The Mysticism of Sound and Music: The Sufi Teaching of Hazrat Inayat Khan

by Hazrat Inayat Khan, Pir Zia Inayat Khan (Foreword by)

Overview

According to Sufi teaching, music is really a small expression of the overwhelming and perfect harmony of the universe--and that is the secret of its amazing power to move us. The Indian Sufi master Hazrat Inayat Khan, the first teacher to bring the Islamic mystical tradition to the West, was an accomplished musician himself. His lucid exposition of music's divine aspect has become a modern classic, not only among those interested in Sufism but among musicians of all types.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780834844728
Publisher:	Shambhala
Publication date:	10/04/2022
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	416
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Hazrat Inayat Khan was trained as a musician and a Sufi of the Chishti order and gave concert tours of Indian classical music in the United States and Europe.

Table of Contents

Foreword to the 2022 Edition Pir Zia Inayat Khan ix

Preface xiii

Prologue xvii

Music

1 Music 3

2 Esoteric Music 11

3 The Music of the Spheres 13

4 The Mysticism of Sound 25

5 The Mystery of Sound 29

6 The Mystery of Color and Sound 33

7 The Spiritual Significance of Color and Sound 45

8 The Ancient Music 55

9 The Divinity of Indian Music 63

10 The Use Made of Music by the Sufis of the Chishti Order 65

11 The Use Made of Music by the Dancing Dervishes 69

12 The Science and Art of Hindu Music 73

13 The Connection between Dance and Music 79

14 Rhythm 83

15 The Vina 85

16 The Manifestation of Sound on the Physical Sphere 91

17 The Effect of Sound on the Physical Body 97

18 The Voice 105

19 The Influence of Music upon the Character of Man 113

20 The Psychological Influence of Music 115

21 The Healing Power of Music 123

22 Spiritual Attainment by the Aid of Music 129

Aphorisms

1 Sayings of Hazrat Inayat Khan 137

The Mysticism of Sound

1 The Silent Life 143

2 Vibrations 149

3 Harmony 157

4 Name 169

5 Form 175

6 Rhythm 183

7 Music 191

8 Abstract Sound 205

Cosmic Language

1 Voices 211

2 Impressions 221

3 The Magnetism of Beings and Objects 225

4 The Influence of Works of Art 231

5 The Life of Thought 237

6 The Form of Thought 243

7 Memory 251

8 Will 257

9 Reason 265

10 The Ego 273

11 Mind and Heart 281

12 Intuition and Dream 287

13 Inspiration 293

The Power of the Word

1 The Power of the Word 299

2 The Power of the Sacred Word 323

3 The Word That Was Lost 329

4 Cosmic Language 339

5 The Word 347

6 The Value of Repetition and Reflection 355

Phrases to Be Repeated

1 Inayat Khan's Sentences for Repetition 365

Notes 367

List of Source Lectures and Articles 377

Index 381

Also Hazrat Inayat Khan 398

Editorial Reviews

Inayat Khan says that music is the 'picture of our Beloved' and then draws the picture stroke by stroke from every angle and plane until we see it. He is the only holy man I know who delivers an authentic and inclusive spiritual message from a musical sensibility. He does this rigorously, poetically and spontaneously, until we perceive our own actions as music. Open to any line on any page: you will be opened.”—W. A. Mathieu, author of The Listening Book and The Musical Life

“By the end, the reader will be hard-pressed to deny the truth of the author’s words when he says that music is the miniature of life’s harmony, the language of beauty and the soul, the basis of the whole creation, and the nearest way to God.”—from the foreword by Pir Zia Inayat Khan

“A powerful book of mystical insight for people of all traditions.”—Monos

“Inayat Khan brought one of the strongest and sweetest lineages from India to the West: the music and open heart of Sufism as it blends with Persian poetry and Western intellect. He is a source and a great joy.”—Coleman Barks, author of Open Secret and The Essential Rumi

From the Publisher