A soul is as great as the circle of its influence.
Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
Related Material by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
Compiled by Wahiduddin Richard Shelquist – wahiduddin.net
Even today we can see in everyday life how people argue and dispute without coming to a conclusion. Then perhaps another comes and sets the whole thing right. The discord of thousands of people could be resolved, and thousands of people could be united into one harmony by the presence of one who unites them all. … The influence of one soul may be felt in a village, of another in a country, of another in the whole country. [ This sentence appears to have some missing words. Perhaps Pir-o-Murshid meant: “of another in an area of the country, of another in the whole country”. Whatever may have been his exact, original wording, his meaning seems clear: that the spheres of felt heart-influence of different souls are of different extents, or areas, or volumes. Some can be felt in a small area, like a village, but not beyond; that of others can be felt throughout a larger area; and that of still others can be felt throughout the whole country … all depending on the breadth and depth of the heart awakening of the different souls. — Muiz ]
What is the sign of such souls? In the East it is believed that some people bring good luck, some child in the house, a guest, or a friend. The good luck may be brought to one person, or it may be brought to ten or fifty. This shows that there is some influence, and we can recognize it as something which is beneficial, good, harmonious, to five, ten, a hundred, or even more. The soul is as great as the circle of its influence.
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 As our heart grows, our sphere grows; as our sympathy is withdrawn or lessened, so our sphere breaks up and scatters.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. Our house or our palace or our cottage, our satisfaction or our disgust in our environment is the creation of our own thought. … Each of us composes the music of our own lives. If we injure another, we bring disharmony. When our sphere is disturbed, we are disturbed ourselves, and there is a discord in the melody of our lives. If we can quicken the feeling of another to joy or to gratitude, by that much we add to our own lives; we become ourselves, by that much, more alive. Whether conscious of it or not, our thoughts are affected for the better by the joy or gratitude of another, and our power and vitality increase thereby, and the music of our lives grows more in harmony.
Commentary by Murshid S.A.M. (Sufi Ahmed Murad)
Samuel L. Lewis
When the soul depends upon physical wealth and possessions, it touches only those who are controlled or influenced by wealth and possessions. When the soul longs for fame, it gains only the respect of those who respect fame or power. When the soul develops intellectual genius, it carries a possession beyond this sphere, which is of great value in Malakut and which helps the souls coming toward manifestation and many on their return journey. Besides, it influences the mental atmosphere of earth and so aids the people to acquire still greater mental capacity and genius. This all helps in the experience of life.
Still greater is the scope of heart and the advantage that results from the spiritual life. For only the spiritual ones can discern causes and purposes, and they do not have to explain. They know explanations are of no value to those who have never loved, and that those who love need no explanation. The heart, being greater than mind, can perceive every function of mind. Therefore the seers may read the mind of another and gain the knowledge of another, but they consider mind in its proper place. The sahib-i-dil, the keepers of the heart, are therefore not limited by human ability or power or wealth or intellect or memory. Their influence extends into Djabrut, touches all three planes, and extends into the future on earth and heaven.
Still greater yet is the influence of one who has accomplished the spiritual journey and become Rassoul. There is no end to the circle of the Rassoul’s influence, which is eternal.