The struggle of life
Everyone does and says as much as he has understood. Why should a man blame another for what he cannot understand?
A person begins to realise that whatever comes he should take it calmly. If an insult comes he takes it calmly. If a good word comes he accepts it with thanks. If a bad word comes, he takes it calmly.
He is ready to give his time and services to all; to the deserving and the undeserving alike, for he sees in all the manifestation of God.
The Sufi worships the God who is before him. He sees the God who is in everything.
We must recognise God, to respect him in every face, even in the face of our enemy, of the most worthless.
Life is short
This life is short, and we shall never have the same opportunity to give, to serve, and to do something for others.
It is said that if something asks you to go a mile, you should go with him two miles. That means if someone makes us for our services, let us not think, “Why should I, such an important person, service another, give my time to another?” Let us give our services more liberally than we are asked to do.
Let us give service, give our time, but when the time for receiving comes, do not let us expect to receive anything. We must practise renunciation.
One must study the nature of life, one must understand the psychology of this struggle. In order to understand this struggle, one must see that there are three sides to it: the struggle with others, the struggle with oneself, and the struggle with circumstances.
- We must practise virtue because we like it. Do good because we like to do it and not for anything in return. Expect no kindness or appreciation; if we do, it will become a trade. This is the right way for the world in general, and the only way of becoming happy. It is a moral that is called the moral or renunciation.
Struggling with oneself is the definition of peace. This person has penetrated deeper into life will find that struggle with oneself is the most profitable in the end.
The struggle with oneself has three aspects:
- Make one’s thought, speech, and action answer the demands of one’s thought, speech and action of one’s ideal which belong to one’s natural being.
- To fit with others, with their various demands and ideas. This man has to make himself as narrow as wide as the place that one asks him to fill
- Give accommodation to other in one’s own life, in one’s own heart, larger small as the demand may be.
The Sufi looks upon the struggle as unavoidable, as a struggle through which he has to go.
The Sufi’s work is therefore to engage in the struggle of others, to console them, to strengthen them, to give them a hand, and through that his own struggle dissolves and this makes him free to go forward.
How does the Sufi struggle?
He struggles with power, with understanding, with open eyes, and with patience.
The Sufi does not look at the loss; what is lost is lost. He does not think of the pain of yesterday. Only if a memory is pleasant does he keep before him, for it is helpful on his way.
The Sufi takes both the admiration and the hatred coming from around with smiles.
The Sufi believes that both these things form a rhythm within the rhythm of a certain music.
Praise cannot be without blame, nor can blame be without praise.
The Sufi keeps the torch of wisdom before him, because he believes that the present is the echo of the past, and that the future will be the reflection of the present. For the Sufi, every thought that comes to his mind, every impulse, every word he speaks, is to him like a seed, a seed which falls in the soil of life and takes root.
The Sufi finds that nothing is lost, every good deed, every little act of kindness of love, done to anybody, will some day rise as a plant and bear fruit.
The purpose of life is to arrive at that stage where every moment becomes a fruitful.
True profit is that which one makes for others.
In worldly life, if a person proves to be lacking in that power which enables him to struggle along, he meets nothing but failure.
One should have the inspiration and power to answer life’s demands in life’s struggles.
The first enemy one meets is one’s own self. The self is mischievous.
When the self has gained something it says, “I have done it”. When the self has lost something it says, “This person got in my way”. With little and big things, it is all the same.
The self does not admit faults, it puts blame on others. Its vanity, pride, smallness and its egotistical tendency which is continually active, keep one blind.
We think that our little faults, since they are small, are of no consequence, or we do not even think of them at all.
Very few can realise the great power in battling with and conquering the self.
There is in man a real self and a false self
Real self:
- The eternal
- Wisdom
- Perfection
- Goodness
- God
- Reality
False self:
- The mortal
- Ignorance
- Limitation
- Product of evil
- Satan
- Shadow
The false self is a shadow and yet it is nothing.
This false self has no existence of its own.
Spirituality is not wonder working, it is attained by right attitude
The shrine of God is in the heart of man.
The thirst for life makes us overlook little opportunities of doing good. Every moment of life brings an opportunity for being conscious of human feeling, in prosperity, in adversity, in all conditions. It costs very little, only a little thought is necessary.
Love
A person may be good but at the same time not be contienscious about little things. There is no greater religion than love.
God is love
The best form of love is conscientious regarding the feeling of those with whom we come in contact in everyday life.
One finds greater faults in oneself as one advances along the spiritual path.
He does not notice his faults is in reality becoming worse. There is no end to one’s faults. To think of them makes one humber.
0
