|
Petama Counsellor July 'Magnetism of the Mind' - 2 from Hazrat Inayat Khan: 'Healing Papers' |
Sometimes people, wishing to improve a weak memory, attempt to memorize more and more, but it is not through artificial exercise of the memory faculty that the faculty develops. Very often we remember things which are useless. There are many things which it is not necessary to remember, and in trying to do so we make our memory tired with those thoughts; consequently, it is not free to remember other, more important things. It is no longer open; it becomes limited; it closes itself with the thoughts it has in it, and this may even develop insanity. The best advice in regard to memory is to forget all the disagreeable things of the past, and only to remember the most beautiful ones. 5) The fifth aspect of the mind is feeling. The mind that has a touch of feeling is brilliant like a diamond. It has a liquid quality, for the warmth of feeling liquefies the crystal-like mind. A human being with such a mind shows this quality in what we call wit, and also in tact. Wit is a play of delicate feelings, of humor or joy, and the thought which it forms manifests in speech or action. It has a cunning way of winning those who have subtle perception. When three or four people are sitting together, and a serious person comes and sits down among them like a rock, hard and stiff and devoid of any sense of humor, he kills even the atmosphere of the place; but when someone, even if he is a stranger, joins them and shows that he possesses the quality of wit, he wins them all in a few moments. The mentality of the witty person can be called a dancing mind, and to have a witty mind is a wonderful manifestation of nature; it is a great quality. A witty person can make words dance; his phrases can give us the joy of a symphony. The serious manifestation of this quality is tact. It is essentially the same as wit; when wit is developed and centralized it becomes tact. Everyone can feel, think, speak, and act, but not everyone is always tactful. It takes lifelong study and practice to be tactful, and even if a person becomes tactful at the last moment of his life it is worthwhile. The magnetism of a tactful person is beyond words. Every word and movement, every action of his, will have an influence on those whom he meets, for he is not only a considerate person; he is consideration itself.
(Maheboob Khan, Hazrat Inayat Khan‘s brother, has composed music to a row of aphorisms of Hazrat Inayat Khan in the middle of last century, as this ‚How Shall I Thank Thee‘. Mohammed Ali Khan, Hazrat Inayat Khan’s cousin, has sung this song around the year 1956 in a concert in Zürich – here you can listen to it) (these E-book are free of all charge - use their treasures well!) |
|
