Master of the Mind...

No man should allow his mind to be a vehicle for others to use; he who does not
direct his own mind lacks mastery.

Bowl of Saki, May 3, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:

Our minds need to be dusted and swept just as much as our houses, and this we do
by meditation and concentration, which wipe away all wrong impressions. We must
be masters of our own minds as well as our houses, and not allow them to be like
a furniture warehouse with all the furniture mixed up together. We must direct
where everything is to be placed, so that complete order may reign therein.

The more the mind is allowed to go on without purpose, the more likely it is to
become a vehicle or machine which all manner of influences around it of other
human beings or spirit obsessions will employ instead of its owner. If the user
of that mind is a sensible person, then it may perhaps act properly, but
otherwise the work of the mind is wasted. In any case it would not be a
fulfillment of the purpose of his life. This purpose is to learn mastery, not to
be a vehicle for others to use. He who does not direct his own mind lacks
mastery. ...

Man is his mind, is the product of his mind, and is also the controller of the
activity of mind. If he does not control his mind, he is not a master but a
slave. It lies with his own mind whether he shall be master, or whether he shall
be slave. He is slave when he neglects to be master; he is master if he cares to
be master. ... A man with a perfectly stilled, comforted, and rested mind will
at once raise up another who is going through distress, or restlessness, or
pain, or ill-temper, or worry, or anxiety. The very presence of one whose mind
is stilled gives such hope, such inspiration, such sympathy, such power and
life. All the heavenly properties flow so smoothly and freely from the person
whose mind is stilled that his words, his voice, his presence, all react upon
the mind of others; and as he stills his mind, so his very presence becomes
healing.