Attainment

Character

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Dreams

Ego

Elements

Guidance

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Heart

Immortality

Initiation

Mastery

Meditation

Physical Body

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Purpose

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Religions

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Stages

Sufism

In the beginning of a world, all the matter which will eventually form a completed whole is already in existence, but in a state of chaos. It is not that any new thing or world, or being, is to be created but that there shall be a re-arrangement of all the parts until the whole is complete. The number and arrangement of every atom has yet to be made. Every electron and atom of electricity must take its own appointed place in the mighty scheme. This is the great evolutionary process. The God buried in humanity must be uncovered and placed on His throne in the heart of man.

The difficulty is that all, from atom to human being, are continually trying to fit into a place to which they do not belong. The upheavals of nature, the great unrest, the world revolutions, the shedding of bodies, and the separations and divisions among men -- all these things are caused by the parts of the whole trying to stay in a place to which they do not belong. Directly, man is in his own place, he has peace; until then he cannot have it.

A world-in-the-making can be likened to a great jigsaw puzzle, whose separate parts have life and are capable of independent movement. Each part has its own particular place, and its relation to every other part, and no thing or being can live to itself alone. But if they are in their wrong places, the Hand of God must move them before the complete picture can be revealed.

The way by which man can find his own place of peace is to tune his instrument to the keynote of the chord to which he belongs. Sound is the force which groups all things, from atoms to worlds. The chording vibration sounds in the innermost being of man and can only be heard in the silence. When he can go into the inner chamber and shut the door to every sound that to his soul and he will know the keynote of his life.

Do we only see spiritual persons among those who are sitting in the caves of the Himalayas? Do we not see wonderful personalities in the midst of the world? Very often people say that a person who has struggled along all through his life with business and industry and worldly things has become hardened. But I think that the one who has really gained victory over the earth, who really has made a success which can be called a success, has learned something from it. It is not everyone who becomes successful in earthly affairs; it is one among many. And the one who comes to the top has had his difficulties, has had his problems; his endurance, his patience have been tested. He has gone through a sacrifice. He has understood human nature, standing in the midst of the crowd. If he has not read one book of philosophy, if he has not meditated one day, still he has arrived at a plane, at an understanding, where he knows something worth knowing.

I considered myself most privileged at times when I had conversations with business men, with people who were always busy with the things of the earth and who had really reached the top; and I have simply marvelled to think that instead of hardening them it has softened their nature to some extent, it has given them a sense which can come by spiritual understanding, which is a religious sense; it has developed a fairness in them. By having gone through this world of injustice and having seen what one sees in the business world, they have come to a point of honesty where one begins to see life from a different point of view. .

And besides that, if anyone ever comes forward and says, "For a philanthropic purpose, for the good of humanity, I give so many millions for education, for the hospitals", it is they who do it. And I would very much wonder if a recluse who has always kept himself away from money, if he had the charge of many millions, would like to part with any. The point is, whether a person is earthly or heavenly, to be true to the purpose of life is the first moral we have to learn. For even an earthly purpose, however material it may seem, will prove in the end to be a stepping-stone even if one had nothing but that ideal before one.

No doubt all things pertaining to the earth have their influence upon a person. It hardens one, it makes one's heart cold and takes away that tender sentiment that one has towards one's dear ones, towards those whom one loves and on whom one depends, towards one's fellow-men. It makes one more and more greedy, and greed makes one unjust. Man becomes covetous, and his cup of desire is never filled; he is never satisfied. The more that comes, the less there seems to be there. Nevertheless, if one does not go through this experience, which is man's test, and one travels by another way, then one has given up a great experience, an experience which really makes the soul noble. A person whom you would otherwise not have understood for ten years, you can understand in one day as soon as there is a question of money. It at once brings out what is hidden in that person.

This shows that it is a great test, a test through which one should go, and one should experience a path which is a part of one's destiny. Therefore the religious or spiritual man, even if he looks with contempt at a person engaged in the things of the earth, should know that it is his path, and a path which is his religion. If he proves to be honest in his business dealings, if he keeps his heart open to those dear and near to him, those to whom he has his obligations, if he keeps the flame of his love of mankind lit in his heart through it all, in the end he will arrive at a stage where he is greater than a saint, because he has kept alive the flame of saintliness through a continually blowing wind.

The condition of the world today is such that humanity has become abnormal. Man is not only scared of badness but also of goodness; man not only dreads war but also peace; he is not only tired of enmity but also of friendship; he not only suspects his adversary but even his own brother. It seems as if the mind of the world is not only tired but ill: as if humanity has had a nervous breakdown. Individually or collectively man does not know his life's purpose or goal. The Sufi message warns humanity to get to know life better and to achieve freedom in life; it warns man to accomplish what he considers good, just, and desirable; it warns him before every action to note its consequences by studying the situation, his own attitude, and the method he should adopt.

Earthly riches, explain to me your character.
I fly from the hand that holds me,
I escape from the one who pursues me,
I fall into his purse who collects me,
I live with him who spares me,
I leave the one who does not look after me,
I keep away from him who has me not.
The one who does not possess me is poor indeed,
but the one who possesses me is poorer still.

The other day I lectured in Paris and after my lecture a very able man came to me and said, "Have you got a scheme?" I said, "What scheme?" "Of bettering conditions. " I replied that I had not made such a scheme, and he said, "I have a scheme, I will show it to you." He opened his box and brought out a very large paper with mathematics on it and showed it to me saying, "This is the economic scheme that will make the condition of the world better: everyone will have the same share." I said, "We should practice that economic scheme first on tuning our piano: instead of saying D, E, F, we should tune them all to one note and play that music and see how interesting that would be-all sounding the same, no individuality, no distinction, nothing." And I added, "Economy is not a plan for construction, but it is a plan for destruction. It is economics which have brought us to destruction. It is the heart quality, it is the spiritual outlook which will change the world."

The day will come when man will live a fuller life, a more complete life of high ideals and great principles, when feeling in man will be as much awakened as reason. When that day comes the knowledge will be spiritual knowledge, not book learning. One can feel everywhere, in colleges, in societies, in clubs, in any of the professions, that every person is seeking directly or indirectly for some knowledge; man feels that there is a knowledge which is more real. Every person seems to be disappointed with his experience of life. He may be most successful in the world, it does not matter. He may be a rich man, he may have a high position, but he is disappointed, he is longing for something which will satisfy him. What is it? It is not outside. It is within himself. He will find it on the day when he awakens to the reality of life. Once a soul is awakened to the reality of life, all other things matter little. What matters is that he understands clearly that what satisfies is within.

The external life is an expression of the inner life. The earth is but a shadow of the heavens, and all movements of the lights in the heavens influence the movements of the life on earth.

Every aspect of the life on earth is a duplicate of the life in heaven. Not only human beings, but even animals and birds live under the influence of the planets and stars above. Even on the sea and rivers, on the hills and mountains, and on the trees and plants the influence of the planets and stars is constantly working.

