bluelab is a developing non profit corporation providing transformative approaches to activist multi media art productions. bluelab will seek the participation of artists of all stripes-- along with spiritual teachers, concerned professionals and visionary citizens.
bluelab is morphing into a new collaborative art org which is being called Circa http://circart.blogspot.com/.

The writings will remain here and available for perusal. If you are interested in our new project and org you can email us and we will give you further information.

Thanks for your interest.

More to come.

http://www.triageart@yahoo.com/





“A growing consensus of scientists, scholars, and visionaries now recognizes that the earth community is facing an unprecedented evolutionary challenge. The ecological, political, and spiritual crisis of late modernity calls for a fundamental reorientation of our civilization, including a transformation of both the structures of our institutions and our own consciousness.
Thomas Berry has called this task ‘The Great Work.’ “

Finish what you've started here
You make your move
just once a year
In the city
in the town
Your happy home
is never found
Second hand
was never planned
The birth was over,
the baby banned
She fled the place
at such a pace
She never even saw your face
So go with me
Inside
Believe
You have so much to give

Switch the light off,
have a go
Force the only one you know
To leave this place
without a trace
A pity
I had seen your face
Where do you think
I will find
This party girl
who was so kind?
Raven hair
and skin so fair
Sadness
never visits there
So go with me
Inside
Believe
You have so much to give

the Delgados
Make Your Move

We didn't sleep too late.
There was a fire in the yard.
All of the tress were in light.
They had no faces to show.
I saw a sign in the sky:
Seven swans,
seven swans,
seven swans.
I heard a voice in my mind:
I will try, I will try, I will try. I will try, I will try, I will try.
We saw the dragon move down.
My father burned into coal.
My mother saw it from far.
She took her purse to the bed.
I saw a sign in the sky:
Seven horns, seven horns, seven horns.
I heard a voice in my mind:
I am Lord, I am Lord, I am Lord.
He said: I am Lord, I am Lord, I am Lord.
He said: I am Lord, I am Lord, I am Lord.
He will take you.
If you run,
He will chase you.
He will take you.
If you run,
He will chase you
'cause He is the Lord.
'Cause He is the Lord...
Seven swans, seven swans, seven swans, seven swans, seven swans...

Sufjan Stevens Seven Swans
“The question is no longer how did we get here, and why? But, where can we possibly go, and how? We live in a society that has drastically narrowed our sensitivity to moral and spiritual issues; the problem we face is how to deal with a belief structure that has blocked both psychological and spiritual development. If there is a new agenda, a new vision now emerging within our society, how might one help put it into practice?”
Suzi Gablik

...bluelab is being developed upon the issue first posed by Einstein, "a problem cannot be solved at the same level of consciousness in which it was created.” It has become evident to many that in order to meet the problems we face as a species we must embrace a radical revision of our beliefs and our behaviors.

bluelab functions upon the strong presumption that artists likely figure significantly into the revisioning of a new world—and the invention of ways to communicate our discoveries. As we all learn more and more about our essential interconnectedness it also becomes increasingly evident that artists can’t function in a social vacuum. The label of “artist” is a problematic one and only used as a signifier of persons with specific media skills and training who are fluent in creative processes and who have some professional link to art. We are working to deconstruct as much as possible the binary--"us vs. them" mentality that still pervades the high art world. It seems to us that consistent with new paradigmatic shifts taking placethroughout all fields--there is a need to reconsider our accepted definitions of "artist" and "audience" all together. bluelab is constructed to offer pathways into higher levels of inclusivity. It is only through true inclusion that we can hope to make work that is deeply inviting and that offers an atmosphere of true love and trust and safety to all.

In terms of the way bluelab will in fact function, we are working to develop a sound and effective approach to community building which relies heavily upon time tested processes that are well understood and are seeking the help of people who are expert in these processes. On practical levels, the sharing and cross fertilization of specific areas of expertise allows for rich and complex works which through communal process are fused unselfconsiously and intuitively making of an organic whole.

Why all the talk of “community”?It is our firm belief that by building works in a heightened communal space we will in fact be building works potent with transformational energies. Jung talked about the distinctions between “liminal”or
transformative space and “liminoid”, or works that are simply entertaining. With a hard look at where we are at as a species and planet—it seems like simple math that we must link art making to the real task at hand—that of saving the earth.



Jesus pushes it back to the edge. Can you even see the image of Christ in the least of the brothers and sisters? He uses that as his only description of the final judgement. Nothing about commandments, nothing about church attendance, nothing about papal infallibility: simply a matter of our ability to see. Can we see Christ in the people, the nobodies who can't play our game of success? They smell. They're a nuisance. They're on welfare. They are a drain on our tax money. If we can, then we are really seeing.

He pushes it even further than that. He says we have to love and recognize the divine image even in our enemies. He teaches what they thought a religious leader could never demand of his followers: love of the enemy. Logically that makes no sense. Soulfully it makes absolute sense, because in terms of the soul, it really is all or nothing. Either we see the divine image in all created things or we don't see it at all. Once we see it, we're trapped. We see it once and the circle keeps moving out. If we still try to exclude some: sick people, blacks, people on welfare, gays (or whomever we've decided to hate), we're not there. We don't understand. If the world is a temple, then our enemies are sacred, too. The ability to respect the outsider is probably the litmus test of true seeing. ...

Everything becomes enchanting...

Richard Rohr Everything Belongs
“[Suzi] Gablik speaks of the previous paradigm of the Enlightenment period and what it has meant to artists: ‘Individualism, freedom and self-expression are the great modernist buzz words.’ The notion that art could serve collective cultural needs rather than a personal quest for self-expression seems almost ‘presumptuous’ in that worldview. Yet this assumption lies at the base of a paradigm shift in art, a shift ‘from objects to relationships.’ Gablik challenges her coworkers not to settle for abstract theorizing in making this paradigm shift. She personalizes and therefore grounds the transformations that must be undergone when she insists that ‘the way to prepare the ground for a new paradigm shift is to make changes in one’s own life.’ Spirituality is about praxis, she is saying, not just theory.”
Matthew Fox, The Reinvention of Work
Being an artist carries with it a great potential and a great obligation...In a culture made up of images, sound, and stories created by artists who do not hold themselves accountable for that very culture, we have a set-up for destruction. Suzanne Lacy
Is it possible to create new spiritual structures for collaborative art making and to implement such toward community building with a depth of conviction, courage and inspiration that might move participants beyond self-interest toward truly new possibilities? Is it possible that with rigorous and focused processes artists could joyously make work engaging meaningfully with the specter of our global challenges while together exploring the uncharted territory of their souls? Can community building processes readily pour into art making wherein something meaningful and healing might evolve? Is it possible that these discoveries might be transmitted to the public at large through various new media shedding fresh light upon human potentials? Is it possible that all of this could dovetail with the efforts of important organizations such as The Global Justice Movement, Environmental Defense and Amnesty International toward a healthier and happier planet?

We say hopefully, yes.
What if artists were offered stipends, room and board allowing them to come together and to work intensively and without distraction for substantial blocks of time on film, music and real time performance collaborations? What if artists and thinkers could explore important issues in depth leading to transformational theater, installation, film and music? What if these artists were guided by experts through a structured community building process prior to beginning to create their projects? What if artists were given opportunity to work with and interact with some of the leaders of our time in the fields of art, science, and philosophy? What if these artists were given all the production equipment and technical assistance they might need to produce global quality shows? What if supporters and friends of our organization were given intimate amphitheater access to segments of our artists’ processes as well as early rehearsals, scheduled meals, activities and fellowship? What if the productions could be built and performed with some eventually touring the US and the world?
bluelab has been founded and created out of a perceived need to reconsider art making and professional collaborative art practice proceeding boldly from visionary prerogatives. We don’t find fault with the many artists who will not be drawn to what we are doing—for spiritual practice and its interface with collaborative art making are not for everyone.

In light of our present global endgame scenario it seems frivolous at best to argue over rhetorical issues. bluelab is intended for the “Great Work”--that of joining leaders of many fields worldwide who are engaged in the work of saving the earth. We believe that perhaps the only way to meet our present challenges is to deeply transform ourselves which implies the support of a real community and structured spiritual practice to be determined by each member for her or himself.

When serious professional artists are willing to embrace the rigors of authentic spiritual practice, the work of community building and heightened artistic collaboration will undoubtedly fall quickly into place.

The abundance of quotes from Sufi teachers have been included simply because they are part of my daily practice and do not infer a direct link between bluelab and Sufism. In point of fact, any serious spiritual practitioner must see that there can be no schism between the teachings of true Sufism and any sincere humanitarian interest. In the interest of those who may fear some sort of covert Islamic link, Sufism as it’s practiced and defined by and large in the West is Universalist in its orientation and in fact many Sufi’s roots are Christian and Jewish.
"It may be that when we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work, and that when we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey. The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings." --Wendell Berry
"Emptiness feels empty not because there is nothing present, but because whatever it is we're doing has no egotistic interference. The subtle arteries have no ego plaque in them, nothing to resist the smooth flow of the soul. Without our getting in the way, the life of the soul is rich and full, though unpredictable. But it isn't easy to trust strong desire and the life that keeps pouring into us. We always think we know better what should be and how it should all turn out. That is why the death principle --avoiding, worrying, being moralistic--is so popular." Thomas Moore The Soul's Religion
"Becoming a person of deeply grounded and rich imagination may be more desirable than being healthy, politically savvy, or well informed."

Thomas Moore
All through Erikson’s work is the implication that the creative adult (the generative adult) is precisely the person who can infuse his life with play;…the great cultural synthesizers—the religious, political and cultural geniuses such as Luther, Freud and Gandhi—were supreme in their playfulness, especially in their work. Their great words of synthesis were personal attempts to restore the active mastery of their egos in the context of the tensions and dichotomies of their personal and public historical situations. All great historical syntheses are as much play as they are work. They are work because they are indeed attentive to the real contradictions and tensions that most people of a given historical period both sense and suffer. They are a result of play because the creative genius does not simply conform to, adjust to, and accommodate to these tensions. Instead, he bends and reshapes these tensions until they submit to a new synthesis which not only enlivens and activates him but which also enlivens and activates a whole people and an entire era.
“Some renaissance theologians worked hard at reconciling paganism with Judaism and Christianity. We have yet to achieve this détente that is essential to the life of the soul. Fragments of our hearts and minds are located in the garden of Gethsemane and in the garden of Epicurus, on the zodiac of the Apostles and on the zodiac of the animals, in the wine of Dionysus and in the wine of the Eucharist, in the psalms of David and in the hymns of Homer.

It is not a matter of belonging to a religion or professing one’s faith, it is a matter of orientation in life and participation in its mysteries.

We can all be pagan in our affirmation of all of life, Christian in our affirmation of communal love, Jewish in our affirmation of the sacredness of family, [Islamic in our affirmation of self-sacrifice,] [Hindu in our affirmation of the multiplicity of God's expression], Buddhist in our affirmation of emptiness, and Taoist in our affirmation of paradox.

The new monk wears invisible robes. Thomas Merton travels across the globe, and in the home of Eastern monks, dies. Isn’t this a myth for our time and about the resurrection of the monastic spirit!”

"The bringers of joy are the children of sorrow."
“Vulnerability, then, is not only the ability to risk being wounded but is most often made manifest by revealing our woundedness: our brokenness, our crippledness, our weaknesses, our failures and inadequacies. I do not think that Jesus walked vulnerably among the outcasts and crippled of the world purely as a sacrificial act. To the contrary, I suspect he did so because he preferred their company. It is only among the overtly imperfect that we can find community and only among the overtly imperfect nations of the world that we can find peace. Our imperfections are among the few things we human beings have in common….Indeed, only honest people can play a healing role in the world.”
M.Scott Peck, M.D., A Different Drum
"In and through community lies the salvation of the world."
M Scott Peck, MD
A Different Drum
“The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” Albert Einstein
“If one wishes to change the world, one must first become that change.” Mohandas Gandhi
"In the very first chapter Thomas (Berry) lays before us 'The Great Work.' In each historical epoch, he says, people are given a “Great Work” to do—in one age, the settling of new lands, in another the building of great cathedrals, the creation of artistic, philosophical, religious or scientific works, or the shaping of political structures and ideas. The Great Works of prior periods are seen in such things as the movement of the first people out of Africa in the Paleolithic Period; the creation of language, rituals and social structures in hunter-gatherer communities; the establishment of agriculture communities in the Neolithic Period; the development of the great classical civilizations; and, in the modern period, advances in technology, urban civilization, new
ideals of government and human rights, the modern business enterprise and globalism.

Our Great Work is not something we choose, Thomas says. It is something we find ourselves thrown into by virtue only of being born in a certain time and place. The task may seem
overwhelming, one coming in response to some huge historical difficulty, but, he observes, just as we are given our historical task by some power beyond ourselves, we must also believe we are given the abilities to fulfill this task.
The Great Work into which we and our children are born, Thomas says, comes in response to
the devastation of the planet caused by human activity. We are facing a breakdown in the life
systems that can only be understood by comparison with events that marked the great transitions in the geo-biological eras of Earth’s history, such as the extinction of the dinosaurs and countless other species when the Mesozoic Era ended and our present Cenozoic Era began. Our task is to move from our modern industrial civilization with its devastating impact to that of benign presence. It is an arduous and overwhelming task, one exceeding in its complexity that ever offered to humans, for it is not simply one of adjustment to disturbance of human life patterns, as, for example, that occasioned by the Great Depression or the recent World Wars, but one of dealing with the disruption and termination of the geo-biological system that has governed the functioning of the planet in the 67 million year reign of the Cenozoic Era in the history of the planet Earth."
Ten Sufi Thoughts

from The Way of Illumination by Hazrat Inayat Khan

There are ten principal Sufi thoughts which comprise all the important subjects with which the inner life of man is concerned:
1) There is one God, the Eternal, the Only Being; none else exists save God.
2) There is one Master, the Guiding Spirit of all souls, who constantly leads all followers towards the light.
3) There is one Holy Book, the sacred manuscript of nature, which truly enlightens all readers.
4) There is one Religion, the unswerving progress in the right direction towards the ideal, which fulfils the life's purpose of every soul.
5) There is one Law, the law of Reciprocity, which can be observed by a selfless conscience together with a sense of awakened justice.
6) There is one human Brotherhood, the Brotherhood and Sisterhood which unites the children of earth indiscriminately in the Fatherhood (/Motherhood) of God.
7) There is one Moral Principle, the love which springs forth from self-denial, and blooms in deeds of beneficence.
8) There is one Object of Praise, the beauty which uplifts the heart of its worshipper through all aspects from the seen to the unseen.
9) There is one Truth, the true knowledge of our being within and without which is the essence of all wisdom.
10) There is one Path, the annihilation of the false ego in the real, which raises the mortal to immortality and in which resides all perfection.
The following are shared objectives for bluelab and were first articulated as such by Hazrat Inayat Khan who is credited as the first to bring Sufism to the West--in the early 20th century.



The objectives of the Sufi path:

1) To realize and spread the knowledge of unity, the religion of love and wisdom, so that the bias of faiths and beliefs may of itself fall away, the human heart may overflow with love, and all hatred caused by distinctions and differences may be rooted out.

2) To discover the light and power latent in man, the secret of all religion, the power of mysticism, and the essence of philosophy, without interfering with customs or belief.

3) To help to bring the world's two opposite poles, East and West, closer together by the interchange of thought and ideals that the Universal Brotherhood may form of itself and man may see with man beyond the narrow national and racial boundaries.


Monday, October 22, 2007

All forms of worship or prayer must draw man closer to God.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Man breathes, but he does not breathe rightly. As the rain falls on the ground and matures little plants and makes the soil fertile, so the breath, the essence of all energy, falls as a rain on all parts of the body. This also happens in the case of the mind, but man cannot even perceive that part of the breath that quickens the mind; only that felt in the body is perceptible, and to the average man it is not even perceptible in the body. He knows nothing of it, except what appears in the form of inhalation and exhalation through the nostrils. It is this, alone which is generally meant when man speaks of breath.When we study the science of breath, the first thing we notice is that breath is audible; it is a word in itself, for what we call a word is only a more pronounced utterance of breath fashioned by the mouth and tongue. In the capacity of the mouth breath becomes voice, and therefore the original condition of a word is breath. Therefore if we said: 'First was the breath', it would be the same as saying; 'In the beginning was the word'.The first life that existed was the life of God, and from that all manifestation branched out. It is a manifold expression of one life: one flower blooming as so many petals, one breath expressing itself as so many words. The sacred idea attached to the lotus flower, is expressive of this same philosophy. It is symbolizing the many lives in the one God, and expressed in the Bible in the words: 'In God we live and move and have our being'. When man is separated from God in thought, his belief is of no use to him, his worship is but of little use to him; for all forms of worship or belief should draw man closer to God, and that which makes man separate from God has no value.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/II/II_23.htm
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Monday, October 22, 2007

Saturday, October 20, 2007

The true joy of every soul is in the realization of the divine Spirit, and the absence of realization keeps the soul in despair.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
The true joy of every soul is the realization of the divine Spirit. Absence of realization keeps the soul in despair. In the life of every poet, thinker, artist or scientist there come moments when ideas or words are given to him; they are given at that moment and at no other. This is the moment when unconsciously the soul has an opportunity to breathe. Man does not usually allow his soul to breathe; the portal is closed up in the life of the earth. Man closes it by ignorance, he is absorbed in things of much less importance. So when the door opens and the soul is able to breathe even one breath, it becomes alive in that one single moment, and what comes out is beauty and joy making man express himself in song or dance. So heavenly beauty comes on earth.The things that catch man's mind are always living things. The poems of Rumi which are called Masnavi, have lived for eight hundred years, they are living, they bring joy and ecstasy whenever they are sung or recited. They are everliving life, expressing an everlasting beauty. It is the power of God, and for man ever to presume it possible to produce that by study is a mistake. It is impossible. It is the power of God above which brings out the perfection of beauty. Man can never make the soul dance, but he can make himself a fit instrument for the expression of his soul. from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XIV/XIV_20.htm ~~~ The true joy of every soul is in the realization of the divine Spirit, and the absence of realization keeps the soul in despair.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Saturday, October 20, 2007

Friday, October 19, 2007

Your work in life must be your religion, whatever your occupation may be.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

The purpose of life is to become more living, to allow the soul to live more, and that is the limit given by Christ when he says, 'Raise your light high'. This means allowing the soul to express itself. It does not matter what your life is, what your pursuit is; in order to fulfill the purpose of life you need not be in a temple or a church. Whatever your life's pursuit -- art, poetry, sculpture, music, whatever your occupation may be -- you can be as spiritual as a priest or clergyman, always living a life of praise. Your work in life must be your religion; let the soul express itself in every aspect and it will surely fulfill the purpose of life. The soul's life comes naturally if we open ourselves for the spirit to rise.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XIV/XIV_20.htm

~~~ Your work in life must be your religion, whatever your occupation may be.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Friday, October 19, 2007

Thursday, October 18, 2007

The principles of mysticism rise from the heart of man; they are learnt by intuition and proved by reason.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
One might ask why man has lost that intuitive faculty. It is because he has become so absorbed in material gain that he has become, as it were, intoxicated by the worldly life; and intuition, which is his birthright and his own property, has been lost from view. This does not mean that it is gone from him, only that it has become buried in his own heart.We are vehicles or instruments that respond. If we respond to goodness, goodness becomes our property. If we respond to evil, then evil becomes our property. If we respond to love, then love becomes our possession. If we respond to hatred, hatred becomes our life. And if we respond to the things of the earth so much that our whole life becomes absorbed in worldly things, then it is quite natural that we should not respond to those riches which are within us from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/X/X_4_3.htmAs soon as intuition springs up, reason, its competitor, rises also and says, 'No, it is not so.' Then there is conflict in the mind and it is hard to distinguish, because there are two feelings at the same time. If one makes a habit of catching the first intuition and saving it from being destroyed by reason, then intuition is stronger and one can benefit by it. There are many intuitive people, but they cannot always distinguish between intuition and reason and sometimes they mix them up, for very often the second thought, being the last, is more clear to one than the first. Therefore, the intuition is forgotten and reason remembered. Then a person calls it intuition and it is not so. Reason and intuition are two competitors, and yet both have their place, their importance, and their value. The best thing would be first to try and catch the intuition and distinguish and know and recognize it as intuition; and then to reason it out. from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/IV/IV_37.htmThe principles of mysticism rise from the heart of man. They are learned by intuition and proved by reason. This is not only faith, though it is born of faith: it is faith with proof. from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VIII/VIII_1_17.htmMy intuition, has thou ever deceived me? No, never. It is my reason which so often deludes me, for it comes from without; thou art rooted within my heart. from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/say/vadan_alankaras.htm ~~~ The principles of mysticism rise from the heart of man; they are learnt by intuition and proved by reason.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Thursday, October 18, 2007

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

I'm going to a town that has already been burned down
I'm going to a place that is already been disgraced
I'm gonna see some folks who have already been let down.
I'm so tired of America

I'm gonna make it up for all of the Sunday Times
I'm gonna make it up for all of the nursery rhymes
They never really seem to want to tell the truth
I'm so tired of you America

Making my own way home
Ain't gonna be alone
I got a life to lead America
I got a life to lead
Tell me do you really think you go to hell for having loved?
Tell me and not for thinking every thing that you've done is good
(I really need to know)
After soaking the body of Jesus Christ in blood
I'm so tired of America
(I really need to know)
I may just never see you again or might as well
You took advantage of a world that loved you well

I'm going to a town that has already been burned down
I'm so tired of you America
Making my own way home
Ain't gonna be alone
I got a life to lead America
I got a life to lead
I got a soul to feed
I got a dream to heed
And that's all I need
Making my own way home
Ain't gonna be alone
I'm going to a town
that has already been burned down

rufus wainwright going to a town
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Monday, October 15, 2007

Love itself is the healing power and the remedy for all pain.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

There is no greater power than love. All strength comes with the awakening of love in the heart. ... If there is any protecting influence in the world, it is no other than love. In all aspects of life, wherever we find protection, its motive is always love, and no one can have trust in any protection, however great, except the protection that love offers. If a giant were to frighten a child, the child would say, 'I will tell my mother.' The strength and power of any man is too small in comparison with love's protection which the mother affords her child. Love can heal better than anything in the world.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/V/V_19.htm

Behind all this world of various names and forms there is one life, there is one spirit. This spirit which is the soul of all beings is attracted towards unity, and it is the absence of this spirit which keeps the world unhappy. To a person who has just had some unpleasantness with his brother or sister, his food is tasteless, the night without sleep, the heart restless, the soul under a cloud. This shows that we do not necessarily live on food; our soul lives on love, the love that we receive and the love that we give. The absence of this is our unhappiness, and the presence of it is all we need.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/X/X_5_7.htm

True life cannot be ours until unity is achieved. It is the work of religion to promote the spirit of unity, in the knowledge and love of God to whom all devotion belongs. Man often seeks for psychic, occult, and magnetic powers. This is not the purpose of religion; these developments come of themselves. Where there is life and love, there is magnetism; love itself is the healing power and the remedy for all pain.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/IX/IX_1.htm

The dark clouds brought romance between Thee, my Beloved, and me.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/say/nirtan_alankaras.htm

~~~ Love itself is the healing power and the remedy for all pain.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Monday, October 15, 2007

Sunday, October 14, 2007

The Sign of Jonah

Beginner's mind is a posture of eagerness, of spiritual hunger. The beginner's mind knows it needs something. It is hard to remain spiritually hungry today. We live in a treacherously seductive culture because it is so immediately satisfying. We take away pain too easily. We give answers too easily and too easily stimulate. That's why the poor have a head start. They can't resort to the instant fix to any problem: the aspirin, the trip, some entertainment. They remain empty whether they want to or not. We are at a symbolic disadvantage as a wealthy culture. Jesus said that the rich man or woman will find it hard to understand what he is talking about. The rich can satisfy their loneliness and longing in false ways, in quick fixes that avoid the necessary learning. In terms of soul work, we dare not get rid of the pain before we have learned what is has to teach us.

from Everything Belongs, Richard Rohr
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Sunday, October 14, 2007

Friday, October 12, 2007


Seek Him in all souls, good or bad, wise and foolish, attractive and unattractive; in the depths of each there is God.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

As fruit ripens in the course of nature, so it is in the course of nature that the soul should mature; and it is no use being disappointed or disheartened about ourselves and about those near and dear to us, worrying because our husband, wife, father, or mother does not look at spiritual matters in the same way as we do. In the first place no man, however wise or pious, has the right to judge another soul. Who knows what is hidden behind every action, appearance, speech, and manner? No one. And when a person begins to know what is hidden in the human soul, in spite of all deluding appearances he will have respect, a respect for mankind, as he realizes that in the depth of every soul is He whom one worships.


Just as the religious person has a religious attitude in a temple, so the Sufi has that attitude before every being, for to him every being is the temple of the divine. Therefore the Sufi is always before his Lord. Whether a servant, a master, a friend, or a foe is before him, he is in the presence of God. For the one whose God is in the high heavens there is a vast gulf between him and God, but the one who has God always before him -- he is always in God's presence, and there is no end to his happiness.


