SANGATHA III

A tendency to friendship and disinclination to hostility, readiness in forgiving and unwillingness to take offense, are the principal characteristics of the Sufi.

The practice of Qasab helps to direct the life-forces in one direction. The head, therefore, receives the life-force, which helps to make every sense keen.

Then alone you may freely express your impulse: when the consequences leave you unconcerned.

The sense of differences and distinctions is the outcome of human evolution. It grows as man progresses through life. One who lacks this sense is certainly backward in progress. Those who rise above this feeling are spiritual. But it is not desirable to crush the sense of discrimination. It is the soul's enjoyment of beauty in all aspects which is the first necessary attainment in the spiritual path; and even when advanced, if a spiritual man enjoys all aspects of beauty in its various grades and shades and yet remains unattached, indeed he shows a spiritual perfection.

He whose senses are keen to feel and enjoy the beauty of color, taste, perfume, tone, and touch, certainly has a kindled soul and a living heart.

The idea of reincarnation is a pill made by the physicians of life, which the wise prescribe, in order to bring about an immediate cure in those ill in spirit over the question of justification of all the happenings of life, who instead of seeking it within themselves, try to find it without; who try to make the Divine Law fit in with the man-made conception of right and wrong.

The ego is made by the first impression of the soul. This impression throws back the ray which turns into a circling current of life, light, and energy, which is the breath. Therefore the Sufi calls the ego and the breath by one term: Nafs.

The part of life, that discovers itself the part that is to live; and man as a rule identifies himself with the part that dies, and is unconscious of the part that lives.*** weird sentence

The reward of punishment for one's good and bad deeds is first produced in one's heart; it then reacts from the outside world. Man himself is the best judge of his own doings; none else can judge him better.

The soul that has passed from the earth can see all that is going on in this world almost as clearly as one sees life during one's lifetime. No doubt the physical organs of sense, thought and feeling, of perception and action, are not there, but the soul, freed from the material body, has become freer from certain limitations; therefore it can experience life on the earth through the organs of those living in this world. It can use the eyes of its friend to see, the ears to hear, the brain to make thoughts clear, the heart to centralize its feelings. Living beings are therefore used by the dead as mediums for their experience of outward life. Therefore, those who wish to offer food, clothes, flowers, prayers to the dead, they themselves become mediums. Through their realization of the offering made, the dead realize it. It is just like a mirror throwing its reflection on another mirror which is not directly exposed to the object reflected. So anybody can be made, or is already, a medium. The difference is that a medium of the science now is a medium and knows he is one; others are ignorant of the secret of their own being. The secret of mediumship is little known even to so-called mediums themselves. For the medium cannot see the relatives of any person, the medium only focuses his heart to the heart of the person who asks for a message. It is first reflected upon the heart of the one who asks the question, and its next reflection is on the heart of the medium. Therefore, when the medium says what he reads already from the heart of the one who asks the question, the questioner cannot but say "Yes, yes."

There are, not doubt, false demonstrations. The theory of these cannot fit in with this doctrine, for theirs is a false reading, of which many mediums make a profession, and console or frighten the person, reading his nature and feeling his need.

In order to experience the life on earth fully, the sight which is one becomes two eyes, the one hearing becomes two ears, the one breath becomes two streams running through both nostrils. This shows that it is one life originally. The same life, by becoming dual manifests on the earth, and experiences fully the world of variety. However, its inclination, known or unknown to itself, is to become one some day. Therefore the eyes feel rested when they are closed, and the sight is one in its own essence; the ears feel rested when both are not active, when there is silence. Man feels inclined to cross his legs and to clasp his hands, which gives him a feeling of rest; which show that duality is the soul's transitory interest, but unity is its desired goal.

The physical body is a necessity for the soul to experience life in its fullness, and to attain thereby to the highest possible realization of life, just as eyes are necessary for the sense of sight to fulfill its purpose. Body is an instrument of mind, as mind is the instrument of the soul. The mind and body stand before the soul like a folding telescope in two parts held before the eyes, and although the experience gained through mind and body becomes the realization of the soul, soul still remains unstained by any experiences gained by mind and body. However, every experience is for the cause of the soul; and both mind and body remain nothing but instruments for spiritual attainment.

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.***weird sentence

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.***weird sentence; missing words?

There are moments when we should take from others love, favor, sympathy, service; and there are moments when we should give the same to others. While receiving these from others one must not shrink; and while giving the same one must not think of receiving any return, not even the favor of appreciation or thanks. Give whom you ought to give; and take what comes for you to take.

The greatest and most important center in the human body is the heart, which in medical terms may be perhaps called the solar plexus. The expression of love is often made by pressing one's hand on the breast; and in the same way one expresses sorrow and joy. This shows that every kind of feeling first strikes and is felt in the heart. It is the accepted theory of the scientists of all ages that the heart was first made and around the heart was formed the body. So it is with fruit and flowers. There is a heart in each of them and after the heart is formed, the body is formed. The heart being the origin, it has its influence on the whole body. By the practice of Zikr and Fikr this center is wakened. For there are two things which wake it -- one is to wake it by vibration, the other thing is the touch of Prana into its depths, which is done by breathing, which gives it a life. By this it becomes sensitive, and the senses become keen. One begins to realize then the meaning of the heart being like a mirror. It is the sensitiveness of the heart which gives it the mirror-like quality. When it is not wakened it is like a closed book. This mirror is two-sided, its two sides facing opposite ways; one facing within, the other without; and the secret of working with it is to close it from one side in order to make it take the reflection from the other. Once the heart is cleared from all its dust it becomes an instrument of the living wireless telegraphy, to receive the message from within or without.

There is mention made of the practice of Zikr in Qur'an, where the Prophet tells about the Sufis who gave themselves whole-heartedly to the contemplation of God, and who moved in contemplation as the branches of the trees in the air.

OUR PRESENT NEED:

I was told the other day by one of our workers that what we need today is money. I said, "No, what we need today is servers, workers." Money is a dead thing, workers are living things, and more precious. When every false thing can also have money for its accomplishment, why must not a good thing have money also? It must come, and will come. But our greatest need is of workers, faithful workers, with balance, with tact, with equilibrium, and with the desire to serve the cause. What I am asking today is ten thousand servers to begin our work. For the whole world ten thousand is a very small number. So long as I have not ten thousand to begin with I shall not consider that my work has begun; and my mureeds who sympathize with me and have devotion for the cause are asked to do their very best in helping to spread the cause, so that before long I may have the above-mentioned number to go on to spread the Message. Now, as to the idea how to do it: everyone has his friends, those who know him, who can be interested without his forcing upon them his principles. The workers must learn tact and the psychology of human nature. Human nature is very delicate; one may touch it wrongly. One must be as wise as a serpent. The real good that one can do is to bring spirituality; but man is afraid of his greatest benefit; and, by understanding this psychology, I am sure that the one who is destined by God to serve humanity will certainly get the help which is so needed.

The sun sets, the moon wanes, the spring passes, the year ends. I asked life to tell me of our destination. It said, "I live for ever." It is the realization of life's immortality which is our true end by our esoteric study and practices. By an intellectual study one might realize the immortality of the soul; but when one is not conscious of the soul one cannot be fully benefited by this knowledge, which is most high. It does not make one happy to think, or to say, "My soul is immortal," as long as one has not realized one's soul. It is the realization of the soul which gives one the conviction of immortality. There are two stages that the Sufi has to go through. The one stage is Yaqín; the next stage is Iman. Yaqín is the stage in which one perfectly believes, without the slightest doubt, "My soul is immortal." Iman is the stage when one is convinced by one's own realization, when one is the witness of one's own immortality. What are we to attain by meditation? Is it power that we attain? Is it inspiration that we wish to attain? No, it is the vision of our true being that we desire the most, it is to see our innermost self face to face. In this we experience the Presence of God; for we seek no longer the rewards of the Heavens -- our pursuit is to find the God within ourselves. Therefore it is necessary for every initiate to understand that our soul's aim in our esoteric studies and practices is to become acquainted with the life which is living as a running current through the circle of eternity.

The Healer in Consciousness has had little inclination to heal another; he only frees the consciousness from the objective world. The joy of his ecstasy is so great that he is then totally unaware of any physical existence. A good or bad action evokes neither his blessing nor his curse for he is equally unconscious of both; but his very presence creates peace on earth and love in men. A certain mood of his brings about earthquakes, floods, storms, disasters and wars; and again in a different mood he can bring peace, calm, and all the blessings of God to the earth. It is well known among Sufis how the words of Baba Farid of Moultan made the lightning to flash and the rain to fall.

A small gift given by the healer as a souvenir, or something to eat or drink, or to wear produces the effect of healing. A healer gives Tawiz, a charm, mostly of words chosen from among the Ninety-Nine Names of God which may be suited for the purpose. Also he magnetizes water by touching the rim of the glass and breathing over it; the same process can be repeated over the patient for his cure.

The healing power of music is even greater than that of sight or touch, because music, either with or without words, has its influence upon the soul. Music can heal diseases, as well as infirmities of the human character. The Samá uses singing to heal the obsessed and also for the treatment of mental illness, sleeplessness, hysteria and consumption. The Samás of Oriental Russia as well as the spiritualists of India, Arabia, Tibet, China, and Japan have special instruments to accompany their singing for healing. A particular kind of music can make a particular effect upon a person and he becomes kind or gentle, virtuous or spiritual according to its use.

The musical Healer must have studied the mystery of tone and rhythm, as every different tone or rhythm has a particular influence upon the human soul.

The Sufis have music in their assemblies, called Samá, and heal the heart frozen by the thought of self and illuminate the soul overclouded with illusion. The intoned Recitation of the Qur'an, which is called Qará`at, and the reciting of Darud and Namaz are all used for the same purpose. The proof of its healing power is shown clearly, as each word sung or recited devoutly, it deeply touches the heart and illuminates the soul. It seems as if it were long known to the soul and yet was lost from its memory. This sustains the soul just as food nourishes the body. The Sufis have called music Ghizá-i-Ruh, "the Food of the Soul."

Namaz is a religious ceremony which constitutes the most essential postures, although the Sufis make use of many more postures for their development.

1. Du'á -- joining both hands and holding them before the face, which, morally, expresses modesty, respect, and desire for some gift from above -- that is, from God. Philosophically, it is to return the vibrations of the prayer, or of the breath. Its spiritual meaning is that the prayer is to the self, and thus it is offered to oneself by spreading the hands before one's own eyes, through which peeps out the consciousness, in other words, the sight of God.

2. Salat -- placing the thumbs at the back of the lobes of both ears, with the palms of the hands spread out. This posture means the awakening of the ears to listen to the prayer recited by the self, paying no attention to all else.

3. Nuzuri -- standing upright, with the right hand folded over the left. This morally, expresses respect. Philosophically this expresses the helplessness of the mortal self before God Almighty. Spiritually, it represents the union of the two linked and formed in one; the symbol of which is the crescent, and the face in the midst is illustrated as a star.

4. Ruku -- standing bent, with both hands resting upon the knees and the head bent towards the ground, morally expresses the recollection of one's sins and repentance thereof in shame. Philosophically it is the surrender of our animal existence to the angelic. And spiritually it symbolizes the lower and higher part of the body uniting in one, making the syllable called Mim, the manifestation.

5. Nishast -- sitting resting on the knees, with the legs turned inwards, the weight on the left leg, the right leg free, the foot resting on the great toe, the hands upon both knees, morally expresses the dependence upon one, by sitting on the left leg and keeping the right foot leaning on the great toe. Philosophically it teaches balance. And, spiritually, the ankle upon which the person sits presses against the root of life's plant, upon which the illumination of the mystic depends.

