nargis. at the gate of discipleship 1924

5/13/2018 Nargis. at the Gate of Discipleship 1924 - slidepdf.com

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/nargis-at-the-gate-of-discipleship-1924 1/148



S u fi M o v e m e n t I n t e r n a t i o n a lMoscow Sufi Center

s u£im o vem e n t. c»r«»



A T T H E G A T E O FD I S C I P L E S H I P

Made and Printed in Great Britain

by Southampton Times Limited,

Southampton



All rig hts reserved.



m mAT THE

GA T E OF DISCIPLESHIP

I NS CR I BED BY

N A R G I SI n scr ib er of " B e t w e e n the D e s e r t and the S o w n "

P UP I L OF

INAYAT KHAN

Published by the Sufi Movement



F O R E W O R D

"The words that I speak unto you, they are

Spiri t , and they are l i fe ."—John 6 . 6 3 .

TH E w ord s of a Messenger of Go d are

l iving wo rds, th e y can nev er die, the y

live to inspire (give life to) all men

whose rate of vibration enables them to respond;and m ay be interpreted in m any w a y s ; bu t

even thousands of years after their utterance,

will never fail to awaken response from one

whose heart is tuned to receive them.

W ord s of life, word s of pow er, w ord s of con sola

tion, words of healing, words of understanding,wo rds of forgiveness, wo rds of p e a c e ; these

con stitute th e .wisdom lang uag e spoken b y all

those who carry the message of God to man.

It is called by Mystics, the language of the

H e a r t ; and Saints and Sages of wh atever religion,

in all ages and in all lan ds, recognise an d com

municate with each other by means of this

m yst ic lan gu ag e; known to , and used by , Th e

Brotherhood of Wisdom.

Blessed is he to whom it is spoken.

June 1924.



§ E nter the P at h ! there spring the healing

streams

Quenching all th ir st ! there bloom th ' imm ortal

flowers

Carpeting al l the w ay with j o y ! there throng

Swiftest and sweetest hours! |

The Light of Asia.



At the Gate of Discipleship.

TH E teaching of the saints and sages, th at

one upon the p ath of Discipleship m ust

surrender a ll of self, and purify the h eart

of al l save God, a ppears to m an y w ho are no t ye t

prepared to tread that path a hard and difficult

doctrine, i t does n o do ub t seem a gospel of

perfection impossible of attainm ent b y th eordinary man, but this is because they are

looking at it from a wrong angle, viewing such

a life as a constant renunciation (by obedience

to the w ill of God) of som ething the y wish to ke ep .

A Seer has said | Eternal Life is the life of

spirit without a body, i t is attained by love, n o t

by obedience," herein lies the secret, the essence

of love is self-surrender, a great love cannot

fail to eliminate self. Sacrifice by a mother for

her child would be no sacrifice, not even the

surrender of life itself. To the lover of God,

nothing is worth a moment 's thought, which

would stand as a barrier between his soul andth e object of its desire. | W hen D ivin e aspira

tion appears al l desires m elt a w a y ." Th e hum an

soul while l iving on earth knows itself in its

imm ortal b eing, an exile, ever seeking its source,



the one life of wh ich it is p a r t ; bu t on the

surface of life, as a dw eller in th e bo d y, i t identifies

itself with its humanity which is fighting to

retain an individuality and realize itself as aseparate immortal being. This is the great

il lusion, the shadow in which man lives, until by

love—inherent in every heart—the fetters are

broken by which the false self imprisons the

soul, and it passes out of darkness into light.

The Life of God which ensouls every l ivingthing from atom to man, must return to God, in

reality i t has never left Him, the soul of man,

one end of a ray of l ight, the other end God.

When the realization of this truth comes to

any man (not knowledge but realization) his one

desire dominating everything else in l ife, is to

forget the small l imited self in which he isrestricted on every side by claims of the false

ego, to reach the source of his being, and claim

his real inheritance, unlimited, Eternal Life, in

which is perfect freedom for, Verily the soul of

man ever seeketh its source as the river seeketh

the sea.Whoever would understand the mysteries of

life, must search the Scripture written by the

Hand of God, the book of nature, which wil l

never fail to enlighten an awakened soul.

I O ! days and years of fleeting time what are

y e ? "I We are separated parts of Eternity."

I Whither are ye going ? 1

i Down the corridors of time to lose ourselves

where t ime is not ."



| O ! restless rushing river w h a t seekest tho u ? I

1 1 seek the ocean of my desire, to lose myself

in its rhy thm ic ebb an d flow."

| O ! soul of m an tho u too are restless, w ha tseekest thou ? "

• I seek the source of my being, that a s m a n I

m ay cease to b e . "



THE many warnings given, and instructions

written, about the difficulties of the Path,

do not produce any feeling of discourage

m ent in a D isciple, he kn ow s the dangers and

difficulties are but the exercises life gives in order

to produce spiritual strength, and that they are

given only in response to the demands of the

D isciple himself for progress and efficiency. E v e n

in the material world it is recognised that a man

cannot win a race depending upon the developm ent

of ph ysica l strength u nless he trains an d disciplines

his bo dy . One w h o is tru ly travelling in search

of God is willing to face any difficulties upon the

Path in order that his inner senses shall bedeveloped, his eyes opened to perceive, and his

ears opened to un derstand § T h e things wh ich

God has prepared for them that love him," he

know s th at § W eeping m ay endure for a nig ht,

bu t jo y cometh in the m orn ing." In the dawn

of a new day Joy will meet each traveller upon thePath to God and the bl iss of that meeting cannot

be described, but one moment of such bliss is

worth the whole long toilsome journey with all its

difficulties and dangers, for here time is not

12



measured by days and years. 1 Beloved, benot ignorant of this one thing, that one day isw ith the Lord as a thousand ye ar s." 2 P et . 3 . 8 .

" T o the strong difficulties are jo y , and whenthey are conquered their strength passes intothe conqueror."— Fr om the Key of Drea ms.



I Veri ly, veri ly I say unto you, I am the door ofthe sheep."—John 10. 7 .

IT is no t easy for an aspirant to pass throug h the

G ate of D iscipleship , th e Ga te itself is difficult

to find, it m ust be sough t and found alone,

for in this task no man's help is possible, and

wh en found, the Disciple m ust pass thro ug h insilence.

There are m any gates upon the P a t h ; the

real one can be discovered by the light of intui

tion j m an y are the m ysteries surrounding it ,

for it is not stationary in one particular place so

that pi lgrims may be given a plan showing theway or directed and guided thereto, although

there are many who think they are capable of

guiding others, one moment it is seen in one

place and the next in quite a different one, in

reality it is in the heart of the Disciple and made

objective by his creative thought, so that for

each traveller its appearance is different, and

yet there is but One Entrance, through which al l

aspirants to Discipleship must enter. It is

known only to the Keeper of the Gate who



passes through, to none other, not even to the

Disciple himself, in his physical consciousness,

until he has been able to unify it with the higher

consciousness which enables him to see with thelight of true knowledge.



TH E R E is to-day m uch discussion abou t

I Discipleship | and | the P a t h ," bu t veryfew know the rea lity of eith er; and those

wh o do know are silent concerning it. A trueDisciple is very hard to recognize, for he claimsnothing, and would never seek to appear in theeyes of others as different from ordinary people;

i f any power was developed within him, he wouldnot speak of it to others, but would regard it asa m ost sacred and secret tr u s t; in his ou ter l ifehe is as other men and may be a follower of anyreligion or of none, but in the inner life he isknown as a seeker of God, and the only thing

that has any value for him is the Search—that toa sincere Disciple is the vital reality—besidewh ich all else is unreal. T h is does no t im plythat his ordinary life with all its duties and responsibilities is neglected, not one responsibilitycan be avoided, not one duty left undone, notonly the difficult and unpleasant ones, but the

easy and pleasant ones also, a seeker of Godrealizes that God must be sought through everycondition, and in every experience of life, foronly through this constant seeking, with oneness

16



of heart, wil l the realization come, that there is

no place in all the world, either great or small,

high or low, good or bad, in joy or in sorrow,

where G od is n o t; th at ev ery atom in the universeis pervaded with His l i fe and upheld by His love ;

but such a realization cannot be conveyed to

another, for each there is a different experience

which is for himself alone.

The vision of God is known to those who

understand the true meaning of singleness ofheart, for the heart is one and can only receive

one reflection at a time. 1 The l ight of the

body is the eye, if therefore thine eye be single,

thy whole body shall be full of l ight § Matt. 6. 22.

B D 17



I M ind is the surface of he art, and hea rt is

the depth of mind."— I n a y a t K h a n .

B Y a righ t und erstanding of th is the Disciple

w ill see how necessa ry it is th a t the accu-<

m ulation of m en tal ma tter is cleared from

the surface in order that the heart of man, which

is the abode of God, may be prepared to receiveH im . All the conten ts of m ind received through the

brain are useful wh ile m an is wo rking on th e sur

face , b ut wh en h e begins t o prepare for the birth of

the Christ in his heart, | Until Christ be formed

in you | — G a l . 4. 19 . he m ust see to i t th at a l l

waste material be removed, and only that which

he wills shall remain, he must, so to speak, make

a clear pathway by which he is able to retire at

wil l to the depths of his being, and yet leave

sufficient covering upon the surface that the

entrance may be guarded.

The inner meaning of this teaching can be

received b y m editation, i t canno t be given inwords which are but vei ls used to cover truth.



AMASTER (one who has attained mastery)upon the balanced pa th, ha s risen abo ve

the law of the pairs of opposites. T h e

ordinary m an cannot experience one w ithou t the

other, can never know l ight without darkness on

an y plane un til he ha s transcended his perso nality

or false e g o ; for so lon g as he identifies himself w ith

i t , it will stand before the light which his true egois seeking and so create darkness by its own

shado w. If m an could realize th at all darkne ss

is caused by his own thoughts which have built

up this false ego, he would begin to withdraw

them from things material and temporal and

strive to realize the part of himself that is spiritualand ete rn al ; thu s wou ld his shadow grow sm aller

and smaller until it was dispelled by the light of

his real self. Balance can only be attained by

experience and knowledge of both the real and

the unreal, the l ight and the shadow.

I Those men of pure deeds in whom sin has come

to an end, they, freed from the delusive

pairs of oppo sites wo rship m e, steadfast in

vows."— Bha ga v a d Gi td .

A Master upon this path understands that



truth l ies in paradox, and through his own

experience knows that he who would find l ight

m ust w alk through the ga tew ay of shadows. T h at

th e m ys te ry of sound is revea led in the silence.T h a t the blessing of peace m ust be sought throug h

the ga te of sacrifice. T h a t jo y m ay abide in the

house of pain. T h a t knowledge w alks upon the

way of ignorance, and that only* through the

gate of t ime can man reach the Eternal .

Whoever can reach these stages upon the road

of l ife, remain in each until he has gained the

necessary experience, and then pass on, h a s

mastered life and death.



TH E secret of m astery and the object of m an 's

creation is th a t he shall be able to stand in

the m iddle kingdom or w alk upon the

w aters wh ich l ie between earth and he ave n, to

obtain mastery of both by controlling the king

dom s th at l ie below him and b y rising at w ill

to those th at are abo ve him . H e wh o is

able to w alk upon these w aters can be surroundedby water and not be drowned by water,

can live upon ea rth and not be buried b y

earth, can walk through fire and not be con

sumed by fire and can breathe the air of heaven

and yet not be held b y he a v e n ; bu t the first

element to be controlled is w ate r. In th emysteries of Life water represents the whole

emotional and sensational l ife of man and its

waves must never rise above the feet of one who

would obtain mastery of self; he must be able

to stand above it with power to sti l l i ts waves

which must never overwhelm him but must be

always under his control or, under his feet.

When he has gained this control he can also

obtain the mastery of earth, which means power

to control his physical body, its needs and

2 1



demands. Mastery of heaven is gained by

concen tration an d aspiration, wh ich give pow er to

free the thoughts so that they may be able to

soar even through the gates of heaven and returnat the will of man, sti l l singing their song of

freedom . T o be m aster of fire m eans control of

l i fe and death, to attain this the aspirant must

I die before death/' or lose himself in God when

neither Life nor Death hath any dominion over

h im , he is | dead indeed u nt o sin, bu t aliveu n to God I R o m . 6 . n



UN L E S S th e M aster ha s vis ited th e heart of a

D isciple, H e cou ld nev er be recognised in aph ysical bo dy , even i f he we re to wa lk th e

streets of your City, speak in your Churches and

Halls , or even be entertained u nder you r roof; all

these things he might do and stil l remain unseen

and unknown, a l though you may think he is

known unto you. I And hereby we know thatwe know Him i f we keep His commandments,

he that sai th, I know Him, and keepeth not His

commandments is a l iar, and the truth is not in

him I John 2. 3 , 4 .



EV E R Y action or situation in life can be

m ade a he lp or an hindrance in the innerlife of a D isciple. T o some ex ten t th is

is true for eve ry m an, b ut to one w ho ha s

begun to tread the return pa th it is ve ry definitely

and sp ecially so ; the teaching of the sages th at

• T h e P at h is in yourself " is thus unde rstood,

eve ry m an upon this path m ust solve hisow n prob lem and h is ow n pecu liar difficulties

in his own way, and for each they would

be different eve n altho ugh in some cases

apparently the same, no man can solve another's

problem for h i m ; the solution to the questions

Life holds before the human soul are not fixed

and definite or set as an examination that all

students must pass, each one as it arises must be

met and conquered within, before it can be under

stood w ith ou t, for the outer form is bu t a reflection

of the inner truth without which it could have

no existence.

I That only which we have within can we seew ithin . If w e m eet no gods it is because

we harbour none."— E m e r s o n .



