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Volume VIII - The Art of Being

Health and Order of Body and Mind

Chapter XIX
A Question about Feelings

Question: Is there need of explaining things in words to one's Murshid, or is it sufficient to keep all one's thoughts and feelings in silence?

Answer: The truth need not be spoken; the existence speaks louder than words. Still the law of life in the world is such that words give fuller expression to one's thoughts and feelings, resulting in a greater satisfaction. Therefore, the best thing is to say what can be said, and not to try to put into words what can never be expressed in words, trusting in one's own sincere devotion and in the sympathy of your Murshid that nothing will remain not understood.

I think that, by expressing a thought or feeling in words, one makes a clear picture of them which, in an abstract form, can be perceived only by one who is greatly evolved. But it must be remembered that there are certain sentiments, unexpressed and yet solid and living. Such sentiments in time become personalities, and they live as human beings, filling their place in life. For instance, a thoroughly sympathetic person not only has sympathy as his attribute, but he has sympathy as a living spirit, moving and walking about with him, and going with him wherever he goes.

Life is far more productive than man can think, productive of good and evil, of right and wrong, of joy and sorrow. It depends upon the person what he wants to produce. Life for one person a larger piece, one person a smaller – and he is told, 'Now you have the ground, and here are the seeds: grass, weeds, corn and good fruit, flowers and poisonous fruits. Sow what you like, sow all that interests you and produce, or do not sow at all, but still the ground belongs to you.'

So is the life of an individual in this world: every person has his farm. There are some who sow thorns, and when the thorns have sprung up and become painful, they say, 'Why did we do this,' or they say, 'I am so tired of this farm, I wish I were not here.' They wish they could be taken away from that farm and placed in a farm where flowers and fruits are already growing, without having to take the trouble of sowing. But that is against the law. Man is intended to live on his farm, and all through life he is sowing what will be his hereafter.

Heaven and hell are not made ready for a person after his life on earth. The same farm that is given to man is hereafter turned into his heaven or hell. So man must build heaven now on the farm that he is already in possession of. He must put into it all that he likes and loves, and remove from it all that is hurtful, harmful, disagreeable, making now, while on earth, his farm of the nature of heaven – which in the hereafter will culminate into a perfect heaven.