When Hazrat Inayat Khan was working in the west to spread the wisdom of Sufism, he noted that he was often asked a certain kind of question, usually put like this: “But what is the truth? Can you not simply tell us the truth?” And at such moments he wished that he had something solid, like a brick, on which he could write the word ‘truth’ and hand it to the person, saying, “Here it is. This is the truth—hold it tightly!”

Obviously the questioners felt that the Master did know something they did not know, something that must be communicable in a way they could grasp. Nevertheless, as the wise have understood since the beginning of time, people see according to their own frame of mind; they each come to the well with their own container, some with a thimble, some with a cup, some with a large bucket. If you take a pick-pocket to the Taj Mahal, he will not see a breathtakingly majestic symphony in carved marble, but he will see thousands of inviting pockets.

Modern science, having proved this timeless wisdom with various studies, calls it ‘confirmation bias’: the interpretation of what we perceive to support what we believe. If we have grown up in a certain place, for example, we will naturally use that as our standard of beauty, and if we have strong feelings against a particular group, it will be very difficult for us to ever see any good in its members. Naturally, this poses a problem for the spiritually awakened souls, the elder brothers and sisters of the human family who come from time to time to care for the children of the world. How to help humanity out of its delusions? In our present age, perhaps the answer is: gently. In Nirtan, Gamakas, Hazrat Inayat Khan says “The Message is a call to those whose hour has come to awake, and a lullaby to those who are still meant to sleep.”

Those who have taken up the Sufi path (or who have been taken up by it!) might assume we are among those awakening, but we should not think that we are therefore free from bias. Look closely at those around you and you will see that each one follows a form of Sufism that is expressive of their own nature and character; some, who cannot bear any rules or regulations, will tell you that Sufism is liberty to do whatever you wish; others, with a thirst for the exotic, might be attracted to the cultural aspects that speak of the East; and so on. And having observed this in others, we could also look in the mirror, and ask ourselves: what is the form of MY Sufism? And is there a way to enlarge it?