The more elevated the soul, the broader the outlook.
Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
Related Material by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
Compiled by Wahiduddin Richard Shelquist – wahiduddin.net
Attitude is the principal thing in life. It is not the conditions in Life which change Life for us, but mostly it is our attitude toward Life and its conditions upon which depends our happiness or unhappiness. … The attitude becomes high and broad when one looks at Life from a higher point of view. When the point of view is not high, the range of our sight becomes limited; we become narrow in our outlook on Life, and in our feelings, thought, speech and action the same is expressed. Why is God pointed out on high, toward the sky? Why not toward the earth, for God is everywhere? The reason is that within the range of God’s sight the whole universe stands as a little grain of corn, as to those that fly in the balloon and look down from high, the whole city comes within the range of their sight, when they stand on earth they see no further than the four walls which keep the whole world covered from their sight.
What does it mean to become spiritual, or godly? It means to have a higher view of Life, to look at Life from a higher point of view. It is the high point of view in Life which ennobles the soul.
The eyes of the those who neglect their duty to their fellow beings, absorbed in Life’s intoxication, will certainly become dazzled and their mind exhausted before the presence of God. It does not mean that any soul will be deprived of the Divine Vision, it only means that the soul who has not learned to open its eyes wide enough will have its eyes closed before the Vision of God. All virtues come from a wide outlook on Life, all understanding comes from the keen observation of Life. Nobility of soul, therefore, is signified in the broad attitude that we take in Life.
The process of spiritual development is an expansion, and this expansion is brought about by the widening of the outlook. The outlook depends upon the attitude of mind. If a mind is focused to thinking of small things, then this process of widening the outlook will not be completed. … Spiritual progress is the lifting of the consciousness in order that the consciousness may expand to Perfection. Therefore it is a continual work of trying to look into a wider sphere. By this attitude people, without learning to be spiritual, will naturally become spiritual; their outlook on Life will become different. Little things that people take to heart will seem to them of little importance; things that people become confused with will become clear to them; things that matter so much to everyone will not matter to them. Many things that frighten and horrify people will not have the same effect upon them; disappointments and failures will not take away their hope and courage. Like their outlook, their thoughts, speech and actions become wide, so everything they say or do will be different. What we call nobleness, that natural nobleness which belongs to the soul, will blossom.
( Sangathas, Series I, Ta’lim” [ unpublished ] )
Commentary by Murshid S.A.M. (Sufi Ahmed Murad)
Samuel L. Lewis
The teaching of the Upanishads is that the Atman is located in the center of the heart, which is the smallest of things and yet it is also the largest thing in the Universe — if indeed it can be called a “thing.” To understand this better it must be explained that there are at least two categories of words: those which define or describe what the mind can perceive and conceive and which are by nature finite (or occasionally indefinite) and those which belong to the infinite and unfathomable, for which words are used not as definitions but as symbols. Such is the type-form of the term “soul.” Yet there is a truth in this teaching of the Upanishads from another point of view which can be called esoteric. That is to say, the more one concentrates upon Unity, the smaller the apparent field of compass in the concentration, the greater becomes that outlook although the channel is narrow. It is like making a telescope more powerful albeit its range of vision is narrow.
At the same time, soul not being dominated by space is also quite unlike a telescope for it has an action like a fan opening more and more, and in the process of concentration there is both greater range of vision and greater depth of vision. This is beyond sphere of mind, also beyond heart, for soul of itself can attune itself to anything and everything that is.