God is in all things, and still more He is in all beings. Seek Him in all souls, good and bad, wise and foolish, attractive or unattractive, for in the depth of each there is God.Man swimming in the sea does not know the fish living in the sea, so we living in God do not recognize all souls living in God also. He is all around and about us at every moment, we are living His life, we are breathing His breath, and yet we are ignorant of the perfection of beauty which unites and inspires every soul.



~~~ Seek Him in all souls, good or bad, wise and foolish, attractive and unattractive; in the depths of each there is God.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Friday, October 12, 2007

From Everything Belongs, Fr. Richard Rohr


Jesus is the great synthesis for us, the icon of the whole mystery—all at once. “In his body lives the fullness of divinity, and in him you too find your own fulfillment” (Col. 2:9). But it seems to be too much of a new seeing for humanity. In fact, it would even be fair to say that Christianity has relegated the body to a shadowy realm. This hardly demands verification after a cursory look at our tragic sexual state, our pollution of the physical earth, our gross, unbalanced consumerism, our pendulum swings between obesity and dieting, between “couch-potato” numbness and obsessive fitness concerns. We thought it was only the churches that were scandalized at embodiment, but now it seems to have been taken up by the media, lawyers, and politically correct therapists. “Sex” is the one “sin” in America that we are all supposed to be upset and shocked about—“While omitting the weightier matters of the Law, justice, mercy, and good faith” (Jesus to the Pharisees in Matt. 23:23).


We are clearly not very at home in our bodies, and Jesus came to show us that it is our human and the-world experience that we must and could trust. It is our necessary and good beginning point. In fact, after the Incarnation, the material world becomes the privileged place for the divine encounter. Most of us are still shooting for the stars. We are looking at ascents and “higher states of consciousness” and moral perfectionism, while Jesus quite simply comes “and lives among us.” You would think Prometheus or Apollo were our god instead of the humble, human, “humus” person we call Jesus.


pgs. 118-119 chapter, Don't Push the River
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Friday, October 12, 2007

Thursday, October 11, 2007

The knowledge of God is beyond man's reason; the secret of God is hidden in the knowledge of unity.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
The knowledge of God is beyond man's reason. Man only perceives things he is capable of perceiving. He cannot raise his imagination above what he is used to, and he cannot reach beyond his imagination to where the being of God is. The secret of God is hidden in the knowledge of unity. Man thinks, 'What can unity give me? Can it bring me happiness? What is there in it?' He can get the answer by observing and studying life more closely. See what an atmosphere the harmony of ten people can create; the power of love and the influence created by ten people is much greater than that created by one. Think then what would be the blessing for humanity if nations, races, and communities were united!
The pairs of opposites keep us in an illusion and make us think, 'This is this, and that is that'. At the same time by throwing a greater light upon things we shall find in the end that they are quite different from what we had thought. Seeing the nature and character of life, the Sufi says that it is not very important to distinguish between two opposites. What is most important is to recognize that One which is hiding behind it all. Naturally after realizing life the Sufi climbs the ladder which leads him to unity, to the idea of unity which comes through the synthesis of life, by seeing One in all things, in all beings.
~~~ The knowledge of God is beyond man's reason; the secret of God is hidden in the knowledge of unity.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Thursday, October 11, 2007

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

The whole purpose of life is to make God a reality.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

As to the religion and the moral of the mystic, the mystic has one moral and that is love. And he has one aim in his religion and that is to make a God a reality. Therefore, his God becomes a greater God than the God of millions of people who only imagine that there is a God somewhere. To him God is a reality.
The work of the inner life is to make God a reality, so that He is no more an imagination; that this relationship that man has with God may seem more real than any other relationship in the world; and when this happens, then all relationships, however near and dear, become less binding. But at the same time, a person does not thus become cold; he becomes more loving. It is the godless man who is cold, impressed by the selfishness and lovelessness of the world, because he partakes of those conditions in which he lives. But the one who is in love with God, the one who has established his relationship with God, his love becomes living ...
Why is it that among simple and illiterate people a belief in God is to be found, and among the most intellectual, there seems to be a lack of that belief? The answer is that the intellectual ones have their reason. They will not believe in what they do not see... But the process that the wise consider best for the seeker after truth to adopt is the process of first idealizing God and then realizing God.
Among millions of believers in God, there is hardly one who makes God a reality, to so many He is an imagination, to many He is in a mosque, a church, or a temple. Many wonder if God is really. Many others think God is goodness, He is a personality separate from us, He is most high, most pure, most beautiful, but He is separate and difficult to reach. Many think that as it takes so long to reach this planet or that, God must be further away still. The purpose of one's whole life is to make God a reality.
~~~ The whole purpose of life is to make God a reality.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Renunciation is always for a purpose; it is to kindle the soul that nothing may hold it back from God, but when it is kindled, the life of renunciation is not necessary.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Renunciation has an automatic action on the heart of man, an action which very few realize because very few arrive at that stage where they can renounce. By this action a spiritual spark is kindled in the soul; and when a person has arrived at that stage he has taken the first step on the path of spirituality. The spark produced by this action in the depths of the heart culminates in a flame, a torch in life; and this changes the whole outlook on life. The whole world seems changed, the same world in which one has lived and suffered and enjoyed and learned and unlearned -- everything appears to change once renunciation is learned. ... He alone is capable of renunciation who finds a greater satisfaction in seeing another eat his piece of bread than in eating it himself.Only he whose heart is full of happiness after an act of renunciation should make a renunciation. This shows that renunciation is not something that can be learned or taught. It comes by itself as the soul develops, when the soul begins to see the true value of things. All that is valuable to others a seer begins to see differently. Thus the value of all the things that we consider precious or not precious, is according to the way we look at them. For one person the renunciation of a penny is too much; for another that of everything he possesses is nothing. It depends on how we look at things. One rises above all that one renounces in life. Man remains the slave of anything which he has not renounced; of that which he has renounced he becomes king. This whole world can become a kingdom to a person who has renounced it. Renunciation depends upon the evolution of the soul. One who has not evolved spiritually cannot really renounce. Toys so precious to children mean nothing to the grown-up; it is easy to renounce them; and so it is for those who develop spiritually; for them all things are easy to renounce.
Be obstinate in the path of success. Nothing should keep you back from your effort when your resolution is once taken. Renounce your object of attainment only when you have reached it and you have a better one in view. But when you have attained the object and you cling to it, then you hinder your own progress, for the object is greater than yourself. You are greater than the object when you are able to renounce it after attaining it. ~~~ "Githa I, 3 - The PAth of Attainment", by Hazrat Inayat Khan (unpublished)Some lead the life of renunciation, others have family, friends and all things, because renunciation is always for a purpose. It is to kindle the soul, that there may be nothing to hold the soul back from God, but when the soul is kindled the life of renunciation is not a necessity. ~~~ "Supplementary Papers, Life of the Sage in the East(1)", by Hazrat Inayat Khan (unpublished)It is as Fariduddin Attar, the great Persian poet, says, 'Renounce the good of the world, renounce the good of heaven, renounce your highest ideal, and then renounce your renunciation.'
~~~ Renunciation is always for a purpose; it is to kindle the soul that nothing may hold it back from God, but when it is kindled, the life of renunciation is not necessary.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

It always means that you must sacrifice something very dear to you when His call comes.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

When we think deeply about the problem of life, there is no path in the world, whether spiritual or material, which we can tread successfully without a sacrifice. Sometimes the sacrifice is great, and sometimes small; sometimes the sacrifice is made first, before achieving success, and sometimes afterwards. As sacrifice is necessary in life, it is made by everyone in some form or other, but when it is made willingly, it turns into a virtue. The greater the ideal, the greater the sacrifice it demands... sacrifice of a possession is the first step; the next one is self-sacrifice, which was the inner note of the religion of Jesus Christ. Charity, generosity, even tolerance and forbearance, are a kind of sacrifice, and every sacrifice in life, in whatever form, means a step towards the goal of every soul.


I gave up my music because I had received from it all that I had to receive. To serve God one must sacrifice what is dearest to one; and so I sacrificed my music. I had composed songs; I sang and played the vina; and practicing this music I arrived at a stage where I touched the Music of the Spheres. Then every soul became for me a musical note, and all life became music. Inspired by it I spoke to the people, and those who were attracted by my words listened to them, instead of listening to my songs. Now, if I do anything, it is to tune souls instead of instruments; to harmonize people instead of notes. If there is anything in my philosophy, it is the law of harmony: that one must put oneself in harmony with oneself and with others. I have found in every word a certain musical value, a melody in every thought, harmony in every feeling; and I have tried to interpret the same thing, with clear and simple words, to those who used to listen to my music. I played the vina until my heart turned into this very instrument; then I offered this instrument to the divine Musician, the only musician existing. Since then I have become His flute; and when He chooses, He plays His music. The people give me credit for this music, which in reality is not due to me but to the Musician who plays on His own instrument.
~~~ It always means that you must sacrifice something very dear to you when His call comes.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Monday, October 01, 2007


Each soul's attainment is according to its evolution.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan


Opinion is an outcome of mind. It is an outburst of its reasoning and judging faculty. And so, according to the evolution of a particular mind, its opinion is. Opinions clash when two people of different stages of evolution express themselves. Therefore the wise are more reluctant to express their opinion, whereas for the unwise it is easy. A simpleton is only too glad to express his opinion uninvited.


Everyone, consciously or unconsciously, is striving after spiritual attainment. Sometimes he does not take the same way as we do, sometimes his point of view and his method differ, and sometimes one person attains to spiritual realization much sooner than another. It may be reached in a day, and another person may have striven for it all his life and yet not have attained to it. What determines it? It is the evolution of a particular soul.
Every step one takes in evolution changes one's ideal. In your stage, if you love a jasmine today, it is possible that in your next step in evolution you may have grown above it and you love a rose. And it is not necessary that you should keep to the jasmine when your evolution brings you to the love for the rose -- thus one is kept from progressing.
~~~ "Githa I, Sadhana 3" by Hazrat Inayat Khan (unpublished)
To the question, "Are you a Christian?", "Are you a Muslim?", "Are you a Jew?", the Sufi's answer would be 'yes' rather than 'no', for the Sufi opposes no religion but sympathizes with all. In fact Sufism cannot be called a religion, for it does not impose either belief or principle upon anyone, considering that each individual soul has its own principles best suited for it, and a belief which changes with each grade of evolution. ... A Sufi does not dispute on spiritual subjects with everyone, for this reason: the spiritual evolution of each one differs from that of the other, the knowledge of one cannot be the knowledge of the other, nor is the understanding of one the understanding of the other. ... at every step in spiritual evolution a person's belief changes until one arrives at a final belief which words cannot explain.
~~~ "Gathekas for Candidates", by Hazrat Inayat Khan (unpublished)
~~~ Each soul's attainment is according to its evolution.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Monday, October 01, 2007

Sunday, September 30, 2007

When the stream of love flows in its full strength, it purifies all that stands in its way, as the Ganges - according to the teaching of the ancients - purifies all those who plunge into its sacred waters.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan


When God's divine love rises as a wave, it washes away the sins of the whole life in a moment, for law has no power to stand before love: the stream of love sweeps it away.


Forgiveness is a stream of love which washes away all impurities wherever it flows. By keeping this spring of love, which is in the heart of man, running, man is able to forgive, however great the fault of his fellow man may seem. One who cannot forgive closes his heart. The sign of spirituality is that there is nothing you cannot forgive, there is no fault you cannot forget. Do not think that he who has committed a fault yesterday must do the same today, for life is constantly teaching and it is possible in one moment a sinner may turn into a saint.
True happiness is in love, which is the stream that springs from one's soul. He who will allow this stream to run continually in all conditions of life, in all situations, however difficult, will have a happiness which truly belongs to him, the source of which is not without, but within. If there is a constant outpouring of love one becomes a divine fountain, for from the depth of the fountain rises the stream and, on its return, it pours upon the fountain, bathing it continually. It is a divine bath, the true bath in the Ganges, the sacred river.
~~~ When the stream of love flows in its full strength, it purifies all that stands in its way, as the Ganges -- according to the teaching of the ancients -- purifies all those who plunge into its sacred waters.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Sunday, September 30, 2007

Saturday, September 29, 2007

The wise of all ages have taught that it is knowledge of the divine Being that is life, and the only reality.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan


If there is a kingdom of God to be found anywhere, it is within oneself. And it is, therefore, in the knowledge of self that there lies the fulfillment of life. The knowledge of self means the knowledge of one's body, the knowledge of one's mind, the knowledge of one's spirit; the knowledge of the spirit's relation to the body and the relation of the body to the spirit; the knowledge of one's wants and needs, the knowledge of one's virtues and faults; knowing what we desire and how to attain it, what to pursue and what to renounce. And when one dives deep into this, one finds before one a world of knowledge which never ends. And it is that knowledge which gives one insight into human nature and brings one to the knowledge of the whole of creation. And in the end one attains to the knowledge of the divine Being.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/I/I_IV_12.htm

Religion is the school that has developed man, and the ideals that religion presents form a path that leads upward to perfection, that innate and yearning desire of every soul. ... The wise of all ages have taught that it is the knowledge of the Divine Being that is life, and the only reality. Although a human activity may have a number of complicated motives, some of which are base and gross, it is the aspiration towards divinity, the desire towards beauty, which is its soul, its life, and its reality. And it is in proportion to the degree of strength or weakness of his aspiration towards beauty that man's ideal is great or small, and his religion is great or small.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/III/III_II_4.htm

~~~ The wise of all ages have taught that it is knowledge of the divine Being that is life, and the only reality.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Saturday, September 29, 2007
The Lemonheads Break Me

Speak so softly and lowly
like you want me to hear
And it just shows to go me
no need to speak clear
You're away on a movie
I want you to be Be Be Be Be
You’re away on a painting and
I want you to be Be
And just ain’t worth waiting
What I don’t wanna see
I see
You're away on a painting
It don't bother me me me me me,
Come on baby
Say you don't hate me
Grape leaf stay fair save me
Startin' all over heather clover come over rover
Break me
Break me
Break me
Break me
break me
Speak so softly and lowly
Like you want me to hear
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Saturday, September 29, 2007

Friday, September 28, 2007

To fall beneath one's ideal is to lose one's share of life.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

If anyone asked me what is the life of life, and what is the light of life, what gives one interest in life, I should answer him in one word, and that is: the ideal. A man with wealth, with qualifications, with learning, with comfort, but without ideal to me is a corpse; but a man without learning, without qualifications, without wealth or rank, but with an ideal is a living man. If a man does not live for an ideal what else does he live for? He lives for himself, which is nothing. The man who lives and does not know an ideal is powerless and without light. The greater the ideal, the greater the person. The wider the ideal the broader the person. The deeper the ideal the deeper the person, the higher the ideal the higher the person. Without an ideal, whatever a man may be in life, life for him is worthless.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VI/VI_35.htm

The Sufi Message gives to the world the religion of the day; and that is to make one's life a religion, to turn one's occupation or profession into a religion, to make one's ideal a religious ideal. The object of Sufism is the uniting of life and religion, which so far seem to have been kept apart. When a man goes to church once a week, and devotes all the other days of the week to his business, how can he benefit from religion? Therefore the teaching of Sufism is to transform everyday life into a religion, so that every action may bear some spiritual fruit.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/IX/IX_31.htm

We, with our narrowness of faith or belief, accuse others of belonging to another religion, another chapel or church. We say, 'This temple is better, that faith is better.' The whole world has kept on fighting and devastating itself just because it can not understand that each form of religion is peculiar to itself. Therefore, the ideal life is in following one's own ideal. It is not in checking other people's ideals.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VII/VII_29.htm

The man who has never had an ideal may hope to find one. He is in a better state than the man who allows the circumstances of life to break his ideal. To fall beneath one's ideal is to lose one's track in life. Then confusion rises in the mind, and that light which one should hold high becomes covered and obscured, so that it cannot shine out to light one's path.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/III/III_II_4.htm

An ideal is something to hope for and to hold on to, and in the absence of an ideal hope has nothing to look forward to. It is the lack of idealism which accounts for the present degeneration of humanity in spite of all the progress it has made in other directions. There are many kinds of ideals: principles, virtues, objects of devotion; but the greatest and highest of all ideals is the God-ideal. And when this God-ideal upon which all other ideals are based is lost, then the very notion of ideal is ignored. Man needs many things in life, but his greatest need is an ideal.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/IX/IX_9.htm

~~~ To fall beneath one's ideal is to lose one's share of life.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Friday, September 28, 2007

Thursday, September 27, 2007

It is when man has lost the idea of separateness and feels himself at one with all creation that his eyes are opened and he sees the cause of all things.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Every being and object which is distinctly separate may be called an entity, but what one calls an individual is a conception of our imagination; and the true meaning of that conception will be realized on the day when the ultimate truth throws its light upon life. On that day no one will speak about individuality; one will say 'God' and no more.There are many beings, but at the same time there is one, the only Being. Therefore objects such as streams and mountains are also living, but they only exist separately to our outer vision. When our inner vision opens then the separation is shown as a veil; then there is one vision alone, and that is the immanence of God.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/V/V_12.htm

As soon as the soul begins to say 'I' he is exiled from heaven, for all blessings belong to the state which the soul experienced before he claimed to be 'I', a separate entity, separate from others. It is because of this that man, whatever his position, whatever his situation in life, is not fully happy. The trouble of one may perhaps be greater than that of another, but both he who resides in heavenly palaces and the inhabitant of a grass hut have their troubles; both have their pain. But man finds the reason for all afflictions in the life outside him. The Sufi finds it in that one sin: that of having claimed to be 'I'. With this claim came all the trouble, it continued, and it will always continue. This sin has such a hold upon the soul that it is just like the eclipse of the sun, when its light is covered and cannot shine.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XII/XII_I_5.htm

There is an innate desire in every human being for knowledge. ... With man this desire is never satisfied. He always wants to know more. There is ever a restless craving within him for knowledge. This is because he does not look for the cause in the right way. He only sees the external causes, and not the cause underlying the cause, and below that, the primal cause. For example, a man who has become estranged from his friend only sees perhaps the superficial cause, and calls his friend unkind; or he may even admit that he himself is at fault, or he may go still deeper and say that owing to a certain planetary influence they cannot be friendly. Yet he has not probed the cause of this cause. ...For this reason the religions taught the God-ideal, that the primal cause might be sought through the pursuit of God. It is when man has lost the idea of duality and feels himself at one with all creation, that his eyes are opened and he sees the cause of everything.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/V/V_30.htm

~~~ It is when man has lost the idea of separateness and feels himself at one with all creation that his eyes are opened and he sees the cause of all things.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Thursday, September 27, 2007

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

In order to relieve the hunger of others, we must forget our own hunger.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Riches and power may vanish because they are outside of us, but only that which is within can we call our own. In order to awaken love and sympathy in our hearts, sacrifices must be made. We must forget our own troubles in order to sympathize with the troubles of others.To relieve the hunger of others we must forget our own hunger. Everybody is working for selfish ends, not caring about others, and this alone has brought about the misery in the world today. When the world is evolving from imperfection towards perfection, it needs all love and sympathy. Great tenderness and watchfulness is required of each one of us. The heart of every man, both good and bad, is the abode of God, and care should be taken never to wound anybody by word or act. We are only here in this world for a short time; many have been here before, and have passed on, and it is for us to see that we leave behind an impression of good.
There are however blessed souls, souls who are really satisfied and whose hunger is stilled by seeing another person eating or who are happy seeing another person adorned with beautiful clothes. It might seem to us a great renunciation or self-denial; but they have been given a cross to bear and have risen above it. Sacrifice gives no pain; it only gives pleasure.
Love another and do not depend upon his love; and: Do good to another and do not depend upon receiving good from him; serve another and do not look for service from him. All you do for another out of your love and kindness, you should think that you do, not to that person, but to God. And if the person returns love for love, goodness for goodness, service for service, so much the better. If he does not return it, then pity him for what he loses; for his gain is much less than his loss. ~~~ "Sangatha I, 3 - Saluk", by Hazrat Inayat Khan (unpublished)
~~~ In order to relieve the hunger of others, we must forget our own hunger.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Monday, September 24, 2007

It is better to pay than receive from the vain, for such favors demand ten times their cost.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

When a person says, 'I will not allow you to take the best of me, if you are crooked I will show you ten times more crookedness,' then he is clever. But when a person says, 'Yes, I understand you, you need not play that game with me, let me alone,' he is wise. When a person does not know the crookedness of the other person and so allows him to take the best of him, he is a fool. But when one sees clearly the roguery and crookedness of another person and yet allows him to take the best, he is the holy man, he is beyond the regions of humanity, he is beginning to climb the angelic planes, he sees all things, understands all things and tolerates all things. The mystics talk about the innocence of Jesus, and Sufis try to follow it as an example. This innocence is the same, and revelation comes to that person who sees all the falsehood and treachery of human nature and pities instead of accusing, and forgives because he has reached to that height that no falsehood, roguery, deceit or treachery of an ordinary human being can touch him -- he is above it. ~~~ "Githa III, Kashf 8, Revelation", by Hazrat Inayat Khan (unpublished)

~~~ It is better to pay than receive from the vain, for such favors demand ten times their cost.

Posted by Jeff Hogue at Monday, September 24, 2007

Saturday, September 22, 2007


Real generosity is an unfailing sign of spirituality.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan


The absence of generosity means that the doors of the heart are closed; nothing from within can come out, and nothing from without can enter in.


Tawazu' in Sufic terms means something more than hospitality. It is laying before one's friend willingly what one has, in other words sharing with one's friend all the good one has in life, and with it, enjoying life better. When this tendency to tawazu' is developed, things that give one joy and pleasure become more enjoyable by sharing with another. This tendency comes from the aristocracy of the heart. It is generosity and even more than generosity. For the limit of generosity is to see another pleased in his pleasure, but to share one's own pleasure with another is greater than generosity. It is a quality which is foreign to a selfish person, and the one who shows this quality is on the path of saintliness.


The spirit of generosity in nature builds a path to God, for generosity is outgoing, is spontaneity; its nature is to make its way toward a wide horizon. Generosity, therefore, may be called charity of heart. It is not necessary that the spirit of generosity be shown always by the spending of money; in every little thing one can show it. Generosity is an attitude a person shows in every little action that he does for people that he comes in contact with in his everyday life. One can show generosity by a smile, by a kind glance, by a warm handshake; by patting the younger soul on the shoulder as a mark of encouragement, of showing appreciation, of expressing affection. Generosity one can show in accommodating one's fellow man, in welcoming him, in bidding farewell to one's friend. In thought, work, and deed, in every manner and form one can show that generous spirit which is the sign of the godly.


~~~ Real generosity is an unfailing sign of spirituality.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Saturday, September 22, 2007

Thursday, September 20, 2007

One thing is true: although the teacher cannot give the knowledge, he can kindle the light if the oil is in the lamp.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

No one can give spiritual knowledge to another, for this is something that is within every heart. What the teacher can do is to kindle the light which is hidden in the heart of the disciple. If the light is not there, it is not the fault of the teacher. There is a verse by Hafiz in which he says, 'However great be the teacher, he is helpless with the one whose heart is closed.' ...In ancient times, the disciples of the great teachers learned by a quite different method, not an academic method or a way of study. The way was an open heart. With perfect confidence and trust they watched every attitude of the teacher, both towards friends and towards people who looked at him with contempt. They watched their teacher in times of trouble and pain, how he endured it all. They said how patient and wise he had been in discussing with those who did not understand, answering everyone gently in his own language. He showed the mother-spirit, the father-spirit, the brother-spirit, the child-spirit, the friend-spirit, forgiving kindness, an ever-tolerant nature, respect for the aged, compassion for all, the thorough understanding of human nature. This, also, the disciples learned, that no discussion or books on metaphysics can ever teach all the thoughts and philosophy that arise in the heart of man. A person may either study for a thousand years, or he may get to the source and see if he can touch the root of all wisdom and all knowledge. In the center of the emblem of the Sufis there is a heart; it is the sign that from the heart a stream rises, the stream of divine knowledge.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/X/X_2_2.htm

Sufis have no set belief or disbelief. Divine light is the only sustenance of their soul, and through this light they see their path clear, and what they see in this light they believe, and what they do not see they do not blindly believe. Yet they do not interfere with another person's belief or disbelief, thinking that perhaps a greater portion of light has kindled his heart, and so he sees and believes that the Sufi cannot see or believe. Or, perhaps a lesser portion of light has kept his sight dim and he cannot see and believe as the Sufi believes. Therefore Sufis leave belief and disbelief to the grade of evolution of every individual soul. The Murshid's work is to kindle the fire of the heart, and to light the torch of the soul of his mureed, and to let the mureed believe and disbelieve as he chooses, while journeying through the path of evolution.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/I/I_I_3.htm

It is not that a Murshid gives his knowledge to someone else. It is not possible to give one's knowledge that way, so the Murshid does not profess to be able to do this or that. His work is to help another person to find out for himself, to discover for himself what is true and what is not. There are no doctrines to impart, there are no principles to lay down, and there are no tenets according to which his pupils must order their lives. He is just a guide along the path. He is the one who kindles the light that is already in the pupil.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XII/XII_I_20.htm

~~~ One thing is true: although the teacher cannot give the knowledge, he can kindle the light if the oil is in the lamp.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Thursday, September 20, 2007

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

The teacher, however great, can never give his knowledge to the pupil; the pupil must create his own knowledge.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

The work of a mystical teacher is not to teach, but to tune, to tune the pupil so that he may become the instrument of God. For the mystical teacher is not the player of the instrument; he is the tuner. When he has tuned it, he gives it into the hands of the Player whose instrument it is to play. The duty of the mystical teacher is his service as a tuner.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/X/X_2_2.htm

The task of the Sufi teacher is not to force a belief on a mureed, but to train him so that he may become illuminated enough to receive revelations himself.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/X/X_2_4.htm