NO one can become a Disciple up on the P at h

to God u ntil he h as realized the non -

imp ortance of w orldly know ledge. T his

does no t m ean th at it should not be acqu ired,

it is essential wh ile livin g th e ou ter life bu t

m ust no t be used a s a guide for the innerlife. T o tread the pa th of return invo lves

a complete turning round or turning a w a y ;

therefore all th at before seemed so im po rtan t

is now forgotten or left beh ind, bu t it m ust

first be kn ow n otherw ise it w ou ld stil l be

before and no t behind the Disciple. | T h eknow ledge of al l the sages culm inates in the

realization tha t th ey do not kn o w /'— S h a i k h

Sharf-ud-dtn. It is the culmination of knowledge

th at is im po rtant, no t ignorance of it . W hen

this stage of realization is reached it is understood

that self-knowledge is the only knowledge thatwill enlighten the seeker of God, and if such

an one turns round and faces his inner or real

self, he will receive il lumination, and in the

wo rds of a Sufi teacher, wi l l know th at " I t is



th y existence th a t veils Th ee. H ad there been

the veil of a single activity, it could be uplifted

b y another opposite ac tivity . B u t the whole

of thyse lf being a ve il tho u can st n o t be fit forDivine Vision unless and until thou vanish

compl ete l y ."



AN Y experience the hum an soul contactsduring its l ife in the world is a valuable

lesson, w heth er th e experiences are

pleasurable or painful, good or ba d, th e y all

contain important teaching; 1 bu t on no

accou nt should th ey be indulged in after the

lesson h as been learn ed. In all the b odies

of m an, bo th seen an d unseen, continual andconstant chang es are tak ing place, n othing

is motionless which has life, and as life is in every

atom of the universe, there is motion or change

in every part, although uncomprehended by man.

Directly an experience is retained beyond the

necessary period, then it generates a poison whichaffects the whole l ife and sometimes necessitates

a very painful process of detachment from that

experience.

It is most important for a Disciple upon the

spiritual Path to realize the inner meaning of this

te ac h in g ; through a right understanding of i t

he wil l be able to solve m an y problems tha t wo uld

otherwise appear unsolvable.



EV E R Y action in the daily li fe of a Disciple

w ho h as set h is foot upon th e spiritual

path, and is striving to l ive the life of

the spirit, should be made an offering to

Go d, he n eed n ot l ive a li fe a pa rt from other

m en, neither need he , in the outer l ife,

ap pea r different from others, bu t with in himself

his ev ery ac t should be consecrated . Itis not that he must only perform holy or sacred

deeds, but that in his thoughts, the ordinary

everyday duties should be offered as a sacrifice,

and be carried out in such a way that others may

benefit rath er th an himself. T h is is th e real

consecrated life, and if constantly practised willgive to the Disciple the consciousness of the

Presence of Go d. E ve ry act no t thu s consecrated

or offered becom es an illusion, and stan ds in th e

pa th of the Disciple blocking his v ie w ; this

causes a bewilderment as he cannot now see the

next step his feet should tread, and what before

w a s perfectly clear to his vision, becom es confused

by the clouds of doubt caused by i l lusion, which,

unless they are dispelled will entirely prevent his

further progress, as instead of pressing onward he

2 8



will continually trace and re-trace the steps he

has already taken.

Of course man throughout the whole of his l i fe

is surrounded by every kind of i l lusion, he couldno t otherwise l ive in this w orld of i l lusion ; b u t

he who can by the power of God realize and

understand its nature, can always dispel the

clouds which surround him by the light within

his own soul.



IN every human heart there is the seed of good

ness and tr uth , ho we ver covered over w ith

wee ds, bu t in order th at this seed m ay

grow it mu st be believed in ; w itho ut this

belief i t can nev er grow . N o m atte r how

wicked a man may be, if a firm belief in

his goodne ss can be he ld stea dily before him

he m ust in time respond, because the atom sof a man's subtle bodies always group themselves

to the pattern held before the so u l ; in the same

way of course if no one believes in the possibility

of his goodness he cannot even believe in himself,

and the pattern presented to his view being

always wickedness he remains wicked.It is of course difficult for the ordinary man to

believe in the buried goodness of another who is

always acting wickedly ; but by a close study of

life you will find that even the vilest man will

show some kind thought or action if he is loved

or believed in by only one person, even the love

of an animal is able to call it forth.The God-realized man understands this, and

nev er condemns ; his w a y of dealing w ith a wicke d

m an wou ld be, to hold such a strong picture of th e



good to which it is possible for that man to

attain, that in t ime the atoms of his bodies would

re-group themselves, and the wickedness would

fal l from him l ike a mantle for which he had nom ore use ; for such an one it w ou ld be no effort

thus to hold a picture, for from the heart in which

God abides nothing but good can be mirrored

upo n any other soul.



SO R R O W and happiness, pleasure and pain are

the means used to awaken man from

his long sleep in the prison house of

m aterial possessions ; h e m ust w ak e ere he can

realize h is cond ition of exile, an d rise t o free

himself from the bon ds wh ich bind him , and

the lethargy with which his soul is drugged.

The means used to create emotion in the hearteither pleasu rable or pain ful, is for th e purpose

of producing response, to make it so sensitive to

vibration that it must of necessity seek har

monious conditions. T h e real use of em otion is

to tune the heart to the keynote of the soul in

order th at i t m ay hea r the voice of G od. W henthis has been accomplished the means used are

of no further u s e ; and , if retained beyon d th is

period, w ill cause disc o rd ; of course it requires

the ey e of a Seer really to see this tru th ; b ut

some degree of understanding may be attained

by those who seek to tread the path of wisdom, if

they wil l endeavour to realize that nothing of

itself, either good or bad, matters to the soul,

the result produ ced is the o nly rea lity.



C C TI K E seek s l i k e " a n d | l o v e b e ge ts love

1

1 j in these ordinary everyday phrasesthere is hidden a g reat tru th. D irect ly

the Christ has been born in an y hum an h ear t,that one is capable of recognising Him inall others with whom he comes in contact,for the seed of such a birth is in ever y m an ,

an d can thu s be discovered and also helpedto expand, but it can only be seen by the eyes ofChrist looking through the hear t of m an . T h eGod-realized man, in whom is the indwellingspirit of Christ, acts as a magnet, for as steel thathas itself been magnetized can magnetize other

steel, so can the magnetism of gaze of such aman draw to the surface the good hidden in thedepths of the soul of whomsoever he gazes upon ;for one who has himself realized God in his ownheart cannot fail also to realize him in the heartsof every human being, however veiled by coverings of er ro r; bu t although he can , for themoment, draw to the surface the hidden Christin the heart of another, unless that other werecontinually in his atmosphere it would be liableto fal l again into the depths from which it w a s —

C D 3 3



b y recognit ion— cal led fo r th ; i t i s only this

recognition that can call it from the darkness into

l i g h t ; when deep cal leth un to deep the response

is inevitable, it is for this reason that in the Eastthe presence of holy men is sought by those

desiring to live the life of the spirit.

When Jesus was on earth multitudes fol lowed

him from place to place ; because in h is presence

they felt what perhaps never in their l ives before

they had felt, the stirring in the depths of theirhearts of the living Christ.



HE only way that progress on the spiritual

path is possible is by service to humanity,and it is ju st because of this th at the

D isciple has so m an y difficulties to m e e t ;

insight and great understanding are needed,

for unless he can see with the inner vision, this

m eans of progress m a y become a stum bling

block to his feet. If it is taken as a m eans

of progress it is useless, as far as th e D isciplehimself is concerned, though no doubt help

ful to whatsoever or whomsoever the service

is rendered. W ords are no t ve ry h elpful

here, this teaching can only be comprehended by

inner understanding. T h e service th at is accep t

able to the M aster is th a t of wh ich the person alityis not conscious, actions that are passed over

unnoticed, because seemingly unimportant and

quite forgotten, are sometimes of greatest import

ance in th e spiritual l ife of th e D isciple, an d often

w ork t h at is seen of m en m ay become an h indrance .

Only the Master knows what progress he makes

and where he stands upon the Path, the Disciple

can never kn ow , un ti l the M aster bids him look

back on the path he has travel led, only then wil l

he know what has been left behind.



T h e w a y of service is m ost difficult, it is n atu ra l

for everyone beginning to l ive the spiritual l ife to

w a n t to I work for the Master j and all are eager

to begin, but they have no idea of the reality of

such service or even of the meaning of work for

work's sake, the majority are working for results,

w hich is a ve ry different thing . T h e teach ing

thatjeverything which in ordinary l i fe is con

sidered gain is to the eyes of the Master but loss,

cannot be too often repeated, very few arecapable of realising this, and so, meeting the

disappointments inevitable upon this path,

become often discouraged at seeing so little

result for perhaps years of constant endeavour;

they cannot yet understand that i t is their

endeavour that the Master sees and which in hiseyes is the only result of service which matters

to the soul.

Result is the end of an undertaking, when we

see a result upon the physical plane it is some

th ing finished o r dea d, bu t ende avou r is a c on stan t

striving and so is a moving, l iving thing, capable

of carry ing the D isciple to heigh ts undrea m ed of ifhe does not hinder his own progress by stopping

t o seek for de ad results. E nd ura nce and indiffer

ence must be the watchwords of those who would

truly serve.



IT cannot be too often repeated that real

Sp irituality cann ot be seen upo n th e surface,

or expressed in o utw ard acts , for every action

w hich ca n be seen of m en or m a y app ear in the ir

eyes to be a spiritual action, can be equally well

performed by those who possess no semblance of

spirituality. Those whose life has become

spiritualised would guard the knowledge, as atreasure is guarded and hidden from the sight of

al l . The only way that i t could be known to

others is by the atmosphere which surrounds

those thus spiritualised, and the influence they

have upon the people wi th whom they come in

co nta ct. Th is is the only proof of a spiritual life.



EV E R Y spiri tual teaching, as w el l as every

situation in l ife, has its true and its false

valu e, an d in order to understand these th e

Disciple must develop discrimination so that

he m ay no t be deceived b y false values ,

for upon the Path there is a lways this danger;

at every step he takes he must focus the l ightof insight or clear und erstanding upon it, for

the true value of everything can only be discerned

in th is w a y . It is possible to be so en

wra ppe d in he ave nly visions as to be useless

for work in the world, even Love, Harmony

and Beauty may mislead the seeker after Truth,

unless they are seen and realized by means of theinner vision, which is very different from that of

th e wo rld. T h e Soul can withe r in a love how eve r

great, which desires possession and denies free

dom ; can be nause ated by earth ly harm onies,

which shut out the cries of distress for help and

aid, and become stifled in an atmosphere ofb ea u ty artificially created. T o the eyes of a

Seer Love, Harmony, and Beauty, may mean

something quite different to those of a man of the

w o rl d ; a Master upon the Pa th wou ld view



discord, as vibrations from which harmony could

be produced, would see ugliness, as material with

w hich it w as possible t o create be au ty, an d ha tred ,

as a force which could be changed into love byholding in his he art the thoug ht of God . A

worldly man sees discord, ugliness and hatred as

fixed and unalterable facts, but the Seer knows

that nothing is fixed, that every l iving thing is in

flux, for constant motion is the attribute of l ife,

either Material, Mental or Spiritual, and it is

therefore always capable of alteration and

readjustment.



PROOF of spiritual Truths cannot be given by

one man to another, because the things

belonging to th e soul m ust be seen

with the eyes of the soul, and for each man

th e proof w ou ld be for himself alone ; it is

impossible to exp lain spiritual tru ths t o one

whose spiritual ey es are closed, it wo uld be

exactly the same as trying to explain colour to aman born blind, he may believe what is said but

it would be an impossibi l i ty to give him any

ph ys ical proof of it, w hile if his ey es were o pen h e

w ould at once see for him self. T h is is so w ith

the things belonging to the spirit, nothing but

spiritual sight can give proof; and one mustremember that there are degrees of spiritual sight

as there are of physical, indeed there are many

more things invisible than visible, even to those

whose eyes are open, and even many of those

which are visible would not be understood w itho ut

instruction.

Spiritual Vision, most greatly to be desired, is

the birthright of every soul, but, the Master's

touch is needed to open the eyes, and when it is

desired above everything else in l ife, when a man

40



is ready to sacrifice all the world holds to obtain

his sight, then wil l the Master be there to give

i t him. I When the cry of the Disciple has

reached a certain pitch, the Teacher comes toanswer it §— I n a ya t K ha n .



IT is very necessary that the Disciple should

realize w h at is m eant by | treading the

Spiritual P a th ." Spiritual i ty is a wo rd ve ry

m uch m is-understood by the gen erality of peo ple,

w ho confuse it w ith religion and religious pra ctices.

It does not mean continual prayers, meditation

or even the repetition of holy words, all these are

for a purpose and are necessary and helpful, butthey cannot of themselves make a man spiritual.

By a spiritual l i fe the mystic means a living life,

when every action either mental or physical is

alive, and the incentive of every act is the spirit

or life force within, and not the dead form or

outer appearance. W hen the spirit w ithin m anbecomes active or l iving, then every part of him

is alive, and eve ryth ing he touch es in his o rdinary

daily life in the world partakes of that life and

becomes spiritualised.

Spirit—or the essence of l i fe—arises from the

Soul and is the sign of that Soul being awakenedor livin g. M any assume a semb lance of spiritu

a lit y , or rath er w h at g enerally passes for spiritu

ality, for there are no necessary signs by which

all men m ay recognise th e spiritual m an (althoug h

42



one who is himself living the inner life will re

cognise one of the brotherhood), but in the pre

sence of such a man everyone would feel the l ife-

force emanating from him and would themselveseither consciously or unconsciously become more

alive. Even the greatest l ife-bringers, when

they were on earth, were unrecognised except by

th e few. Jesus said 1 1 am come that they may

have l i fe and that they may have i t more abund

antly," but only a few understood that He was

offering them the living life, the real spirituality,which the majority sti l l bel ieved was only to be

found in their religious forms. | V er ily th e

lette r kil leth b ut th e spirit giv eth life I ; the m ore

abundant the life in a man, the more spiritual

or l iving his atmo sphere w ill becom e and the m ore

others will benefit by this passing on of the life-force, which is flowing through him awaking to

l i fe whatever i t touches.



1 W I L L tr y to explain the inner meaning ofw ha t is m eant b y the terms, Th e M aster or

T h e Christ, although no word s can really

con vey an y m eaning exc ept to those whose eyes

t o some exten t are opened to the m ysteries of

life.

The Body of the Master (if one can use such a

term , m agnetic field w ould perhaps bette r expressit), is composed of the perfected souls of those

beings, who in every age since the beginning of

this earth, have reached the stage of evolution

known to Mystics as perfection; th e guiding or

informing Spirit is the same in every holy name

and form, and collectively they form the embodiment of the One Christ.

