=kitc20.txt

[ CAVEAT (sa):  In this KIT, and starting with Curriculum 19
(=kitc19.txt) quotes are not italicized, nor set
off in any other distinguishing font nor color.  Now in most
previous KITs, PVK often includes quotes from HIK with neither a
notation that it from HIK, nor a notation of the book and/or
subsection from which it was taken.
So in this KIT, and henceforth , I will not put in quotes anything
which has neither notation. ]

CURRICULUM OF THE SUFI ORDER

The teaching of Hazrat Inayat Khan
Presented and paraphrased by Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan
Including parallels with the ancient Sufis

LESSON 20
HOW DO YOU PROTECT YOURSELF FROM UNDESIRABLE IMPRESSIONS?

You wish to call a halt to the stress and disarray of the rat race
in which you are inevitably embroiled. You feel overstressed by
vying with the Jones and wish to protect yourself from the ego
trips of would-be friends. You seek a peaceful break from
continuous activity, solace from pent-up emotions, freedom from
the prison you may have built for yourself. You sit in as quiet a
place as you can find. You sit down to meditate, seeking
tranquility and composure.

Normally our thoughts are monitored by the need to take action. No
sooner we suspend activity, our mind has difficulty organizing
itself. This is precisely what we learn in meditation.

Notwithstanding, your mind is idling, apparently randomly, even
turbulently, agitated by undisclosed emotions that evade scrutiny.


PRACTICE:

Notice that your thinking meanders in subliminal, imponderable and
unsounded recesses called the unconscious only to surface
sometimes by erupting into assessments of your problems that in
the end prove unreliable. Observe that the, albeit, unwieldy
outreach of our unconscious is awkwardly squeezed into the narrow
purview of our personal bias.

Is it not surprising that Yoga devalidates that mode of thinking
as misleading (maya)? These constructs of our commonplace mind
cannot make sense of the wide context of what is implied behind
what we try to explain. If we watch them carefully, we will
realize that they are ambiguous, do not fit into a coherent
pattern. Consequently our mind toggles between one way of looking
at the problem then another, then perhaps still another. Hence the
aimless erring of our thoughts when we try to make them orderly.


PRACTICE:

Notice how impressions (including the good news and lovely
impressions) are imprinted on your mind. They take root in your
psyche, become part of your being, sometimes leave a mark in your
consciousness and might even die hard in your unconscious.

Observe how the thoughts of people sneak into your own thinking
without your noticing the difference. As a first step, spot
people's thoughts confused with yours.

They can no longer distinguish between their own thoughts and
feelings and those of someone else. But as soon as a man begins to
say, "I think like this, but I do not know why," or "I feel like
this, but I do not want to feel so," then he has gone down one
step below the normal state of mind. Philosophy, Psychology and
Mysticism

Now distinguish those impressions that are disturbing from those
that are enriching.


HOW CAN WE PROTECT OURSELVES FROM DISTURBING IMPRESSONS?

Let us distinguish two steps:

1) DISMISSING UNDESIRABLE IMPRESSIONS AS ALIEN BY AFFIRMING 'WHO I
AM.'


PRACTICE:

In a first step as you turn within, notice whether what you had
experienced when turned outside continues to live inside in your
memory, inset in your psyche.

"Instead of finding it within he always wants to find it without."
(HIK),  SOCIAL GATHEKAS

Observe that those impressions are not you, but ascertain that
they exercise an impact on your personality. They are always there
although they are mostly unnoticed. Therefore, in some manner,
they are part of this 'me' - intermeshed with this 'me' - although
we ordinarily think that they are the object of our consciousness,
the perceiving and conceiving subject. In meditation you can spot
them.

We carry impressions with us, maybe throughout our lives, unless
by the insight gained in meditation we are able to find them and
correct them if they are flawed.

"Each atom of this universe, conscious of its sickness, procures
for itself from within or without a means for its restoration."
(HIK),  SANGATHA I

The criterion delineating how desirable impressions are selected
is based upon whether they resonate with 'who you are.'


PRACTICE:

You can mark the keynote of 'who you are' by asking yourself what
are the values that you stand by which you preempt before other
values.

"It depends upon your discrimination whether to renounce things
momentarily precious for everlasting things or everlasting things
for things momentarily precious."
(HIK),  (SOCIAL GATHEKAS.) 