6. Sajjádah -- lying on the ground, leaning on the great toes of both feet, knees, elbows, chin, and forehead touching the ground, is morally expressive of complete humility. Philosophically it relates the complete surrender of the mortal self before the immortal being. And spiritually it creates the picture of death to all organs of the body, lying upon the ground, and thus freeing the soul from its mortal prison.

7. Salaam -- turning the head first to the right, and then, after a short pause, to turn it to the left, standing in the posture of Nuzuri, or sitting in the posture called Nishast, morally expresses the bowing before the God of the North and South pole. Philosophically it expresses two points of one line, God and man. And spiritually it symbolizes witnessing God's Presence all around.

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.

While using the inner power, beware: There are taps of water which, once opened, may flood the whole world, and there are volcanos which, once made to burst, may set fire through the whole universe. Man must not play with the power latent in his soul; he must first know toward what end he uses the power, and to what extent he is able to control and use the power.

The lotus spoken of by mystics in various Eastern cults is the root of the human body; if the body is pictured as a wheel, not round but oval, and a line drawn through the center, one end of which was in the center of the brain, and the other end in the lower part of the body (in the center), the lotus part would be called a glowing fire and the head a globe upon it. This fire is blown by Shaghal, and the flame rising from it illuminates the globe -- the head. As the sense of sight is situated in the head it then perceives the light when it is turned within; the brain and the sight so charged with the light from within when turned on to the life without see through life deeply. This is the true clairvoyance. It is only symbolically expressed when mystics say that the glance of a sage has the power to open every object and to see through it; in reality it is the light which the sage throws out from within that makes the same things clear to his vision which are only half seen by the ordinary man. There is a symbolical legend in India of a cobra who has a precious stone in his head, and when he wishes to find his food he takes out the stone and places it upon the ground, which become so illuminated, that in that light he easily finds his food; when he has found what he wanted he puts the stone back in his head. This is symbolical of the Shaghil who has the light in his head kindled. When he opens his outer senses he throws the light out, and in that light, all things become visible, are reflected.

The perfection of concentration is in seeing the same image one concentrates projected on all forms one sees. And the development of meditation is in the realization of the idea of one's meditation in all things of life.

A mureed comes in touch with Murshid whatever be the distance or space between them if only he forgets himself for a moment and merges in the self of Murshid. The second step is to even forget that act of merging in the thought of Murshid; it is at that moment that his soul and the soul of Murshid become one, and all he thinks, feels and does at that moment becomes the thought, feeling and action of Murshid.

A Sufi is the one who guards his knowledge and wisdom and power in humble guise. He does not dispute on spiritual subjects with everybody, for this reason: that the spiritual evolution of everyone is different. The knowledge of one cannot be the knowledge of another, nor is the understanding of one the understanding of another. A Sufi does not discuss beliefs, for he knows that at every step of the spiritual evolution the belief of a man changes, until he arrives at a final belief which words are unable to explain. The Sufi does not learn only by the study of books but by the study of life. The whole life is like an open book to him and every experience is a step forward in his spiritual journey. A Sufi would rather learn than teach. He begins his life by discipline and resignation, realizing that the path that leads to the goal of freedom is the path of self control, patience, resignation, renunciation. Freedom is the object of all esoteric schools, but one must not make the mistake that one can begin with that which is the end. To expect liberty in the beginning is to be like a seed that would think, "I must at once be a tree and bear fruit." The fruit is the outcome and object, the culmination of its existence. So is freedom the result of the journey. The path of freedom is an ideal, to understand the real meaning of which is not everybody's work.

The method of the Sufi consists in this: that he unites himself with his innermost being; his heart is the shrine of his God, and his body is His temple.

The idea of Karma and Reincarnation which came from the race of Hindus never has met with the full satisfaction of that race itself. The influence of Islam, the ideas of the Sufis made a great change, and great poets like Nanak and Kabir, Sundar and Dadu, Ramdas and Tukaram, Swami Narayan and Dayananda Saraswati, Devendranath Tagore and Keshewe Chandra Sen, all these religious reformers of India could not erase this idea from the surface of Indian mentality upon which it was engraved for ages. But they modified it to such as extent that hardly anyone speaks about these things. Especially the wise, the sages, hold as their object in life Mukti -- liberation from the captivity caused by Karma and reincarnation.

It is a worn-out doctrine of the East, which was revivified by the theosophical activity in the West. In the first place it appealed to the people because it answered immediately the question why one is well-off in life and why another suffers; and the idea of reincarnation gave a readily justifying answer: because of the actions of the past, which give no scope to further argument on the subject. It at once satisfies the intellect; though the answer of Christ was different, when somebody asked him, "Lord.........*** what goes here?

It always appeals to the heart whose treasure is on earth to think that even if we passed from this earth, we shall not be taken away for ever. We shall come again and those who have not experienced the life of the earth sufficiently and who have not achieved their desire in this life, they only are content to think that next time they will come and accomplish it. Then there are some who find that there is a little time left in life and they have not yet improved themselves. They can hope that perhaps at their next visit to the earth they will finish the task. Some become happy at the thought that, "If I am not rich this time it does not matter; before this time I was a king and after I have paid my debts in this life in the next life I may become a king too." Some for their likes and dislikes in the world give the reason of reincarnation, past acquaintances or relationship. This gives a scope to the play of imagination which very often arrives to very funny ideas about reincarnation. Once two people thought that they were husband and wife in the last incarnation and at this realization the joy was greater than if they were newly married.

Hafiz says, "Sing, O Singer, the new song of the new life every moment." For a Sufi to think "what I was and what I will be" takes him away from the vision of the ever-springing stream of life.

There are two important centers in the body, which are developed by the practices which are given to the initiates: the heart and head. The head is for perception and conception, the heart is for expression. It is not true when people say, that person has a powerful head. A person can have a brilliant head. Often thought power directed by the eyes makes one think that there is the power at the back of the eyes in the head. In reality it is the power of the breath and balance of sight which gives the sensation of power, although this power is nothing in comparison to the power of heart. It is the power of heart which works through word or action. When the heart-power is less, man, however intelligent, proves to be weak. Even the influence of the presence comes from the heart-center. When the heart-center is void of power a person with all his intellectual knowledge and learning shows no influence. When the power of heart is increased life becomes a phenomenon. There is nothing in the world which one with powerful heart cannot accomplish; only, before one develops any power, the ground must be prepared with moral culture, which constitutes three principles: harmony, usefulness, and harmlessness.

What method does the Sufi consider to enlighten or to inspire mureeds?

Zikr, Fikr, or any other exercises are given to prepare the mind of the mureed and no doubt these exercises have their great advantages, but these are the part of the mureed's work. But what Murshid can impart to the mureed is not so much in words but in what is called in the Sufi terms Tawajjuh, which means as a verbal meaning "a glance" but as its right interpretation "attention." Murshid's duty towards his mureed is as the work of the sun towards the plants. The sun gives its light for the plants to grow and to flourish, to blossom and to bring forth fruits and flowers. And in all these stages of the growth of the plant there is a great part that the sun has to perform. So it is with the Murshid, who does not only give his experience in the spiritual path in words but the life, the light, which silently helps the soul of the mureed to gradually unfold. Therefore many mureeds, ignorant of this secret, begin to wonder no sooner they are initiated, "What have I received from Murshid?" And when they begin to look in their pockets they cannot find anything. If they see in the words what he said they can find the same, perhaps, spoken in a different form by someone else in some or other book, and they begin to think there is nothing new that is being taught, it is the same old story of thousands of years, which has been so constantly repeated. But if one were to understand the truth about it one would know the words are the cover over that what is brought. Under that cover it is light, it is life, and one whose heart is awake to the smallest degree can perceive it.

For six months after initiation I went daily to my Murshid and not once I had a lesson, and all the time he talked to me about birds and flowers, and all sorts of things. And then one day after those six months he began to talk of philosophy, and when I took out my notebook he stopped. Truth is the real Illumination, and the real learning is not in words, but in the Presence and not in the words. And I really know the times when I received, and these were only one or two times, and those times were when through my devotion or humility the heart of my Murshid was moved, and those moments when the heart is opened are like the key. Some beauty, some humility just for a moment in the mureed touches the heart of the Murshid. The secret of discipleship is not study or contemplation, but devotion; at that moment it is not Murshid but God Who is seen. The door is unlocked, the shrine is opened, it is no more Murshid but God; and from that time I realized that, Murshid apart -- anyone in the world, mother, father, servant, poor person, beggar, innocent child, helpful friend, even through them God can answer the cry of the heart, if one went at the right moment and knocked at the door. But it is only such a wave of sincerity of feeling that can open the door. For life has the power to open the door of Eternal Life. Ways of study and contemplation all take time but there is no limit to the deeps of life. By contemplation how far can we pierce through life? One, two, or three planes, then we must stop, but the nearest way of all is by Love and Devotion, for it is God's way, and God is Love. God cannot be deceived -- God will not be deceived. When any one has taken this way it is by the God in him. And as we give all things they come back to us through Love. The more we give, the more comes back. Love has its limitations when it is directed to limited beings, but love that is directed to God has no limitations, God alone deserves all love, and the freedom of Love is in giving it to God.

Devotion to the Teacher is not for the sake of the Teacher, it is for God. Even in the case of a Teacher the devotee may make a mistake by halting at the feet of the Teacher and not progressing to God. The Teacher is a shield covering God, a gate through which one has to go. As it is necessary to enter the gate, so to reach God it is necessary to have devotion to the Teacher first. But the ideal of real progress is that man, through his devotion, arrives to God, freeing himself from all limitations and bondages. For the Teacher, one has gratitude, but love and devotion is for God.

The question which is very often asked, whether life gives more sorrow or more joy, is very difficult to answer. For its true answer is, life is joy, and at the same time life contradicts it. Really speaking, the nature of life is joy, the soul is joy itself and the experience one has which is contrary to it comes from the limitation of this dense earth. Man's real being is joy itself and man seeks for joy by all different ways, by gaining wealth, power, renown, greatness, or by seeking for pleasures, comfort, by being good or virtuous, pious or spiritual. In different forms, according to his particular evolution, man seeks after joy. And yet ninety-nine out of one hundred can say in this world, "The more we pursue joy the further we seem to have been removed from it."

Coming to the cause of the lack of joy, one realizes by pondering on the subject that it is not pursuing after joy that results in disappointment, it is the wrong method adopted in the pursuit of joy which brings, instead of joy, sorrow or disappointment. For instance, when the source of joy is in the North and man mistakenly goes in its pursuit to the South, when joy is in Heaven and man looks for it on the earth, when joy is within and man wishes to find it without, then naturally he meets with disappointment. It would not be an exaggeration if I were to say that the whole tragedy that one experiences through life is caused by error, but by that I do not mean that there is any human being on the face of the earth who is not subject to error. Nevertheless the lack of joy is the result of error. Nothing can take away joy from the man who has right understanding. Through all conditions of life he will retain it, but the one who lacks understanding, nothing in the world or Heaven there is which can bring him a lasting joy. This shows that, in reality, joy does not come from the external life, though always it seems so. Joy has only one source and that is the heart of man, which is the globe over his soul's light. And the absence of joy does not mean that the soul has lost its light. The sun does not lose its light when under an eclipse. For the moment it is a shadow of the earth which covers the sun and yet it cannot always cover. And so are the moments of depression and sorrow. They do not belong to the human soul, they are just the shadows of the earth which eclipse the heart for a moment and pass away. It must be remembered that the heart is the source of joy and if it was only kept pure and glowing then joy would always be yours.

