Self stands as a wall between humans and God.
Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
Related Material by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
Compiled by Wahiduddin Richard Shelquist – wahiduddin.net
God speaks to everyone, not only to the messengers and teachers, but to the ears of every heart. But it is not every heart which hears it. God’s voice is louder than the thunder, and God’s light is clearer than the sun — if one could only see it, if one could only hear it. In order to see it and in order to hear it we should remove this wall, this barrier which we have made of the self. Then we become the flute upon which the divine Player may play the music of Orpheus which can charm even the hearts of stone; then we rise from the cross into the life everlasting.
Our limited self is like a wall separating us from the Self of God. God is as far away from us as that wall is thick. The wisdom and justice of God are within us, and yet they are far away under the covering of the veil of the limited self.
( from the Sufi Message Series, Volume VII – In an Eastern Rose Garden: Chapter 23 – The Desire of Nations )
Humility is the principal thing that must be learnt in the path of training the ego. It is the constant effort of effacing the ego that prepares people for the greater journey. This principle of humility can be practiced by forgetting one’s personality in every thought and action and in every dealing with another. No doubt it is difficult and may not seem very practicable in everyday life, though in the end it will prove to be the successful way, not only in one’s spiritual life but in one’s everyday affairs. The general tendency is to bring one’s personality forward, which builds a wall between two souls whose destiny and happiness lies in Unity. In business, in profession, in all aspects of life it is necessary that one should unite with the other in this Unity, in which the purpose of life is fulfilled.
Commentary by Murshid S.A.M. (Sufi Ahmed Murad)
Samuel L. Lewis
To use the expressions “greater self” and “lesser self” is unfair unless one has a clear concept of these terms. Nufs is not self but is a thought of self that has been given reality as the self. Try to locate nufs, concentrate on nufs, and often it will be found in a particular part of mind. This shows that nufs is a production of mind, not its controller. Then try to locate true Self through concentration, and while the force of feeling will be strongest in the heart, centered in the heart, it will touch every portion of one’s being. This shows that what humanity ordinarily considers as “I” is not the true “I” and that perhaps there is no true “I”. Yes, there is no true “I” except God, of whom the Hebrews said, “I am that I am”.
Realizing that the nufs is a limitation and not a completeness, one finds the means of circumventing its power — by prayer, meditation, concentration, and all spiritual devotions.