If one opens at random one of the volumes of the teachings of Hazrat Inayat Khan, it will not be long before one encounters the word ‘beauty,’ for that is one of the three precious ‘jewels’ of the universal message given to all humanity, the message of love, harmony and beauty. Murshid Hidayat was fond of pointing out the interrelation of these three concepts: the awareness of beauty awakens love; for the sake of love, harmony is created; and from harmony, beauty is born. Beauty, therefore should be a reliable guide, like the thread of Ariadne, through life’s puzzling ways. So long as we look for beauty, we should be able to find our way forward through the labyrinth. And yet in the Gayan, Boulas, we find this saying:
Satan comes in most beautiful garbs to hide from man’s eyes his highest ideal.
How can we understand this? Does it mean we should warily stand back from beauty and regard it with suspicion? If so, then how can love ever awaken in our hearts? Or is there some other meaning in this saying?
In addition to the mention of beautiful garbs, the saying also refers to our highest ideal and to Satan. Words are never adequate to describe an ideal, still less our highest ideal, which should rise like a star above all limitations, but many mystics speak of unity, of the realisation that all is one, that there is only One Being. If these words point us in the right direction, then leaving aside all the lurid religious and folk descriptions through the ages,Satan is simply the stubborn maintenance of ‘me’ as an independent entity, the insistence that all experience has to be related to one distinct and separate point of view: the ego, in other words.
Therefore, the peril is not in the beauty itself, but in the mischief of the ego, which takes every opportunity to put itself into the picture, making of every moment, of every interchange or perception a ‘selfie.’ “Here is me, enjoying a beautiful sunset,” or “Here is someone smiling–in MY direction,” or “Here is someone being kind–to ME!” Certainly beauty awakens love, but love, like a fruit, has to ripen, and unripe love can cause indigestion, as many can testify. The real test of love is our willingness to sacrifice our self for the sake of what we love.
If we respond to beauty with some trace of self, the fruit is not yet ready. But if, when we perceive beauty, we forget ourselves completely in the thought of the Beloved, we are safe–for the moment–from the wily hands of the deceiver. And then, blessedly un-self-consciouis, love, harmony and beauty will be mirrored in our heart.