Yesterday was a Tuesday, and in at least a few lives around the world an alarm sounded at the equivalent of 4 pm European time–a reminder to pause, recite the words of Rasul*, and repeat Ya Rasulillah (O Messenger of God) a number of times.
This custom began perhaps a year ago; the time is meant to remind us of the Message classes that Hazrat Inayat Khan gave on Tuesday afternoons during the Summer Schools in Suresnes, and the words also urge us to reflect on the Message of Unity, the desperate need of the world today.
Warner of coming dangers,
Wakener of the world from sleep,
Deliverer of the Message of God,
Thou art our Saviour.
The Message is not a new invention. It is the same Message that has resounded since the beginning of Creation, urging the world to reach higher. The mission of Hazrat Inayat Khan was two-fold: to place the feet of a few devotees firmly on the path toward spiritual perfection, and to sound the notes of love, harmony and beauty in a way that all the world might hear and understand.
The remembrance every Tuesday of this call is a way of re-connecting ourselves with others on this path, for it is a special feeling, a tender blessing, to know that others are opening their hearts in the same way at the same time. But more importantly, it connects us with the whole human family, reminding us that the happiness of one is ultimately inseparable from the happiness of all.
If we wish to see it, we can find this same awareness in every tradition. The Buddhists, for example, speak of ‘bodhicitta,’ meaning ‘enlightenment-mind,’ a state in which one strives for awakening, empathy and compassion for the benefit of all sentient beings. We need not think, therefore, that Sufis (or those who tread the Sufi path) are in any way special, but we might perhaps recognise what a great privilege it is to join with the endless line throughout eternity of sincere sisters and brothers, the Buddhists, the Hindus, the Christians, the Muslims and all the others, known and unknown to the world, who have held aloft the light of Truth for the benefit of their fellow beings.
*Rasul
Warner of coming danger, wakener of the world from sleep,
deliverer of the Message of God, Thou art our Saviour.
The sun at the dawn of creation, the Light of the whole universe,
the fulfilment of God’s purpose, Thou the life eternal,
We seek refuge in Thy loving enfoldment.
Spirit of Guidance, source of all beauty, and creator of harmony,
love, lover and beloved Lord, Thou art our divine Ideal.