When the human heart becomes conscious of God, it becomes like the sea: it extends its waves to friend and foe. Man's greatest privilege is to become a suitable instrument of God. The heart of the Holy One is the gate of God's shrine.
The wave is the sea itself yet, when it rises in the form of a wave, it is the wave and when you look at the whole of it, it is the sea.
How can the unlimited Being be limited? All that seems limited is in its depth beyond all limitations.
We are always searching for God afar off, when all the while He is nearer to us than our own soul.
Gentleness, mildness, respect, humility, modesty, self-denial, conscientiousness, tolerance and forgiveness are considered by the Sufi as the attributes which produce harmony within one's own soul as well as within that of another.
What is called sympathy, kindness, mercy, goodness, pity, compassion, gentleness, humanity, appreciation, gratefulness, and service - in reality, it is love.
He who expects to change the world will be disappointed; he must change his view. When this is done, then tolerance will come, forgiveness will come, and there will be nothing he cannot bear.
How can one explain spiritual progress? What is it? What is it like? Spiritual progress is the changing of the point of view.
In order to learn forgiveness, man must first learn tolerance.
Forbearance, patience and tolerance are the only conditions which keep two individual hearts united.
Great tenderness and watchfulness is required from each one of us.
All will help you if you will help yourself.
He who can quicken the feeling of another to joy or to gratitude, by that much he adds to his own life.
He who makes room in his heart for others, will himself find accommodation everywhere... Heart talks to heart.
The work of the inner life is to make God a reality, so that He is no more an imagination; that this relation that man has with God may seem to him more real than any other relation in this world. And when this happens then all relationships, however near and dear, become less binding. But atthe same time a person does not thus become cold, he becomes more loving.
Sadness comes from limitation in different forms, from lack of perception, from lack of power over oneself and over conditions, and from lack of that substance which is happiness itself and which is love.
The true ego does not know sorrow; its true being is happiness, for the real ego is God and God is happiness.
Happiness, which is sought after by every soul, has its secret in the knowledge of the self. Man seeks for happiness, not because happiness is his sustenance, but because happiness is his own being.
Throughout the whole journey on the spiritual path, the main thing that has to be accomplished is the forgetting of the false ego.
Spiritual attainment is attuning oneself to a higher pitch. As the shadow is evident yet non-existent, so is evil.
Do not bemoan the past, do not worry about the future, but try to make the best of today.
The universe is like a dome; it vibrates to that which you say in it, and answers the same back to you; so also is the law of action; we reap what we sow.
There is one God and one truth, one religion and one mysticism; call it Sufism or Christianity or Hinduism or Buddhism, whatever you wish. As God cannot be divided, so mysticism cannot be divided.
I have seen all souls as my soul, and realized my soul as the soul of all.
Seek Him in all souls, good or bad, wise and foolish, attractive and unattractive; in the depths of each there is God.
Some people look for a beautiful place, others make a place beautiful.
By our trust in the divine beauty in every person we develop that beauty in ourselves.
Instead of lamenting your fate, create your world.
Don't be concerned about being disloyal to your pain by being joyous.
There is no greater scripture than nature, for nature is life itself.
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... If it were not for pain, life would be most uninteresting, for it is by pain that the heart is penetrated.
Every person, however should be able to care for himself by prayer, by meditation, by silence, and to cherish that belief in perfect health and root out the belief in illness.
The Sufi’s tendency is to look at everything from two points of view: from his own and that of another.
What is Sufism? It is wisdom. To learn wisdom at every step on the path of life is the only work of the Sufi.
Every moment has its special message.
Everything in life is speaking in spite of it's apparent silence.
At death comes leisure. After death the mind comes to greater life, a life more real than here.
Love from above is forgiveness; from below, devotion.
Love lies in service; only that which is done, not for fame or name, not for the appreciation or thanks of those for whom it is done, is love's service.
Love is the divine Mother's arms; when those arms are spread, every soul falls into them.
Divine sound is the cause of all manifestation. The knower of the mystery of sound knows the mystery of the whole universe.
Until the heart is empty, it cannot receive the knowledge of God.
The external life is but the shadow of the inner reality.
No one will experience in life what is not meant for him.
Every man's path is for himself; let him accomplish his own desires that he may thus be able to rise above them to the eternal goal.
That person becomes conqueror of life who learns to control his tongue.
