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Sayings of Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan

Bowl of Saki

July

7-1:
Man's pride and satisfaction in what he knows limits the scope of his vision.

7-2:
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.

7-3:
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.

7-4:
While man blames another for causing him harm, the wise man first takes himself to task.

7-5:
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.

7-6:
It is the message that proves the messenger, not the claim.

7-7:
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.

7-8:
While man judges another from his own moral standpoint, the wise man looks also at the point of view of another.

7-9:
While man rejoices over his rise and sorrows over his fall, the wise man takes both as the natural consequences of life.

7-10:
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.

7-11:
Do not bemoan the past; do not worry about the future; but try to make the best of today.

7-12:
He who can quicken the feeling of another to joy or to gratitude, by that much he adds to his own life.

7-13:
Praise cannot exist without blame; it has no existence without its opposite.

7-14:
Riches and power may vanish because they are outside ourselves; only that which is within can we call our own.

7-15:
The world is evolving from imperfection towards perfection; it needs all love and sympathy; great tenderness and watchfulness is requires from each one of us.

7-16:
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.

7-17:
We should be careful to take away from ourselves any thorns that prick us in the personality of others.

7-18:
There is a light within every soul; it only needs the clouds that overshadow it to be broken, for it to beam forth.

7-19:
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.

7-20:
Every blow in life pierces the heart and awakens our feeling to sympathize with others; and every swing of comfort lulls us to sleep, and we become unaware of all.

7-21:
A study of life is the greatest of all religions, and there is no greater or more interesting study.

7-22:
We can learn virtue even from the greatest sinner if we consider him as a teacher.

7-23:
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.

7-24:
There should be a balance in all our actions; to be either extreme or lukewarm is equally bad.

7-25:
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.

7-26:
Every purpose has a birth and death; therefore, God is beyond purpose.

7-27:
Belief and disbelief have divided mankind into so many sects, blinding its eyes to the vision of the oneness of all life.

7-28:
Spirit can only love spirit; in loving form it deludes itself.

7-29:
To love is one thing, to understand is another; he who loves is a devotee, but he who understands is a friend.

7-30:
Among a million believers in God there is scarcely one who makes God a reality.

7-31:
The soul feels suffocated when the doors of the heart are closed.