Hazrat Inayat Khan stressed the importance of a seeker’s attitude in the recent posts found here and here. The 13th C. Sufi Sharafuddin Maneri also taught that spiritual attainment depends upon the proper attitude. Here is a brief passage on the subject of one’s attitude toward God from ‘The Hundred Letters.’ For more about Maneri, see this earlier post.
God’s attitude toward you
will accord with your opinion of Him.
If you have a suspicious attitude toward Him,
then He too is suspicious.
Having a good opinion of somebody results from an experience of his generosity, while a suspicious attitude toward a person would indicate the opposite experience. Everyone who has an actual experience of the generosity of somebody becomes an ever firmer friend of his. Khwaja Yahya Mu’az said: ‘Everyone who does not have a good opinion of God does not have his inner eye illuminated by Him.’ It is because of this tradition that he says that God’s attitude toward you will accord with your opinion of Him. If you have a suspicious attitude toward Him, then He too is suspicious. No one who experiences bad things from God will ever have his eye illuminated by Him. Another meaning is that one is very suspicious of one’s enemy but trusts one’s friends. One’s heart is lit up by one’s friends, not by one’s enemies. Suspicion signifies the onset of enmity, while a good opinion points to incipient love.
Dear Nawab,
Aren’t we all living in a mirror-palace?
If you are positive, the world around is like that. If you have a negative attitude, the world will react like that. When I send a smile, it comes back to me. That is what I experience in daily life. God is in all men, so every moment I can practice my opinion to Him.
It is always useful to remember. Thank you for showing this again.