There are two aspects of life, which are named Zat and Sifat in Sufi terms and Purusha and Prakriti in the terms of the Hindus. These two aspects may be seen collectively in the whole nature, also with individuals, that one part of our being is unseen, unknown, unlimited, and beyond perception, which in the Sufi terms is called Shuhud. The part of our being which is known to us and with which we identify ourselves is the part which is limited, visible, audible, tangible, and intelligible in every sense of the word.

Mastery is the nature of the Shuhud part of our being. Subjection to the laws, to conditions, and to one's own desires, which enslave man, is the nature of the Wujud part of our being, which part is the only part of our being which is known to us. The consciousness of the Wujud part keeps one among the sheep, however good and pious that person may be; but the consciousness of the Shuhud part of our being makes the spirit lion, raising the spirit above all fears and doubts and above weaknesses. The Wujud part of our being, which is always before us, keeps us poor, what ever be the condition of our life, helpless even if one were supported by a huge army, unhappy even if one had all the comforts and conveniences that this earth can offer. But when one is conscious of the Shuhud part of our being, then in all conditions of life -- however troublesome and difficult, and under all situations -- the spirit is rich, powerful, contented, and peaceful.

How is this consciousness of Shuhud attained? By closing our eyes to our limited self and by opening our heart to God, not that God Who is called a king and pictured as being in Heaven, but the God Who is all perfection, Who is in Heaven and on earth and Who is within and without, the God Who is All in all, Who is visible, tangible, audible, perceptible, intelligible, and yet beyond man's comprehension. No one has ever seen Him, no one has touched Him. It is the consciousness of the God Who is never absent which gives that illumination, that riches, that strength, that calm and peace to the soul, for which the soul has taken the journey through this world of limitations; and here on earth, by experiencing life through the form of man, it accomplishes its purpose and the wish with which it has started from Heaven is fulfilled on earth.

Esotericism must be considered something beyond conception. That is, that which is within conception cannot be esotericism, it is exotericism. Often I am asked by the workers of the Sufi Order, "If anyone asks us `What is Sufism?' what shall we answer? What are its tenets? What are its principles? What are its dogmas? Its doctrines?" We may give the objects of the Movement, the thoughts of the Sufis, the ideas from our publications; but that is not the answer. If Sufism was tangible, then it would not be Sufism. All different ideas that you receive from your Initiator, they are your Initiator's ideas, they are not Sufism. You may give them to another because it is something that you have benefited by yourself as Sufism. Yet for you to understand for yourself you must know that Sufism is beyond all ideas. Therefore if it came to argue on this point with those belonging to the occult, mystical, esoteric schools of different denominations on the point of the difference between their own philosophy and Sufism, you will find yourself at a loss if you will discuss on comparative doctrines, dogmas, or principles.

For no doctrines, dogmas, or principles Sufism stands, calling them its own.***syntax The Sufi says, "Wisdom does not belong to me alone or my sect. It cannot be labelled with the word Sufi. Wisdom belongs to the human race, wisdom belongs to God. I, as any other being, desire to understand better every day more and more. And it is my pleasure and privilege to share what I consider good and beautiful with my fellow men."

Never in the history of the world has Sufism been made a sect which wanted to make many of the same sect. It has never been nor will it ever be. It is an esoteric school of long traditions. It remains as such. Yes, it happens that the Message born of this School is destined to reach far and wide. That gives us a different task of spreading the Message, which stands apart from the Sufi Order, which is an Esoteric School. It has been our honor that the seekers came to us in all ages. We did not seek them. And this dignity we must always maintain.

Now the question is, how shall we make for ourselves intelligible what Sufism is, even if we did not try to tell it fully to the uninitiated? It may be answered that Sufism is the essence of religions. It is like the soul, not body. And as we cannot imagine soul as something material so we cannot imagine the essence, which is spirit. Only what can give us an insight into what is Sufism is the result we attain from it. And what result is it? It is a gradual unfoldment of our soul. It is the light rising within ourselves and gradually illuminating for us the life outside. It is the joy that we feel at experiencing all the beauty and our horizon of a sublime vision being every day wider. We become more appreciative of all that is good and beautiful, and so we express it in our thought and feeling and action. We feel a greater energy, courage, power, patience, hope. Life becomes for us worth living. We may not find ourselves in this world at home, but Sufism makes our visit here on earth more enjoyable. Nevertheless, the homesickness is felt ever so much more keenly. We feel in ourselves greater power, growing inspiration, greater self-control, and expression of our soul in all things we do. We feel harmonious within ourselves and comfortable in our atmosphere.

It is not the medicine that counts, it is the result that it produces that counts. Sufism is the process by which the above-said result is perceived. By making it doctrines, dogmas, tenets, principles, we only make it what it is not. The simple ones who are not contented with little explanation or with no explanation may be left to please themselves. It is not by any rigid principles that we have to attract humanity, it is by our being.

One often notices a tendency in the traveller on the spiritual path, who considers the change of spiritual practices as a sign of progress.***weird sentence But this is an error. And it comes from the habit that one has made by studying the knowledge of the outer world, as it is taught in the schools and colleges and universities, one thing after another. So he is accustomed to feel that by getting a new practice he is advancing. In reality it is quite the opposite. It is not the change of practices, it is the continuity of them which brings it to a desired result.

One sees the same in music. The best player of music, an instrument, considers the scales as the most important thing to play. The others will go on from one music to another, but the best player will still continue his scales. So it is with the singer. It is not by changing of the song the singer becomes great. It is by singing the same song more and more efficiently that brings the singer to fame. In this is the secret of spiritual progress.

Most often it is the lack of patience that keeps a person back from advancing. Spiritual practices in time become a capital that brings an interest. This interest makes the capital larger and larger. In order to be rich, therefore, one does not need a new coin every day; the same coin can make one rich. The benefit that one derives from a practice in the first month that he has begun it is much smaller compared to the benefit he derives by the same practice in the next year. And the way the benefit increases cannot be explained in words; it becomes unimaginably greater, which comes as the reward of patience.

It is not the change of practice which is necessary to progress; it is one's belief in the effect of the practice, it is the centralizing of one's mind upon it, it is the hope with which one looks forward to the effect that the practice brings. When a person says, "No, I don't feel anything with this practice," he may just as well go on saying that, and he will never feel anything from it. The fact is not that the practice does not bring him anything but that he derives unconsciously what the practice will bring to him. There is sometimes money invested which does not bring interest for some time. That does not mean that the money is lost. The day when the interest will commence it will come to you. Therefore what is needed is patience in the absence of the effect that one expects to derive from it.

***dup in Sgath2

There are certain practices which help a person in speaking. One practice is to breathe through the nostrils deeply***syntax and to bring the breath from the diaphragm and then to exhale that breath by blowing it out by the mouth. And such hundred breaths must be taken either lying in bed or sitting on the floor cross-legged or standing.

Besides that, closing the eyes and looking at the five-pointed star, holding the thought of the star still and not allowing the mind to waver (this practice helps you to keep on your subject, on the subject that you are speaking), every day for five minutes.***can we rearrange this? Besides this there is a concentration which must be done just before you are speaking, and that concentration is that, "With all those who are in this room I unite in God with my whole heart." There must be no barrier, that this person who is sitting in that corner is my enemy, or that person in that corner is my worst opposer, that thought must not be there. The thought must be that, "All those who are sitting here are my friends, I wholeheartedly unite with them in God." That produces a wonderful effect. When you are one with all there is no barrier, that is a great secret.

Q. Sometimes some people are very difficult to talk to.

A. That feeling is not right, that feeling must be put out of one's mind. In singing also you will find the same. It is to be thankful that you could much better than you do. It would spoil your whole lecture. When there is a thought of antagonism the whole thing is spoiled. You may repeat in your mind that ". . .you are all my friends. I sympathize with you all and I unite with you all in God."

Q. Is it true if one begins a speech, does one really see the audience. I thought he looked at the audience but did not see them.

A. It depends. In my case, if there were a thousand persons in my audience each person I see separately, not as he appears outside but as he is inside. His attitude towards my lecture and towards me, each person individually.

Q. *** what goes here?

A. With closed eyes see the five-pointed star and repeat Wazifa at the same time: Ya Wahhabo, inhale and exhale, repeat again. "Divine Flow of Inspiration," means the sacred name of God.***syntax The God who represents the flow of inspiration or the stream of life. In many ways a very useful word, in business, in profession, in reading, in writing. One must picture sometimes with Ya Wahhabo the flowing life or running water, because that symbolizes progress in life.

Q. Is there any special time of day which is best for this practice?

A. First thing in the morning.

And now after a lecture, if anyone asked a question, there are considerations in giving the answer. There are answers which you cannot give, or which you must not give. In that case it is better that this is a question which can be answered privately, afterwards. Then there are personal questions a person may ask and the speaker must be wise enough not to commit; if not he is gone. For instance, what do you believe, what is your opinion about it, what do you think about it? The speaker is not there to say his personal opinion or what he personally believes, or perhaps his belief is so great and so high, it cannot be put in words. Therefore always avoid it; say that is a personal question. One says, "What would you do in the case?" Always say, that, "Well, I would not advise you to do the same as I would do in this case." Because every person must do what they would do, not what another person would do in that case because it is not only the case, it is the person also to be counted. Then there are questions in which people want you to commit, and if you commit then you are the loser. If you do not commit then you have gained. It is just like a game, when there is a question and answer between the audience. Either he can be caught or he can keep above it. To keep above it is never to commit, as soon as once he commits hundreds of questions will come to bring him down.

So you see he must feel at the time, "I must not commit." But now you may ask what committing means. Committing means saying something which leaves you in the hand of the other in such a way that he can contradict you and you have no support from your own I remaining there to hold your argument high.***weird sentence Very often you may be right and yet you may commit, that is the dreadful part of it. It is not by saying something wrong that you commit but by saying something right, by standing responsible for what one has said. That is what one has to be very careful of. Or by committing means that from your own principle you say what is right, but from the principle of the others you could be defeated. But if you had not said it you would not be defeated. For instance, a speaker told a story; he says that, when the saint was sitting under the tree and the thief came and said, "I want a place to hide, the police are after me." The saint said, "Climb on the tree and sit on the branch." The police came and asked, "Have you seen that thief?" He said, "No." And now that speaker has said it. The speaker appreciated on the part of the saint and felt that is all right. The audience asks, "Are you of the same opinion of the saint?" "Was the saint not against the state?" Or, "Did the saint not encourage him to thieve?" and, "The saint told a lie." The saint could be accused of three things. If the speaker was strong-headed he would say, "But it was a saint." Then the speaker has done wrong. Because "I thought what he did was right," but the others do not think so, he stands guilty before the others. That is the delicate point. The higher you evolve the less you are caught by principle of the ordinary mob. But at the same time if you commit you are attacked by all, condemned by all.

Q. But how could the saint encourage the thief and tell a lie?

A. The eyes of the saint did not see the thief. The eyes have only seen God and nothing else. If it was a thief then everybody is a thief for the saint, in one form or the other. Only in one form it is not seen as a thief, in another form it is. He is above it. Therefore he can see. If others follow his point of view they will be wrong. If they will encourage it they will do wrong. For a speaker it is a difficult thing, the speaker's position is difficult, he is before the public, they can condemn him and they can never understand his point of view. So the speaker must know the game; it is a game. You may just take one word and slip out. Put one word as a screen and get out. The person is looking at the screen and he is out. It is just like a juggler who says, "Look, look here," and it is gone there.

(Class for Candidates, July 22nd l924)*** include this line?

