In the course of a lecture on the mystery and blessings of sleep, a theme which leads very easily into the levels of consciousness (sensory awareness, the mind, sleep and so on), Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan found a moment to deliver this short, highly inspiring thought on our relationship with God.

The simple teaching of all religions during every age, the essence of all religion and philosophy, is contained in this: go and stand before God in simple faith, as being a little child before God. For that moment you say, “I know not anything, I have not learned anything, I am only an empty cup waiting to be filled; I have only love to offer You, and because that too is insufficient, I only ask for more; I have only faith, and yet that is insufficient, and so I ask that it be strengthened and developed in order to have it strong enough to hold me before You; purity I need but have it not, or at least if I have it it is only Your own essence which is within my being, and I wish to keep it as clean as possible; with these three things I come, as a simple child, with no knowledge of my own, and leaving aside all doubt and questions or whatever can come between us…” Here is the essence of religion.