As individuals they have been, and are sti l l ,

separate, distinct, and l i v in g ; bu t their souls

form One Spirit which is known as the Spirit of

Guidance.

This will in some measure explain to those whoha ve understanding, the mystery of m any m asters

but only One Master, many religions but only

One Rel igion, many truths but only One Truth,

and there is stil l a further mystery, every soul



th at reaches perfection is an enrichm ent of

that Mystical Body, which by the evolution of

perfected souls, atta ins its own fulfi lm ent, b u t

of this wo rds m ay no t be spoken, only to th eclosed senses can it be revealed.

The secret of all things is hidden in Man him

self, search there O Student of l ife, i f you would

know of the mysteries, for in that book of nature

is w ritten al l things necessary for th y salvation .

The Breath of His Body are the children of

E a r t h .

I Man know thyse l f . "

1 T h e peace of the E ter na l l ies near t o those

who know themselves."— B ha g a v a d G U A.



THE Spirit of Guidance is One without a

second, as the Sun is one, but its rays can

touch al l m en. Those w ho are able to

perfe ct the pers on ality are th e | M essengers 1

and the personalities th us perfected w ill last t o

th e end of th e w or ld, alw ay s as reflectors of the

Sp irit of Gu idance, m an y reflectors bu t only oneS u n .

Every soul able to focus itself to the Spirit of

Guidance may reflect the Light to some extent,

but only perfected souls are the great Messengers,

able to give to the World the Message of God for

their age.The great essentials upon this Path of 1 P er

fection I are, first, to keep the mind perfectly

stead y, this m eans absolute self-control; n ex t

to break down and c lear away everything that

prevents the open vision ; then the mirror of the

m ind m ust b e righ tly f ocussed, an im possible tas k,

do you think ? It is, except to the heart capableof devotion ; to the lover able to entirely forget

his very existence all things are possible, therefore

the first step on this path is to cultivate the heart,

to dig up, c lear away and burn everything that



has taken root in the garden of the heart, thus

making an incense that will penetrate the whole

being, and will , of itself, open the door of vision.When once this vision has been clearly seen, then

nothing can hold the soul back from God and it

goes ever onward until it reaches Perfection.



THE real meaning of Initiation is a truth

revealed within the so u l ; there are m an y

initiation s, bu t each one is a reve lation of

one aspect of Truth; when al l aspects have been

th us disclosed then shall the initiate kno w Truth;

bu t let the aspirant remem ber tha t un ti l he k no w s

the m any, he cannot know the O n e ; thereforeall aspects are necessary to him, as all colours of

th e spectrum are contained in th e white l ight, and

no t one m ust be rejected. It is im possible fully

to explain the mysteries to the human mind,

they can only be revealed to those whose spiritual

eyes are opened and their vision clear to behold

the things which belong unto their peace.



TH ER E a re m a n y w a ys l ea d i n g to the

P at h , and each m an has his own p articular

path by which he travels, but there is

only One Path, which when a man has set foot

thereon, however many t imes he may turn back,

he w il l surely reach the goa l . T h e w a y s leadingto the Path are frequently mistaken for the Path

itself although when this is so i t is always by

m eans of self-delusion. M any w an der u p and

down these ways who wil l never find the true

P a t h ; thinking th at th ey are a l ready treading

it they do not seek the entrance, those who havethe open vision can see that the reason for this is,

that they are self-deluded by their own thoughts

abo ut them selves. N o m an can ta ke th e first

ste p upon this P at h until he can see himself as

he app ears in the sight of Go d and then remember

himself no more, for only through the gate of utter

self-forgetfulness can th e entrance be foun d. A tthe entrance there is a narrow gate, so narrow

that no man can pass until he has left his all , for

through this he can carry nothing, not even a

garment to cover his nakedness, even though i t

D D 4 9



be w ove n of his virtues. Th is teaching is no t forevery man, whosoever can perceive the Truth, he

w ill receive it . 1 A m on g thousands of m en scarceone striveth for p er fe ct io n ; of th e successfulstrivers scarce one knoweth Me in essence."—Bhag a va d Gttd.



TH E w a y of achievem ent in the spiritual l ife

b y the balanced p a th — th e m ost difficult of

al l pa th s— is open to m an because, being

made in the image of God, he alone possesses the

pow er to tread it . H um an Life, the great Initiator

of this path, w6ighs and tests each aspirant atev ery step of the w ay , for all ere th ey pass from one

stage to another, must be able exactly to balance

the scales Life holds ; not one part of man must

be in excess of an y oth er pa rt, the proportion m ust

be exact, for before he can advance a step upon

this path, the whole of his being must be inequil ibrium or harmonious vi b ra tio n ; bu t once

having passed he can never sl ip back again, that

is the great promise to treaders of the balanced

pa th. A s they proceed th ey take a ll of themselves

with them and do not have to turn back contin

ually for something lost or left behind upon the

ro a d ; for Life bars the w ay unti l m an can balancethe scales he ho lds. Th ese scales are no t th e

same for a l l ; for eve ry m an the size and shape is

altered according to his capacity of balance, and

at every fresh step is adjusted by the great



Initiator to the keynote of the vibratory chord to

which the aspirant belongs.

To some this may seem a slow way of progress,and seeing many pass them on the journey they

feel dismayed and sometimes impatient at having

to carry the many things Life demands to balance

his scales, also th ey canno t alw ays understand the

reason or the necessity for this, as others walk

much more quickly when free from the burdensimposed b y this In it iato r; those wh o think thu s

must be content to trust their Guide (for none

can walk far upon this path except under guid

ance) until their own spiritual eyes are open and

they are able to see for themselves the wisdom of

the path of balance.

It is only upon this path that man can become

perfect man, or | llu-man"x Master of Life and

Death, and realize in himself the words of Jesus

" B e ye a lso perfect, as your Father in Heaven

is perfect."

1 H u is one of the most ancient names for G od.



IF the real w ork tha t is being done upo n th e

inner p lanes b y sincere disciples cou ld be

seen, there w ou ld nev er a gain be a feeling of

discouragem ent at the absence of results. On th e

ph ysical plane there does no t seem to be m uch

accomplished, but the form of the Message that

will raise humanity in every corner of the earth,is even now being brought from the formless

wo rld to the world of nam es and forms. Th ou gh ts,

which are l iving things and will materialise in the

fulness of time, are being born in every part of the

world, it is for this reason that an army of selfless

wo rkers is needed, those wh o are able to rise a bo ve

the needs and thoughts of the personality can

become instruments through which the thought

from the higher planes may take birth upon the

physical .

Fo r m an y years these though ts m ust be guarded,

sheltered and nourished until the time of their

m atu rity is come, when those through wh om the ywere brought to birth will be no longer needed.

The work of a selfless disciple is far-reaching, for

his thoughts can effect for many miles the dis

trict in wh ich he lives , and besides this, t o himself



the work he is doing is of the utmost importance

to his own development, and wi l l take him many

stages further upon the true path than i f he isstriving to perfect himself by meditation and

pray ers. " T h e D ivine treasury is too full of

praye rs already. P u t in a grain of hum ble

devotion if you can."— Sharf-ud-din. If once

the self can be lost sight of in the vision of

Go d, then nothing bu t God and H is service,

h as an y real value in the eyes of such anone, he then becomes what is known to Mystics

as I virgin 1 or pure in heart, meaning free from

all that would mar the image of God, and it is in

the heart of purity that the Message of God is

able to be fashioned into a form intelligible to

m a n .



FO R one w ho wo uld seek the G ate of Disciple-

ship many things are necessary, the most

essential being faith, trust, courage, and

strength . F aith in the l iving Go d, beside wh om

is none other, trust in his own judgment (in

other words, an absolute unshakable conviction

that what he is doing is right for him), courageto sta nd alone a nd face all life's difficulties, an d

strength to overcome them . W ithou t these quali

ties, although a m an m ay spend his whole l ife

in religious practices and good deeds, he will

never find the Gate.

It is difficult in a wo rld which is ev er yd ay be

com ing more and m ore material even to believe in

i ts ex iste nc e; bu t those w h o tru ly seek shal l

su rely find; it is still m ore difficult w he n fou nd

for a man, l iving the ordinary life of man to pass

thro ugh ; for the pa th of D iscipleship does no t

lead onward, that is to say, it is not an extension

of the way, the aspirant has already travel led,not an increase of what the world calls greatness,

goodness or success. T h is is the path of return

and leads away from these things and means

turning back, turning from self, including al l that



pertains to the p ersonal life, to G od, an d unless the

seeker is prepared to be misjudged by his world

w ho can nev er und erstand, i t is useless to proceedfurther. Ne verthe less if he h as cou rage, if he

can bear to hear his highest motives distorted, his

ideals m isunderstood, perhaps even jeered a t ;

then wil l he learn the mystic teaching of the

heart, for the path of Discipleship leads to the

H ear t wh ich is the go al of the D isciple. On e

w ho ha s completed the turning is a master uponthe patb of wisdom and holds within himself the

power of turning, or transmuting, everything he

touch es to pure gold ; bu t unless he is con tent to

do without the approbation of his fel low men, he

will never reach this stage ; for whosoever desires

the approbation of God must do so with singlenessof purpose, j No man can serve two masters I

I For as the Heavens are higher than the earth

so are my ways higher than your ways and my

thou ghts tha n you r thou ghts s a i th the Lord . "—

Isa. 5 5 . 8 .



TH E Y o g a teach ing of kil ling out desire is

difficult for a W estern m ind t o und er

stan d ; it does n ot m ean th at desire

m ust be elim inated bu t th at the attitud e of

desire or its rate of vibration must bechanged. Desire for the objects of sense

cann ot be conquered b y asceticism or fo rc e ;

it can be ke pt aw ay so long as the force is

m aintained, bu t directly this i s in an y

degree relaxed it immediately invades the soul

of m an. Th ere is on ly one w a y of victo ry an dth at is b y transmutation, on ly b y transm uting the

substance of desire and raising it to its highest

rate of vibration can man transcend the desire for

thing s temp oral . T h e m ethod is quite s im ple,

althoug h the practice is m ost diff icult; i f the

Disciple can keep his thought always toward

God he wil l bring into act ivity a vibratory note

in his astral body (or body of desire) which will

ke ep all the atom s of wh ich th at bo dy is com posed

at the highest rate of vibration of which they

are capab le, and wh ile th at n ote is sounding th ey



canno t respond to an y other. W hen the Disciple

can make this practice a habit of his daily l ife

he will find that all desire for those things thatonce appeared so important has fallen from him

and h e has n o more desire for them th an h e w ould

have for a winter cloak when the sun is shining.



MEN live in a world of i l lusion because they

see all th ing s outside the m selve s, if

th ey could bu t look inward th ey wo uld

perceive reality. E ve ry th ing contained in th e

universe can be found within man himself,

the worlds in w hich he l ives, ph ysical , m ental ,

and emotional, are the shadows cast by theinner realities. T h is is th e secret of illusion,

m an himself cr eates it, and lives in th e

shadow s he is continually m aking . N o m an can

escape illusion w hile l iving in th is' w orld, b u t

when his inner eyes are opened he can recognise

it for what it is, and once having recognised,would never again mistake it for reality, this is

the great importance of l iving the inner l ife, to

be able to distinguish the real from the false, to

know that the appearance of any thing or person

is no more its reality, than the appearance of a

man upon the screen of a cinema is the real man.

There is of course much to be learnt from appearances and for a long time it is the only way by

which man can be ta u g h t; bu t to those who

have eyes to see and ears to hear, an appearance

would never be mistaken for the reality.



TH E soul of m an identifies itself w ith w h a t is

before its view . K no w ing itself as a

separated pa rt and aw are of its in

comp leteness, i t is cons tantly tryin g to u nite

with others, ever seeking completion. 1 While

the soul in m an is no t aw ake ned it can

on ly see in half l ights because the shadowof the false ego is held before its view,

reflected b y the mirror of the m in d ; and unti l

the eyes of the soul are fully opened it is unable

to perceive that i t is thus deluded; so, thinking

this false ego is its very self it becomes united

w ith i t ; in time of course it learns th a t this isnot its true place because the satisfaction and

gratification of this ego can never satisfy the

soul, or true ego, which becomes restless and

unsatisfied at every fresh realization of its in

completeness.

The real self, the soul, can never be completed

by anything but by identifying itself with God,in Whom alone it can find true completeness and

peace.

When the mind of man is under the control of

his soul then will the soul see only that which it

60



wills to see, and not the false images presented

by his uncontrolled mind.

The soul 's endeavour is to draw the mindupward to its level of consciousness to share its

glorious vision ; b ut the m ind when no t thus held, is

constantly striving to draw the soul down to i ts

own level in which only the things of earth can

be com prehended. Th ere is a con stant struggle

taking place within man, whose real destiny is to

attain perfection in the middle kingdom; to be

able to rise to the heights of consciousness, and

behold the true vision of the s o u l; and at the

same time to have such control of all the levels of

consciousness below him, that he may experience

the life of those levels without being held by

t h e m .

m



MA N becom es confused wh en he tries to

understand the beginning and end of

I the soul," his mind cannot conceive

th e possibil ity of an yth ing ha ving no beginning

and no end, wh ich is th e real histo ry of

the soul of m a n ; an d un til he ha s risen

abo ve th e l im its of m atter as opposed to

spirit, and become one w ith all th at is, he w illnev er realize it. T h e quicke st m eans of attain ing

this state is by trying to lose oneself in God, to

unlearn rather than to seek further knowledge,

to a s it were strip off a ll th e cove rings und er w hich

th e light of wisdom is hidden . | W hen the

sun of divine knowledge rises all modes of knowledge become igno ran ce." It is extre m ely diffi

cult for man to understand, and much more so to

realize, that when he begins to tread the path of

return, everything, every act ion, every thought,

every idea, must be looked at from a total ly

different view point from that to which he has

hitherto been accustomed . T o tread this pa thinvolves a complete turning round, consequently

al l things appear upside d o w n ; of course th e

things themselves do not change or their appear

ance, i t is that man having changed his own

62



attitude is able for the first time to see them asth e y are ; b u t a t first h e can no t prop erly focuss

his sight, hence the confusion of thought, forupon the return "journey, positive becomesnegative and negative positive, and it is naturalth at unti l he has throw n a w ay h is garments w ovenof accumulated error of thoughts he should bebew ildered. It is no t a t th e beginning of thepath that man can real ize the mystery of mani

festation which is hidden in the heart of God, and(deeper mystery still) reflected in the heart ofman so that in every human soul is the potentialpossibility of the realization of the whole inmicrocosm, which is the joy of the journey, andthe goal of the mystic.

