Bowl of Saki for December 20

Unsuccessful people often keep success away by the impression of their former failures.

Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan

Related Material by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan

Compiled by Wahiduddin Richard Shelquist – wahiduddin.net

It is said in the Gayan, ‘The present is the reflection of the past, and the future is the re-echo of the present.’ Destiny is not what is already made. Destiny is what we are making. Very often fatalists think that we are in the hands of destiny, driven in whatever direction in life destiny wills; but in point of fact we are the masters of our destiny, especially from the moment we begin to realize this fact. … destiny means the materialization of our own thought. We are responsible for our successes and failures, for our rises and falls. And it is we who bring these about either knowingly or unknowingly.

Many there are who see no prospects before them in life. Does that mean that the world, the universe, is so poor that it cannot provide for all their need? There is abundance, but by thinking continually that there is no way out of it, people become fixed in their thoughts and bring about despair.

When we are thinking or feeling, we are at the same time emitting what we think or feel, as a fragrance. We are creating around ourselves an atmosphere, which expresses it. And it not only conveys to another our thought and feeling, but it creates for us an answer. … You will always find that those who say, ‘Everything is going wrong with me’, are hearing the voice aloud; it is their own failure talking to them. As soon as they have been able to silence this voice, the failure is ended; a new page in the book of life turned, and they can look forward to their life with a greater courage and a greater hope. That person is brave who in the face of a thousand failures can stand up and say, ‘Now I am not going to fail. The failure was only a preparation for my success.’ That is the right spirit.

Commentary by Murshid S.A.M. (Sufi Ahmed Murad)
Samuel L. Lewis

Failure is due to wrong direction of breath. Concentration improves breath, especially spiritual concentration. Every thought affects the breath very appreciably. So by your impressions you can move your breath and so alter condition of mind and body. Thinking about failures is sure to increase failure, and thinking of success will surely bring success in some direction. Therefore you are the cause of your own miseries.