Who is hazrat inayat khan

He had now become quite a different person in his speech, actions, ways, expression, in his attitude and in his atmosphere. In all these, he showed a marked and definite change. It seemed to them as if, while a traveler walking at a certain rate of speed should have journeyed a mile, Inayat had suddenly made such an advance as to cover a hundred miles in the same space of time One day, when Inayat's eyes strayed to these shoes, a thought arose in his mind: why Murshid with all his simplicity should wear such costly shoes?

At once his conscience pricked him, he felt so guilty that such a thought of one who was above question should have entered his mind, that instantly his face turned pale.

But the Murshid knew all about it and only said with a smile: "The wealth of this earth is only worth being at my feet.

I remember my murshid giving me, in blessing me, this wish, 'May your faith be strengthened. But when I think of it now I know that in that blessing there was all. When belief is strengthened, then there is everything.

All that we lack in life is mostly because of our lack of belief. But again, it is not something that one can learn or teach or that one can give to anybody. This comes from the grace of God. Inayat began a tour of the sacred sites across India, and early in that adventure, he met the son of Guru Manek Prabhu who asked:.

To this Inayat replied: "Muslim or Hindu are only outward distinctions, the Truth is one, God is one, life is one. To me there is no such thing as two. Two is only one plus one. After touring widely in India and and briefly settling in Calcutta, Inayat began to realize that the time had come for him to begin a new phase of life. Inayat lived in Calcutta for several years and there received the news of the death of his beloved father, which was to him a blow inexpressible in words, though thus his life became free from any duty binding him as a sacred tie, as he had felt his duty toward his parents to be.

Soon after this another misfortune befell him, namely the loss of his medals. In a moment of abstraction the case of medals was left in a car, which could not be traced despite all his efforts.

But in place of the disappointment which at first oppressed him, a revelation from God touched the hidden chords of his mind and opened his eyes to the truth.

He said to himself: "It matters not how much time you have spent to gain that which never belonged to you, but which you called your own; today you comprehend it is yours no longer. And it is the same with all you possess in life, your property, friends, relations, even your own body and mind.

All which you call 'my', not being your true property, will leave you; and only what you name ' I' , which is absolutely disconnected with all that is called 'my', will remain.

Spread the wisdom of Sufism abroad, for to this end art thou gifted by Allah, the most merciful and compassionate. To fulfill that mission, Inayat along with his cousin and brother sailed from India to America on September 13, In his autobiography , Inayat wrote of that voyage:. I was transported by destiny from the world of lyric and poetry to the world of industry and commerce on the 13th of September I bade farewell to my motherland, the soil of India, the land of the sun, for America the land of my future, wondering: "perhaps I shall return some day", and yet I did not know how long it would be before I should return.

The ocean that I had to cross seemed to me a gulf between the life that was passed and the life which was to begin.

I spent my moments on the ship looking at the rising and falling of the waves and realizing in this rise and fall the picture of life reflected, the life of individuals, of nations, of races, and of the world. I tried to think where I was going, why I was going, what I was going to do, what was in store for me. Will the people be favorable or unfavorable to the Message which I am taking from one end of the world to the other?

Initially, their public performances centered on Indian music and they accompanied dancers such as Mata Hari and Ruth St. Denis in both America and Europe. I found Miss Ruth St. Denis an inventive genius, and I was struck with a witty answer she gave upon hearing my ideas about human brotherhood, uniting East and West.

She said, "Yes, we, the people of the Occident and Orient may be brothers, but not twins. In addition to the musical performances, Inayat gave Sufi lectures that were often held in bookstores or homes. Rabia Martin, of San Francisco, became one of his first students and was soon appointed as his American representative. I had a vision that night that the whole room became filled with light, no trace of darkness was to be found.

I certainly thought that there was some important thing that was to be done next day, which I found was the initiation of Mrs. The different messengers most wondrously, by their very diversity of civilization, nationality and age, revealed the One source of inspiration.

A human being, not generally understanding this and owing to blind dogmatic faith, has always clung to the originator of his or her own faith and ignored the new prophet. Not recognizing the manifold aspects of truth, thus all the racial and religious prejudices! Among creeds and castes, and all wars and differences between nations, have arisen from narrowness and slowness of perception.

