To deny the changeableness of life is like fancying a motionless sea, which can only exist in one’s imagination.
Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
Related Material by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
Compiled by Wahiduddin Richard Shelquist – wahiduddin.net
If one studied the transitory nature of life in the world, how changeable it is, and the constant craving of everyone for happiness, one would certainly endeavor at all costs to find something one could depend upon. Humanity placed in the midst of this ever-changing world yet appreciates and seeks for constancy somewhere. People do not know that they must develop the nature of constancy in themselves; it is the nature of the soul to value that which is dependable. But is there anything in the world on which one can depend, which is above change and destruction? All that is born, all that is made, must one day face destruction. All that has a beginning has also an end; but if there is anything one can depend upon it is hidden in the heart of humanity, it is the divine spark, the true philosopher’s stone, the real gold, which is the innermost being of everyone.
( from the Sufi Message Series, Volume VI – The Alchemy of Happiness: Chapter I – The Alchemy of Happiness )
Things in the world are changeable; they are not to be relied upon. People see the vanity of the world; but if they do not see a reality in contrast, they remain intoxicated by the unreality, and try to get some pleasure from their life, even for a moment. The happiness of this world is something we cannot keep; it is just like the horizon — the nearer you go, the farther it goes. As soon as you get it, you see it is not the thing you wanted. That discontent continues its work till we have found and understood the manifestation of God, in which is hidden the Divine Spirit. God cannot be found in temples, for God is Love; and love does not live in temples, but in the heart of each of us, which is the temple of God.
Commentary by Murshid S.A.M. (Sufi Ahmed Murad)
Samuel L. Lewis
Even the concept of Nirvana is not stillness. It is a ceaseless, rhythmical activity. Life is motion, love is motion, and light is motion. Stillness represents the condition of the cipher, Nirvana that of infinity. There can be no real idea of stillness because even conceiving stillness is an activity of mind. The control of mind activity through spiritual contemplation is an activity of heart and soul. The paralysis of mind through drugs or hypnotism is a chemical activity which disposes mind-activity in the first instance, and the activity of another’s mind in the second instance. When the chemical forces abate or when the mind of another loses control, mind again functions.
The saying, “Nature abhors a vacuum”, extends beyond the physical. It means that whenever there is a withdrawal there is a compensation elsewhere. It is only by force that force can be withdrawn; so even cessation of movement is dependent upon movement.