When God in-breathes His manifestation allsouls are withdrawn from time into Eternity,w hen a s m a n they cease to be, and merge againint o th a t oneness of consciousness from w hichthey came forth ; but unless as m a n they ha v eattained il lumination or realization, the wholeof the long journey is made in the darkness ofignorance instead of in th e light of wisdom .

A t an y stage upon the journ ey it is possible forman to turn r ound a nd face himself. 1 H e w ho ha scompleted the turning and reached the heart isa Master."— Sharf-ud-din.



" H e shall no t be afraid of evi l t id in gs ; his

heart is fixed, trusting in the L o r d . " —Psalm 112 . 7 .

I Th ou w ilt k eep him in perfect peace whose

mind is s tayed on th ee ."— Isa . 2 6 .3 .

TH E injunction frequ ently given t o Disciples

to keep the heart fixed upon God doesno t mean for one m om ent an em pty l ife

as far as human loves are concerned; this may

sound a con tradiction , it is a pa rad ox , I w ill

try to find a few wo rds to giv e yo u, bu t the

rea lity can on ly be u nderstood b y inner i llumin

ation.The heart that is really fixed upon God sees

everything and every being, as i t were, through

God, it is impossible to find any true analogy

for this, the best perhaps is to imagine yourself

permanently surrounded by a radiant l ight, and

every person you contact, is seen through, and

becom es enveloped in , th is radiance, wh ich reve alsthe God within. T o fix the heart upon Go d does

not mean that human l i fe must be ignored, for

that l ife with all its joys and sorrows, its burdens

and its privileges, is the great Path upon which

6 4



God meets man, but i l lumination here must be

sought on the path of surrender, in the simple

words of The Master 1 He who would save hislife m ust lose i t . " In th is is hidden the pow er to

create Heaven or h e l l ; ponder them in th y

heart unceasingly.

E D 6 5



AS the Ch rist Child is born in th e h ea rt, so is

the Heaven ly Man born in H u m an ity ;

this earth is the womb in which He is

formed, the birth of the Christ in the heart of

man is a reflection of this great mystery, of the

microcosm in the macrocosm, " a s above so

below."It is this new birth in the human heart that

provides the m aterial for the form of the H eav en ly

M a n ; the m atter thus raised or transmuted

form ing pa rt of H is B od y of Ra diance . Th is is

the real Easter Message, from death to Life,

throug h burial to resurrection. M atter w he ntransmuted and raised to i ts highest capacity is

Lig ht. Ligh t forms the B od y of the Hea ven ly

Man, which then becomes a Light to l ighten our

darkness, The Light of the World.



i Inasmuch as y e h av e done it un to one of theleast of these My brethren ye have done

i t unto Me."

IN these words of Jesus Christ is hidden a great

m yst ery wh ich M ystics of al l Religions

recognize, it is the mystery of 1 God buried

in H u m an ity ," of Ch rist crucified on the crossof matter. H S order to attain to a true

understanding of the Nature of God the Mystic

strives to realize his Ideal in the whole

universe, he seeks his God u n d e r ' every cover

which nature uses to shield the One Life

in every form and ever y being. W hen h e

begins to hear G od in ev er y cry of pain, t o

see God looking through the eyes of every

inhabitant of the human and animal worlds,

realizing how The Christ is held in prison there,

a daily and hourly crucifixion, until the | seventy

thousand vei ls are removed 1 and He m ay express

Himself , then he knows that his every word ofsy m pa thy to his fellow m an is for the G od in m an ,

his every act of charity to man, is something

done for God, that in every stranger taken in

God is entertained, he begins to understand this

6 7



mystery and to realize that in the darkness of

blind intellect Christ is imprisoned, in the dumb

suffering of animal life it is He Who suffers, and inthe agony of human sorrow it is He Who sorrows.

If man could really realize this, that Christ is in

very truth feel ing al l that is felt by | the least

of these 1 —as man himself feels the pain of every

mem ber of his own bo dy — w ou ld he not hasten to

relieve ev er y cry of pain th a t is felt b y H is he art of

love, that one pain less may be spared Him.

The Christ thus shut into, or buried, in

Humanity must be born again from Humanity,

the heart of man must open, its outer shell of

hardness must break in order that the Christ-

Child shall be born there, which is the true

freedom of the soul.I W hen the hea rt brea ks it gives birth to the

soul ."— I n a ya t K ha n .



I A n d I, if I b e l ifted u p from th e earth w ill

draw al l men unto me."

IN this saying of Jesus Christ, as in all His

sayings, is hidden a deep mystery which is

only ve ry gradu ally comprehended by tread ers

of the sp iritual P ath as th ey proceed. Th ose w hosought and worshipped Jesus for the beauty of

his perso nality, an d his ph ysical presence,

remained upon the plane of that personality,

but those who, in their hearts were able to, as i t

were, l i ft Him above personality, in other words,

could realize His Godhead, were drawn upwardeven un to H im. | Th en said Jesus un to them ,

when ye have l i fted up the Son of Man, then shall

ye know that I am He and that I do nothing of

M yself." Of course wo rds cann ot real ly express

the inner meaning of this teaching, at most they

can but indicate a l ine of thought that each must

follow for himself.

The Messengers of God in all ages and in all

religions may be likened to l iving Magnets whose

wo rk is to draw men upw ard. A m agnet lying

upon the ground would attract to i tself any

6 9



things capable of attraction within its magnetic

field, but they would remain upon the ground, if

however the magnet is l i fted above the ground al lthese things by the power of attraction are also

lifted or drawn up.

The work of a Messenger of God is not to teach

although His words are l iving jewels, nor even to

heal the sick or console the sorrowful, although

many are healed and consoled, but to draw up

unto Himself those whose rate of magnetism can

respond to his own vibrations, to draw them

upw ards into the Fatherhood of G o d ; and

everyone the Master thus uplifts from the dense-

ness of the earth, can in their turn uplift others,

as one magnetised needle can magnetise others;

only those capable of this response can be drawnupward, the others cannot move however close

the y m ay be to the m agnet. A teacher can only

offer direction to his pupils, he cannot tread the

path for them, or explain in physical words

spiritual truths, neither can the Messenger of

God, however great, attract those whose spiritualeyes are not turned in his direction, as a magnet

cannot attract even tempered steel which is

capable of response unless it is turned towards

the positive and negative poles of the magnet,

so man cannot be drawn up unto God unless he

is seeking, or turned tow ards H im .



" T AM the Resurrection and the Life" is

J [ perhaps the most mystical of all thesayings of J e s u s ; in it is contained the

great mystery of Resurrection, which mystery

w as reflected in the de ath , bu rial an d resur

rection of Jesus Christ. It w as sym bo lically

enacted in the sacred rites of the ancients and

also in th e Initiatio n r ites of a ll th e oc cu ltschools even to this da y.

That utterance of profound wisdom would give

the information to all Initiates of the greatness

of the mission of Jesus, and the stupendous task

He had come to perform, that He was in very

truth reflecting the Christ, the Saviour andRedeemer of the world, not as is believed by the

unenlightened, to redeem or save men from the

consequences of their wrong doing, which is

quite another thing.

The Cosmic Christ, Who is the Beginning and

the End, Alpha and Omega, is bound to, or

buried in, humanity unti l the whole of the matterof which that humanity is formed, has been

freed or raised from the bondage of death to the

condition of life or light which is the real meaning

of Resurrection.



The redeeming of the world is the task of the

Christ, to raise every atom to its original condi

tion, to fine, refine and purify the whole, untilthe four elements of which it is composed are

alchemically resolved again into the Ether from

which th ey cam e forth. F or the purpose of

manifestation the vibrations of Ether were

slowed down, as it were, until it appeared as solid

form or material substance, in this condition

• T h a t I of which all matter is composed is

separable and knowable as earth, water, fire and

a i r ; in the etheric condition th ey are un ited

and unknowable, except as Light.

Jesus in His human nature as man, having

redeemed or raised to their original condition the

atoms comprising His physical body, was able toappear to those who had eyes to see, in His

radiant Body of Resurrection, thus showing to

all who were able to receive such teaching, the

completed task which it is the purpose of man

to fulfil I But now is Christ risen from the dead

an d becom e th e firstfruits of th em th a t slept.For since by man came death, by man came also

the resurrection of the d ea d ." i . Cor. x v . 20 -21 .

To dwellers in a material world the process of

raising dense matter to the condition of Light

seems an impossibility because although the

process of reducing ice to vapour is known and

solid earthly substance can by fire be reduced to

ashes, still the ashes rem ain, even thou gh th ey m ay

be scattered, but there is a resolvent by which

everything known to man as matter , can be

changed into Light, the secret of this however is

72



known only to high Initiates and cannot be given

to man unti l and unless he has reached the grade

in evolution which would entitle him to receive it.The danger of such knowledge in the hands of

those whose lower selves were not dead and buried

would be too great, only to those I l luminated

Souls wh o h av e passed throug h crucifixion, de ath ,

and burial, is the secret of Resurrection revealed.



IN God (the manifest or l imited God) is every

thin g th at ever ha s been or can eve r be con

ceived, or tho ug ht, or fashioned, b y any being

in the Universe ; there is nothing new, everything

ha s alw ay s existed ; before the beginning of tim e

it was, and after time has passed away it will be ;

nothing can be added, nothing can be takena w a y .

I What then is the purpose of creation ? |

It is to create and destroy form ; to re-arrange,

transmute and transform over and over again

every atom and molecule belonging to the world

in which w e l ive, un ti l the Perfect F orm isfashioned ; which then becomes the Resurrection

Body or Body of Radiance, of that Great Spirit

Which men call Christ or the Spirit of Guidance.

That which comprises the Body of the Risen

Christ is the essence of human evolution, as each

soul is perfected it passes on this essence and by

that much is the embodiment of Christ enriched ;unti l this Body is complete, which means that

every atom composing it is perfected (or raised

to its original condition of Light) and occupying

its own place in that Body, the Christ is buried in



h u m a n ity ; H e cannot r ise or ascend to the

I Fa the r | un ti l th e | Stone | ha s been rol led

a w a y .The mystical interpretation of the Stone, is

that i t is the accumulation of the thoughts of

men which through ages of erroneous thinking

has become hard, concrete and fixed until it is

almost immovable, but unti l i t is removed the

Truth which is Life cannot be seen ; while truth

is held down to earth it can never be known, i t

must be set free, only then, as it rises, can man

see with true vision th a t w ha tev er is held is los t.

While Jesus was on earth even His nearest

Disciples could not realize His greatness and

sorrowed that He should leave them ; i t was not

unti l after He had risen in His Resurrection Bodyth at th ey could understand. So long as He wa s

close to them physical ly and they could touch

Him and hear Him speak they could only know

Him as man, but when the body of earth no

longer held Him down, and He was freed from its

l imitat ion, only then, when they had apparentlylost Him could they receive the Truth, that as

He had risen so they also could be lifted up with

Him, inasmuch as they could real ize the mystery

in the m selve s. A s the Cosm ic Ch rist rises in th is

mystical radiant Body, that port ion of humanity

which has become | perfect " also rises with Him

to a further evolution ; but here thought cannot

fol low and any attempt at explanation would

cause confusion, all that is perceived cannot be

conveyed in words



THE story of Jesus washing the feet of his

Disciples ha s a ve ry m yst ical interpretation,

it is symbolical of the Initiation of Purifi

cation given by the Master to those whom he was

trusting to carry H is Message to the w orld. In th e

teaching of th e M ystics the feet of a ma n represe nt

his unde rstanding, and the und erstanding of tho sewho carry the Message of God must be cleansed

from the dust of earth . In the ac t of wa shing the

feet of the Disciples Jesus gives to all who have

ears to hear the teaching of the Seers of all ages

an d of all religions. T h e nece ssity of cleansing

the mind of al l impurities, of washing away the

error of thought which impedes right understanding so that the heart qualit ies, wisdom and

love may henceforth rule the life instead of those

of reason ; this is only possible by the help of a

M aster. A Disciple upon the pa th of wisdom mu st

unlearn all he has learnt upon the path of out

going and offer himself for the Master's workem pty of all so-called wo rldly wisdom for § E xc e p t

ye become as a l ittle child ye cannot enter the

Kingdom of Heaven," and only those who them

selves know the way can lead others thereto.



I Blessed are the pu re in he art for th ey shallsee God/ '

IN these words of Jesus is contained the whole

of the teaching necessary for travellers onthe pa th of Discipleship. T o be pure in

heart does not mean that the Disciple has neverknown impurity or has never sinned, al l thosew h o are in the world know th e shadow of th eworld, even the Sun is sometimes eclipsed by theshadow of earth to the dwellers upon earth . T h em ystic interpretation of pure in he art, m eans aheart from which everything has been excludedbu t the vision of Go d. T o attain to this pu rityof vision demands daily and hourly attention,for unless the heart is utterly empty it cannotbe filled with God, any thing or person in the lifeof a Disciple causing him for one moment toforget God claims a place in his heart, which to

be pure means that i t holds one only withoutaddition of any other substance.

A Disciple who has reached this stage is purefrom distinctions which divide and separate, hecannot help radiating love upon al l with whom



he com es in co nt ac t. If his own h ea rt is filled

with the love of God he reflects that love upon

every other heart he touches ; such a man wouldnever condemn, he would have nothing but

sy m pa th y, understanding and consolation, for th e

sorrows and shortcomings of others, and would

rejoice in their joys, having eliminated the image

of self he has become as it were a reflector of God.

