The soul is first born into the false self, it is blind; in the True Self the soul opens its eyes.
Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
Related Material by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
Compiled by Wahiduddin Richard Shelquist – wahiduddin.net
Our greatest enemy is our self. All weakness, all ignorance keeps us from the Truth of our Being, from all the virtues hidden in us and all perfection hidden in our souls. The first self we realize is the false self. Unless the soul is born again it will not see the realm of heaven. The soul is born into the false self; it is blind. In the True Self the soul opens its eyes. Unless the false self is fought with, the True Self cannot be realized…
The lions could not harm Daniel because of the harmony of his will with the universal Will. The lions represent the destructive elements in the human mind. They represent wars, disappointments, rivalries, jealousies, envy, passions, and so forth, in different horrible guises. Our ego is the lion of lions, and if this is conquered, then these external lions — different egos around us — are conquered also, and wherever we go, with anyone, whether foolish or wise, good or bad, we now have peace.
( from the Sufi Message Series, Volume VII – In an Eastern Rose Garden: The Will, Human and Divine )
The work of the spiritual people is to forget the false self and so to realize the True Self which is God, and this True Self is not only in them but in their neighbors also.
( from the Supplementary Papers: Brotherhood II [ unpublished ] )
Humanity struggles with things that are outside us and so we give a chance to the foes who exist in our own beings. Therefore the first thing necessary in life is to make peace for the time being with the outside world, in order to prepare for the war which is to be fought within ourselves. Once peace is made within, one will gain by that sufficient strength and power to be used through the struggle of life within and without… Life is one long journey, and the further behind we have left our self, the further we have progressed toward the goal. Verily when the false self is lost the True Self is discovered.
Commentary by Murshid S.A.M. (Sufi Ahmed Murad)
Samuel L. Lewis
This is because in going toward incarnation, the soul was made drunk and becomes enticed by the wonders of the worlds of limitations. Then it becomes identified in its dream with that which it is dreaming and does not know it is false until it has awakened. Every spiritual practice enhances this awakening, which becomes fact when it sees that the false ego is the product of thought and not the originator.