Truth by its very nature cannot be uttered, cannot be given. One cannot give that which cannot be put into speech. So the teacher gives a method for finding the truth, for unfolding it, for unlocking that which seems to be in one's heart. ... It is clearly impossible for anyone to impart his knowledge to another person; he can only show him how to unfold his own knowledge to himself. Everybody possesses a kingdom, but he has to find it.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XII/XII_I_21.htm

There is only one teacher, and that teacher is God Himself. No man can teach another man. All one can do for another is to give him one's own experience in order to help him to be successful. For instance if a person happens to know a road, he can tell another man that it is the road which leads to the place he wishes to find. The work of the spiritual teacher is like the work of Cupid. The work of Cupid is to bring two souls together. And so is the work of the spiritual teacher: to bring together the soul and God. But what is taught to the one who seeks after truth? Nothing is taught. He is only shown how he should learn from God. For no man can ever teach spirituality. It is God alone who teaches it. And how is it learned? When these ears which are open outwardly are closed to the outside world and focused upon the heart within, then instead of hearing all that comes from the outer life one begins to hear the words within. Thus if one were to define what meditation is, that also is an attitude: the right attitude towards God. The attitude should first be to seek God within. And, after seeking God within, then to see God outside.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VI/VI_8.htm

~~~ The teacher, however great, can never give his knowledge to the pupil; the pupil must create his own knowledge.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Saturday, September 15, 2007

To become cold from the coldness of the world is weakness, to become broken by the hardness of the world is feebleness, but to live in the world and yet to keep above it is like walking on the water.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

The spiritual path is easiest if there is not something pulling one from behind; and that force is the life in the world, one's friends, surroundings, acquaintances, and one's foes. Remain, therefore, in the world as a traveler making a station on his way. Do all the good you can to serve and succor humanity, but escape attachment. By this in no way will you prove to be loveless. On the contrary, it is attachment which divides love, and love raised above attachment is like a rain from above nourishing all the plants upon the earth. ~~~ "Sangita I, Nasihat", by Hazrat Inayat Khan (unpublished)There is only one thing that helps us to rise above conditions, and that is a change of outlook on life. This change is made practicable by a change of attitude. .. For a Sufi, therefore, not only patience to bear all things is necessary, but to see all things from a certain point of view that can relieve him for that moment from difficulty and pain. Very often it is one's outlook which changes a person's whole life. It can turn hell into heaven, it can turn sorrow into joy. When a person looks from a certain point of view, every little pin-prick feels like the point of a sword piercing his heart. If he looks at the same thing from a different point of view, the heart becomes sting-proof. Nothing can touch it. All things which are sent forth at that person as bullets drop down without every having touched him.What is the meaning of walking upon the water? Life is symbolized as water. There is one person who drowns in the water, there is another who swims in the water, but there is still another who walks upon it. The one who is so sensitive that, after one little pin prick he is unhappy throughout the day and night is the man of the first category. The one who takes and gives back and makes a game of life is the swimmer. He does not mind if he receives one knock, for he derives satisfaction from being able to give two knocks in return. But the one whom nothing can touch is in the world and yet is above the world. He is the one who walks upon the water; life is under his feet, both its joy an its sorrow.Verily, independence and indifference are the two wings which enable the soul to fly.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VIII/VIII_2_10.htm

To become cold with the coldness of the world is weakness, and to become broken by the hardness of the world is feebleness, but to live in the world and yet to keep above the world is like walking on the water. There are two essential duties for the man of wisdom and love; that is to keep the love in our nature ever increasing and expanding, and to strengthen the will so that the heart may not be easily broken. Balance is ideal in life; one must be fine and yet strong, one must be loving and yet powerful.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XIII/XIII_14.htm


~~~ To become cold from the coldness of the world is weakness, to become broken by the hardness of the world is feebleness, but to live in the world and yet to keep above it is like walking on the water.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Saturday, September 15, 2007

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

In order to learn forgiveness, man must first learn tolerance.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

We need today the religion of tolerance. In daily life we cannot all meet on the same ground, being so different, having such different capacities, states of evolution, and tasks. So if we had no tolerance, no desire to forgive, we could never bring harmony into our soul; for to live in the world is not easy and every moment of the day demands a victory. If there is anything to learn, it is tolerance.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/X/X_5_1.htm

Tolerance is the first lesson of morals, and the next is forgiveness. A person who tolerates another through fear, through pride, from a sense of honor, or by the force of circumstances does not know tolerance. Tolerance is the control of the impulse of resistance by will. There is no virtue in tolerance which one practices because one is compelled by circumstances to tolerate, but tolerance is a consideration by which one overlooks the fault of another and gives no way in oneself to the impulse of resistance. A thoughtless person is naturally intolerant, but if a thoughtful person is intolerant, it shows his weakness. He has thought, but has no self-control. In the case of the thoughtless, he is not conscious of his fault, so it does not matter much to him, but a thoughtful person is to be pitied if he cannot control himself owing to the lack of will.The activities in the worldly life cause many disturbances, and it is a constant jarring effect upon a sensitive soul. If one does not develop tolerance in nature, one is always subject to constant disturbances in life. To wish to live in the world and to be annoyed with its activities is like wanting to live in the sea and be constantly resisting its waves. This life of the world, full of different activities constantly working, has much in it to be despised, if one has a tendency to despise. But at the same time there is much to admire if one turns one's face from left to right. It is in our own power to choose the view of imperfection or the vision of perfection, and the difference is only looking down, or looking upwards. By a slight change of attitude in one's outlook on life one can make the world into heaven or hell. The more one tolerates, the stronger one becomes in this way. It is the tolerant who is thoughtful. And as thought becomes greater, one becomes more tolerant. The words of Christ, 'Resist not evil', teach tolerance.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XIII/XIII_19.htm

Tolerance is the sign of an evolved soul, for a soul shows the proof of its evolution in the degree of the tolerance it shows. The life in the lower creation shows the lack of tolerance. ... As one evolves spiritually so a person seems to rise above this natural tendency of intolerance, for the reason that he begins to see, besides himself and the second person, God; and he unites himself with the other person in God. ... But when a soul has evolved still more, tolerance becomes the natural thing for him. Because the highly evolved soul then begins to realize 'Another person is not separate from me, but the other person is myself. The separation is on the surface of life, but in the depth of life I and the other person are one.'

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XIII/XIII_21.htm

~~~ In order to learn forgiveness, man must first learn tolerance.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Monday, September 10, 2007

It is the fruit that makes the tree bow low.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Spiritual attainment is not a thing to be brought before people to prove that it is real, or as a show. What is real is proof in itself, what is beyond all price or value does not need to be made much of before people. What is real is real, and the precious is precious in itself: it needs no explanation, nor pleading.The greatest lesson of mysticism is to know all, gain all, attain all things and be silent. The more the disciple gains, the more humble he becomes, and when any person makes this gain a means of proving himself in any way superior to others, it is a proof that he does not really possess it. He may have a spark within himself, but the torch is not yet lighted. There is a saying among the Hindus that the tree that bears much fruit bows low.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/II/II_23.htm

As Amir says, 'He who has lost his limited self, he it is who has attained the High Presence.' Do we not forget ourselves when we behold the vision of beauty? If we are blind to beauty we cannot see it, and then we cannot forget ourselves in the beauty and sublimity of the vision. But when we perceive the beauty of nature, we bow our head in love and admiration. As a poet said of nature, 'I cannot study you, for you are too great, you are too beautiful. The only thing left for me to do is to bow my head in prostration at your feet.'

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/IX/IX_7.htm

A true worshipper of God sees His presence in all forms, and thus in respecting others he respects God. It may even develop to such an extent that the true worshipper of God, the Omnipresent, walks gently on the earth, bowing in his heart even to every tree and plant, and it is then that the worshipper forms a communion with the Divine Beloved at all times.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XIII/XIII_15.htm


Hazrat Samuel Lewis

True humility is characteristic of the wise one who knows, who has gathered the harvest. The proud one has to hold up his or her head; it stands not by itself. But the wise one, seeing the power there and recognizing that the power is the gift of God, surrenders that gift back to the Giver of all good things. From another point of view, fruit is a burden -- whether that burden be wealth, knowledge, power or friends. All of these have a purpose but when that purpose is out of harmony with the spiritual un-foldment, its burdensome nature makes itself manifest.

http://www.rosanna.com/saki/september/september10.htm

~~~ It is the fruit that makes the tree bow low.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Monday, September 10, 2007

Sunday, September 09, 2007

Love is the divine Mother's arms; when those arms are spread, every soul falls into them.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

The Sufis of all ages have been known for their beautiful personality. It does not mean that among them there have not been people with great powers, wonderful powers and wisdom. But beyond all that, what is most known of the Sufis is the human side of their nature: that tact which attuned them to wise and foolish, to poor and rich, to strong and weak -- to all. They met everyone on his own plane, they spoke to everyone in his own language. What did Jesus teach when he said to the fishermen, 'Come hither, I will make you fishers of men?' It did not mean, 'I will teach you ways by which you get the best of man.' It only meant: your tact, your sympathy will spread its arms before every soul who comes, as mother's arms are spread out for her little ones.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VIII/VIII_2_15.htm

Mystics of all ages have not been known for their miraculous powers or for the doctrines they have taught, but for the devotion they have shown through out their lives. The Sufi in the East says to himself, Ishq Allah Ma'bud Allah, which means 'God is Love, God is the Beloved', in other words it is God who is Love, Lover, and Beloved. When we hear the stories of the miraculous powers of mystics, of their great insight into the hidden laws of nature, of the qualities which they manifested through their beautiful personalities, we realize that these have all come from one and the same source, whether one calls it devotion or whether one calls it love.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XI/XI_III_11.htm

Once four little girls were disputing. One said, 'My mother is better than yours.' The second girl said, 'My mother is better than your mother.' So, they were arguing and being quite disagreeable to one another. But someone who was passing by said to them, 'It is not your mother or their mother, it is the mother who is always the best. It is the mother quality, her love and affection for her children.' This is the point of view of the mystic in regard to the divine ideal.The moral principle of the mystic is the love principle. He says, 'The greater your love, the greater your moral. If we are forced to be virtuous according to a certain principle, a certain regulation, certain laws or rules, then that is not real virtue. It must come from the depths of our heart; our own heart must teach us the true moral.' Thus the mystic leaves morality to the deepening of the heart quality. The mystic says that the more loving someone's heart is, the greater is his morality.There is no greater teacher of morals than love itself, for the first lesson that one learns from love is, 'I am not, you are.' This is self-denial, self-abnegation, without which we cannot take the first step on love's path. One may claim to be a great lover, to be a great admirer, to be very affectionate, but it all means nothing as long as the thought of self is there, for there is no love. But when the thought of self is removed then every action, every deed that one performs in life, becomes a virtue. It cannot be otherwise. A loving person cannot be unjust, a loving person cannot be cruel. Even if what he does seems wrong in the eyes of a thousand people, it cannot be wrong in reality. In reality, it will be right, for it is inspired by love.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/X/X_1.htm

Samuel Lewis

Although the word "fall" is here used, the action is of the contrary nature. That is to say, there is a movement upward, at least in the sense that one is raised above the mind-mesh and freed from the turmoil and complexities resulting from ordinary thought and action. This love is the very essence of the soul and the life that makes soul soul.

http://www.rosanna.com/saki/september/september9.htm

~~~ Love is the divine Mother's arms; when those arms are spread, every soul falls into them.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Sunday, September 09, 2007

Wednesday, September 05, 2007


There is no source of happiness other than that in the heart of man.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Man seeks happiness in pleasure, in joy, but these are only shadows of happiness. The real happiness is in the heart of man. But man does not look for it. In order to find happiness, he seeks pleasure. Anything that is passing and anything that results in unhappiness is not happiness.

In reality very few in this world know what happiness means. Pleasure is the shadow of happiness, for pleasure depends upon things outside ourselves; happiness comes from within ourselves. Happiness belongs to the heart quality; pleasure to the outer world.
The distance between pleasure and happiness is as vast as that between earth and heaven. As long as the heart is not tuned to its proper pitch one will not be happy.
That inner smile which shows itself in a man's expression, in his atmosphere, that belongs to happiness. If position were taken away and wealth were lost in the outer life, that inner happiness would not be taken away. And the smiling of the heart depends upon the tuning of the heart, the heart must be tuned to that pitch where it is living.


There are a thousand excuses for unhappiness that the reasoning mind will make. But is even one of these excuses ever entirely correct? Do you think that if these people gained their desires they would be happy? If they possessed all, would that suffice? No, they would still find some excuse for unhappiness; all these excuses are only like covers over a man's eyes, for deep within is the yearning for the true happiness which none of these things can give. He who is really happy is happy everywhere, in a palace or in a cottage, in riches or in poverty, for he has discovered the fountain of happiness which is situated in his own heart. As long as a person has not found that fountain, nothing will give him real happiness.


If there is any source from where one can get the direction on how to act in life, it is to be found in one's heart. The exercises of the Sufi help to get to the source where one can get the direction, the right direction, where there is a spark of the Spirit of Guidance. Those who care to be guided by the spirit, they are always guided, but those who know not whether such a spirit exists or does not exist, they wander through life as a wild horse in the woods, not knowing where it goes, why it runs, why it stands. It is a great pity to be thirsty and remain thirsty when the spring of fresh water is within one's reach. There can be no loss so great in life as having the spark glittering in one's heart and yet groping in the darkness through life.
~~~ "Sangatha II, Saluk: The Good Nature", by Hazrat Inayat Khan (unpublished)
In point of fact, whatever one makes of oneself, one becomes that. The source of happiness or unhappiness is all in man himself. When he is unaware of this, he is not able to arrange his life, but as he becomes more acquainted with this secret, he gains mastery, and the process by which this mastery is attained is the only fulfillment of the purpose of this life.


~~~ There is no source of happiness other than that in the heart of man.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Monday, September 03, 2007

How can the unlimited Being be limited? All that seems limited is in its depth beyond all limitations.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Man has respect for his mother or father or wife, or for his superiors; but all these have limited personalities. To whom then shall he give most respect? Only to one being: to God. Man can love another human being, but by the very fact of his loving another human being he has not got the full scope. To express all the love that is there, he must love the unlimited God. One admires all that is beautiful in color, tone, or form; but everything beautiful has its limitations; it is only when one rises above limitations that one finds that perfection which is God alone.
There is no such thing as impossible. All is possible. Impossible is made by the limitation of our capacity of understanding. Man, blinded by the law of nature's working, by the law of consequences which he has known through his few years life on earth, begins to say, 'This is possible and that is impossible.' If he were to rise beyond limitations, his soul would see nothing but possible. And when the soul has risen high enough to see all possibility, that soul certainly has caught a glimpse of God.They say God is almighty; and I say, God is all-possible.
Possibility is the nature of God, and impossibility is the art of man.
Man goes so far, and cannot go any further. Man makes a flower out of paper, giving it as natural a color as possible, yet he says it is not possible to make it fragrant, for he has his limitations. But God, Who is the maker of the flower and Who is the Giver of the fragrance, has all power, and man, who is weakened by his limitedness, becomes more and more limited the more he thinks of it. In this is created the spirit of pessimism. Man who is conscious of God Almighty, and who in the contemplation of God loses the consciousness of his own self, inherits the power of God, and it is in this power and belief that the spirit of optimism is born.
~~~ "Githa, Series II, Sadhana 3, The Path of Attainment", by Hazrat Inayat Khan (unpublished)
People mostly think that the spiritual message must be something concrete and definite in the way of doctrines or principles; but that is a human tendency and does not belong to the divine nature, which is unlimited and life itself. The divine message is the answer to the cry of souls, individually and collectively; the divine message is life, and it is light. The sun does not teach anything, but in its light we learn to know all things. The sun does not cultivate the ground nor does it sow seed, but it helps the plant to grow, to flower, and to bear fruit. ~~~ "Religious Gatheka 3, Religion", by Hazrat Inayat Khan (unpublished)
There is a stage at which, by touching a particular phase of existence, one feels raised above the limitations of life, and is given that power and peace and freedom, that light and life, which belong to the source of all beings. In other words, in that moment of supreme exaltation one is not only united with the source of all beings, but dissolved in it ... As the great Indian poet Khusrau says, 'When I become Thou and Thou becomest me, neither canst Thou say that I am different nor canst Thou say that Thou are different.'
Samuel Lewis
Limitation comes from the examination of mind. Mind by its very nature puts a limit on things. The eye in its measure of space sees only so far to the left and right and only so far in front of the body; from this there comes the laws of perspective important in mathematics and art. Although the mind can see much further in every direction, still it is limited and subject to laws of perspective from which only the illuminated mind can escape. Existence does not depend upon comprehension by mind, which can only comprehend so far. All essence is beyond conception; search as it may, the mind unaided can never find the thing-in-itself.
~~~ How can the unlimited Being be limited? All that seems limited is in its depth beyond all limitations.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Monday, September 03, 2007

Saturday, September 01, 2007

Joy and sorrow both are for each other. If it were not for joy, sorrow could not be; and if it were not for sorrow, joy could not be experienced.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Life is differentiated by the pairs of opposites.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/say/gayan_boulas.htm

If there was no pain one would not enjoy the experience of joy. It is pain which helps one to experience joy. Everything is distinguished by its opposite. The one who feels pain deeply is more capable of experiencing joy. And personally, if you were to ask me about pain, I should say that if there was no pain life would be most uninteresting to me. For it is by pain the heart is penetrated, and the sensation of pain is deeper joy. Without pain the great musicians and poets and dreamers and thinkers would not have reached that stage which they reached and from which moved the world. If they always had joy, they would not have touched the depths of life.

~~~ "Supplementary Papers, Miscellaneous VII", by Hazrat Inayat Khan (unpublished)

There is the sun and there is the moon, there is man and woman, there is night and there is day. The colors are distinguished by their variety and so are the forms. Therefore to distinguish anything there must be its opposite; where there is no opposite we cannot distinguish. There must be health in order to distinguish illness; if there were no health and only illness then it would not have been (distinguished as) illness. ... Life is a puzzle of duality. The pairs of opposites keep us in an illusion and make us think, 'This is this, and that is that'. At the same time by throwing a greater light upon things we shall find in the end that they are quite different from what we had thought.Seeing the nature and character of life the Sufi says that it is not very important to distinguish between two opposites. What is most important is to recognize that One which is hiding behind it all. Naturally after realizing life the Sufi climbs the ladder which leads him to unity, to the idea of unity which comes through the synthesis of life, by seeing One in all things, in all beings.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XIV/XIV_2_12.htm

Samuel Lewis

The heart from its very nature expands and contracts, grows warmer and colder. When, after contraction, the very life tends to make it expand again, there is sorrow, there is a tightening of processes, a deadness and dullness. Pain accompanies the escape from sorrow, but the end of pain is expansion in the spirit, which surely leads to joy.
At the same time, if one becomes so rapt in joy, if one in such moments becomes attached to the self, the joy in turn will lead to further sorrow. The purpose of spiritual development is to understand the nature of life beneath joy and sorrow and so find peace in every experience regardless of its fruits.

http://www.rosanna.com/saki/september/september1.htm

~~~ Joy and sorrow both are for each other. If it were not for joy, sorrow could not be; and if it were not for sorrow, joy could not be experienced.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Saturday, September 01, 2007

Friday, August 31, 2007

He who has spent has used; he who has collected has lost; but he who has given has saved his treasure forever.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

The tendency to doubt, to be depressed, the tendency towards fear, suspicion and confusion, the tendency to puzzle -- where does it all come from? It all comes from the thought of getting something in return: 'will another give me back what I have given him? Shall I get the just portion back, or less?' if that is the thought behind one's acts there will be fear, doubt, suspicion, puzzle and confusion. For what is doubt? Doubt is a cloud that stands before the sun, keeping it from shining its light. So is doubt: gathering around the soul it keeps its light from shining out, and man becomes confused and perplexed. Once selflessness is developed, it breaks through the cloud saying, 'What do I care whether anyone appreciates it; I only know to give my service, and that is all my satisfaction. I do not look forward to get it back. I have given and it is finished; this is where my duty ends.' That person is blessed, because he has conquered, he has won.Then it is lack of knowledge of the divine justice when man doubts whether he will get his just portion, or whether the other will get the best of him. If he looked up and saw the perfect Judge, God Himself, whose justice is so great that in the end the portions are made equal and even -- there is only a question about the beginning, not about the end -- if only he saw the justice of God, he would become brave, he would trust and not trouble about a return. God is responsible for returning a thousandfold what man has ever given.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VIII/VIII_2_28.htm

The mystic can see from the point of view of everyone else, as well as from his own, which may be quite the contrary. For instance, in his teachings, Christ says, 'If anyone asks you for your coat, give him your overcoat, also.' A worldly man will say, 'It is not practical; if someone asked this of me every day, I would be continually buying new coats!' Yet, at the same time, it is more than practical from the point of view of the Master. For, according to his view, we cannot give anything, in whatever form, without getting it back in some way or other. Pure thought, good will, our service, our time, whatever we give, is never lost. It comes back to us according to our willingness to give, it comes back to us a thousandfold. That is why one is never the loser by being generous; one only gains.The mystic sees the law in all things, and this gives him an insight into life. He begins to see why this misery has come upon him, why that pleasure has come; why one person is prospering and another not, why one is progressing and not another. All these things become clear to him because he sees the law working in all things. The law of the mystic is not the law of the people. It is the law of nature; it is the real law.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/X/X_1.htm

~~~ He who has spent has used; he who has collected has lost; but he who has given has saved his treasure forever.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Friday, August 31, 2007

Thursday, August 30, 2007


The giver is greater than the gift.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Besides having one's (own) wish granted, the joy of giving another (person) happiness, that itself is greater than a wish granted, if one has risen to that plane of human evolution when one can enjoy pleasure with the pleasure of another, when one can feel satisfaction in the satisfaction of another, when one can be happy in bringing happiness to another. No one will give another happiness and will not have the same come to him a thousandfold. There comes a stage of evolution in the life of man when he feels more satisfied by seeing another person satisfied with food than by his having eaten it himself, when he feels comfortable in seeing another person comfortable, when he feels richly adorned by seeing another person clothed nicely; for this stage is a stepping-stone to the realization of God.
Human beings living in their shells are mostly unaware of the privilege of life and so are unthankful to the Giver of it. In order to see the grace of God man must open his eyes and raise his head from his little world. Then he will see -- above and below, to the right and the left, before and behind -- the grace of God reaching him from everywhere in abundance.
A person who is loved by everybody in the world, and yet if he has not loved anybody, he has done nothing. A person who has possessed the wealth of the whole world, but if he has given nothing, he has not earned. A person honored by everyone in the world, but if he has not respected, he has not lived.What does it mean? It only means that what we gain is nothing, it is what we give that counts. It is nothing -- what has been done to us -- if only we did all we wished to do, that is what counts. Either learning or wisdom, position or power or wealth, all these things gained are very small compared with what one can give to the others.
~~~ "Supplementary Papers, Brotherhood I", by Hazrat Inayat Khan (unpublished)
~~~ The giver is greater than the gift.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Thursday, August 30, 2007

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

A pure life and a clean conscience are as two wings attached to the soul.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

A pure life and a clean conscience are as bread and wine for the soul.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/say/gayan_boulas.htm

A pure life is the term used to express the effort of man to keep his spiritual being untainted by the false values of the worldly life. It is the constant search for the original self, the desire to reach it, and the means employed to recover it, which alone can truly be called purity of life. ... When this purity is reached man lives in virtue. Virtue is not a thing which he expresses or experiences from time to time; his life itself is virtue. Every moment that God is absent from the consciousness is considered by the sage to be a sin; for at that moment the purity of the heart is poisoned. It is lack of life which is sin: and it is purity of life which is virtue. It is of this purity that Jesus Christ spoke when he said, 'Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.'

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VI/VI_34.htm

Hazrat Samuel Lewis

By the pure life is meant one free from any attachments, a heart filled with love, a mind illuminated by Supreme Thought. The clean conscience is also dependent upon Unity, knowing neither good nor evil, for as soon as action is divided whatever elevates creates accommodation for depression and so deprives the soul of happiness.

http://www.rosanna.com/saki/august/august29.htm

~~~ A pure life and a clean conscience are as two wings attached to the soul.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Death is a tax the soul has to pay for having had a name and a form.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

All that is constructed is subject to destruction; all that is composed must be decomposed; all that is formed must be destroyed; that which has birth has death. But all this belongs to matter; the spirit which is absorbed by this formation of matter or by its mechanism lives, for spirit cannot die.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XI/XI_I_12.htm

That which the soul has borrowed he must give back when it has done its work; it was borrowed for a certain time and for a certain purpose. When the purpose is fulfilled, when the time is finished, then every plane asks for that which the soul has borrowed from it, and one cannot help but give it back to that plane. It is this process which is called assimilation. Since man is born greedy and selfish he has taken all things willingly, enthusiastically -- he gives them back grudgingly and calls it death. ...Death is nothing but the taking off of one garb and giving it back to the plane from which it was borrowed, for the condition is this: one cannot take the garb of the lower plane to the higher plane. The soul is only released when it is willing -- or compelled -- to give its garb to the plane it has taken it from. It is this which releases the soul to go on in its travel. And as it proceeds to a higher plane, after its stay there it must again give its garb back and be purified from it in order to go further. ... This knowledge also throws a light upon the question of death. Death is not really death; it is only a passing stage, it is only a change, as changing clothes.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XIV/XIV_2_3.htm

~~~ Death is a tax the soul has to pay for having had a name and a form.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Monday, August 27, 2007

The soul of Christ is the light of the universe.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Truth is the soul of religion.

