The Divinity of the Human Soul : The Sufi Message (Volume - 12)

The Volume throws a fresh light on Sufi Inayat Khan's message. Maybe one of his central themes, the divinity of the human soul, is expressed best here and in a more varied from than in the other volumes. Apart from teachings in the form of discourses and lectures this book contains autobiographical notes, both on his time in India and the early years of his mission in the West.

There are some interesting analyses of life in the East and the West and on the role of mysticism in life, apart from unique renderings of Indian life at the turn of the century.

Finally you will find some fine plays giving his subtle teachings on life within and without in yet another form. The discourses and lectures focus on mysticism, meditation, faith, mastery, discipleship and related themes. The book will help you along the path of your soul opening your inner eyes to the beauty of the Self.

HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN, (Baroda 1882-1927) was a famous musician in his young years. Later he left for the West in order to spread the Sufi message of love, harmony and beauty. He preached Sufism not as an orthodox sect, but as a forward-looking world message of interreligious brotherhood. He founded many Sufi centers in the West. In India, the Sufi message has got an inspiring centre at the Dargah of the Master himself, located near the tomb of Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia, New Delhi.

THIS BOOK is centred around the theme of the divinity of the human soul. It is a book appealing in many ways to the soul of the reader. It consists of widely different matter, both in terms of subjects and by way of presentation. The first part contains various themes given as lectures, whilst the second part contains a lively rendering of autobiographical notes dictated by the Master in 1918; thirdly, some plays are presented which he wrote on his long travels over the oceans. The lectures go under the tittle of The Vision of God and Man, being the title of the first lecture. It seems, however, to cover the whole part of this book as it reveals the vision of Sufi Hazrat Inayat Khan on the divinity of the human soul. Although many different subjects are covered most of them focus on mysticism, meditation, faith, mastery, discipleship and related themes.

Reading each and every page your soul will feel exalted, your heart uplifted and your mind inspired. In his Confessions, which were published in 1915 in a limited edition, long since out of print, Hazrat Inayat Khan gave some reminiscences of his early life. He tells us about his home life in Baroda which was centred round the towering figure of his grandfather, the celebrated musician Maulabaksh, who so profoundly influenced him about the career he himself made as a musician, and about his searchings on the spiritual path, and how these led him to the realization that he had to bring the message of Sufism to the Western World.

Thirdly this volume contains the four plays written by Hazrat Inayat Khan. Their style is very different from that of the plays we are accustomed to see performed on Western stages. But they form an important part of his teachings and convey to those who read them or see them performed the reality of the deeper side of life, a reality that manifests when the way has been opened for the attainment of self-realization, in which lies the fulfilment of the purpose of life. To Hazrat Inayat Khan it is God who is acting through man in order to realize Himself. Thus he wrote in the Vadan, 'The scriptures have called Him the Creator, the Masons have called Him the Architect, but I know Him as the Actor on this stage of life'.