A seeker in the path of Truth often wonders if he is really progressing. But if there is any hindrance to the progress, it is his wondering about it. To wonder if I am progressing is like for a little child to wonder if I am really growing. Certainly he is growing. The one who seeks the spiritual path is sought after by the Spirit. Ups and downs of life must not confuse one. If there is any going backwards, it is the thought of going backwards that causes it.

There is no spiritual progress in knowing more things than one has known. On the contrary, the spiritual progress is to be seen in the attitude one takes toward things, in one's outlook on life. Spiritual progress is the ennobling of the soul, within and without. If there is any sign of a person who is progressing spiritually, it is that he is softened in his nature, melted in his feelings, gentler in his doings, more thoughtful, more considerate, more knowing, therefore more understanding, and it is the understanding that makes one forgiving.

The best way of growing spiritually is allowing oneself to grow, no pushing oneself, in the spiritual path, forward. Natural progress is the best progress; one who is convinced of arriving one day at his destination must, sooner or later, reach it. It is not, also, practicing the meditative exercises but living them in one's everyday life that brings one to spiritual realization.

In the East an adept has an attitude that "Everyone is better than me." This attitude helps him very much, for it is a humble attitude. And this gives a manure to the ground, which becomes fertile and bears spiritual fruit.

Q. Is there not a tendency the West to force the growth?

A. Yes, there is a tendency. A person becomes over-anxious to reach the goal that his soul is yearning every moment, not knowing that this over-anxiousness itself is the only hindrance and there is nothing else. It is just like in running the race. A person who is over-anxious of winning feels his legs heavy to run. At other times he will not feel heavy, but at the time when he is in the race he will feel heavy. In the Persian language there is a word for God, and that word is Khuda. The meaning of Khuda is "Self-Revealing." Once the emperor Aurangzeb asked the great Sufi of Gwalior, Sarmad, to come and join the prayers at the State mosque, for he knew that this man, who is venerated and revered by so many, by his coming millions of people will be influenced. He used to live in nature, in mountains, alone, in solitude. He wrote a verse in answer to this invitation in which he said, "God is called Khuda, `Who Comes By Himself.' If it is His nature to come by Himself, why must I go in His pursuit? He must come, if it is the right time for Him to come." One might ask, "Must we have that tendency? If we had, then we don't need to do anything in the spiritual pursuit." And my answer is, no, we must not have that tendency, but we must know this: For the difference between Sarmad and us is that he was in Nature, one with God; for we are in the crowd, in this worldly life, every moment of which robs us from our spiritual goal. So for us to strike the path is the only thing that saves us, or would save us. Nevertheless, striking the spiritual path is right, but being over-anxious of progress would not prove advisable in the end.

Q. Is it the question of being quite simple about it, that then you grow and you don't know that you grow?

A. Yes, that is so, that is the only one thing that matters.

But really speaking, the spiritual progress is easier than anything else, because it is more natural than anything else. All other things we do are artificial. Even the action of eating is artificial. We cook food which Nature has made for us, and by changing it we change our body. Our natural strength, which was produced to eat raw things, has been lost for ages. And so, living in artificial things, what is most natural to us we have forgotten. Are the birds and animals not spiritual? Certainly they are. They get that benefit because they live in Nature, they are natural. We need striking this path because our life is not so natural as it ought to be. Besides, spiritual realization and learning are two things. I have told you that once, after six months, my Murshid spoke to me about the inner things, metaphysics. For six months after my initiation he never spoke to me on that subject, always about different things, ordinary things. And as my mind was metaphysical, the day he spoke about it, I jumped at it. The first thing was, I began to look in my pocket, if there was a notebook to write it down. And no sooner I took out my notebook and pencil, my Murshid finished. I was expected to keep my heart as an open notebook, that what fell on it was engraved on it for ever. And so it happened. Do you think that now so many years have passed I have forgotten what he had taught (told)? Not one word. It has been taken as a kind of seed in the ground. What has been taken by the soul as a seed has grown. Never forgotten. Every word. But there is a still more striking story of Murshid. And it is not very long before -- it is only thirty years before -- this happened: There was a mureed of a murshid who lived in Hyderabad, a most brilliant youth, with sparkling intelligence, a mind that could instantly grasp any idea that was placed before it. Really it was most interesting for Murshid to talk with him. One day Murshid was perhaps experiencing his ecstasy, inner joy, a moment when he was in his exaltation. This mureed, as usual, asked him a question. Murshid said, "Silence!" He obeyed. And, would you believe, never again spoke a word to anyone. He came home, the people expected him at home to speak. He never spoke. He came to Murshid, he never spoke. Murshid never asked him to speak. And this instant dated the greatness of that soul. That the moment he closed his lips, he was lifted up from earth to Heaven, so to speak. The power that developed in him brought the whole Hyderabad at his feet. The people who had not known the Murshid knew through him, for people for miles at a distance began to be healed. His presence inspired the minds, healed the bodies, illuminated souls, without one word he would speak. He was thus given a name, "Shaikh Khamush," the silent saint, and the life of this saint was wonderful. Numberless souls were benefitted by him, and it would not take one moment for him to inspire a person -- just his glance could inspire. I do not say this is a principle to follow. We are in a different world, a different time. But we can appreciate the thing just the same. We can see the secret of it, that by it we can be benefitted, that from morning till evening many unnecessary words we could avoid, and that means extra added force.

The moon is a dead planet, and so also was Christ on the cross, dead and death. On one side we see the dead, on the other side death. The Qur'an says, "Die before death." It is the sun that functions in the moon, because the moon is dead.

Q. Must every soul to be saved, come through the One Door?

A. Every soul is a door and the One Triumphal Arch is God Himself, where all must meet, and when the door of the Self is opened then the person is safe. The safety of all souls is under one Arch, and that Arch is God, knowledge of God, knowledge of the Truth, which is the Savior. All our work is to lead our fellows to that realization which alone will save. Why are we the few, so privileged? Always the few, the privileged, reach the many. In the history of the world the sacrifice of the few adds to the benefit of the multitude. Our work is pioneer work, our troubles have no end. Nevertheless we must not compare the privileges with the troubles; privilege is always a privilege. The greatest privilege is that we are allowed to become human beings, that we are allowed to be under the sun; to feel there is something to reach to, and that life has allowed us to work in the field of service.

For those who tread the path of mastery a battery of power is necessary. This battery of power, no doubt, is created by three things: sympathy wakened, self-discipline, and self-confidence. This power, just like a plant, needs sun and water. The water for it is purity of life, the sun for it is wisdom. A person, however intelligent and good willing, is incapable of possessing this power unless he observes the above-said conditions. In order to maintain this power one thing must be observed in everyday life, to have control upon the desire of outgoing. Because for the time, for a moment one feels a satisfaction out of the passion of outgoing. But in the end one finds that one has lost more than gained. What use that generous one is who possesses no wealth? One must have sufficient fund of power in order to use one's tendency of outgoing. If not, you will always find that most good and kind and sympathetic persons, by their nature of outgoing, they become physical wrecks. What is magnetism? Magnetism is this reserved power. And the phenomenon that it shows and the wonders that are performed by this power are too great for words to express; nothing there is ***syntax that this power cannot conquer, sooner or later. And it is of very great importance for those who walk in the path of meditation to preserve their magnetism.

Q. Do you think that we should consciously preserve that magnetism?

A. Yes, constantly. Because what happens is that one is apt to lose that power which protects one from catching illnesses. If not, say, cold or cough is attracted, merely by the reason that you have given out too much and now you have no power to prevent things from coming. A loving and giving person always goes out to everyone, and this outgoing person, sometimes he does not know how much he has given out, and therefore he finds lacking this energy which must support him against grosser magnetism, against disturbing influences.

Q. Is the best way to meditate about it every day for some time?

A. It is a good thing to think about it every day for some minutes, to reserve your forces in order to stand the life of everyday life. But do we not see? Most sympathetic persons in everyday life, they are the ones who seem to be losing the power, because owing to their sympathy and goodness they pour themselves out and then become weak. The best way of reserving energy is to have a silence. That picks up. Whenever one thinks that one has given away too much just take half an hour's silence to relax.

Q. Also by deep breathing?

A. Just rhythmic breathing. Because if a person is full, he cannot take in. But if he relaxes he can take in. Relaxing makes empty, by relaxing one is open, as soon as you relax. It is just like a vessel which is covered on the top. There may be nothing in, but it is covered on the top. But when you take away the cover and then put water in it, it will fill. The relaxing is really emptying oneself, making no resistance. Relaxing is the best way of concentration. Prana is always taken from the sphere, the essence, if we allow it to.

Q. What thought to hold during the relaxation?

A. "I am emptied to be refilled, that magnetism is to be filled."

The fundamental principle of esoteric teaching, as suggested by Shiva Mahadeva, is of a great interest for an adept. The five senses which are occupied outwardly, perceiving outward experiences, must be turned inward. For instance, first the organs must be turned inwardly, and then naturally, automatically, the senses will turn inward. For instance, in closing the eyes, still the eyes are looking outward; no, they must be turned inward. One might ask, "Where must they be turned?" They must be turned in, three centers, inward, making them one. Between the eyebrows in the center, on the bridge of the nose, and downwards toward the tip of the nose. One might ask, "What if we turn the eyes to the two sides, right and left, downwards?" The answer is that it does not centralize the light of the eyes, it only separates it, and by separating it, it breaks it. It is the negative and positive forces to be brought together, not to be put asunder. Therein is the power of sight, in insight. Now one might ask, "What about the sense of taste which is the tongue?" The tongue is turned by the adept inward towards the palate with closed mouth. One might ask, "What about the ears?" The ears are closed and the hearing is directed inward by closing the ears. Then one might ask, "What about the smell?" That is done by closing the nostrils and by centering breath inward in the center of the forehead. One might ask, "What about the sense of touch?" Centralizing the energy by closing the hands, also by sitting cross-legged. It must be understood that man is a five-pointed star, one point is his head, two upper points are his hands, and the two other points are his legs. A star which is exhausting its energy, life, and magnetism by shooting out its influences outwardly. And when all the energy is centralized by all five senses, also by the position of sitting in meditation, the negative and positive, the two powers which work in man, Jelal and Jemal power, and the seat to which is the right side and the left side of man, these two powers unite in the center. And from that an illumination is produced which becomes the light on the path of man, and makes everything in his path easy. A man who earnestly practices this, preserving his magnetism and energies with faith and trust, without failing, nothing there is in the world that he will find too difficult to accomplish. Because it is by this process that man becomes like a luminous star.

The Seer's discerning of the condition of those before him and away from him is likened to the process of eating and digesting. The food, of whatever sort it may be, cereals or vegetable, sweet or sour, it is felt in the mouth. Once it is swallowed then what is felt about it is the feeling, not outer distinctions but the inner essence. Therefore what is known to the mouth is the taste it has, the feeling it has, the savor it has. But what is known to the body is the assimilation of its subtle properties. What happens is that man's mind is fully occupied in distinguishing by the experience of the mouth. And therefore he remains unaware of those subtle distinctions which also he makes after he has swallowed the food. Therefore every person, every kindhearted person, every pure-hearted person is capable of discerning the condition of every soul. And why he cannot discern is only because his sense is not occupied with experiencing the subtle distinctions which are experienced not by mind but to the soul. When the Twelve Apostles on the descending of the Holy Spirit learned to understand all languages, it does not mean that they began to learn to understand Hebrew, Greek, and Latin language; they understood each soul's language, as a person with keen sense would feel that subtle savor, the taste, and the effect of the food he eats after having swallowed it.

