In this post Hazrat Inayat Khan concludes the questions that were raised about the memory. The previous post in the series is here.

Question: Through what vehicle does the memory function after death?

Answer: The mind is distinctly different from the body. It is something apart, standing independent of the body. The mind depends upon the body for perceiving the outer experiences, which it takes in through the senses. However, the mind is independent of the body for holding its treasures that it has collected through the outer world and retaining them. As we are accustomed to experience everything through the vehicle of the body – even our feelings – this makes us dependent for some time upon the body. This does not mean that we cannot experience all that belongs to the mind without the help of the body.

Question: Is there not a danger in losing oneself in the memory of that which lies behind us?

Answer: There is an answer to this in the Gayan, where it is said, ‘If you live in the vision of the past, dream on, do not open your eyes to the present. If you live in the eternal, do not worry about the morrow. But if you live for the time to come, do all you can to prepare for the future.’

Question: How should one erase from the record a living memory of something of the past?

Answer: That is what we learn on the Sufi path. It is the work which we accomplish by concentration and meditation. It is not an easy thing to do; it is the most difficult, but also the most valuable thing there is. That is why we keep our teachings free from speculations, beliefs, doctrines and dogmas, for we believe in actual work with ourselves. What if you were told a thing one day and you believed it one day, and the next day you doubted and did not believe it anymore? If you were told that there is a house in the sixth heaven and a palace in the seventh, what would that do for you? It would only answer your curiosity; it would take you nowhere. It is, therefore, by the way of meditation that we attain to this, that we can erase from the memory what we wish to. In this way, we are able to make our heaven ourselves.

The whole secret of esotericism lies in controlling the mind and in working with it as an artist would work on a canvas producing whatever he likes. When we are able to produce on the canvas of our heart all that we wish and to erase all that we wish, then we arrive at that mastery for which our soul craves. We fulfill the purpose for which we are here. Then we become the masters of our destiny. It is difficult, but that is the object that we pursue in life.

To be continued…