10. The Journey to the Goal, Part 2
Beloved Brothers and Sisters,
At times when we are alone in the deepest quietude of a broken heart, Hazrat Inayat Khan encourages us that there is a “friend dearer than any in the world” who is the “origin, source and goal of all.”
May the journey “Draw us closer to Thee every moment of our life”.
With Loving Regards and prayers for an enlightened world,
Nuria, KarimaGita, Kabriya
Social Gatheka no.10, Part 2, The Journey to the Goal
by Hazrat Inayat Khan
One sees that those in the world who have really suffered, who have been disappointed, and are broken hearted, do not wish to tell anybody their experiences, don't want any company, but wish to be alone. And it is then, as if there was someone waiting with open arms, waiting for that soul to come as a child comes to its mother. This shows that there is somewhere a consoler, greater than any in the world, a friend dearer than anyone in the world, a protector stronger than any earthly one. Knowing that the world is not to be depended upon, he looks for that great one in himself.
A friend who is a friend in life and after death, in pleasure and pain, in riches and poverty, one on whom you can always depend, who always guides aright, who gives the best advice, that friend is hidden in your own heart. You cannot find a better one. Who is this friend? Man's own being, his true, inner being. That friend is the origin, source, and goal of all. But the question arises, if that friend is one's own being, why then call him a friend, why not call him oneself? The answer is that no doubt, in this friend is really one's own being, but, when comparing the present realization with the greater self, one finds oneself smaller than a drop in the ocean. Man cannot very well call that friend himself, until man has forgotten himself, until he is no more himself. Until, and unless one has arrived at the state of perfection, he had better be quiet than insolent about that which he has not yet become.
All [inner] schools all over the world prescribe as the first lesson, quietude: no discussion, no dispute, nor argument. The conditions for those on the path are altogether different from those of the outer world. The true knowers of life have kept their lips closed about that subject. No method has been successful and profitable other than the method of the prophets of all lands, who give man the first lesson of love for God.
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