I’m just gonna put this right here:
“The heart developed by religion and morality becomes first capable of choosing and then of retaining the object of devotion without wavering for a moment. … Devotion sweetens the personality, and is the light on the path of the disciple. Those who study mysticism and philosophy while omitting self-sacrifice and resignation grow egoistic and self-centered. Such persons are apt to call themselves either God or a part of God, and thus make an excuse for committing any sins they like. Regardless of sin or virtue they misuse and malign others, being utterly fearless of the hereafter. Yet they forget that ‘strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life’, as the Bible says. The fire of devotion purifies the heart of the devotee and leads to spiritual freedom.
“Devotees by their power of concentration, by their purity of life, and by their divine love become wonderful healers. Their every tear and sigh become a source of healing for themselves and those around them. Devotion is the fire in which all infirmities are consumed.”
“Mystics of all ages have not been known for their miraculous powers or for the doctrines they have taught, but for the devotion they have shown throughout their lives. The Sufi in the East says to himself Ishq Allah Mabud Allah which means ‘God is Love, God is Beloved’, in other words it is God who is Love, Lover, and Beloved. When we hear the stories of the miraculous powers of mystics, of their great insight into the hidden laws of nature, of the qualities which they manifested through their beautiful personalities, we realize that these have all come from one and the same source, whether one calls it devotion or whether one calls it love.”
“Mysticism without devotion is like uncooked food and can never be assimilated. ‘I am the heart of my devotees,’ says Krishna in the Baghavat Gita. And Hafiz says, ‘O joyous day when I depart from this abode of desolation, seeking the repose of my soul and setting out in search of my Beloved.’ … The life of the mystics, both the inner and the outer, is shown as a wondrous phenomenon within itself. He becomes independent of all earthly sources of life and lives in the Being of God, realizing His presence by the denial of his individual self; and he thus merges into that highest bliss wherein he finds his salvation.
There is one moral; the love that springs forth from self-denial and blooms in deeds of beneficence.
The orthodox say, ‘This is good, that is bad. This is right, that is wrong,’ but to a Sufi the source of all good deeds is love. Someone may say that this is the source of bad deeds also, but that is not so; it is lack of love.
Our virtues are made of love, and our sins are caused by lack of it. Love turns sins into virtues, and its lack makes virtues meaningless. Christ said when a woman was brought before Him accused of sin, ‘Her sins are forgiven, for she loved much.’ Heaven is made so beautiful with love, and life becomes a hell through the lack of it. Love in reality creates harmony in one’s life on earth and peace in heaven.
