Life is a Misery...

Life is a misery for the man absorbed in himself.

Bowl of Saki, April 3, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:

The more living the heart, the more sensitive it is; but that which causes
sensitiveness is the love-element in the heart, and love is God. The person
whose heart is not sensitive is without feeling; his heart is not living, it is
dead. In that case the divine Spirit is buried in his heart. A person who is
always concerned with his own feelings is so absorbed in himself that he has no
time to think of another. His whole attention is taken up with his own feelings.
He pities himself, he worries about his own pain, and is never open to
sympathize with others. He who takes notice of the feelings of another person
with whom he comes in contact, practices the first essential moral of Sufism.

A person who, alone, has seen something beautiful, who has heard something
harmonious, who has tasted something delicious, who has smelt something
fragrant, may have enjoyed it, but not completely. The complete joy is in
sharing one's joy with others. For the selfish one who enjoys himself and does
not care for others, whether he enjoys things of the earth or things of heaven,
his enjoyment is not complete.

When a person is absorbed in himself, he has no time for character-building,
because he has no time to think of others: then there is no other. But when he
forgets himself, he has time to look here and there, to collect what is good and
beautiful, and to add it naturally to his character. So the character is built.
One need not make an effort to build it, one has only to forget oneself.

Every step in evolution makes life more valuable. The more evolved you are, the
more priceless is every moment; it becomes an opportunity for you to do good to
others, to serve others, to give love to others, to be gentle to others, to give
your sympathy to souls who are longing and hungering for it. Life is miserable
when a person is absorbed in himself; as soon as he forgets himself he is happy.
The more he thinks of himself, his own affairs, work and interests, the less he
knows the meaning of life. When a person looks at another he cannot at the same
time look at himself. Illness, disappointments and hardships matter very little
when one can look at them from a higher standpoint.