In a recent meeting of some members of the Universal Worship, the ‘five degrees of initiation’ came up in conversation, and the following address of Hazrat Inayat Khan may put more light on the subject. This talk was given at the Summer School in Suresnes on July 27th, 1923.
Wali is the initiate whose will has come close to the Divine Will and he shows it by the harmony which reigns in his own life, harmony with the friends, and he himself is in harmony with the adversary also. He shows harmony with the changing weather and its different influences and in harmony with all he eats and drinks; he is in harmony with the place he lives and moves about, and he harmonizes with all atmospheres. And so his will becomes the Will of God, in other words, the Will of God becomes his will. He does that work for which he is appointed, mostly in an unknown way. The greater a person is spiritually advanced, the less assuming he becomes and avoids every show of piety or spirituality.
Ghaus is the next grade of the initiate. The influence of the ghaus is wider. He gives up his personality fully to the Divine Guidance. Therefore in the district, wherever the ghaus may be, an atmosphere will be created of protection from all kind of dangers, caused by floods and storms and by plagues and famines.
Qutb is the third degree of a Master of a still higher grade, who becomes focused to the Divine Mind and who has, to a smaller or greater extent, power upon all elements and influence upon life. There is an area given under his domain in which he is responsible for the order and peace of souls.
Nabi is the apostle whose spirit reflects the Spirit of Guidance, in Sanskrit Bodhisattva, whose work mainly is the giving of the Message in the form of warning, wakening, preaching, teaching and inspiring those to whom he may be sent. He comes into the lives of those who are meant to be guided in the spiritual path. He is sent to the nations when the nations are meant to change their conditions. He is sent to a community or a race to give warnings. He is meant to be a reformer in the times when a reform is needed.
Rasul is the world Messenger, who comes to the world for all the people in the time of the world’s need, and brings along with him that inspiration, influence and power which will harmonize humanity. He may be a king or a pauper, in all conditions he will fulfill the purpose of his coming on earth; answering the cry of humanity, he fulfills the purpose of his mission on earth. In Sanskrit language the very same name is called Maitreya, which means the friend, the friend of God who is the friend of all.
The question, where does one receive the initiation of the higher orders, may be answered that no man in the world has the power to give the above said higher initiations. They are initiated by God Himself and they prove their initiations, not in their claims but in their works.
Question: Has man to go through the stages wali, ghaus, qutb, nabi, to reach his goal?
Answer: Not at all. These are not the stages of human perfection, they are the stages of the servers of humanity. For instance there may be a person who has reached the goal, yet who had never been a wali, ghaus, or qutb. And yet he is further than any of them — he has reached that perfection as Christ has said: ‘Be ye perfect.’ Any soul can reach that perfection without having been a ghaus because there are only two things, the imperfection and perfection. One can rise from imperfection to perfection. If it had not been possible, it would not have been mentioned by Christ.
No doubt, the whole world is progressive, every soul is progressive. It may be one person goes as far as the wali, another goes as far as the qutb, those are the grades of the servers, not of the perfection. Perfection is something from which God has not deprived any soul unless that soul deprives himself of that perfection. God does not deprive any soul of it.
To be continued…