The final victory in the battle of Life for every soul is when it has risen above the things which once it most valued.
Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
Related Material by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
Compiled by Wahiduddin Richard Shelquist – wahiduddin.net
The final victory in the battle of Life for every soul is when it has abandoned, which means when it has risen above, what once it valued most. For the value of everything exists for us only so long as we do not understand it. When we have fully understood, the value is lost, be it the lowest thing or the highest thing. It is like looking at the scenery on the stage and taking it for a palace. Such is the case with all things of the world; they seem important or precious when we need them or when we do not understand them; as soon as the veil which keeps us from understanding is lifted, then they are nothing.
Do not, therefore, be surprised at the renunciation of sages. Perhaps every person in the spiritual path must go through renunciation. It is not really throwing things away or disconnecting ourselves from friends; it is not taking things to heart as seriously as one naturally does by lack of understanding. No praise, no blame is valuable; no pain or pleasure is of any importance. Rise and fall are natural consequences, so are love and hatred; what does it matter if it be this or that? It matters so long as we do not understand. Renunciation is a bowl of poison no doubt, and only the brave will drink it; but in the end it alone proves to be nectar, and this bravery brings one the final victory.
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The real spirit of renunciation is willingness; and willing renunciation comes when one has risen above the thing one renounces. The value of each thing in Life — wealth, power, position, possession — is according to the evolution of each person. There is a time in our life when toys are our treasures, and there is a time when we put them aside. There is a time in our life when copper coins are everything to us and there is another time when we can give away gold coins. There is a time in our life when we value a cottage, and there is a time when we give up a palace. Things have no [ intrinsic ] value; their value is as we make it; and at every step in our evolution we change their value.
Commentary by Murshid S.A.M. (Sufi Ahmed Murad)
Samuel L. Lewis
To give up material things for intellectual knowledge, to surrender worldly knowledge for the compassion and wisdom of the heart, to discard the compassion and wisdom of the heart in the assimilation within God — the Eternal, Everlasting, and Ever-Present Existence — these are all steps on the way. In other words, once an ideal is attained, it must be dropped in order that a higher ideal and a further goal may be attained. So there is nothing which can be explained, discussed, or put into words which may not have to be discarded. Even our highest principles and morals can become obstacles if they hinder the spiritual freedom which God and God alone can bestow.