Hazrat Inayat: Continuity of Practice

One often notices a tendency in the traveller on the spiritual path, who considers the change of spiritual practices as a sign of progress. But this is an error. And it comes from the habit that one has made by studying the knowledge of the outer world, as it is taught in the schools and colleges and universities, one thing after another. So he is accustomed to feel that by getting a new practice he is advancing. In reality it is quite the opposite. It is not the change of practices, it is the continuity of them which brings it to a desired result.

One sees the same in music. The best player of music, an instrument, considers the scales as the most important thing to play. The others will go on from one music to another, but the best player will still continue his scales. So it is with the singer. It is not by changing of the song that the singer becomes great. It is by singing the same song more and more effectively that brings the singer to fame. In this is the secret of spiritual progress.

Most often it is the lack of patience that keeps a person back from advancing. Spiritual practices in time become a capital that brings an interest. This interest makes the capital larger and larger. In order to be rich, therefore, one does not need a new coin every day; the same coin can make one rich. The benefit that one derives from a practice, in the first month that he has begun it, is much smaller compared to the benefit he derives by the same practice in the next year. And the way the benefit increases cannot be explained in words; it becomes unimaginably greater, which comes as the reward of patience.

It is not the change of practice which is necessary to progress; it is one’s belief in the effect of the practice, it is the centralising of one’s mind upon it, it is the hope with which one looks forward to the effect that the practice brings. When a person says, “No, I don’t feel anything with this practice,” he may just as well go on saying that, and he will never feel anything from it. The fact is that it is not that the practice does not bring to him anything, it is that he derives unconsciously what the practice will bring to him. There is sometimes money invested which does not bring interest for some time. That does not mean that the money is lost. The day when the interest will commence, it will come to you. Therefore, what is needed is patience in the absence of the effect that one expects to derive from it.

5 Replies to “Hazrat Inayat: Continuity of Practice”

  1. Alia Claudia Viviana Muñoz

    Continuidad, perseverancia y mucha mucha paciencia… recordé ese bello cuento sufi de Alif con esta reflexión.
    Me hace pensar,como desde niños crecemos con la idea de avanzar y superarnos… cada vez con acciones y pensamientos más sofisticados qué son de alguna manera muestra de nuestra evolución… Me pregunto si olvidando qué la maestría quizas suceda a través de la dedicación, profundidad e intención de la acción más sencilla?

    Reply
    • Nawab Pasnak Post author

      Dearest Alia (disculpe por el inglés!), mastery of name and form is part of our apprenticeship on earth, but ‘to graduate’ we have to leave the learning of the earth upon the earth, where it belongs. It is natural for manifestation to evolve into more and more complex and sophisticated forms, but it is also natural for the spirit to seek the peace and light that stands beyond all forms. For that reason, the further one goes on the spiritual path, the simpler does one’s outlook become. The very young soul is fascinated by complexity, but the old soul does not need much; it can travel with a very light load.

      Reply
      • Alia Claudia Viviana Muñoz

        Dearest Nawab,
        Thank you for your reply , it help me very much to clear up my ideas and interpretation of the reading. What a great blessing for an old soul his old coin! (Sorry for my english 😉 )

        Reply
  2. Gloria latiff

    Patience….necesitamos mucha …disfrutar el momento sin la ansiedad del pasado
    Permitirnos escuchar el ritmo que marca el corazón en cada práctica , para lograr sentir esa presencia divina de Dios

    Reply
  3. Amir Gabriel Castro

    Una práctica amada es una práctica que comunica al murid con su ideal,una práctica repetida como un canto a El , tiene el poder del canto de Chirin,chirin Chirin. Que con el martillo golpe agolpe rompió la montaña.

    Reply

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