Fighting with another makes war, but struggling with one’s self brings peace.
Life is a continual battle. Man's constant struggle with outer things gives a chance to the foes who exist in his own being. And he alone is victorious who has conquered himself.
The final victory in the battle of life for every soul is when he has risen above the things which once he most valued.
Do not let your own mind be impressed by the depression of your friend. If you do, you will have taken the germ of his disease.
No-one has seen God and lived. To see God we must be non-existent.
If God is to be found anywhere, it is in man's heart, which is love.
The whole purpose of life is to make God a reality.
Above law is love; above love is the Beloved.
Happy is he who does good to others; miserable is he who expects good from others.
Good deeds, kindness, forgiveness, tolerance, acts of love, none of these are ever lost, and some day they will return to us.
A person however learned and qualified in his life's work in whom gratitude is absent, is devoid of that beauty of character which makes personality fragrant.
To weigh, to measure, to examine, to express an opinion on a great personality, one must first rise to the same development.
One is never so strong as when one is broken.
The heart is not living until it has experienced pain.
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.
The heart when it is not living and making its life a life of love, feels out of place; and all the discomfort of life comes from this... The soul feels suffocated when the doors of the heart are closed.
Joy and sorrow are the light and shade of life; without light and shade no picture is clear.
If there is anything that will bring satisfaction it is diving deep into Love, and then we shall realize that there is nothing which is not just; we shall never again say that anything is unjust. This is the point the wise reach, and they call it the culmination of wisdom.
Discussion is for those who say, what I say is right, and what you say is wrong. A sage never says such a thing hence, there is no discussion.
He who arrives at the state of indifference without experiencing interest in life is incomplete and apt to be tempted by interest at any moment; but he who arrives at the state of indifference by going through interest really attains the blessed state.
The true lover of God keeps his love silently hidden in his heart, like a seed sown in the ground, and if the seedling grows, it grows in his action towards his fellow-man. He cannot act except with kindness, he cannot feel anything but forgiveness; every movement he makes, everything he does, speaks of his love, but not his lips.
Love that is free from attachment is the love of sages.
The great teachers of humanity become streams of Love.
He who fights his nature for his ideal is a saint; he who subjects his ideal to his realization of truth is the master.
With the maturity of his soul, a man desires to probe the depths of life, he desires to discover the power latent within him, he longs to know the sources and goal of his life, he yearns to understand the aim and meaning of his life, he wishes to understand the inner significance of things, and he wants to uncover all that is covered by name and form. He seeks insight into cause and effect, he wants to touch the mystery of time and space, and he wishes to find the missing link between God and man — where man ends, where God begins.
Is a Sufi a follower of Islam? The word Islam means 'peace'; this is the Arabic word. The Hebrew word is Salem (Jeru-salem). Peace and its attainment in all directions is the goal of the world.
Be polite to all. Be prejudiced against no one. Bear no malice against your worst enemy. Blessed are they who make willing sacrifices in kindness. Consider your responsibility sacred. Do not look down upon the one who looks up to you. Do nothing which will make your conscience feel guilty. Extend your help willingly to those in need. Guard the secrets of friends as your most sacred trust. Influence no one to do wrong. Judge not another by your own law. Prove trustworthy in all your dealings.
In order to arrive at spiritual attainment two gulfs must be crossed: the sea of attachment and the ocean of detachment.
The solution to the problem of the day is the awakening of the consciousness of humanity to the divinity within.
It is the purity of the soul itself that gives the tendency towards cleanliness of body.
All forms of worship or prayer must draw man closer to God.
All the disharmony of the world caused by religious differences is the result of man's failure to understand that religion is One, truth is One, God is One; How can there be two religions?
The aim of all religions and philosophies is the understanding and the realization of unity.Your work in life must be your religion, whatever your occupation may be.
Insight into life is the real religion, which alone can help men to understand life.
The religion of the mystics is a steady progress towards unity….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
I work simply, not troubling about results. My satisfaction is in accomplishing the work which is given to me, to my best ability, and I leave the effects to the cause.
There should be a balance in all our actions is to be either extreme or lukewarm is equally bad.
He who is looking for a reward is smaller than his reward; he who has renounced a thing has risen above it.
The desire of an infant to look at a thing, to tear it to pieces and see what is inside it, shows that it is the soul's desire to look into life, to understand life.