But as man is the master of creation, he is in some ways above all influences, yet not every man. There is a stage of evolution in which man is a machine, there is another stage of evolution in which man is the engineer who works with the machines. The man who has not realized the kingdom of heaven within him is as a machine, and the man who rises above that stage of evolution, and reigns not only on earth but in heaven.

Mastery does not mean killing the senses. Mastery means conquering the senses, to use the senses and not to be used by them.

Keep burning the fire I have lighted.
It may seem very small to you,
but one tiny flame, if kept burning, can be the means of illuminating a whole city,
and someday many lamps that shall be lighted at this small fire will give light to thousands.
This fire of truth is now lighted, and its light will never go out.
Your work is to tend it and keep it burning.
The fuel needed is your every thought, your faith, your prayers, and your sacrifices.
You cannot see the result of this.
Light can never be lost.
I have kindled this small fire from which millions of lamps can be lit.
Their number cannot be reckoned,
and millions upon millions of other fires can now be lighted.
When all have been kindled the original fire will die out, and the place thereof be known no more.
Verily the form dieth, and the spirit liveth for ever.
God bless you.

There are two points of view open to one in everything in the world: the liberal and the conservative. Each of these points of view gives a person a sense of satisfaction, because in both there is a certain amount of virtue.

When a man looks at his family from the conservative point of view, he becomes conscious of family pride and acts in every way so as to keep up the honor and dignity of his ancestors. He follows the chivalry of his forefathers and by looking at the family from this point of view he defends and protects those who belong to his family, whether worthy or unworthy. In this way he helps to keep up a flame, lighted perhaps years ago, by holding it in his hand as a torch to guide his way.

When one looks at one's nation from a conservative point of view it gives one the feeling of patriotism, which today is the substitute for religion in the modern world. It is no doubt a virtue in the sense that one begins to consider one's whole nation as one family: one cares not for one's own children only, but for the children of the nation. Man gives his life when occasion arises to defend his nation, the dignity, the honor, the freedom of his people.

The conservative spirit is the individualizing spirit, which is the central theme of the whole creation. It is this spirit which has functioned as the sun; otherwise it was the all-pervading light, and it is the power of this spirit working in nature which keeps many branches together on one stem and several leaves together on one branch. It is again this spirit working in man's body which keeps man's hands and feet together, thus keeping him an individual entity.

But there is always a danger that this spirit, if increased, may produce congestion. When there is too much family pride man lives only in his pride, forgetting his duty towards mankind and not recognizing anything that unites him with others beyond the limited circle of his family. When this congestion is produced in a nation it results in all kinds of disasters, such as wars and revolutions with violence and destruction. The nightmare that the world has just passed through [WWI] was the outcome of world congestion produced by the extreme of this same spirit.

This shows that it is not true that virtue is one thing and sin another. The same thing which once was virtue becomes sin. Virtue or sin is not an action; it is the condition, it is the attitude which prompts one to a certain action, and it is the outcome of the action which makes it a sin or a virtue.

Life is movement, death is the stopping of the movement; congestion stops it, circulation moves it. The conservative spirit is useful in so far as it is moving, in other words: as it is broadening itself. If a person who first was proud of his family, after having done his duty to his people, takes the next step forward which is to help his fellow-citizens, and the third step which is to defend his nation, he is progressing. His family pride and his patriotism are no doubt a virtue, for they lead him from one thing to another, better than the former.

Congestion comes when a person is set in his interest. If his family causes a man to be so absorbed in his pride and interest in it that nobody else in the world exists for him except his own people, or when a person thinks of his own nation alone - nothing else interests him, others do not exist for him - in this case his family pride or his patriotism becomes a veil over his eyes, blinding him so as to make him unable to serve either others or his own.

In selfishness there is an illusion of profit, but in the end the profit attained by selfishness proves to be worthless. Life is the principal thing to consider, and true life is the inner life, the realization of God, the consciousness of one's spirit. When the human heart becomes conscious of God it turns into the sea and it spreads; it extends the waves of its love to friend and foe. Spreading further and further it attains perfection.

The Sufi message is not necessarily a message of pacifism. It does not teach to make peace at any and every cost; it does not condemn family pride or patriotism; it does not even preach against war. It is a message to make one conscious of the words of the Bible: "We live and move and have our being in God" - to realize this and to recognize the brotherhood of humanity in the realization of God. The natural consequences of this will bring about the spirit of brotherhood and equality and will result in preparing the outer democracy and the inner aristocracy which is in the nobility of the soul whose perfection is hidden under the supremacy of God.

SAGE. What will rise must fall, and what will fall must rise. Rise and fall are natural to life. No rise is permanent, or fall lasting. It is reality behind it all which is steady and dependable.

The message of the Sufi movement is a call to humanity in general to unite in a world kinship beyond the boundaries of caste, creed, race, nation, or religion. The Sufi movement has no particular creed, dogma, or doctrine. Its philosophy teaches tolerance to all, understanding above all things, thereby awakening sympathy with one another, and the realization that the well-being of each depends upon the well-being of all.

The voice of God has always warned and guided humanity through the divine message given by the prophets and reformers of all ages, who came in answer to the need of humanity. Every religion, in whatever period it was given and accepted by the people, was an answer to the cry of humanity. As the rain falls from the clouds, drawn by the need of the plants and trees, so the divine message has ever responded to the longing of souls seeking guidance.

The battles that have been fought throughout the ages are chiefly caused by religious differences. The true religious ideal has as its principal aim the harmonizing of humanity in the unity of God. But it has always happened that the religious authorities have used religion for selfish purposes and thereby destroyed its purpose, turning the form of religion, which was a living spring of immortal life to souls, into a stagnant, dead form.

The increasing materialism and overpowering commercial influence which has veiled the heart of humanity from truth, has caused the greatest distress during the last few years. In spite of the great advancement of modem civilization, people are beginning to doubt today whether humanity is really progressing. In point of fact there is no doubt that humanity is progressing. The proof of progress is to be found in all the wonderful phenomena that have been created in the form of marvelous scientific inventions. But all these inventions have only helped to carry out the greatest disaster in the history of the world: a war that has swallowed up numberless lives, among them youths who had inherited the culture of many generations.

In spite of prosperity and the flourishing conditions one sees, there is a total absence of the ideal. The minds of most seem to be centered in one thing only: the struggle of life. Millions are busily occupied, physically and mentally, every moment of the day and night in collecting wealth or treasure, the very nature of which is to pass from hand to hand. As long as they have it in their possession, there is a kind of intoxication; when it is lost, there is nothing to hold on to. This has made people more avaricious in the strife of material life.

Today the one is considered most practical who is most capable of guarding one's own interests to best advantage. The same is true of nations: each is working for its own interest. In any nation the person of the day is not the one who feels for the welfare of humanity, but the one who exclusively stands by the interest of one's party, community, or nation. Patriotism can only be a virtue when used as a stepping stone toward universal kinship. It can be justifiable only if it is made a means to conserve forces in order to work for the welfare of all. But today patriotism has become a lock upon the heart, so that no alien-only those of one's own kind-may be admitted into a country.

