Hazrat inayat khan quotes

Love itself is the healing power and the remedy for all pain.

Reason is the illusion of reality

We grown-up people think that we appreciate music, but if we realized the sense that an infant has brought with it of appreciating sound and rhythm, we would never boast of knowing music. The infant is music itself.

The solution to the problem of the day is the awakening of the consciousness of humanity to the divinity within.

Life is a symphony, and the action of every person in this life is the playing of his particular part in the music.

By love, harmony and beauty you must turn the whole of life into a single vision of divine glory.

Love manifests towards those whom we like as love; towards those whom we do not like as forgiveness.

The mystery of sound is mysticism; the harmony of life is religion. The knowledge of vibrations is metaphysics, the analysis of atoms is science, and their harmonious grouping is art. The rhythm of form is poetry, and the rhythm of sound is music. This shows that music is the art of arts and the science of allsciences; and it contains the fountain of all knowledge within itself.

Before making peace, war is necessary, and that war must be made with our self. Our worst enemy is our self: our faults, our weaknesses, our limitations. And our mind is such a traitor! What does it? It covers our faults even from our own eyes, and points out to us the reason for all our difficulties: others! So it constantly deludes us, keeping us unaware of the real enemy, and pushes us towards those others to fight them, showing them to us as our enemies.

When one looks at the ocean, they can only see that part of it which comes within their range of vision; so it is with the truth.

Love that ends is the shadow of love; true love is without beginning or end.

For every loss, there is a hidden gain. And for every gain, there is a hidden loss.

There are two aspects of individual harmony: the harmony between body and soul, and the harmony between individuals. All the tragedy in the world, in the individual and in the multitude, comes from lack of harmony. And harmony is the best given by producing harmony in one's own life.

Divine sound is the cause of all manifestation. The knower of the mystery of sound knows the mystery of the whole universe.

I asked for strength, and God gave me difficulties to make me strong. I asked for wisdom, and God gave me problems to learn to solve. I asked for prosperity, and God gave me a brain and brawn to work. I asked for courage, and God gave me dangers to overcome. I asked for love, and God gave me people to help. I asked for favors, and God gave me opportunities. I received nothing I wanted. I received everything I needed.

All ignorance is the lack of love.

In Sufi terms the crushing of the ego is called Nafs Kushi. And how do we crush it? We crush it by sometimes taking ourselves to task. When the self says, 'O no, I must not be treated like this,' then we say, 'What does it matter?' When the self says, 'He ought to have done this, she ought to have said that,' we say, 'What does it matter, either this way or that way? Every person is what he is; you cannot change him, but you can change yourself.' That is the crushing. ... It is only in this way that we can crush our ego.

Sound is the force of creation, the true whole. Music then, becomes the voice of the great cosmic oneness and therefore the optimal way to reach this final state of healing.

If you will not rise above the things of this world, they will rise above you.

Every moment of life brings an opportunity for being conscious of human feeling, in prosperity, in adversity, in all conditions. It costs very little; only a little thought is necessary. There is no greater religion than love. God is love; and the best form of love is to be conscientious regarding the feelings of those with whom we come in contact in everyday life.

A person does not hear sound only through the ears; he hears sound through every pore of his body. It permeates the entire being.

It is a very high stage in the path of love when man really learns to love another with a love that asks no return.

Silence is the adornment of the wise, and for the foolish the only dignity possible.

Moth: I gave you my life. Flame: I allowed you to kiss me.

He who has spent has used; he who has collected has lost; but he who has given has saved his treasure forever.

There is no end to one's faults. To think of them makes one humble.

Every passion, every emotion, has its effect upon the mind. Every change of mind, however slight, has its effect upon the body.

One is never so strong as when one is broken.

The whole of life is as music and in order to study life we must study it as music. It is not only study, it is also practice which makes man perfect. If someone tells me that a certain person is miserable or wretched or distressed, my answer will be that he is out of tune.

There is no difference in the destination, the only difference is in the journey.

