The Message is the answer to the cry of the individual and collective souls.
The Message Which has Come in all Ages
The Message which has come in all ages and has been called and known by different names, this very Message is now the Sufi Message, and therefore the work that this Message has to accomplish is not only with a section of the world, but with the whole humanity.
The Message has two aspects, as has been the case in all times, the esoteric aspect and the exoteric. In the exoteric Message it has all that is necessary for that aspect, and yet it cannot very well be compared with many other religions, for the reason that we have in our devotional service in the Church of All, the Universal Worship, a form, and yet the form is taken from the form of all the different religions. We have scriptures, the scriptures of all religions.
We adhere to the Teacher, but to the Teachers of all religions. And thus it shows from the democratic aspect that it is the Message of the day. That idea that every other religion has held is of holding one’s particular Teacher in high esteem and disregarding the other Teachers, considering one’s own scripture the only scripture and the others of no worth. Therefore this form introduced in our service proves by its nature two things: its democratic tone and at the same time its being the message of the time.
And as in all times there is need of the esoteric side; that need remains and will always remain. This aspect has been taught in the ancient schools and so it is today the same truth which was ever taught in schools of Sufis; it cannot be different. The only difference is the difference of the form in which it is presented with the consideration of the psychology of the time and the people to whom it is given.
In this great work which has been the destiny of our Movement, the only thing that gives me strength, courage, and consolation, in spite of difficulties and troubles, is to find some sincere mureeds around me whose earnestness I feel and in whose faith I have not the slightest doubt. And having some few who are sincere in their faith and belief, and standing firm and steady with their Murshid in the strife, to them I would like to speak to our needs and wants. Today what we greatly need is the field-workers in the Cause, those who would be willing to travel if they were needed, and those who cannot travel, that they may work in the place where they are; the workers who will make, I am sure, a phenomenon owing to their belief in the Message and what it is to bring to humanity.
They must remember that no message, great or small, has been accepted by all and rejected by none; where there is praise there is blame. Neither do we care for praise nor blame; our ears are closed to both, praise and blame. We do not need to think whether it will be a success or not; if so, we do not know what the Message is or whose it is. We need not let that question enter our minds for one moment, for the success belongs to the One Whose Message it is, Who is the Owner of all success. We are the workers and we must work.
During my tour through America I have felt more than ever this great need of field-workers. If one thinks he is not capable, he will be incapable and with all good intention not able to help; but the one who has trust and confidence in Murshid will see the reason behind Murshid’s suggestions.
The true teacher is the true pupil and the true pupil the true teacher. The path of teachership is from beginning to end pupil-ship, and the path of the true pupil is all along a teachership whose heart becomes reflected by a Teacher, so that all he says and does is what the teacher himself would say and do. And therefore every one of my mureeds, sincere and (in) earnest, must know he is the channel of the Message, and must await patiently the call, and answer it without doubt or hesitation, with courage and hope.
The other need just now is the need of a Temple for the Universal Worship. There is no doubt that one day this will be accomplished; it is even possible that it will be before one can imagine. But now that destiny has made your Murshid settle here in Suresnes, not very far from here, in this vicinity a miniature Temple may be erected; and on such a model, however small, that it may be copied in the different countries. There are many ideas for this question, but when the outline is engraved in our hearts the rest will follow. So I hope all mureeds, with their devotion and sympathy, will think of this whenever they can.
In all periods of the world-history and all ancient traditions one finds traces of a call from above given to communities, nations, races, and the world at large. In the Qu’ran it is said: We have sent our Messenger in all parts of the earth that people may not say they were not warned in time. All traditions hold that a Messenger is given to the world at the time of the world’s need. No doubt people have given unnecessary and greater importance to the personality of the Messenger instead of to the Message. And this is the great error that humanity made at every age. While taking the Messenger instead of recognizing the Message they regarded the pen that wrote the letter instead of the letter’s contents. The letter and the writer are important, the pen is only the instrument. Thus differences came in religion. The Message had always been given in periods when it was more needed loudly given, when it was less needed gently.
Christ has said: I am the Alpha and the Omega. This means that He is first and last and thus is ever there, not that He is absent in between times. The prophecy of Muhammad was: Now that the world has received a Message through a man who is subject to all limitations and conditions of human life, the Message will in the future be given without the claim.
The Sufi Movement is an embodiment, a body, which is being composed to deliver that Message which is the Message of God. Therefore my mureeds are the particles of that body, the organs; and the more they will realize that, the more they will know their responsibility.
But so long as they will not realize they will stand apart, in spite of all devotion, thinking that the Message is the work of the Murshid.
But in fact it is not so: the Message is the Message of God, and you all, including Murshid, make the Embodiment.
You all–including Murshid–are the servants of this Message. Our hearts have been connected in the link of initiation in the Sufi Movement; they are as one heart, and as one heart (is) offered to God, the perfection of love, harmony, and beauty, that it may become His shrine, and the need of the living God in the world today may be answered.
The more you will think, the more you will see the importance of the humble little work we are doing.
However small our number, still the power behind is great, and trusting in that might, we are working. We do not fear, because of lack of material means. Our hope is in Him Whose Cause it is, and we shall work upon that hope. The wealth for us is God Himself.
”What is, in brief, the Message of the Sufi Order?”
There is only one Message which comes at every period of time, whenever it is necessary, as a reminder of the same Truth which has been given again and again. It is therefore that the Sufi Order does not give any doctrines as special to Sufism. Doctrines do not belong to the Message, they belong to the Church. Every time in the world’s history, whenever the Message was given, it struck a particular note. The central theme of this Message is to produce in man the consciousness of the divinity of the human soul, it is towards this end the teaching of the Order is given.
God Bless You!
”THE MESSAGE PAPERS OF HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN”