Now, suppose there are two persons, the seer and the person whom he sees, whose condition he perceives. His part of the work whose condition is being perceived is like the action of the mouth in eating; his mind is busy in experiencing a certain condition. And the work of the seer is the condition of the sense, that after swallowing that food, how the sense distinguishes its subtle distinctions. Therefore the seer re-analyses something which the person whom he sees has analyzed with his mind. In the case of a seer it is becoming one with another person, experiencing what his mind has experienced, the same thing with one's soul. For the seer's mind has not experienced and therefore that part he lacks. What he gets is the subtle part of the experience which goes in the soul of the seer. It does not mean that the seer cannot perceive mind, but by perceiving mind the seer limits his powers, because he descends. By keeping himself in the soul, although he gets subtle experience of another person, but in time the sense develops so the seer knows the condition of a person, even more that the person himself knows. And the language of the seer by which he perceives the condition of another mind is the subtle perception in his soul which in time becomes so distinct that for him it is louder than a spoken word.

As an individual outwardly passes through five different stages of life so inwardly a soul passes through five different stages. As there is infancy, childhood, youth, middle age and advanced years, so there is an unfoldment of the soul which shows five different stages toward the ripening of the soul. And therefore whatever be the age outwardly, the soul can have its own stage of development; it does not depend upon the outer age. There is one time when life to a soul is attractive, there is another stage when life to the soul is tempting, there is another stage when life to the soul is a bewilderment, there is another stage when life to the soul is futile, and there is another stage when life to the soul is most beautiful. It is the soul's infancy when life to the soul is attractive, everything, right or wrong, good or bad, has an attraction for that soul. It is ready to jump in a pit, to fall in a ditch, to run into thorns, to fall in the mud. Everything is attractive, good or bad, which comes along. That is the soul's infancy. The soul at that time is new and vigorous, appreciative and observing, just like an infant. For an infant even fire is most beautiful. It would like to put some fire in its pocket. And that is the condition of the generality. You must never think that infant souls are seldom to be found. You must know that the largest number of humanity are infant souls. I shall never forget one day in Calcutta I saw a majdhub standing in the midst of the street laughing wholeheartedly. No one would know what was there for this majdhub to laugh, there was nothing apparent. But it took me some time to find out what made him laugh so, and I found out that everything made him laugh, the rushing of the people, so absorbed and involved in their little fancies and interests in life, the great importance that every person gave to the little things of life which amount to very little in the end, and to see them so excited and so absorbed in their little fancies, that was enough for the majdhub to laugh and amuse himself. Anyone tuned to the pitch, seeing from there how it looks, before him it was a doll's play.

And then comes stage when everything does not attract the soul; all that the soul has taken to heart, it is that which attracts. Their heart is where their treasure is. That is the time when there comes the time of temptation. Everything that one desires one wishes to have, one values, one gives importance to; it is that after which one goes, that is where is his temptation. What very often happens in a disappointment. But still if one thing disappoints there is another thing ready again to make him forget it. And so he goes on, one thing after another, always building hopes, always fixing his mind upon things, always finding it comes to nothing, and again always ready to be given into temptation. And so he goes on through life. There is never an end to his temptations. If not one thing, there is another thing. And there is never satisfaction gained in the things that he is tempted with, for they are only the shadows covering reality.

And there is a third stage, which is likened to the middle age of the soul, when life is not necessarily attractive not tempting, it is wonderful, It offers him an interest to look through it, to study, to understand it. And this very world is which he has lived several years, then begins to change at every moment. His field of study becomes vast. Every experience, every condition, every action, every person, teaches him. What he has learned today he unlearns tomorrow, because there is a new experience, perhaps contradicting what he has known yesterday. And so he goes along the way of unfoldment, and life offers greater and greater wonders in all things one sees. He observes and he sees and he wonders and at times he is completely bewildered at it. Nature apart, its mystery, its secret, its character aside, human nature that one sees from morning till evening, that the ways of the wise and the ways of the foolish, and the ways of the right-doer and the ways of the wrongdoer, and how things change and turn, and hide and manifest, it gives one so much to think about and to study and to observe that not one moment in his life seems to have been wasted; it is filled with a wonderful vision.

And then there is a stage further, when the soul begins to lift the curtain which hides hopes. He begins to lift, so to speak, the curtain which hides human nature. It seems as if a veil is lifted from all things and from all conditions, and that the colors which once seemed bright become faded, the light of gems and jewels becomes pale. He sees behind attachments and detachments, and love and hate, a thin thread sustaining them. He sees, as Omar Khayyam says, "a hair's difference" between right and wrong. Heaven and earth seem to him touching one another. Gulfs between things which are opposed seem removed from his sight. Then he begins to feel indifferent, he begins to feel independent. He is not hurt by the pinpricks of everyday life nor does he feel exalted by red roses. He builds hopes, but not as every person. He has only one hope, and that hope is in Reality. All other hopes for him mean nothing. His indifference is not unfriendly, his independence is not conceited. By indifference he does not neglect others; only his indifference is his independence. He does not mind if neglected. By his indifference he does not avoid doing all he must do for others, only he is independent of the doing of others for himself. It is that right kind of independence and indifference, which is called in the language of the Hindu Vairagya, that that ***"in which" instead of "that"?spirit becomes developed.

And then follows that ideal stage of the soul's unfoldment; when the world with all its limitations and people with all their faults, they are all tolerated, they are all forgiven, there is a continual expansion of sympathy and love, which continues to expand, just like a little pool of water expanding and turning into an ocean. And in this expansion the Divine Spirit expresses, and man with all his limitations stands only as a cover hiding that Divine Perfection which is expressing behind it. To that soul, then, the world is not attractive nor tempting nor is it wonderful nor futile, it is most beautiful. "God is beautiful and He loves beauty."

The nature of reflection must not be only studied by the nature of the eyes or of the mirror, but also by the nature of a photographic plate. In the eye or in the mirror there is a reflection upon the mind. A reflection which is not only a reflection, but that reflection only depends upon the object being before it. No sooner the object is removed, the reflection is gone. But the reflection on a photographic plate is like the reflection, but becomes an impression which then can be developed by a certain process in mind as well as in photographic work.

There is a reflection of one's body fallen upon one's own mind. But this reflection fallen upon mind is not only a reflection but an impression. This impression forms into an object, not necessarily into a mental object nor in a physical object. It forms into an object which is a substance and yet not a substance. In Sufi terms this object which is formed and born out of reflection, this object which is completely like one's own physical body is called Hampta, in other words, "etheric double." Everyone sees this in one's dream; the thing one sees in one's dream is this object. But a developed soul does not need to dream in order to see it. He can see it in a wakeful state if he wants to.

In short, reflection may not be considered as a momentary shadow fallen in the mirror of mind, and then with the moving of the object it is removed. But reflection is a phenomenon in the mental world, for it is creative and it has life and action. The knowledge of this expands the horizon of man's activity.

There are two ways by which seekers attain to spiritual perfection, in Sufi terms the way of the Sálik and the way of the Rínd. These two ways are contrary to one another, although both these ways lead to the desired goal.

The way of the Rind is that nothing matters, that, "I don't care," that, "I am nothing," that, "All else is nothing. Nothing I need, nothing I want, nothing I desire, nothing I long for, nothing is important, nothing I adore. God alone exists, none exists save He."

And there is a way of the Sálik. The watchword of the Sálik is shame. And what this shame means, this shame means honor, dignity, pride, delicacy, all these combined together. There is one Eastern word that expresses it, and that is called Laj. A sense that, "No one may notice my poverty," that, "No one may observe my lacks," that, "Before no one I may have to hang my head down," that, "Under no condition I may feel ashamed," and out of this idea of shame rises the fountain of virtues. It is that person who will cover the faults of another. It is that person who will screen the lacks of another, who out of the sense of honor will have respect for another. It is that person who out of the sense of dignity will appreciate the sense of dignity in another. He may starve, he may suffer, he may be ruined, he may give his life but not his pride, not his honor. You may cut his head off but you cannot touch his dignity. That is the way of the noble, who will prove in all conditions of life kings.

A person who has not the touch of this sense of honor, he will not appreciate it. He may see something foolish in them, he may see something unpractical in their nature, he may see in them a false pride, a foolish vanity, an empty honor. And yet can honor be empty? Honor is everything. It is the sense of honor that teaches man self respect. Every sacrifice, every renunciation man makes, even as much as giving one's own life one makes for the sense of honor. It is not a thing to discard, it is something to value, for then this opens a way for man to enter the kingdom of God.

Fineness is in living a life of delicacy, delicate perception, delicate ideal, delicate speech, and delicate action. There is harmony in it, there is beauty in it, there is love in it. In a person where these three things are absent, or one of these things is absent, that delicacy lacks. When love is not enough without beauty, beauty is not sufficient without harmony. It is there three things that balance a person's life. If one of these things is lacking in one's nature, that personality is not complete.

THOUGHT-READING:

(See Wednesday Collective Interview, June 23rd, 1926)*** include this line?

Thought-reading is practiced by two principal exercises. One exercise is to focus one's mind on the thought of another in a receptive attitude; and another exercise is to get into an active rhythm that would create a fineness in the physical body, influencing the nervous centers to be open.

It is the practice of concentration which enables man to focus his mind. The one who cannot concentrate cannot focus his mind to the thought of another. The mind is likened to a photographic plate, and it must be kept open, that the impression of another person's thought may fall upon it. That makes the impression. Mind-reading can be also looked at from one's everyday experiences, that in our everyday life the moments when we catch, without intention, the thought of another, are such moments when our mind is open; that our mind is not occupied with any other thought, that our mind is in a passive, negative, respondent condition. As we catch thoughts of another in our daily life, in everyday life, so we catch the thought of others in our dreams. It is easier to catch the thought of another in the dream than in the wakeful state, because in the state of dream our mind is naturally focussed. In other words, the mind easily becomes focussed automatically if the mind has the habit of concentration. And the thought of others is taken from distances in the dream, when the mind is focussed and is open to impressions. The thought of another comes as a reflection falling upon a mirror. One might ask when we are not intending particularly to catch the thought of another, what does our mind do at that time? At that time our mind is occupied with something or other. It is incapable of taking reflections of others when we are occupied by other thought; but when we are absolutely blank, then the mind is open to impressions which fall upon it.

And now one might ask, what do I mean by opening the nervous centers? In the first place I mean that a person must be more ethereal, rather than more dense. A dense person is naturally incapable of receiving, for the very reason that his nervous centers are blocked. It is therefore that mostly those who have the gift of clairvoyance are nervous people. In other words, their body is less dense, their body is finer. It is necessary to have a body susceptible and inclined to receive the thought of another; it is also necessary that one must be so concentrated that one can focus well on the mind of another; and with all this it is necessary that one must be in every way inclined to get the thought of another. If there is no inclination, then, with all capability, it is impossible; because inclination has a great force in it. By being inclined, I do not mean one must be anxious, or the one must force oneself to get the thought of another; by inclination I mean one must wholeheartedly engage one's mind in receiving the thought of another.

Q. Is the thought transmitted by the help of the breath?

A. Yes, it is. The breath is a bridge that can connect two spirits. And by the connection of breath sometimes automatically there comes a connection. Especially when two persons are sitting opposite one another. The moment the breath becomes one, the positive mind impresses the negative mind, and the negative mind receives it. Perhaps you have read in the Bible, there is a place where the breath is inhaled. That is a great phenomenon, because the breath takes with it the knowledge that the spirit has.

Q. It is said from Elijah he stretched himself three times over the body of the child that had died.

A. Stretching oneself is also extending one's breath. It only means that he extended, projected his breath upon him. Breath is a spreading, too, and a wonderful spreading.

