Great souls shine out through all opposition

As the rose blooms amidst thorns, so great souls shine out through all opposition.

Bowl of Saki, December 10, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:

Ghazali has said in his Alchemy of Happiness that the spiritual path is like shooting an arrow into the dark. … Whoever sets out on this path is therefore in constant warfare. He has to encounter opposition from his relatives, from his friends and acquaintances; he gets into trouble with those who misunderstand his aims; they misuse him; they misjudge him and blame him for doing things and thinking in a manner which they believe to be unjustified.

Think of Christ, whose thoughts were so contrary to the religious thoughts of his time. How difficult to pass from the thought of an ordinary person to the thought of Christ! What difficulties there are to face! But once you fight these difficulties, and the further you advance, the more you are drawn to the spirit by the spirit.

from  http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XII/XII_I_16.htm

‘Resist not evil’, the scripture says. When there is resistance to evil of the other person, do not become angry with him. When you foster the same emotion, you add to his, and you increase the same fire in yourself. It is like infecting yourself with a contagious disease instead of curing it. Anger and bitterness will die out in time.

There was a small group of people in London who were working along spiritual lines. They felt a sort of rivalry against my little society, and they began to try to do us harm by telling stories against us and by setting others against us. My helpers came to tell me how we were being damaged in this way and asked if they should not do something to stop this. But I answered, ‘the best way to treat this is with indifference. Take no notice.’

And when they insisted that these doings would do us great harm I said, ‘Not at all. The only harm it could do would be if we allowed this harm to enter our circle. Let them do as they like and let us go on doing what we are doing!’ As the years went by they never heard us say a word against them; on the contrary, we welcomed them, we helped them, we served them in whatever way we could. In time this resistance completely vanished. We have been going forward, and they still stand where they were. Just a little indifference was enough!

from  http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XII/XII_I_16.htm

What is the meaning of Joseph being put in the well? The meaning is a trial. For every promising soul, every righteous soul will have opposition and envy and jealousy. And the righteous and good, wise and beautiful will shine out some day.

~~~ “Supplementary Papers, Misc VII, Questions and Answers”, by Hazrat Inayat Khan (unpublished)

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