Blessed is he from whom self is covered, veri ly

he shall reflect the Light of God.This stage on the spiritual path cannot be

reached by striving and asceticism, but by

substitution or divine alchem y. E v e ry tim e the

m ind offers a th ou gh t of ha te, discord, or ugliness,

it should be replaced by one of love, harmony or

be au ty . If th is practise is persevered in un til itbecomes a habit of the daily l ife it will in time

enable the heart to reach purity of vision, the

stage of purification when the pure in heart can

see God ; bu t to understand the vision, to know

G od som ething further is necessary. T o ob tain

a perfect reflection in water, the water besidesbeing freed from a ll im pu rities, m ust be ab solu tely

still. So the surface of the heart must be utterly

still, unruffled by the winds of illusion, or the

image reflected there will be blurred, the slightest

vibration of doubt, distrust or depression will

disturb the equilibrium of perfect balance which

is only achieved when every atom of the being isvibrating in harm ony. Th e Disciple m ust see

with purity of vision, and know in the silence of

his hea rt . | B e st il l and know th at I am G o d ."

Psalm 4 6 . 1 0 .



1 In quietness an d in confidence sha ll be y o u r

stren gth ." Isa. 30. 15 .

I L e t th y soul w alk softly in thee as a Sa int in

Heaven unshod ; For to be alone with Silence

is to be alone with God."— The Other Side.



TH E earnest seeker of God wh o finds his p at h

strewn w ith obstacles should realize th a t hehimself has placed them there. T h e Pa th to

Go d leads to the he art of m an and there th e tru e

seeker w ill find H im . T h is sounds ve ry simp le,

and would be i f the path had not been blocked.

I Mind is the surface of heart, heart is the depth

of mind |— I n a y a t K h a n . It is the contents ofmind, reflected earthly wisdom, which bars the

w a y ; m an is unconscious of this barrier un ti l

urged by the desire of his soul to seek God, he

turns round to find the entrance leading to that

path is closed against him by life's complexities

and complications, by doubts and worldly reason

ing, then the toilsome difficult journey begins,

for he himself must remove all the obstacles

facing him which prevent even the first step being

tak en . If he could realize th at all these were

the creation of his own mind and therefore within

him w as the power to destroy them , the path wo uld

very quickly be cleared ; but so long as he thinksthat some power outside himself, either God or

Devi l , has placed them there, and made the

environment in which he finds himself, his task

is endless.



Created thought must be destroyed by its

creato r. Fro m time to time since the beginning

of the world, Messengers of God have been sent

to earth to remind man, of his inheritance, of

his royal birth ; that, made in the image of God,

he has within him the God-like power of creative

th o u g h t; bu t only a few ha ve l istened, or even

paused in their self-imposed task of blocking, by

every kind of concrete thought which in time

becomes hard as rock and as difficult to move,the path leading to his heart where abides the

throne of God, the true home of the soul.

F D 81



I God looked down from H eav en upon the children

of m en, to see if there were an y th at d id un derstand , th at did seek G od ." Psalm 5 3 . 2 .

E F O R E a man can aspire to know God he

m ust first know and understand the m yste ry

of love I H e that loveth not, knoweth not

God, for God is L o v e ." B u t loving does no t meanalways living in a state of bliss, neither does it

imply being loved, the true and inner meaning is

complete surrender of self, the sacrifice of every

thing that stands between the soul and the object

of its devotion, when such surrender is perfected

there will be no place for the desire to be loved,

there wou ld be no recipient if the m erging is com plete. Man canno t love God un ti l he know s how to

love, that is the first lesson which Life the Great

Initiator tries to im part t o ev ery m an for | Lo ve

has the power to open the door of Eternal Life."

—Inayat Khan.

When the Disciple has learnt its innermostmystery of self-abnegation, he seeks an ever

increasing greatn ess in w hich to lose himself ;

until at last God becomes to him an absolute

nec essity. It is a t this stag e he realizes his ne ed,

8 2



and utters the cry of all true seekers, | 0 ! tha t

I knew wh ere I m ight find H im " and perhap s

for the first time understands the soul's longingto break the bonds of illusion and to escape from

all that is holding it back from union with God.

I Self stands as a wall between man and God."

—Inayat Khan.

As no man can love unless he has found the

object of his desire, God must first be sought and

then made a l iving reality to the seeker, every

man's realization will be for himself alone and

canno t be com m unicated to another | A n d ye

shall seek Me and find Me when ye shall search

for Me with a ll y our hea rt " Jer. 2 9 . 1 3 .

God can never be explained because each soul

would receive a different vision or realization,and if one who had been privileged to l ift even

a corner of one of the I seventy thousand vei ls of

illusion I were to attempt to explain, his l ips

would be sealed ; only those who aire themselves

ignorant of the true nature of God are anxious

and willing to offer explanation to others.Although by the practice of loving to the point

of self-forgetfulness God can be made a living

rea lity in the h eart of all w ho seek with singleness

of purpose to love and serve Him | For love is of

God and everyone that loveth is born of God and

kno we th God " ultim ate know ledge cannot be

attained unti l the Sacred Name is pronounced;the letters and syllables composing that most

Holy Name have been scattered throughout the

wh ole Un iverse, th ey m ust first be sough t an d

found, then arranged in their true order, ere



th e Lost Word can be uttered. M ystery of

mysteries, how can it even be suggested without

entirely obliterating the meaning ? but eachsyllable found by one who is truly seeking, spells

G od for him and he then has within himself the

absolute convict ion which can never be shaken—

of th e existence of Go d as a l iving rea lity. A

Sufi Sage has said 1 Continue thy seeking unti l

the Seeking unveils Itself and destroys thyself

in Thee."

The aU-embracingness of God is so vast,

including as it must the ultimate satisfaction and

completion of every man's highest ideal of

perfection, each one of which is necessarily

different, t h a t it is an im possibility for an y hu m an

being with his l imited view even to imagine anyother interpretation of Perfection than that

which it means to himself, Infinity cannot be

grasped by a finite mind, not unti l the Many

become One can God be known. I' T h e secret of G od

is hidden in the realization of unity."— I n a y a t

Khan.



TH E solution, or solven t of all l ife's problem s

is God, I the One Substance by which

all things are m ad e. " Substance is the

m anifested or l im ited G o d ; l im ited to a rate

of vibration to w hich m ankind is capa ble of

responding, for the l imited cannot comprehend

the Un lim ited, or the manifested the U n-m anifest. T h e Un iverse, or the l im ited pa rt

of God, is conditioned by His thought to

time and s p a c e ; th is process to th e m ind of

m an , is unth inkab le, th e only ph ysical action

which may suggest a l ine of thought is the

process of reducing vapour by cold temperatureor slow vibration to the condition of ice which

limits i ts freedom to a particular space and time.

Mankind is l imited by time and so unable to

realize the Eternal; but i f he could transmute the

atoms composing his being in the fire of Love,

which is God, he would be freed from this l imita

tion of t ime and space. T h e wh ole Universewil l be thus transm uted in the end ; bu t man ha s

in himself the c ap ac ity to help or hinder the con

summation by co-operation or non-co-operation

w ith the D ivine W i l l ; m ade in the image of God



he has within him potential ly the power of

becoming w ha t he wi ll s to bec om e; and every

man who, by the power of the Christ within,attains to the perfected state of Hu-man, or

D ivine ma n, b y raising the vibrations of the atom s

of his own embodiment, helps to raise or redeem

the whole.

Veri ly no man l iveth to himself alone and no

man can raise himself without also helping others

to rise, nor fall w ith ou t ta kin g others in his fall.



FIROM the beginning of the world until theI present da y Go d ha s never left it w itho ut

knowledge of H im self; alw ay s those

throug h wh om H is Message could be given h av e

lived upon earth, and the evidence of this l ies

in the fact, th at in every age m an has

Worshipped God in some form, as a power greater

than himself, by whatsoever name he has cal ledit .

Sometimes the Message-Bearers have been

known to the world , sometimes u nk n ow n ; bu t

whether known or unknown they al l have com

pleted the work al lotted to them.

Those known to the world were the Foundersof the great religions, which are destined to give to

man an answer to the question he has been asking

down the ages, what is God ? and w ha t is Man ?

Man finds this knowledge difficult to obtain when

he seeks it in one religion or one form of faith

only, refusing to acknowledge the others, and if

one form disappoints him he will repudiate that

one and seek another ; he can never know more

th an half tru ths in this w a y . T h e secret l ies in

the realization of the oneness of all the Message-

Be arers of God and of their M essage ; also th a t

8 7



each form of worship that has been given to man,

is a partial expression of The One Truth, suited

to the times and peoples to whom it was given.I T h e Soul of a ll is One Sou l an d the T ru th is

One T ru th , under w ha teve r religion it is

h i d d en . " 1 Bowl of Sdki I— I n a y a t K h a n .

The fierce white l ight of Truth itself, would

blind those grop ing in darkness ; so T ru th is

broken into its coloured rays, that each one may

find throu gh th e colour most suited to his nee d, as

much as he is capable of comprehending.

Mystics of all times and of all religions have

alw ays known th at T ru th in i ts entirety cannot be

understood unti l a ll the colours w hich constitute

wh ite ha ve been u n it e d ; in other w ords, unti l

the half truths contained in a ll the various formsof fai th that God has given to the world, have

been accepted as mak ing one comp lete w hole.

I A ll th e disharm ony of the world caused b y

religious differences is th e resu lt of m an 's

failure t o und erstand th a t religion is O ne,

Truth is One, God is One." 1 | How ca nthere be two rel igions."— I n a ya t K ha n .

The work of The Messengers of God has never

failed, i t could not f a i l ; th ey work in the strength ,

and by the power of God, whose Message-Bearers

and Agents they are ; although according to the

judgment of the world there may be fai lure,

those who have the understanding heart knowthat such failure means the final triumph of the

Spirit which transmutes failure into victory.

The work of Jesus when he was on earth

culminated in his being tried and condemned as

88



a disturber of the peace to be executed as a

common malefactor; the ordinary sentence of

those days for such an offence; the multitudeconsidered him a failure, as his only reply to those

who offered to believe in his message if he would

perform a miracle and save himself, was silence.

Surely the greatest example of transmutation

of fai lure into victory, the world has ever known.



T h e beginning and end of all beings is the sam e,

the difference only existing during the | journey"—Inayat Khan.

I Each being is from Allah, and to Him eachwill return "— K o r a n .

I As it was in the beginning, is now, and evershall be |— Engl ish Book of Prayer.

I As i t wasAs it isAs it shall beEvermoreWith the ebb

W ith the flow—Am en."—From the Ga elic.

IF one could fully realise that the sum total of

humanity is God, one would understand thatevery soul, being par t of G od, m ust necessarily

be withdraw n again unto God, at the end of man ifestation, as the rays of l ight are drawn back intothe Sun after being received by the earth ; manbecomes bewildered because he confuses Timewith Eternity, the l imited with the Unlimited.At the beginning there is only God I and at theend there is only God; i t is the stage between,called by sages the journey , with which the soul

9 0



(as man) is concerned; in reality there is no

beginning and no end, Eternity is a circle and

the end and beginning are one; but the journey(taking place in time) has a beginning and an

end; and the soul while experiencing it cannot

realise any condition apart from end and

beginning. This is natural , for the journey

exists for that stage of being called m a n , m i d w a y

between the highest and the lowest; where heknows good and evi l , heaven and hell , as separate

and distinct. H e is l iving , really speak ing, in

the condition of separateness ; and so long as the

soul l ives in this state he cannot understand the

secret of unity; to do so he must rise above the

bondage of the I pa irs of opp osites | and at ta in

to union with that Divine spirit which is thetru e centre of being of ev ery m an. In the m ys tic

sense there is only One wh o jo u rn ey s; although

when reflected in many forms in a world of

shadows, the One l i fe appears to be many and

separate each from each.

The personalities with which the soul clothesitself during the journey are important only so

long as th a t tim e lasts ; th e real object of m an 's

innermost spirit is to finish the journey and go

home ; it is interesting to take a journey and if

one never left home and came into contact with

different peoples and experiences, one would

know very l i t t le; but to whatever place, e i ther

beautiful or terrible, the journey may take any

soul, and however far he may travel , there comes

a time when he longs for his father's home.

Whatever may have been his experiences during



the long journey, whatever his shortcomings,

he would stil l remain the child of his father, and

his place in the father's home would sti l l be his;nothing can take away the birthright of the soul ,

but when he reaches that home the garments

he wore during the journey would not any more

be needed, he has left them behind ; if they were

beautiful and well made, they may be used by

some other journeying soul, altered perhaps or

added to ; possibly if ug ly, disintegrated altoge the rinto their constituent parts, to be formed and

reformed into other articles, but as a whole—or

a personal i ty—lost .

The reason man finds it so difficult to under

stand the truth about l ife is that he identifies

himself with the garments he wears instead ofwith his innermost self ; he must realise himself

apart from any c lothing whatsoever, whether

w ov en of ph ysic al, m en tal, or even so-called

spiri tual material ; naked he came into the world

of app earances, na ked he m ust return . A ll souls

come forth pure, having no distinctions ordifferences (the physical reflection of this truth

is mirrored in the nucleus of embryonic life in

the womb), they return pure, having shed al l

coverings which, although absolutely necessary

during the journey in Time, are no longer of any

use in Eternity.

The reason that Mystics of all religions seekthe path of wisdom upon which to travel instead

of the path of ignorance, is , that they may obtain

knowledge of God and of man, and perchance

help other travellers also to understand, because

92



when one has, by travel l ing the path of wisdom,

become master of l ife and death, and all the other

delusive pairs of opposites, he is able to transcendthe stage in evolution, called m a n and attain to

th at un ity in wh ich is perfect freedom. H e

then becomes Hu-man, and can at will enter

his father's house, and also l ive among the

world of men ; and for eve ry one w ho attains

to this state of perfection, thousands are helped ;

for by this uplift they are enabled to leave the

path of ignorance for the way of devotion and

by this means the whole evolutionary process

is made shorter in time ; and the way more easy

even for those who are stil l treading the path

of ignorance.

If all reach the same goal in the end what doesanything matter?

If a number of people started upon a journey

which they knew would last them a l i fe-time, i t

would matter very much indeed to 'themselves,

and also to those with whom they were travel l ing,

under what condit ions that journey was madeand whether they possessed a true map of the

different paths by which they might reach their

destination : w hethe r th ey knew wh ither th e

various byways would lead, the kind of clothes

with which they should clothe themselves, and |

who were their companions upon the road ; most

of al l i t would matter by which path they chose

to travel and whether they carried a l ight to

show the way when night fel l .