Q. You spoke of the nervous centers. Are they the same centers as the chakras?

A. Yes. It is therefore that the nervous people are more ethereal. Often it is the nervous people who take interest in the higher pursuit.

Q. When the thought vibrations come to a person, does the mind catch them first, or do the centers first catch the vibrations?

A. On the chakras they come afterwards, first they are reflected in the mind. But if the chakras are not open, then it has not become clear to the body. When it is not clear to the body, then it is subconscious; it is conscious when the mind is revealed to the body; and when the body is not conscious of it, then it is called subconscious, then one is conscious and yet not conscious.

Q. Sometimes we remember the thoughts of others later.

A. There is a very good simile in the invention of the new telephone. If you have telephoned, and the person is not there, the telephone keeps the message, then the telephone keeps the word. When the person comes home he goes to the telephone, which gives its message. He can hear what has been said. Mind is exactly the same. Mind is not conscious, but keeps the record; some day or other it says. For instance , if a person has a bad thought about another, or a favorable thought about another. It has not reached the person immediately. They say, they spoke very nice, kind words. But after they have gone home, after a month, a year that thought will come to that person. He has received it, he does not know. That deeper thought will come. That person will know just the same. Persons apart, even animals, they can feel thought. Sometimes by a thought the plant can grow, or die by the power of thought.

Q. Is the thought always brought by the breath?

A. Mostly it does, yes. Breath has much to do with the thought. For instance, a person who is sitting in front of you, that person is more capable of receiving your thought than the other person, because it is the breath current. But then also it depends upon the direction for the breath. Sometimes the breath is going upwards, sometimes the breath is going downwards, sometimes the breath is going right, sometimes the breath is going left, sometimes the breath is going straightforward. Therefore the direction is not always the same.

Q. I often looked at horses, and saw that in good horses their breath was upwards, and in bad horses their breath was downwards.

A. Human being is such a horse that his breath goes to all sides. It is a different kind of horse. Upwards and downwards, to the right and left, below and above, all directions; it is a different horse.

Q. I saw a friend standing on a tram. I ran after it; he looked round.

A. Your breath tickled him. At the back of a person there is a center. That center is very sensitive. When this center is touched by the breath, a person feels the influence of the other.

Q. How is it to be explained that a person who is put in a deep trance, quite an illiterate person, can speak languages he has never heard spoken? Have we every knowledge in our subconsciousness?

A. No, the whole thing is that if one is put in trance, the boundary of the limitation of his individuality is removed. When the boundary is removed, then in his soul, the whole subconscious mind, that means the Divine Mind, does reflect, and therefore he can get all the knowledge.

Q. Will you explain once more what the relation is between our mind and the Divine Mind?

A. Divine Mind is the stream of the fountain and each individual mind is just like a drop. But each stream of the fountain is connected with the stem of the fountain, is it not? Stem is one, and our mind is just like different streams of the principal stream of the fountain. The principal stream is Divine Mind and each of the various streams are our minds. Therefore we are connected with the Divine Mind.

Q. When the soul dives deep?

A. The deeper he dives, the nearer he comes to the Divine Mind.

Q. I thought we ought to still the mind?

A. Yes, that produces the tendency to focus, and it is the stillness of the mind which is concentration. The concentration is given to the still the mind.

Q. How must one change one's rhythm to open the nervous centers?

A. Well, if one rudely says, one can say by being excited. But that is not the proper explanation. The Sufis have different means to do it. Such as Zikr. By Zikr one tunes oneself to a condition which is like an excitement. It is not an excitement in the ordinary sense of the word, yet it is an excitement. By Qasab, by other exercises, by Fikr, it changes the rhythm of the body and of the nervous system. As it is said in English language, "highly-strung;" that means an instrument which is tuned to a higher pitch. It is by tuning oneself to a higher pitch that one naturally opens. For instance, the instrument of gut, the violin, by tuning the string to a higher pitch, it means opening the string. Just the same it opens some part of the string. The more it opens, the higher sound it makes. By these practices one produces in it a normal and spiritual form. If not, a highly-strung person is ill, or on the verge of nervous breakdown, or something else.

Q. Is it allowed to be very anxious to know other people's thoughts?

A. If one is anxious to know other peoples thoughts, in the first place he has no value of his time. Everyone has so much to think about different things, he may just as will not think about other person's thought. But at the same time in order to practice one may practice it; for instance, there is a person who earns, and there is a person who robs. One can go and rob another person's thought and that is not right. If he earns that is another thing. What is earning? Whenever we make an attempt to know another person's thought it is robbing. Many persons come to me, they are desirous to tell me something, and they cannot tell. They would be most thankful if I could tell them. This is most useful. If you are developed in this way, without you wanting or trying to know, you know another person's thoughts. In the East when you go to see a person and then for you to think "I must go somewhere else," it is an insult, perhaps equally in the West also. Once I went to my Murshid, I had an engagement, I thought about that engagement. At once my Murshid said, "Yes, it is all right." You do not need to read a person's thought, it is there.

Q. Very often we know the thought of another and we do not read it.

A. Reading and knowing is one thing. Well, that is reading in this case, because the reading of the thought and the reading of the book are two things. When you read a book, you read from the first line to the last. Reading thought, it is all there at once. Not reading from the first to the last, it comes in a different sense.

Q. I mean there is not the will to do it.

A. But I think it would be very unjust if a person thought I should read the mind of another person, whether a person is favorably inclined to me or unfavorably inclined to me, or wishing to empty my pocket. If one always felt that way, in the first place one will become selfish, and it is just like examining other people's pockets. It is worse than that.

Q. How can this be understood? We imagine for ourselves a house; now this thought must be reflected in the centers. Is there some capacity in the brain in which a picture is made of the house?

A. Yes, it is not pictured in the sense that we understand, that is made. But a certain impression in the actual physical cells have got from the mind.***weird sentence And that makes it more intelligible to us. For instance, I thought of a lion and you do not know it. And I think that you must know of the lion. And if I hold in my mind "lion" and think that you must know about it, the first thing is that it will come in your subconsciousness. But that it will not be known to you; but that it will only be reflected on your brain cells. Then the first you will get the feeling of a lion. If I held "lion" for you the first thing you will have the feeling of the lion, the strength of the lion, the courage of the lion. Everything of the lion will come to you, not in concrete form, if "lion" will reflect itself upon your brain cells. Therefore in order to make the thought concrete, the mind acts as well as the body.

Only in the sleep it is more convenient for the mind to reflect upon anything, because the senses are not occupied with the things outside. When the eyes are closed, and the person is sleeping, mind is free to think upon any thought exclusively. But when senses are occupied, senses are invited by outside things, things that we see and hear, therefore mind has not so much chance in wakeful state, so much as in dreams. Very often, all day long a person may go on and go on doing things and yet make the thought not concrete, but then at night when a person is asleep, then that thought becomes concrete.

The principal thing in the esoteric knowledge is to distinguish between reality and individuality. What a person knows of himself is individuality. What he is generally ignorant of is reality. But the knowledge of one thing for another thing is like a disinfectant. It is not the knowledge of the individuality which makes one unable to look into Reality, although it keeps one's eyes covered from the vision of reality. One reads in the Qur'an the Prophet being addressed as "the one covering himself with a mantle." The idea is that whenever the Prophet wanted to communicate with God he used to cover himself with a mantle; in other words, as if he meant to say that "I am not capable of coming in Thy Presence as long as my self is before me," that, "Myself must be first covered in order that I may see Thy Presence." When a person goes with his individuality to seek Reality it is like himself seeking himself, and cannot find.***incomplete sentence The truth is that individuality is the cover over Reality. If one wants to realize the Reality one must lift this cover from it.

Therefore the Sufi's main idea is the pursuit of Reality. It is the knowledge of Reality alone which makes him Sufi. Sufi means "Saaf," in other words, "pure." Pure from what? Pure from distinctions and differences. And what causes distinctions and differences? One thing, and that is individuality. However humble a person, still he claims to be "I." That means he is something. He is not a big thing, he is a small thing, but he is something. He occupies a part of existence for himself, an existence which does not belong to him. Why does it not belong to him? Because he has no power over it. The existence which he holds fast, calling it "me," may be taken away from him. Therefore he is not the right owner of what he calls his possession, or rather himself. To efface from one's heart the illusion of possessing self, which is not really oneself but a passing phase, a dream, a phenomenon, it is that which will open the eyes of the soul to look at Reality. Once the soul has looked at Reality it becomes Reality. It rises above change and death, it widens its sphere, it touches Heaven and earth in a moment, it spreads over land and sea. Then the self is not longer that small self. The phenomenon of this realization is too great for words to explain. The virtue that springs from this realization, the inspiration which rises from it, the blessing which is gained by it, the peace which is attained by it, is beyond comprehension.

Q. By what practice can one separate these two things?

A. The practice is to concentrate one's mind on an object, that in the thought of that object one may forget oneself. That is the first and most difficult lesson to learn. And once that lesson is learned the further journey becomes very easy.

There is an amusing story, but at the same time it is most remarkable. This is written in the lives of the great Murshids, of the Murshids of the chain from which we have the initiation. It is the life of a saint who has been recognized as a great blessing in the North of India. That he was a seeking soul from childhood, and he had little education, too little for words, except that which he learned from his mother. The mother was simple but blessed. And when the child asked the question, "Mother, what is the best occupation in the world?" the mother, in her simplicity, said, "Son, the search after God is the first thing." As Christ has said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added." He said, "Where are we to seek Him?" She said, "As far as I know, the seekers of God, some find Him in their religion, in their church, some in Nature. There are different ways, child, whichever suits you best." "Will you allow me, Mother, if I take your leave, to go and search after God wherever I can find Him?" She said, "Yes, sir. Go wherever you like. As you are earnest to seek God I will let you go."

So he went in the wilderness, and after a long time he came. His mother asked, "What did you depend upon for you maintenance, child?" He said, "Upon the herbs and different things, fruits in the forest." "Did you find Him?" He said, "Not yet." She said, "Because you depended upon something of the earth for your life."

Next time he goes. Of course the hunger must have something. But his hunger became different. This physical hunger was not the important thing in his life then, there was another hunger. He said, "Yes, I don't know what we must be fed with, but I was fed with the thought of God. That thought satisfied my hunger. But yet I have not found Him." She said, "Yes, because you depended upon the thought."

So he went again. Not even the thought he depended upon. He lived, so to speak, in the life itself. As we read in the Bible, a most esoteric phrase, that "We live, move and have our being in God." It was that problem that he had solved there. And then he came to his mother. "Yes," he said, "I have lived in Him, but yet I have not found Him." The mother said, "You have made preparation, my son. Now you must go and seek a Murshid."

He went and sought a Murshid. The Murshid was deeply impressed. But the mureeds laughed and scoffed at him, saying that he was quite abnormal, quite unnatural, quite unbalanced, they did not know what to make of him. As for him, always living in the forest, in the wilderness, he was not well versed in the things of the world. So little acquaintance had he with the things of the world, the mureeds could not understand him; nor did he make any effort for the mureeds to understand him. The Murshid asked him one question. He said, "I was hardly in the world to like***weird sentence anything, except that cow that was in the house. That was the one thing that I have always liked, to serve it, and have always attended to it." Murshid said, "Yes." He gave him one of the rooms to sit for concentration, and he said, "Concentrate upon the cow."

