Hazrat Inaytat Khan continues with his discourse on the nature and power of mind, and the need to practice the psychology of life. The previous post is here.
The mind has the power of creating; it creates all, but out of what does it create? Out of maya, a substance subject to change, to death and destruction. However, the power of the mind is beyond question, and it teaches us that mostly our unhappiness and failures are caused by our own mind, more than by the mind of another; and if caused by the mind of another, our mind then is not in working order. The knowledge of the power of mind is worth knowing when the moral conception of life is understood better; when man knows what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is evil, and judges himself only, and sees these two opposite things in his own life, person and character, for when man sees the folly of another, and wishes to judge another, then his sense of justice is not awake. The great ones whose personality has brought comfort and healing to their fellow men were those who only used the faculty of justice to judge themselves; who tried to correct themselves of their own follies, and, being engaged in correcting themselves, hardly had time in life to judge another. The teaching of Christ, ‘Judge not, lest ye be judged’, will always prove the greatest example to be followed.
The mind is a magic shell in which a design is made by the imagination, and the same imagination is materialized on the surface. And then arises the question, ‘Why does not all that man thinks come true, why is not all he wishes realized?’ The answer is that by man’s limitations he so to speak buries the divine creative power in his mind. Life confuses man so much that there is hardly one among a thousand who really knows what he wants; and perhaps there is one among a million who knows why he wants it; and even among millions you will not find one with the knowledge of why he should want it, and why he should not want it. With all the power of the mind one thing must be remembered: that man proposes, and God disposes. This will always prove true when man stands against the will of God Almighty. Therefore the path of the saints in life has been to seek with resignation the will of God, and in this way to swim with that great tide, so that with the accomplishment of their wish the purpose of God may be fulfilled.
The key to the mind is the knowledge of life. There is only one real knowledge. It is learnt in one moment; but the nature of life is such that we forget. In other words, the key two the mind is the psychology of life, and there is rarely a person who knows the psychology of life profoundly. Man has the faculty of knowing, but he is so absorbed in life that he does not give time to practice the psychology of life, which is more precious than anything in the world.
By psychology is meant that before uttering a word a man should think what effect it might have on the atmosphere, upon his person, on the whole of life. Every word is a materialization of thought; it has a dynamic power. If one considered one would find that every little thought, every little feeling, every movement one makes, even a smile, or a frown, such a small thing has its effect. If one knew the effect of every cause before bringing that cause into thought, speech, or action one would become wise. Generally man does everything mechanically, influenced by the conditions of the moment, by anger or depression; so every man in life lives a life without control – in other words, without mastery. What we learn through spiritual knowledge is to gain mastery, to learn what consequences our actions will bring. A man cannot be perfect in this knowledge; all souls have their limitations, but it is something to strive after, and in this is the fulfilment of God’s purpose. Even this knowledge alone does not make a man capable; practice is necessary and practice may take a whole life. Every day man seems to make more mistakes; this is not really so, but his sight becomes more keen.
To be continued…