
THE INNER LIFE
The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan
The Law of the Inner Life
Those who live the inner life
begin to see a law which is hidden from the average man. There is the
law of nature which is known as science, and that of life which is
called moral law; but beyond science and morals there is another law.
It may be called occult law, or in other words inner law; a law which
can be understood by an open heart and an awakened soul.
This law manifests to the
view of the seer in many and varied forms; sometimes it appears in a
quite contrary form to the effect that it has later on in its
manifestation. The eye of the seer becomes a sword which cuts open, so
to speak, all things, including the hearts of men, and sees clearly
through all they contain; but it is a cutting open which is at the
same time healing.
In the Qur'n it is said,
'He who taught with the pen, taught man that which he knew not.' And
what does that mean? It means that to the man who lives the inner
life, everything that he sees becomes a written character and this
whole visible world a book. He reads it as plainly as a letter written
by his friend. And besides this, he hears a voice within which becomes
to him a language. It is an inner language; its words are not the same
as the words of the external language. It is a divine language. It is
a language without words, which can only be called a voice, and yet it
serves as a language. It is like music, which is as clear as a
language to the musician. Another person enjoys music, but only the
musician knows exactly what it says, what every note is, how it is
expressed and what it reveals. Every phrase of music to him has a
meaning; every piece of music is a picture to him. But this is so only
with a real musician.
Some people profess to
have clairvoyance and clairaudience, and very often delude others by
giving false prophecies; but the one who lives the inner life does not
need to prophecy; he does not need to tell others what he sees and
what he hears. It is not only that he is not inclined to do so, but
also he sees no necessity for it; besides, he cannot fully
express himself. How difficult it is to translate fully the poetry of
one language into the poetry of another! Yet it is only interpreting
the ideas of one part of the earth to the people of another part of
the same earth. How much more difficult, then, it must be to translate
or to interpret the ideas of the divine world to the human world! In
what words can they be given? what phrases can be used for them? and
after being given even in words and phrases, who would understand
them? It is the language of a different world.
Therefore, when the
prophets and seers of all ages have given to humanity a certain
message and law, it was only the giving of a drop from the ocean which
they received into their hearts. And this also is a great difficulty,
for even this drop is not intelligible. Does every Christian
understand the Bible? Does every Muslim know the Qur'n, or every
Hindu the Vedanta? No, they may know the words of the verses, but not
always the real meaning. Among the Muslims there are some who know the
whole Qur'n by heart, but that does not fulfil the purpose. The whole
of nature is a secret book, yet it is an open book to the seer. How
can man translate it? how can man interpret it? It is like trying to
bring the sea on to the land; one can bring it, but how much?
The understanding of this
law gives quite a different outlook on life to the seer; it makes him
more inclined to appreciate all that is good and beautiful, to admire
all that is worth admiring, to enjoy all that is worth enjoying, to
experience all that is worth experiencing. It awakens the sympathy of
the seer to love, to tolerate, to forgive, to endure and to
sympathize; it gives the inclination to support, to protect, and to
serve those in need. But can he say what he really feels, how he
really feels? No, he cannot say it even to himself.
Therefore the one who
lives the inner life is all things; he is as a physician who knows
things that a physician cannot know; an astrologer who knows much more
than the astrologer; an artist who knows that which an artist could
not know; a musician who knows what a musician does not know; a poet
who knows what the poet cannot perceive. For he becomes the artist of
the entire world, the singer of the divine song; he becomes an
astrologer of the entire cosmos, which is hidden from the sight of
men. He does not need outer things as the signs of knowing the eternal
life. His very life is the evidence of the everlasting life. To him
death is a shadow; it is a change; it is turning the face from one
side to the other. To him all things have their meaning, every
movement in this world: the movement of the water, of the air, of the
lightning and the thunder and the wind. Every movement has a message
for him, it brings to him some sign. To another person it is only the
thunder, it is only a storm, but to him every movement has its
meaning. And when he rises in his development, not only has every
movement its meaning, but in and above every movement there is his
command. It is that part of his life which brings him mastery.
Besides this, in all
affairs of this world, of individuals and multitudes, which confuse
people, which bring them despair, and cause them depression, which
give joy and pleasure, which amuse them, he sees through all. He knows
why it comes, whence it comes, what is behind it, what is the cause of
it, and behind the seeming cause what is the hidden cause; and if he
wished to trace the cause behind the cause he could trace back to the
primal cause, for the inner life is lived by living with the primal
cause, by being in unity with the primal cause. Therefore the one who
lives the inner life, in other words, who lives the life of God, God
is in him and he is in God.
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