When Jesus came to earth he did not say, 'I have brought you a new religion never heard of by you or your ancestors.' He said he had not come to give a new law but to fulfill the law; in other words, 'I have come to continue giving you that which you have received before and have not understood.'There are scriptures that mankind regards as religious scriptures, but imagine how little of that message a book can contain, and how much more must have been given that was never written in a book! If books were sufficient, then the book of Abraham or the earlier books that were kept as scriptures could be sufficient, but it was not the book. The messenger, whenever he came, came to give the life, the living spirit, the divine light that can shine like the sun during the day, so that no soul with the slightest spark of sincerity could ever doubt the truth and unity of the message.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/IX/IX_29.htm

The divine message has always been sent through those fitly endowed. For instance when wealth was esteemed the message was delivered by King Solomon; when beauty was worshipped, Joseph, the most handsome, gave the message; when music was regarded as celestial David gave his message in song. When there was curiosity about miracles Moses brought his message. When sacrifice was highly esteemed Abraham gave the message. When heredity was recognized, Christ gave his message as the Son of God. When democracy was necessary, Muhammad gave his message as the Servant of God, one like all and among all. ...All Masters from the time of Adam till the time of Muhammad have been the one embodiment of the Master-ideal. When Jesus Christ is represented as saying, 'I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end,' it is not meant that either the name or the visible person of Jesus Christ is the Alpha and Omega, but the Master-spirit within. It was this spirit which proclaimed this, moved by its realization of past, present, and future life, confident of its eternity. It is the same spirit which spoke through Krishna, saying, 'We appear on earth when Dharma is corrupted,' which was long before the coming of Christ. During his divine absorption Muhammad said, 'I existed even before this creation and shall remain after its assimilation.' In the holy traditions it is said, 'We have created thee of Our light and from thy light We have created the universe.' This is not said of the external person of Muhammad as known by this name. It refers to the spirit which spoke through all the blessed tongues and yet remained formless, nameless, birthless and deathless.But the blind world, absorbed in its phenomena and impressed by a certain name and form, has clung to the name, forgetting the true being. It is this ignorance which has divided the children of men into so many divisions and separated one from the other by their own delusions: whereas in reality there exists one religion and one single Master, the only God. ... There has been one Teacher only, and He alone will be. All the names which the world has fought over, are His names, and all the physical forms that have won the adoration of the truth-seeking world are His forms.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/I/I_I_2.htm

~~~ The soul of Christ is the light of the universe.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Monday, August 27, 2007

Friday, August 24, 2007

Put your trust in God for support and see His hidden hand working through all sources.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

The one thing to rely upon is God's favor. Do not build either on your study or on your meditation, although they both help you. But you are dependent on God, not even on your murshid. Seek Him, trust Him. In Him lies your life's purpose, and in Him is hidden the rest of your soul.

~~~ "Classes for Mureeds, Mureedship", by Hazrat Inayat Khan (unpublished)

Man's greatest privilege is to become a suitable instrument of God, and until he knows this he has not realized his true purpose in life. The whole tragedy in the life of man is his ignorance of this fact. From the moment a man realizes this, he lives the real life, the life of harmony between God and man. When Jesus Christ said, 'Seek ye first the kingdom of God,' this teaching was an answer to the cry of humanity: some crying, 'I have no wealth,' others crying, 'I have no rest,' others crying, 'My situation in life is difficult,' My friends are troubling me,' or, 'I want a position, wealth.' The answer to them all is, 'Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you.'

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VIII/VIII_2_40.htm

We live by the hope of attainment -- without this one cannot exist -- be it spiritual or material, of a selfish nature or of an unselfish one. It is not necessary that all should have one and the same object for their attainment, nor is it possible. It is, however, desirable that we should hold in our thought the best and highest attainment possible for us. ... But if you yourself are in confusion whether to have this object or that object or no object, then there is no hope for you. For you must ever bear in mind that the light and the life that goes out from you to the object are quite as important as that light which comes to you from the object. Therein lies the great mystery of the trinity in all things: the knower, the thing to be known, and the power or light or knowledge which connects them. If the way seems closed, it will be opened. If the means are lacking, they will be given, they will be attained. If the object is far off and beyond your reach, it will be drawn to you, if only you can hold fast to the rein, the rope of hope, with complete faith and trust in God, the Giver of all things, the Possessor of all things. ~~~ "Githa I, Sadhana 1, The Path of Attainment", by Hazrat Inayat Khan (unpublished)What honor, what a spirit it brings when a man fixes his trust on Him who is almighty. Rumi says, 'Though fire, air, earth, and water all seem dead things and only elements, yet they are God's servants; they work for Him and they always obey Him!' And he goes on to say in another part of his Masnavi, 'Man, when he becomes intelligent, begins to see causes. But it is the superman who sees the cause of causes, the source of causes.' God is the Cause of causes, the primal cause. One who looks at the primal cause sees in Him the cause of all.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/IX/IX_7.htm

~~~ Put your trust in God for support and see His hidden hand working through all sources. (Gayan)
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Friday, August 24, 2007

Thursday, August 23, 2007

By our thoughts we have prepared for ourselves the happiness or unhappiness we experience.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
Fighting with another makes war, but struggling with one's self brings peace. from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/say/gayan_talas.htmAll our possessions, all that we collect in life, all these things which we shall have to leave one day are transitory; but that which we have created in our thought, in our mind, that lives. A person thinks, 'Some day I should like to build a factory.' At this time he has no money, no knowledge, no capability; but a thought came, 'Some day I should like to build a factory.' Then he thinks of something else. Perhaps years pass, but that thought has been working constantly through a thousand minds, and a thousand sources prepare for him that which he once desired. If we could look back to all we have thought of at different times, we would find that the line of fate or destiny, Kismet as it is called in the East, is formed by our thought. Thoughts have prepared for us that happiness or unhappiness which we experience. The whole of mysticism is founded on this. from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VII/VII_17.htmJoy, sorrow, love, all depend on our thought, on the activity of our mind. If we are depressed, if we are in despair, it is still the work of our mind; our mind has prepared that for us. If we are joyful and happy, and all things are pleasant, that also has been prepared for us by our mind. It is only when our mind works without control that unhappiness, sorrow, trouble, pain, or whatever we experience comes without our intention. No one could wish to create hell for himself; all would create heaven for themselves if they could; and yet how many allow their minds to create these things for them, regardless of their own intention. from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VII/VII_16.htm'The present is the reflection of the past, and the future is the re-echo of the present.' Destiny is not what is already made. Destiny is what we are making. Very often fatalists think that we are in the hands of destiny, driven in whatever direction in life destiny wills; but in point of fact we are the masters of our destiny, especially from the moment we begin to realize this fact. ... Man is responsible for his success and failure, for his rise and fall. And it is man who brings these about either knowingly or unknowingly. from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VI/VI_31.htm ~~~ By our thoughts we have prepared for ourselves the happiness or unhappiness we experience.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Thursday, August 23, 2007

Wednesday, August 22, 2007


He is living whose sympathy is awake, and he is dead whose heart is asleep.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Life's light is love; and when the heart is empty of love, a man is living and yet not living; from a spiritual point of view he is dead. When the heart is asleep, he is as though dead in this life, for one can only love through the heart. But love does not mean give and take. That is only a trade; it's selfishness. To give sixpence and receive a shilling is not love. Love is when one loves for the sake of love, when one cannot help but love, cannot do anything but love.


Most people will say, 'The other does not understand me.' But why must there be this lack of understanding? What causes it? It is lack of sympathy. No words can ever make a person understand. It is the heart alone which can convey its full meaning to the other heart, for there are subtle waves of sympathy, there are delicate perceptions of feelings such as gratefulness, admiration, kindness, which cannot be put into words. Words are too inadequate to explain the finer feelings. It is the heart quality which can express itself fully, and again it is the heart quality which can understand fully. Would it therefore be an exaggeration to say that as long as the heart is not awakened a man is as though dead? It is after the awakening of the heart that a man begins to live.


Sympathy is an awakening of the love element, which comes on seeing another in the same situation in which one has been at some time in one's life. A person who has never experienced pain cannot sympathize with those suffering pain... Sympathy is something more than love and affection, for it is the knowledge of a certain suffering which moves the living heart to sympathy.That person is living whose heart is living, and that heart is living which has wakened to sympathy. The heart void of sympathy is worse than a rock, for the rock is useful, but the heart void of sympathy produces antipathy. ... There are many attributes found in the human heart which are called divine, but among them there is no greater and better attribute than sympathy, by which man shows in human form God manifested.
~~~ He is living whose sympathy is awake, and he is dead whose heart is asleep. (Gayan)
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

The whole world's treasure is too small a price to pay for a word that kindles the soul.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

A person with his riches knows that he is rich, he need not put on fifty rings to tell everybody how rich he is, but the one who puts on fifty rings is seldom rich. There is a beautiful simile known in India, that it is the empty vessel that makes the noise, when it is filled with water it makes no noise. In short, sincerity is the principal thing to attain in life. What little is gained sincerely and held unassumingly is worth much more than a greater gain void of sincerity, for it is a hill of sand, once the storm will come and blow it away. Verily, truth is the treasure that every soul is seeking. ~~~ "Religious Gatheka 11", by Hazrat Inayat Khan (unpublished)Christ teaches, 'Whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.' What does all this teach us? It is all a lesson in sympathy for one's fellow man, to teach us to share in his troubles, in his despair. For whoever really experiences this joy of life, finds that it becomes so great that it fills his heart and his soul. It does not matter if he has fewer comforts or an inferior position than many in this world, because the light of his kindness, of his sympathy, of the love that is growing, the virtue that is springing up in his heart, all fill the soul with light. There is nothing now that he lacks in life, for he has become the king of it. Such a person becomes a healer, a real healer. He heals a person with his glance, with a kind word, with his hand, by his comfort, by his nature. What a healing that is!

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VII/VII_1.htm

One can overlook the faults of another; and by that one will give less occasion for disagreement and still less occasion for enmity. Then a person thinks, 'By being kind to our enemy we encourage him in his tyranny.' But so long as we have kindness in our heart, instead of hardening the nature of the enemy it will soften it, since we receive all that we give out. A kind word in return for a harsh word, a kind action in return for a cruel one, a kind thought in return for an evil thought, make a much greater impression than measure for measure. The iron which cannot be broken by hammers can be melted by fire. Love is fire; kindness is its chief expression; and if a person has developed this sufficiently in his heart, he can sooner or later change an enemy into a friend.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/III/III_III_4.htm

~~~ The whole world's treasure is too small a price to pay for a word that kindles the soul.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Monday, August 20, 2007

Cleverness and complexity are not necessarily wisdom.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Man likes complexity. He does not want to take only one step; it is more interesting to look forward to millions of steps. The one who is seeking the truth gets into a maze, and that maze interests him. He wants to go through it a thousand times more. It is just like children. Their whole interest is in running about; they do not want to see the door and go in until they are very tired. So it is with grown-up people. They all say that they are seeking truth, but they like the maze. That is why the mystics made the greatest truths a mystery, to be given only to the few who were ready for them, letting the others play because it was the time for them to play.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/X/X_3_7.htm

For spiritual attainment we do not need to pay a tax, it is ours, it is our self, it is discovering our self, finding our self. Yet what one values is what one gets with difficulty. Man loves complexity so much! He makes a thing big and says, 'This is valuable'. If it is simple he says, 'It has no value'. That is why the ancient people, knowing human nature, told a person when he said he wanted spiritual attainment, 'Very well; for ten years go around the temple, walk around it a hundred times in the morning and in the evening. Go to the Ganges, take pitchers full of water during twenty or fifty years, then you will get inspiration'. That is what must be done with people who will not be satisfied with a simple explanation of the truth, who want complexity.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XIV/XIV_2_8.htm

We read in the Vadan, 'Simplicity is the living beauty.' Man today has made life so complex that whatever he seeks after, he wants to find in complexity. All things in life which have importance, beauty and value are simple; and simplest of all things is the divine truth. ... The truth is not a newly invented theory, not a dogma, not an idea; it is reality itself. At the back of it is the self of man; therefore it is simple. But it is not simplicity that man seeks, he is longing for complexity. Anything which will confuse he is glad to take interest in. If it is simple, he says, 'I know it already.'

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VII/VII_35.htm

Man loves complexity and calls it knowledge. A great many societies and institutions in the world which call themselves occult, esoteric and psychic, and by various other names, knowing that everyone is interested in complexity, cover the truth. Instead of covering the truth with one cover, they cover it with a thousand covers to make it more interesting. ... Therefore, a mystic very often appears to be simple because sincerity makes him feel inclined to express the truth in simple language and in simple ideas. But because people value complexity, they think that what he says is too simple and that it is something which they have always known, that it is nothing new. However, as Solomon said, 'There is nothing new under the sun.'

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/X/X_2.htm

~~~ Cleverness and complexity are not necessarily wisdom.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Monday, August 20, 2007

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Overlook the greatest fault of another, but do not partake of it yourself in the smallest degree.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

For the wise, who have risen above the ordinary faults of human life, it matters little if they find fault, but they are the ones who do not criticize. They, as a rule, overlook all that seems undesirable, and that action of overlooking itself prevents all the undesirable impressions from penetrating through their hearts. There is a natural tendency in man as in the animal to protect his heart from all hurt or harm, but that is the external heart. If man only knew what harm is brought to one's being by letting any undesirable impression enter the heart, he also would adopt the above-mentioned policy of the wise, to overlook.


Overlooking the faults of others with politeness, tolerance, forgiveness, and resignation is regarded as a moral virtue in the East. Man's heart is visualized as the shrine of God, and even a small injury in thought, word, and deed against it is considered as a great sin against God, the Indwelling One.
In the East, when we speak of saints or sages, it is not because of their miracles, it is because of their presence and their countenance which radiate vibrations of love. How does this love express itself? In tolerance, in forgiveness, in respect, in overlooking the faults of others. Their sympathy covers the defects of others as if they were their own; they forget their own interest in the interest of others. They do not mind what conditions they are in; be they high or humble, their foreheads are smiling. To their eyes everyone is the expression of the Beloved, whose name they repeat. They see the divine in all forms and in all beings.
The more the self learns, the more it overlooks the evil in others. It does not mean that the evil is not in others; it only means that one finds in oneself the enemy which one was seeing outwardly. And the worst enemy one was faced with in outer life one finds to be in one's own heart. It makes one feel humiliated, but it teaches the true lesson: one finds oneself having the same element which one wishes to resist in another.
Commentary by Hazrat Samuel Lewis
There are several manners for overlooking the fault of another. One is often equal to condoning it, excusing it. While outwardly this may be done, the more a mystic may apparently defend such a wrong doer, the more inwardly he must pray for him or condemn him, otherwise he will be partaking of that fault himself and will have to answer for it.
Another view is the heart view, which, while not excusing the person, recognizes the limitation, and knows positively the difference between the real personality and that one acting or reacting under conditions more or less trying. The heart recognizes the conditions and endeavors to free that person from the subjugation by the conditions. This is the real nature of overlooking.But one must be careful in this for it is not in committing the same act that one is partaking of it; it is defending another openly for such an act when one is not aware of all circumstances that one partakes of it. Likewise if one wrongly condemns another of a sin, that one himself is guilty of a sin. Both these views come from the domination of mind by nufs, of will by mind.
~~~ Overlook the greatest fault of another, but do not partake of it yourself in the smallest degree.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Sunday, August 19, 2007

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Do not take the example of another as an excuse for your own wrongdoing.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

How few there are in this world who stop to think whether the actions of another are right for him! We are so ready to accuse another, and we are so ready to hide our own faults. Did we but look at right and wrong from his standpoint, we should find that the meaning of right and wrong would change. It is wrong for a little child to go out without asking its parents, because perhaps it will meet a motorcar from which it cannot protect itself. But would the same thing be wrong for a grown-up? It is only during the age of childhood that the act is wrong, later it is right. ...Look not on life as a person would watch a play on the stage. Rather look upon it as a student who is learning at college. It is not a passing show; it is not a place of amusement in which to fool our life away. It is a place for study, in which every sorrow, every heartbreak brings a precious lesson. It is a place in which to learn by one's own suffering, by the study of the suffering of others; to learn from the people who have been kind to us as well as from the people who have been unkind. It is a place in which all experiences, be they disappointments, struggles, and pains, or joys, pleasures, and comforts, contribute to the understanding of what life is, and the realization what it is.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VII/VII_2.htm

When the moral conception of life is understood better, when man knows what is right, and what is wrong, what is good and what is bad and judges himself only, he sees these two opposite things in his own life, person and character. For man sees the folly of another and wishes to judge another, when his sense of justice is not wide awake. Those whose personalities have brought comfort and healing to their fellow men were the ones who only used the faculty of justice to judge themselves, who tried to correct themselves of their own follies; and being engaged in correcting themselves had hardly time in their life to judge another. The teaching of Christ: "Judge not, lest ye be judged", will always prove the greatest example to be followed.

~~~ "Supplementary Papers, Psychology III", by Hazrat Inayat Khan (unpublished)

At every step of evolution man's conception of good and bad, of right and wrong, changes. How does it change? Does he see more wrong or does he see less wrong as he evolves? One might naturally think that by virtue of one's evolution one would see more wrong, but that is not the case; the more one evolves the less wrong one sees, for then it is not always the action itself which counts, it is the motive behind it. Sometimes an action, apparently right, may be made wrong by the motive behind it. Sometimes an action, apparently wrong, may be right on account of its motive. Therefore although the ignorant are ready to form an opinion of another person's action, for the wise it is most difficult to form an opinion of the action of another.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VIIIa/VIIIa_2_14.htm

~~~ Do not take the example of another as an excuse for your own wrongdoing.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Saturday, August 18, 2007

Friday, August 17, 2007

Love is the current coin of all peoples in all periods.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Love has its time at every stage of life. As a child, as a youth, as an adult, whatever stage of life one has reached, love is always asked for and love always has its part to perform. Whatever situation we are placed in, amongst friends or foes, amongst those who understand us or amongst those who do not, in ease or in difficulty, in all places at all times, it has its part to perform. The one who thinks, 'I must not let the principle of love have its way, I must harden myself against it', imprisons his soul. There is only one thing in the world that shows the sign of heaven, that gives the proof of God, and that is pure, unselfish love. For all the noble qualities which are hidden in the soul will spring forth and blossom when love helps them and nurtures them. Man may have a great deal of good in him and he may be very intelligent; but as long as his heart is closed, he cannot show that nobleness, that goodness which is hidden in his heart. The psychology of the heart is such that once one begins to know it, one realizes that life is a continual phenomenon. Then every moment of life becomes a miracle; a searchlight is thrown upon human nature and all things become so clear that one does not ask for any greater phenomenon or miracle; it is a miracle in and of itself. What one calls telepathy, thought reading, or clairvoyance, and all such things, come by themselves when the heart is open.If a person is cold and rigid, he feels within himself as if he were in a grave. He is not living, he cannot enjoy this life for he cannot express himself and he cannot see the light and life outside. What keeps man from developing the heart quality? His exacting attitude. He wants to make a business of love. He says, 'If you will love me, I will love you.' As soon as a man measures and weighs his favors and his services and all that he does for one whom he loves, he ceases to know what love is. Love sees the beloved and nothing else.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/X/X_3_4.htm

The great teachers and prophets, and the inspirers of humanity of all times have not become what they were by their miracles or wonder-workings; these belong to other people. The main thing that could be seen in them was their loving manner. Read the lives of the prophets. First of all see the way Jesus Christ had with all those who came to him. When sinners who were condemned and expelled by society were brought to the master, he received them with compassion. ... One may ask: How to cultivate the heart quality? There is only one way: to become selfless at each step one takes forward on this path, for what prevents one from cultivating the loving quality is the thought of self. The more we think of our self the less we think of others, and as we go further the self grows to become worse and worse. In the end the self meets us as a giant which we had always fought; and now at the end of the journey the giant is the stronger. But if from the first step we take on the path of perfection we struggled and fought and conquered this giant which is the self, it could be done only by the increasing power of love.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XIV/XIV_2.htm

~~~ Love is the current coin of all peoples in all periods.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Friday, August 17, 2007

Thursday, August 16, 2007


Words that enlighten the soul are more precious than jewels.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Among all the valuable things of this world, the word is the most precious. For in the word, one can find a light which gems and jewels do not possess; a word may contain so much life that it can heal the wounds of the heart. Therefore, poetry in which the soul is expressed is as living as a human being. The greatest reward that God bestows on man is eloquence and poetry. ... There is a Hindu idea that explains this very well: that the vehicle of the goddess of learning is eloquence. Many live, but few think; and among the few who think there are fewer still who can express themselves. Then their soul's impulse is repressed, for in the expression of the soul the divine purpose is fulfilled.


There are some whose thoughts are like jewels. They are collected and treasured and valued more than diamonds. Sometimes a thought brings us a peace, a joy, in whatever difficulties or sorrows we may be. ... Have you known what it is to give your meal to another and to go without yourself? It gives a happiness that no dinner eaten by yourself can give. Have you known what it is to give your coat to another and do without it yourself? It gives a joy that the satisfaction of your own wants cannot give you. Even that perfect peace and calm which is the eternal life is in man and can be attained by man. ~~~ "Supplementary Papers, Philosophy II", by Hazrat Inayat Khan (unpublished) ~~~ Words that enlighten the soul are more precious than jewels.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Thursday, August 16, 2007

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

The pain of life is the price paid for the quickening of the heart.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

There is a phrase in the Bible, "Knock, and it shall be opened unto you". The Message of God is an answer to the cry of humanity. Now, as to the instrument of the message -- in reality the whole universe is an instrument, and every object and every being in it is an instrument; through whichever instrument He chooses He gives His message. One sees in one's life, and especially at times when one is deep down in depression and sorrow, some answer coming to the difficulty of that situation. It may come from a friend, from a brother, from parents, from a beloved; even from one's enemy one may get what was necessary at the moment. But you will say, "Why should a message come in the life of an individual in the time of pain, or after a great sorrow? Why should not a message come every day for one's guidance?" And there are two reasons for it: One reason is that there is constantly a guidance from above, but man, so absorbed in his life's activities, does not open his heart to listen to that message and to see where it comes from. And the other reason is that the deeper the sorrow the higher the voice of the heart rises, until it reaches the throne of God; and that is the time when the answer comes, when a person is drowned deep in the sorrow and grief. ... Plainly speaking, man's real being is his heart, and in pain the heart becomes living and without pain man seems to be living on the surface. You will often see in life that people with an intolerable nature and manner, after having gone through the agony of pain in life, develop in them a finer nature. ~~~ Religious Gatheka 45, The Message, by Hazrat Inayat Khan (unpublished)Those who have avoided love in life from fear of its pain have lost more than the lover, who by losing himself gains all. The loveless first lose all, until at last their self is also snatched away from their hands. The warmth of the lover's atmosphere, the piercing effect of his voice, the appeal of his words, all come from the pain of his heart. The heart is not living until it has experienced pain. Man has not lived if he has lived and worked with his body and mind without heart. The soul is all light, but all darkness is caused by the death of the heart. Pain makes it alive. The same heart that was once full of bitterness, when purified by love becomes the source of all goodness. All deeds of kindness spring from it.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/V/V_22.htm

There is not the slightest doubt that when man has had enough pain in his life he rises to this great consciousness. But it is not necessary that only pain should be the means. It is the readiness on the part of man to efface his part of consciousness and to efface his own personality, which lifts the veil that hides the spirit of God from the view of man.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XIII/XIII_7.htm

~~~ The pain of life is the price paid for the quickening of the heart.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

In the country you see the glory of God; in the city you glorify His name.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

From Sigoli, where the train journey ends, [Inayat and his father] had six days journey through the forest. This was a new experience to a soul who wanted to breathe a breath of freedom from the crowd and to whom nature was not only appealing but uplifting. ... Inayat's enjoyment was boundless. For the first time in his life there came to him the realization of the saying: "The city was made by man and the country was made by God."The solitude of the forest, the sounds of the birds that one never feels nor hears in the crowd, the trees standing in stillness for hundreds of years, a place never occupied by man, gave him a feeling of that calm and peace that every soul longs for, consciously or unconsciously. This journey was a kind of answer to the cry of his soul. He felt in the sphere a welcome and blessing given by the long standing trees, venerable in age and appearance. He saw the hand of God blessing in every bending branch. He pictured his hands in the branches that stretched upwards, hands constantly praying and asking for blessing from above. from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/bio/Biography_10.htm

~~~ In the country you see the glory of God; in the city you glorify His name.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Monday, August 13, 2007

The lover of nature is the true worshipper of God.
A true worshipper of God sees His presence in all forms, and thus in respecting others he respects God. It may even develop to such an extent that the true worshipper of God, the Omnipresent, walks gently on the earth, bowing in his heart even to every tree and plant, and it is then that the worshipper forms a communion with the Divine Beloved at all times, when he is awake and when he is asleep.



