Within Oneself...

God is within you; you are His instrument, and through you He expresses Himself
to the external world.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:

In reality God is within man; man is the instrument of God and through him God
experiences the external world. Prayer is the way of conveying the God within to
the God without; and thought, speech and gesture make the prayer complete.

The words 'within oneself' might confuse some people. They might think 'within
oneself' means inside one's body; but that is because man is ignorant of
himself. Man has a very poor idea of himself, and this keeps him in ignorance of
his real self. If man only knew how large, how wide, how deep, how high is his
being, he would think, act, and feel differently; but with all his width, depth,
and height, if man is not conscious of them he is as small as he thinks himself
to be. The essence of milk is butter, the essence of the flower is honey, the
essence of grapes is wine, and the essence of life is wisdom.

For the secret of all knowledge that one acquires in the world, whether worldly
knowledge or spiritual knowledge, is the knowledge of the self. For instance,
music is played outside, but where is it realized? It is realized within. A good
word or a bad word is spoken outside, but where is it realized? It is realized
within. Then where is the realization of this whole manifestation, all this
creation that stands before us in all its aspects? Its realization is within.
And at the same time the error of man always continues. Instead of finding it
within he always wants to find it without. It is just like a man who wants to
see the moon and looks for it on the ground. And if a man sought for thousands
of years for the moon by looking on the earth, he will never see it. He will
have to lift up his head and look at the sky. And so with the man who is in
search of the mystery of life outside; he will never find it. For the mystery of
life is to be found within.