| Hazrat
Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
6. There is One Family
the human family, which unites the children of
earth
indiscriminately in the Parenthood of God.
The Sufi understands that the one life emanating from the inner
Being is manifested on the surface as the life of variety, and in
this world of variety man is the finest manifestation, for he can
realize in his evolution the oneness of the inner being even in
the external existence of variety. But he evolves to this ideal,
which is the only purpose of his coming on earth, by uniting himself
with another.
Man unites with others in the family tie, which is the first step
in his evolution, and yet families in the past have fought with
each other, and have taken vengeance upon one another for generations,
each considering his cause to be the only true and righteous one.
Today man shows his evolution in uniting with his neighbours and
fellow citizens, and even developing within himself the spirit of
patriotism for his nation. He is greater in this respect than those
in the past; and yet men so united nationally have caused the catastrophe
of the modem wars, which will be regarded by the coming generations
in the same light in which we now regard the family feuds of the
past.
There are racial bonds which widen the circle of unity still more,
but it has always happened that one race has looked down on the
other.
The religious bond shows a still higher ideal. But it has caused
diverse sects, which have opposed and despised each other for thousands
of years, and have caused endless splits and divisions among men.
The germ of separation exists even in such a wide scope for brotherhood,
and however widespread the brotherhood may be, it cannot be a perfect
one as long as it separates man from man.
The Sufi, realizing this, frees himself from national, racial,
and religious boundaries uniting himself in the human brotherhood,
which is devoid of the differences and distinctions of class, caste,
creed, race, nation, or religion, and unites mankind in the universal
brotherhood.
In a few instances, Hazrat Inayat
Khan's original gender-specific wording of the 10 Thoughts and 3
Objects has been slightly altered, by Pir Moineddin Jablonski, Murshid
Wali Ali Meyer, and Pir Shabda Kahn, as a reflection of ongoing guidance. The commentary associated
with each Thought has been extracted directly from the Sufi Message
of Hazrat Inayat Khan, Volume I, Part 1: The Way of Illumination (© 1979,
International Sufi Movement, All rights reserved.), and as a quoted passage,
Hazrat Inayat Khan's use of gender specific language has not been updated. |