Divine Vision...

Man sees what he sees; beyond it he cannot see.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:

Ah! how desirous I was to see the divine Beloved!
It is not the fault of the Beloved that you do not see;

He is before you!
It is the fault of you who recognize Him not.

Everything, whatever you see is nothing else but
The Presence of God!

Men have differed in all ages because they have called their Deity by different names. There have existed wars, fights and family feuds for ages, men dividing themselves merely for the difference of the names given to their Deity. Man always sees just what he sees; he cannot see beyond it.

When an ordinary or an illiterate person meets a poet, he sees the man-part and not the poet-part. But if he is told that this person is a poet he may see the poet-part when he meets him. He now sees that he is a poet in his actions and in his words; in everything about him he sees the poet, whereas otherwise he would not have been able to see this. Thus a great poet may go among a crowd and the people will only see the man in him; they do not see the poet, and they do not know how profound his thoughts are. So once a person begins to recognize God in man he does not see the man any more but God. The man is the surface, while God is deep within him. Such recognition brings a person into touch with everyone's innermost being, and then he knows more about people than they know themselves. ...

It is said, 'By the vision of God, their self will become God.' This happens when we come to see God in everybody. We develop goodness in our actions; our words become God's words because we are impressed with all that reflects only goodness and is mirrored around us. Then we become a museum or a picture of goodness. We reflect it from morning till evening, we reflect forgiveness, we reflect tolerance, and we reflect all these lovely qualities. As it is said, 'If my Beloved is in every kind of man, how considerate I ought to be towards all!' The lover is always very careful when he is with his beloved; he becomes thoughtful and tender. ...

Divine perfection is perfection in all powers and mysteries. All these are manifested without specially striving for them. Perfection and annihilation is that stage where there is no longer 'I' and no longer 'you', where there is what there is.