For many year I have been reading and studying the writings and lives of several mystics. Inayat Khan is one of those. The insight and awareness I developed over the years has nourished my vision of life and my attitudes.
It is this new awareness that helped me understand, learn from and move through many trying experiences... a forced separation from my first home and country, the passing of my parents followed by the passing of a sister and brother-in-law, my divorce, the process of reinventing myself, the loss of my dearest friend and mentor, and cancer.
There are principles at the heart of every system of faith that echo one another, and it is these common principles that Inayat Khan touches upon in his writings. He speaks from personal experience, from a life devoted to self-knowing and awareness.
It is with calm Grace that one must strive to face each new inner lesson offered by life, and it is with Awareness that we must inform our reactions and actions.
I hope you are able to gather a few drops of gold from the passage below, to store tenderly in your heart, and to draw upon them as life unfolds.
I included the link to the entire Chapter in the title below.
Inviting Divine Presence into Your Life
Consciously invite the Divine Presence into your life!
The wonders of Divine Presence are always available to everyone, but Divine Presence will not force itself on anyone. We are free to be asleep. We are free to be ignorant. We are free to be selfish. We are free to be as foolish as we choose. And we pay heavily for such misdeeds and lack of understanding. Yet the Divine Presence is always there, just waiting for us to awaken from our slumber.
In order to enjoy a life of love, harmony and beauty, one must align one's outer life (worldly life) with one's inner life (spiritual life). In other words, the most pressing need of mankind today is to re-unite body and soul.
The wonders of spiritual life will not be fully embodied in one's own life until one awakens to the presence of Divine Presence and allows it to be the very foundation upon which every aspect of daily life is built, thereby bringing the wondrous blessings of love, harmony and beauty into every situation.
Life should be a joyful journey, and living in harmony with the ideals of Divine Presence is the key.
If you do not yet feel that wondrous Divine Presence deep within, then (for the time being) simply strive to allow your life to be centered around great ideals such as loving-kindness, generosity, compassion, gratitude, and joyfulness.
Whenever anything else arises, calmly observe whatever has arisen without undue reaction, and return as quickly as possible to embodying those great ideals such as loving-kindness, generosity, compassion, gratitude and joyfulness.
In this simple manner, one can gradually begin to reprogram the sub-conscious mind, and thereby more fully live in harmony with the Divine Presence.
Be Beautiful!
In every moment of every day, the central theme of Divine Presence is simply this: Be Beautiful!
Each of the beautiful attributes of mankind, such as loving-kindness, generosity, compassion, grace, and joyfulness, all arise from the wondrous Divine Presence which exists in the calm pure depths of the heart.
The beauty which any individual exhibits truly glorifies the Source of Beauty, and will hopefully invite others to turn, in their own way, toward that same Source, like moths toward the flame.
What does it mean to be beautiful?
- To be beautiful is to let our thoughts, words and deeds bring Divine Presence into the world.
- To be beautiful is to greet each and every being with grace, with love, with compassion, with joyfulness.
- To be beautiful is to see the ever-present Divine beauty everywhere.
- To be beautiful is to express joyful gratitude for all that we receive.
- To be beautiful is let the Divine radianceof your inner light shine upon all beingswithout any of one's own hindrances or preferences whatsoever.
- To be beautiful is to expect nothing in return.
That which is truly beautiful always arises from the depths of your own loving heart. That is, you will be most beautiful when you are living in harmony with your own highest ideals and greatest aspirations.
One cannot be an expression of true beauty when trying to be like someone else.
Follow your heart! Be beautiful in your own way!
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The important thing is not to think much, but to love much; and so, do that which best stirs you to love.
Saint Teresa of Avila