=kit081.txt

KIT 81 - PRACTICES LEADING TO ILLUMINATION

            "There comes a time in one's evolution when a passion
is awakened for the unattainable."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            1) Continually concentrate on the light radiated by
your eyes; imagine them to be two beams of light rather than
receptive to the light from the environment. Meanwhile keep
identifying with your whole aura.

"A sparkling soul flashes through the eyes."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            2) Hold your breath between inhaling and exhaling.
While you hold your breath, turn your eyes upwards. When exhaling
turn your eyes back to their forward position and represent your
glance to be made of two beams of light that cast their light upon
the environment. Do not focus on the profile of objects in the
environment; keep concentrating on the beams of light.

            "As one evolves, one naturally ceases to look down on
earth, but looks up to the heavens. If one seeks the heavens, one
must change the direction of looking."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            3) This practice will be ineffective unless you
entertain beautiful thoughts. The very thought of being a soul
rather than a body and mind will beautify your thoughts which will
have an immediate impact upon your facial expression. Conversely
your facial expression will affect your attunement. Therefore
smile if you can; otherwise there is no point in doing this
practice.

            "The light which comes from the soul, rises through
the heart and manifests outwardly in one's smile, is indeed the
light from heaven."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            4) On the other hand, the key to inviting your soul's
attunement to come through depends upon whether your thoughts
reflect that attunement.

"Heaven and hell are manifestations of agreeable and disagreeable
thought."
(HIK)

"The mind is a world, a world that one makes and in which one will
make one's life in the hereafter as a spider lives in the web it
has woven."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            5) Offset your sense of identity from its usual
setting so as to represent to yourself that you are not simply a
visitor on Planet Earth, but are a denizen of the heavens.

            "The one who lives in his mind is conscious of his
mind; the one who lives in his soul is conscious of his soul."
(HIK)

            "As the birds will never have a lasting attachment to
beasts, so it is among people: the wayfarer of the heavens can
never keep constantly attached to the dweller of the earth."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            6) Be aware of your nostalgia for the sublime.

            "Souls who have become conscious of the angelic
spheres, even in the smallest degree, hear the calling of that
sphere; and the discomfort they have in this world is that of
homesickness caused by the call of the angelic spheres."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            "The more closely a person is drawn to heaven, the
more the things of the earth lose their color and taste."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            7) You will find that if you give vent to your
nostalgia for your highest ideal, you will begin to identify
yourself with your soul.

            "The wonderful thing is that the soul already knows to
some extent that there is something behind the veil, that there is
something to be sought for in the higher spheres."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            8) Consider your body and mind as support systems for
your real being whom we shall call your soul. By so doing, you
will create an inner disposition which is favorable to sensing
what one means by the soul.

            "The soul manifesting as a body has diminished its
power considerably, even to the extent that it is not capable of
imagining for one moment the great power, life, and light it has
in itself. Once the soul realizes itself by becoming independent
of the body that surrounds it, the soul naturally begins to see in
itself the being of the spirit."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            9) Keep reminding yourself that you exist on several
levels simultaneously; that you can highlight one sphere or
another by your attunement.

            "The soul in its manifestation on earth, does not
change its plane. It lives in all spheres, though it is generally
conscious on only one plane. If it is only conscious of the earth
plane, it is impressed by the troubles and limitations of life on
earth...The soul during its life on earth and after does not
change its plane of existence. It simply quickens and transfuses
it with consciousness, and identifies itself with all the things
that it sees, and changes its own identity with the change of its
constantly changing vision."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            10) Now try to remember your condition at the
celestial level prior to your birth (or rather, conception). Know
that you continue to exist and function at that level now and
after death, accept you will have matured.

            "We live in the world to which we are awakened, and to
the world to which we are not awakened, we are asleep."
(HIK)

             "The soul has manifested in the world in order that
it may experience the different phases of existence and yet be
aware not to lose its way, but regain its freedom in addition to
the experience and knowledge it has gained in the world."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            11) You will get used to raising your consciousness at
will.

            "Illumination is obtained by rising above one's
earthly condition at the command of one's own will and realizing
one's immortal self which is God within."
(HIK)

            "The soul's unfoldment comes from its power which ends
in its breaking through the ties of the lower planes. It is free
by nature, and looks for freedom during its captivity. All the
holy beings of the world have become so by freeing the soul, its
freedom being the only object there is in life."
(HIK)

            "There is a state at which, by touching a particular
phase of existence, one feels raised above the limitations of life
and given that power and peace and freedom, that light and life
which belong to the source of all beings."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            12) Now as you exhale with open eyes, imagine that the
beams which you project are the light of your soul rather than the
light of your eyes. Besides, highlighting that light will make
your aura sparkle. Remember to clear the mind and emotions of any
sense of limitation or grudge otherwise the light you project will
not be the light of your soul.

            "As the sunshine from without lightens the whole
world, so the sunshine from within if it were raised would
illuminate the whole life, in spite of all seeming wrongs and
limitations."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            Such is the way to illumination.                      

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