In order to achieve inward peace we must learn to rely on Hope, Belief and Faith (H.B.F), and treat them as our unfailing allies in the war waged outside. We should treat them as our sheet-anchor.
Let the words blow furiously and storms come, and upheavals occur but we should hold fast to H.B.F. The H.B.F. Formula has proved its efficacy and usefulness and if applied firmly, judiciously and diligently will give the same results.
Let us be prepared to lose all but not the treasure of Hope. The hope within keeps and individual moving, and serves as an incentive to future progress and happiness.
Let, then, Hope be the chariot, Belief the sword, and Faith the Armour in the grim and fierce battle of life.
Trifles of life should be ignored as far as possible. They come and go. Why should we give them our attention and our time?
Let us shake off our depression. Let us shun pessimism, and seek refuge in optimism, which can serve as the best ‘pick-me-up’, if rightly applied.
Let the thoughts be noble and sublime. Negative thoughts are the inward enemies. Positive thoughts lead to a positive personality. As we think so we are likely to become. We can be a changed person only when we prefer to change our thought pattern. To get rid of negative thoughts is to change destiny.
It is due to your thinking what you are,
Either you are in harmony or you are at war.
Thoughts can make or mar the life,
It is your thinking which makes or mars,
Why see the Mud, why not see the stars?
Let the tender and sensitive plant of love grow within, and let it expand as to cover the entire universe.
Desires should be curtailed. There is no limit to desires. We should not be defeated by the Army of desires. Too many desires imply and inferiority complex. Let us desire to have no desire.
When an opportunity knocks at the door, open the door and smile. Let the opportunity talk first.
At times, hold a Disarmament Conference in your private chamber to explore ways and means to find the inward peace and to disarm you from inner tension. To this Conference may be summoned the Heart, Mind, Intellect, Reason, Doubt Hope, Belief, Faith, Will and Imagination. I am sure Reason and Doubt, finding Faith participating, will stage a walkout. Reason and Doubt are at loggerheads with Faith. Will and Imagination will assert for supremacy. In a case of conflict between Will and Imagination, it is imagination that emerges triumphant.
The Resolution passed at the Conference should be like this:
Resolved that in the interest of inner harmony and inward peace, diplomatic relations are severed hereby with all those distressing thoughts,which keep the mind confused, perplexed, and agitated and thus depriving [us] of inward peace.
As soon as we get a problem, we should think that the one who has sent the problem will solve it for us. Like the mystics, let us treat every problem and difficulty as a Gift from the Friend. A gift should cause no worry, but instead, should give pleasure.
To get a problem or a difficulty implies that our faith is being put to test. It is dangerous to make and appointment with worry. Let us be bold and say:
“I refuse to grant an interview to worry”
Let us accept things as they are. There are two types of people. One type of people say- “What can not be cured must be endured”, and the other type of people say, “what cannot be endured must be cured.” The former dictum implies surrender and the other implies struggle and assertion. But, the fact is that, if we may bear and endure without grudge, we are sure to minimize ninety per cent of “The slings and arrows of an outrageous fortune” and the remaining ten per cent, also, will lose hold and wither away like smoke.
By all means, let us be concerned if we will, about the problem or difficulty, but it is not wise to be worried about it. To be concerned is one thing and to be worried is another thing.
Worry it self is incapable of giving solution. On the contrary, it magnifies problems.
It is better to solve the problems one by one. It is not advisable to mix the problems and be lost in the labyrinth.
If problems are ignored as long as possible, most of them meet a natural death.
It is wise to handle problems one by one. When problems are closely united, their unity gives them strength.
Prayer offers an effective remedy to shake off despondency, depression, and despair, and to enable us to overcome the problems.
Let us forget our problems for sometime and the problems will forget us.
Sometimes, the solution to a problem comes when we least expect it.
The mystics do not care for the Future, for the Future will take care of itself. They ignore the Past, which is dead. They have learnt to live in the present.
Tomorrow is promissory note bearing no signature. Yesterday is crossed cheque, which stands cancelled.
Today furnishes ready cash. Let us take it, and let us waive the rest.
Let us act as a good General in the Battle of Life, and control our thoughts, our passions and our emotions. The mind need not be furnace, the body the pyre thoughts the arrows, and imagination the bow. Success and Failure are relative terms. It is better to be indifferent to them.
All our so called problems are our guests. They are not going to stay with us for an indefinite period of time. Every problems has a solution. With the problem comes the solution. We see the problem, but we do not try to see the solution.
After every Autumn comes the spring so after every hardship comes the relief. The problem, confronting, is in fact,a treat of our endurance, perseverance, patience and power.
To be quiet, calm and collected is to be undaunted by and to overcome the problem. Calmness of mind attracts success. For inward peace, let us look within. Like happiness, it comes from within.
Let us avoid temptations. Adam had to pay heavily for being tempted to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree.
To be tempted is to have an unstable mind.
Let us accept the inevitable. Lust, greed, needless arguments, etc. Should be avoided.
It is not wise to expect anything from others. Expectation may bring disappointment, and disappointment may cause worry.
When the mind is confused, it is always better to take refuge in nature, good books, and in the company of good people.
Be sincere to yourself and to others, and people will be sincere to you.
Know the technique of being by yourself. To get higher things, some inconvenience and delay should be borne, and small things have to be renounced.
There is a price for everything. Success demands its own price. Pay the price and do not be confused.
Illness is a tax that we have to pay for being healthy. Loss in business means the payment of charity. Unemployment means that it is intended that you should learn to wait and watch. Domestic trouble is a test of endurance, patience, mutual trust and mutual help.
It is better to do one thing at a time. Moderation is good in all things. Let hope and ambitions be within limits.
The individual will, when merged with Divine Will, is an occasion for peace.
Self-surrender is the way to be happy.
To think of the persons, and to recollect the evens we do not like, is to be deprived of a cheerful frame of mind, resulting in confusion and tension.
To swim with the waves is not to be drowned in the boisterous sea of life and thus to reach the shore safely.
In our daily life, we exchange pride for power; material acquisitions for happiness; pain for pleasure; doubt for advanced intelligence; greed for greatness; lust for contentment; striving for strength and suffering for serenity.
Inward peace is the sovereign remedy enough to make the life sovereign, supreme and serene.
Inward peace is an achievement but, once is is achieved, it becomes a gift.
No price is too hight to get inward peace.
The writing on the wall
To selfishly seek happiness is to deny oneself happiness. To contribute to the happiness of others is to make oneself happy.
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One reaching the gate of Heaven in dark dreary night,
I asked the man standing there to change my plight:
Pray! show light, and lead me to the way right;
He replied, that, submission to Divine Will was better than light.
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I ran and reached the Tavern’s Gate,
The man there asked me to stand and wait,
And how and why, I was there so late?
I said no one could come unless directed by fate.
(This is a series of postings to come on the subject of Sufi Mysticism. The postings will give in-depth knowledge in the complete world & ultimate sphere of Sufi spirituality. The postings are enlisted in Categories : “Sufi’s Spirituality” (Tasawwuf ) & in “Tasawwuf (Path of Mysticism).