July 5th its the birthday of Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan; he was born on this day in 1882, in the large house of his grandfather, Maulabakhsh, in Baroda, India. Especially during the Master’s days in Suresnes, when mureeds were gathered there for the Summer School, it was the custom to celebrate his birthday with great happiness and appreciation. His son Murshid Hidayat used to recall that, for the birthday, or Viladat Day as it is called, one mureed always arrived from Switzerland with a car full of yellow roses. In 1925, Viladat Day fell on a Sunday, and in addition to the customary celebrations and speeches, Hazrat Inayat gave the following address to a class of Cherags, which is to say, those ordained in the activity of the Universal Worship.
I wish to speak to my Cherags on the subject of the prayers used in the service. There is a prayer for every period of human evolution. The prayers which have been given in the past among Hindus, the people of Beni Israel, in the Christian Church, among the people of Islam, have been given at that particular period for which they were meant as the key to health, inspiration, and happiness. The prayers used in the Universal Worship: Saum, Salat and Khatum, have an inner significance besides their outer meaning. There prayers are not only praise to God or thanksgiving, but they are to draw us nearer, closer to the divine being. This is the Mission of the Sufi Message today. Therefore, it is most essential to keep the words of these prayers exact, that you may give it to future generations in an authentic form, uncorrupted. In this you will be doing a great service to God and humanity. There should be no attempt to add something to them or to take something from them in order to create beauty. For if every person makes a choice in that prayer, at the end of the year it will be quite a different prayer. These prayers are too sacred to touch, for they are not coming from a human brain, they are poured out by the tongue of God. And it is in this understanding that one will benefit fully by the prayers of the Universal Worship.
There prayers increase inspiration and power as many times one repeats them. The more one repeats them so the more one is blessed, so the greater becomes one’s psychic power, and they awaken inspiration. If there is any deep desire that one has, by the repetition of these prayers that desire will be fulfilled. But the greatest blessing is that they help one to come closer and closer to God who is the seeking of every soul.
You will find people who are not accustomed to the different names mentioned in Salat become sensitive and nervous about repeating them. You must take it all silently and tolerantly, for you must see that it is natural. What one is not accustomed to is foreign to him; if it be a lump of sugar, a person will call it poison. By forcing it upon people incapable of understanding the beauty of this, you will reduce the beauty and sacredness of the prayer. The best thing is to say no more, once you hear a person mention an unwillingness to repeat the prayer. However great be the prayer, if a person is not willing to say it, and repeats it by force, it will do him no good. The most nourishing food, unwillingly eaten, one cannot digest and one will not benefit by it. But you can see the beauty of the Salat as the beauty of the rose with so many petals, one flower and so many petals. Every name you repeat in Salat is a petal which makes the flower. The Salat makes the embodiment of the illuminated souls; it is the embodiment which may be called Christ, in other terms Rasul, in other terms Boddhisatva.
And the third prayer, Khatum, is an answer to the need of today, which is to bring the divided sections of humanity together in the realisation of truth, which is the principal aim of the Sufi Message.
“Many thanks for reminding us. That day was the beginning of a history that has changed and will continue changing the life of many many human beens, and I think, our best homage would be to rejoice with the beauty of Murshid Message and to be grateful for all we have received. Thanks dear Nawab.” Jelal Francisco Proaño.
Many thanks beloved Murshid Nawab for reminding us of this very special day .Feeling the presence of our beloved Murshid and infinite gratitude to this incredible Messanger for bringing the Light of the Message to us .May the Message be a reality in our heart in order to keep the flame burning in Love, Harmony and Beauty God bless Murshid’s soul!