In a Gatheka about hope, Hazrat Inayat Khan tells us that there are two sorts of this quality. One form is dependent, by which he means we need our hope to be sustained or reinforced by results. If what we wish for sees some advancement, we continue to hope, but if we don’t see an answer to our hope, then our dream begins to fade. But the other form of hope is independent – it continues regardless of results. And Hazrat Inayat goes on to say that the dependent form is that of the pessimist, while independent hope is that of the optimist.
We need hope. It is the nature of life that everyone lives with limitation, and therein lies the cause of all suffering. Therefore we always reach for some change, some progress on the physical, mental or spiritual level, and if we lose hope, we lose all momentum and abandon all opportunity to progress.
The difference between the optimist and the pessimist is important here. The pessimist’s expectation of the worst is almost inevitably confirmed because, whether we recognize it or not, our attitude affects the outcome of our efforts and of the events around us. As a consequence, the pessimist enjoys, if that is the word, a sort of sour satisfaction that their expectation has been confirmed, that they are ‘right.’ They remain, though, like a person at the bottom of a well, imprisoned and with no rope by which to climb out. As we read in Gayan Boulas, “It is the spirit of hopelessness that blocks the path of man and prevents his advancement.”
Optimism, on the other hand is the result of love, as we find in Gayan Boulas, and when love is mature, it does not depend upon any particular response of the Beloved. If we truly love our friend, for example, our love is not given for what we hope to receive from that person, but simply for who that person is. And if we look deeply into the theme of love, we discover that love arises from harmony: we feel some inexplicable harmony in us with the object of our love, and that resonance draws us together. To put it another way, we love that which we are able to recognize from within ourselves. In the image of the person in the well, the optimist might love the clouds drifting in the blue sky above, knowing that they represent the freedom for which they long.
Therefore, it is independent hope that can uplift our life – but like the love from which it arises, it must be guarded and strengthened by patience. When love first sprouts, like a seedling, it is vulnerable; once it has matured, protected and sustained by patience, it becomes like a spreading tree, able to endure the storms of life while giving sustenance and providing shelter from the heat of the day. It is this same patience that keeps hope alive. And as it says in Vadan Boulas : Nothing is lost, as long as your hope is not lost. Certainly, there will be many occasions when our patience is tested, for no life is easy, but rising to the challenges is what keeps our hope alive, for as we read in Vadan Chalas, Seeking after that which is beyond one’s reach is the oil which feeds the flame of hope.