Anyone who has some knowledge of mysticism and of the lives of the mystics knows that what always attracts the mystic most is nature. Nature is his bread and wine. Nature is his soul's nourishment. Nature inspires him, uplifts him and gives him the solitude for which his soul continually longs. Every soul born with a mystical tendency is constantly drawn towards nature; in nature that soul finds its life's demand, as it is said in the Vadan, 'Art is dear to my heart, but nature is near to my soul'. ... Nature does not teach the glory of God; it need not teach this as nature itself is the glory of God. People wish to study astrology and other subjects in order to understand better, but if we study astrology then we are sure to arrive at an interpretation which is given by a man, whereas what we should read from nature is what nature gives us and not what any book teaches us. There comes a time with the maturity of the soul when every thing and every being begins to reveal its nature to us. We do not need to read their lives. We do not need to read their theories. We know then that this wide nature in its four aspects is ever-revealing and that one can always communicate with it, but that in spite of this it is not the privilege of every soul to read it. Many souls remain blind with open eyes. They are in heaven, but not allowed to look at heaven; they are in paradise, but not allowed to enjoy the beauties of paradise. It is just like a person sleeping on a pile of gems and jewels. From the moment man's eyes open and he begins to read the book of nature he begins to live; and he continues to live forever.

There is One Holy Book, the sacred manuscript of nature, the only scripture which can enlighten the reader.' Most people consider as sacred scriptures only certain books or scrolls written by the hand of man, and carefully preserved as holy, to be handed down to posterity as divine revelation. Men have fought and disputed over the authenticity of these books, have refused to accept any other book of similar character, and, clinging thus to the book and losing the sense of it have formed diverse sects. The Sufi has in all ages respected all such books, and has traced in the Vedanta, Zend-Avesta, Kabbala, Bible, Quran, and all other sacred scriptures, the same truth which he reads in the incorruptible manuscript of nature, the only Holy Book, the perfect and living model that teaches the inner law of life: all scriptures before nature's manuscript are as little pools of water before the ocean.To the eye of the seer every leaf of the tree is a page of the holy book that contains divine revelation, and he is inspired every moment of his life by constantly reading and understanding the holy script of nature.


~~~ The lover of nature is the true worshipper of God.


Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Monday, August 13, 2007

Saturday, August 04, 2007

Whatever an artist’s personal feelings are, as soon as an artist fills a certain area on the canvas or circumscribes it, he becomes historical. He acts from or upon other artists.

The attitude that nature is chaotic and that the artist puts order into it is a very absurd point of view, I think. All that we can hope for is to put some order into ourselves.

Willem de Kooning
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Saturday, August 04, 2007
Life is what it is, you cannot change it; but you can always change yourself.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
In Sufi terms the crushing of the ego is called Nafs Kushi. And how do we crush it? We crush it by sometimes taking ourselves to task.
When the self says, 'O no, I must not be treated like this,' then we say, 'What does it matter?'
When the self says, 'He ought to have done this, she ought to have said that,' we say, 'What does it matter, either this way or that way?

Every person is what he is; you cannot change him, but you can change yourself.'
That is the crushing. ... It is only in this way that we can crush our ego. Every time that we notice its pinprick, every time that its thorns appear before our eyes, we should crush it and say,

'What are you? Are you not thorns, are you not the cause of unhappiness for others and myself as well? I do not want to see my own being in such a form, in the form of thorns! I want my being to be turned into a rose, that I may bring happiness, pleasure, and comfort to others.'

If there is anything needed in spiritual teaching, in seeking truth, in self-realization, it is the refinement of the ego. For the same ego which begins by being our worst enemy, will in the end, if developed and cultivated and refined, become our best friend.


~~~ Life is what it is, you cannot change it; but you can always change yourself.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Saturday, August 04, 2007

Friday, August 03, 2007

The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery."

Francis Bacon
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Friday, August 03, 2007
Think, before envying the position of your fellow man, with what difficulty he has arrived at it.


Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

There are experiences such as failure in business, or misfortune, or illness, or a certain blow in one's life, whether an affair of the heart or of money or a social affair, whatever it may be -- there are blows which fall upon a person and a shell breaks, a new consciousness is produced. Very few will see it is an unfoldment, very few will interpret it as such, but it is so. Have you not seen among your acquaintances how a person with a disagreeable nature, a most uninteresting man to whom you were never attracted, perhaps after a blow, a deep sorrow, after some experience, awakened to a new consciousness and suddenly attracted you, because he had gone through this process? As we unfold at every step in our life, so we do with every experience. The deeper the experience touches us, the greater the unfoldment.


There is a story of a slave named Ayaz, who was brought before a king with nine others, and the king had to select one to be his personal attendant. The wise king gave into the hands of each of the ten a wineglass and commanded him to throw it down. Each one obeyed the command. Then the king asked each one of them, 'Why did you do such a thing?' The first nine answered 'Because your Majesty gave me the order'; the plain truth cut and dried.

And then came the tenth slave, Ayaz.

He said, 'Pardon me, sire, I am sorry,' for he realized that the king already knew it was his command; by replying, 'Because you told me,' nothing new was said to the king.

This beauty of expression enchanted the king so much that he selected him to be his attendant.It was not long before Ayaz won the trust and confidence of the king, who gave him the charge of his treasury, the treasury in which precious jewels were kept.

This made many jealous, this sudden rise from slave to a treasurer of the king, a position which many envied. No sooner did people know that Ayaz had become a favorite of the king than they began to tell numerous stories about him in order to bring him into disfavor with the king. One of the stories was that Ayaz went every day into the room where the jewels were locked in the safe, and that he was stealing them every day, little by little. The king answered, 'No, I cannot believe such a thing; you have to show me.'

So they brought the king as Ayaz entered this room, and made him stand in a place where there was a hole, looking into the room. And the king saw what was going on there. Ayaz entered the room and opened the door of the safe. And what did he take out from it? His old ragged clothes which he had worn as a slave. He kissed them and pressed them to his eyes, and put them the table. There, incense was burning, and this that he was doing was something sacred to him. He then put on these clothes and looked at himself in the mirror, and said, as one might be saying a prayer, 'Listen, O Ayaz, see what you used to be before. It is the king who has made you, who has given you the charge of this treasure. So regard this duty as your most sacred trust, and this honor as your privilege and as a token of the love and kindness of the king. Know that it is not your worthiness that has brought you to this position. Know that it is his greatness, his goodness, his generosity which has overlooked your faults, and which has bestowed that rank and position upon you by which you are now being honored.

Never forget, therefore, your first day, the day when you came to this town; for it is the remembering of that day which will keep you in your proper place.'He then took off the clothes and put them in the same place of safety, and came out. As he stepped out, what did he see? He saw that the king before whom he bowed was waiting eagerly to embrace him; and the king said to him,

'What a lesson you have given me Ayaz! It is this lesson which we must all learn, whatever be our position. Because before that King in whose presence we all are but slaves, nothing should make us forget that helplessness through which we were reared and raised, and brought to life, to understand and to live a life of joy. People told me that you had stolen jewels from our treasure-house, but on coming here I have found that you have stolen my heart.'

~~~ Think, before envying the position of your fellow man, with what difficulty he has arrived at it.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Friday, August 03, 2007

Thursday, August 02, 2007

The same herb planted in various atmospheric conditions will vary in form accordingly, but will retain its characteristics.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Wisdom is the ultimate power. In wisdom is rooted religion, which connotes law and inspiration. But the point of view of the wise differs from that of the simple followers of a religious faith. Whatever their faith, the wise have always been able to meet each other beyond those boundaries of external forms and conventions, which are natural and necessary to human life, but which none the less separate humanity.People of the same thought and point of view are drawn to each other with a tendency to form an exclusive circle. A minority is apt to fence itself off from the majority, from the crowd. So it has been with the mystics. Mystical ideas are un-intelligible to the many. The mystics have therefore usually imparted their ideas to a chosen few only, to a picked band whom they could trust and who were ready for initiation and discipleship. Thus, great Sufis have appeared at different times, and founded schools of thought. Their expression of wisdom has differed to suit their environments; but their understanding of life has been one and the same. The same herb planted in various atmospheric conditions, will vary in form accordingly, but retain its characteristics.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/archives/sufism.htm

Everything one sees, hears, or perceives through any sense or experience has a distinct and definite effect upon one's soul, upon one's spirit. What one eats, what one drinks, what one sees, what one touches, the atmosphere in which one lives, the circumstances one faces, the conditions one goes through, all these have a certain effect upon one's spirit. Whether a person eats grosser food or finer and purer food is manifested outwardly. Even if one does not heed it, it is manifested outwardly. The body shows the nature it has inherited from the earth to which it belongs. For the nature of this earth is such that when it receives the seed of a flowering plant it produces flowers, and when the seed of a fruit-tree, it produces fruits.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VI/VI_24.htm

~~~ The same herb planted in various atmospheric conditions will vary in form accordingly, but will retain its characteristics.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Thursday, August 02, 2007

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Understanding makes the trouble of life lighter to bear.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

We often suffer because we do not understand. Many conditions and many people are difficult to tolerate because we do not understand them, but once we understand we can tolerate almost anything.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/IX/IX_7.htm

All tragedy of life, all misery and inharmony are caused by one thing and that is lack of understanding. Lack of understanding comes from lack of penetration. The one who does not see from the point of view from which he ought to see becomes disappointed because he cannot understand. It is not for the outer world to help us to understand life better; it is we ourselves who should help ourselves to understand it better.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XIV/XIV_19.htm

What a great thing is understanding! It is priceless. No man can give greater pleasure to his fellow man than by understanding him. The closest friend in life is the one who understands most. It is not your wife, brother or sister, it is the one who understands you most who is your greatest friend in the world. You can be the greatest friend of God if you can understand God. Imagine how man lives in the world -- with closed eyes and closed ears! Every name and every form speaks constantly, constantly makes signs for you to hear, for you to respond to, for you to interpret, that you may become a friend of God. The whole purpose of your life is to make yourself ready to understand what God is, what your fellow man is, what the nature of man is, what life is.Now coming to a still greater secret of life I want to answer the question: how can we grow to read and understand the message that life speaks through all its names and forms? The answer is that, as by the opening of the eyes you can see things, so by the opening of the heart you can understand things. As long as the heart is closed you cannot understand things. The secret is that when the ears and eyes of the heart are open, all planes of the world are open, all names are open, all secrets, all mysteries are unfolded.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VIII/VIII_2_1.htm


~~~ Understanding makes the trouble of life lighter to bear.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

The soul feels suffocated when the doors of the heart are closed.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

There is a door to man's heart; it is either closed or open. When he holds a thing and says, 'This is mine,' he closes the door to his heart; but when he shares his goods with others and says, 'This is yours as well as mine,' this opens his heart. We must learn consideration for others; it does not matter whether they are rich or poor. We may have only one slice of bread, but when there is another sitting by our side we share that slice with him. By doing this, even if our bodily appetite remains unsatisfied, our heart is filled with joy to think that we shared our happiness with another. It is this spirit which is necessary just now to change the condition of the world, not political and commercial disputes. We must be awakened to the main truth, that the happiness and peace of each can only be the happiness and peace of all.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XII/XII_I_10.htm

People pursue spirituality with their brain: that is where they are mistaken. Spirituality is attained through the heart. What do I mean by the heart? Is it the nervous center in the midst of the breast, the small piece of flesh that doctors call the heart? No, the definition of the heart is that it is the depth of the mind, the mind being the surface of the heart. That in us which feels is the heart, that which thinks is the mind. It is the same thing which thinks and feels, but the direction is different: feeling comes from the depth, thought from the surface. ... The Sufis have therefore considered the development of the heart quality as a spiritual culture, and have called it the culture of the heart. It consists of the tuning of the heart. Tuning means changing the pitch of the vibrations. Tuning the heart means changing the vibrations, bringing them to a certain pitch which is the natural one where you feel the joy and ecstasy of life, which enables you to give pleasure to others even by your presence because you are tuned. When an instrument is properly tuned you need not play music on it; just by striking it you will feel a great magnetism coming from it. If an instrument well-tuned can have that magnetism, how much greater should be the magnetism of hearts that are tuned. Rumi says, 'Whether you have loved a human being or whether you have loved God, if you have loved enough you will be brought in the end into the presence of the supreme Love itself'.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XIV/XIV_2_8.htm

~~~ The soul feels suffocated when the doors of the heart are closed.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Sunday, July 29, 2007

To love is one thing, to understand is another. He who loves is a devotee, but he who understands is a friend.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

It is sometimes asked why, if God is all-pervading, there is need of the special manifestation of a messenger such as Krishna, Buddha, or Jesus. The answer is given in the words of the Bhagavad-Gita where Shri Krishna says, 'When Dharma is hindered, then I am born.' This means that a manifestation, which the people recognize as a savior or messenger, always comes when the necessity arises. ... In all ages and to all peoples the message of God has been sent. And that message has been kept by those who received it in the form of a scripture, and the name of the messenger and his honor have been held high by those who have followed that particular message. No matter at what time in the history of the world the message came, one thing is sure: that it has always penetrated the heart of man and left its impression and its influence, ever multiplying and spreading, proving it to be the message of God. ... Since it is the message of God, whenever it comes it is from the same source. When it came a thousand years ago it was His message; when it came a hundred years ago it was His message; and if it came today it would be also His message. How ignorant man has been through all the ages! And he shows his ignorance even today, for whenever the message has come, man has fought and disputed and argued. Man has held fast to one prophet and ignored the others, because although he knew his religion he did not know the message. He has taken the book as his religion without recognizing the message. If that were not the general tendency, then how could Jesus Christ with His most spiritual message have been crucified? There had been prophecies, and besides prophecies the Master himself was the evidence of his message, as the saying has it: 'What you are, speaks louder than what you say.' And how thickly veiled man's eyes must be by the religion, the faith, the belief he holds, for him to accept only one messenger and to reject the message given by other prophets, not knowing that the message is one and the same!It is one thing to love and another thing to understand. The one who loves the messenger is a devotee; but the one who knows the messenger is his friend. There is a tendency in the human race which has appeared in all ages: it leads man to accept every expression of the message which has been given him, to be won by it, blessed by it, and yet to fail to recognize who the messenger is. The followers of each form of the message profess devotion to their Lord and Master, by whatever name he had in the past, but they do not necessarily know the Master. What they know is the name and the life of the Master that has come down to them in history or tradition; but beyond that they know very little about him. If the same one came in another form, in a garb adapted to another age, would they know him or accept him? No, they would not even recognize him, because it was not the message but the form that they accepted in the past; a certain name or character; a part but not the whole.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/IX/IX_29.htm

~~~ To love is one thing, to understand is another. He who loves is a devotee, but he who understands is a friend.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Sunday, July 29, 2007

Friday, July 27, 2007

“Communication leads to community, that is, to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing.”
Rollo May
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Friday, July 27, 2007
"The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it is conformity.” Rollo May
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Friday, July 27, 2007
Belief and disbelief have divided mankind into so many sects, blinding its eyes to the vision of the oneness of all life.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

For the Sufi there exists no one in this world, neither heathen nor pagan, who is to be despised, for he believes in that God who is not the God of one chosen sect but the God of the whole world. He does not believe in a God of one nation, but in the God of all nations. To him God is in all different houses where people worship Him. Even if they stand in the street and pray it makes no difference to him. The holy place is wherever He is worshipped. The Sufi leaves sectarianism to the sects. He has respect for all; he is not prejudiced against any and he does not despise any; he feels sympathy for all.
The religion of the mystic is a steady progress towards unity. How does he make this progress? In two ways. In the first way, he sees himself in others, in the good, in the bad, in all; and thus, he expands the horizon of his vision. This study goes on throughout his lifetime; and as he progresses he comes closer to the oneness of all things. The other way of developing is to become conscious of one's own self in God and of God in one's self, which means deepening the consciousness of our innermost being. This process takes place in two directions: outwardly, by being one with all we see; and inwardly, by being in touch with that one Life which is everlasting, by dissolving into it and by being conscious of that one Spirit being THE existence, the only existence.
There is One God, the Eternal, the Only Being; none exists save He.' The God of the Sufi is the God of every creed, and the God of all. Names make no difference to him. Allah, God, Gott, Dieu, Khuda, Brahma, or Bhagwan, all these names and more are the names of his God; and yet to him God is beyond the limitation of name. He sees his God in the sun, in the fire, in the idol which diverse sects worship; and he recognizes Him in all the forms of the universe, yet knowing Him to be beyond all form; God in all, and all in God, He being the Seen and the Unseen, the Only Being.
Hazrat Samuel Lewis
Belief and disbelief are products of the finite mind, born of the manasic akesha. Disbelief is only a variation of belief according to the limited view, but the essence of belief and disbelief are the same. Yet belief, if founded on love or felt with love, can bring about the awakening of heart; this will free one from belief and disbelief both, bringing one to the gates of knowledge.
~~~ Belief and disbelief have divided mankind into so many sects, blinding its eyes to the vision of the oneness of all life.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Friday, July 27, 2007

Thursday, July 26, 2007

anything will do
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Thursday, July 26, 2007

Every purpose has a birth and death; therefore, God is beyond purpose.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Then again it may be said, there is a purpose above each purpose, and there is again a purpose under each purpose; and yet beyond and beneath all purposes there is no purpose.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/I/I_I_2.htm

That which we call composition and decomposition and construction and destruction of things, all those are due to change, one thing turning into another. There is no such thing as death or real decomposition or destruction. It may be destruction of that particular object, but although that part which appeared in certain form or color has changed, it is not the true elements of the thing which have changed. Therefore birth and death, composing and decomposing form the constant changes in the appearance of things of life.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/archives/constancy.htm

The difference between the life known to the generality and the life which is unknown is that of illusion and reality. Man mocks at the idea if he be told that all this is illusion, until he dives deep and finds out by comparison that this life which is subject to birth and death and subject to changes is a life and yet no life. This life is like a bubble in the sea. The bubble is existent and yet in reality non-existent when compared with the sea. And yet we cannot say that the bubble is non-existent, for it merges in the same sea in which it once appeared; so nothing takes it away but its own source and its original being.


from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XIII/XIII_21.htm



There is only one being, God, who is above birth and death; all else is subject to the law of birth and death.



from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/V/V_13.htm



God is beyond purpose and God is not purpose, yet if there were no God there would be no purpose. Logos and Ilm contain the idea of intelligence -- that there is intelligence in purpose and intelligence beyond purpose -- because purpose operates through mind and mind alone cannot partake of the supreme joys.

~~~ Every purpose has a birth and death; therefore, God is beyond purpose.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Thursday, July 26, 2007

Wednesday, July 25, 2007


Our spirit is the real part of us, the body but its garment. A man would not find peace at the tailor's because his coat comes from there; neither can the spirit obtain true happiness from the earth just because his body belongs to earth.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Spirituality is contrary to materiality. One who is conscious of matter alone is material, one who becomes conscious of spirit also is spiritual. He who thinks, 'I am my body', and sees no further, is material. He may as well say, 'I am my coat', and when the coat is worn out he may say, 'I am dead.' The one who is conscious of the spirit, to him his body is a coat, and as by taking off one's coat one does not die, so even by the death of this body the spirit realized soul does not die.




Once a person has advanced in spirituality, nothing matters to him - neither what he eats and drinks, for he lives in the spirit the most part of his life; for him the body is a coat and he does not care if it is full of holes or if it is patched. But for a persons who has yet to develop spiritually and who follows a process consideration is necessary; it is most necessary that the body should be kept pure, outwardly and inwardly, that it may become a suitable vehicle for the manifestation of the spirit.




Those who seek for happiness from external sources are never really satisfied. A man imagines that if he could have a certain sum of money he would be happy, but if he gets it he is not really content. He wants more. No earthly happiness is lasting: it never remains. ... The Bible says, 'The spirit quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing.' Our spirit is the real part of us. The body is but a garment. There is absolute peace in the abode from whence the spirit came, and the true happiness of the soul lies in that peace. As man would not find peace at the tailor's just because his coat came from there, so the spirit cannot get true happiness from the earth just because the body belongs to the earth. The soul experiences life through the mind and body and enjoys it, but its true happiness lies in peace.In order to gain this peace we have to begin with ourselves. There are fights going on within us between spirit and matter. Struggles for our daily bread, and want of peace in our surroundings. We must first get this peace within ourselves before we can talk of peace in the world. Then we must be at peace with our surroundings, and never do or say anything that disturbs that peace. All thoughts, words, and actions that disturb the peace are sin, and all thoughts words, and actions that create peace are Ilm.virtue.





Hazrat Samuel Lewis
Ishk keeps the parts of the body together, unifies the mind, coordinates the body, mind and heart. Ishk brings joy and Ishk leads to peace. Ishk may be found in matter and yet out of matter. Without Ishk there could be no matter, yet the existence of Ishk is not dependent on matter. The spiritual life is the life in and of Ishk, in other words, of love. This is true herenow, heretofore and hereafter. The word "Logos" which appears in the New Testament is nothing but a variation of Ishk, only it includes in its meaning Sound, Breath and Intelligence. The best translation for Logos is Intelligence -- in Sufi terminology, Ilm.virtue.




~~~ Our spirit is the real part of us, the body but its garment. A man would not find peace at the tailor's because his coat comes from there; neither can the spirit obtain true happiness from the earth just because his body belongs to earth.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

There should be a balance in all our actions - to be either extreme or lukewarm is equally bad.

Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:

There are two forces in us, love and reason. We must keep an even balance between the two. If we give too much expression to love we become unbalanced and fall into trouble. And if on the other hand we lean too much on the side of reason we become cold.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/V/V_40.htm

In balance lies the whole secret of life ... All religions and philosophies have laid down certain principles such as kindness, truthfulness, forgiveness, but the mystic lays no stress on principles, he allows everyone to have his own principles, each according to his point of view and evolution. For example, there are two men, one is so merciful that he will not even harm an insect, and he could not draw a sword to kill another human being, while the other man for the sake of his people is content to fight and to die. These are two opposite points of view, and both are right in their way. The Sufi therefore believes one should let each hold on to the principle suited to his evolution, but for himself he looks beyond the principle to that which is at the back of it, the balance. He realizes that what makes one lose balance is wrong, and what makes one keep it is right. The main point is not to act against one's principles. If the whole world says a thing is wrong, and you yourself feel that it is right, it is so, perhaps, for you.The question of balance explains the problem of sin and virtue, and he who understands it is the master of life. There should be a balance in all our actions. To be either extreme or lukewarm is equally bad. There is a saying, 'Jack of all trades, and master of none.' This is very true, as there has been too little effort given, so that no one thing has been done thoroughly.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/V/V_37.htm

Success, failure, progress, standstill, one's state of being, it all comes from the condition that a person is experiencing within himself. ... according to the Sufi idea the condition of life around one depends absolutely on the condition of one's inner self. So what is needed to change the conditions in outer life, or to tune oneself, is to work with one's inner self in order to bring about the necessary balance.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VIII/VIII_1_5.htm


Hazrat Samuel Lewis
Attachment to matter prevents the soul from finding its way, as it becomes lost in a maze of phenomena. Attachment to mind or spirit causes one to ignore the purpose of matter and the cause of creation. Everything placed before us is there to test us and also to give us opportunity to perfect ourselves, the situation or the thing. This is impossible when one is lukewarm. The real spiritual attitude is to be detached yet warm in one's heart.


http://www.rosanna.com/saki/july/july24.htm

~~~ There should be a balance in all our actions -- to be either extreme or lukewarm is equally bad.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Monday, July 23, 2007

I'm a tongue talking neocharismatic rock n roll Sufi universalist minister on fire with love things beyond words...What about you?

(something Father Hugh, the cloistered hermit benedictine priest monk superhero peace master might whisper)
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Monday, July 23, 2007

Warmth melts, while cold freezes. A drop of ice in a warm place spreads and covers a larger space, whereas a drop of water in a cold place freezes and becomes limited. Repentance has the effect of spreading a drop in a warm sphere, causing the heart to expand and become universal, while the hardening of the heart brings limitation.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Speaking from a metaphysical point of view, the Kingdom of Heaven may be attained by the way of repentance. If we have offended a friend, and he turns away from us, and we in fullness of heart ask for forgiveness, his heart will melt towards us. If, on the other hand, we close our heart, it becomes frozen. Repenting and asking for pardon not only melts the hearts of those we have offended, but also of those in the world unseen. These words can also be explained scientifically. Warmth melts, while cold freezes. Drops of water falling on a warm place and on a cold place are affected differently. The drop in the warm place spreads and becomes larger, covers a larger space, whereas a drop in the cold place freezes and becomes limited. Repentance has the effect of a drop spread in the warm sphere: it causes the heart to expand and become universal, while the hardening of the heart brings limitation.The bubble does not last long; it soon breaks, but with its break it joins a mighty ocean. So with us. When by warmth of heart we can break our limited self, we merge in the One, the unlimited. When our limited kingdom is lost from our sight, we inherit the Kingdom of God.


This shows the operation of Ishk. The expansive effect of Ishk, altering coarser vibrations into finer ones, creates what is called spirit. Spirit and matter are one, but the force of Ishk is lessened as it is removed from its source, which is the Throne or Heart of God ("Arsh"). Through Ishk ice melts, flowers grow, animals gain strength and all power of man comes. So to conceive that "Allaho Akbar" has one effect and "Ishk Allah" has another is blindness, except that "Allaho Akbar" seems to touch the physical body quicker and the heart more slowly while "Ishk Allah" touches the heart more quickly and the physical body more slowly. But in the end they meet, the purpose is the same -- the spiritualization of the field of endeavor. When the Divine Breath and Divine Efflux touch a sphere, they bring life, love, power and inspiration, breaking all hardness of heart, mind or body.


