From Inayat Khan,
What is man? Is not his soul divine substance? The very word man is from the Sanskrit Manu, which means mind. Man is what his mind is, what he thinks. 'As a man thinketh in his heart, so he is.' Even the future, as well as the past, is what he thinks, because he himself becomes the image of his thoughts. God created man in the image of his thoughts. If there is any self of which one can say, 'This is man', it is the mind. The three Sanskrit words Mana, Manu, Manushya show that man is his mind, is the product of his mind, and is also the controller of the activity of mind. If he does not control his mind, he is not a master but a slave. It lies with his own mind whether he shall be master, or whether he shall be slave. He is slave when he neglects to be master; he is master if he cares to be master.
In order to achieve stillness we must find a suitable technique which promotes concentration. Murshid says the level of stillness acquired by concentration is an even greater joy than the liberating effects of deep sleep.
You must first train your mind to concentrate. You can then direct your mind to be still and perceive AUM. It is no easy task. Heaven is not what waits for you hereafter but these impressions are here now and you carry them with you. You will find whatever you create. If your mind can be still, life will be reflected with clarity, problems dissappear to understanding. If your mind can create stillness, your heart can hear God.
