Nargis Jessie Dowland (1866-1953) was an English mureed of Hazrat Inayat Khan, and we recently posted here an address given by the Master after an initiation.  In this post we offer a brief passage from her book “At the Gate of Discipleship.”

Annihilation has a different meaning for the mystic to that which it has for the ordinary person, to  whose mind this word presents a picture of the destruction and death of everything. Even the nirvana of the Buddhist has been pictured thus.  A treader of the path of wisdom understands annihilation in the mystical sense, and for that person it means the attainment of bliss such as the world could never know. For in the light of that vision, everything fades into nothingness, even the personal self is completely forgotten.

In reality it means annihilation of the barriers surrounding the soul on every side, which are the cause of the feeling of separation, exile and unrest.  And the removal of those enable it to find its true home, to become one with the whole to whom it belongs, to merge into and become part of that fuller, larger and deeper life in which is perfect freedom.  In other words, it means absolute perfection.

This mystic union of the soul with God has been experienced by saints of all religions.  In all ages the inner experience is the same, although the outer expression may be different for each soul.

To the lovers of God, the ecstasy of joy is in the surrender of self.  Even an earthly love is not complete while one thought of self remains as a barrier between the lover and the beloved.

Perfection cannot be experienced until barriers between the soul and God have been annihilated.

The prayer of Jesus for his disciples was “That they all may be One, as Thou, Father are in me and I in Thee.”*

*John 17:21