The worlds are held together by the heat of the sun; each of us are atoms held in position by that eternal Sun we call God. Within us is the same central power we call the Light, or the Love of God; by it we hold together the human beings within our sphere, or, lacking it, we let them fall.
Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
Related Material by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
Compiled by Wahiduddin Richard Shelquist – wahiduddin.net
A close study of the formation of the sun and of its influence on everything in life will help us to understand the Divine Spirit. Heat, gas-light, electric light, the coal fire, the wood fire, the candle, the flame of the oil-lamp, all these different manifestations of Light have their source in the sun; it is the sun which is showing itself in all these different forms, although we generally consider the sun to be separate from all other aspects of Light. In the same way the Supreme Spirit is manifested in all forms, in all things and beings, in the seen and unseen worlds; and yet It stands remote, as the sun stands remote from all other forms of Light. The Qur’an says, ‘God is the light of heaven and of earth’; and in reality all forms, however dense they may be, are to some degree the radiance of that Spirit which is All Light. All the different colors are different degrees of that same Light.
The soul becomes like a rose and begins to show the rose quality. The rose holds together many petals, and so the person who comes to the unfoldment of the soul begins to show many different qualities. These qualities emit fragrance in the form of a spiritual personality. The rose has a beautiful structure, and so the personality which proves the unfoldment of the soul has also a fine structure in manner, in dealing with others, in speech, in action. It is like the perfume of the rose that the atmosphere of the spiritual being pervades all.
The rose has in its heart its seeds, and so the developed souls have in their heart that seed of development which produces many roses. The rose comes and fades away, but the essence that is taken from the rose lives and keeps the fragrance that it had in its full bloom. Personalities who touch that plane of development may live on the earth for a limited time, but the essence which is left by them will live for thousands and thousands of years, ever keeping the same fragrance and giving the same pleasure that once the rose gave.
We all have our circle of influence, large or small; within our sphere so many souls and minds are involved; with our rise, they rise; with our fall, they fall. The size of our sphere corresponds with the extent of our sympathy, or we may say, with the size of our heart. Our sympathy holds our sphere together. As our heart grows, our sphere grows; as our sympathy is withdrawn or lessened, so our sphere breaks up and scatters. If we harm those who live and move within our sphere, those dependent upon us or upon our affection, we of necessity harm ourselves.
The worlds are held together by the heat of the sun. Each of us are atoms held in position by that eternal sun we call God. Within us is that same central power, we call it the Light of God, or the Love of God, and by it we too hold up the human beings within our sphere; or lacking it, we let them fall. So God keeps all, and so we keep our friends and surroundings. With this knowledge life in the world becomes a glorious vision. Not that we are compelled to keep away from sin, but we learn what power virtue has.
Commentary by Murshid S.A.M. (Sufi Ahmed Murad)
Samuel L. Lewis
Owing to the nature of the human mind, every attribute is given a different name; the result is that although an essence may have many attributes, the mind segregates them. Thus one of the qualities of Love itself is warmth, fire, heat. They are not separate. In the physical world the cold metals are brittle; although their particles are closer together, the force that welded them is gone. When we wish to mix metals we heat them; when we bake cakes we unify the materials through heat. It is heat and Love which tend always toward Unity.
What is called gravitation, cohesion, and adhesion is nothing but aspects of the Universal Living Love-Light. In the three worlds, there is a focus of power which can be called the sun, in which and through which this Universal Power operates. If there were not this coordinated power there could be and would be nothing but chaos — no law, no rhythm, no beauty.
The cells of the body are held together by this same law, and by it, and according to it, human beings form societies. This teaching has been excellently worked in principle by Moses, more implicitly by Plato, and quite explicitly by Swedenborg. According to their own evolution each of these men interpreted it more or less. It is Love-nature which holds people together; it supplies the magnetic power which draws the infant to the breast of its mother, the élan which attracts the sexes, and all motive and feeling leading toward Unity, union, or harmony of every kind.
The very cells of our body no longer coalesce when we break the law. Neither do they hold together when, mastering the law, one learns how to dissolve this physical body. In that case there is a supreme concentration on the Love of God and on service toward God which enables the soul to become free from the sphere of great limitation and rise to function in a sphere of much greater freedom.
The law of friendship, the law of love, the law of harmony is all one. Through the ego we lose this universal power, through willingness to surrender we gain it all.