This is the most comprehensive gathering of Inayat Khan's teachings on the mind and its potential, and contains material which has not been published elsewhere.
Hazrat Inayat Khan (Urdu: عنایت خان ) (July 5, 1882 – February 5, 1927) was an exemplar of Universal Sufism and founder of the "Sufi Order in the West" in 1914 (London). Later, in 1923, the Sufi Order of the London period was dissolved into a new organization formed under Swiss law and called the "International Sufi Movement". He initially came to the West as a representative of classical Indian music, having received the title Tansen from the Nizam of Hyderabad but soon turned to the introduction and transmission of Sufi thought and practice. His universal message of divine unity (Tawhid) focused on the themes of love, harmony and beauty. He taught that blind adherence to any book rendered any religion void of spirit.
This book reminds me so much of Thich Nhat Hanh's Understanding Our Mind: 50 Verses on Buddhist Psychology, another excellent book. If you're looking to understand how to live life intentionally/mindfully, this book is for you. The author gets to the heart of how to do this - through the expansion of one's heart. In his artistic way, he explains the effects of our collected impressions in our mind onto the heart, and how this can cause us to either contract or expand - ultimately determining the degree of insight into ourselves. As with many contemplative traditions, breath work, loving-kindness, compassion, and forgiveness continue to be the prescription for the way. This is a book that I will keep coming back to for years to come.