It is the depth of thought that is powerful, and sincerity of feeling which creates atmosphere.
Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
Related Material by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
Compiled by Wahiduddin Richard Shelquist – wahiduddin.net
Very few realize what power sincerity carries. A false person, however physically strong they are or however great is their will power, is kept down by their falsehood; it never allows them to rise. It eats into them because it is rust. Those who have done great things in life, in whatever walk of life it be, have done them by the power of truth, the power of sincerity, of earnestness, of conviction; when that is lacking, power is lacking.
The more sincerity is developed, the greater share of truth you will have. And however much sincerity a person may have, there is always a gap to fill, for we live in the midst of falsehood, and we are always apt to be carried away by this world of falsehood. Therefore we must never think we are sincere enough, and we must always be on our guard against influences which may carry us away from that sincerity which is the bridge between ourselves and our ideal. No study, no meditation is more helpful than sincerity itself.
We must come to the realization of the one life running through all. To a certain degree we attain to the realization of Unity by contemplation, religion, and prayer. But what is most necessary is sincerity in our way of life. What we are is all that really matters. Contemplation and meditation help in this, but our manner of life is what is all important, sincerity in our actions, and living life practically and not in theory.
Commentary by Murshid S.A.M. (Sufi Ahmed Murad)
Samuel L. Lewis
The judgment of average people is based upon their own individual experience; the judgment of the wise is based upon the universal human experience. As one cannot tell what this universal experience is through the limited mind, one feels through impression by an inner attunement what this conclusion should be. So the heart tells one what the mind can never know off-hand, but which the mind may immediately grasp thereupon.
To keep the thought pure, therefore, the heart must be kept pure. Through concentration and meditation on Unity in love, the heart is purified and radiates its condition to all the world.