Village Journals
Resonate your identity with Naseeb journals. Express your opinions, share your thoughts, post your writings and connect with like minded people through the power of expression.
Resonate your identity with Naseeb journals. Express your opinions, share your thoughts, post your writings and connect with like minded people through the power of expression.
The Sufi Message
From 'Integrity in Spirituality', message by Hidayat Inayat Khan.
The Sufi Message
Sufism is neither a new religion nor a cult, neither a doctrine nor a dogmatic institution. Perhaps one could say that Sufism is the same religion of the heart that has always been, ever since wisdom was wisdom.
Esoteric schools can be traced as far back as the time of Abraham, and even earlier. In Arabia, esoteric schools were known for their metaphysical teaching. In Persia, literature, poetry and music were the sources of inspiration. In India, the esoteric schools were mainly of a meditative character. Although these and others may perhaps differ slightly in the methods of inner training, yet all are united in their object, because
esoteric knowledge does not belong to just one esoteric school.
The term "Sufi," meaning wisdom, does not refer only to ancient schools, known or unknown, where spiritual concepts have blossomed through the ages and subsequently crystallized within various orders. It refers in reality to all efforts made to raise human understanding to a level of spiritual awakening, which is the outcome of the purification of the mind from the
limitations of traditional barriers, as well as from one's own pre-conceived ideas unconsciously built up day by day.
Wisdom cannot be worded, nor can it be identified as being the property of one single transmission because of its universal nature. It is a message of "human rights of thought and feeling" that has been calling since
eternity but is not always heard, which explains why artificial terminologies generally misrepresent true inner realization. Unless there is an awakening to the basic moral principles of honesty in spirituality, the religious
contingent of mankind remains enslaved by the tyranny imposed by the illusion of Truth.
For a Sufi, the diversity of names and forms of the world's religious doctrines are like veils covering the phenomenon of the Spirit of Guidance constantly manifesting through all levels of evolution. This
explains why one of the great ideals of a Sufi is the awakening of the heart qualities, resulting in a broader outlook, reaching far beyond concepts of faith and belief, and a compassionate attitude toward the tragic
misunderstandings that divide the earnest followers of religious and philosophical traditions.
The Sufi thoughtfully avoids making a display of peculative concepts, using only the language of the heart when communicating with others, respectful of
all interpretations of the one and only object of worship.
All down the ages, the world Messengers have come to humanity with the great ideal of liberating the religious impulse from the various dogmas that over and over again through the centuries have built up speculative
theories about the abstract. The "followers of the followers of the followers" impose these forms upon innocent believers, perpetuating thereby the specter of fanaticism even in this age when science has successfully catapulted factual knowledge as far as the surface of the moon, beyond the tragic limitations of what is held to be religious knowledge describing
heaven in terms which appeal to those with closed minds.
The message of all times, which is sounding again in our century, reminds mankind that those religious traditions, highly respected within the "museum of the past," now face the reality of new visions, such as the awareness of
the unity of religious ideals. Obviously, this becomes a normal understanding as soon as one's inner eye opens to the light of the "pearls of the ocean unseen" displayed in all religious symbolism. This light, which
religion often hides beneath so many layers of disguise, pretence, and fanatical thinking, may also be seen within one's own heart, which, to the mystic, is the living altar.
The Divine message, which comes in all ages under different names, is now the message of wisdom. This message is not meant for only a certain culture nor is it destined for just one part of the world; it is for the
whole of humanity. It is a universal message, expressed in a Universal Worship inspired by teachings from the great religions, known and unknown to the world at large. The religious ideal is focused upon the Spirit of
Guidance, the Teacher of all teachers, that offers inspiration to the world of science, creativity to the world of art, liberty to the social world, and to the religious world the realization of the Divine within all creation.
To the question, 'What is the Message?' the answer differs in accordance with the understanding, because each person represents a different point of view, yet all venture to drink from the same water, whether it be
called a stream, a river, a lake, a sea, an ocean or the Divine source itself. As we march courageously onward through the darkness of human ignorance, steadfastly holding aloft the banner of spiritual liberty, we may
perhaps discover that truth could be interpreted as an invitation to become as living altars of all religious beliefs, communicating in each one's language while safely holding on to the only secret that there is to inner
peace, to happiness, to spirituality: the supremacy of truth that cannot be defined.
There is only one truth: the nobility of the heart. There is only one true heart: selfless feelings within. The inner self, the all-pervading, is revealed at all levels of mystical understanding when the illusion of the 'I' is transcended. This is the path of the wise, who recognize that all they know is what they imagine knowing. Wisdom is only wisdom when not pretending to others about one's own wisdom, but when offering a silent example of an awakening to the everlasting riddle: who, what, why, how, which, whence, whither?
