Guest guest Posted August 29, 2004 Report Share Posted August 29, 2004 I found this article in one of my favorite groups and wanted to share its universal message. Uma ------------------- A lecture by Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan, Tuesday afternoon, May 1st, at 2:30 o'clock,1923 in the gallery of the Paul Elder Bookstore, 239 Post Street, San Francisco (CA) Taken from 'The Hand of Poetry: Five Mystic Poets of Persia', by Inayat Khan(lectures)/ Coleman Barks(translations),1993 Omega Publications. Part 3 (last) There are many religions and beliefs where it is said that there will come a day when man will be able to communicate with God. But when will that day come? Life is so short, and our hearts so hungry. And if it does not come today perhaps it will not come at all. Therefore the only thing that Hafiz has pointed out from beginning to end is this: "Do not wait for that day to come tomorrow. Communicate with the Beloved just now. He is before you here in the form of your friend and in the form of your enemy; with a bowl of poison or with a rose. Recognize it and know it, for this is the purpose of life." Religions have made this like a journey of millions of miles. Hafiz has made it right at hand. Man likes complexity. He does not want to take one step, it is more interesting to look forward to millions of steps. The man who is seeking the truth gets into a puzzle, and that puzzle interests him. He wants to go through that puzzle a thousand times more. Just like children: their whole interest is in running around. They do not want to see the door and go out, until they are very tired: and so with the grown-up people. That is why the Mystics made the greatest truths a mystery, to be given to the few who were ready for it, and let the others play, because it is the time for them to play. As the love principle, according to the idea of the Sufis and according to the idea of all the Prophets and Knowers who have ever come to this world, is the first principle, so it is the last principle. There are different Yogas practised by the people of India, which are the Intellectual, Scientific, Philosophical and Moral paths to God; but the most desirable path to God that the Hindus have ever found and which makes the whole life beautiful, is Bhakta Yoga, the path of devotion, because it is the natural path. Man's inclination is love. If he is cold, it is because he is longing for love; if he is warm, it is because love is alive. If one is suffering from depression, is yearning or sorrowing, it is because the love principle is not alive; the only life, the very source of inspiration, salvation and liberation, is love. And among those great souls who have brought the message of God to humanity from time to time.... Buddha, Krishna, Jesus Christ, Moses, Abraham, Zarathustra ... they were well known as most learned men. And what they learned, they learned from the love principle. What they knew was compassion, forgiveness, sympathy, and tolerance; that attitude of appreciation; that opening of the heart to humanity. What they taught was love, a simple truth. If religions seem complex, they have been added to. In every case what was brought by the Prophet was simple, and it was expressed in his personality and his life. And it is that influence that has remained for centuries after they have pased away. It is not the literature they have left... most of the literature is from their pupils. It is the simple truth shown in their personalities and their lives. The error of this day and age is that we cannot understand the simple truth, the truth as manifested everywhere, instead of trying to find truth covered in a shell. Hafiz at the same time teaches one to see the ultimate truth and the ultimate justice in one and the same thing, and it is God; that justice is not in related things, perfect justice is in totality. And he shows that the power behind manifestation is the love power, and it is by this power that this whole world was created. It is the love principle whether it works through God or man. And if that principle is at the back of the whole creation, then it is the same principle which helps man to fulfil the purpose of his life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 29, 2004 Report Share Posted August 29, 2004 Thanks, that was a very nice article Uma! I truly enjoyed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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