~~~ Warmth melts, while cold freezes. A drop of ice in a warm place spreads and covers a larger space, whereas a drop of water in a cold place freezes and becomes limited. Repentance has the effect of spreading a drop in a warm sphere, causing the heart to expand and become universal, while the hardening of the heart brings limitation.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Monday, July 23, 2007

Sunday, July 22, 2007

A study of life is the greatest of all religions, and there is no greater or more interesting study.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

There are two ways in which we may attain control over our activity. The first is confidence in the power of our own will; to know that if we have failed today, tomorrow we will not do so. The second is to have our eyes wide open, and to watch keenly our activity in all aspects of life. It is in the dark that we fall, but in the light we can see where we are going.So it is in life: we should have our eyes wide open to see where we walk. We should study life, and seek to know why we say a thing, and why we act as we do. We have failed perhaps hitherto because we have not been wide awake. We have fallen, and felt sorry, and have forgotten all about it, and perhaps may have fallen again. This is because we have not studied life. A study of life is the greatest of all religions, and there is no greater and more interesting study. Those who have mastered all grades of activity, they above all experience life in all its aspects. They are like swimmers in the sea who float on the water of life and do not sink.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/V/V_36.htm

If we only knew how much the study of life can tell us! One could go into the British Museum and read every book in the building, and yet not obtain satisfaction. It is not study, it is not research, it is not inquiry which gives this knowledge; it is actually going through the experiences of life, witnessing life in its different aspects and in its different phases or spheres; that is what reveals the ideal of life. ... Look not on life as a person would watch a play on the stage. Rather look upon it as a student who is learning at college. It is not a passing show; it is not a place of amusement in which to fool our life away. It is a place for study, in which every sorrow, every heartbreak brings a precious lesson. It is a place in which to learn by one's own suffering, by the study of the suffering of others; to learn from the people who have been kind to us as well as from the people who have been unkind. It is a place in which all experiences, be they disappointments, struggles, and pains, or joys, pleasures, and comforts, contribute to the understanding of what life is, and the realization what it is. Then do we awake to the religion of nature, which is the only religion. And the more we understand it, the greater our life becomes, and the more of a blessing will our life be for others.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VII/VII_2.htm

Hazrat Samuel Lewis
If a person were entirely wicked, he could not live. The poison we send out poisons ourselves also. Just as the radio attuned to a certain pitch sends out vibrations picked up by others, while at that pitch it also picks up its own vibrations.
So it is with the heart of humanity. What touches another touches oneself. Now so long as there is life in another there is some virtue there. The very word "virtue" means "manhood," "life-force," "valor," "strength." The idea of goodness attached to it comes from the activity of human mind. Yet this was a splendid conception, that since virtue means possession of life-force and life-force is identical with Divine Power, and Divine Power is goodness, therefore virtue and goodness may be identified. And if we can find some goodness in dark places, we can find it everywhere. God is not only in the heavens, God is in the hells also.

http://www.rosanna.com/saki/july/july22.htm

~~~ A study of life is the greatest of all religions, and there is no greater or more interesting study.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Sunday, July 22, 2007

Friday, July 20, 2007

Cynthia A. Freeland
Bill Viola and the Video Sublime


Mysticism (regarding Bill Viola)

Viola expresses not just trendy engagement with writers like the Persian Sufi mystic Rumi (Madonna's reported recent enthusiasm), but a serious intellectual and spiritual engagement spanning a number of years. The chronology at the back of the book reports that Viola has travelled extensively in the East and has spent time in Java, Bali, Japan, the Himalayas, and the Fiji Islands. He has studied both Zen and Tibetan Buddhism and has filmed ceremonies of Hindu firewalkers. Viola was busy acquiring global consciousness before it was fashionable to speak of multiculturalism and the new global community. Though he emphasizes the role played in this century by scholars like D. T. Suzuki and A. K. Coomaraswamy, who made Eastern ideas available to the West, Viola also stresses that East-West contact has always been a part of the tradition, even of what is now known as classical Europe.

Viola returned home to the West from his sojourns East with a new sense of the continuing interactions among cultures and with a greater interest in the mystical traditions of the West, primarily within Christianity. He offers interesting observations about differences between the Christian conception of the 'via negativa' and the methods or approaches of other mystical traditions, and even writes knowledgeably about comparisons between European and American mystics. He is conversant with not only Rumi, Suzuki, and Coomaraswamy, but also cites Blake, Rilke, Julian Jaynes, Eliade, Cambell, Jung, _The Cloud of Unknowing_, and, of course, 'St John of the Cross' -- a poem which Viola quotes in full (117).

What does Viola take from this mystical engagement to use in his art? He cites Rumi's advice from back in 1273: 'New organs of perception come into being as a result of necessity -- therefore, increase your necessity so that you may increase your perception' (71). From this Viola infers that a technology like video is not an end in itself because: 'The level of use of the tools is a direct reflection of the level of the user' (71). The real goal is enhanced perception, something that will convey a sense of 'the sacred as an element in the structure of consciousness' (here he quotes Mircea Eliade, 174). He faults most of his fellow video artists for putting the means before the end: 'Attending the countless conferences, demonstrations, and video expos can only convince one that the technology is far ahead of the people using it' (70).

http://www.film-philosophy.com/vol3-1999/n28freeland
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Friday, July 20, 2007
Technology's not going to change the number of geniuses in the world, but there has been a whole middle zone of quite talented people who don't have that superhuman gift.
Some of the lounge pianists I've heard are pretty good. They're not going to play Carnegie Hall, but they're pretty good.

Dawn and sunset are the times when Nature herself is unstable and in flux. The nocturnal world and the daytime world are meeting, and for a brief time coexisting. It's not a neat hard cut, but a blurred, irregular dissolve. These moments are the seams in existence through which we can get a glimpse of the deeper, fundamentally random, chance workings of a system in which we are only a small, insignificant player.

I like to keep the meanings in my work flowing and open.

quotes from Bill Viola
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Friday, July 20, 2007
To partially paraphrase the below, Love knows neither self, nor not self.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Friday, July 20, 2007
Every blow in life pierces the heart and awakens our feelings to sympathize with others; and every swing of comfort lulls us to sleep, and we become unaware of all.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

'If the soul is awakened, how does it awake, and who awakens it?' We see that the time for nature to awake is the spring. It is asleep all winter and it awakes in the spring. There is a time for the sea, when the wind blows and brings good tidings, as if it awakes from sleep; then the waves rise. All this shows struggle, it shows that something has touched it and makes it uneasy, restless; it makes it want liberation, release. Every atom, every object, every condition and every living being has a time of awakening.Sometimes there is a gradual awakening, and sometimes there is a sudden awakening. To some persons it comes in a moment's time -- by a blow, by a disappointment, or because their heart has broken through something that happened suddenly. It seemed cruel, but at the same time the result was a sudden awakening and this awakening brought a blessing beyond praise. The outlook changed, the insight deepened; joy, quiet, independence and freedom were felt, and compassion showed in the attitude.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XIV/XIV_19.htm

It is the thoughts that spring from the depths of the heart which become inspirations and revelations, and these come from the hearts of awakened souls, called by the Sufis, Sahib-i Dil. The bringers of joy are the children of sorrow. Every blow we get in life pierces the heart and awakens our feelings to sympathize with others, and every swing of comfort lulls us to sleep, and we become unaware of all. This proves the truth of these words, 'Blessed are they that mourn.'' from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/V/V_28.htm

Hazrat Samuels Lewis
Ishk, the life current flowing through the heart and permeating the blood, touches all souls. This is a marvelous law, that many people, often harsh and unsympathetic, upon suffering great pain then begin to show sympathy and love towards others. This is because of the very nature of Ishk, Ishk which knows neither self nor not-self. So when heart is in Ishk it shows loving-kindness to all, not recognizing differences. This is the ideal condition of the traveler.

http://www.rosanna.com/saki/july/july20.htm


~~~ Every blow in life pierces the heart and awakens our feelings to sympathize with others; and every swing of comfort lulls us to sleep, and we become unaware of all.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Friday, July 20, 2007

Thursday, July 19, 2007

The soul's true happiness lies in experiencing the inner joy, and it will never be fully satisfied with outer, seeming pleasures. Its connection is with God, and nothing short of perfection will ever satisfy it.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

People say, 'Let us enjoy ourselves and be happy; there is plenty of sorrow in the world without choosing to mourn,' and they strive after happiness in whatever way they can. But these passing and momentary joys do not give lasting happiness, and the people who pursue them are either asleep or dead. The soul's true happiness lies in experiencing the inner joy, and it will never be fully satisfied with outer seeming pleasures. Its connection is with God, and nothing short of perfection will ever satisfy it. ... Everybody has an ideal in life, and that ideal is the religion of his soul, and coming short of that ideal is what we term sin. The thoughtful and serious-minded man repents in tears for his shortcomings, and thus proves himself to be alive, while the shallow man is angry at his fall, and is ready to blame those who seem to him to have caused it.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/V/V_28.htm

In the Bible it is said that no one will enter the kingdom of God whose soul is not born again. Being born means being alive. It is not only a gay disposition or an external inclination to merriment and pleasure that is the sign of a living soul. External joy and amusement may come simply through the external being of man. However, even in this outer joy and happiness, there is a glimpse of the inner joy and happiness, and that is a sign of the soul having been born again. What makes the soul alive? It makes itself alive when it strikes its depths instead of reaching outward. The soul, after coming up against the iron wall of this life of falsehood, turns back within itself; it encounters itself, and this is how it becomes living.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/X/X_3_1.htm

Hazrat Samuel Lewis
All the experiences of the outer world may be the greatest hindrances or the greatest help or they may neither hinder nor help. Pleasure stands in our way when we are so attracted toward pleasure that the heart is lulled to sleep; pleasure also stands in our way when we become ascetics and so shun pleasure. In this condition we have escaped the material aspects of pleasure but may be more than ever bound by the thought of pleasure. Whether this thought be of a negative nature or a positive nature, whether we seek or shun, we are bound.
The soul does not seek, the soul does not shun, the soul is not concerned with thought. The soul is concerned with the experience of God and can find it without regard to pleasure. Any experience can lead to God, any experience can increase the clouds over the mind and can harden the heart. It is only when all attachment to experience is abandoned -- including all thought connected with the idea of attachment -- that the soul can find its peace and rest in God, be concerned with God no matter what the material or mental circumstances.

http://www.rosanna.com/saki/july/july19.htm

~~~ The soul's true happiness lies in experiencing the inner joy, and it will never be fully satisfied with outer, seeming pleasures. Its connection is with God, and nothing short of perfection will ever satisfy it.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Thursday, July 19, 2007

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.

Thomas Merton
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Wednesday, July 18, 2007
There is a light within every soul it only needs the clouds that overshadow it to be broken for it to beam forth.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Every being has an individual ego produced from his own illusion. This limits his view which is led in the direction of his own interest, and he judges of good and bad, high or low, right or wrong in relation to himself and others, through his limited view, which is generally partial and imaginary rather than true. This darkness is caused by the overshadowing of the soul by the external self. Thus a person becomes blind to his own infirmities as well as to the merits of another, and the right action of another becomes wrong in his eyes and the fault of the self seems right. This is the case with mankind in general, until the veil of darkness is lifted from his eyes.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/II/II_3.htm

It is the bodily desires, passion, anger, appetite, all the different desires and needs, that make the mind helpless and make man hold on to them. All the worries, anxieties, depressions, and despairs arise from them. There is not a single moment in which the mind is able to stand aloof so as to reflect the light within, the light of the soul, so limited has it been made by the limited existence on earth. In reality this is the whole tragedy of human life.The one and only thing that hinders man from advancing spiritually, or at least from advancing towards the goal, for which he is destined, and which he is longing to attain, is this: that the mind is so absorbed by the demands and wants of the physical body that it has hardly a moment to give itself entirely to the reflection of the light of the soul.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VII/VII_22.htm

The difference between a scientist and a mystic is that the former analyzes the things he is interested in, studying them by different methods in order to ascertain as much information about them as he can, the ways in which they can be of any benefit, their uses, and their nature, whereas the mystic, though in a way doing the same, first aims at lighting that light within himself by which he can see in this world of darkness and illusion, instead of using some technical instrument or special scientific process. As it is said, ' Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven', so his first task is to light the candle within.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XII/XII_I_15.htm

There is a light within every soul. It only needs the clouds, which hide it, to dissolve for it to beam forth. This is the light of revelation. It is like a lantern to us, it lights up every dark corner we wish to examine, and gives an answer to every question we would ask. ... There is a beautiful Indian tale that illustrates the meaning of this light. It is said that there is a certain kind of cobra, which has a diamond in its head. When it goes into the jungle, it takes out the diamond and places it on a tree. By means of its light, it searches all it wants, and when it is finished, it puts the diamond back in its head. The cobra represents the soul, and the diamond the light of inspiration guiding it. The same truth is portrayed in the story of Aladdin and his lamp. The lady he loved represented the ideal of his soul. The lamp he had to find was the light of inner guidance, which when found, would lead him to the attainment of his ideal.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/V/V_30.htm


Hazrat Samuel Lewis

Clouds are caused by mind, by thought of self and by nothing else. Not those whom we meet, not those who cause us pain, not those who seem to stand in our way, cause this light to be hidden. It is hidden within the heart of each one and nowhere else. It is awakened by pain, and therefore many of our enemies, many of the obstacles in life, instead of hindering the higher self-expression, do more to enable us to bring it forth than anything else in life. It is only when we escape the bonds of self -- either voluntarily and gladly or through pain and tribulation -- that this light comes to the surface.

http://www.rosanna.com/saki/july/july18.htm

~~~ There is a light within every soul it only needs the clouds that overshadow it to be broken for it to beam forth.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

We should be careful to take away from ourselves any thorns that prick us in the personality of others.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

We frequently say, 'I dislike him,' 'I wish to avoid her,' but if we examine this carefully, we find it is the same element in all that we dislike, the ego. And when we turn to ourselves to see if we have it in us, we find it is there too. We should forget it, therefore, in other people, and first turn our attention to crushing it within ourselves. We should determine to have our house clean even if other people neglect theirs. We should be careful to take away from ourselves any thorns that prick us in the personality of others. There is a verse in the Quran, which says, 'Arise in the midst of the night, and commune with thy Lord... Bear patiently what others say.' This is not only a command to rise in the night and pray, but it also means that by rising in the night we crush the ego, for the ego demands its rest and comfort, and when denied, is crushed. The mystics fast for the same reason. The Sufi's base the whole of their teaching on the crushing of the ego which they term Nafs-kushi, for therein lies all magnetism and power.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/V/V_27.htm

For every soul there are four stages to pass through in order to come to the culmination of the ego, which means to reach the stage of the rose. The first stage is that a person is rough, thoughtless and inconsiderate. He is interested in what he wants and in what he likes; as such he is naturally blind to the needs and wants of others. In the second stage a man is decent and good as long as his interests are concerned. As long as he can get his wish fulfilled he is pleasant and kind and good and harmonious; but if he cannot get his wish and cannot have his way, then he becomes rough and crude and changes completely. And there is a third stage, when someone is more concerned with another person's wish and desire, and less with himself; when his whole heart is seeking for what he can do for another. In his thought the other person comes first and he comes afterwards. That is the beginning of turning into the rose. It is only a rosebud, but then in the fourth stage this rosebud blooms in the person who entirely forgets himself in doing kind deeds for others. In Sufi terms the crushing of the ego is called Nafs Kushi.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VII/VII_40.htm

~~~ We should be careful to take away from ourselves any thorns that prick us in the personality of others.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Monday, July 16, 2007

The heart of every man, both good and bad, is the abode of God, and care should be taken never to wound anyone by word or act.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

In order to awaken love and sympathy in our hearts, sacrifices must be made. We must forget our own troubles in order to sympathize with the troubles of others. To relieve the hunger of others we must forget our own hunger. Everybody is working for selfish ends, not caring about others, and this alone has brought about the misery in the world today. When the world is evolving from imperfection towards perfection, it needs all love and sympathy. Great tenderness and watchfulness is required of each one of us. The heart of every man, both good and bad, is the abode of God, and care should be taken never to wound anybody by word or act. We are only here in this world for a short time; many have been here before, and have passed on, and it is for us to see that we leave behind an impression of good.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/V/V_26.htm

We cannot help believing the words of Buddha, 'The essence of all religion is harmlessness'. Harmlessness does not mean refraining from killing: one can kill many without killing. In order to kill a person one does not need to murder him; a glance, a word, a thought can kill a person, and that is worse torture than death. It is this experience that will make us say, 'My very feet, be conscientious lest you tread on the thorns lying on your path, lest they complain: You have crushed me'.There is no end to consideration once a person begins applying this principle. If there is any religion it is in having consideration for everyone: earnestly to consider what feeling can be touched by a moment's mistake. If there is any abode of God it is in the heart of man. If the heart is touched wrongly it has an effect upon destiny, and we do not know to what extent.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XIV/XIV_7.htm


Hazrart Samuel Lewis
If there were not some good in the human heart, life in the physical body would be impossible because the blood would be carrying poison to every cell and muscle and gland. We even see some strange deaths called heart-failure or given other names which result from psychic poison impregnating the physical body.
Every harsh thought of man immediately affects two fluids: the vital fluid or energy called "prana" which flows in and out with the breath, and the Universal Life-Love Essence which holds the very earth together, which is the heart energy.
The harsh thought through prana affects chiefly the mind of another, for it is directed toward such a one; but such also is the nature of prana, so also does the exhalation of the breath operate that it touches the mental body of each person in its course and whatsoever it gives to another it gives to oneself.
But the effect upon the heart-energy, which may be considered as the Universal Life-Force, is to strike every human being upon earth, even to affect others upon earth and those in the unseen. The proper use of this heart-energy is called "Ishk" by the Sufis, "Karuna" by the Buddhists and "Agape" in the New Testament, which can be translated as "selfless love."
There is a difference here in that thoughts affect chiefly the thinker and the thing or person concerned in the thought, whereas the feeling affects the whole cosmic body of Adam, Universal Man. In this, by our feelings and attitudes, we either raise or lower the whole humanity. So when Jesus Christ said, "Love ye one another, " when Mohammed taught in Koran that Allah created us from clots of blood, it was in reference to the fact -- the great truth of existence -- of the Universal Love-Energy. The Master, the Saint, the Bodhisattva place their consciousness in this great stream, in this ocean of love, and by sending forth their thoughts of loving-kindness they benefit the whole humanity. When these thoughts are individualized they reach a few; otherwise they reach many. This is the reason for silence on the part of sages.

http://www.rosanna.com/saki/july/july16.htm


~~~ The heart of every man, both good and bad, is the abode of God, and care should be taken never to wound anyone by word or act.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Monday, July 16, 2007

Sunday, July 15, 2007

From Peaceful Warrior (Dir. Victor Salva 2006)


the 3 things for the warrior to remember:

1. Mystery--Life is a mystery--don't waste time trying to figure it out.
2. Humor--Keep a sense of humor--especially about yourself--it is a source of strength beyond all measure.
3. Change--Know that nothing stays the same.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Sunday, July 15, 2007
Hazrat Samuel L. Lewis Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti

Those on the path of God need never expect kindness, cheerfulness and friendship from others, nor need they hope for moral stability nor understanding on the part of those they meet. It is sufficient that the mureed understand that all love and goodness come from God, are signs of the presence of God, and that one praise God for every sign of God's Presence.At the same time, all that is given to the mureeds is for humanity -- not for themselves, they have already lost what was given to them. The marvelous spiritual magnetism which pours in and through the talib reaches the whole of humanity for it enters the atmosphere of earth through the human breath and passes all around the globe. This breath is sustained by all the thoughts and feelings of tenderness and love. A single harsh thought of a master-mind can bring tribulation to multitudes.

http://www.rosanna.com/saki/july/july15.htm
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Sunday, July 15, 2007
The world is evolving from imperfection towards perfection; it needs all love and sympathy; great tenderness and watchfulness is required from each one of us.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

In order to awaken love and sympathy in our hearts, sacrifices must be made. We must forget our own troubles in order to sympathize with the troubles of others. To relieve the hunger of others we must forget our own hunger. Everybody is working for selfish ends, not caring about others, and this alone has brought about the misery in the world today. When the world is evolving from imperfection towards perfection, it needs all love and sympathy.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/V/V_26.htm

Souls on earth are born imperfect and show imperfection, and from this they develop naturally, coming to perfection. If all were perfect, there would have been no purpose in their creation. And manifestation has taken place so that every being here may rise from imperfection towards perfection. That is the object and joy of life and for that this world was created. And if we expected every person to be perfect and conditions to be perfect, then there would be no joy in living and no purpose in coming here. ... When in this world of imperfection we seek for all that is good and beautiful, there are many chances of disappointment. But at the same time if we keep on looking for it, not looking at the dust but looking for the gold, we shall find it. And once we begin to find it we shall find more and more. There comes a time in the life of a man when he can see some good in the worst man in the world. And when he has reached that point, though the good were covered with a thousand covers, he would put his hand on what is good, because he looks for good and attracts what is good.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/IV/IV_18.htm

~~~ The world is evolving from imperfection towards perfection; it needs all love and sympathy; great tenderness and watchfulness is required from each one of us.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Sunday, July 15, 2007

Saturday, July 14, 2007

"...there is no limit to the power, inspiration and love of and in the awakened heart."
Samuel Lewis
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Saturday, July 14, 2007
Riches and power may vanish because they are outside ourselves; only that which is within can we call our own.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
Where is man's wealth? It is in his knowledge. If his wealth is only in the bank and not in his knowledge he does not really possess it. It is in the bank. All desirable and great things, values and titles, position and possession, where are they? Outside? No, because outside is only that which one knows by the knowledge one has within. Therefore the real possession is not without but within. It is the self within, it is the heart which must be developed, the heart which must be in its natural rhythm and at its proper pitch. When it is tuned to its natural rhythm and pitch, then it can accomplish the purpose for which it is made. from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VI/VI_21.htmThe claim to be kind and sympathetic is like a drop of water saying, 'I am water,' but which, on seeing the ocean, realizes its nothingness. In the same way, when man has looked on perfection, he realizes his shortcomings. It is then that the veil is raised from before his eyes and his sight becomes keen. He then asks himself, 'What can I do that I may awaken this love and sympathy in my heart?' The Sufi begins by realizing that he is dead and blind, and he understands that all goodness as well as all that is bad comes from within. Riches and power may vanish because they are outside of us, but only that which is within can we call our own. In order to awaken love and sympathy in our hearts, sacrifices must be made. We must forget our own troubles in order to sympathize with the troubles of others. from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/V/V_26.htm ~~~ Riches and power may vanish because they are outside ourselves; only that which is within can we call our own.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Saturday, July 14, 2007

Friday, July 13, 2007

Finding the right work is like discovering your own soul in the world. Thomas Moore
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Friday, July 13, 2007
Praise cannot exist without blame; it has no existence without its opposite.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

There is a pair of opposites in all things, and in each there exists the spirit of the opposite: in man the quality of woman, in woman the spirit of man, in the sun the form of the moon, in the moon the light of the sun. The closer one approaches reality, the nearer one arrives at unity.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XIV/XIV_2_13.htm

Life is differentiated by the pairs of opposites.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/say/gayan_boulas.htm

Praise cannot exist without blame, for nothing has existence without its opposite, just as pleasure cannot exist without pain. No one can be great and not small; no one can be loved and not hated. There is no one who is hated by all and not loved by some-one; there is always someone to love him. If one would realize that the world of God, His splendor and magnificence, are to be seen in the wise and the foolish, in the good and the bad, then one would think tolerantly and reverently of all mankind

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/IX/IX_29.htm

How does the Sufi struggle? He struggles with power, with understanding, with open eyes, and with patience. He does not look at the loss; what is lost is lost. He does not think of the pain of yesterday; yesterday is gone for him. Only if a memory is pleasant does he keep it before him, for it is helpful on his way. He takes both the admiration and the hatred coming from around him with smiles; he believes that both these things form a rhythm within the rhythm of a certain music; there is one and two, the strong accent and the weak accent. Praise cannot be without blame, nor can blame be without praise. He keeps the torch of wisdom before him, because he believes that the present is the echo of the past, and that the future will be the reflection of the present. It is not sufficient to think only of the present moment; one should also think where it comes from and where it goes. Every thought that comes to his mind, every impulse, every word he speaks, is to him like a seed, a seed which falls in this soil of life, and takes root. And in this way he finds that nothing is lost; every good deed, every little act of kindness, of love, done to anybody, will some day rise as a plant and bear fruit.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VI/VI_12.htm

~~~ Praise cannot exist without blame; it has no existence without its opposite.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Friday, July 13, 2007

Thursday, July 12, 2007

He who can quicken the feeling of another to joy or to gratitude, by that much he adds to his own life.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Each one has his circle of influence, large or small; within his sphere so many souls and minds are involved; with his rise, they rise; with his fall, they fall. The size of a man's sphere corresponds with the extent of his sympathy, or we may say, with the size of his heart. His sympathy holds his sphere together. As his heart grows, his sphere grows; as his sympathy is withdrawn or lessened, so his sphere breaks up and scatters. If he harms those who live and move within his sphere, those dependent upon him or upon his affection, he of necessity harms himself. His house or his palace or his cottage, his satisfaction or his disgust in his environment is the creation of his own thought. Acting upon his thoughts, and also part of his own thoughts, are the thoughts of those near to him; others depress him and destroy him, or they encourage and support him, in proportion as he repels those around him by his coldness, or attracts them by his sympathy.Each individual composes the music of his own life. If he injures another, he brings disharmony. When his sphere is disturbed, he is disturbed himself, and there is a discord in the melody of his life. If he can quicken the feeling of another to joy or to gratitude, by that much he adds to his own life; he becomes himself by that much more alive. Whether conscious of it or not, his thought is affected for the better by the joy or gratitude of another, and his power and vitality increase thereby, and the music of his life grows more in harmony.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/I/I_I_2.htm

~~~ He who can quicken the feeling of another to joy or to gratitude, by that much he adds to his own life.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Thursday, July 12, 2007

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Do not bemoan the past, do not worry about the future, but try to make the best of today.

Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:

There is not anything one should not be ready to tolerate, and there is nobody whom one should not forgive. Never doubt those whom you trust; never hate those whom you love; never cast down those whom you once raise in your estimation. Wish to make friends with everyone you meet; make an effort to gain the friendship of those you find difficult ... No one is either higher or lower than oneself. In all sources that fulfill one's need, one may see one source, God, the only source; and in admiring and in bowing before and in loving anyone, one may consider one is doing it to God. In sorrow one may look to God, and in joy one may thank Him. One does not bemoan the past, nor worry about the future; one tries only to make the best of today. One should know no failure, for even in a fall there is a stepping-stone to rise.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/I/I_I_2.htm

In Fitzgerald's translation of Omar Khayyam: 'O my Beloved, fill the cup that clears today of past regrets and future fears. Why, tomorrow I may be myself, with yesterday's sev'n thousand years!' By this he means: Make the best of this moment; it is now that you can clearly see eternity, if you live in this moment. But if you keep the world of the past or the world of the future before you, you do not live in eternity but in a limited world. In other words, live neither in the past nor in the future, but in eternity. It is now that we should try to discover that happiness which is to be found in the freedom of the soul.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VIIIa/VIIIa_1_1.htm

Hazrat Samuel Lewis
Paul said, "I die daily." By this one can escape karma, especially if the heart keeps serene in its attraction toward God. The past that is bemoaned, the past that is prided belongs to the ego, to the nufs, and becomes the source of further misery. Whether it gave joy in the past or sorrow in the past, if it is carried along in the mind it will bring sorrow in the future.
Likewise, no thought should be attached to the future

http://www.rosanna.com/saki/july/july11.htm

-- "Take no heed for the morrow," as Jesus has beautifully put it. Each day is our great opportunity, each hour, each breath. One cannot perform Darood with the mind far away in time or space.