I f one understands that the mystic journey

constitutes the whole of the life of man a s m a n



which can be made by three paths, ignorance,

devotion, or wisdom, the answer to this question

is not so difficult.In endeavouring to pu t Eter nal T ruth s into

languag e belonging to t im e it m ust be remem bered

that only a fraction of reality can be conveyed J

words at best are but a cover for thoughts, and

sometimes convey quite the opposite meaning

when used to express intuitive tho ug ht. N o

words, either written or spoken, should be taken

in their literal sense only, the inner meaning

should be sought b y th e light of intuition.



T F man knew how to interpre t his own scriptures,.JL he would find there, written in his own

langu age , the answ er to ev ery question life

presents to him which his mind is capable of

comprehending, and the solution of that riddle

of the universe, What is God ? and W h at is Man ?

In Mio words of the Bible I And God said, letus make man in our image after our likeness | is

hidden the secret of the purpose of the evolution

of man which for centuries he has been trying to

solve.

This great problem can only be reverently

approached, man must | loose his shoe from off

his foot | ere he tread s this h oly grou nd, in

other words, must put off his ordinary manner of

walking by uncovering his •understanding, for

the first thing necessary is th a t he shall h av e some

knowledge of | What is God ? | before he can

know I What is Man ? 1 who is made in His

ima ge. It is of course unne cessary to sa y th atthis knowledge cannot be given to another, or

that i t cannot be found in books, he who would

find the truth must seek in the innermost depths

of his own soul, for there written in letters of light



it is clear for every man to read for himself,

when he has cleared away the accumulation of

error w ith wh ich it is covere d. Som etimes the

accumulation is so dense, that a solid wall as

hard as granite stands between a man and his

own soul.

Although knowledge of God cannot be com

municated to another, a thought may be

suggested tha t each m ay interpret in his own w ay .

The Seer thinks of God as the sum-total ofhumanity, immanent in his creation, and yet

transcendent, i f this thought is meditated upon,

the aspirant may gain some realization of the

immanence of God.

" I , oh Gudakesha, am The Self, seated in

the heart of al l beings; I am the beginning,the middle, and also the end of all beings."

I And whatsoever is the seed of all beings,

T h at am I , O Arjuna ; nor is augh t m oving or

unmoving, that may exist bereft of Me I—

Bhagavad Gitd.

If the power in the elements and the life of

every moving or unmoving thing in al l the

kingdoms of the universe, from elemental sub

stance or first cause, to the Heavenly Kingdoms

and all the hosts thereof, are part of His life, it

implies that the atoms and molecules which

com prise th e bod ies of m an (a un iverse in

microcosm) must touch every form of l ife fromthe lowest to the high est. Ho w otherwise cou ld

man be made in the image of God, in whom are

all things w hatsoever th at h av e been m ade ;

this is the reason that he must tread the long

9 6



pilgrimage, that as man he may know these

til ings of G od, as m an m a y b e perfect as his F ath er

in Heaven is perfect; that everything in thewhole universe (the macrocosm) may be reflected

in miniature as the microcosm § for as above so

below I

I The innermost Being of man is the real

Be ing of God | — j Bow l ofSdki |— I n a y a t K h a n .

In humility and with great reverence oh ! man,

must this teaching be approached.i By Thee alone are fi l led the earth, the

heavens, and al l the regions that are stretched

between; The tr iple worlds s ink down, O

mighty One, before thine awful manifested

form."— Bhagavad Gi td .

G D 9 7



TH E pow er of sex is the Life of G od m anifest

ing in its dual aspect as positive and

negative, or Jelal and Jemal, when these

two aspects meet in the act of creation then is

Kemal (or perfection) exp er ien ce d; becau se

having left the world of duality, where it was

separate and incomplete, it realizes Oneness, thecomp lete and whole l i f e ; the result and object

of this union is a new birth on some plane.

When in man and woman the positive and

negative seek each other in order to experience

this perfection for the gratification and satisfac

tion of the physical body only, instead of for thepurpose of passing on the Life, then Kemal would

m anifest as destru ction instead of perfection ;

for the act of creation which is the true purpose

of the union of positive and negative is frustrated,

and in the end results in pain instead of pleasure.

T h e w hole confusion an d all the difficulties arising

from the wrong use of this l iving force by both

man and woman is the result of their failure to

understand the law wh ich governs it . | B y the

delusion of the pairs of opposites sprung from

attraction and repulsion, O Bharata, al l beings

9 8



walk this universe wholly deluded."— B h a g a v a d

GUA.

In m an th e sex force is positive, wh ich urgeshim to seek the opposite or negative in order to

give ; and unless he understands how to control and

use it for the purpose of creation or re-creation

on some plane of his being, it will be claimed by

his false ego for its own gratification, it cannot

remain unused, for it is life itself, and the natureof l ife is movement.

In woman the force is negative which urges her

to demand; and unless this demand is satisfied

she feels incomplete, as the true work of woman is

to mould, nourish and sustain new forms in

which l i fe may become objective; men and

women therefore seek each other in order that

they may experience completeness.

There are many ways in which the two aspects

of sex can m eet in cr ea tive un ion, upon plane s

other than the ph ysical . A l l m ental creative

work is the result of such an union on its own

plane, i 1 results in ph ysical creation on the ph ysica lplane, mental creation on the plane of mind ; but

the real union can only take place upon the

spiritual plane, and when this has been achieved,

both man and woman have complete control

of this force on all planes of their being.

To restrict the power of sex to the gratificationof bodily appetite is the degration of God, and

while mankind does so he can never know its

l a w s ; it must first be raised to the spiritual

World and realized as a spiritual force, the life-

giving power of God ; and when in his own body



the positive and negative aspects are balanced

man (or woman) can control the creative, or

sex-force on all planes.Mankind works through mind which must be

negative to God, in other words he must allow

the mind to be control led by the soul ; but must

at the same time be positive to his body which

must be under the control of his mind.

i o o



IF the body of man could be seen as it really

is i t would not appear as one complete andsolid form, but as millions upon millions of

tin y l iving beings, hard at wo rk con stan tly

changing, continually passing out and others

simultaneously streaming in to take their place,

so that the pattern is always kept although

the size and shape alter as th e child gro wsto m a n h o o d . If this wonderful mechanism

could be pho tographed, magnified an d throw n

upon a screen it would reveal the greatest

m arv el ever b eheld b y th e eye's of m an , a

whole world in miniature containing millions

of l iving beings, each intent upon and carrying

on the ir own w or k, fulfilling th e purpose impressed

upon them b y their Creator, and when their w ork

is finished passing away; having no wil l of their

oWn th ey exist only to carry o ut w ha teve r is

impressed upon them . W hen the thou ght

impressed is steady, pure and controlled then

they al l work in absolute harmony and as awh ole, unite in expressing the tho ug ht imp ressed ;

bu t when it is uncon trolled, imp ure an d vacil

lating then inharmon ious conditions, wh ich are

the cause of all unrest, are the result.

I O I



It is in the body of the female, plant, animal or

hu m an , th a t th e seeds of reproduction are gro w n,

all female forms are negatively charged (I amspeaking now about the physical bodies only);

seeds capable of reproduction must grow in a

negative or receptive mould and cannot become

either plant, animal or human form unti l they

ha ve been stimulated or impregnated b y a positive

charg e ; life, light or heat in any form is produced

by the positive and negative poles of electricitytouching each other, the poles are not electricity

but are only the means by which it manifests.

E lec tricity is the source of all l ife, bu t m ank ind,

even the greatest scientists, are only beginning

to learn the 1 a b c " of this mighty force which

brings al l things into being; to the Mystics i t isknown as an act ivi ty of G od.

The kind of plant, animal or man reproduced

after its kind, is determined by the form made

on earth, not by the life or positive force, that

is the sam e in all , One, Changeless, and Pe rm ane nt.

It is the mould which determines the finished

pro du ct. Go d is no respecter of persons and H is

Sun shineth upon the just and upon the unjust;

upon whatever seeds the Sun's rays fal l they wil l

come to harvest, be they trees, flowers or weeds ;

and their fall ing upon the seed of an oak cannot

make it a thistle, or upon that of a thistle cannot

m ake it a l i ly. T o m ankind ha s been given th estupendous task of fashioning the form of man,

that God may give it l i fe ; form is the outcome of

tho ug ht, it is tho ug ht (its rate of vibra tion and

colour) that holds together in a particular form

1 0 2



the millions of atoms of which a physical body

is comp osed. A child is th e result of the th ou gh t

of his forebears, but is not compelled to remainso ; for as the atoms which compose a form are in

flux and pass in and out of the body according

to the thought of the inhabitant, it is the privilege

of man, made in the image of God and so possess

ing the power of creative thought, to become

w ha tever he wil ls to become. Th is is his true

birthright, which ages ago he sold for a mess ofpo ttag e, or the pleasures of the flesh. T o- da y a

priceless opportunity is offered him of redeeming

the past error and exchanging the mess of pottage

for his true birthright.

It is true that life fashions the form in which

the soul expresses itself according to the note ofmagnetism with which it (the soul) is charged;

but it is also true that the physical mould deter

mines to a great extent the character of the man.

The matter the soul attracts to form its body is

not pure matter but is impregnated and saturated

with the thought of the race, and of the ancestors

of the parents through wh om it is born. T h e

mould fashioned by life in which to express itself

is formed in the womb of the mother; and her

thought is capable of distorting and altering its

shape ; also if the hereditary history is bad, the

child of such parents cannot fully express its

real self until , and unless, its own thought ispowerful enough to alter the rate of vibration of

the matter forming its body, this real ly means

tuning it to respond to the n ote of th e s o u l;

if parents, especially mothers, realized the

103



importance of thought during the pre-natal l i fe

of their child and that i ts body is being built ,

to a great e xten t, in response to th at tho ug ht, th eywould endeavour to generate thoughts of love,

harm ony , and be au ty, so th at the m ould w hich l ife

has fashioned would be as it was intended to be ;

and i ts shape would not be distorted by the evi l

thoughts of past generations.



THE soul is a centre of magnetism and by

the pow er of attrac tion draws around it

the m atte r of each plane, or w orld, th rou gh

w hich it passes, an d in w hich it sojourns on its

way to physical life, where it fulfills its destiny as

a hu m an being ; its environm ent in all the wo rlds

is determined by the rate of vibration of themagnetism w ith which it is ch ar ge d; the rate

being determ ined b y the purpose it ha s to

fulfil l. Predestined as to th e purpose, bu t w ith

freewill as to the m eth od of fulfil lm ent an d th e

length of time taken in its completion.

In the I Body | of the Great Being in which welive, every human soul has i ts own place, and

that i t may perfect i tself to fi l l that place is the

reason of its existence.

Each unit must be completely perfected that

the who le m ay be harmo nious. T h e real purpose

of ev er y soul is to sound a particular no te th rou gh

out i ts l i fe; when this note is true, in absolutetune to the keynote, the atoms of each plane

wh ich form its various ve ils or bodies, are grou ped

to the pattern belonging to that note, the bodies

wil l remain in the same form or pattern so long



as the note is sounding, although the atoms

themselves are con stantly changing. T h e m atter

of which all bodies are formed is the same, the

difference is only in the grouping; hence the

extreme importance of sounding a true note,

when it is a false one everything in the life is

in-harmonious, the pattern becomes distorted

and cannot fit into the place to which by virtue

of its inheren t purpo se it belong s. T h is no t on ly

affects itself, the whole Body of which it isdestined to form a perfected part, remains incom

plete until every part is in perfect harmonious

vibration.

The key-note for this planet, with which al l

notes must keep in tune, is the Christ note; the

sound is known to every soul, but by reason of theillusionary attributes of the matter which forms

its many veilings it identifies itself with these,

and listening to the confusion of sounds surround

ing it on every side, becomes unable to hear it.

For this reason it is necessary for those who

realize the purpose of life to seek the presence of

One who is sounding the triune chord of love,

harmony and beauty; for in the atmosphere of

that harmonious vibration all discordant sounds

are hushed, and the soul is enabled to listen to

th e ke y-n ote of its life. If he be wise he w ill tun e

his he art t o respond to the true note of his soul.



THE question of man's freewil l has always

bee n a difficult on e to answ er, to b e

capable of fully understanding this, man

must first know himself and what he really

is. I t is difficult to define m an , b u t a s m a n

he is not an immortal being, but could more

accu rately be described as a stage in theevolution of a hu m an soul. M an — m a n a s —

mind, j God created man in his own image,

in the image of God created H e h im ." T o ma n

therefore belongs the power of creative thought

on every plane on which he finds himself, and of

w hich his bodies are formed. I t is in this regionof creative thought that man has free will , he

is free to think what he chooses to think, and as

every thought seeks embodiment, every man is

surrounded by a world of his own creation, and

becomes the environment in which he lives, on

all the planes of his existence, whatever condition

he finds himself in is th e result of tho ug ht. If aman's thoughts are turned towards God, and

away from self, he creates a Heaven, if entirely

centred upon himself, he can be literally living

in hell , these are of course the two extremes, and

107



between these two most men l ive, experiencing

fully neither one nor the other: but the whole

mystery of man's being cannot be solved in afew words, there are many factors to consider,

for instance, everyone is impressed more or less,

b y the thou gh ts of others, l iving or dead, a lthoug h

very few realize, that they possess the power to

control them, or the importance of clear think

ing ; the tho ug hts of the m ajority are confused,

half formed, and muddled, they do not knowwhat they think nor how to think, consequently

their l ives are l ived in confusion and unrest,

I For as he thinketh in his heart so is he 1 Prov :

23 -7. If a m an 's environm ent is the reflection

of his thoughts, the supreme importance of a

controlled and balanced mind will readily be seenby those who have eyes of understanding.

