PART I: THE VISION OF GOD AND MAN AND OTHER LECTURES

SUFI PSYCHOLOGY
THERE is much in our lives that depends upon suggestions, suggestions which come
from outside, either consciously or unconsciously, as well as suggestions which come
to us from ourselves. The superstitions which existed in ancient times and which still
exist in some countries tell us something of the psychology of suggestion. If a person
saw a certain bird, a certain animal, before beginning his work, that impression
affected his work. If a man, when starting some business or industry or new
enterprise, met with an unpleasant incident or a disagreeable person, naturally this
brought him ill luck. On the other hand, if he encountered desirable conditions and
people with good influence his whole life might be changed. People called this
superstition; in fact it is a science, it is the psychology of impressions. It is in
accordance with every impression, which is made on us that our life works.
The greatest impression is made by the word. The Bible says, 'In the beginning was
the Wordand the Word was God,' which tells us of the creative power of the word:
that the word is as creative as God Himself. In the East, in good families, children
were taught when quite young to avoid words which might cause ill luck; such
expressions as boys use, 'I will kill you,' 'I will shoot you,' or as is used by girls, 'I
wish I were dead,' 'I wish that it was all destroyed.' The children were taught never
to use words with a destructive meaning; for as far as we know at a certain time a
universe may be connected with the word of man, and the word he speaks may come
true. If he had spoken of something he did not wish to happen it would have been
better not to have said it. People do not think about this. They say things as a joke,
things that might cause serious trouble in their lives or in the lives of their friends,
not realizing how great is the power of words in our lives. Therefore the great
teachers have made a science of words, so that the repetition of certain words a
definite result can be produced in one's character, in one's circumstances, or even
that a person can help another by the use of a certain word.
Man's character can be changed by the repetition of certain words, entirely
changed; the results brought about by their repetition are wonderful. Thus
suggestion often proves to be the secret of a miracle. It is a field which still remains
unexplored by science, and the more man gets to know about it, perhaps in five
centuries from now, the more he will begin to believe that behind suggestion the
spirit of God is hidden, the secret of the whole of creation.
Now coming to the question of attraction and repulsion, why are we drawn towards
some people, and why do we feel repulsion in regard to others? I would say that it is
the same with souls as with notes in music. It is their combination, which makes the
notes either harmonious or inharmonious; it is not the notes themselves. Every note
is harmonious enough if put with other harmonious notes, the notes which blend
and make a consonant chord. Therefore it is wrong to say. 'That person is
inharmonious,' or 'harmonious.' It is the blending of persons that proves either
harmonious or inharmonious in accordance with their grouping.
It is the same with color. No color is inharmonious, however striking or however
pale. If it is in its right place, if it is well blended with other colors, it is harmonious;

it is inharmonious if it is not put next to colors that blend with it. And it is exactly
the same with human nature. The wise person can get on with another who is near
to him in wisdom, or he can get on with a foolish person; but a wise man has
difficulty getting on with the semi-wise, because the semi-wise make it difficult for
him. With a strong person another who has strength himself will get on all right, as
well as the one who is quite feeble, but not the half-strong. This proves to us that
there are two principles to be understood. The person must either be of the opposite
quality, or he must be of the same quality to blend harmoniously with the other. In
other words, with a black coat either a black tie will be worn or a white tie; when
the tie is of another color then there is disharmony.
The reason why the same quality is attracted is that like attracts like. Water attracts
water, fire attracts fire; all elements attract their like, so every person attracts his
like. A thief, wherever he goes, will find another thief; wherever a gambler goes he
finds another gambler; wherever a drunkard goes he finds another man who drinks.
And it is extraordinary that very often the first person these people will meet when
they come to town will be of their own kind; they attract each other unconsciously.
If they are traveling they will be sitting in the same compartment, brought together
by destiny. The wicked will be attracted by another wicked person, just at the
meeting of a glance. They instantly become friends. But if a person is half-wicked he
will not get along with the wicked one, although the wicked might get along well
with a good person because then he finds his opposite. The reason for the attraction
of opposites is that the one lacks what the other has, and therefore one has power
over the other.
Then there is the law of positive and negative forces. Where there are two people of
positive nature there is always trouble, nor can two people of negative nature get
along either. But a positive person can get along with someone who is negative,
because the negative person needs what the positive has. A talkative person is never
happy with another talkative person; he wants someone who will listen to him.
Besides these laws there is an attraction of quality. There is a noble quality in every
person, and there is a common quality. A noble quality is repulsed by commonness,
and the common quality is irritated by the noble quality. It is such an amazing thing
to see that someone of noble quality can be repulsed by a person of common quality.
He gets irritated and cannot stand it, for the one quality cannot be compared with
the other. It is the same with the quality of sincerity and that of insincerity. An
insincere person is as antagonistic to a sincere person as a sincere person is to one
who is insincere. The insincere cannot conceive of another being sincere; even if he
saw it he could not believe it, because he does not know anything except insincerity.
Among Hindus there is a custom, a custom which still exist, that when a marriage is
contemplated a Brahmin is consulted, a special priest, and he comes with his books
of horoscopes. And after he has made his calculations he decides whether the
marriage can take place or not. But in reality the drawing of the horoscopes is an
excuse. He is a psychologist, and he considers the question whether the two who are
to be married have the same qualities.
The Brahmins conceived of three qualities: Manusha, Deva, and Rakshasa, which
means the human quality, the angelic quality, and the animal quality. The one left

out was the devilish quality; may be they did not have it at that time! And then they
saw if the two young people who were going to marry both belonged to Manusha,
Deva, or Rakshasa; and if they found that for instance the girl was of the angelic
quality and the man of the animal quality, then they thought, 'It will never go right';
and they advised against the marriage. But if they thought that the man was of
human quality then they allowed it, because then there was only a difference of one
degree, not of two degrees. The great and countless difficulties that are experienced
today in marriage come from lack of consideration of these qualities. There is now a
kind of false conception of equality; everyone says 'I am as good as you,' but
therefore there is no chance to be better.
I shall always remember an old man in India telling me, 'The moment you think you
are good, learned, wise, you close your heart's door to goodness, learning, and
wisdom.' The spirit of today is that a child begins to say, 'I know what you do not
know.' There is no regard for the idea that another knows more, there is no
appreciation of it. It is because something is missing in education; the children are
not taught that way. What they are taught is self-pride, and even that is a false
quality. True pride should be based upon a stronger foundation: the nobility of the
soul. False pride must break on day or another. That is why the consideration of
individuality seems to be lost.
A poet once said, 'Lord let me not live in a world where camphor, cotton, and bone
are all considered white.' Now our world is becoming more and more like that every
day. If there is a distinction it is of money, or rank, of position, but not of human
quality. The real distinction is not recognized; if there is any disparity it is what sort
of house one lives in, what position one holds, or how much money one has in the
bank. Therefore instead of evolving mankind is losing its opportunity.