increase love and strengthen the will

the universe is one being

In order to learn forgiveness

man must learn tolerance first. And there

are people whom man cannot forgive. It is not that he

must not forgive, but it is difficult, beyond his power to forgive,

and in that case the first thing he can do is to forget. The first step

towards forgiveness is to forget. It is true that the finer the

man is the more he is subject to be hurt by the smallest

disturbance that can produce irritation and

inharmony in the atmosphere.

A person who gives

and takes hurts is capable of living

an easy and comfortable life in the world.

Life is difficult for the fine person, for he cannot

give back what he receives in the way of hurt, and he can

feel it more than the average person. Many seek protection from

all hurting influences by building some wall around themselves. But

the canopy over the earth is so high that a wall cannot be built high

enough, and the only thing one can do is to live in the midst of

all inharmonious influences, to strengthen his will power

and to bear all things, yet keeping the fineness of

character and a nobleness of manner together

with an ever-living heart.

To become cold

with the coldness of the world

is weakness, and to become broken

by the hardness of the world is feebleness,

but to live in the world and yet to keep above the world

is like walking on the water. There are two essential duties

for the man of wisdom and love; that is to keep the love

in our nature ever increasing and expanding and to

strengthen the will so that the heart may not be

easily broken. Balance is ideal in life;

man must be fine and yet strong,

man must be loving and

yet powerful.

Hazrat Inayat Khan

the training of the ego

three miracles of jesus

There

are three miracles of our

Brother Jesus not yet recorded in the Book:

the first that he was a man like you and me; the second that

he had a sense of humor; and the third that he

knew he was a conqueror though

conquered.

Kahlil Gibran

Why do

people hate Jesus,

or at least prefer the ethereal dead

version known as Christ? Because Jesus made

outrageous demands: Love your enemy,

renounce material possessions,

give all you have to

the poor.

Barbara Ehrenreich

conservative is

someone who admires radicals

centuries after they’re

dead.

Leo Rosten

Think of the life

of the great Master Jesus Christ

who was the soul of religion — one sees

that from beginning to end there was nothing

but love and forgiveness. The best expression of love

is that love which is expressed in forgiveness.

Those who came with their wrongs, errors,

imperfections, before the love, that was

all forgiven; there was always a

stream of love which

always purified.

Hazrat Inayat Khan

our own heart must teach us

hers did

The greater your love,

the greater your moral. If we are forced

to be virtuous according to a certain principle,

a certain regulation, certain laws or rules, then that

is not real virtue. It must come from the depths

of our heart; our own heart must

teach us the true moral.

Hazrat Inayat Khan

wahiduddin’s web

the mystic develops a wider outlook

like so

While some blame

another for causing him harm,

the wise one first takes

himself to task.

The worldly struggle is outward struggle. The struggle on the spiritual path is inward struggle. No sooner does one take the spiritual direction than the first enemy one meets is one’s own self. What does the self do? It is most mischievous. When one says one wants to fight it, it says, ‘I am yourself. Do you want to fight me?’ And when it brings failure, it is clever enough to put the blame on someone else.

Do all those who have failed in life accuse themselves? No, they always accuse another person. When they have gained something they say, ‘I have done it.’ When they have lost something they say, ‘This person got in my way’. With little and big things, it is all the same. The self does not admit faults; it always puts the blame on others. Its vanity, its pride, its smallness, and its egotistical tendency which is continually active, keep one blind.

By a study of life the Sufi learns and practices the nature of its harmony. He establishes harmony with the self, with others, with the universe and with the infinite. He identifies himself with another, he sees himself, so to speak, in every other being. He cares for neither blame nor praise, considering both as coming from himself.

If a person were to drop a heavy weight and in so doing hurt his own foot, he would not blame his hand for having dropped it, realizing himself in both the hand and the foot. In like manner the Sufi is tolerant when harmed by another, thinking that the harm has come from himself alone.

He overlooks the faults of others, considering that they know no better. He hides the faults of others, and suppresses any facts that would cause disharmony. His constant fight is with the Nafs (the self-centered ego), the root of all disharmony and the only enemy of man.

The mystic develops a wider outlook on life, and this wider outlook changes his actions. He develops a point of view that may be called a divine point of view. Then he rises to the state in which he feels that all that is done to him comes from God, and when he himself does right or wrong, he feels that he does right or wrong to God. To arrive at such a stage is true religion. There can be no better religion than this, the true religion of God on earth. This is the point of view that makes a person God-like and divine. He is resigned when badly treated, but for his own shortcomings, he will take himself to task, for all his actions are directed towards God.

Hazrat Inayat Khan