“Mastery” – Hazrat Inayat Khan

… Mastery is not only a means of accomplishing the things of the world, but it is that by which a person fulfils the purpose of his life. It is not necessary for man to leave all the things of the world and go in to retreat. He can attend to his business, to his profession, to his duties in life and yet at the same time develop this spirit in himself which is the spirit of mastery.

… The result of concentration depends upon how much one loves the object of attainment. However great a person may be in holding the thought firmly in mind, he cannot bring as great results as a person who loves the object he holds in his concentration.

… A person who desires an object is smaller than the object. But when he attains the object he and the object are equal.

… One must not talk much, nor indiscriminately, about one’s attainment, for it is a great waste of power. A person who tells all his friends and everyone whom he meets, “I am going to build up that business”, has at the start, already a lesser chance of success than the one who thinks and ponders upon the subject and keeps quiet, says nothing to anyone, or at least tells only those who he thinks may be helpful to him.

… When a person has told his plan to others, he has let out the energy that he should have kept as his reservoir of power for the accomplishment of his object. A thing unspoken is alive in mind; and when spoken, it is dead.

… The wise speak with their mind many times before they speak about it to anybody.

… One must put aside a certain time of the day or night to devote entirely to the concentration of one’s attainment; and by being faithful in this practice one gains his object in the end, and thus he lays the ways of mastery.

… The attitude of mind is the most important thing in attainment.

… One must never desire any attainment which blinds one to what is right and just, and which destroys kindliness in the heart, which is the essence of God in man.

…the soul of man is always capable of rising to the greatest heights, if only he wishes to attain them.

… As is said in th Qu’ran, “From God we came and to Him we have to return”.

… Zarathustra says that actions may be divided into three kinds: deed, speech and thought.

… I once heard a sculptor say that each man is a sculptor of his own image.

… We are always ready to judge an action, and we hardly think of the motive.

… Things seem to us according to how we look at them.

… The one who is not definite about his object has not yet begun his journey on the path of life. One should therefore first determine one’s object for oneself, however small that object is; once it is determined one has begun life. We find with many people that somehow they never happen to find their life’s vocation. And what happens then is that in the end they consider their life a failure.

… As to knowledge, it has two aspects. One knowledge is what one gathers be learning the names and forms of life. That cannot satisfy this appetite; it is only a stepping-stone to it. This outer learning only helps one to come to the inner learning, but the inner learning is quite different from the outer learning. How is it learned? It is learned by studying the self. One finds that all the knowledge one strives for and all that exists to study is all in oneself. Therefore one finds a kinds of universe on oneself, and by the study of oneself one comes to that spiritual knowledge for which the soul hungers.

… In order to get that knowledge one must try to meditate and to dive into the sea of knowledge which cannot be taught by study. In this way one distinguishes two aspects of knowledge; one aspect of knowledge is intellect, the other is wisdom. Therefore a wise man is not necessarily a clever man, nor a clever man a wise man.

… As it is said in the Guyan, “Blessed is he who knows life’s purpose.”

… So long as a man has not found this purpose, though he may have success or failure, though he may seem happy or unhappy, in reality he does not live; for life begins from the moment a person finds the purpose of his life.

…They do not pay attention to the fact that it is on childhood that one has to find the purpose of one’s life. How many lives have been ruined for this reason! A child may have been brought up with every facility and yet kept away from the purpose of his life.

… However unhappy a man may be, the moment he knows the purpose of his life a switch is turned on and the light is on. He may not be able to accomplish anything at once, but the very fact of knowing the purpose gives him all the hope and vigor and inspiration and strength to wait for that day. If he has to strive after that purpose all his life, he does not mind so long as he knows what the purpose is. Ten such persons have much greater power than a thousand people working from morning til evening knowing the purpose of their life.

… There are many thousands of people whom life has placed in a situation where they cannot help but concentrate on some particular work and never have time to think about the things that they would like to know about, that they would like to know. We have made this life. We call it progress, freedom, but it is not freedom of mind. The mind is imprisoned in a limited horizon…

… If all thought, all life, consists in studying something only to earn one’s bread and butter, then when can one give one’s thought and mind to what one’s soul is seeking after?

… The real happiness is in the heart of man.

… Very often out of weakness a man gives in to something which otherwise he would have refused to accept. This weakness comes through lack of patience and endurance, lack of self-confidence and lack of trust.

…He is not pleased with what comes in life, he is grudging every day, he is confused; and yet he goes on like a horse which is not willing to go on, and yet he is yoked to the cart and has to go on. The first knowledge we must gain is the knowledge of the purpose of our life.

… Children, youths, and grown ups all go through life toiling from morning til evening, studying or working, and at the same time not knowing what purpose they have to accomplish.

… Man’s attitude is the secret to life for it is upon man’s attitude that success or failure depend.

… When one thinks about one’s dealings with friends, with relatives, with those whom one comes in contact in everyday life, one will see that one attracts them or repulses them according to one’s attitude.

…he believes that the present is the echo of the past, and that the future will be a reflection of the present, It is not sufficient to think only of the present moment; one should also think where it comes from and where it goes. Every thought that comes to his mind, every impulse, every word he speaks, is to him like a seed, a seed which falls in the soil of life, and takes root.

… True profit is that which one makes for others.

… Furthermore, one can never think too often or too much of the wish one has. One should dream about it, imagine it, think about it, keep it continually in mind, and do everything possible towards its fulfilment; but one should do this with poise, with tranquility, with patience, with confidence, with ease, and not by thinking hard about it. The one who thinks hard about his wish destroys it; it is just like overheating something or giving too much water to a plant. It is destroyed by the very thing which should help it. If a person worries about his wish he certainly either has no patience, or he has some fear or some doubt; all these things destroy the wish. A wish must be cherished easily, with comfort, with hope, with confidence, and with patience.

… But the love of the self always brings dissatisfaction, for the self is not made to be loved; the self is made to love. The first condition of love is to forget oneself.

…it is not man’s situation in life, but his attitude towards life that makes him happy or unhappy; and this attitude can even make such a difference that one man would be unhappy in a palace while another would be very happy in a humble cottage.

… Everyone is on the watch to take our gain away and make it his; and this he can do with any transient gain.

… All things we possess are taken from others, and others in their turn, await with outstretched hands to seize them.

… Riches and power may vanish because they are outside us, but only that which we call our own can we call out own. In order to awaken love and sympathy in our hearts, sacrifices must be made. We must forget our own troubles in order to sympathise with the troubles of others.

… Rise above earthly motives.

… The control of the self means the control of everything

… But love does not mean give and take. That is only a trade; it is selfishness.

… The true way is not renouncing of things; but it is making the best use of them; it is not going away from life, but being among the crowd, being in the midst of life, and yet not being attached to it.

… He will not look at them with contempt, but he will see in the depth of every being there is a divine spark, which is trying to raise its flame towards the purpose.

… We come to understand that the further we go the more tolerant we become. Outward things matter little; it is inwards realisation which counts.

… The purpose of life is in rising above all things.

… For there is no experience which is worthless; and specially for that soul who is beginning to realise this purpose, there is no moment wasted in life. For under circumstances and in all experiences that the soul is expecting the purpose of life.

… It is easy to know truth, but most difficult to be truth. It is not in knowing that life’s purpose is accomplished; life’s purpose is accomplished in being truth.