"When man has to choose between his spiritual and his material
profit, then he shows whether his treasure is on earth or in
heaven."
(HIK),  (THE COMPLETE SAYINGS)

The criterion defining the metaphoric sentinel in you is your
sense of 'me or not me' (as the immune system in our body rejects
a transplant that does not conform to our DNA). It is a strong
sense of your identity, your values, your motivations that will
help you reject any thought, impression or emotion that is
incompatible or obstructive. Otherwise we suffer from an
indigestion of impressions which we cannot deal with.


PRACTICE:

To get a better sense of who you are, observe when perceiving
impressions from the physical or psychological environment whether
you feel in resonance with them or whether they are not in keeping
with what you value.


COMPLETION BY DISCOVERING AFFINITY

There is a totally other dimension of who we are, of our identity,
in addition to the personal, peri-personal (or cosmic), subliminal
and transcendental dimensions of our identity. Actually, who we
think we are is only half of our total being. Whether we know it
or not (generally not) our complete person includes that elusive
'other half.' Our complete person is called a syzygy - two in one:
animus, anima. Even the stars, the electrons exist as
interdependent pairs.

Two is a part on one, growing out of one.

The other half is what is commonly called our twin soul; he or she
may be known to the half we normally think we are, or we may never
have met in this world, or he or she may not be incarnated. The
encounter on earth (ever so rare as in the cases of Romeo and
Juliet or Leila and Majnun or Abelard and Eloise) is of course
dramatic and ecstatic for one's soul and heart. Even body
functions aroused are sublimated. Consequently the search for the
twin soul on earth or in the higher spheres.

Unfortunately in these and most cases the relationship with the
twin soul does not fit into conventional boundaries and is
condemned by conservatives and conformists.

Every channel it takes must necessarily be but a limited
expression of it.

ASIF, MIR MAHBUD ALI KHAN:
"When shall the mocking world withhold its blame,
When shall men cease to darken thus my name,
Calling the love which is my pride, my shame?
The joy of love no heart can feel alone,
The fire of love at first unseen, unknown,
In flames of love from either side is blown.
O, Asif, tread thy pathway carefully
Across this difficult world; for canst thou see,
A further journey is awaiting thee."

We may distinguish two prototypes of relationships: (i) where our
characteristics differ and, ideally, complete each other; (ii)
where we find ourselves in sync with a person similar to ourselves
- this is affinity. Discovering oneself in 'another oneself' helps
one to know oneself. That is why one is continually in search of
oneself in a person who is better able to actualize who one is
potentially than oneself. On the other hand, one is enriched by
finding in a person different from oneself characteristics that
one does not have, or has insufficiently. These are the forces
that draw people together. There are, of course, degrees of
affinity or completion, but this attractive force reaches its
optimum point in the unique case of the twin soul.

In most cases people settle for a relationship (for convenience -
or not so convenient) that satisfies perfunctory needs. But the
more sensitive and idealistic a person becomes, the more crucial
the need for affinity or completion through complementarity. It
becomes desperate.

COMPLETION THROUGH 'OTHER'

PRACTICE:

Notice that as you become more open to people, more tolerant, you
will be able to ascribe some value to beings or things that at
first seemed out of sync with your being. Normally to protect
yourself you would try to reject those impressions that are not in
harmony with your being precisely as one would reject as food the
shell of a walnut or something too bitter to eat. However the more
you are able to integrate impressions that are alien to your
being, in an all-encompassing purview, the more cosmic you will
become. These will enrich one's being. HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN
distinguishes self-sufficiency from completion.

"There are two aspects of fullness: completion and perfection.
Every new experience, thought, imagination, principle, ideal, adds
to one's knowledge that makes man complete. At the same time, by
trying to be self-sufficient within oneself, void of all things
outside, perfection is attained."
[ I (sa) reckon that was a quote from HIK ]

That which is gathered from outside is a concretization of an
inherent (proto-critic) knowledge that lies virtually in the
subliminal depths of our psyche. For example, how do you know that
a round table is round or an orange is spherical? Because
roundness is implicit regardless of tables and a sphere is an
innate notion irrespective of oranges or planets. By arousing
these inherent notions, one discovers a bountiful underpinning of
what we call reality.

HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN points out that the actualization of the divine
archetypes in the exemplars adds something to the state prior to
existence.

"The divine mind becomes completed after manifestation. The
creator's mind is made of His own creation. The experience of
every soul becomes the experience of the divine mind." 
(HIK), THE UNITY OF RELIGIOUS IDEALS

However he points out that grasping the sense of archetypal
principles accedes to a higher sense of meaningfulness.