The other mureeds concentrated for five minutes or ten minutes, in the room of concentration, and then went for walks and different things. But since he went he disappeared and no one saw him afterwards. Murshid wondered, "Where is he?" The mureeds said, "No one has seen him, we have been looking for him, but we don't know where he has gone. Perhaps he has taken your leave and gone, and he will never appear again." Murshid said, "No, I do not think of him like this, I think of him quite differently. Will you go and see where he is?" They went and knocked at the door of his room, but there was no answer, the door was closed. They came to Murshid and said, "The door is closed, there is no answer." Murshid said, "I will go and see." He opens the door and sees that the mureed was sitting in concentration. Murshid calls him by his name, his name was Farid, "Farid, come out." He said, "The horns are too large to come out from this door." The object of concentration had become himself.

That is the uncovering of individuality. That which once he had thought himself to be no longer remaining before him. The object that he takes before him, he becomes that; that is the next step.

The Murshid said, "These will perhaps attain to this in all their life, and he has attained to this next day." There is little further to go. For that person the goal is at hand. And it is in this way that God is sought.

TASAWWUF

(Class for Candidates, July 15th, 1924)*** include this line?

What is it that makes a mureed be received further in the Higher Initiations? Is it his knowledge of Sufism? Is it his gift of speech? Is it his qualifications in writing? Is it his capability of teaching? Yes, all those things, but the most essential thing besides these above said things is his practical application of it in his life. The question arises, "In what way?" His attitude to his Murshid, to his Initiator; his attitude to his teachings, his attitude to his working. His way with his fellow-mureeds, his fellow-workers, also with strangers. The Sufi path of initiation is different for the reason that it is acquired by reflection. The mureed who reflects Murshid more clearly shows according to that reflection his advancement in work. The results which have been known to us in the history of the Sufis in the past have been most wonderful. The way how Rumi has spoken in his words the Message that Shamsi Tabriz brought show that example of what a reflection can do. Yes, in Buddhistic school, also in Vedantic school, where there is a great deal of study attached to their cult, reflection is considered to be the most important. A Buddhist is not only a worshipper of Buddha, but he is someone who attains to Buddhahood, he wishes to reflect Buddha. And so is with a mureed. The first step of the mureed is to reflect his Murshid, which is called Faná-fi-Shaikh. The next step then is to reflect Rasul, the Divine Ideal in the spirit, when he has once attained to that which can be more easily attained if the first thing is attained.***weird sentence For once a soul learns not to be himself then he can become any self. Then there is Faná-fi-`Lláh, the third stage, in which a mureed loses himself in God. In this loss there is no loss, it is a gain. In the guise of an apparent loss, perfection is gained. That is why as much as one effaces oneself so much further one proceeds in spiritual journey. It is not so difficult as it appears to be, and yet it is difficult if one has not found the way to it. It is an attainment which is gained by someone who is firm and steady, sympathetic and self-effacing, for the whole process of the spiritual attainment is in losing the false ego for the highest gain.

CLAIRVOYANCE:

(see Wed. Coll. Int. July 7th, 1925)*** keep this line?

By clairvoyance is meant a clear vision. In Sufi terms it is called Rushan Zamir, and that is a more expressive word. It means "a sphere that has become illuminated." In other words, a sphere which is manifest to you, and yet it was not clear, but it has been made clear. In other words, what was before you, and you did not see, is now shown to you. Clairvoyance, therefore, is not really a mediumship. Often people have understood by clairvoyance "to communicate with spirits." Clairvoyance, really speaking, is the knowledge that comes by throwing the light of one's soul on the sphere.

And now there is a question which light it is which is thrown in the sphere in order to get the vision clear. It is the light of the soul, the soul which is light itself. And it is thrown by the breath. And now the question, "How can an experience be made in the beginning?" The first stage of this experience is that when by certain practices you have developed your breath, you begin to realize that you are like a search-lantern. And before you, you will always see a light thrown; wherever you cast your glance, a light is thrown before you. Sometimes people have thought that it is a spirit or a ghost or some entity before them. But it is not true. It is their own light falling before them. Sometimes that light begins to show itself in different colors. Therefore when some say that they see colors, and the others begin to laugh at them, both are in error, because the first one he does not know that it is something natural, and the other one does not know that it can be possible. In New York I met a man who was seeing colors for a long time. And he was very earnest and sincere, and at the same time people began to laugh at him, hearing his story. But he was so sincere and earnest about it, that he spoke before everybody. Some were entertained by his speech, some were amused by it, and some thought that he was losing his mind or something. And then when he spoke to me about it, I told him to come and see me, and he came and saw me. First I told him to make a diary for one week of all the colors he saw. So he made a diary of one week. And every day and at different times of the day and night he brought me the diary of the different colors. What he had thought about it, was that he saw, as meeting in the forms of those colors, Mahatmas who were coming to see him. Because he had just read the book of Mahatmas. This phenomenon was fitting in his attitude, because he had been reading this book. Then he found these colors, because he was looking for Mahatmas. Then I told him, I did not want to disappoint him, after eight days diary, then also I did not tell him what it is. *** this is unclear That will give you a key to deal with mureeds. That you might think that on the first day you meet a mureed you can correct him. But that is not the time. After eight days' diary that he brought me I told him, "Now tell me the history of every day, and all you have experienced, that it was a sad day, or a joyous day, or what it was." Then he told me what he could. Then next week when he had more confidence in me, and got a little more acquainted, I said, "Now this week those who come to see you, and bring a problem to you (he was a commander), whatever problem they bring before you, you must consult with your color. Then write it down while you are speaking with a certain person about his problem." He did so. After one week's diary that he wrote he brought the diary before me. Then I began to tell him that this problem that you brought to me on Monday, it cannot go on, it must finish. Then he looked at me, very surprised. Then I said, "This problem can be successful." Then he was surprised, because he saw. It was so. Every problem I said, "This problem will take time," he was very astonished. He asked what relation the colors had. Every color is narrative of the condition of that problem. And he was very astonished. It was a living proof, it was a diary he had gone through. The whole week he had seen it. Then he began to see, "What are the colors, I thought they were Masters?" But what have Masters to do to come in the form of a color? Then I told him,"Y our soul is light itself, as every soul. And it is clearer, because you begin to see the color. But every color is a certain condition of your soul, because it is a certain degree of light that produced the color." Then he said, "What has it to do with the problems of others?" I said, "The first week you saw, it was related with your condition, your glad, sad, sorry, joyous attitude, whatever experience you were going through, that was the predominant color." He said, "What is the signification ***"significance"?of the other persons?" I said that "The hearts are like mirrors and therefore the condition of another person is mirrored upon your soul." But he said, "Why is not my condition mirrored upon the other person's soul?" "Because the other person's soul is not so clear, therefore yours is clearer than the other. You see the color clearer on the other person's character. What you see before your eye is the color mirrored, therefore it is the color of the other person fallen on your own. The problem is that the person brought before you has connection with the color at that particular time that the person comes before you." The person was very astonished and said, "Can it be true?" I said, "Next week come again." In three weeks time he was really convinced. It was a most pessimistic military man. Then he began to see from day to day everything that came in his life about its future, what will happen. Because the vision was clear, the knowledge was absent. As soon as the knowledge was given, he began to see.

That is the one phase of clairvoyance, that is seen in the ethereal plane, which means that every person has before him his own breath. Either on the right side, or on the left side, above or below, or straight before. It only depends upon what element he is breathing. The time he is breathing water element the breath is going downwards; the time he is breathing air element the breath is going zig-zag; the time he is breathing fire element the breath is going upwards; the time he is breathing earth element the breath is going straight. It is therefore that one cannot always see in the same direction, but by seeing in different directions one can find out which direction breath takes. From that direction one can see the influence of every element, which element is in his breath. By finding it out, and connecting it with a certain problem, he is able to find out result and effect of conditions.

Now this is one kind of clairvoyance. The other kind of clairvoyance is more of a character-reading than of thought-reading. And the thought-reading is to keep one's heart focused to another, and at the same time passive and blank. And if one can harmonize the rhythm of one's breath with another, then that can make it stronger still. And in this way one can get a reflection from the thought of another. There was a dervish not long ago who lived in Hyderabad, and the dervish used to smoke strongly and he used to smoke hashish. And after once he had smoked very deeply, and then thrown the smoke, and in that smoke he could see anything you would ask him. People used to ask him, "Please tell me about my aunt living in Bombay." So he used to say, "Yes, now I take the train for Bombay," and then he would say. "Now I arrive at the station, now I am looking for a taxi, and now I go and have gone from that lane, and I come to this house, three floors high, and there is a narrow way to go upstairs." The man says, "Yes." And then on the second floor there was the maid working, and on the top floor the aunt was sewing. And now he gets the condition of the aunt, and tells everything about it. Now one might say, "How has he gone there, how has he reached there?" The idea is that the whole program, from the beginning to the end, is thought-reading. As soon as he said, "I am going in the train," the thought of the man began to lead the reader. The reader followed the thought of this man: "Now I have come to Bombay." So he led the reader. He pushed the reader to Bombay, he pushed his thought onward to the house of his aunt, and he followed it. So far it was thought-reading. But when he had reached to the aunt, then it was the other, the mirror. Because then his mind was carried to that place where he could get his heart mirrored by the condition of the aunt. So that was another process. The process with which he reached there is one process, the process with which he gained the knowledge was another. Then there is a third aspect, and that aspect of clairvoyance is an intuitive aspect. Intuitively you can feel about a person, or problem, or past, present, future. That intuition develops and your confidence in intuition is again a different thing. Now it is quite true that those who are mediumistic, they also gain knowledge from the "other side." Very often they mix up the word clairvoyance with all those things. But at the same time it is true too, because clairvoyance is to get the knowledge of things clearly before one's vision, which ordinarily is not known to everybody.

Q. That man in America, did he see colors with the eyes open or shut?

A. Open, but he would have seen with the inner eye just the same. It is seen with both eyes, the inner eye and the outer eye.

Q. Sometimes, eyes shut?

A. When the eyes are shut then one is more concentrated, and one is able to see it more clearly. But it does not matter, once the vision is clear, it does not matter whether your eyes are shut or open, you see it clearly.

Q. What does it signify when you see one color all the time, always the same color?

A. It is not possible. Yes, there is one color predominant sometimes. But that is a condition, it can remain for a month. When a person is in a certain condition when the breath is in a Kemal, standstill, not changing. That is a very bad moment. There is an amusing instance, that a mureed told me, "I do not know what has happened to me, I have had bad experiences. Plates break; saucers break; glasses break; my cat has run away, and I have cried for a whole week." This lady was so sad about it. So I told her. She said, "Is it a bad luck or a bad star?" I said, "No, it is the condition of your breath." She was horrified to think, "I have such a bad luck in my breath." I told her to examine it herself. And she found that both her nostrils are breathing. That is Kemal. That Kemal will destroy everything, whatever you touch will break. You think; that thought will not come true. If there is a wish, that will not come true. During Kemal you must not begin anything, not do anything. There is a Kemal breath, and Kemal period. In that period nothing will succeed. During that period he cannot progress, it is a standstill condition.

Q. Can you know that time?

A. Well, if you cannot know it, then the effect of that time.....***words missing?

Q. How can one avoid it?

A. Sometimes one cannot avoid it. Only the disaster you can avoid, you cannot avoid Kemal. The best way of avoiding is not to begin a new enterprise, not at that time, not to do much; eat, sleep; be quiet. It may remain one hour, one day, or some moments. Every step you take; every turn you make, there is nothing but a failure.

Q. How can you know when it is ending?

A. You can know it by its effect. There comes an effect when it is no more standstill. There is a progress.

Q. Is there no possibility of changing the period?

A. Very little possibility. Suppose if that period comes in breath. It does not come longer than ten days, it cannot be longer, a person could not live. But if it is a Kemal from planetary influence or some other influence, that Kemal lasts for months; for years. That is very terrible.

