Ask Inayat! - Query Troubleshooting and Examples

How to form an effective question or request:

This is a semantic search strategy which retrieves a variety of Inayat Khan's thoughts related to your particular topic, and then presents those results in a report.

That is, this search strategy is based on the concept of searching for direct quotes from Inayat Khan which seem to be related to your request. And that means that if your request involves a topic which Inayat Khan did not discuss in his books or papers, then the search engine will not be able to produce any useful results.

Questions, or requests, which are brief and to-the-point, using around 10 to 15 words, will generally receive a higher quality reply than queries which are long, rambling or disorganized.

The clarity and thoughtfulness of your question will have a great affect on the usefulness of the reply which you receive. If the reply does not seem to properly address your concerns, feel free to make some changes to the wording of your question, trying to express your issue more clearly, and submit a new request.

This project strives to get as close as possible to allowing you to directly "Ask Inayat" a spiritual or philosophical question related to his teachings, and discover how his spiritual message and his insightful viewpoints can help us better understand and rise above life's daily challenges.

Here are some simple rules along with explanations of how to get the best results:

When you make any request, the computer will interpret your request as saying: "Prepare a report for me based on all of the times which Inayat Khan spoke about my topic."

Consequently, if Inayat Khan never spoke about your topic, you may not receive a very useful reply.

I.)  Provide useful Context - The search engine needs to understand what sort of guidance you are seeking.

Don't expect a useful reply to a simple statement, such as:

      My neighbor's wife died.

In this case, the request is interpreted as: "Prepare a report for me based on all the times which Inayat Khan spoke about a neighbor's wife dying". Unfortunately, that is not something which he spoke to his students about, so your answer may not be as useful as it could be with some revisions to the request.

Try this instead, to put the focus on some concept, such as being of service:

       How can I be of service to my neighbor whose wife recently died? 

This works nicely because Inayat Khan often spoke of ways to be of service.

 
Similarly, avoid entering only a phrase such as:

    smiling forehead 

 Try this instead, to put the focus on your involvement in the matter:   

      How can I develop the smiling forehead? 

This works nicely because it helps the report generator focus upon your development.

 

II.)  Avoid Extraneous Terms - Don't make the search engine hunt for concepts unrelated to your topic

Don't tell the search engine to go hunt for irrelevant terms such as "Murshid", "HIK", "Inayat" or "you" in a query such as:

    What does Murshid say about peace and forgiveness?

In this case, the request is interpreted as: "Prepare a report for me based on all the times which Inayat Khan spoke about a murshid talking about peace and forgiveness".... which is probably not the desired query.

    Murshid, what do you think about peace and forgiveness?

Try this instead:

      Help me to more deeply understand the relationship of inner peace and forgiveness.

This works nicely because it eliminates the irrelevant terms.

III.)  Don't ask for specific books in a query such as:

    What does the Gayan say about beauty?

In this case, the request is interpreted as: "Prepare a report for me based on the times which Inayat Khan spoke about beauty and also spoke about the Gayan in the same lecture"... in the Gayan, Inayat Khan does not talk about the Gayan, and therefore this query does not achieve the desired result, which might be better achieved using the Standard Search Engine.

Try this instead:

      Help me to more deeply understand beauty.

Here's another very similar error:

    Show me the Gayan.

This Ask Inayat project is optimized to find what Inayat Khan said about a topic, and only looks at the actual text of the books, not the names of the books. Therefore it is not possible to use Ask Inayat! to go to a specific book.

Also note that there are a few esoteric papers which are not available on this web site, such as the Githas, Sangathas and Sangitas which are privately circulated from teacher to student when they feel the time is right, and I have chosen to not interfere with that tradition

To search for specific books or papers, try the Standard Search Engine.

IV.)  Non-English terms need to be spelled the same way as they appear on this website:

This search process often fails unless non-English words are spelled the same way as they are on this website.

In general, the best way to check the spelling is to use the Sufi Message Glossary

    Tell me about the prayer Khatum.

    What is the meaning of Shagal?

Try this instead:

      Tell me about the prayer Khatm.

      What is the meaning of Shaghl?

These alternatives work nicely because they use exactly the same spelling as is used on this website.

V.)   Here are some examples of well-formed questions and/or requests:

In what way is meditation helpful in our lives?

How can I be a better friend?

What is the Music of the Spheres?

What is the meaning of vairagya?

What is the meaning of scope?

What do you mean when you speak of  accommodation?

How can I best help a friend who is in deep despair?

Tell me about the lives and works of the great Sufi poets.

How can I remain kind when others confront me with anger or hatred?

Tell me about love, harmony and beauty.

How can we remain hopeful when democracy seems to be crumbling?

Should I befriend a person who is unreliable and unkind?

Please help me learn how to control the ego.

How is inner peace related to being of service to others?

What are the benefits of a smile?

 

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