I Even here on earth everything is overcome by

those whose mind remains ba lanc ed ." B h a g a v a d

Gttd. The immorta l Self which i s us ing mind—

and during that period becomes a human soul—

is the real King or Ruler, when mind is controlledby soul there is complete harmony in the life of

man, but when there is absence of this control,

it is l ike a chariot driver, who having lost control

of his horses, is powerless to direct the course

taken by them; in this s i tuation the Ruler

becomes slave. In the same w ay the hum an soul,

unless able to control mind becomes its slave,being taken hither and thither without direction

or purpose. Creation and destruction are th e

positive and negative aspects of mind, what the

mind creates the mind can destroy, therefore

108



wh en a m an realizes tha t he is l iving in an undesir

able environment composed of l iving thoughts

of his own creation, he, if he be wise, will set towork to alter the condition by destroying all

inharmonious forms; the life-force which gave

them birth and by which they are also nourished

and sustained, must be withdrawn by turning

away the mind. There are various methods by

which this can be achieved, but instruction in

the application of whichever method is employed

is necessary, and m ust be give n b y one w ho kn ow s,

it cannot be found in books, although many are

written upon the subject, something more is

needed by one who wishes to tune his l ife to l ive

in harmony with al l men, to vibrate to the Christ

note—the keynote for Mankind—he must learnhow to create, as well as how to des tro y; pro tective

thoughts must be created in order to prevent

undesirable thought of other people being

impressed upon his mind, there are also many

ways by which the man who has control of his

own mind can help those in need: but this is avast subject and can only be touched upon here,

control of thought is an extremely difficult lesson

for man to master, fortunate is he and greatly

favoured who has found his Teacher.

The length of time necessary to destroy a

thought varies according to the strength of the

form, which depends upon the force and definite-

ness with which it was created, this is the reason

why some men who most earnestly desire to alter

their lives find such overwhelming difficulties

facing them, the creations of the mind are l iving

109



entities and do not wish to die, they will fight to

the end for their individual l ife, so that directly

any man sets his foot upon the Path to God hehas to fight an army of his own creating, who

surrounding him on every side are fighting to

retain his life-force for their own use, but if before

the battle begins he has been able to create an

army of protective thoughts, and while fighting

can keep his mind fixed upon God—the true

desire of the soul—they will in time all fall dead

upon the field, for they cannot l ive except by

re-inforcement of the thought, conscious or

unconscious, of their creator.

The physical body of man is formed of millions

of physical atoms separate distinct and individual,

all carrying on their own work, but whose lifedepends upon the being of whose body they are

a p art, in whom th ey l ive and m ove and ha ve their

being; all the other bodies belonging to man,

emotional, mental, and spiritual, are made in

ex act ly the same w ay . Millions and millions

of living entities, belonging to all the planes ofexistence, are made by creative thought from the

elemental essence of each plane, to form the

bodies in which the soul of man functions, and

by which alone he is able to express himself.

The rea l Self of every man is a silent spectator,

who creates an embodiment, a universe in minia

ture , children of his mind wh o ex ist so long as th ey

are held in thought.

Man's freewill exists in his power of creative

thought; but he is bound by necessity to the

environment of his own creating.

n o



1 1 form the L igh t and create darkness, I m ake

peace and create evil , I the Lord do all

these things/' Isaiah xlv. 7 .

1 1 am the gam bling of th e c h e a t; and the

splendour of sp lendid th ings I " B h a g a v a d

Gitd.

WH A T then is the force we call Sa tan ?

Satan is the shadow of the Christ (that

which obscures Him) as darkness is

the shadow of l igh t, wh ere there is l igh t

there m ust also be darkness. W here ver is

the Light of the World, there also is the

L or d of the Shado w. A sacrifice such as isimpossible for the mind to conceive has been

offered for man by the Lord of the Shadow, for

he m ust remain an outcast from the L igh t throu gh

out the manifestation of the world; this is the

mystic interpretation of the crucifixion of Christ,

for mystery of mysteries, they are not two but

one. E vo lutio n at th at stage of Be ing calledhumanity is only possible in a world of duality

in the human kingdom, m an evolves into Hu-man

b y m astery, control , an d balance, the tw o

forces positive and negative are combined in

i n



him, therefore l iving in a world of duality hecannot know anything without also knowing its

opposite; without a force which opposed andtested his strength at every step he could neverbecome master of l ife or Divine man, could neverlearn control if there were nothing to control orbecome balanced if there were no opposition.

The opposing force is not the enemy of mankind as is generally supposed, it is the illusion

caused by, and therefore part of , Light; but man,as man, cannot reach or realize Light until heha s crossed ove r th is illusion. T h e wh ole purposeof the ev olution of m an , m ade in the image ofGod, is that having the birthright of free-wil l heshall develop the power in himself to choose

reality and reject illusion, and by right of hisheritage of kingship and freedom of choice shallconquer a nd possess his own kingdom .

Man commits sin when, having knowledge ofLight, he will ingly remains in darkness, refusingto I cross the i l lusion."

IThis divine i l lusion of Mine caused by thequalities is hard to pierce, they who come to Me,

th ey cross ov er this i l lusion." | H e wh o seethMe everywhere, and seeth everything in Me, ofhim will I never lose hold, and he shall neverlose hold of Me." Bha ga va d Gitd.



THE mystery of Time is the greatest mystery

of all, if man knew its secret he w ou ld be free

from bo nd ag e; no t know ing this he is a

slave, bound by its arbitary laws impressed upon

him from birth in a world where Tim e is K in g ; h e

who would understand this mystery must learn

through realization (knowledge is useless here)th at Tim e as seen b y m an is an illusion, th at Pa st,

Present and Future are not three but one, and

that one, Present, in which both Past and Future

m eet and blend. W ho eve r is able, in the terms

and meaning of the Mystic to live in the pr esent

carries no burden of the past, neither does he

fear any future, for him the three are one, he hasin himself become the balance of the scales of

Time and can stand upright and immovable

w he the r th e scales on either side of him rise or fall.

The reason that the mysteries of reality cannot

be revealed to the human mind is because it can

only see h alf- tru th s; i t is beyond the cap acityof its comprehension to realize that anything can

be and not be at the same t ime; even the words

used in trying to explain this mystery are l iable

to be misunderstood, only to the inner eye can

H D 1 1 3



the real m eaning be unve iled. T o the Seer

everything is and nothing is, Time exists and yet

there is no Tim e. T h e unreal ha th no b e in g ; th e

real never ceaseth to b e ; the truth abo ut bo th

hath been perceived by the Seer of the Essence of

things— Bhagavad Gi td . Tim e in this wo rld is the

great i llusion an d y e t m an could no t l ive in th e w orld

without; the only way he can free himself from

it is to realize it has no existence, no life except

the life he gives it by his own belief, no one livingin Tim e can know reality. Tim e is the shadow

created by Eternity, shadowed forth in physical

life as the environment in which the soul l ives.

Man real ly speaking, l ives on earth in his own

shadow.

The teaching of the Sages and Seers is thatTime is the shadow of the Eternal which is within

man's innermost being, if he seeks it within he

w ou ld see it as one E ter na l W ho le unfolded before

his view in m inia tur e; b ut wh en he sees i t outside

himself, it can only be perceived as separated

parts which can never give a complete picture.

Time and the secret of Time is within thyself Oman, seek ye there for enlightenment | It is our

perception of Time that passes, not Time itself

for I Ti m e i s God a n d God i s Etern a l " Inayat

Khan.



TH E light of the Sun , imprisoned and buried

in the earth as coal, is the same substance

whether manifesting as l ight or coal, one

unlimited the other l im ite d; on ly throug h the fires

of purification can th e imprisoned lig ht reach again

the source of its being, and be absorbed into The

One Light, from which it is separated throughoutits life of lim itation. A s coal it retains a sep arate

individuality; but after being freed by the

liberating fire, the symbol of purity (meaning

pure from all that divides or separates) it loses

for ever that burden of separateness, and becomes

one with, or identified with, the light which isits very self.

If one could think of coal as a l iving entity,

able to feel and to suffer, what agony must it

endure when shut into outer darkness, with no

power of movement, dumb, blind, and restricted

on every side, at the mercy of forces beyond its

control, buried in the denseness of the earth;

and if any memories of its real self were retained,

and the realization of its heritage of Light, would

it not long with a longing unspeakable, at what

ever cost—even of that consuming fire in which

i i 5



i ts coal individuality is reduced to ashes—for

freedom for that self, which through the ages

has been dum bly pleading to return to That from

which i t came forth.

It is only when the imprisoned light has been

freed from its bondage that it can realize the

reason for the long, long pilgrimage. H av in g

returned to its original condition and knowing

itself as light and not as coal, it can look back and

see the necessity for the sacrifice of its freedom,the surrender of itself as light to the blackness of

coal. T h e Su n, as ligh t, could no t help the

dwellers upon earth to evolve into the civilised

races that inhabit i t to-day; so the supreme

sacrifice of burial and imprisonment for thousands

of years to the extreme limit of blackness wasmade; and what to the rapid vibrations of l ight

is far wo rse, to inertia. It can now un ders tand

that when as coal it was through fire purified of

black and became again white it was not for its

own salvation (although by this means it gained

its own freedom), but for the helping forward ofhumanity in its efforts to gain the mastery of the

elements; and by this sacrifice of its coal indivi

duality, man had been enabled to obtain every

thing needed for the evolution of a great civilisa

tion ; he at, l igh t, food an d cloth ing, dw elling

places and means of transit, everything necessary

to sustain life, to link nation to nation and raceto race. B y th e qu iet sacrifice of its life as co al

through the fires of purification (which is so

ordinary an occurrence that no man even con

siders it) mankind is helped to conquer the earth,

1 1 6



sea and air, and even control fire itself. It now

realizes that the sacrifice of itself as coal, was

not sacrifice but freedom, the passing fromdarkness to l ight; and that al l the time its real

self was not coal but l ight; that coal was its false

self, the form that bound it to the denseness of

earth ; only by the power of the imprisoned light

becoming active through sacrifice could humanity

be helped; only by losing its l ife of l imitationcould the unlimited life be kno wn . It kno ws now

that all the time it was not coal that had helped

man but l ight, for the real sacrifice was made by

light which voluntarily l imited itself for the sake

of humanity.



TH E fact th at some people are able to see lon g

past events and even to describe historical

scenes, need not necessarily imply that in

a former l i fe they l ived in those days, that may or

m a y n ot be a fact , bu t there is another explana tion,

th a t th ey are the possessors of the cla irv oy an t

vision, enabling them to look back into the pa st ; and

th e reason the y see them selves as l iving and act ing

in those times and scenes, is because the soul

identifies itself with whatever it is interested in.

It is the nature of the soul so to do; when the

attention is focussed upon earth life it identifies

itself with body and mind, call ing that | 1 , " b u twhen it is turned away from the physical plane,

and is watching a panorama of past ages, i t

identifies itself with a character that appeals to

i t . Unless the Clairvo yan t is a h ighly developed

soul, a real Seer, he is not powerful enough

to hold himself unidentified w ith the visionspassing before him ; only the God -realized m an ,

one w ho ha s identif ied himself w ith th e G od

within (which is the soul's true identity) has

th e pow er of clear vision , others are v e ry

easily deceived, as although clairvoyance means

1 18



seeing throu gh th e eyes of th e sou l, unless th at

soul has reached a very high level, the vision is

confused.What should be impressed upon those will ing

to receive such teaching is, that it does not help

the soul's progress in its journey Godward, to

be continually trying to re-live the past. W h at

is pa st belongs to the pa st. Jesus said, § Fo llow

m e, let the dead bury their de ad ." T h e soul'sconcern is with the l iving | to-day," for whatever

a man thinks to-day, so will his to-morrow be.

The results of experience (his own and that

of his forebears) are in the man himself as shown

by his character, temperament and environment,

all that he need concern himself with, is the best

way of l iving his daily l ife so that he may beenabled to take the next step upon the Path

to God, to learn the lesson that each experience

brings, to pass from that experience, whether

pleasurable or painful, directly the lesson is lea rnt,

never by word or deed willingly to hurt another

soul, and to strive every moment of his l ife toidentify himself with the God within, the real

Self of man.



SO U L , A tm a, or highest spirit can never be a ny

thing but itself, and must therefore be thesame in every being, differences exist, not in

the soul, but in the forms or covers necessary forexpression in a m aterial wo rld. A s the coversused b y the hum an soul are formed of ev er yexperience it touches or passes through, and ofevery impression received during its journeyearthwards, the greatest differences among menarise in the world of thought or mind, uniting

highest spirit w ith lowest m atter . T he m ind ofeach soul being peculiar to itself its conception isthat of a separate being apart from other beings1 1 1 as distinct from | Y o u . " As i t is the natu reof the soul to identify itself with whatever itbeholds, being enclosed in covers formed ofmental , emotional and physical matter, i tidentifies itself with either one or all of thesebodies, which obscure its true source and origin,and the know ledge of un ity is thu s lost toitself though alw ays existing. | In H eav en theirangels do always behold the face of My Fatherw inch is in H ea ve n /' I t is difficult for the

human mind to realize this mystery of unity inseparation, of One, yet many, and it can only befinally solved when the covers have been brokenby suffering, the means by which the soul withinis released. 1 O ut of th e shell of the bro ken he ar t

120



arises the new-born soul."— I n a ya t K ha n . B u t

some measure of realization can be obtained if the

f covers I can be refined, made thin and transparent, instead of thick and opaque, in this way

a window can be made, through which the soul

may obtain glimpses as it were, of the nature

of its ow n oneness w ith all th at exists. A n

analogy will sometimes help the mind to some

understanding of things about which words can

no t be spoken, if it is no t pushed too far. F o r

instance, the many-coloured air balls with which

children play may serve as an i l lustration here;

they are small bags or envelopes made from some

physical substance capable of expansion when

filled w ith air. I t is th e same a ir in all, difference

of colour, size, and shape, being in the envelopew hich contains it. T h ey are each separate and

distinct from the other and in this condition are

called 1 balls " ; directly a cover is broken the air

or life with which it was filled is united with its

source, uncoloured and unchanged.

The soul no more partakes of or is affected bywhat is reflected in it, or what it reflects, than a

mirror partakes of, or is affected by, the forms

continually passing and re-passing before it.

After all the reflections have passed, it is the

same as before the images were reflected, it is

only during the time it is receiving reflections that

there aVe differences. 1 I t " remains the same

always, it is only the reflections that alter and

change.

The soul is changeless in a world of change,

eternal in a world of time.

12 1



AN N IH IL A T IO N has a d ifferent meaning

for the M ystic to th at wh ich it ha s

for the ordinary man, to whose mind

this word presents a picture of the destruction

and death of ev er yt h ing ; even the N irvana

of the Bu ddh ist has been pictured thus. A

treader of th e pa th of wisdom und erstands

annihilation in the m yst ical sen se ; and forhim it means the attainment of bliss such as

the world could never know; for in the l ight of

that vision everything fades into nothingness,

even his personal self is completely forgotten.

