Hazrat Inayat Khan tells several wonderful stories about a certain type of sage who can accomplish unusual things, and who can extend this blessing to others.
The story below shows the way of this type of sage; he or she is unassuming, and seems to work in much the same way as others. It would be hard to say what makes this person unusually good at his or her job.
There is a story about a poor man whose job was to sell empty bottles in Bombay. He came to a merchant and asked a certain salary to do this work for him, and from the day the merchant engaged him he steadily became more prosperous. So one day he thought, "I have worked for twenty years in this shop, and it is only since this young man has come that I have prospered." He did not tell this to the young man, but the next day he made him a partner in his business; and from that time he began to flourish a hundred times more. After six months he was flourishing and prospering in every way, and in the end, as he had no children, he gave his business to this young man, who in time became the wealthiest man in the whole country.
Whether people like the man in the story act alone or whether they act with someone else, in whatever they do there is progress. It cannot be helped; whatever they touch flourishes.
Hazrat Inayat Khan explains that the effectiveness of this sage lies in the way he or she influences other people and situations:
There are three gifts of God given to some in this world, and these gifts are greater than jewels, gems, wealth, or anything else in the world, and nothing can buy them. One may be born with them, yet not know it.
- One gift is the influence to progress,
- another gift is the influence to attract, and
- the third gift is the influence to make difficult situations easy.
Nothing in the world can keep back a soul who has the gift of progress, in other words of flourishing, of prospering.
We know that certain people are more influential than others. But if such a power exists, why doesn't everyone use it? Hazrat Inayat Khan explains that such an influence is difficult to develop, and requires hard work, concentration, and discipline; also, a real method is needed, and this is usually given by a teacher.
For a person who really knows how to work with breath, there is nothing he cannot accomplish; he cannot say of anything that it is impossible. Only it requires work; it is not only a matter of knowing the theory, but it requires the understanding of it. That is why the adepts, the mystics, do not consider breathing only as a science or as an exercise; they consider it as the most sacred thing, as sacred as religion. And in order to accomplish this breathing a discipline is given by a teacher.
But there is a great difficulty. I have found sometimes in my travels, when I have been speaking about these things, that people come with preconceived ideas. They are willing to learn, but they do not want discipline. But in the army there is discipline; in the factory, in the office there is a certain discipline; in study at the university, everywhere there is discipline; yet in spiritual things people do not want it; when it comes to spiritual things they make difficulties.
- They think so little of it that they do not want to make any sacrifice.
- Because they do not know where it leads to, they have no belief.
- Besides there are false methods which are taught here and there, and people are commercializing that which is most sacred. In that way the highest ideal is brought down to the lowest depth.
It is time that the real thing should be introduced, seriously studied, experienced, and realized by practice.
There is a sage in our linage that was known for his ability to help people with their economic problems: Ganji-Shakur. He could create seeming miracles, but only so long as the supplicant was going to use the money gained to help others.
What would the influence of a modern sage look like? My father, Puran Bair, worked in the business world for 40 years; at times he did work that engaged his ideals -- starting a windmill company, to help with the world's energy problems, and working on high-speed composting, to help with the problems of waste and resource usage -- and many jobs he not seem to engage high ideals, He worked to support our family, to pay the bills, and to support IAM. Through 35 years of these 40, his main interest was meditation, and he yearned to devote himself to that pursuit full-time. As a young man, I used to visit him at work -- as I looked at the faces of his co-workers, the teams he'd assembled, the people he'd hired, the people he sought out to work with, learn from, and teach, I saw reflected in their faces the confidence and faith Puran has. Talking to these people over the years has revealed the kind of influence Puran had in the places he worked.
"Puran was my job angel in the late 1980's. I was looking for a job, and I asked Puran for help. He asked me how much I wanted to be paid. I told him, and he said he couldn't possibly help me at that salary level; he told me I would have to ask for twice as much. I swallowed hard and said 'OK.' He then proceeded to get me such a job." -- Boston, MA
"I worked in a startup with Puran; we were part of the original, small team of developers. The company really took off when the first customers for our very expensive avionics product were Lee Iacocca, the Air Force and a Saudi prince. When Puran wanted to take vacation time to teach a meditation seminar in Germany, the president told him he was irreplaceable and couldn't take any vacation. Puran put off the seminar for three months and then he took a few days to meet his commitment. The president fired him and then insisted on buying Puran's founder's stock, as a punishment so Puran wouldn't benefit from any further success in the company. But that was the last stock sold; the company went bankrupt within the year." -- M.S., Cambridge, MA
"I've made half a million dollars in the last year by following Puran's investment advice, and this will secure the future for my son. I'm grateful for his caring for us." -- Name Withheld | "We worked together at three companies in the mutual funds business. At the first firm, Puran was the first technologist hired for a major new project. He was then the magnet that attracted the next 20 technologists. When the project succeeded, Puran went on to build an even larger project on his own, and that system is still in use. The company was booming, but after Puran left, there was a trading scandal there and the president of the company was prosecuted and lost his job. The reputation of the company was ruined and hasn't recovered. "At the second company, the money under management doubled while Puran was there. We were both forced out after the funds I ran, and he analyzed, produced a spectacular increase in performance and our boss wanted the bonus for himself. The president of the company was convicted of fraud shortly after and barred from working in the industry. At the third company, the man that hired us was given two promotions while we were there, but one of his major departments failed completely just after we left. Were these good periods due mysteriously to Puran's presence, and the bad times to his loss? I think so." -- J.K., New Jersey |
I asked Puran how he was able to develop this way of working within companies. His response:
"This gift was given to me in 1981 when my teacher told me to contemplate Jason, who led the Argonauts and captured the golden fleece. At the time, I was on a retreat where I would look right into the sun for hours every day, radiating my heart through my eyes to fill the sun with light. I attained the mystical state of union with the sun, and went back into life like a lion. I raised a million dollars and started a company to develop a new kind of windmill.
"That company went well for several years until I was given the next step: union with the moon. In my receptive state, the company folded. Eventually I integrated both sun and moon; that gave me the ability to help others."
These stories inspired me to reflect on the many ways we have of influencing each other in the world, and how the power and sensitivity of the heart can spread the love, harmony, and beauty without saying a word.
Of course, the great sage, Hazrat Inayat Khan, was a very good example of the three gifts. Those who followed his advice multipled their assets many times, which enabled them to be generous and help many others. A story is told though, of one man who refused the sage's advice to give some of his money to a great cause. He lost everything in WWI.
-- Asatar Bair