Success or Failure...

Our success or failure depends upon the harmony or disharmony of our individual
will with the Divine Will.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:

It is the Divine Will that is manifested throughout the whole universe, which
has created the whole universe; and it is part of the divine will that manifests
itself through us. Everything we do in life is governed and directed by that
power. ... Now coming to the question of the will of man as opposed to the will
of God: which is which? We understand the difference when we perceive that the
nature of will power differs only according to whether it exists in its
fullness, or whether it is limited. The will power in its fullness is divine
power; the will power in its limited state is the individual will.

Resignation is a quality of the saintly souls. It is bitter in taste but sweet
in result. Whatever a man's power and position in life may be, he has always to
meet with a more powerful will, in whatever form it may manifest. In truth this
is the divine will. By opposing the divine will one may break oneself; but by
resigning oneself to the divine will one opens up a way.

We come to understand that there are two aspects of will working through all
things in life. One is the individual will, the other the divine will. When a
person goes against the divine will, naturally his human will fails and he finds
difficulties, because he is swimming against the tide. The moment a person works
in consonance, in harmony with the divine will, things become smooth.

Sometimes things are accomplished without the least effort. When it is the
divine will it is like something floating on water; it advances without effort.
Problems and actions may be achieved in a moment then, whilst at other times the
smallest problem cannot be solved without great difficulty. One finds that some
persons are very clever and experienced in industrial work or in politics; and
they have striven very hard to attain their goal, and yet have accomplished
nothing; they are always a failure. And there are others who take up a thing,
and without much effort, without much worry on their part they complete it and
attain their goal.

All this is accounted for by harmony with the divine will. Everyone experiences
such a thing at some time or other. When things are in harmony with the divine
will, everything is there; we just glance towards a thing and it is found, as in
the saying, 'Word spoken, action done.' When we strive with all the material in
our hands and yet cannot achieve our desire, that is when the matter is contrary
to the divine will. Our success or failure all depends upon the harmony or
disharmony of our individual will with the divine will. ... Contentment and
perfect resignation open up a harmonious feeling and bring the divine will into
harmony with our own. Our blessing now becomes a divine blessing, our words
divine words, our atmosphere a divine atmosphere, although we seem to be limited
beings; for our will becomes absorbed into the whole, and so our will becomes
the will of God.