Why do we join study classes? Is it for the acquisition of spiritual powers, for inspiration, phenomena, or curiosity? All this is wrong. Is it for the accomplishment of something material or for worldly success? That is not desirable. Self-realization, to know what we are, should be our aim.
Some people, who admire piety and goodness, want everyone to be an angel, and discovering that this is impossible, they are full of criticism. A person has in them a devil and an angel. A person is at once human and animal. It is the devil in a person that drives them to do harm instinctually without a motive. So, the first step should be to leave this attitude.
No one believes that their particular demon can be a manifestation of the devil. But who can say, “I am free from such an evil spirit?” We can be under the power of a spell, and we must overcome such a power. We must liberate ourselves from evil. Everyone can fight evil.
We must discover when we have manifested our devil and when we have manifested our animal spirit. We want a human spirit. Self-realization is the search for this human spirit. Everything must become human in us. What should we do to accomplish that? Read the Bible and other Holy Scriptures? All these books say what we should do. However, you must also find the store of goodness that is in you, in your heart. As you cultivate your heart, it rises up. By asceticism you can develop your soul and reach ecstasy. Yet of what use is Samadhi if we are not first human? If we want to live in this world, we must be human. The ascetic should live in a forest.
How should we cultivate the heart, the feeling? No doubt harmlessness, devotion and kindness are necessary, but there is something besides these. It is the awakening of a certain center that makes one sensitive, not only externally, but also mentally.
There are two kinds of people: one will be struck by the beauty of music or other manifestations of beauty; the other person is as dull as a stone to all this. Why? Because something in their heart and mind is not awakened. We have five senses, but we also have inner senses, and these can enjoy life much more keenly.
Some people will say, “I need no inner senses, the outer ones satisfy me completely.” They would speak differently if, for instance, they lost an eye or another of their five senses. To be complete, a human being must also develop their inner senses. But, first of all, a person should develop their inner feeling.
Intellectual study may last a whole lifetime; there is no end to it. This is why the teacher does not encourage speculation. A doctrine implies a separation from other doctrines. The Sufi belongs to every religion. This is why the Sufi has no special beliefs and speculations. There can, for instance, be one Sufi who believes in reincarnation and another who realizes Heaven and Hell. The work of the Sufi is personal development. It is what you practise that is important, rather than what the teacher says. The teacher can give you protection. The teacher can say, “Yes, it is so. It is my experience also.”
Initiation contains several degrees. It is the trust that the teacher gives you, but the real initiation is the work of God. No teacher can or will judge. The pupil is one whom the teacher likes to trust. All are welcome to the teacher. The teacher is spiritually father and mother to the pupil. The life of the teacher is often a sacrifice. The teacher may be persecuted and have many sufferings. But what little help the teacher can give, they will give.
There is no special qualification needed to become a pupil. The teacher gives, but the pupil decides to take it or not. The teaching is like a precious jewel hidden in a stone. It is for the pupil to break the stone and find the jewel. In the East, this inner teaching is part of religion. In the West, it is often looked upon merely as education. It ought to be a sacred education. In the East, the Murshid gives the lesson and the pupil practices it for a month or a year. The pupil cannot have a different practice every week. My grandfather practiced one meditation for forty years; then a miracle happened to him. We must not be ambitious for other practices before having had a result from the first one. Also, we must promise not to reveal these practices.
There is also the study of Sufism, one part of which is for initiates, the other for non-initiates. Only the Murshid can give initiation. But study classes can be given by someone else, who knows how to conduct them, for a time. Notes can be taken, for that which is heard and seen is twice as profitable. Sometimes the depth of a teaching, not seen at once, is understood later. I sang a Mantra for fifteen years without understanding it and then suddenly it was revealed to me. There is a Teacher in every one of us who teaches when the time comes.
We have a tendency to discuss things but it should never become a hobby. No one attains to peace by fighting over differences and distinctions. We must not discuss the lessons. The spirit in us must ponder over them. If there are mistakes, they come from the Murshid, not from the One who speaks through the Murshid. The credit of all good and wisdom belongs to God, not to a human being. Do not dispute. Take it or leave it. Make use of that which you are at one with, and forget what does not appeal to you. My Message has been destined for humanity in general and not to particular people only. What I give to you, you must give to others.
November 19, 1920
Leave a Reply