The calm and peace pervading the shrine made him feel, even among the throng of pilgrims, that he was the only one present. He became friends with a group of dervishes, loving the sweetness of their nature and the innate perfume of their manner of using music as food for the soul.

Once in a dream he saw a large number of saints and sages, all clad in Sufi raiment, rejoicing in the Sama, the musical gathering of the dervishes. He began having visions of a luminous, spiritual face, radiant with light. A friend told him that this symbolized initiation into the Chishti Sufi Order. His dream came true. Inayat Khan remained with his murshid for four years; he called this the most beautiful time of his life. He was surprised that six months passed before his Murshid said a word on the subject of Sufism; when he did, and Inayat took out his notebook, the master at once changed the subject.

Spread the wisdom of Sufism abroad, for to this end art thou gifted by God. His youngest brother, Musheraff Khan, followed a year later. A short time later, the man he had seen in his dreams entered the room. Both teacher and disciple were immediately drawn to each other. Mohammed was a member of the Chishti Sufi Order that was introduced into India at the close of the 12th century A.

Inayat describes the close relationship the disciple should develop with his or her teacher: The next thing in the attainment of the inner life is to seek a spiritual guide - someone whom a man can absolutely trust and have every confidence in, someone to whom one can look up to, and one with whom one is in sympathy - a relationship which would culminate in what is called devotion.

And if once he has found someone in life that he considers his Guru, his Murshad, his guide, then he should give him all confidence, so that not a thing is kept back. If there is something kept back, then what is given might just as well be taken away, because everything must be done fully, either have confidence or not have confidence, either have trust or not have trust.

On the path of perfection, all things must be done fully. During this time, he experienced a level of realization that made God a reality in his life. As his master lay dying, the teacher told him: "Go to the Western world my son and unite East and West through the magic of your music". Two years later, in September of , Inayat sailed for America.

Inayat began to teach and discuss his world view with different people who would ask what to call this mode of thought. For a long time, Inayat refused to give it a name fearing it would create barriers between people.

He would say only it was ancient wisdom from the one and only source. He emphasized how none of the great spiritual teachers gave a name to their religious views. Finally, knowing that a body of thought needs some identifier to unify it, he told people it was Sufism. Inayat began to travel and lecture first in the United States and later in Europe.

He traveled widely between and He decided to do more intensive teaching during the summer in France, and took up residence there near Paris in Suresnes where he could hold his "summer schools".

His teaching strongly emphasized the fundamental oneness of all religions. He was deeply concerned that many of the western religious traditions had lost knowledge of the "science of soul", and the prayer and meditation techniques necessary to develop higher consciousness in mankind.

This Sufi universalism, or interest in and respect for different religions is reflected in a saying by the thirteenth century Andalusian Sufi teacher Ibn 'Arabi. This respected scholar and mystic who authored among other works the classic Sufi retreat manual Journey To The Lord Of Power wrote: Beware of confining yourself to a particular belief and denying all else, for much good would elude you - indeed, the knowledge of reality would elude you.

Be in yourself for all forms of belief, for God is too vast and tremendous to be restricted to one belief rather than another. Tarcher - Putnam, New York, , p. The ritual consists of an invocation, a reading from one of the holy books of the world's major religions, and the lighting of a candle for each tradition. A candle is also lit for all those individuals or religious systems unknown or forgotten that have inspired mankind.

The ritual continues with a discourse, and ends with a blessing. One goal of the Universal Worship service is to show people from different cultures the many common elements they share in their religious traditions, and to create a sense of unity among people from different cultures by teaching them to read each other's scriptures and "pray each other's prayers".

Inayat said that he traveled a great deal not only to introduce people to the teachings but also to "tune the inner spheres of a country" to a "higher pitch of vibration". His disciple Sirkan Von Stolk talks about these vibrations during his meditation with Inayat: At those moments he attuned and raised my consciousness to such a high degree that I could hardly stand it.

The rate of vibration- that is the only way I can describe it - was so fantastic that it was almost too powerful for me, and I longed to return to the limited security of my own personality where I could I go on living at my own rhythm!

He wrote that a person deeply involved in the spiritual life could go to church, mosque, or temple and act in harmony with their fellow religious seekers though their paths might inwardly be very different.