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The Sufi Message
Sufism is neither a new religion nor a cult, neither a doctrine nor a dogmatic institution. Perhaps one could say that Sufism is the same religion of the heart that has always been, ever since wisdom was wisdom.
Esoteric schools can be traced as far back as the time of Abraham, and even earlier. In Arabia, esoteric schools were known for their metaphysical teaching. In Persia, literature, poetry and music were the sources of inspiration. In India, the esoteric schools were mainly of a meditative character. Although these and others may perhaps differ slightly in the methods of inner training, yet all are united in their object, because
esoteric knowledge does not belong to just one esoteric school.
The term "Sufi," meaning wisdom, does not refer only to ancient schools, known or unknown, where spiritual concepts have blossomed through the ages and subsequently crystallized within various orders. It refers in reality to all efforts made to raise human understanding to a level of spiritual awakening, which is the outcome of the purification of the mind from the
limitations of traditional barriers, as well as from one's own pre-conceived ideas unconsciously built up day by day.
Wisdom cannot be worded, nor can it be identified as being the property of one single transmission because of its universal nature. It is a message of "human rights of thought and feeling" that has been calling since
eternity but is not always heard, which explains why artificial terminologies generally misrepresent true inner realization. Unless there is an awakening to the basic moral principles of honesty in spirituality, the religious
contingent of mankind remains enslaved by the tyranny imposed by the illusion of Truth.
For a Sufi, the diversity of names and forms of the world's religious doctrines are like veils covering the phenomenon of the Spirit of Guidance constantly manifesting through all levels of evolution. This
explains why one of the great ideals of a Sufi is the awakening of the heart qualities, resulting in a broader outlook, reaching far beyond concepts of faith and belief, and a compassionate attitude toward the tragic
misunderstandings that divide the earnest followers of religious and philosophical traditions.
The Sufi thoughtfully avoids making a display of peculative concepts, using only the language of the heart when communicating with others, respectful of
all interpretations of the one and only object of worship.
All down the ages, the world Messengers have come to humanity with the great ideal of liberating the religious impulse from the various dogmas that over and over again through the centuries have built up speculative
theories about the abstract. The "followers of the followers of the followers" impose these forms upon innocent believers, perpetuating thereby the specter of fanaticism even in this age when science has successfully catapulted factual knowledge as far as the surface of the moon, beyond the tragic limitations of what is held to be religious knowledge describing
heaven in terms which appeal to those with closed minds.
The message of all times, which is sounding again in our century, reminds mankind that those religious traditions, highly respected within the "museum of the past," now face the reality of new visions, such as the awareness of
the unity of religious ideals. Obviously, this becomes a normal understanding as soon as one's inner eye opens to the light of the "pearls of the ocean unseen" displayed in all religious symbolism. This light, which
religion often hides beneath so many layers of disguise, pretence, and fanatical thinking, may also be seen within one's own heart, which, to the mystic, is the living altar.
The Divine message, which comes in all ages under different names, is now the message of wisdom. This message is not meant for only a certain culture nor is it destined for just one part of the world; it is for the
whole of humanity. It is a universal message, expressed in a Universal Worship inspired by teachings from the great religions, known and unknown to the world at large. The religious ideal is focused upon the Spirit of
Guidance, the Teacher of all teachers, that offers inspiration to the world of science, creativity to the world of art, liberty to the social world, and to the religious world the realization of the Divine within all creation.
To the question, 'What is the Message?' the answer differs in accordance with the understanding, because each person represents a different point of view, yet all venture to drink from the same water, whether it be
called a stream, a river, a lake, a sea, an ocean or the Divine source itself. As we march courageously onward through the darkness of human ignorance, steadfastly holding aloft the banner of spiritual liberty, we may
perhaps discover that truth could be interpreted as an invitation to become as living altars of all religious beliefs, communicating in each one's language while safely holding on to the only secret that there is to inner
peace, to happiness, to spirituality: the supremacy of truth that cannot be defined.
There is only one truth: the nobility of the heart. There is only one true heart: selfless feelings within. The inner self, the all-pervading, is revealed at all levels of mystical understanding when the illusion of the 'I' is transcended. This is the path of the wise, who recognize that all they know is what they imagine knowing. Wisdom is only wisdom when not pretending to others about one's own wisdom, but when offering a silent example of an awakening to the everlasting riddle: who, what, why, how, which, whence, whither?
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