In reality it means annihilation of the barriers

surrounding the soul on every side, which are thecause of the feeling of separation, exile and unrest;

and the removal of these enables it to find its

true home; to become one with the Whole to

whom it belongs, to merge into, and become part

of, that fuller, larger, and deeper life in which is

perfect freedom, in other words it means absolute

completion.This mystic union of the soul with God has

been experienced by Saints of all religions; in

all ages the inner experience is the same although

th e outer expression m ay be different for each soul.

122



T o the lovers of Go d the ecstasy of jo y is m

the surrender of self; even an earthly love is not

complete while one thought of self remains as abarrier between the lover an d the b eloved.

Perfection cannot be experienced until barriers

between the soul and God have been annihilated.

The prayer of Jesus for his Disciples was,

I That they al l may be One, as Thou Father art

in me and I in Thee "

" If thou couldst empty all thyself of self

Like to a shell dishabited

T he n m ight H e find thee on the ocean shelf

And say , I This is not deadj and fill thee with

Himself instead.

B u t Th ou art all replete w ith j ve ry tho u/And hast such shrewd activity , that

W hen H e comes H e say s ' Th is is enow j

Unto itself,

'Twere better let i t be,

It is so small and full

There is no room for me."



"HAT becomes of the waste product

or ashes of a w orld ?

Essence ascends as one, but waste

product (or ashes) is carried by the four winds

and disintegrated into its constituent parts;

into the Ether from which it came forth and

from whence it is recoverab le, although no t inth e same form ation, for it has lost for ev er

its personality. Th is process is ve ry ve ry

gra du al, an d before th e final disintegration it

is used again and again in countless ways,

the whole of the matter forming a world,

belongs to that world and forms part of i t ,as long as the spirit or essence remains ; b u t after

the essence has ascended the residue is waste

product and can never again a s a whole form part

of one living entity, although it may be dis

tributed amongst many.

At the end of a world-period there remains a

certain portion of matter which has not beenredeemed (or raised to its highest rate of vibra

tion) it then becomes waste product or the ashes

of that world.

The purpose of the evolution of a planet which

124



has received the life-impulse is, that the matter

of which it is formed shall be raised to its original

essence or spirit, as the seed of a flower which has

received the essence of life from the sun evolvesthrough the denseness of earth until it becomes

a p la n t; and a t th e end of its al lotted task the

perfumed essence arises from the flowering which

is its perfection. It cam e to earth as seed, it

returns as perfume; fulfilling the purpose for

which it was created by leaving forms of otherseeds capable of receiving the light of the sun,

although not all of them do so. T h a t pa rt of

the plant which does not become spirit or essence

is in time disintegrated, and becomes waste

product or ashes a s far a s that pa rticula r pla nt

is concerned.In reality nothing is lost, although everything

is chan ged, bu t the beginning an d the end of Go d's

plan for the evolution of a Universe is beyond

comprehension by the mind of man.

Is it the flowering or the fruit that is the

perfection of a plant ?

For everything there is the beginning, the

zenith and the end ; in a p lant the flowering wo uld

represent the zenith or perfection; the fruit is

the result of that perfection, in order to re-create

after its kind the flower must die and the essence

or perfume which is its life ascend ; and as the ray

of ensouling light is drawn up, the form andcolour of the flower is impressed upon the seeds

contained in the fruit which remains as the womb

in wh ich th ey are bro ug ht to birth . In one sense

the fruit is the perfection of the plant, but strictly

125



speaking the fruit is the purpose for which the

spirit or life essence came on earth, and each part

has its own perfection; but the perfection of a

plant as a whole is its flowering, or expression ofbe au ty, after wh ich it begins to decay. T h e

essence does not belong to the plant or to the

flower, but is part of the One Life, a ray of light

of the Su n from which it cam e and to w hich it

must return, indeed it has never been separate;

the end of a ray of l ight caught and held by theplant until its flowering, when as perfume it is

released to ascend again to that light of which it

is a pa rt. T he act of expression of be au ty w hich

is the ecstasy of the plant causes the form and

colour of the flower to pass into the fruit.

In this fruit left on earth the seeds or forms offuture plants are fashioned; but the soul or life,

can only be received when the light of the Sun

fal ls upon them; that Sun whose touch gives l i fe

to all seeds w ha teve r their form. Seeds are the

fruit or result of the union of po sitive and ne ga tiv e

forces; they are of earth therefore, negatively

charged, and cannot l ive or become active untiltouched by the positive, or l ife-force, those that

are not thus touched disintegrate.

The perfection of a rose tree is the colour and

perfume of its flowering; not until this beauty

has been expressed or given forth can the fruit

of other rose trees be formed.Fruit is of the earth, it can be seen, touched

and handled, but the essence which produced it

no man can analyse.



ME who would gather seeds for planting,m ust no t desire the blossom, he m a y

feel its be au ty bu t seek not its

possession, for whosoever possesses the blossom

can never gather the fruit.

Leave thy flowers growing, O traveller on

the path, that their perfume may refresh the

wayfarers ; thus shall thy plants yield thee seeds

for other sowing.



T H E R — T h e Un m a n ifest b eyon d the thou ghtor comprehension of man.

T H E F O U R E L E M E N T S . E a r th , w a te r,fire, air The Manifested.

These elements are the syllables of The SacredName ; The spoken or uttered word could not besounded until broken or divided, the act of speak

ing breaks thought into words. One Su bs tan ce —separated into Four by which al l things are mademanifest, from the greatest to the most minute,w ithou t wh ich nothing could be. T h e SacredFour are divided and yet not divided, they arefour and yet they are only One, the great Three

in One from which a new manifestation comesinto being. B u t of this M ystery of M ysteriesmore cannot be spoken.



OD is not concerned with sin or pleased by\ J virtu e. Sin is its own punishmen t, virtu e

its own rewa rd. W ho eve r sins m ust sufferth e consequences sooner or later, and those w ho arevirtuous always have the satisfaction that virtuegives ; this is an unalterable law, but it is neitherto gain satisfaction nor to escape suffering that

the soul comes to earth, it is to master life anddeath, to become Hu-man or Div ine m an, and inorder to do so, absolute mastery must be obtainedover all the kingdoms in which he finds himself.He must meet and conquer both sin and virtueso that neither of these 1 delusive pairs of

opposites | h av e an y pow er over h i m ; so longas he is held by either, m an is a slave | W ho soev ercommitteth sin is the servant of sin | John 8. 3 4 ,

l ikewise he whom virtue holds is the slave ofvirtue; both are lessons given to man to teachhim to know himself and gain the strength torise abov e them . Som etim es a m an needs more

strength to rise above his vitrues than to leavehis sins; they should be regarded as valuablelessons which must be accurately learned, forman cannot pass from the elementary school of

I D 129



l i fe unti l he has learnt them; but once having

passed out, he does not need to continue the

lessons, he retains within himself the essence orresult of the teaching, which qualifies him to

receive knowledge of truth in which is perfect

freedom | And ye shall know the truth and the

truth shall make you free 4 John 8. 32.

1 Religion is for the desire nature, The Path

for the heart, Truth for the Soul." Sharf-ud-din.

• Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster tobring us unto Christ that we might be justified by

faith. B u t after th at faith is come w e are no

longer under a schoolm aster." Galat ians 3.2 4- 25 .



A FEW words of explanation may be givenabo ut the teaching th at a Disciple uponthe path must turn away from his virtues

as w ell as from his sins, as this som etim escauses a good dea l of m isunderstanding am ongthose whose eyes are not yet open to the vision

of truth.Of course as is so frequently repeated, neither

this teaching or any other pertaining to thingsof the spirit, can be fully explained in wordsbelonging to earth, whosoever desires to understand must endeavour to do so by the l ight of

intuition. It most certainly does not i m pl ythat travel lers upon the path of Discipleshipneed not consider their conduct, or that there isno necessity for them to practise the ordinaryvirtues of l ife common to all religious and ethicalteaching; a l l these and many more must beacquired before an aspirant can pass through the

G ate. Th e Sages h av e said, f Thou must acquireal l virtues, such as truth, purity and worship.When acquired thou must scatter them in theair of supreme indifference." T h e real m eaningof this is, that nothing must stand before the soul



of man, as a something that belongs to him. andfrom w hich he canno t separate. If an y one thin g,

no matter how good or beautiful or holy i t mayb e, is placed upon the throne of the heart, whichplace belongs to God alone, then he who placesit there is wo rshipping a false G od. U n til th eD isciple ha s entirely forgo tten his own person alityhe cannot be trusted with the knowledge ofTruth; when by the help of a spiri tual Teacher,his inner eyes are for a brief moment open to thevision of God, he becomes utterly and whollyunconscious of self, his v e ry existence as a sep aratebeing forgotten, then in the light of that vision,both the memory of sins repented of, and virtuesacquired, wil l fade into nothingness; for no other

thought must remain to blurr the Image of God,which by this means is being impressed upon theheart of the Disciple.

Khw&ja. B&yazid was asked, | What is the wayto God ? | He repl ied: | When thou hast vanishedon the way, then hast thou come to God."



TO understand the mystery of pain you

must understand the mystery of thepairs of oppo sites. W hile m an lives in

this world of illusion (tn&ya) he is subject toits laws and cannot experience Heaven unlesshe also know s h e ll ; he cannot ha ve life w itho utdeath, nor joy without pain, he is l iving the

separated life in the shadow world, if he couldturn from this unreality to the real, for himpain would cease, he would have | crossed overthe illusion 1 and discovered the secret of thepairs of opposites; while they are dividedthey delude man, but when they can be united orbalanced, they reveal the innermost mystery

of being. I The Eternal is Incorruptible andBalanced, the knower of the Eternal neitherrejoices on obtaining what is pleasant norsorroweth on obtaining what is unpleasant."But man has freewill and the experiences of everym an are according to his beliefs. " T h e faith of

each is shaped to his own nature, a man consistsof his faith. T h a t wh ich his faith is he is eventhat."— Bha ga v a d Gt td .



AS each planet is self-contained and its inner

life hidden from any other, so is the inner

l ife of m an. N o one how ever near, howe ver

dear, can know the hidden thoughts and aspira

tions of any m an , they are know n only to One

whose dwelling is at the centre of man's being

in the innermost shrine.Man must always be alone in his inner l ife,

which can never be shared with another soul ;

the only thing that can give him true companion

ship and real comm union, is union w ith Go d w ho

is his very self.



KEEP your fa i th and remember that thought

is the greatest creative power in the world.

K e e p yo ur m ind free from an y selfish desire,

continually fixed upo n G od , and any thing w il l

be possible. Rem em ber also th at every tho ug ht,

besides having form, colour and l i fe, has i ts own

time.



THE chord to which man belongs, is the

three-fold chord of L o ve , H arm ony and

B ea uty , as the atom s of his bo dy evo lve

an d becom e finer and finer, so he is ab le t o

respond to the higher vibrations of this chord.

From atom to solar system the same process is

repeated. T h e law imposed upon the Universe

is also imposed upon every single atom and

electron of which it is composed.

O n e S u b s ta n c e— Li ght , O n e La w — Vi b ra t i on ,

O n e G o a l — G O D .



W O R D S O F T H E M A S T E R H E A R D INT H E S I L E N C E

Blessed is he whose eyes can behold the Glory

of his Lord; he cannot be held by the pleasures

of earth.

Blessed is he whose ears are attuned to the

Voice of his Lord; veri ly for him al l other sound

is stilled.

Blessed is he who understandeth the languageof his Lord; veri ly he is the knower of wisdom.

Blessed are the steadfast in faith, verily they

abide in peace.

Blessed is he who treads the balanced path;

upon a sure rock have his feet been placed.

Blessed is he whose heart hath the open vision;

in the days of tribulation he shall guide the

homing souls.



Blessed is he who can steer his boat through

the sea of doubt; for of a l l seas i t i s the most

treacherous.

Blessed is he who can tune his heart to thekeynote of his soul; veri ly he shall hear the voiceof God.

Blessed is he whose heart is f ixed upon God;

in the day of tribulation he shall stand and fallnot .

V erily of a ll m en h e is most blessed, wh ose eye sare closed to all save God.

Veri ly he who rests in the thought of God, has

peace which passeth all understanding.

Blessed is he wh o can rise abo ve ear thly d es ire ;ve rily sha ll his soul be satisfied.

Blessed are the humble minded; for theirs isthe true exaltation.

Blessed is he who is empty of self; for he hasprepared for the birth of Christ.

Blessed are they who have conquered death;

for th eirs is the l ife everlasting.

Blessed is he of th e generous h e a rt ; a thousand fold shall be his reward.

Blessed is he who cares for the needy; he shallreceive the treasure of Heaven.

138



Blessed is he who seeketh the lonely heart;

veri ly he is companioned by God.

Blessed is he who passes through great tribula

tion ; he alone bindeth the broken heart.

Blessed is he who hath walked through suffer

ing ; he also knoweth the way of peace.

Blessed is he in wh om self is dead ; he shall befil led with the Life of God.

Blessed is he from whom self is covered; he

shall reflect the Light of God.

Blessed is he whose eyes are bl ind; veri ly heshall behold the perfection of beauty.

Blessed is he whose ears are deaf; veri ly he

shall hear the perfection of harmony.

Blessed is he whose l ips are dumb; through

him shall be given the words of Life.

Blessed is he whose heart is attuned to the

voice of G o d ; ver i ly he shall transm it H is Message.



t

S U F I L I T E R A T U R E

Booh List obtainable from :—

SWITZERLAND |

46 Quai des Eaux Vives, Geneva.

FRANCE I M '̂ ^^S

26 Rue du Dragon, Paris.

HOLLAND

Boekhandel "Sy n th es e" L. Voorhout 96,

's-Gravenhage.

U.S.A. ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ t t ^ ^ W

1534 State Street, Santa Barbara,

California.2257, Polk Street, San Francisco,

California.

ENGLAND SB B|H

94 Baker Street, London W. 1.

Book Depdt for Sufi Litera ture:

54 Above Bar, Southampton.

nargis. at the gate of discipleship 1924

Documents