tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36519372011-04-21T17:17:39.112-07:00Sufi StudyMeditations inspired by the Esoteric Papers of Hazrat Inayat Khan, with loving thanks to Shamcher Beorse.Sufianoreply@blogger.comBlogger151100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651937.post-1140735224273221122006-02-23T14:50:00.000-08:002006-02-23T15:05:49.050-08:00I started this blog years ago as an assist to my own sufi studies. I was intending to delete it, but having just now returned to it, I've decided to let it stand, and I may add to it in the future.Of more interest to others is the blog for Shamcher's work at www.shamcher.wordpress.com, or the site www.shamcher.org. If you want to connect, or have any comments to share, please go to these Sufianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651937.post-847773002002-11-19T12:22:00.000-08:002002-11-19T12:22:46.140-08:00Murshid:
"Thought has a voice which the mind can hear, and the voice of the heart is audible to the heart; there is also a voice of the soul, which reaches to the soul. In the same way the voice of consciousness is heard by consciousness alone. While only spoken words are audible to the unintelligent, an intelligent person knows what is thought about him, a heartful person perceives the feelings Sufianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651937.post-842512632002-11-08T14:25:00.000-08:002005-04-26T10:47:20.526-07:00Murshid:"If there is any source from where we can get the direction on how to act in life, it is to be found in one's heart. The exercises of the sufi help to get to the source where one can get the direction, the right direction, where there is a spark of the Spirit of Guidance."Comment:The purpose of sufi practice is not to become a better sufi. It is to awaken in the heart the Spirit of Sufianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651937.post-838870932002-11-01T11:39:00.000-08:002002-11-01T11:39:21.303-08:00Murshid:
"Murshids have frequently inspired their mureeds without reading or discussing, and such mureeds have reached perfection. It is a wonderful phenomenon which an exceptional mureed once in a while experiences under the guidance of his murshid."
Comment:
It is a preferred way of teaching. This vibrational inspiration, this matching of pupil to teacher's pitch, is in fact the true tradition.Sufianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651937.post-834708482002-10-24T11:19:00.000-07:002002-11-01T11:27:47.000-08:00Murshid:
"In abstract healing, the soul, heart and body are healed of all diseases and weaknesses therein. This healing is only possible during the ecstasy of the healer. The strong psychical vibrations which run through the pores of his body from his inner self naturally pierce through the bodies, hearts and souls of all around him, who receive them in accordance with their power of receptivity.Sufianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651937.post-808293872002-08-28T09:41:00.000-07:002002-08-28T09:41:04.690-07:00Murshid:
"It is the essence of life which manifests in the flowers as perfume and in nature as colour and form, and even in the stones it manifests as diamonds and emeralds and rubies. And for the worshipper of the sublimity of God, who sees him in the sublimity of nature, perfume, flower, or even a precious stone, beauty in any form or colour or in any sense, is a divine blessing which helps himSufianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651937.post-807396092002-08-26T12:05:00.000-07:002002-08-26T12:08:35.000-07:00Murshid:
"The best way of getting over pain is by not acknowledging it."
Here Murshid advises us to remove our attentive concentration and thought and emotional energies away from the pain which often accompanies or heralds the opening of realization. This pain of the threshold is only in existence for a short moment, but if it is not left behind, one remains standing on the threshold, reliving Sufianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651937.post-805331472002-08-21T12:01:00.000-07:002002-08-21T12:11:41.000-07:00Murshid:
"Man in his everyday life gives out his energies through the activity of life, and therefore meditation is taught by the wise with posture so that the energy, which is always spent in activities, may be spared for some moments, and during these moments some additional energy may be taken in by the help of the breath."
Comment:
Here Murshid outlines the rationale for meditation as a Sufianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651937.post-800423642002-08-09T14:07:00.000-07:002002-08-09T14:18:01.000-07:00Murshid:
"As the storm disturbs the sea and the sea in its turn upsets the boat, causing all manner of turmoil, so every earthly passion disturbs the calmness of spirit in man and restlessness of spirit upsets his mind causing disorders physically and mentally; it produces chaos through all the affairs of life."
Comment:
Although we cannot control all influences in life, we can control our Sufianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651937.post-797402302002-08-02T10:00:00.000-07:002002-08-02T10:00:07.110-07:00Murshid:
"The universe is a mechanism; we all have to work through that mechanism."
Comment:
There are laws and functions within life on earth which direct and embody influences and conditions over which we have little or no control.
Murshid:
"Even with all the knowledge we have of the world and with all the inspiration and power and blessing behind us, yet there are limitations in our lives andSufianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651937.post-794025282002-07-25T11:35:00.000-07:002002-07-25T11:35:28.360-07:00Murshid:
"This study begins in observation and ends in examination. According to the ancient Hindus there are three stages of study: observation, assimilation and lastly, examination."
Comment;
It is not by judging what one learns that the process of true learning takes place. It is by observing (and imitating), then by assimilating - taking it all into oneself. This is a very different process Sufianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651937.post-793239622002-07-23T17:26:00.000-07:002002-07-23T17:26:15.243-07:00Murshid:
Man is a miniature sun god: in his soul the miniature god, in his body the miniature sun."
Comment:
This is a profound symbolic understanding of the human being, and the metaphor (which is not actually a metaphor at all) reveals a great esoteric secret: the miniature god within. Atman to Brahman. This hints at the microcosm of human being but also connects directly to a powerful inner Sufianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651937.post-792631472002-07-22T10:24:00.000-07:002002-07-22T10:24:28.826-07:00Murshid:
"The world within you is reflected upon the world without, and it is the action and reaction of the two upon one another that constitutes your life."
Comment:
Development of the inner life has a direct relationship to the outer life, and conditions and circumstances begin to configure in resonant relation to the forms and forces nurtured and awakened via inner practice and concentration.Sufianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651937.post-792253732002-07-21T11:58:00.000-07:002002-07-21T11:58:36.740-07:00Murshid:
"The other need is writing. A practice must be made in order to develop the faculty of putting into words the ideas which are given by the message. We ought to have a great many among us who will be able to give the interpretation of the message."
Comment:
It is in answer to this call to interpret the message that I am sitting here today, writing. And miraculously, that interpretation Sufianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651937.post-792223992002-07-21T10:03:00.000-07:002002-07-21T10:03:54.910-07:00In the prologue to The Eastern Rose Garden as originally published, the complex relationship between the gardener and the garden is poetically invoked. This prologue - written by a pupil of Inayat Khan - has been omitted from subsequent publications. I will look for it and put it in this weblog.
Something is missing, Hidayat said to me, and I knew it to be true. This in the garden at Suresnes.
Sufianoreply@blogger.com