“I feel myself when I am by myself.” The self has four layers: the body-self, the mind-self, the soul-self, and the Divine Self. The body-self is made of food. It is born, grows, ails, and dies. When we look in the mirror, what we see is who we think we are. But this is only […]
“The rapidity of my walk imagination cannot follow.” A sage walked through the city. She came back glowing, and said, “What a joy!” A pupil of the sage was keen to see the same sights. He followed the route she had taken, but came back seized with repugnance. He asked, “Why did you and I […]
“My deep sigh rises above as a cry of the earth, and an answer comes from within as a message.” The most vital questions are not those that drift on the breeze of airy speculation, but rather the ones that spring direct from the earth of immediate experience. When the handful of clay that is […]
“If anyone throws it down, my heart does not break; it bursts and the flame coming rises from it, which becomes my torch.” The human heart does not stay enclosed in the breast of its owner; in the course of day-to-day life it passes from hand to hand. One person holds it gently, another squeezes […]
“I have not come to change humanity. I have come to help it on.” The purpose of the Sufi path is not to impose on the human mind a particular belief system. The purpose is to reveal what is already present within the depths of the mind—the heart; and to reveal what is in the […]
“Hail to my exile from the Garden of Eden to earth; if I had not fallen I would not have probed the depths of life.” The story of the exile of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden describes the descent of the soul from heaven to earth. The soul first experienced life in […]
I regard every failure as a stepping-stone toward a success. The journey of life is one of trial and error. One learns by doing. Whatever the result of one’s endeavors, no experience is wasted if one learns from it and moves on, determined to go further. Seen from the surface, success is rewarding and failure […]
There is nothing else in life which pleases me more than pleasing others, but it is difficult to please everybody. There are three reasons a person may have for trying to please another. The first is strategic: one wishes to win, or keep, a friend, and avoid making an enemy. Keeping the people around one […]
I feel myself when I am by myself. There are two selves, the self and the I. Physical and social characteristics define the self. It was born on a certain day and will die one day. Meanwhile, it has eyes with which to see. The I, by contrast, has no name or form. Birth did […]
I work simply, not troubling about results. My satisfaction is in accomplishing the work which is given to me to my best ability, and I leave the effect to the Cause. Lord Krishna said, “Be intent on action, not on the fruits of action.” Do what is to be done, without attachment to the outcome. […]
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