I would like to speak of the knowledge a mystic attains through their head and mind, as preparation for finding their own way to the truth. Reasoning is a faculty that mystics use, and may develop like any person of common sense, like any practical person. The difference is only that the mystic does not stop at the first reason that is understood, but wishes to see the reason behind all reasons. Therefore, with everything, whether right or wrong, the mystic inquires the reason. The immediate answer found is not a satisfying reason, for the mystic sees there is another reason behind that reason. The mystic pursues the knowledge of all things, which is far greater than being content with knowledge gained by one thing. It is for this reason that neither wrong nor right, neither good nor evil excites the mystic too much, nor do they give the mystic a great shock or surprise. For everything seems to have its nature, and it is understanding this that makes the mystic feel at one with all existing things. What can a person wish for more in life than understanding? It is understanding that gives them harmony in the home with those near and dear to them, and peace outside the home with so many different natures and characters. If a person lacks understanding they are poor even with all that they possess of the goods of this world. It is understanding that gives a person riches.
If life could be pictured, a person would say that it reminds them of a sea in the storm, with the waves coming and going. Such is life. It is this understanding of life that gives a person a weight that can endure through the rain and the storm and all the vicissitudes. Without understanding, a person is like a rowboat on the sea that cannot go on through the storm. By understanding, a mystic learns. You learn tact; you are tactful under all circumstances. Your tact is like a ship with a heavy load, which the wind cannot move and which stands still in the midst of the storm on the sea
The nature of life is such that it easily excites the mind and makes a person unhappy in a moment’s time. It makes a person so confused that they do not know where to take the next step. Contrary to this, the mystic stands still and inquires of life its secret. From every experience, every failure or success, the mystic learns a lesson. Both failure and success are profitable to a mystic.
The ideal of a mystic is to never think of disagreeable things. You must not think of what you do not want to happen. A mystic erases from their mind all disagreeable things from the past. A mystic collects and keeps the happy experiences making out of them a paradise. Are there not many unhappy people who keep a part of the past before them, causing them pain in their heart? The past is past, it is gone. There is eternity before you. If you want to make your life as you wish, do not think of disagreeable thoughts and of painful experiences and memories that make you unhappy.
Therefore, life becomes to some extent easy for a mystic to deal with. For the mystic knows every heart, every nature; unlike others untouched by the mystic’s secret, who suffer from their difficulties at home and difficulties outside. They dread the presence of people. They do not understand; they want to run away from them, and if they cannot escape, they feel as though they are in the mouth of a dragon. Perhaps they are placed in a situation that cannot easily be changed. The consequence is that they heap confusion upon confusion. How very often, though, one sees that where two people do not understand one another, a third comes and helps them to understand each other, and the light thrown upon them causes greater harmony. The mystic says, “Whether it is agreeable or disagreeable, if you are in a certain situation, make the best of it; try to understand how to deal with such a situation.” A life without such understanding is like a dark room that contains everything you wish. It is all there, but there is no light.
The world after all is a wonderful place, in spite of so many souls wishing to leave this world, for there is nothing that is not to be obtained in this world. It is all there: all things good and beautiful, all things precious and worthwhile, they are all there if we know their nature, their character and how to obtain them.
If you ask a person what is the nature of life, the person will say, “The further we go in striving for happiness, the further we are removed from it.” This is true. However, a person takes the wrong way who does not know that unhappiness does not exist. Besides happiness is more natural than unhappiness, as good is more natural than evil, and health than illness. Yet humanity is so pessimistic. If you tell a person the good of anyone, they cannot believe this to be true. But if you tell them the bad of a person, they say, “Yes, that is really true.”
The work of the mystic therefore is to study life. For the mystic, life is not a stage play or an amusement. For the mystic, it is a school, to learn every moment of life. It is a continual study. Therefore, the scripture of the mystic is human nature. Every morning you turn a new page of this scripture. It is the interpretation of the Great Ones’ teachings, those who have brought the Message to the world from time to time and whose books have become Scriptures to the world lasting thousands of years. They have provided spiritual food for generations of people. Because of this, the sacred scriptures always have the same sacred feeling; the Message is always behind them.
The mystic has a respect for all religions and understands all the different and contrary ideas, for the mystic understands everyone’s language. The mystic can agree, without having to dispute, with the wise, the foolish, and the simple person. For the mystic sees that the nature of facts is such that they are true in their places; the mystic understands every aspect of their nature. The mystic sees from every point of view. They see from the point of view of each person, and that is why they are harmonious with all. A person comes to a mystic and says, “I cannot believe in a personal God, it means nothing to me.” Then the mystic answers, “You are quite right.” Another person says, “The only way of making God intelligible is in the form of a person.” The mystic says, “You are right.” And another person says, “How foolish of these people to make of this human being a God; God is above comprehension.” And the mystic says, “You are right.” For a mystic understands the reason behind all the opposing arguments. Once a missionary came to a Sufi in Persia, as he had desired to have a discussion and prove his point of view to be the right one about the Sufi teachings. The Sufi, in his silent, quiet attitude of rest was sitting, his pupils by his side. The missionary asked some questions. The mystic answered, “You are right.” But the man went on to dispute, and the Sufi said only, “That is quite true.” Then he took another turn and put his questions in an eloquent manner. The man was very disappointed as there was no opportunity for argument. The Sufi saw the truth in all.
The truth is like a piano, the notes may be high or low, you may strike a C or an E, but they are all notes. The difference between the ideas is like that between notes, as it is in daily life with the right and the wrong attitude. If we have the wrong attitude all things are wrong; if we have the right attitude, all things are right. The person, who mistrusts their own self, will mistrust their best friend. The person who trusts their own self, will trust everyone.
Things that seem to be apart, such as right and wrong, light and darkness, form and shadow, before the mystic come so close that it is only a hair’s breadth that divides them. Before the mystic an outlook on life opens out, an outlook containing the purpose of life. The question that the mystic puts to themself is, “Which is my being? My body? No. This body is my possession. I cannot be that which I possess.” The mystic asks themself, “Is it my mind?” The answer comes, “No. The mind is something I possess; it is something a person witnesses. There must be a difference between the knower and the known.” By this, in the end, the Sufi comes to an understanding of the illusionary character of all the things they possess. It is like a person who has a coat made; it is their coat, it is not themself.
Then the mystic begins to think, “It is not myself who thinks; it is the mind. It is the body which suffers; it is not myself.” It is a kind of liberation to know, “I am not my mind.” For a person wonders, “One moment I have a good thought, another moment a bad thought, a right or a wrong thought, one moment an earthly thought, the other moment a thought of Heaven. It is like a moving picture. It is I who see, and it is I who is dancing there.”
By seeing this, the mystic liberates the self, which, owing to the illusion, was buried under mind and body. What people call a soul was lost. It was a soul not aware of the mystical truth that body and mind are the vehicles by which to experience life. It is in this way that the mystic begins the journey toward immortality.
January 16, 1924
CW 1924, Vol. I pp. 21-24.
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