"At the same time, by trying to be self-sufficient within oneself,
void of all things outside, perfection is attained."
(HIK),  SANGITHA I

The psychological function that fosters completion parallels the
second physical immune system. For example one imbibes food that
does not conform to one's DNA. To do this, one needs to transmute
the amino-acid chains to conform to one's DNA.

2) HOW DOES ONE DEAL WITH THE DISTURBING IMPRESSIONS?

An example is found in that our DNA genes evolve further to adapt
to new infections. A storm or a psychological confrontation may
clear a blocked situation. While at first disturbing, these
impressions prove enriching if one practices mastery.

"The entire system of the yogis is based upon making themselves
acquainted with something their nature revolts against. The will
can be strengthened by practicing it, by exerting it to overcome
obstacles without and within, by acting contrary to our
inclination, by holding impulses in check, not allowing them to go
to the full length of their swing, by refraining from any action
or expression to which we may be inclined, by not allowing
ourselves to be overcome by a fit of anger, of laughter, of tears,
by extreme joy or sorrow or whatever mood, and either changing the
emotion to its opposite, anger to mildness, laughter to sorrow,
tears to joy; by checking the emotion and effacing it, or by,
while letting it have its course, yet holding it in our control."
(HIK),  SUPPLEMENTARY PAPERS

The T-cells of our body destroy the anti-genes by absorbing them,
then disintegrating them. How can undesirable thoughts be
destroyed? Must this always be done by the person who created
them?

"Yes, it is the creator of the thought who must destroy it, and it
is not in every person's power to do it. Yet the mind which has
reached mastery, which can create as it wishes, this same mind can
destroy."
(HIK),  (MYSTICISM OF SOUND AND MUSIC.) 

"A man who is helpless before his own mind is helpless before
everything in the world."
(HIK),  (PHILOSOPHY, PSYCHOLOGY, MYSTICISM.) 

"Those whose minds are working mechanically like a machine are
just reflecting the activity of those around them." 
(HIK), (IN AN EASTERN ROSE GARDEN.) 

"The disturbing thoughts which crowd into the mind during
concentration can only be dispersed by the power of the will;
otherwise the mind will become occupied with agreeable or
disagreeable impressions from the external world against our
desire." 
(HIK), (SUFI TEACHINGS.) 

"The purpose of life is to attain to mastery; this is the motive
of the spirit, and it is through this motive at the back of it
that the whole universe is created." 
(HIK), (HEALING AND THE MIND WORLD)


PRACTICE:

You will find that to control your thoughts you need to configure
them in a meaningful, coherent, congruent way. This is similar to
how one can train a horse or an elephant to obey better if they
perceive a sense of orderliness. Keep training your will to
control your thoughts to organize themselves in an orderly way. If
your thoughts stray, bring them back just like you would restrain
a horse from grazing grass on the side of the road.

"One must develop that mental strength, that will-power which will
keep all thoughts away which come into one's mind during
concentration and take one's mind away from the object on which
one focuses it." 
(HIK), (SUFI TEACHINGS.) 

"And therefore the great mastery is to stand before one's own mind
and make it think what one wishes it to think, and make it feel
what one wishes it to feel." 
(HIK), (PHILOSOPHY, PSYCHOLOGY, MYSTICISM)

Observe that your motivation about being creative of your
personality will confer a definite orientation to your thoughts
thereby strengthening your concentration. Concentrate on a thought
that is meaningful to your unfoldment; you will notice that this
will dismiss thoughts that detract one from one's objective.

HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN draws our attention to the fact that we are
endowed with the divine power. It is buried in our free will and
can be aroused by discovering our divine inheritance.

"Realize that you have a power which is greater than any other and
that power is your will."
(HIK),  (SUPPLEMENTARY PAPERS.) 

"It is this spark which may be called the divine heritage of man,
in which he sees the divine power of God, the soul of man."
(HIK),  (HEALING AND THE MIND WORLD.) 

"The soul has in it a potentiality, a creative power as its divine
heritage."
(HIK),  (THE ALCHEMY OF HAPPINESS.) 

"The immense power that the soul-magnetism gives shows that it is
divine magnetism."
(HIK),  (HEALING AND THE MIND WORLD.) 

"On coming to earth, man, who is the instrument of God, loses
connection with that divine power whose instrument he is, thus
keeping not only himself but even God from helping His will to be
done."
(HIK),  (THE ALCHEMY OF HAPPINESS.)