~~~ Do not bemoan the past, do not worry about the future, but try to make the best of today.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

It is not moral unworthiness that keeps people from God, but moral righteousness and self-sufficiency. It is that simple recognition, which is almost his constant message, that makes Jesus the ultimate, perennial, and radical reformer of religion. And why religious people oppose him. It makes one wonder if such a foundational critique can ever fashion itself into a proper religion at all. I agree with Simone Weil who said that the problem with Christianity is that it insists on seeing itself as a separate religion, instead of a healing message for all religions. I am afraid that is what will always emerge when you have religion without spirituality, or pious practices without inner experience. The very best thing will then become the very worst thing, and the only way through is to be awakened and astonished by a divine love that is of an utterly new dimension.

Richard Rohr
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Tuesday, July 10, 2007
It is the lover of God whose heart is filled with devotion who can commune with God, not he who makes an effort with his intellect to analyze God.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Science is learned by analysis and esotericism by synthesis. If a person who wants to obtain esoteric knowledge breaks things up into bits, he is analyzing them; and as long as he does this he will never come to understand esotericism. In psychology two things are needed: analysis and synthesis; and when through a better understanding of psychology one has accustomed oneself to synthesize as well as to analyze, then one prepares oneself to synthesize only, which leads to a fuller understanding of esotericism. Therefore, the acquisition of esoteric knowledge is quite different from the study of science.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XI/XI_II_1.htm

It is the lover of God whose heart is filled with devotion, who can commune with God; not the one who makes an effort with his intellect to analyze God. In other words, it is the lover of God who can commune with Him, not the student of His nature. It is the 'I' and 'you', which divide, and yet it is 'I' and 'you', which are the necessary conditions of love. Although 'I' and 'you' divide the one life into two, it is love that connects them by the current which is established between them; and it is this current which is called communion, which runs between man and God.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/I/I_I_2.htm

Hazrat Samuel Lewis
All above the mind-mesh escapes analysis. Only what the mind can grasp and pull below can be subjected to such a process. It is like a fish pulling some substance from the surface into the depths. The fish could only understand what it has grasped, and the rest of the substance would escape its comprehension.
So it is with Life and Truth. What the mind grasps is such a small portion of what really exists that unassisted mind can never unveil the mysteries. Yet when illumination comes through the awakening of heart, all things may be clear before the mind. For this, no effort is necessary other than love, than self-surrender, than devotion, than throwing aside all these clinging thoughts. But you cannot tell the mind to love in a lesson nor the heart to love through a persuasive talk or talisman. The heart must love because it must love.

http://www.rosanna.com/saki/july/july10.htm

~~~ It is the lover of God whose heart is filled with devotion who can commune with God, not he who makes an effort with his intellect to analyze God.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Monday, July 09, 2007

While man rejoices over his rise and sorrows over his fall, the wise man takes both as the natural consequences of life.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

It makes no difference to me if I am so praised that I am raised from earth to heaven, nor if I am so blamed that I am thrown from the greatest heights to the depths of the earth. Life to me is an ever-moving sea in which the waves of favor and disfavor constantly rise and fall.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/say/gayan_gamakas.htm

In sorrow one may look to God, and in joy one may thank Him. One does not bemoan the past, nor worry about the future; one tries only to make the best of today. One should know no failure, for even in a fall there is a stepping-stone to rise; but to the Sufi the rise and fall matter little. One does not repent for what one has done, since one thinks, says, and does what one means. One does not fear the consequences of performing one's wish in life, for what will be, will be.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/I/I_I_2.htm

What will rise must fall, and what will fall must rise. Rise and fall are natural to life. No rise is permanent, or fall lasting. It is reality behind it all which is steady and dependent. ... Life is one living stream, continually running without beginning or end. Death is man's illusion. The change that hides man's existence from him he calls death. Life is still, but its flow, which is ever-moving, rises and fall in waves; it is this that created an illusion of rise and fall. All this we see is the manifestation of one Spirit in many and varied forms.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XII/XII_III_1.htm

The quality of the saints is to be resigned to all that comes -- but then they do not even form a wish. They take all that comes, flowers or thorns; everything that comes, they take it. They look into thorns and see that they are flowers. With praise and with blame they are contented. They are contented with rise and fall; they take all that comes, they take life as it is.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XIV/XIV_6.htm

~~~ While man rejoices over his rise and sorrows over his fall, the wise man takes both as the natural consequences of life.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Monday, July 09, 2007

Sunday, July 08, 2007

While man judges another from his own moral standpoint, the wise man looks also at the point of view of another.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

A mystic removes the barrier that stands between himself and another person by trying to look at life not only from his own point of view, but also from the point of view of another. All disputes and disagreements arise from people's misunderstanding of each other. Mostly, people misunderstand each other because they have their fixed points of view and are not willing to move from them. This is a rigid condition of mind. The more dense a person is, the more fixed he is in his own points of view. Therefore, it is easy to change the mind of an intelligent person, but it is most difficult to change the mind of a foolish person once it is fixed. It is this dense quality of mind which becomes fixed on a certain idea and that clouds the eyes so that they cannot see from the point of view of another person.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/X/X_2.htm

The condition today is that people are rich, they have all convenience and comfort -- but what is lacking is understanding. Home is full of comfort, but there is no understanding, there is no happiness. It is such a little thing, and yet so difficult to obtain. No intellectuality can give understanding. This is where man makes a mistake: he wants to understand through his head. Understanding comes from the heart. The heart must be glowing, living. When the heart becomes feeling then there is understanding, then you are ready to see from the point of view of another as much as you can see from your own point of view.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VIII/VIII_1_20.htm

Is it not amusing to think that the foolish person disagrees more with others than the wise? One would think that he knows more than the wise one. The wise one agrees with both the foolish and the wise; he is ready to understand everybody's point of view. It may not be his idea, his way of looking, but he is capable of looking at things from the point of view of others. It is not one eye that sees fully; to make the vision complete two eyes are needed, and so the wise one can see from two points of view. If we do not keep away our own thoughts and preconceived ideas, if we cannot be passive and desirous of seeing from the point of view of another, we make a great mistake.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XIV/XIV_2_19.htm


Hazrat Sam Lewis
By "man" is meant the person whose consciousness is still confined below the mind-mesh, who is in the manasic currents, who sees only as his mind sees and has no vision further than the mind. But the "wise man" has attained to the Buddhic condition, which enables him to see beyond name and form and so to look at life from every person's aspect of it.

http://www.rosanna.com/saki/july/july8.htm

~~~ While man judges another from his own moral standpoint, the wise man looks also at the point of view of another.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Sunday, July 08, 2007

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Every soul has a definite task, and the fulfillment of each individual purpose can alone lead man aright; illumination comes to him through the medium of his own talent.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Not everyone knows for what he is really looking. He waits to be told. But when the truth is told him, he has little difficulty in recognizing it. Every soul has a definite task, and the fulfillment of this individual purpose can alone lead him aright. Illumination comes to him through the medium of his own talent. By taking his particular line in life, he fits into the scheme of the whole, and thus attains his own goal.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/archives/sufism.htm

It is in unfoldment that the purpose of life is fulfilled, and it is not only so with human beings but also with the lower creation; even with all the objects that exist the fulfillment of their existence lies in their unfoldment. ... We learn from this that every being and every object is working towards that unfoldment which is the fulfillment of its purpose. There is a saying of a Persian poet, Sadi, that every being is intended to be on earth for a certain purpose, and the light of that purpose has been kindled in his heart. In all different purposes which we see working through each individual, there seems to be one purpose which is behind them all, and that is the unfoldment of the soul.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XIV/XIV_2_20.htm

The ultimate purpose, for which the soul is seeking every moment of our life, is our spiritual purpose. And you may ask how to attain to that purpose. The answer is that what you are seeking for is within yourself. Instead of looking outside, you must look within. The way to proceed to accomplish this is for some moments to suspend all your senses such as sight, hearing, smell, touch, in order to put a screen before the outside life. And by concentration and by developing that meditative quality you will sooner or later get in touch with the inner Self which is more communicative, which speaks more loudly than all the noises of this world. And this gives joy, creates peace, and produces in you a self-sufficient spirit, a spirit of independence, of true liberty. The moment you get in touch with your Self you are in communion with God. It is in this way, if God-communication is sought rightly, that spirituality is attained.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VI/VI_4.htm

Everything a person does, spiritual or material, is only a stepping-stone for him to arrive at the inner purpose ... When the desire to live brings one in touch with one's real life, a life which is not subject to death, then the purpose of that desire is accomplished. When one has been able to perceive fully the knowledge of one's own being, in which is to be found divine knowledge and the mystery of the whole manifestation, then the purpose of knowledge is attained. When one is able to get in touch with the Almighty Power, then the desire for power is achieved. When one has been able to find one's happiness in one's own heart, independent of all things outside, the purpose of the desire for happiness is fulfilled; when one is able to rise above all conditions and influences which disturb the peace of the soul and has found one's peace in the midst of the crowd and away from the world, in him the desire for peace is satisfied. ... It is in the fulfillment of these five desires that one purpose is accomplished, the purpose for which every soul was born on earth.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/I/I_IV_1.htm

~~~ Every soul has a definite task, and the fulfillment of each individual purpose can alone lead man aright; illumination comes to him through the medium of his own talent.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Saturday, July 07, 2007

Friday, July 06, 2007

Perhaps in the context of community, heroic acts can be reconfigured to become simple acts of compassion. Perhaps in the energies of community, individuals can achieve something bigger than themselves without the need for the illusions of power and self-aggrandizement. Perhaps in the realm of community, power is no longer power at all, but simply the force of love.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Friday, July 06, 2007
It's hard to enter into the depths of experience with any degree of peace if one clings too tightly to explanations. Life is a process to be witnessed--but not always understood.

The intimate dance with reality offers fewer and fewer guarantees but certainly greater and greater joys.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Friday, July 06, 2007
low silver rider

At times I see you,
you silver rider
Sometimes your voice
is not enough
Your face in windows
outside forever
Nobody dreamed
you'd save the world
Nobody dreamed
you'd save the world
Your march is over

The great destroyer
She passes through you
like a knife
Oh take me with you
You silver rider
Sometimes your voice
is not enough
Sometimes your voice
is not enough
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Friday, July 06, 2007
"Therefore, it might be good to approach the spiritual life without the need for understanding and clarity. In this area it is appropriate to become less certain, to be forced into wonder about the central mysteries, and to keep moving along without a place or a goal. Both the object of the quest and the process are saturated with mystery." Thomas Moore
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Friday, July 06, 2007
It is the message that proves the messenger, not the claim.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

The prophet brings love, the love of God, the Father and Mother of the whole humanity, a love that is life itself. No words nor actions can express that love. The presence of the prophet, his very being, speaks of it, if only the heart had ears to listen. Verily, to the believer all is right, and to the unbeliever all is wrong.The principal work of the prophet is to glorify the Name of God and to raise humanity from the denseness of the earth, to open the doors of the human heart to the divine beauty which is everywhere manifested and to illuminate souls which are groping in darkness for years. The prophet brings the message of the day, a reform for that particular period in which he is born. A claim of a prophet is nothing to the real prophet. The being of the prophet, the work of the prophet, and the fulfillment of his task is itself the proof of prophethood. ~~~ "Religious Gatheka 10, The Prophet", by Hazrat Inayat Khan (unpublished)There was a time when the world was not capable of seeing. Humanity did not have enough realization to recognize the message that is why the claim of prophecy had to be made. But now the world can recognize, sooner or later, what is right and what is wrong. The warner, the master, the messenger of today will not claim. He will only work. He will leave his work to prove for itself whether it is true or false.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VII/VII_32.htm

There was a time when the message was given while the people were waiting for a messenger to come, as happened in the time of Jesus Christ, when they were thousands and thousands waiting for a messenger from above. The Master came, and gave his service to the world, and left again. Some realized what had happened then, and some are still waiting. But the one who claimed to be Alpha and Omega is never absent; sometimes he shows himself, sometimes he keeps in the background. ... The divine message is the answer to the cry of souls individually and collectively; the divine message is life and it is light. The sun does not teach anything, but in its light we learn to know all things. The sun does not cultivate the soil nor does it sow seed, but it helps the plants to grow, to flower, and to bear fruit.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/IX/IX_2.htm

~~~ It is the message that proves the messenger, not the claim.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Friday, July 06, 2007

Thursday, July 05, 2007


Low Medicine Magazines
They'll never cure this thing
With medicine and magazines
I know you play your part
You cover up your ever-aching heart
No one knows where you are
And no one thought you'd ever
Get that far
And how can it be that fun
When everyone around you
Dies so young?
And I'm not your favorite one
But who will walk you out
When it's all done?
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Thursday, July 05, 2007
Whatever their faith, the wise have always been able to meet each other beyond those boundaries of external forms and conventions which are natural and necessary to human life, but which nonetheless separate humanity.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

There are two aspects of intelligence: intellect, and wisdom. Intellect is the knowledge of names and forms, their character and nature, gathered from the external world. ... Wisdom is contrary to the above-named knowledge. It is the knowledge which is illumined by the light within; it comes with the maturity of the soul, and opens up the sight to the similarity of all things and beings, as well as the unity in names and forms. The wise man penetrates the spirit of all things; he sees the human in the male and female, and the racial origin which unites nations. He sees the human in all people and the divine immanence in all things in the universe, until the vision of the whole being becomes to him the vision of the One Alone, the most beautiful and beloved God.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/I/I_I_2.htm

Wisdom is the ultimate power. In wisdom is rooted religion, which connotes law and inspiration. But the point of view of the wise differs from that of the simple followers of a religious faith. Whatever their faith, the wise have always been able to meet each other beyond those boundaries of external forms and conventions, which are natural and necessary to human life, but which none the less separate humanity. ... Sufism takes away the barriers which divide different faiths, by bringing into full light the underlying wisdom in which they are all united.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/archives/sufism.htm

When a person opposes or hinders the expression of a great ideal, and is unwilling to believe that he will meet his fellow men as soon as he has penetrated deeply enough into every soul, he is preventing himself from realizing the unlimited. All beliefs are simply degrees of clearness of vision. All are part of one ocean of truth. The more this is realized the easier is it to see the true relationship between all beliefs, and the wider does the vision of the one great ocean become. Limitations and boundaries are inevitable in human life; forms and conventions are natural and necessary; but they none the less separate humanity. It is the wise who can meet one another beyond these boundaries.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/I/I_I_3.htm

~~~ Whatever their faith, the wise have always been able to meet each other beyond those boundaries of external forms and conventions which are natural and necessary to human life, but which nonetheless separate humanity.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Thursday, July 05, 2007

Tuesday, July 03, 2007



The knowledge of self is the essential knowledge; it gives knowledge of humanity. In the understanding of the human being lies that understanding of nature which reveals the law of creation.



Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

What we need most is the understanding of that religion of religions and that philosophy of philosophies which is self-knowledge. We shall not understand the outer life if we do not understand ourselves. It is the knowledge of the self that gives the knowledge of the world.



from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VIII/VIII_1_1.htm



One may ask, what should one study? There are two kinds of studies. One kind is by reading the teachings of the great thinkers and keeping them in mind, the study of metaphysics, psychology, and mysticism. And the other kind of study is the study of life. Every day one has an opportunity for studying; but it should be a correct study. When a person travels in a tramcar, in the train, with a newspaper in his hand, he wants to read the sensational news which is worth nothing. He should read human nature which is before him, people coming and going. If he would continue to do this, he would begin to read human beings as though they were letters written by the divine pen, which speak of their past and future. He should look deeply at the heavens and at nature and at all the things to be seen in everyday life, and reflect upon them with the desire to understand. This kind of study is much superior, incomparably superior, to the study of books.



from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VI/VI_15.htm



If a person goes through his whole life most cleverly judging others, he may go on, but he will find himself to be more foolish at every step. At the end, he reaches the fullness of stupidity. But the one who tries, tests, studies and observes himself, his own attitude in life, his own outlook on life, his thought, speech, and action, who weighs and measures and teaches himself self discipline, it is that person who is able to understand another better. How rarely one sees a soul who concerns himself with himself through life, in order to know! Mostly, every soul seems to be busily occupied with the lives of others. And what do they know in the end? Nothing. If there is a kingdom of God to be found anywhere, it is within oneself.And it is, therefore, in the knowledge of self that there lies the fulfillment of life. The knowledge of self means the knowledge of one's body, the knowledge of one's mind, the knowledge of one's spirit; the knowledge of the spirit's relation to the body and the relation of the body to the spirit; the knowledge of one's wants and needs, the knowledge of one's virtues and faults; knowing what we desire and how to attain it, what to pursue and what to renounce. And when one dives deep into this, one finds before one a world of knowledge which never ends. And it is that knowledge which gives one insight into human nature and brings one to the knowledge of the whole of creation. And in the end one attains to the knowledge of the divine Being.



from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/I/I_IV_12.htm


Hazrat Samuel Lewis

All human beings were made with essentially similar bodies, essentially similar mind-capacities and essentially similar hearts. To understand one is to understand all.
It is not necessary to dissect everybody's stomach to understand nutrition--either with the knife or with the analytical faculty of mind. At best these give but a partial knowledge. The human body is a miniature cosmos and the human mind is a miniature super-cosmos if man only knew it, but until he understands his own body and own mind he cannot understand the laws of relations.
Yet these are not the self, these are but the outcroppings of self which lies hidden deep beneath the vehicles with which it is clothed. All creation tends towards humanity, both the creation of the seen worlds including rock, plant and animal and the creation of the unseen worlds--the elementals, jinns and angels. All tend toward man in the highest expression of God.

~~~ The knowledge of self is the essential knowledge; it gives knowledge of humanity. In the understanding of the human being lies that understanding of nature which reveals the law of creation.

Posted by Jeff Hogue at Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Monday, July 02, 2007

The Velvet Teen Death

When my time has come
I won't put up a fight
I'll hold my breath
and let it wash over me
And all the words we said
All the words we said
Have a way of rubbing off
But I said them
so your courage could come back
And stay back
Stay back
When I am,
I can
They're all waiting for me
These eyes,
these hands
Let them wash over me
And all the words we said
All the words we said
Have a way of rubbing off
But I said them
so your courage could come back
and run to your room
while you're weeping
I'll see you in your bed
while you're sleeping
Well, farewell
I won't hold you down
No, I'll heal the cracks in your head
Heal the cracks in your head
Stay back
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Monday, July 02, 2007
Man must first create peace in himself if he desires to see peace in the world; for lacking peace within, no effort of his can bring any result.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Our spirit is the real part of us. The body is but a garment. There is absolute peace in the abode from whence the spirit came, and the true happiness of the soul lies in that peace. As man would not find peace at the tailor's just because his coat came from there, so the spirit cannot get true happiness from the earth just because the body belongs to the earth. The soul experiences life through the mind and body and enjoys it, but its true happiness lies in peace.In order to gain this peace we have to begin with ourselves. There are fights going on within us between spirit and matter. Struggles for our daily bread, and want of peace in our surroundings. We must first get this peace within ourselves before we can talk of peace in the world. Then we must be at peace with our surroundings, and never do or say anything that disturbs that peace. All thoughts, words, and actions that disturb the peace are sin, and all thoughts words, and actions that create peace are virtue.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/V/V_40.htm

What keeps happiness out of one's life is the closing of the doors of the heart, and when the heart is not living, then there is no happiness there. Sometimes the heart is not fully alive but only partly. At the same time it expects life from the other heart. But the real life of the heart is to live independently in its own happiness and that is gained by spiritual attainment, by digging deep into one's own heart.The one who has found his peace within himself may be in a cave of the mountain or among the crowd, yet in every place he will experience peace. What generally happens is that in order to get peace we blame the other person who jars upon our nerves. But in reality the true peace can come only by being so firm against all influences around us that nothing can disturb us.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VI/VI_2.htm

It is natural to experience peace, but life in the world is not natural. Animals and birds all experience peace, but not mankind, for man is the robber of his own peace. He has made his life so artificial that he can never imagine how far he is removed from what may be called a normal, natural life for him to live. It is for this reason that we need the art of discovering peace within us; we shall not experience peace by improving outside conditions. Man has always longed for peace and he has always brought about wars. At the same time every individual says he is seeking for peace. Then where does war come from? It comes because the meaning of peace has not been fully understood. Man lives in a continual turmoil, in a restless condition, and in order to seek for peace he seeks war; if this goes on we shall not have peace till every individual begins to seek peace within himself first. What is peace? Peace is the natural condition of the soul.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VI/VI_3.htm

O peace-maker, before trying to make peace throughout the world, first make peace within thyself!

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/say/gayan_alapas.htm


Hazrat Samuel Lewis

One may begin with the simplest processes of body -- how to keep the body well, fit and strong. In this one can learn the law of harmony and the laws of breath. These same laws will enable one to understand and utilize the mind; they will also enable one to understand and harmonize with the minds and hearts of others. It is the combination of law -- which is universal -- and the awakening of love -- which distinguishes no self -- which brings peace to the individual, the group, or the cosmos.
~~~ Man must first create peace in himself if he desires to see peace in the world; for lacking peace within, no effort of his can bring any result.

http://www.rosanna.com/saki/july/july2.htm
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Monday, July 02, 2007

Sunday, July 01, 2007

Man's pride and satisfaction in what he knows limits the scope of his vision.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

One wishes to be admired for his clothes, his jewels, his possessions, his greatness and position, and naturally when this desire increases it makes a person blind and he loses sight of right and justice. It is natural that the desire for things that gratify vanity should have no end; it increases continually. The tendency to look at others with hatred and prejudice, to consider them inferior to oneself, and all such tendencies come from this ego. There are even cases when people spend money in order to be able to insult another. To make someone bow before him, to make him give way, to put him in a position of inferiority, to make him appear contemptible, sometimes a person will spend money. The desire for the satisfaction of vanity reaches such a point, that a person would give his life for the satisfaction of his vanity. Often someone shows generosity, not for the sake of kindness, but to satisfy his vanity. The more vanity a person has the less sympathy he has for others, for all his attention is given to his own satisfaction, and he is as blind toward others. This ego, so to speak, restricts life, because it limits a person.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XIII/XIII_14.htm

