By Hazrat Inayat Khan
Hazrat Inayat Khan (1882-1927) was an Indian Sufi master with a following abroad. His message proclaims “the knowledge of divine unity—of all peoples, all religions, and all existence—and the religion of the heart awakened to the beauty in all creation.” He set forth ten principles that formed the foundational principles of his Universal Sufism:
- There is one God, the eternal, the only being; none else exists save God.
- There is one master, the guiding spirit of all souls, who constantly leads followers toward the light.
- There is one holy book, the sacred manuscript of nature, the only scripture which can enlighten the reader.
- There is one religion, the unswerving progress in the right direction toward the ideal, which fulfills the life’s purpose of every soul.
- There is one law, the law of reciprocity, which can be observed by a selfless conscience, together with a sense of awakened justice.
- There is one family, the human family, which unites the children of earth indiscriminately in the parenthood of God.
- There is one moral, the love which springs forth from self-denial and blooms in deeds of beneficence.
- There is one object of praise, the beauty which uplifts the heart of its worshipers through all aspects from the seen to the unseen.
- There is one truth, the true knowledge of our being, within and without, which is the essence of all wisdom.
- There is one path, the annihilation in the Unlimited, which raises the mortal to immortality, and in which resides all perfection.
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