one to feel one's little power in this thing or that thing; to deny the idea of one's own being, the being which one knows to be oneself, and to affirm God in that place; to deny self and affirm God. That is the perfect humility.

What do I expect from my mureeds? I expect a right attitude towards that motive for which they have taken this journey in the spiritual path. What is the right attitude? In the first place to be clear as to their spiritual motive. It is not promised to my mureeds that they will be made wonderful people, that they will work wonders, that they will perform miracles, that they will make prophecies, that they will show phenomena, that they will cast out devils. It is not meant that they should see colors or lights, or phantoms, fairies or houris, in order to become spiritual. It is not wished for that my mureeds will become so learned that they will dispute and argue, and gain a success in arguments and disputes.

What we mean by spiritual attainment is that my mureeds will try and make themselves best fitted to serve their fellow man. If I, at the end of my life, could claim this, I will be most satisfied, and the purpose of my life will be fulfilled. And if I will see this motive, in whatever degree, being fulfilled in the lives of my mureeds, it is this which will bring me satisfaction.

You may ask, "How are we to make ourselves fitted for service? Do you give us any studies for it? Do you give us some exercises?" The answer is, "Yes;" but even the studies and exercises will not make an effect if we shall not try ourselves to make our attitude towards our fellow man right. By all occult studies, mystical attainments, by the knowledge of philosophy, by piety, and by religion, what we arrive at is only one thing, and that is to be best suited to serve our fellow man. And if we do not attain this, then nothing else has been profitable, we have accomplished nothing.

Buddha has taught as the main principle of all religion harmlessness. But how is that harmlessness to be learnt? By considering the feeling of all those we come in contact with in our everyday life. If you will express yourself thoughtlessly, many will take it quietly, and one may go on being thoughtless, not knowing that one has caused anyone hurt or harm. I have not advised you yet to go and work in an antivivisection league, to prevent cruelty to animals, for there is so much to be done for human beings. If we cannot consider our brother, we will not consider our neighbor. If we will not be conscientious with regard to our fellow creature, we shall not be able to consider our duties towards the lower creation.

How often unconsciously we hurt and harm one another, by just a little thoughtlessness, a lack of consideration. If we have not consideration for others, with all our knowledge, goodness, and piety we cannot prove spiritual. The struggle of life is such that it gets on a person's nerves; and, without meaning to, he moves carelessly, not knowing if his movements cause a hurt or harm to those who come in his way. I will repeat the saying in the Gayan, "My bare feet, walk gently, that the thorns may make no complaint, saying, `We were trampled on thoughtlessly.'" If you will receive any harm or hurt from others, know that is the nature of life, you cannot expect better.

You must be thankful that it is not more; it could have been worse. Take it quietly, and veil it. It is not for those who walk in the spiritual path to take revenge, to return evil for evil. If that is done then what difference there is between the spiritual and material? It is true that all the pleasure and pain that comes to man, it all comes from God, but it comes through the mediumship of man very often. Will you, therefore, be the instrument for punishment? No. You will be the means of reward. In this way you will be different from others. It is this quality in my mureeds which will bring me satisfaction.

Furthermore, if evil is returned for evil, it only increases evil more and more in the world. Therefore to return good for evil is the only thing that one must try to do. A question arises how evil must be answered. The answer is, with forgiveness. One might ask, "If the evil was greater than the forgiveness we have, then how shall we answer it?" Answer it with tolerance. But if one thought that the evil was greater still than the tolerance one has, "How shall one answer it?", the reply will be, "Answer it with indifference." Life is an opportunity, and every moment that is spent thoughtlessly in causing hurt or harm, moved by passing emotions and impulses, is lost, it will never come again. The best way of taking advantage of this opportunity that we have of living under the sun, is to do our best to bring pleasure to another in thanksgiving.

The difference between our soul and our body, which sometimes we consider as great as between earth and heaven, is not so great. Soul and body are one light, and therefore the external part of man is expressive of his inner being, and the inner being of man also is dependent in many ways upon his external being. "Inner and outer part of man's being" is a term used for our convenience; in reality there is one being, there is one light.

If a man lacks magnetism, if he lacks enthusiasm and courage, if he lacks power of accomplishment, it is all owing to the lack of that radiance which belongs to his being. The health of the body, the balance of the mind, the purity of the soul all depend upon the radiance of man's being.

• Health of the body therefore is spiritual,
• balance of the mind is spiritual, and so is
• the purity of the soul.
• A good atmosphere is a sign of spirituality;
• the power of the word,
• courage without fear,
• fearlessness,
• self-confidence also are signs of spirituality;
• the capability of accomplishing something and
• the strength of struggling along all through life.

All these are the signs of spirituality.