All the knowledge that man possesses he has acquired by belief. When he strengthens his belief by knowledge then comes disbelief in things that his knowledge cannot cope with, and in things that his reason cannot justify. He then disbelieves things that he once believed in. An unbeliever is one who has changed his belief to disbelief; disbelief often darkens the soul, but sometimes it illuminates it. There is a Persian saying, 'Until belief has changed to disbelief, and, again, the disbelief into a belief, a man does not become a real Muslim.' But when disbelief becomes a wall and stands against the further penetration of mind into life, then it darkens the soul, for there is no chance of further progress, and man's pride and satisfaction in what he knows limit the scope of his vision.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/I/I_I_3.htm

~~~ Man's pride and satisfaction in what he knows limits the scope of his vision.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Sunday, July 01, 2007

Saturday, June 30, 2007

When a man dives within, he finds that his real self is above the perpetual motion of the universe.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

There is in man a false self and a real self. The real self contains the eternal; the false self contains the mortal. The real self has wisdom; the false self ignorance. The real self can rise to perfection; the false self ends in limitation. The real self has all good, the false self is productive of all evil. One can see both in oneself: God and the other one. By conquering the other one, one realizes God. This other power has been called Satan; but is it a power? In reality it is not. It is and it is not. It is a shadow. We see shadow and yet it is nothing. We should realize that this false self has no existence of its own. As soon as the soul has risen above the false self, it begins to realize its nobility.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VI/VI_13.htm

In order to see this question more clearly one must picture oneself as two beings, one the king and the other the servant. When one of them expresses a wish, it is the king who wishes. And the part that says, 'I cannot,' is the servant. If the servant has his way, then the king is in the place of the servant. And the more the servant has his way, the more the servant rules and the king obeys. In this way naturally conflict arises and that reflects upon the outer life; one's whole life becomes unlucky. One may be pious or good or religious, it makes no difference. If man does not realize the kingdom of God within himself nor realize his spirit to be a king, he does not accomplish the purpose of life.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VI/VI_28.htm

The soul of man is a dweller in heaven. It is able to see more than the eyes can see. It is able to hear more than the ears can hear. The soul is able to expand further than man can journey. The soul is able to dive deeper than any depths that man can ever touch. The soul is able to reach higher than man can reach by any means. Its life is freedom, it knows nothing but joy and sees nothing but beauty. Its own nature is peace, and its being is life itself. It is not intelligent. It is intelligence itself. It is spirit. Its nature is not human but divine. ... Man is a process, manifestation is a process through which the spirit goes from one condition to another condition, from one pole to another pole. And through this whole process the attempt of the spirit is to find itself. ... The highest perception of freedom comes when a person has freed himself from the false ego, when he is no longer what he was. All the different kinds of freedom will give a momentary sensation of being free, but true freedom is in ourselves. When one's soul is free, then there is nothing in this world that binds one; everywhere one will breathe freedom, in heaven and on earth.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VII/VII_27.htm

It is therefore that the Sufi seeks God as his love, lover and beloved, his treasure, his possession, his honor, his joy, his peace; and his attainment in its perfection alone fulfills all demands of life both here and hereafter.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/I/I_I_2.htm

~~~ When a man dives within, he finds that his real self is above the perpetual motion of the universe.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Saturday, June 30, 2007

Friday, June 29, 2007

The worlds are held together by the heat of the sun; each of us are atoms held in position by that eternal Sun we call God. Within us is the same central power we call the light, or the love of God; by it we hold together the human beings within our sphere, or, lacking it, we let them fall.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

A close study of the formation of the sun and of its influence on everything in life will help us to understand the divine Spirit. Heat, gas-light, electric light, the coal fire, the wood fire, the candle, the flame of the oil-lamp, all these different manifestations of light have their source in the sun; it is the sun which is showing itself in all these different forms, although we generally consider the sun to be separate from all other aspects of light. In the same way the supreme Spirit is manifested in all forms, in all things and beings, in the seen and unseen worlds; and yet it stands remote, as the sun stands remote from all other forms of light. The Qur'an says, 'God is the light of heaven and of earth'; and in reality all forms, however dense they may be, are to some degree the radiance of that spirit which is all light. All the different colors are different degrees of that same light.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VIIIa/VIIIa_2_13.htm

The soul becomes like a rose and begins to show the rose quality. The rose holds together many petals, and so the person who comes to the unfoldment of the soul begins to show many different qualities. These qualities emit fragrance in the form of a spiritual personality. The rose has a beautiful structure, and so the personality which proves the unfoldment of the soul has also a fine structure in manner, in dealing with others, in speech, in action. It is like the perfume of the rose that the atmosphere of the spiritual being pervades all.The rose has in its heart its seeds, and so the developed souls have in their heart that seed of development which produces many roses. The rose comes and fades away, but the essence that is taken from the rose lives and keeps the fragrance that it had in its full bloom. Personalities who touch that plane of development may live on the earth for a limited time, but the essence which is left by them will live for thousands and thousands of years, ever keeping the same fragrance and giving the same pleasure that once the rose gave.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XIV/XIV_2_20.htm

Each one has his circle of influence, large or small; within his sphere so many souls and minds are involved; with his rise, they rise; with his fall, they fall. The size of a man's sphere corresponds with the extent of his sympathy, or we may say, with the size of his heart. His sympathy holds his sphere together. As his heart grows, his sphere grows; as his sympathy is withdrawn or lessened, so his sphere breaks up and scatters. If he harms those who live and move within his sphere, those dependent upon him or upon his affection, he of necessity harms himself.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/I/I_I_2.htm

The worlds are held together by the heat of the sun. Each of us are atoms held in position by that eternal sun we call God. Within us is that same central power, we call it the light of God, or the love of God, and by it we too hold up the human beings within our sphere; or lacking it, we let them fall. So God keeps all, and so we keep our friends and surroundings. With this knowledge life in the world becomes a glorious vision. Not that we are compelled to keep away from sin, but we learn what power virtue has.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/archives/on_spheres.htm

~~~ The worlds are held together by the heat of the sun; each of us are atoms held in position by that eternal Sun we call God. Within us is the same central power we call the light, or the love of God; by it we hold together the human beings within our sphere, or, lacking it, we let them fall.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Friday, June 29, 2007

Thursday, June 28, 2007

The awakened heart says, "I must give, I must not demand."
Thus it enters a gate that leads to a constant happiness.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

An unhappy person, being himself unhappy, cannot make others happy. It is a wealthy person who can help the one who is hard up, not a poor person, however much desire of helping he may have. So it is with happiness, which is a great wealth; and a happy person can take away the unhappiness of another, for he has enough for himself and for others.Earthly pleasures are the shadows of happiness; because of their transitory character. True happiness is in love, which is the stream that springs from one's soul. He who will allow this stream to run continually in all conditions of life, in all situations, however difficult, will have a happiness which truly belongs to him, the source of which is not without, but within. If there is a constant outpouring of love one becomes a divine fountain, for from the depth of the fountain rises the stream and, on its return, it pours upon the fountain, bathing it continually.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XIII/XIII_17.htm

Why does a mystic attribute such great importance to harmony? Because to a mystic, his whole life is one continuous symphony, a playing of music, with each soul contributing his particular part to the symphony. A person's success therefore depends upon the idea he has of harmony. Very few people in the world pay attention to harmony. They do not know that without it, there is no chance of happiness. It is only the harmonious ones who can make others happy and partake of that happiness themselves; and apart from them, it is hard to find happiness in the world.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/X/X_8.htm

The method of attainment is to endeavor always to make others happy and by experiencing happiness in the happiness of others. In the terms of the Sufi, it is Suluk. Any selfishness prevents us from appreciating another's happiness and therefore we shall be kept back, for the happiness of others is the gate to our own happiness. Real happiness is entering the gate. We must feel satisfaction in another's satisfaction ... If a person needs a certain thing and we can supply it, we should be happy, how ever small the thing may be.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/archives/constancy.htm

~~~ The awakened heart says, "I must give, I must not demand." Thus it enters a gate that leads to a constant happiness.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Thursday, June 28, 2007

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Creativity is not merely the innocent spontaneity of our youth and childhood; it must also be married to the passion of the adult human being, which is a passion to live beyond one's death.

Depression is the inability to construct a future.

Freedom is man's capacity to take a hand in his own development. It is our capacity to mold ourselves.

Hate is not the opposite of love; apathy is.

Human freedom involves our capacity to pause, to choose the one response toward which we wish to throw our weight.

If we admit our depression openly and freely, those around us get from it an experience of freedom rather than the depression itself.

Rollo May
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Wednesday, June 27, 2007
"When the power of love becomes more important than the love of power ... then there will be peace." Jimmy Hendrix

The world is in unprecedented crisis.

Who in their right mind is exclusively concerned with collecting art and decorating their homes and offices? What artist worth their salt isn’t asking him or herself what the hell they are doing and does it make sense in our current cultural context?


Some words about Some Blue Strangers
We live in an industry defined art world that on many levels remains steadfast in a lot of the same doctrinal notions of our forerunners several decades ago. Adversarial art philosophies are a form of institutional violence. It can be said that Modernism was born of a response to the materialism and superficiality of a Western world ablaze with technological advancements and all its moral confusion and human mischief. With increasingly advanced weaponry and communications societies staged wars that were unprecedented in the scale of their horror and devastation. While many throughout the world continued the age old struggle for basic survival, the powers availed through all these new systems gave rise to a new ruling class—or at least an expanded one.

Artists of the early 20th century were rightfully wary of the status quo of mindless expansion and the dehumanizing trends of western progress turning away from making work in the service of the power elite and their salons to making work that was more questioning, confrontational and subversive. These motives seemed the right thing for the time. It could be argued that on many levels they still are.

In more recent decades, this distancing of “high art” from a puzzled and uninformed general public has added to its rarefied value. Clever marketing presentation and the cooperation of elite cabals of wealthy gallery owners and critics and influence peddlers have hugely expanded the perceived value of painting and sculpture. Perhaps cresting in the 80’s we have made demigods of many of our living artists—and multimillionaires. In some ways for the first time since the 19th century, “openings” again have often become a place for exclusionary high commerce and clandestine corporate power politics.
It may be simplistic to say, but to me it seems that there are two primary lineages in considering the development of art and its philosophy over the last hundred years or so. There are a number of theorists who trace this split to the parting of ways between Jung and Freud. While a protégé and student of the elder Freud, Jung developed his own, often competing interpretations of psychoanalytic theory and hence fundamental philosophy.

For Jung there was a spiritual mystery at play—an enigmatic, troubling and noumenal force that informed and shaped human existence. Freud steadfastly argued that these “forces” were all inventions of the human mind and unconscious and therefore illusions.

Some in today’s art world are of the mind that transgression and deconstruction are no longer ideal functions for our work. While seemingly naïve to those who reject these ideas, making work that is welcoming, celebratory, unifying, and encouraging of healing and community, these artists are choosing different paths and redefining their careers as professional artists.

There is much in the world in the way of violence and evil. There are forms of structural and institutional violence that are truly in need of healing and transformation. While deconstructivists often continue to work making “art for art’s sake” toward “demystification”—the dissolving and exposing of what they believe to be hollow and ill conceived myths (the manufacture of meaning in an ultimately meaningless world), other contemporary artists are choosing to explore the fundamental question of “being human” within and to work with these realities in a seamless and process oriented way that fuses spiritual practice and professional artistic practice.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama calls practice that works toward integrating transformation, liberation, and service, “Engaged Buddhism.” Many believe this to be a meaningful template for our lives as artists as well.

This new direction which is still being formed is one in which the Newtonian/Cartesian boundaries that lingeringly presume to wall off art, spirituality and religion from one another and from philosophy and science are being dissolved. Some would call this blending of areas of interest, “Cosmological.” On some functional levels—due to the voluminous and specialized information being generated within so many scientific fields especially, the artist is usually content to function as a generalist rather than an “expert.” To some it seems that the lines of expertise run all directions. Specialization seems to be moving us away from the awareness that underneath it all, we are as one. Beneath all the complexities and phenomenal technologies we have surrounded ourselves with, life remains simple in essence.

It is the search for and the integration of this essence that some of us artists are interested in. The theologian Mathew Fox has said that “we are all called to be artists, mystics and prophets.” I continue to make efforts to heed this call. Terms such as “mystic” and “prophet” are rarefied and held in suspicion in our culture—but are in fact seen in a greater context as ancient functionaries basic to our civilization’s history. The mystic is simply one who transcends their culture (for whatever reasons) to discover that which is timeless and eternal. The “prophet” is very simply a mystic in action. If one grasps these interpretations one sees that there are many such people all around us. Obviously not everyone is drawn to these interpretations, but in considering the intrinsic similarities between the above definition of the mystic and the basic one of the creative artist, one hopefully sees the connections.
More later…out of time to write…
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Wednesday, June 27, 2007

The heart sleeps until it is awakened to life by a blow; it is as a rock, and the hidden fire flashes out when struck by another rock.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

The sorrow of the lover is continual, in the presence and in the absence of the beloved: in the presence for fear of the absence, and in absence in longing for the presence. According to the mystical view the pain of love is the dynamite that breaks up the heart, even if it be as hard as a rock. When this hardness that covers the light within is broken through, the streams of all bliss come forth as springs from the mountains.


It is the thoughts that spring from the depths of the heart which become inspirations and revelations, and these come from the hearts of awakened souls, called by the Sufis, Sahib-i Dil. The bringers of joy are the children of sorrow. Every blow we get in life pierces the heart and awakens our feelings to sympathize with others, and every swing of comfort lulls us to sleep, and we become unaware of all. This proves the truth of these words, 'Blessed are they that mourn.'


Every atom, every object, every condition and every living being has a time of awakening. Sometimes there is a gradual awakening, and sometimes there is a sudden awakening. To some persons it comes in a moment's time - by a blow, by a disappointment, or because their heart has broken through something that happened suddenly. It seemed cruel, but at the same time the result was a sudden awakening and this awakening brought a blessing beyond praise. The outlook changed, the insight deepened; joy, quiet, independence and freedom were felt, and compassion showed in the attitude. A person who would never forgive, who liked to take revenge, who was easily displeased and cross, a person who would measure and weigh, when his soul is awakened, becomes in one moment a different person.


There are experiences such as failure in business, or misfortune, or illness, or a certain blow in one's life, whether an affair of the heart or of money or a social affair, whatever it may be -- there are blows which fall upon a person and a shell breaks, a new consciousness is produced. ... The deeper the experience touches us, the greater the unfoldment. In this way we unfold gradually towards that which is called perfection. Spiritual unfoldment is the ultimate goal of every person. It comes at a moment when a man begins to be more thoughtful, when he begins to remember or to realize this yearning of the soul. Then consciously or unconsciously a feeling comes, 'Is this all I have to do in my life: to earn money? Whether I have a high rank or a position, it is all a play. I have become tired of this play. I should think of something else. There is something else I have to attain'. This is the beginning; it is the first step on the spiritual path. As soon as a person has taken this first step his outlook has changed, the value of things becomes different and things to which he had attached great importance become of less importance; things with which he concerned himself so much he no longer concerns himself with. ... Once the eyes of the heart are open, man begins to read every leaf of the tree as a page of the sacred Book.


The heart is like a being which is asleep and receiving a sharp blow it awakens. Also the heart is like a stone and the fire which is hidden within it can only he brought to life when it is struck by a hard material. Then the fire appears. So it is with the heart. The fire which is life, love and feeling and which is the most sacred thing in us, is hidden in the heart as the fire in the stone. When it is struck hardly the fire appears. That is why we receive great blows in life. The person becomes thoughtful as soon as the fire appears. And he looks at things differently. But of life’s changes and great blows the wise realize that joy, rest and peace come.


~~~ The heart sleeps until it is awakened to life by a blow; it is as a rock, and the hidden fire flashes out when struck by another rock.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Wednesday, June 27, 2007
"We can all be pagan in our affirmation of all of life, Christian in our affirmation of communal love, Jewish in our affirmation of the sacredness of family, Buddhist in our affirmation of emptiness, and Taoist in our affirmation of paradox.”
Thomas Moore
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Wednesday, June 27, 2007
What exactly is bluelab and how's it different than all the other art organizations out there? There are no art organizations at this point--that we're aware of that are focused on collaborations between artists, thinkers and spiritual leaders toward activist and service oriented public works.

The hypothesis is that with the proper environment and support, professional artists will move into deep communal space infused with the richness of authentic mystical presence. In the case of authentic community, artists will find greater creative efficacy.

If human beings truly enter the silence together and move into true community, they move beyond all they have ever known. True community is always fresh and new--even for those who've dedicated years to it. If collaborators are guided into these spaces, the work together will be filled with a stream of transcendental potentials. bluelab asserts that we can make work that will change those participating in the collaborations and go on to transform communities and the world around us. Cosmologically integrative transdisciplinary art has the potential to make a real impact in our world. We're all saturated with often limenoid (non transformative)entertainment. bluelab offers the potential for art that is clearly transformative. bluelab offers the potential for widespread liminality. This is the chance to breakthrough belief systems on a significant scale and to find deeper understanding and tolerance in our troubled world. Our approach is not about ideologies so much as opportunities to move beyond their separative nature.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Every being has a definite vocation and his vocation is the light that illuminates his life. The man who disregards his vocation is as a lamp unlit.

Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:

Every being has a definite vocation, and his vocation is the light which illuminates his life. The man who disregards his vocation is a lamp unlit. He who sincerely seeks his real purpose in life is himself sought by that purpose. As he concentrates on that search a light begins to clear his confusion.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/I/I_I_2.htm

We find with many people that somehow they never happen to find their life's vocation. And what happens then is that in the end they consider their life a failure. All through their life they go from one thing to another, yet as they do not know their life's object they can accomplish so little. When people ask why they do not succeed, the answer is: because they have not yet found their object. As soon as a person has found his life's object he begins to feel at home in this world, where before he had felt himself in a strange world. No sooner has a person found his way than he will prove to be fortunate, because all the things he wants to accomplish will come by themselves. Even if the whole world were against him, he will get such a power that he can hold on to his object against anything. He will get such a patience that when he is on the way to his object no misfortune will discourage him. There is no doubt that as long as he has not found it he will go from one thing to another, and again to another; and he will think that life is against him. Then he will begin to find fault with individuals, conditions, plans, the climate, with everything. Thus what is called fortunate or successful is really having the right object. When a person is wearing clothes which were not made for him, he says they are too wide or too short, but when they are his clothes he feels comfortable in them. Everyone should therefore be given freedom to choose his object in life. And if he finds his object one knows that he is on the right path.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VI/VI_2.htm


~~~ Every being has a definite vocation and his vocation is the light that illuminates his life. The man who disregards his vocation is as a lamp unlit.
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Monday, June 25, 2007

Volume VI - The Alchemy of Happiness
H. I. Khan

THE SOUL in Sanskrit, in the terms of the Vedanta, is called Atman which means happiness or bliss itself. It is not that happiness belongs to the soul; it is that the soul itself is happiness. Today we often confuse happiness with pleasure; but pleasure is only an illusion, a shadow of happiness; and in this delusion man may pass his whole life, seeking after pleasure and never finding satisfaction. There is a Hindu saying that man looks for pleasure and finds pain. Every pleasure seems happiness in outward appearance; it promises happiness, for it is the shadow of happiness, but just as the shadow of a person is not the person though representing his form, so pleasure represents happiness but is not happiness in reality.
According to this idea one rarely finds souls in this world who know what happiness is; they are constantly disappointed in one thing after another. That is the nature of life in the world; it is so deluding that if man were disappointed a thousand times he would still take the same path, for he knows no other. The more we study life, the more we realize how rarely there is a soul who can honestly say, 'I am happy.' Almost every soul, whatever his position in life, will say he is unhappy in some way or another; and if you ask him why, he will probably say that it is because he cannot attain to the position, power, property, possessions, or rank for which he has worked for years. Perhaps he is craving for money and does not realize that possessions give no satisfaction; perhaps he says he has enemies, or that those whom he loves do not love him. There are a thousand excuses for unhappiness that the reasoning mind will make.
But is even one of these excuses ever entirely correct? Do you think that if these people gained their desires they would be happy? If they possessed all, would that suffice? No, they would still find some excuse for unhappiness; all these excuses are only like covers over a man's eyes, for deep within is the yearning for the true happiness which none of these things can give. He who is really happy is happy everywhere, in a palace or in a cottage, in riches or in poverty, for he has discovered the fountain of happiness which is situated in his own heart. As long as a person has not found that fountain, nothing will give him real happiness.
The man who does not know the secret of happiness often develops avarice. He wants thousands, and when he gets them they do not satisfy him and he wants millions and still he is not satisfied; he wants more and more. If you give him your sympathy and service he is still unhappy; even all you possess is not enough, even your love does not help him, for he is seeking in a wrong direction, and life itself becomes a tragedy.
Happiness cannot be bought or sold, nor can you give it to a person who has not got it. Happiness in your own being, your own self, that self that is the most precious thing in life. All religions, all philosophical systems, have in different forms taught man how to find it by the religious path or the mystical way. And all the wise ones have in some form or another given a method by which the individual can find that happiness for which the soul is seeking.
Sages and mystics have called this process alchemy. The stories of the Arabian Nights which symbolize mystical ideas, are full of the belief that there is a philosopher's stone which will turn metals into gold by a chemical process. No doubt this symbolic idea has deluded men both in the East and West. Many have thought that a process exists by which gold can be produced. But this is not the idea of the wise; the pursuit of gold is for those who as yet are only children. For those who have the consciousness of reality gold stands for light or spiritual inspiration. Gold represents the color of light, and therefore an unconscious pursuit after light has made men seek for gold. But there is a great difference between real gold and false. It is the longing for true gold that makes man collect the imitation gold, ignorant that the real gold is within. He satisfies the craving of his soul in this way, as a child satisfies itself by playing with dolls.
This realization is not a matter of age. One man may have reached an advanced age and still be playing with dolls, his soul may be involved in the search for this imitation gold; while another may have begun in youth to see life in its real aspect. If one studied the transitory nature of life in the world and how changeable it is, and the constant craving of everyone for happiness, one would certainly endeavor at all costs to find something one could depend upon. Man placed in the midst of this ever-changing world yet appreciates and seeks for constancy somewhere. He does not know that he must develop the nature of constancy in himself; it is the nature of the soul to value that which is dependable. But is there anything in the world on which one can depend, which is above change and destruction? All that is born, all that is made, must one day face destruction. All that has a beginning has also an end; but if there is anything one can depend upon it is hidden in the heart of man, it is the divine spark, the true philosopher's stone, the real gold, which is the innermost being of man.
A person may follow a religion and yet not come to the realization of truth. But of what use is his religion to him if he is not happy? Religion does not mean depression and sadness. The spirit of religion should give happiness. God is happy. He is the perfection of love, harmony, and beauty. A religious person should be happier than one who is not religious. If a person who professes religion is always melancholy his religion is disgraced. The form has been kept, but the spirit lost. If the study of religion and mysticism does not lead to real joy and happiness, it may just as well not exist, for then it does not help to fulfill the purpose of life. The world today is sad and suffering as the result of terrible wars. The religion which answers the demand of life today is one which invigorates and gives life to souls, which illuminates the heart of man with the divine light which is already there. Not necessarily by any outer form, though for some a form may be helpful, but by showing that happiness which is the desire of every soul.
As for the question of how this method of alchemy is practiced, the whole process was explained by the alchemists in a symbolic way. They said gold is made out of mercury. The nature of mercury is to be ever-moving, but by a certain process the mercury is first stilled, and once stilled it becomes silver; then the silver has to be melted, and the juice of a herb is poured on to the molten silver which is thereby turned into gold. This of course gives only an outline, but one can find detailed explanations of the whole process. Many childlike souls have tried to make gold by stilling mercury and melting silver, and they have tried to find the herb; but they were deluded, and they had better have worked and earned money.
The real interpretation of this process is that mercury represents the nature of the ever-restless mind. Especially when he tries to concentrate does a person realize that the mind is ever restless. The mind is like a restive horse: when it is ridden it is more restive than when it is in the stable. Such is the nature of mind: it becomes more restless when one desires to control it; it is like mercury, constantly moving.
When by a method of concentration one has mastered the mind, one has taken the first step in the accomplishment of a sacred task. Prayer is concentration, reading is concentration, sitting and relaxing and thinking on one subject are all concentration. All artists, thinkers, and inventors have practiced concentration in some form. They have given their minds to one thing, and by focusing on one object have developed the faculty of concentration. But for stilling the mind a special method is necessary which is taught by the mystic, just as a singer is taught by the teacher of voice-production.
The secret of this is to be learnt in the science of breath. Breath is the essence of life, the center of life, and the mind may be controlled by a knowledge of the proper method of breathing. For this, instruction from a teacher is a necessity. For since the mystical cult of the East has become known in the West, books have been published, and teaching which had been kept as sacred as religion has been discussed in words. But these can never truly explain the mystery of that which is the center of man's very being. People read these books and begin to play with breath, and often instead of benefiting they injure both mind and body. There are also those who make a business of teaching breathing exercises for money, thus degrading a sacred thing. The science of breath is the greatest mystery there is, and for thousands of years it has been kept as a sacred trust in the schools of the mystics.
When the mind is under perfect control and no longer restless, one can hold a thought at will as long as one wishes. This is the beginning of phenomena. Some abuse these privileges and by dissipating the power thus obtained they destroy the silver before turning it into gold. The silver must be heated before it can melt, and with what? With that warmth which is the divine essence in the heart of man, which comes forth as love, tolerance, sympathy, service, humility, unselfishness, in a stream which rises and falls in a thousand drops, each drop of which could be called a virtue, all coming from that one stream hidden in the heart of man: the love element. And when it glows in the heart, then the actions, the movements, the tone of the voice, the expression, all show that the heart is warm. The moment this happens a man really lives. He has unsealed the spring of happiness which overcomes all that is jarring and inharmonious, and the spring has established itself as a divine stream.
After the heart is warmed by the divine element which is love, the next stage is the herb, which is the love of God. But the love of God alone is not sufficient; knowledge of God is also necessary. It is the absence of the knowledge of God which makes a man leave his religion, for there is a limit to man's patience. Knowledge of God strengthens man's belief in God, throws light on the individual and on life. Things become clear; every leaf on a tree becomes as a page of a holy book to one whose eyes are open to the knowledge of God. When the juice of the herb of divine love is poured on the heart, warmed by the love of his fellow men, then that heart becomes the heart of gold, the heart that expresses what God would express. Man has not seen God, but man has then seen God in man, and when this happens, then verily everything that comes from such a man comes from God Himself.

http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VI/VI_1.htm
Posted by Jeff Hogue at Monday, June 25, 2007