What is missing in modern education, in art and science, and in social, political and commercial life, is the ideal. The ideal is the secret of heaven and earth, and the mystery hidden behind both humanity and God. Humans, with all they possess in the objective world, are poor in the absence of the ideal; that poverty creates irritation, conflicts, and disagreements, thereby causing wars and disasters of all kinds.

Humanity's greatest necessity today is the exploration of the human personality to find the latent inspiration and power, and upon this to build the whole structure of life. Life is not only to live, but also to ennoble oneself and reach that perfection which is the innate yearning of the soul.

The solution to the problem of the day is that the consciousness of humanity may be awakened to the divinity of the human being.

The undertone of all religions is the realization of the one life which culminates in the thought of unity. It is to raise humanity to this consciousness that the efforts of the Sufi movement are directed.

That the new era will not be worse is plain enough, for when the worst has happened there cannot be anything beyond that. The worst condition ends the cycle, and the new cycle must necessarily begin better. If we look back with keen sight and with a true sense of justice, it is clear that as individuals, as communities, as nations, and as races, the world has been going from bad to worse in the way of selfishness.

There is not one religion in this world whose followers are not in revolt against their leaders on the path. Religion has gradually lost its truth and has survived in name only. So we can no longer be unaware of our sins in the past.

When we look at racial distinctions, we see that the hatred of one race for another has always increased with civilization. Color prejudice, class distinction, differences between East and West, and the dominion of one sex over the other are not yet out of sight; they are rather on the increase.

In whichever direction we look - at the prosperity of commerce, the great progress in education, art, and science - we can see everywhere the demoralization of the world bringing to an end the ideal of friendship and personal relationship.

In the progress of education, the knowledge of the soul's purpose, the only thing worthwhile in life, is overlooked. Education qualifies a man to become selfish to the best of his ability, and to get the better of another. Art has lost its freedom of grace and beauty, since its reward depends on the approval of the heartless and blind. Science has degenerated for the very reason that the scientist has limited his view to the objective world and denied the existence of the life which is beyond perception.

In the absence of a higher ideal the constant striving after material inventions has led man to such devices as have set the world on fire. Those who are under the spell of destruction are unaware of all this; they cannot know it until the clouds of gloom have dispersed, their hearts are clear, and their minds have recovered from this intoxication which prevents them from thinking and understanding.

The races in the coming era will mix more and more every day, developing finally into a world-wide race.

The nations will develop a democratic spirit, and will overthrow every element which embitters them against one another. There will be alliances of nations until there is a world alliance of nations, so that no nation may be oppressed by another, but all will work in harmony and freedom for common peace.

Science will probe the secrets of the life unseen, and art will follow nature closely. The people of all classes will be seen everywhere. The caste system will vanish and communities will lose their exclusiveness, all mingling together, and their followers will be tolerant towards one another. The followers of one religion will be able to pray by offering the prayers of another, until the essential truth will become the religion of the whole world and diversity of religions will be no more.

Education will culminate in the study of human life, and learning will develop on that basis. Trade will become more universal, and will be arranged on the basis of a common profit. Labor will stand side by side with capital on an equal footing.

Titles will have little importance. Signs of honor will become conspicuous.

Bigotry in faiths and beliefs will become obsolete. Ritual and ceremony will be a play.

Women will become freer every day in all aspects of life, and married women will be called by their own names. The sons and daughters will be called by the name of their town, city, or nation, instead of by the family name.

No work will be considered menial. No position in life will be humiliating. Everybody will mind his own business, and all will converse with one another without demanding introductions.

The husband and wife will be like companions, independent and detached. The children will follow their own bent.

Servant and master will be so only during working hours, and the feeling of superiority and inferiority among people will vanish.

Medicine will take away the need for surgery, and healing will take the place of medicine.

New ways of life will manifest themselves, hotel life predominating over home life.

Grudges against relatives, complaints about servants, finding fault with neighbors will all cease to occur, and the world will continue to improve in all aspects of life until the day of Gayamat, when all vain talk will cease, and when everywhere will be heard the cry, 'Peace, peace, peace!'

SAGE. Whichever party comes to power, it certainly fulfills the law from above. The various parties seem different to our eyes, but there is His Will that is done, and His will that will be done. When we show preference for one party over the other, it is our limitation. Men group themselves into parties: when we see behind all different  parties there is one perfect whole, working out its destiny toward the fulfillment of the purpose of life.

No one with any sense who observes keenly the present condition of humanity, will deny the fact that the world today needs the religion. Why I say the religion and not a religion is because there are many religions in existence which might be called a religion; but what is needed is something else; it is the religion. Must this be a new religion? If it were to be a new religion it could not be called the religion; then it would be like many other religions. What I call the religion is that which one can see by rising above the sects and differences which divide men; and by understanding the religion one will understand all religions.

I do not mean that all the religions are not religion; they are the notes; but there is the music, and that music is the religion. Every religion strikes a note, a note which answers the demand of humanity in a certain epoch. Yet the source of every note is the same music which manifests when the notes are arranged harmoniously together. All the different religions are the different notes, and when they are thus arranged together they make music.

One might ask why at each epoch not all the music was given; why only a single note. The answer is that there are times in the life of an infant when a rattle is sufficient; for the violin another time in life is more appropriate. During the time of the Chaldeans, Arabs, Greeks, and Romans, different religious ideals were brought to humanity. To the few music was brought, to the many only a note; and this shows that this music has always existed, but that man in general was not ready to grasp it and so was given only one note.

The consequence was that the one who was given the C note fought with another who was given the G note, each saying, "The note given to me is the right note." But in reality all are right notes. Thus there is an outer substance of religion which is the form, and an inner essence which is wisdom; and when wisdom has blessed the soul, then the soul has heard the divine music. Those who tuned their hearts, who raised their souls high enough, heard this divine music; but those who played with their rattle, their single note, disputed with one another. They would have refused a violin; they were not ready for it and they would not have known how to use it.

Today the world is more starved of religion than ever before, and the reason is that some simple souls, attached to the faith of their ancestors, hold their faith in esteem, for they consider religion necessary in life; but many others, with intelligence and reason and understanding of life, rebel against religion, as the child when it grows up throws away its rattle, for it is no longer interested in it. So today the condition is that religion remains in the hands of those who have kept to its outer form through devotion and loyalty to their ancestors" faith; and those who are, so to speak, grown-up in mind and spirit and who want something better, but cannot find anything. Their souls hunger for music, yet when they ask for music they are given a rattle; and then they throw away the rattle and say that they do not care for music. Yet at the same time they have an inner yearning for the soul's music, and without it their life remains empty.