Q. In one of the Gathas you speak of Jelal and Jemal as making perfection.

A. Yes, but perfection is a destruction. Because perfection is the destruction of limitation. When we are limited we are; we are not when we are not limited. ***Huh?Therefore perfection and destruction both are relatives. The best thing is that the period of Kemal, either of breath or thought or of life, during that period you must meditate, occupy your mind with God and prayer, with meditation, with higher ideals. Then it will not have effect, then that period will be shortened also. But when that person occupies himself with some things there is always a disaster.

Q. . . .story of dervishes, when you imagine all one's impressions are so scattered in the space, how can one say my mind and another person's mind?*** incomplete sentence

A. Yes, but as the body is formed, and held in a certain space, is it not? It is not scattered, although the body is made of atoms. So thought is composed and mind is composed. It is not something which is floating in the air. It is composed and it is a being.

Q. But the mind of another is a great distance too?

A. It interpenetrates. It is wonderful phenomenon; the more one sees, the more one sees the splendor of it, how time and space have not much to do with it.

Q. I know of a well known somnambule, she treats people who are ill. A lady went with a portrait, she travelled to the other town. What is the procedure?

A. The same procedure exactly. First she gets it from the person's thought. When she has got there, she gets it from the impression. The first introduction must be the thought of a person.

Q. Why do they always ask for an object?

A. That object unites them too, that object gives a greater confidence. There is nothing else. For instance, there are some clairvoyants, you give a person's hair; as soon as you give that helps, a thought touches that person. The reason is this, that this object brings them a confidence, that this person is in their hands. It is for their own self. As soon as they have got that confidence, they have reached that person.

Q. If it is a nice day, she can get a long distance, but with rain she cannot go out of town.

A. That is also in her thought. Besides that, the denseness of the atmosphere naturally, just as when there is sunshine you feel lighter, enthusiastic; when there is no light you feel gloomy, like remaining in bed.

Q. Does it depend upon breath?

A. Maybe that in that case it is not necessarily the breath. In that case it is the focusing of the mind.

Q. In the process of manifestation, on what moment does the principle of space evolve into the process of emanation?

A. The first condition or the original state of being is unconscious consciousness; in other words the pure intelligence. An intelligence which is not even known to itself. That is the first. The next process is the intelligence, also a consciousness being conscious of itself. But there is nothing to be conscious of, except the consciousness of being, of the consciousness of existence. The first is called in the Sufi terms Ahadíyyat, the second is called Wáhadat, the third is called Wahdaníyyat. And that third is as seen as the consciousness occupied to feel itself; its existence, the life begins to become audible, and the next stage it becomes visible. Audible in the form of sound, visible in the form of light. Then after these three planes there come three other planes, and these three planes are the soul, the angelic world, the djinn world, and the third world is the material world, the physical world. Sometimes they say seven planes; the seventh plane is the human plane, that makes seven.

Q. In an urgent case may one call before the patient a clairvoyant?

A. In the first place I would say Sufism does not restrict anyone from anything. If they want to call a clairvoyant or someone, there is no rule for it. But at the same time a Sufi is wise. The meaning of Sufi is "wise." The first principle of the wise is to develop so that he has not to depend upon others, that he does it himself. The other thing is that when the wise who is beginning on the path of wisdom, then he takes the hand of a guide. The first thing he will do is to ask his own guide, his Murshid, his teacher, what he will do about it, anything else he will do afterwards. Even that is not a rule. The initiation does not restrict a person that he must ask his Murshid.

Q. I said in a very urgent case.

A. But in that case of course, if a person feels a great need of that kind, there is nothing to restrict him. Only one thing can be taken care of, not to allow oneself to drift on the way of the so-called clairvoyant mediums, fortunetellers, and soothsayers.

Q. Has this science been lost? In some cases when doctors are quite at a loss, and cannot find anything, and say you are puzzling science, sometimes such people can give herbs that in three, four days you are quite better.

A. That is quite true. I quite believe in that case there is no objection to it.

Today I would like to say a few words on the subject of secrecy on the path of truth.

In the first place, when you have come to a Collective Interview, it is not a class, it may not be called a class, and that one must not speak about it with the others. What happens, the others feel discouraged because they are not called at the Collective Interview, because they consider that this is a class. And this is an Interview, when I speak to some few workers on certain points which I wish them to know. As soon as you show your appreciation before others -- "How wonderful the class was last evening in Murshid's room, where a beautiful point was discussed," and "The point of discussion was so and so, such and such," -- the person thinks, "Oh, I was deprived of that paradise, I am an exile." That will certainly take away your pleasure by the displeasure of another. If I had time enough for Collective Interviews perhaps I would invite the whole Paris, because there is nothing more pleasing to me than giving the Message to souls who are seeking after it. But, alas, there is only so much time at my disposal, I cannot do any more than that. In this little room you can only accommodate so many people, you cannot accommodate any more. Besides, this is not a class of teaching, this is not a public lecture, it only a circle of some workers whom I call here to give some hints which will be of use to their work. But it is not only in the Collective Interviews, but in everyday life, the further you go in the spiritual path the more secrecy you must have. Without having a secrecy you can stand nowhere. And it is easy to laugh for many people at the sight of secrecy. They say, what necessity is there, if it is something true and right and good, for it to be secret? Because what one is accustomed to know as secret is something which is not worth mentioning, and which is untrue, and which is false, and which is worthless and which is undesirable. But you must know that your pebbles you will keep before your house in the street, and your jewels you will keep in the safe. If that is true, then all that is valuable you will keep secret. All that you value you will not bring before others. Very often people are surprised at the idea of secrecy, why in the Sufi Movement you must have so much secrecy. I say: "Without the control of your lips you will not be able to develop inspiration." As a poet has said, "When the shell closes its lips, then the pearl develops in it." A person who pours out all that he has in his heart to everyone he meets, he is not a person to rely upon. You cannot trust that person with your secret, nor can that person trust himself with his secret. The more you will be experienced in life the more you will find the worth of secrecy. And are the outspoken people always wise? They may be truthful, and many I have heard boasting of their way that, "I tell the truth, I do not mind how anybody takes it." Is it truth or is it a whip? Truth must be healing, truth must be soothing, truth must be illuminating, truth must be uplifting. And if truth is such a bad thing that as soon as you have said something to someone, he gets depressed, he goes to another who gets displeased by your one truth, perhaps twenty persons get displeased. What value has that truth? How much true it may be, it is not truth. What is it? It is foolishness. Besides, the more you are able to keep your secret in your heart, the greater you become, you have more weight, your personality becomes more reliable, more dependable. As it is said in Vadan, that is best to say something without saying.

Q. Murshid, how can one develop a quality of knowing when one can speak, and when one cannot speak? Discrimination...

A. The first lesson is to seal the lips. And when this is well practiced, the sense of discrimination will develop, making one see when to speak and when not to speak. In the first place whatever you say, for it there is a time and there is a place. And when you say at the time when it should be said, and when you say in the place it should be said, it is right. And then there is a person, when you say to this person, then it is right; and when you say the same truth to another person then it is wrong. So that you can understand: First beginning by keeping secret, absolutely secret, then you develop it.

Q. Murshid, would you say, when one has a weakness and sometimes one says a thing one very well knows of not to say, how can one stop it?

A. By the habit of silence. Every day make a habit of silence.

Q. Should one never say a truth when it is disagreeable?

A. Well, I say that every manner that is hurting must be avoided. Every action that is hurtful, every word that hurts must be avoided. Even if it hurts a little child.

Q. Can it never do good?

A. Sometimes the knife also does good, in the hand of a surgeon. But the same time I would rather that the surgery was avoided, and medicine could cure. If you can open a package by cutting the knot it can be done, and it is soon done, but if you wish to save the string and the package both the best thing is to open the knot, that takes time.

Q. In the case of old friends and relations. . . if they have a harpoon and pull at the string; they know one's weaknesses and feelings, then they knock at this. It is most difficult to be silent with those.

A. Yes, but if one makes a habit to be silent, then against it also you are silent.

Q. Then they say you are cold and disagreeable.

A. No, you can be warm just as well, and not be disagreeable, and yet not answer.

Once in America a person asked me such questions that anybody would have felt insulted, and I listened to it all. And I did not answer them. And then the same person came to the public lecture, and there he received his answer. You might have thought, why had I not answered him there in the room? But that would have been a great loss of time, and loss of words for that one man to give all that wisdom there. It is not economical. I said to him, "Yes, you have reason," and I meant it. He had his reason peculiar to himself. I gave my reason in the public, that so many hundreds of persons know, including that person also; that is economical idea. But, you might say, "But we have no occasion to speak to many people." Well, so much the better, so much the better, so much energy reserved.

Q. Murshid, sometimes a mureed complains that "Nobody speaks to me," with a miserable face.

A. This is a great pity, this must not be, because this is a lack of friendliness. And I am the last person to encourage it. And for that reason Mrs. Eggink has commenced now a social meeting, that they may all meet one another, that they may speak one another. I wish that among mureeds there was that spirit of outgoing, of making acquaintance, of making them feel at home, that people may not think that "We are coming from a distance, there is no one to speak with us." That must not be the spirit, the spirit must be sociable. If we do not make them feel at home, how will they come? But first of all we must feel that we are the members of the home, members of the family. It is our work to welcome those who come newly, it is very necessary that we each did our best to be kind, to be polite, to be nice, to be sociable. And I shall try in every way, and I shall do everything to promote that idea; that is the most essential thing for our movement.

Q. Two ladies have come yesterday. They feel so at home.

A. Yes, but I am not satisfied with all the good that is talked about us. I am concerned with the bad that is talked about us. We must be conscious of it. We must not be unconscious of what people say. If we are unconscious of people's need it is not right. If people say good about us it only lulls us to sleep. When people say what ought to be there it makes us awake. That is the point we must consider all the time.

But by "secrecy" what I mean is not to let them feel bad in any way. Suppose one talks before them, that there is a Collective Interview, that only makes them feel bad. Or any such points that will make them feel bad, it is better to avoid them. Only speak with them about things that will please them. This will give them more consciousness of our Movement, of our work. We must think that we are hosts who welcome guests, and develop them into hosts, that next year they will be hosts to welcome. We are one family, and we must feel it, be conscious of it.

Q. Better let them all come, or in groups?

A. I think that anything we do here we must do it by giving people freedom. Not compelling them to do it. As soon as you compel you take away the pleasure, just say, "It is better that you came." If when you say you must come then it is all spoiled. Make them see the need that how essential it is.

Q. I have seen in Dr. Steiner's temple a picture of Jesus Christ standing between Lucifer and Ahriman. What was the meaning of Lucifer and Ahriman being at Christ's side? Lucifer has come to a point of self redemption, Ahriman is the opposing force.

A. Psychologically it is against the object with which the temple was made. The temple was made to exist, and these two forces brought before one another will consume, will assimilate. The power of these opposing forces is to push it backwards, to push it towards nothingness. But nothingness is everything. But according to our point of view of the earth, anything that is physical will be non-existing before two opposing forces. Now I want to tell you another thing, that we always confuse between negative and positive, opposing forces. For instance, negative and positive are not opposing. For instance, they call male and female opposite sex. But it is not true. This word is not appropriate for it. Opposite means "what is enemy to the other," what opposes the existence of the other, what will work to make the other non-existing. And these two forces are working or work towards one another to make one another non-existing. That means conflict, that means war, the picture of these two forces must sooner or later bring about a conflict, an opposition, which will result in annihilation.

Q. What about the picture of Jesus Christ in the temple?

A. That has nothing to do with those two opposing forces around Jesus Christ, even that is not a