Through matter the soul attains to its highest realization; therefore, the physical body is a necessity for the fulfillment of its purpose.
The question, "What is the purpose of manifestation?" may be answered in one word: satisfaction, the satisfaction of God.
Self-pity is the worst poverty; it overwhelms man until he sees nothing but illness, trouble, and pain.
Self-pity is the worst poverty. When a person says, "I am to be pitied," before he says anything more he has diminished himself by half; and what is said further diminishes him totally.
Worry comes from self-pity. When the self is forgotten, there is no worry. Worry comes also from fear, and fear comes from the clouds of ignorance. Light breaks the clouds.
Do not boast of your good deeds. Do not reproach others, making them firm in their faults. Do not spare yourself in the work which you must accomplish. Do not take advantage of a person's ignorance. Harm no one for your own benefit. Make no false claims. Render your services faithfully to all who require them. Seek not profit by putting someone in straits. Speak not against others in their absence.
It is not our situation in life, but our attitude towards life that makes us happy or unhappy.
Right and wrong depend upon attitude and situation, not upon the action.
The right attitude in life is to keep a balance between justice and kindness.
Mastery lies not merely in stilling the mind, but in directing it towards whatever point you desire.
The soul is either raised or cast down by the effect of its own thought, speech, and action.
Verily the man who considers human feelings is spiritual.
The awakened heart says, "I must give, I must not demand." Thus it enters a gate that leads to a constant happiness.
Every thought, speech and action that is natural, sound and loving, is virtue; that which lacks these qualities is sin.
The words that enlighten the soul are more precious than jewels.
One can never think too many times of the wish one has. Dream about it, think about it and imagine it, keep it in mind, retain it in mind and do everything possible towards its fulfillment - but with poise, with tranquility, with patience, with confidence, with ease, and not by thinking hard about it.
While man rejoices over his rise and sorrows over his fall, the wise man takes both as the natural consequences of life.
With trust in God, with good will, self-confidence, and a hopeful attitude towards life, man will always win his battle, however difficult.
When one praises the beauty of God, one's soul is filled with bliss.
God is truth, and truth is God.
No man has the power to teach another the truth; man must discover it himself.
The person, who is in tune with the universe, becomes like a radio receiver through which the Voice of the universe is transmitted.
To love is one thing, to understand is another. He who loves is a devotee, but he who understands is a friend.
Every person desires that there would be in the world someone who understands him well, at least as well as he understands himself.
When speech is controlled, the eyes speak; the glance says what words can never say.
As one can see when the eyes are open, so one can understand when the heart is open.
For the value of everything exists for man only so long as he does not understand it. When he has fully understood, the value is lost, be it the lowest thing or the highest thing.
The sea of life is in constant motion, no one can stop its ever-moving waves. The Master walks over the waves, the wise man swims in the water, but the ignorant man is drowned in his effort to cross.
Behind us all is one spirit and one life; how then can we be happy if our neighbour is sad?
The service of God means that we each work for all.
When the mind and body are restless, nothing in life can be accomplished. Success is the result of control.
My intuition never fails me, but I fail whenever I do not listen to it.
Let courage be thy sword and patience be thy shield, my soldier.
When man rises above the sense of duty then duty becomes his pleasure.
Foundational principles of Universal Sufism:
1. There is one God; the Eternal, the Only Being; None exists save He.
2. There is one master; the guiding spirit of all souls that constantly leads all followers toward the light.
3. There is one holy book; the sacred manuscript of nature, the only Scripture that can enlighten the reader.
4. There is one religion; unswerving progress in the right direction toward the Ideal, which fulfills every soul's life purpose.
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 brotherhood; the human brotherhood which unites the children of earth indiscriminately in the fatherhood of God. This was later adapted by followers to; "There is one Family, the Human Family, which unites the Children of Earth indiscriminately in the Parenthood of God."
7. There is one moral; the love which springs forth from self-denial and blooms in deeds of beneficence. ... (later alternative; "which springs forth from a willing heart, surrendered in service to God and Humanity, and which 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; true knowledge of our being, within and without, which is the essence of Wisdom.
10. There is one path; annihilation of the false ego in the real (later alternative; "the effacement of the limited self in the Unlimited"), which raises the mortal to immortality, in which resides all perfection.
You Can Win, Shiv Khera