There are few who recognize this fact, and fewer still who are willing to admit it. The psychological condition of humanity has become such that a person with intelligence refuses the music, he does not want it; but because he still wants something, he calls it by another name. Travelling for ten years in the Western world, I have come into contact with people of great intelligence, thinkers, men of science; and in them I see the greatest yearning for that religious spirit. They are longing for it every moment of their lives, for they feel, with all their education and science, that there is an emptiness in themselves, and they want it filled. Yet if one speaks to them of religion they say, "No, no, speak of something else; we do not want religion!" This means that they only know the rattle part of religion and not the violin part. They do not think that anything can exist that is different from a rattle, and yet there is perplexity in their heart and a spiritual craving which is not answered even by all their learned and scientific pursuits.

Therefore what is needed in the world today is a reconciliation between the religious man and the one who runs away from religion. But what can we do when even in the Christian religion we see so many sects, one opposing the other, while the Muslim, Buddhist, Jewish, and many other religions also consider that no religion is worth thinking about except their own? To me these different religions are like the different organs of the body, cut up and thrown apart. It seems as if one arm of the same person were cut off and were rising up to fight the other. Both are arms of the same person, and when that person is complete, when all these parts are brought together, then there is the religion.

Then what is the purpose of the Sufi Movement? To make a new religion? No, it is to bring together the different organs of one body which are meant to be united and not thrown apart. And what is our method, how do we work to bring about such a reconciliation? By realizing for ourselves that the essence of all religions is one, and that that essence is wisdom; by considering that wisdom to be our religion, whatever be our own form. The Sufi Movement has members belonging to many different faiths and who have not given up their own religion. On the contrary, they are firmer in their own faith through understanding the faiths of others. From the narrow point of view people may find fault with them because they do not hate, mistrust, and criticize the religion of others. They have respect for the scriptures which millions of people have held to be sacred, though these scriptures do not belong to their own religion. They desire to study and appreciate other scriptures, and to find confirmation of the fact that all wisdom comes from one source, both the wisdom of the East and of the West. The Sufi Movement, therefore, is not a sect; it can be anything but a sect; and if it ever became one it would be quite contrary to the ideal with which it was begun. For its main ideal is to remove differences and distinctions which divide mankind, and this ideal is attained by the realization of the one source of all human beings, and also the goal, both of which we call God.

The hustle and bustle of life leaves a man very little time to think of his general condition. The only news he receives is from the newspapers, and so he depends upon the papers for his ideas; and the intoxication of life leaves him very little time to think about the real meaning of life. When he looks around him and considers the condition of the nations today, he finds that in spite of all the progress there is an increase in ill-feeling between them. Friendship exists only for self-interest. A nation only thinks about its own interest whether it has to deal with friend or enemy; and if he considers the world as a body, he can say that poison has been put into its heart, owing to the hatred which people feel towards one another.

No period like this can be traced in the history of the world; this age has accomplished a much greater destruction than ever before. It reminds one of a spider, which weaves its web for its own comfort but cannot get out of the web it has made for itself. And if one goes to the root of this subject one sees that all this disorder has been caused by the spirit of materialism. Money seems to be the only gain and the only aim. It is undeniable that when one is continually thinking of such a subject all one's thoughts and energy will go in that direction, and perhaps in the end man awakens and finds that all his life he has given his thoughts to something which does not last, which does not even exist, and which is only an illusion.

No doubt this pessimism is the bridge from one optimism to another, and it may be said to be disinterestedness, or Vairagya, as it is called in Vedanta terms. It is not the man who leaves the world who is great, but the one who lives in the world, understanding the difficulties and troubles that belong to humanity. It is he who sees not his little self, but the whole. Jesus Christ taught us to think of our fellow-men, to love our fellow-men. And what do we see today? Difficulties arising between masters and workmen; peace conferences where nothing can be decided concerning peace. And all this because the point of view is not there which makes people say, "I will do something for you and you will do something for me." "No," says everyone, "I will look after myself and you will look after yourself." To serve one another, to love one another, to work for one another, should be the aim of life, but man has lost hold of it altogether.

Look at the central theme of the education of today. Only a short time is given to the child to prepare him for the kingliness of life and the freedom of the spirit. And when the child's intellect grows, every year more and more it sees life before it like an ocean which it has to cross, like something dark awaiting it. And later when the child has become a man, he gives all his time to his work, to his office, and there is no time even for love or friendship; yet at the end he cannot take all these things with him. After sacrificing all his life to these things, what has he really gained? Through his external life in the world the complications of life have only increased.

In spite of all the progress of modern civilization that has been made in all departments of life, such as commerce, industry, politics, and economics, the question still remains whether we have really progressed. If one observes the superficiality of the life which man lives today in the so-called civilized parts of the world, one will certainly find that he is far removed from nature both within and without, and he has become an exile from the ideal state of life. The more laws that are made, the more crimes are committed; the more mechanisms that are prepared, the more work increases, and yet little is being done; the more lawsuits that are brought in court, the more cases occur; the more physicians, the more diseases. Cupidity has come to the fore so that whether one has an aristocratic or a democratic system, justice seems to be absent.

Also, in spite of the regard for the rights of women which have been established in this age, woman's responsibility in life has much increased. She has to fight her battle in the open field, which naturally exhausts her energy and courage, causing her to lose her inherently free nature as she has constantly to rub against the rough edges of life. The prejudice, hatred, and distrust that exist between nations whether friends or foes, every nation being absorbed in its own interest regardless of the people in general, have reflected on the mentality of individuals and have made life difficult for both rich and poor. Everywhere one turns one sees material strife; every ideal, every principle has to be sacrificed for it. And yet no man can be deprived of his human inheritance. There is a treasure in himself which has to be found. Religion should have helped man, but the religious authorities have very often failed to uphold the inner qualities of their religion. The question is not what religion one follows, but how to live one's religion. When religion has lost its hold on inner life and faith, there is nothing left. Many people, especially among the intellectuals, have lost their religion, and among the younger ones there are a good many who even dread the name of God.

What is needed today is an education which will teach humanity to feel the essence of their religion in everyday life. Man is not put on this earth to be an angel. He need not be praying in church all day long, nor go into the wilderness. He needs only to understand life better. He must learn to set apart a certain time in the day to think about his own life and doings. He must ask himself, "Have I done an honest deed today? Have I proved myself worthy in that place, in that capacity?" In this way he can make his everyday life a prayer. Among politicians, doctors, lawyers, merchants it might be possible to have love as the battery behind every deed, every action, together with a sense of harmony behind all these activities.

We need today the religion of tolerance. In daily life we cannot all meet on the same ground, being so different, having such different capacities, states of evolution, and tasks. So if we had no tolerance, no desire to forgive, we could never bring harmony into our soul; for to live in the world is not easy and every moment of the day demands a victory. If there is anything to learn it is this tolerance, and by teaching this simple religion of tolerance to one another we are helping the world. It is no use to hold on to the idea that the world is going from bad to worse, that the germs of disease will spread and bring greater calamities. Every man's being is good; in the depths of his heart there is something definitely good.

