The Ideal of God...

The ideal of God is a bridge connecting the limited life with the unlimited;
whosoever travels over this bridge passes safely from the limited to the
unlimited life.

Bowl of Saki, April 12, by Hazrat Inayat Khan


Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:

There is a side in man's being - call it spirit - which remains unsatisfied with
all that one has attained in one's lifetime. The satisfaction of the spirit,
which is the deepest being of man, lies only in the pursuit of the ideal. With
all progress that humanity makes, idealism neglected will show at each step
towards progress a great lack, and nothing can substitute that lack. If there is
anything that fills the gap, if there is anything that makes a bridge between
God and man, it is the ideal.

An ideal is something to hope for and to hold on to, and in the absence of an
ideal hope has nothing to look forward to. It is the lack of idealism which
accounts for the present degeneration of humanity in spite of all the progress
it has made in other directions. There are many kinds of ideals: principles,
virtues, objects of devotion; but the greatest and highest of all ideals is the
God-ideal. And when this God-ideal upon which all other ideals are based is
lost, then the very notion of ideal is ignored. Man needs many things in life,
but his greatest need is an ideal.

If a man is standing on a staircase and remains on the first step, he may be a
believer but he is not going up. Thus there are many believers who have a
certain conception of God, but they are standing there without moving, while
perhaps a person who has no conception of God at all may be moving. There are
thousands of people who pronounce the name of God many times during the day, but
who are perhaps most wretched. The reason is that they have not yet discovered
the purpose of the God-ideal. It is not merely belief; belief is only the first
step. God is the key to truth, God is the stepping-stone to self-realization,
God is the bridge which unites the outer life with the inner life, bringing
about perfection. It is by understanding this that the secret of the God-ideal
is to be realized.

The God-ideal is so tremendous that men can never comprehend it fully, therefore
the best method adopted by the wise is to allow every man to make his own God.
In this way he forms whatever conception he is capable of forming. He makes Him
King of the heavens and of the earth; he makes Him judge, greater than all
judges; he makes Him Almighty, having all power; he makes Him the possessor of
all grace and glory; he makes Him the beloved God, merciful and compassionate;
he recognizes in Him providence, support, and protection; and in Him he
recognizes all perfection. This ideal becomes a stepping-stone to the higher
knowledge of God.