27 - On the Teachings of Murshid

When one studies Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan's teachings in depth, it becomes clear why they can never spread quantitatively in our day and age; it is too deep for the generality continually inveigled in concerns regarding material well-being. The more popular gurus appeal to the masses, fostering euphoria. Alternately, those burned out by life seek escape in a retreat. The traditional eastern teachings cater to that otherworldly attunement devised for monks and hermits. But Murshid's teaching lays emphasis on spirituality in everyday life and most people are too involved in the way things appear from their personal focus to be able to maintain the divine perspective throughout.

It is enough of a hassle to keep one's head and that of one's family above water for sheer survival without, in addition, striving to see God everywhere and identifying with the divine dimension of one's being. This is exactly what the mureeds who leave the Order or become inactive in the Order pretext: day to day life is so demanding that there is not time for anything else. The support system takes over. It is as though one were so concentrated upon the technicalities of an orchestra that one failed to be inspired by the music.

Yes, It is clear that the answer is enhanced awareness of what is enacted in life on an enormous scale rather than escape. The answer is not something added to everyday life but something that enhances one's effectiveness (if one is in the pursuit of excellence) by placing everything in a cosmic perspective. Murshid stresses this effectiveness in fostering transformation by never losing sight of the overall reality as a pervasive presence in the middle of daily activity. "It is the consciousness of God who is never absent that gives that "illumination, those riches, that strength, that peace to the soul for which the soul has taken the journey through this world of limitation." Actually. this is the new spirituality, the next step. Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan, like all pioneers. was In advance of his time.

To appreciate the whole value of Murshid's teaching, one needs to be fine-tuned, have a subtle mind. and have reached a stage of maturity in one's life. It is amazing what the awareness that "this is all one being" (however inadequate our representation of this being Is) can do to a human being's unfoldment.

"When the deeper side of man's nature is touched, what is hidden in it manifests on the surface." But for this manifestation, one needs to overcome the commonplace concept of God held by the generality. Murshid stresses how we confuse our concepts of God with the reality of God.

"At present, there exists in the world, only a belief in God; God exists in the fragmentation, in the ideal. It is the soul that has touched divine perfection that brings to the earth a living God who, without this soul, would remain only in the heavens."


Murshid is talking of a practical knowledge rather than a theoretical one. We think that we could only actuate the reality behind all of this if we could know it, but we can only know it by actuating it. This is Sufism. On the other hand, even though the God ideal is only the projection of an act of imagination, it triggers transformation for the reason that creative imagination at a cosmic scale is the very act that produces the universe. In that act, we are projecting the divinity of our being into the God ideal. This is actually the universal, undefiled dimension at the core of our personality. By identifying with it, we reach maturity in the blossoming of the seed of our personality. This changes our bearing, our atmosphere, and our manner of handling problems beyond recognition.

"Once man has arrived at that patch. he begins to express the manner of God in everything he does. It is the kingly manner." Pir-O-Murshid has a way of saying things that demonstrates that he is experiencing what he says. This results in insights couched in a nutshell in a unique way that have the force to transform one's life.

For those who realize what a treasure house he has entrusted to those who are able to value it, the onus lies in knowing how to present it in a way that people can assimilate progressively. The current word for that is packaging. A jewel needs to be presented in a setting, a bezel. Many have been exposed to the teaching and left because we failed to present it in a manner within their reach. I find it is my responsibility at this stage in my life, to meet this need, in fact, to meet this challenge. It may mean less travelling, less rushing about, but I will be laying a deeper foundation for the work of the Sufi Centers, for the building up of a hard core of dedicated people, and for coordinating their activities. That is the Sufi Order in motion. pulsing like a quasar. radiating. Perhaps that is the meaning of the word 'Movement' that Murshid added to the word Sufi - an Order in movement.