There are teachings about healing, but the best way is the way of character healing, healing one's own character; in this way instead of accomplishing miracles, one's whole life can become a miracle. The lack of religion today has created strange beliefs about communicating with ghosts or fairies, and things one does not and cannot understand; but all this has very little to do with religion. The Bible is full of simple things and one would be happy if one could accomplish one of them. There has been a great demand for knowledge and for occult powers, but with all his intellectuality what has man achieved beyond the destruction of his brother?

The need of the world today is not learning, but how to become considerate towards one another. To try and find out in what way happiness can be brought about, and in this way to realize that peace which is the longing of every soul; and to impart it to others, thereby attaining our life's goal, the sublimity of life.

There has been a great upheaval in the world, beginning at the time of the Reformation and culminating in our own times. It seems that there is continual unrest in every direction of life; there seems to be a great turmoil; and in spite of all the progress which has been made during the last years civilization does not seem to have succeeded. The difficulty has been the adjustment of the new idea of democracy to the foundation of aristocracy on which it was based. The outcome of this difficulty is felt now more than ever before; there seems to be confusion and chaos rather than the understanding of how to live life to its best advantage. The reason is that the character of aristocracy and democracy is not generally understood from the point of view of the mystic, and as long as this lack of understanding remains, a thousand democracies or aristocracies would always fail in the end.

When we study nature we find that there is a model of life, a design, for us to follow: the interdependence of the stars and planets and how they are sustained in heaven by each other's magnetism, how the light of the sun functions in the moon and how the light of the sun is reflected by all the different planets, and at the same time how the planets differ in their light and character and how every planet in the universe fulfills the scheme of nature. Call it aristocracy or call it democracy, there is a model of life that nature has produced before our eyes.

To some people the word aristocracy, when not understood, often sounds very unpleasant, but the real aristocracy is not necessarily the picture of its abuse, its degeneration. And what is democracy? Democracy is the fulfillment of aristocracy; in other words democracy means complete aristocracy. But when democracy is sought without aristocracy having been understood, then democracy cannot be fully understood either, for then it is not complete. Man is born in this world ignorant of the kingdom which is within himself, and true aristocracy is the attainment of that kingdom. To recognize that kingdom in another person is aristocracy, and to see the possibility of that kingdom in oneself and to try to fulfil that ideal of life is true democracy. Aristocracy means that one person is king, democracy means that all are kings; but when a person does not know one king, he does not know all kings. What I mean by this is that we should realize that the object of life does not lie in revolting against someone who is more advanced than ourselves, and by this revolt pulling him down to our own level--that is not democracy. Real democracy means recognizing the possibility of advancing just as others have done, trusting in that possibility, and trying to advance to the same level as that of the others.

The problem of the day should be studied by all sections and classes of humanity. It seems that through being absorbed in a more comfortable life, many have neglected their part in all the different aspects of life both at home and outside. There are certain classes who have been unaware of the tasks that life demands at home and in the world; and now the time has come when they meet with difficulties because they find themselves more dependent on the very things which they have neglected in their lives.

They have always shown unwillingness to do certain things which seemed beneath their idea of dignity, and now humanity is being turned upside down; what has happened is that one class is being submerged by the other class and its place is being taken by the other. In this way instead of more comfort chaos is being manifested.

The way out of it would be to imitate some of the ideas of the ancients, for if this is not done, although life will perhaps become settled in a certain way, it will become a hotel life and there will be no more of that joy and happiness and pleasure which is found in home life. The difficulties of modern living will before long bring about a situation where in every district there will be a kind of hotel arrangement, and in that way all individual progress, culture, and joy will be hampered. Man's individual choice will be sacrificed to the mechanism of living.

The method I mentioned which might be followed is a method which was used in ancient times by the Hindus, and even now some part of it exists. Among the different communities of Brahmins, a Brahmin may be in a high position and be very rich, yet he knows how to cook himself. The women in the household, even in the home of the Prime Minister, attend to the kitchen themselves. There is nothing in the home which they do not like to do. In ancient times they were trained to sew, to knit, to weave, and to cook, keeping the house neat, decorating it, cleaning it, painting it, all these things were accomplished by everyone. No one possessed a house at that time who did not know everything about taking care of the house, quite independently of the housekeeper. Perfection of life means perfecting oneself, not only spiritually but in all the different aspects of life. The man who is not capable of attending to all life's needs is certainly ignorant of the true freedom of life.

The more we study the problem of the day, the more we shall realize that it is the strict division of work at the present time that has made people helpless. What is most necessary now is to introduce into education the spirit of providing for oneself all that one needs, and arranging for oneself all that is necessary in one's everyday life. The mechanical life of our times may show progress, yet it is not a complete progress. Imagine a person living from morning till evening in a factory and only making needles! Perhaps he does this for twenty years and what does he know of life? Only how to make a needle. Perhaps the benefit goes to the owner of the factory; but what benefit goes to this man who has been making needles all his life?

The ideal of life and its progress is to become self-sufficient, and the key to the secret of democracy is self-sufficiency. Spiritual perfection is the second step, and the one who has first made himself self-sufficient is entitled in the end to spiritual perfection.

The unrest which one finds throughout the world, the difficulties among the nations, the hatred existing among people, the cry of misery which comes more or less from all sides, the commercial catastrophes, the political problems, all these make one wonder what may be done to find a solution for the general cry of humanity. What happens today is that the different institutions try to extinguish the fires burning here and there, but that can never solve the problem of the world.

The first thing that should be remembered is that all activities of life are connected with each other, and if one does not heed this one finds that while one thing is put in order another thing goes wrong. It is just like a person who is ill and who needs sleep and good diet: if he gets sleep without that diet it will not do him good, nor will a good diet without sleep help him. While trying to straighten out commercial difficulties political problems creep in; while considering the social questions moral difficulties appear. The desire to serve humanity in the work of reconstruction is the duty and responsibility of every sensible soul whatever be his rank or position or qualifications in life; and the first question to be studied is what remedy can be found for all the maladies that manifest on the surface of life today.

There is one principal remedy and that is the changing of the attitude of humanity; it is this alone which can help in all aspects of life. This attitude can be changed by moral, spiritual, and religious advancement, and the work that the Sufi message has to accomplish lies in this particular direction; for it is a method which enables man to have another outlook on life.

The chief thing that the Sufi Movement tries to avoid is sectarianism, which has divided man in all ages of the world's history.

The Sufi message is not opposed to any religion, faith, or belief; it is rather a support to all religions, it is a defence for religions which are attacked by the followers of other religions. At the same time the Sufi Movement provides humanity with that religion which is in reality all religions. The Sufi Movement is not supposed to take the whole of humanity in its arms, yet in the service of the whole of humanity lies the fulfillment of the Sufi message. The Sufi Movement, therefore, does not stand as a barrier between a member and his own religious faith, but as an open door leading to the heart of that faith. A member of the Movement is a bearer of the divine message to the followers of whatever church or sect he may belong to.