DELEGATING THE DIVINE WILL

HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN is saying that divine will is delegated by
discovering in our identity our divine inheritance. One may ask:
how does this tally with his statement:

"The soul is God but man has a mind and body of his own."
(HIK)

HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN sees how the divine will and human will are
connected.

Now coming too [ typo for 'to' -- sa ] the question of the will of
man as opposed to the will of God: which is which? We understand
the difference when we perceive that the nature of willpower
differs only according to whether it exists in its fullness, or
whether it is limited. The willpower in its fullness is divine
power; the willpower in its limited state is the individual will."
(HIK),  (IN AN EASTERN ROSE GARDEN.) 

"It is not a human power, it is a divine power in man."
(HIK),  (MYSTICISM OF SOUND AND MUSIC.) 

"We each have our free will; and that free will gives us the power
to work to some extent within the activity of the whole." 
(HIK), (THE ALCHEMY OF HAPPINESS)

What stands in our way is our identifying with our commonplace
self-image that is incomplete and falls short of who we are.

"Free will is the mighty power, the God power hidden in man, and
it is ignorance which keeps man from his divine heritage. The
spirit of limitation is always a hindrance to realizing the spirit
of mastery and practicing it. Man is powerless in spite of the
power which is hidden in him. The powerlessness, the experience of
being powerless, is his ignorance of the power within him. One
asks can a limited man be conscious of perfection? The answer is
that the limited man has limited himself; he is limited because he
is conscious of his limitation. It is not his true self which is
limited; what is limited is what he holds, not himself."
(HIK),  (THE ALCHEMY OF HAPPINESS.) 

"That a soul is born on earth helpless, and out of this
helplessness it grows and then learns to help itself."
(HIK),  (SUPPLEMENTARY PAPERS)


PRACTICE:

Accounting for your awareness of your divine inheritance funneled
into your individual uniqueness, while representing the divine
will as overarching your individual will, can you figure out what
it would mean in your life to, as Hazrat Inayat Khan said, 'work
to some extent within the activity of the whole'?

Our ego obstructs us from delegating the divine will.

"Now the question is, "How can one get in touch with that Almighty
Power?" As long as one's little personality stands before one, as
long as one cannot get rid of it, as long as one's own person and
all that is connected with it interests one, one will always find
limitations." 
(HIK), (VOLUME I.) 

"The sages in the East have, therefore, mastered concentration,
that by its help they might be able to wipe off all that is
undesirable, since it is human to err. But one arrives at this
power by collecting all the good one can in the mind, so that evil
may be naturally repulsed. By constantly doing so one acquires
mastery."
(HIK),  (SPIRITUAL LIBERTY.) 

"All the things that are accomplished in this world are
accomplished by the power of mind. It is not till a person has
gained mastery over his mind, till he is above this activity, that
he is a ruling power, a true person." 
(HIK), (IN AN EASTERN ROSE GARDEN)

"In order to stand firm against the disharmony that comes from
without, one must first practice to stand firm against all that
comes from within, from one's own self." 
(HIK), (SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS GATHEKAS.) 

"By the gratification of the ego man falls from kingship into
slavery, and in the end his own life becomes a burden to himself.
And in order to gain his own kingdom he must destroy the illusion
that in satisfying his ego he shows his power."
(HIK),  (GATHA I.) 

"Man is inferior in his selfishness; when he rises above self, he
is superior. Therefore the right to develop will power is the
right of the superior man."
(HIK),  (GATHA II)

THE OUTCOME

The divine manner becomes manifest through man. Where does this
power come from? I would answer, "The Divine Spirit is hidden in
the heart of man, and the more the heart is disclosed, the more
the Divine Spirit finds the chance of rising to its fullness."

"When man arrives at this conviction that he himself and God are
not two, and if God is the sun that his soul is the ray, and if
God is the root that he is the fruit."
(HIK),  GITHA III

"If he knew to what little extent he is free he would be
frightened. But then there is one consolation, and that is that in
man there is a spark somewhere hidden in his heart which alone can
be called a source of free will. If this spark is tended a person
has greater vitality, greater energy, greater power. All he thinks
will come true, all he says will make an impression, all he does
will have effect. What does a mystic do? He blows this spark in
order to bring it to a flame till it comes to a blaze. This gives
him the inspiration, the power which enables him to live in this
world the life of free will."
(HIK),  HEALING AND THE MIND WORLD

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