It is mistrust that misleads; sincerity always leads straight to the goal.
Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
Related Material by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
Compiled by Wahiduddin Richard Shelquist – wahiduddin.net
With regard to trusting people, a person may think, ‘Is it right to believe in anything a person says? Is it right to trust everybody? There are many people who are not worthy of trust; shall we then trust everybody in order to develop our trust?’ The answer is yes. Perhaps we will have failures, but we will only trust another person when we trust ourselves, when we have faith in ourselves then we will have faith in another. Without faith in ourselves we can never have faith in another; to have faith in another is to have faith in ourselves. It does not matter if once or twice we are disappointed, but if we are afraid of being disappointed even once in our lives, perhaps we will doubt all through Life, and so there will never come a time when we will be able to trust anybody, even ourselves.
( from the Sufi Message Series, Volume VII – In an Eastern Rose Garden: Faith )
All beings have definite vocations, and their vocations are the lights which illuminate their lives. Those who disregard their vocations are lamps unlit. Those who sincerely seek their real purposes in Life are themselves sought by those purposes. As they concentrate on that search a light begins to clear their confusion, call it revelation, call it inspiration, call it what you will. It is mistrust that misleads. Sincerity leads straight to the goal.
Commentary by Murshid S.A.M. (Sufi Ahmed Murad)
Samuel L. Lewis
Mistrust is of the nature of dualism. Setting forth in no direction, having no particular ideal or aim, mistrust cannot lead to any goal. Therefore the wise do not enter in relations with those whom they do not trust except in such a way as to bring spiritual benefit to either or both parties. When one has no trust in another, it is better to abandon the act entirely unless one can do it oneself. Success in the spiritual life does not consist in the attainment of any particular objects or qualities, but in mastering the processes which lead to successful attainment.