The work of the Sufi Movement is not to collect all the rainwater in its own tanks, but to make a way for the stream of the message to flow and to supply water to all the fields of the world. The work of the Sufi message is sowing; reaping we shall leave to humanity to do, for the fields do not belong to our particular Movement; all the fields belong to God. We who are employed to work on this farm of the world must do what we have to do and leave the rest to God. Success we do not trouble about; let those who strive for it seek some other direction. Truth alone is our success, for the only lasting success is truth.

Especially after a war and the pain that the world has thereby experienced, people begin to think again about the subject of reconstruction. But no doubt every person looks at it according to his own mentality, and in this way the ideas about the reconstruction of the world differ very much.

If we consider the condition of the world as it is today, we see that its financial condition, which is most essential for order and peace, has become so involved that many people of intellect and understanding are helpless before this most difficult problem. No doubt there are those who will tell us that there is no remedy for the betterment of humanity other than the solution of the financial problems; but at the same time it seems that these problems are becoming daily more and more difficult and bringing nations and races and communities towards a greater and greater destruction. Before a solution is reached it will be no wonder if a great deal of damage is done to many nations.

And although, absorbed by their own problems, men do not think enough about these things, nevertheless in the end the world in general will realize the weakness, the feebleness caused by this disorder and by the unbalanced condition of the financial world. Nations and people make profit out of the losses of other nations and people, and even if for the moment they may think that they are benefited, in the end they will realize that we human beings, whether as individuals or as a multitude, all depend upon one another. For instance, if because of one part of one's body another part suffers, it the end there will prove to be an unbalanced state, a lack of health in the physical body; and just as health means that all the organs of the body are in good condition, so the health of the world means that all nations, all people, are in a good condition.

Leaving this financial question and coming to the problem of education, in spite of all the progress that has been made in this field, any thoughtful person will be struck by the amount of work which a little child is given to do considering its age and its strength. It seems that in the enthusiasm for making education richer and richer, a load has been heaped upon the minds of the children. And what happens? It is like a dish which was meant to be cooked for half an hour but is being made ready in five minutes. It will perhaps be burnt, or perhaps it is underdone. The child knows too much for its age; it knows what it does not require, what it does not value, what is a load to it, what is forced upon its mind. And how few of us stop to think of this question, that childhood is a kingliness in itself. It is a gift from above that the child is growing and that during the time of its growth it is unaware of the woes and worries and anxieties of life. These are the only days for experiencing the kingliness of life, the days when the child should play, when it should be near to nature, when it should absorb what nature gradually teaches.

The whole of childhood is devoted to study, study of material knowledge; and as soon as the child has grown into a youth, the burden of life is put on its shoulders, a burden which is becoming heavier and heavier for rich and poor. The result of this is that there is strife between the political parties, that there is disagreement between labor and capital; and this life full of struggle to which the child opens its eyes never leaves it time to be one with nature, to dive deep within itself, or to think beyond this life in the crowd.

When we consider the problem of nations we become still more perplexed. The enmity, hatred, and prejudice which exist between one nation and another, and the antagonism and utter selfishness which are the central theme of the relationships and ties between nations, show that the world is going from bad to worse, and unrest seems to be all-pervading. There seems to be no trust between nations, no sympathy, except for their own interest. And what is the outcome of it? Its impression falls as a reflection, as a shadow upon individuals, turning them also towards egoism and selfishness.

Religion was meant to be the safest, the only refuge in the world; but at the present moment, with ever-growing materialism and overwhelming commercialism, religion seems to be fading away. A silent indifference towards religion seems to be increasing, especially in the countries foremost in civilization; and that being so, where can man find the solution of the problem of the day?

We can also consider this question from a philosophical point of view. What is construction and what is reconstruction? A construction is that which is already made. A newborn child is a construction. But after a disorder in the body or in the mind, there comes a need of reconstruction. In English there is an expression: to pull oneself together. The reconstruction of the world today means that the world has to pull itself together. Education, the political, social, and financial condition, religion, all these things which made civilization, seem to have been scattered; and in order that they may come together again, the secret of life must be studied. What is the secret of healing power? It is making oneself strong enough to pull oneself together; and that is the secret of the life of the mystic. The world has lost its health, and if one pictures the world as an individual, one can see what it means to lose one's health. It is just like illness in the life of an individual; and as for every illness there is a remedy, so for every disaster there is a reconstruction.

But people have different ideas. There is a pessimist who says, "If the world has got to this state of destruction who can help it, how can it be helped?" This is like a person who says, "Well, I have been so ill, I have suffered so much, I do not care. How can I be well now? It is too late." In this way he holds on to his disease and he cherishes it, though he does not like it. And then there is the curious person, who is very anxious to look at the newspaper and see whether his investments have gone up or whether they have gone down, and to see whether there is the probability of war; and he will excite his friends about it. Then there is another person who says, "Committees must be formed, there must be societies and leagues; congresses must be held, and many more meetings, many more discussions." There seems to be no end to the discussions and disputes in order to find out the ways and means of how to improve conditions!

I do not mean to say that any effort, in whatever form, towards the reconstruction or towards the betterment of conditions is not worth while. But what is most needed is for us to understand that religion of religions and that philosophy of philosophies which is self-knowledge. We shall never understand the outer life if we do not understand ourselves. It is knowledge of the self that gives knowledge of the world. The politician, the statesman, however qualified, will dispute about things for years and years, but he will never come to a satisfactory conclusion unless he understands the psychology of life and of the situation. And so the educationist will try new schemes but he will never come to a satisfactory conclusion unless he has a psychological knowledge of life, the knowledge which will teach him the psychology of human nature. But I do not mean by psychology what is generally understood by this word; I mean the understanding of the self, the understanding of the nature and character of the mind and of the body.

What is health? Health is order. And what is order? Order is music. Where there is rhythm, regularity, co-operation, there is harmony, there is sympathy. Health of mind and health of the body depend therefore upon the preserving of that harmony, upon keeping intact that sympathy which exists in the mind and body. Life in the world, and especially as we live it amidst the crowd, will test and try our patience every moment of the day, and it will be most difficult to preserve that harmony and peace which is all happiness. For what is the definition of life? Life means struggle with friends and battle with foes. It is continual giving and taking.

And where are we to learn this? All education and learning and knowledge is acquired, but this one art is a divine art, and man has inherited it. Because he is absorbed in the outer learning he has forgotten it, but it is an art which is known to the soul; it is his own being; it is the deepest knowledge that he has in his heart. No progress in any line that man can make will give him the satisfaction which his soul is craving for, except this one which is the art of life, the art of being, the pursuit of his soul.

In order to further the reconstruction of the world the only thing possible and the only thing necessary, before trying to serve humanity, is to learn the art of being, the art of life, for oneself and in order to be an example for others.

There is much in the world that can be done for the poor, the needy, the ignorant, and for those who are not yet awake but are still asleep; for the conflicts which exist between nations, for the prejudice between races. There is no end of work one can give one's thought to instead of thinking, "No, I must produce some money." Yet that is the only activity which is accepted by the world. If a person does not do that, people think that there is something wrong with him! And what has it done? It has wrecked the nervous system of the present generation. After a hundred years we shall see that the race will begin to suffer tremendously from it. Working beyond the limit, from morning till night, what do people gain? Some of them perhaps may make money, but many have only a loaf of bread in the evening. After a whole day's toil that is all they can get.