Everyone has his own imagination of God. It is best if everyone is left to his own imagination.

When we look at life from the top of the mountain, there is no limitation

Each human personality is like a piece of music, having an individual tone and a rhythm of its own.

God breaks the heart again and again and again until it stays open.

The world is evolving from imperfection to perfection. It needs all love and sympathy; great tenderness and watchfulness are required from each one of us.

Every man's path is for himself; let him accomplish his own desires that he may thus be able to rise above them to the eternal goal.

True power is not in trying to gain power; true power is in becoming power. But how to become power? It requires an attempt to make a definite change in oneself, and that change is a kind of struggle with one's false self.

Belief and disbelief have divided humankind into so many sects, blinding its eyes to the vision of the Oneness of all Life.

With love, even the rocks will open.

All the great persons of the world, whatever had been their mission in life, proved their greatness by this one quality: endurance. The enduring personality is like a ship that can stand storms and winds under all conditions, the ship that saves itself and others. Such blessed personalities, showing the strength of God have been called the saviors of humanity.

You carry all the ingredients to turn your existence into joy. Mix them, Mix them!

Therefore it is the law of the mystics to see all things, to experience all things, either of heaven or earth, and yet to say little; for the souls incapable of understanding the possibility of their reach will ridicule them.

Life is a place where it is necessary to move gently. Whether it be in thought, speech, or action, the rhythm must be controlled; the law of harmony must be observed in all that one does. If there is anything that will bring satisfaction it is diving deep into Love, and then we shall realize that there is nothing which is not just; we shall never again say that anything is unjust. This is the point the wise reach, and they call it the culmination of wisdom.

Sarcasm is an abuse of the intellect.

There is nothing better than music as a means for upliftment of the soul.

... The wise in all ages... have tried to learn one thing only, and that was resignation to the Will of God. By doing this, they have reached a stage at which they could see from God's point of view.

The greatest fault of the day is the absence of stillness.

I can see as clear as a daylight that the hour is coming when women will lead humanity to a higher evolution.

To make a friend, forgiveness is required which burns up all things, leaving only beauty; but to destroy friendship is easy.

The more one studies the harmony of music, and then studies human nature, how people agree and how they disagree, how there is attraction and repulsion, the more one will see that it is all music.

If anybody asks what Sufism is, what kind of religion is it, the answer is that Sufism is the religion of the heart, the religion in which the thing of primary importance is to seek God in the heart of mankind.

There is nothing in the world that does not speak to us. Everything and everybody reveals its own nature, character and secrets continuously. The more open our inner senses, the more we understand the voice of everything.

Mastery lies not merely in stilling the mind, but in directing it towards whatever point we desire, in allowing it to be active as far as we wish, in using it to fulfill our purpose, in causing it to be still when we want to still it. He who has come to this has created his heaven within himself; he has no need to wait for a heaven in the hereafter, for he has produced it within his own mind now.

It is the peaceful one who is observant. It is peace that gives him the power to observe keenly. It is the peaceful one, therefore, who can conceive, for peace helps him to conceive. It is the peaceful who can contemplate; one who has no peace cannot contemplate properly. Therefore, all things pertaining to spiritual progress in life depend upon peace.

Music touches our innermost being, and in that way produces new life, a life that gives exaltation to the whole being, raising it to that perfection in which lies the fulfillment of man's life.

The soul of all is one soul and the truth is one truth, under whatever religion it is hidden.

The words that enlighten the soul are more precious than jewels.

What one really wants is attracted by one, and one is attracted by what one wants.

What you are speaks louder than what you say.

Some people look for a beautiful place, others make a place beautiful.

The voice is not only indicative of man's character, but it is the expression of his spirit. Other sounds can be louder than the voice, but no sound can be more living.

I first believed without any hesitation in the existence of the soul, and then I wondered about the secret of its nature. I persevered and strove in search of the soul, and found at last that I myself was the cover over my soul!

If someone strikes my heart, it does not break, but it bursts, and the flame coming out of it becomes a torch on my path.

