The Indian Sufi master Hazrat Inayat Khan (1882–1927) was the first teacher to bring Sufism—Islamic mysticism—to the Western world. His teaching was noted for its stirring beauty and power, as well as for its applicability to all people, regardless of religious or philosophical background. This book gathers together three of Inayat Khan's most beloved essays on the spiritual life from among the fourteen volumes of his collected works: "The Inner Life": Inayat Kahn's sublime portrait of the person whose life is a radiant reflection of the Divine "Sufi Mysticism": in which the author identifies and shatters the common misconceptions about mysticism to reveal its true meaning "The Path of Initiation and Discipleship": What it means to set out on the spiritual path and how to find and maintain the right relationship with a teacher

First published in 1923, this classic volume contains timeless teachings on the nature of vibration and harmony as the basis of all creation. Transcending the barriers of religious traditions, The Mysticism of Sound explores profound and universal truths in a personable manner that will appeal to any seeker on the path of illumination.

People are everywhere to do found, but where is none to find a human being? Individuality is a given, says Hazrat Inayat Khan, but personality must be discovered and created. In a realized personality, the soul expresses its divine inheritance through its thoughts, words, and actions. Hazrat explains, "Personality is the development of individuality, and in personality, which is formed by character-building, is born that spirit which is the rebirth of the soul." Character building is described as the very substance of Sufism. The first two books in this volume, "Character Building" and "The Art of Personality," together delineate a series of capacities of mind and heart that, when carefully contemplated and conscientiously enacted, ripen and refine an individual's nature. The next book, "Moral Culture," contains three sections-on reciprocity, beneficence, and renunciation-that correspond to stages traditionally designated as the law (shari'at), the path (tariqat), and the truth (haqiqat). By extension, these sections correspond to the contemplative stages that Hazrat names concentration, contemplation, and meditation. The last three books consist of previously uncollected lectures on various subjects related to personality, art, and aesthetics. "Consciousness and Personality" includes talks on beauty, influence, innocence, dreams, the shadow, and human destiny. "Art and the Artist" presents Hazrat's teachings on art and nature, copying and improving, observation and illusion, symbolism, art and religion. The find book is "The Art of Music," which contains sections on Indian music, composition, dance, harmony, and music as a divine art. For Hazrat, art in all of its forms is the creative manifestation of the unfurling of the human personality: art completes nature. A powerful piece of art our help us see the natural world around us through new eyes. But the most compelling art of all is not found on brightly painted canvases or in the pages of melodious musical scores. It is discovered, instead, in the personality of a person who has attained the momentous epiphany of self-knowledge. Book jacket.

Teachings on sound presenting a vision of the harmony which underlies and infuses every aspect of life. Science of breath, law of rhythm, the creative process, healing power and psychological influence of music.

Teachings on the question of happiness from Inayat Khan's later years "In this sixth volume of the Centennial Edition of the Sufi Message series, Hazrat Inayat Khan approaches the question of happiness from various angles. Sometimes the context is a discussion of desire, other times an analysis of ethics. What links these investigations is that, in every case, Hazrat identifies happiness with the soul. 'Happiness is your own being, your own self, that self that is the most precious thing in life.' From this perspective, happiness is something to be discovered rather than acquired." --From the introduction by Pir Zia Inayat Khan