There is a certain characteristic peculiar to this planet, for each planet has a certain degree of intelligence. For instance, the fact that at this time and at this stage of human civilization and evolution, when hardly one in a thousand individuals wants to make war, such dreadful wars should have taken place, is due to the influence of the planet working through the minds of those who live on it. This is the secret behind war and peace.

Wealth has always proved to be the central object in the life of the world, an object towards which every mind is naturally attracted and which can solve most of the problems of life. However earthly they may seem, all things become good or bad by their use or abuse. In all ages man has made coins of gold, and there man proves again his soul's longing for light, for gold is the color of light and among metals gold reflects the light most.

In the Qur'an it is said, "All that we have created on earth and in heaven is for thy use", which means: not for you to fear it or to hate it or to renounce it, but to use it. It is easy for the poor to ridicule wealth and the wealthy, but once the poor man possesses wealth then the question is whether he holds it or throws it away.

We realize from this that it is important that man should learn first in his life the right use of wealth. This problem can be solved by first considering the question from all points of view, from the moral as well as from the psychological, and also from the social and political point of view: in what way wealth can be rightly acquired. The present chaotic state of the whole world is caused by the lack of this particular knowledge. Today man only knows one thing: he needs money, he must acquire money, and if he has money he must hold on to it. But still the question remains: why does he need money, how can he acquire money, and for what purpose shall he acquire it? Through lack of this knowledge both rich and poor are at a loss.

• The rich everywhere are anxious to hold what they have and are nervous; for if conditions go on as they are now, what will happen tomorrow? Their heart is not at rest, even with money locked up in their safe.
• The moneyless, striving every moment of their life to possess all that the wealthy have got, win it perhaps at the cost of the destruction of a nation or a race, of a moral code, or of culture and beauty and goodness. They only think of how to achieve this and how to take the wealth away from those who now possess it, but not how far they are justified in having the wealth which belongs to another, nor what use they will make of this wealth.

This fight for life has so blinded humanity today that man is intoxicated in the struggle of life. He has no time to think of anything else, yet a thorough study of the problem from all points of view is the first thing necessary, and it can be the greatest help in living a better life and in doing good to one's fellowmen.

Money being the principal thing for which man toils, he should know the best way to acquire it. He must first judge his talent, his capability, his art, profession, or work. He must judge fairly, without a personal thought, what he really deserves for what he does. Everyone is blind to this. A person only thinks of what another man earns, how very rich another person is, and how good it would be if he were in his place. Today man's cry for democracy is in order to pull down another man from his high place, instead of taking enough trouble to rise to high places by his own efforts and with the justification in his own conscience of deserving that place.

Whatever man earns in life, and however great and rich he becomes through it, without the development of the sense of justice he is like a blind man. Externally a wealthy man seems enviable, but in point of fact, if one only knew his true condition, one would not envy his circumstances for a moment, for they not only blind him but blind those who surround him too; he has not only enemies among his adversaries, but he has enemies among his dearest friends. He may have an enemy in his brother or sister, in his wife or child. It is not their fault; it is that wealth is blinding.

When a man develops his qualification, his merit, his talent, and when by that right he earns his living, he is quite justified in demanding what he really deserves. But man cannot be very just when there arises the question of self; therefore he must also be open to compare his idea of his qualifications with the opinion of others, and he should be ready to recognize the superiority of someone else's qualifications.

Today man, blinded by the thought of competition and rivalry, ignores the superiority of talent, merit, art, or culture in another person.

In business the honor of the word is the first lesson that every business man should learn. Honor in business is the first commercial virtue. At the same time, to fight avarice is the duty of every business man, and also to think of the advantage of both sides, of himself and of his customer. In modern trade, externally there is little bargaining, but the bargaining spirit exists inwardly. Business today is a battle between buyer and seller, the one wanting to succeed at the expense of the other. Therefore it is not a business; it is a battle, and a battle mostly results in destruction. Now, after all the profiteering during the war years, is there peace in the commercial world? Every business man is crying out with grievances, no matter to what country he may belong. This shows that in reality it is the profit of each which is the profit of all. Whether in art, industry, labor, the professions, or commerce, one thing must be kept in view, and that is consideration for others, with an eye open for justice and fairness.

Today there is great conflict between capital and labor.

• The capitalists wish labor to be under their control and to work for their profit, so that they depend solely upon the power of capital.
• This spirit of selfishness, reacting upon the mind of the workman, revolts against the profit that the capitalist makes.

The consequence is that this selfishness on both sides causes trade to dwindle. On one side the war has destroyed lives and wealth and food that nature had supplied for humanity, while the remaining destruction is caused by this dwindling. If labor absorbs all the capital, then the capital is in the hands of labor; however, the evolution of life in every direction, social, educational, moral, or religious, mostly depends on the mentality of those who are well off.

There is a side issue of the present state of affairs which is its natural consequence, and that is the difference between the circumstances of a man who works with his hands and those of one who works with his head. Today, as conditions are, an intellectual man has the greatest struggle to live, and if they continue thus it will mean the ruination of the intellect in general, and instead of evolving the world will naturally go backward. The answer to the question whether the work of the hands deserves more wages than the work of the head, depends on whether the hand rules the mind or the mind rules the hand. Just now man is going from bad to worse. Doctors, professors, thinkers, teachers, poets and learned people have hardly enough money to live on, as labor demands higher wages than intellect does. Unions of workmen have spread all over the world, and in this way the conflict between the intellectual and the labor world becomes sharper every day.

Now the question is, what can the solution of this problem be? Can the workman be at the same time a capitalist? Can a man who works with his hands not be a thinker at the same time? The answer will be: not necessarily, since for everything certain conditions are necessary. If the workman is a capitalist he is no longer a workman. While working, if he is going over his accounts in his mind he will spoil his work. Can a man of action be a man of thought at the same time? This is difficult too. Can a man be running after trains and buses and write poetry at the same time? For poetry he wants tranquillity of mind, comfort, ease. What is possible is this one thing: that the workman should have every opportunity to become a capitalist. In this way he could know both: how to be a workman and how to be a capitalist. The man who works with his hands should have the opportunity to develop intellectually. Every working man should be given a chance, so that if he has the faculty in him to become a thinking man he may grow up to become a thinking man, and so that he will not die at his work.

There are two methods of progress, one right and the other wrong. The right way is to give equal opportunity to each to rise to his highest ideal; and the wrong way is when a man, revolted by present conditions, pulls down another who seems to him on any kind of eminence in the life of the world, so as to bring everyone down to the same level. This latter idea of equality can be pictured as a piano of which the strings are loosened to the same tone, perhaps of its lowest key. When each key sounds the same note, it cannot be a piano any more.