All names and forms are the garbs and covers under which the one life is hidden.

Now if I do anything it is to tune souls instead of instruments. To harmonize people instead of notes. If there is anything in my philosophy, it is the law of harmony: that one must put oneself in harmony with oneself and with others.

Love is the merchandise which all the world demands; if you store it in your heart, every soul will become your customer.

My intuition never fails me, it is I who fail when I do not listen to it.

One must always say every word with consideration, and should not say what one does not wish to happen. Those who do not understand the value of suggestion walk after their own fate with a whip in their hand, and those who understand its value and control their word and use it rightly, they are a bliss to themselves and a source of happiness to others.

In the eyes of a seer, every leaf of a tree is a page of the Holy Book and contains divine revelation.

To be really sorry for one's errors is like opening the door of Heaven.

What makes us feel drawn to music is that our whole being is music: our mind and body, the nature in which we live, the nature which has made us, all that is beneath and around us, it is all music.

Our virtues are made by love, and our sins are caused by the lack of it.

For a musician, music is the best way to unite with God.

Love is the Divine Mother's arms; when those arms are spread, every Soul falls Into them.

When one bell is rung, by the sound of that one bell other bells will also vibrate. So it is with the dancing of the soul...it produces its reaction, and that again, will make other souls dance.

Everything in life is speaking in spite of it's apparent silence.

Music seems to be the bridge over the gulf between form and the formless.

Music is the basis of the whole creation. In reality the whole of creation is music, and what we call music is simply a miniature of the original music, which is creation itself, expressed in tone and rhythm.

Each individual composes the music of his own life. If he injures another, he brings disharmony. When his sphere is disturbed, he is disturbed himself, and there is a discord in the melody of his life. If he can quicken the feeling of another to joy or to gratitude, by that much he adds to his own life; he becomes himself by that much more alive. Whether conscious of it or not, his thought is affected for the better by the joy or gratitude of another, and his power and vitality increase thereby, and the music of his life grows more in harmony.

Externally we are a single being, but internally we are a world.

Spiritual progress is the changing of the point of view.

The person who is in tune with the Universe becomes like a radio receiver, through which the voice of the Universe is transmitted.

From the metaphysical point of view there is nothing that can touch the formless except the art of music which in itself is formless.

I have seen all souls as my soul, and realized my soul as the soul of all.

Your heart is not living intil it has experienced pain... the pain of love breaks open the heart, even if it is as hard as a rock.

One day, music will take its rightful place as the true religion of Mankind.

I have known good and evil, sin and virtue, right and wrong; I have judged and been judged; I have passed through birth and death, Joy and sorrow, heaven and hell; And in the end I realized that I AM in everything and everything is in me.

Love is the essence of all religion, mysticism, and philosophy, and for the one who has learned this, love fulfills the purpose of religion, ethics, and philosophy, and the lover is raised above all diversities of faiths and beliefs.

As one can see when the eyes are open, so one can understand when the heart is open.

He who sincerely seeks his real purpose in life is himself sought by that purpose. As he concentrates on that search a light begins to clear his confusion, call it revelation, call it inspiration, call it what you will. It is mistrust that misleads. Sincerity leads straight to the goal.

Toward the One, the perfection of love, harmony and beauty, the only being, united with all the illuminated souls who form the embodiment of the master, the spirit of guidance.

My heart is tuned to the quietness that the stillness of nature inspires.

People often ask me questions that I cannot very well answer in words, and it makes me sad to think they are unable to hear the voice of my silence.

In ancient times the greatest of the prophets were great musicians.

The rain does not fall in a certain land only; the sun does not shine only on a particular country. All that comes from God is for all souls. Verily, blessing is for every soul; for every soul, whatever be one's faith or belief, belongs to God.

Stand through life firm as a rock in the sea, undisturbed and unmoved by its ever-rising waves

He who with sincerity seeks his real purpose in life is himself sought by that purpose.

People have fought in vain about the names and lives of their saviors, and have named their religions after the name of their savior, instead of uniting with each other in the truth that is taught.

