With this post we conclude the lengthy lecture by Hazrat Inayat Khan given in Denver, Colorado on the awakening of the soul, begun here, and continued here and here.
And now coming to the question how does one proceed in wakening the soul. In the first place, a person who is not hungry must not eat food; however delicious it may be, he better keep without food. And the one who has no inclination for the soul’s awakening must not think about it. He will only do wrong instead of right. I have seen many people going in the spiritual path because it is something quite new, or out of curiosity, for a pastime. Just as the interest in sport came, this is also new. Since the great Yogi Vivekananda* exposed his theories in the Chicago exhibition, many have read books on yogas. It is just like going to the drugstore and asking for a drug for spirituality. People abuse the highest ideal in not understanding it and in taking a fancy to something to which they are not yet wakened. But the moment one begins to feel that, “All the knowledge the world can teach me does not satisfy me,” that, “I am feeling a continual craving in the soul to learn something different from what I have learned,” it is that person who may begin the quest of spiritual attainment. And if there is not that hunger, that thirst, one may just as well keep out of it and use one’s time to a better advantage in business; he can do that to which he is fully inclined to accomplish in life.
And then again in the East one finds the guidance of someone who has trod this path. But one may think, “How many know whether the guide, the teacher is the right or the wrong one? We might go to a wrong teacher and might be misled.” Once I asked my own teacher what was the best way of knowing a real spiritual personality. And he said, “There is no other sign of spiritual personality except one; that is what atmosphere he creates. One can say something which one does not mean, one can appear what one is not, but one cannot create an atmosphere without being the spirit of it.” And then again he said that, “A godly person need not say the name of God, but he inspires God to those who come in contact with him.” Therefore, a spiritual guidance on the path is most necessary. But one might think, “Can we not learn by ourselves?” Yes, we can. But at the same time, we have not learned the language ourselves; even language was taught to us. Nothing in the world is not learned in some way or the other. There is always a place for a teacher.
The third thing is that the trust that the pupil in the East gives to his teacher is not known here. Here the teacher on the spiritual path is considered as a professor or doctor. The spiritual teacher is a guidance from above.
And the fourth thing is concentration of mind, which is as important as a prayer or more, because a prayer without concentration has no effect. Thousands are praying, but if the mind is not concentrating it is of no use. The mind has such a nature that no sooner do you begin to concentrate, the mind becomes restive, it wants to fly, because whether we speak of the mind or the body, it does not wish discipline. You may sit quiet unconsciously for five minutes, but if you think of sitting in one position, a nervousness comes, a desire to move. Neither body nor mind desire discipline. Therefore, concentration is to be attained first in order to make a way for the soul to awaken.
And the fifth necessary thing is sympathy. Belief in God, or worship of God is of no use until a person regards in the pleasure of his fellowmen the pleasure of God Himself. One who offers prayers to God twenty times in a day, and hurts the feeling of his fellowman, his prayer is not granted, because God is pleased by the pleasure you can give to another, by the consideration, the thought you can give to another. If you give no thought to another, God is not pleased with it. The metaphysical secret of it is this, that the pleasure of all is the pleasure of God, because God is all and all is God. And by displeasing or hurting the smallest creature in the world, naturally we hurt God himself. It is therefore that Buddha said, Ahimsa paramo dharma ha: the essence of religion is one, is harmlessness. You need not cut or shoot in order to do harm. One harsh word can hurt a person, and by doing that we are breaking nature’s law. And however much concentration or contemplation is developed, and however much a person has any qualifications, if he does not do this little thing of considering most carefully the pleasure of his fellowman from morning till evening, he cannot allow his soul to waken. We make our lives busy in seeking for subtleties. People want anything that they cannot understand. Give them some ideas they have to puzzle about, to think about–then it is something worthwhile. Tell them about gentleness, about consideration, about being careful, then they say, “It is so simple.” It is simple and yet it is not so simple when it comes to do it. It is the most difficult thing, more difficult than studying or learning or concentrating or contemplating. Regard is the most difficult thing possible. If once this is awakened in man, then a person begins to take his first step toward becoming human.
There are two things, friends. There is individuality and personality. We very often mix them. A person is born an individual, but not a person. He is a separate being, an entity, but not a finished being. It is the finishing of human nature, it is the finishing of personality which is called spirituality.
God bless you.
*Swami Vivekananda (1863 – 1902) was a Hindu monk who was active in introducing vedanta philosophy and yoga to the West. He journeyed to the United States in 1893, where among other activities he attended the ‘Parliament of Religions’ organised in connection with the World’s Fair in Chicago.