The present tendency of man seems to be to try to pull another down instead of himself rising to the place where the other is. It takes a long time to build, but it takes only a moment to destroy a thing. It is the rising to the height which is difficult; it is not difficult to walk down the slope. Man today seems to seek the way of least resistance; to strive to rise needs patience and perseverance. Thus in order to become equal with others he wants to pull the others down to his own level.

There is a great deal of talk going on in the world just now about communism. Yet if communism is devoid of a spiritual ideal, it could be only a change of condition on the surface. The extreme principles which man wishes to introduce in the form of communism may have the effect of destroying individual beauty and culture. There is more uniformity to be seen in the West than in the East. No doubt it has worked to the great advantage of the West, but at the sacrifice of individual progress; no thoughtful person can deny this. Great personages in any country of the East or West have become so by their individualistic progress, and it is the law of uniformity which hampers the progress of an individual. It also hampers the progress of art in all its forms, in architecture, in music, in poetry; for the majority pulls the minority back from progress. Under present conditions the man above is enjoying his place, and he tries in every way to prevent others from rising to his pedestal. The man who stands below is therefore waiting for every opportunity to pull him down.

A world where such a conflict exists between classes cannot promise harmony, order, and peace; and a definite change is necessary in the attitude of both classes. The struggle between the higher and the middle class is a story of the past; it hardly exists any more. Today's conflict is between what is called the intellectual man and the working man. The solution to this problem is that every community should provide adequately for the five principal needs of every individual: food, clothes, a roof, education, and medicine. It is intolerable to think that many are dying without food and clothes. If humanity would open its eyes to the most critical moment that has ever come to the world, the solution of this problem would become its first task.

Now the question is, how can this be arranged? It might be conveniently provided if only those who have an income higher than what is necessary to live comfortably, would give half of this to the community; and if those who leave their property to their children would leave half of this property for the benefit of the community. Otherwise if this question is not considered, the present revolt of the average man will end in violence and the destruction of art, morals, religion, beauty, and culture.

When religion decays, when materialism reigns, and when commercialism pervades all the world, it is then that man overlooks the fact of how he acquires his wealth, and his only object is to become wealthy. It is then that all manner of unhappiness breeds in the multitude and among individuals. Man is not only a child in his childhood, but he remains a child in many things all through life. There are things that man can digest, and there are things that he cannot digest; it depends from what source they come. The Prophet calls wealth that can be digested Halal, and the wealth that cannot be digested he calls Hararn. It is not the particular aspect of wealth that is digestible or indigestible, it is the attitude with which man has acquired it. It makes a great difference whether one acquires it honestly or dishonestly, honorably or dishonorably, by force or by work.

Money rightfully earned must certainly bring peace, but money earned by causing pain to another, by ruining the life of another, by dishonesty or by injustice, man cannot digest. It is not a question of having wealth; it is a question of living happily with wealth. Today the average man has no education of that kind. He toils through the day and looks for his wages in the evening. Perhaps he goes to church once a week, but this education still remains to be given. The man with wealth has so many things with which to occupy his life that he hardly thinks about these things. Yet the life of a wealthy person is perhaps more unhappy than that of a working man. At the root of this whole question a psychological secret lies hidden: how did one earn one's wealth?

Now coming to the use of wealth, there is a door to man's heart; it is either closed or open. When he holds a thing and says, "This is mine", he closes the door to his heart; but when he shares his goods with others and says, "This is yours as well as mine", this opens his heart. We must learn consideration for others, it does not matter whether they are rich or poor. We may have only one slice of bread, but when there is another sitting by our side we share that slice with him. By doing this, even if our bodily appetite remains unsatisfied, our heart is filled with joy to think that we shared our happiness with another. It is this spirit which is necessary just now to change the condition of the world, not political and commercial disputes. We must be awakened to the main truth, that the happiness and peace of each can only be the happiness and peace of all.

'The one who earned and used what he has earned, has gained. The one who earned and collected, and departed, has lost," says Sa'di. We learn from this that it is not only important to earn money, it is of greater importance to know how to use it. There are many in this world who possess wealth and yet are unhappy; they cannot profit by it themselves, nor can they benefit anyone else. The one who earns money and keeps it in the safe is not the possessor of that money; he is the doorkeeper of his treasure.

There are four different ways of spending money: by extravagance, by profiteering, by using it, and by saving it. No one can judge another man for his way of using his money, but everyone can judge himself for the method he employs in using what money he possesses. It is not necessary for a man to be rich in order to show these tendencies; even a poor man can be extravagant.

1. Extravagance has three forms.

   • One is caused by ignorance: a simple man who does not know the value of money spends his pearls for pebbles.
   • Another form of extravagance is when a man who is in charge of another person's money spends it without any qualms; he thinks that anyhow it is not his property.
   • The third form of extravagance occurs when a man has no control over his will and is attracted by anything that appeals to his weakness; he then spends more than he should. But the one who is master over his will, who is a lover of beauty and generous of heart, even if he spent his last penny for his ideal he cannot be called extravagant, for he is the master. He who is not able to spend what he possesses is the servant of his wealth; he does not know life.

2. When a person demands more than the things he possesses are worth, when he wants to make more profit than he is really justified in making, when he strays away from fairness in his business dealings, that is profiteering. Although for the moment it may seem a profit, yet sooner or later it must end in a loss. That is because selfishness and injustice are plagues, and they are likely to spread. Thus a man who makes an excessive profit from one person will then be brought in contact with someone else who is cleverer than he, and who will try to make a still larger profit from him. This is not only a theory; it is the normal condition nowadays. The present state of trade and business is working more or less to the disadvantage of every nation.

3. The normal way of using money is to understand life's needs and necessities, and to preserve a right proportion between the earning and spending of money. One thing should always be kept in mind, and that is the thought that one does not exist alone; the world is beside one. Of course everybody is not in a position to help the world, but to think about it even for a few moments every day can awaken the spirit of beneficence, which is generally asleep in the heart of man.

   No doubt charity begins at home. One's first duty is to consider those who depend upon one. He who has no consideration for those who depend upon him, while perhaps being generous to others, certainly lacks a great virtue in life. Surely, as it is taught in the Bible, one's neighbor should be considered. Neighbor means friend, relative, fellow-countryman; and as long as one does not stop at this but extends one's consideration still further and reaches humanity, then there is no doubt that one progresses in life, in whatever condition one may be.

4. Saving certainly is a consideration, but there is a limit to it. In some cases saving is wise, but in many other cases it is avarice. It is a fact that the great gifts given to charitable works in the world mostly come from those who were wise enough to save. It depends whether one saves with a good intention, or only from a tendency to save. This tendency comes from consideration for tomorrow. From the practical point of view this consideration is necessary, and the philosophy of Omar Khayyam, to forget about tomorrow, only means to give up the extra worry and anxiety about tomorrow, as one also learns from the teachings of Christ, where he points to the lilies of the field. This teaching should not make a man careless, especially in the conditions of life today, but it should relieve a man who has nothing to save from the worry and anxiety about tomorrow.