The man who tries to prove his belief superior to the faith of another, does not know the meaning of religion.

To bring the sublime into the mundane is the greatest challenge there is.

Among all the valuable things of this world, the word is the most precious. For in the word one can find a light which gems and jewels do not possess; a word may contain so much life that it can heal the wounds of the heart. Therefore, poetry in which the soul is expressed is as living as a human being. The greatest reward that God bestows on man is eloquence and poetry. This is not an exaggeration, for it is the gift of the poet that culminates, in time, with the gift of prophecy.

What a great thing is understanding! It is priceless. No man can give greater pleasure to his fellow man than by understanding him.

We are always searching for God afar off, when all the while He is nearer to us than our own soul.

Failure in life does not matter; the greatest misfortune is standing still.

A soul who is not close to nature is far away from what is called spirituality. In order to be spiritual one must communicate, and especially one must communicate with nature; one must feel nature.

Once you have linked yourself with love, a flood of inspiration is revealed to you, whatever the subject, whatever the problem in life may be. Whatever it be that your eye casts its glance upon, it will disclose itself. Then you are on the real road, and what a joy this is!

When people came to Christ accusing a person of doing wrong, the Master could not think of anything else but forgiveness. For he did not see in the wrongdoer what the others saw. To distinguish between right and wrong is not the work of an ordinary mind, and the curious thing is that the more ignorant a person is, the more ready he is to do so.

His constant fight is with the Nafs (self-interest), the root of all disharmony and the only enemy of man. By crushing this enemy man gains mastery over himself; this wins for him mastery over the whole universe, because the wall standing between the self and the Almighty has been broken down. Gentleness, mildness, respect, humility, modesty, self-denial, conscientiousness, tolerance and forgiveness are considered by the Sufi as the attributes which produce harmony within one's own soul as well as within that of another.

Joy and sorrow are the light and shade of life; without light and shade no picture is clear.

To attain peace, what one has to do is to seek that rhythm which is in the depth of our being.

What science cannot declare, art can suggest; what art suggests silently, poetry speaks aloud; but what poetry fails to explain in words, music can express. Whoever knows the mystery of vibrations indeed knows all things.

Love develops into harmony, and of harmony is born beauty.

The more sincerity is developed, the greater share of truth you will have. And however much sincerity a person may have, there is always a gap to fill, for we live in the midst of falsehood, and we are always apt to be carried away by this world of falsehood. Therefore we must never think we are sincere enough, and we must always be on our guard against influences which may carry us away from that sincerity which is the bridge between ourselves and our ideal. No study, no meditation is more helpful than sincerity itself.

According to metaphysics, fear is caused by the lack of light.

When we pay attention to nature's music, we find that everything on the Earth contributes to its harmony.

It is not solid wood that can become a flute, but the empty reed.

Instead of lamenting your fate, create your world.

It is a presumption on the part of man when he demands in words an explanation of God.

As water in a fountain flows as one stream, but falls in many drops divided by time and space, so are the revelations of the one stream of truth.

Music is the language of the soul; and for two people of different nations or races to unite, there is no better means than music

Selfishness keeps man blind through life.

When I open my eyes to the outer world I feel myself as a drop in the sea. But when I close my eyes and look within, I see the whole universe as a bubble raised in the ocean of my heart.

The bringers of joy have always been the children of sorrow.

The only way to live in the midst of inharmonious influences is to strengthen the will power and endure all things, yet keeping fineness of character and nobility of manner together with an everlasting heart full of love.

Every mind has its particular standard of good and bad, and of right and wrong. This standard is made by what one has experienced through life, by what one has seen or heard; it also depends upon one's belief in a certain religion, one's birth in a certain nation and origin in a certain race. But what can really be called good or bad, right or wrong, is what comforts the mind and what causes it discomfort. It is not true, although it appears so, that it is discomfort that causes wrongdoing. In reality, it is wrongdoing which causes discomfort, and it is right-doing which gives comfort.