In Hazrat Inayat Khan's teachings, the purification of the body leads to the purification of the breath, the purification of the breath leads to the purification of the mind, and the purification of the mind leads to the purification of the heart. The teachings in this volume touch on all four stages, with a primary focus on the purification of the mind. Alongside Hazrat's teachings on the mind, the volume contains extensive lectures on the subjects of health and healing, lectures which anticipate the findings of contemporary mind-body medicine. Taken together, these chapters constitute a comprehensive overview of the fundamental principles of Sufi healing.

In Hazrat Inayat Khan's teachings, the purification of the body leads to the purification of the breath, the purification of the breath leads to the purification of the mind, and the purification of the mind leads to the purification of the heart. The teachings in this volume touch on all four stages, with a primary focus on the purification of the mind. Alongside Hazrat's teachings on the mind, the volume contains extensive lectures on the subjects of health and healing, lectures which anticipate the findings of contemporary mind-body medicine. Taken together, these chapters constitute a comprehensive overview of the fundamental principles of Sufi healing.

This volume contains Health; Mental Purification; The Mind World. These books explain the Sufi teachings concerning the influence of the mind on the body and the possibilities to restore rhythm and tone of a person through spiritual healing. When Health, the first book of this volume, was published in 1931 it met with great interest, for it is as rare to find a book on spiritual healing in which the advance of modern medical science is appreciated, as to find acknowledgement of spiritual healing in a medical text-book. Hazrat Inayat Khan, the Sufi mystic, has set forth in the lectures and other papers included in Health, which were originally intended only for his pupils, the basic laws, governing the divine healing power as well as several methods it application. As with all mystical knowledge, the printed word alone can never confer the power and knowledge of healing upon anyone; a guide, a teacher is essential; but the reader will find in Inayat Khan's hitherto unpublished lectures on the workings and hygiene of the mind and kindred subjects. This volume ends with The Mind-world, a book which was first published separately in 1935 and reprinted in 1955; its title speaks for itself. While Volume 3 contains most of Hazrat Inayat Khan's books and lectures on human relationship, Volume 4 may be considered as a continuation of Volume 2, which deals principally with the metaphysical aspect of creation, tracing a line from its origin, to the human mind.

THE works of Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan are one of the great spiritual treasures of the world. At once deeply rooted in the Sufi tradition and strikingly original in insight and expression, Hazrats teachings remain as potent and meaningful today as they were when originally communicated a century ago. These teachings contain a message for every human mind and heart, and indeed for humankind collectively. The aim of this series is to provide the full set of Hazrats best-known teachings in a form that balances fidelity to his original words with sensitivity to the contemporary evolution of the English language.

SUFISM has never had a first exponent or a historical origin. It existed from the beginning, because man has always possessed the light which is his second nature; and light in its higher aspect may be called the knowledge of God, the divine wisdom – in fact, Sufism. Sufism has always been practiced and its messengers have been people of the heart; thus it belonged to the masters as well as to others. Tradition states that Adam was the first prophet, which shows that wisdom was already the property of the first man. There have always been some among the human race who have desired wisdom. These sought out spiritual beings in their solitude, serving them with reverence and devotion, and learning wisdom from them. Only a few could understand those spiritual beings, but many were attracted by their great personalities. They said, 'We will follow you, we will serve you, we will believe in you, we will never follow any other', and the holy ones said to them, 'My children, we bless you. Do this; do that. This is the best way to live.' And they gave their followers precepts and principles, such as might produce in them meekness and humility. In this way the religions were formed. But in the course of time the truth was lost. The tendency to dominate arose, and with it the patriotism of the community and prejudice against others; and thus wisdom was gradually lost. Religion was accepted, though with difficulty, but the evolution of the world at that time was not such as could understand the Sufis. They were mocked at, ill-treated, ridiculed; they were obliged to hide themselves from the world in the caves of the mountains and in the solitude. At the time of Christ there were Sufis among the first of those who gave heed to him, and in the time of Muhammad the Sufis on Mount Zafah were the first to respond to his cry. One of the explanations of the term Sufi is this association with Mount Zafah. Muhammad was the first to open the way for them in Arabia, and they had many followers, among them Sadik and Ali.

There is a remarkable phrase in the Bible, here it says, 'Eat My flesh and drink My blood', says Christ. What does He mean by saying this? He means in the first place that what a living being loves most is his food, what he loves most he eats. It has been proved in ferocious and dreadful famines, by people eating their own children, that food is dearer than their own child. The word of Christ, therefore, 'Find out, what it is in Me that you love, which may become your nourishment, which may become your food. It is not this, My flesh and blood; this will not be sufficient to satisfy your appetite. There is another part of My being, which is in abundance and can nourish My numberless devotees. Therefore before trying to eat My flesh and blood, try to find out on what plane I really exist and what is My true being'. The lives of all the great saints show that not only their adversaries and opponents but also their near and dear friends have proved to be among their worst enemies. There is a creature which loves its mate so much that it eats it. Now as to the question: what it is that Christ speaks of as his flesh and blood. His flesh is the knowledge of God and His blood is the love of God; because it is love that has a tendency, so to speak, to excite the circulation, and it is knowledge which has the tendency to strengthen, making man firm of which flesh is the symbol. One thing without the other would be abnormal. For instance flesh without blood, or blood without flesh, both are not normal conditions. What gives normal health to the body and to the soul is flesh and blood both. In the religious custom of the sacrament of bread and wine it is this secret which is symbolically expressed.