Way of the Heart: The Life and Legacy of Hazrat Inayat Khan

Through the ages philosophers, artists and mystics of magnificent variety have offered ways to revivify the human adventure. In all faiths they mine authenticity and meaning that energizes self expression to contrast the monotony and limitation of man’s world. Even when fundamentalism sours the taste for self reflection the mystic can point to the heart of the matter.

A century ago in 1910 a musician and Sufi mystic came from India to the United States to remind a culture sliding into materialism of simple and essential truths. The first documentary accounting the life of Inayat Khan has been made – The Way of the Heart: The Life and Legacy of Hazrat Inayat Khan by Mischa Scorer.

In the film, in near fairy tale fashion we see and hear through preserved early photographs and rare audio recordings, the journey of the stately prince-like young musician as he makes his way to a foreign land, the United States. Through all manner of difficulty he is steadfast in his mission to bring a message of unity that can harmonize the seeming differences that divide humanity. He invites those willing to listen to view all books (torah, koran, bible, tao and the like) as the collective spiritual inheritance of humanity. He also points to nature as the most perfect ‘book’ as it needs no interpreter and so conveys the real more succinctly.

Meeting character after character the film weaves us through the past 100 years so that we can see the faceted legacy that Inayat Khan left behind. It makes an image of a many limbed tree of Sufi orders and communities that span the world over and bridge ancient world and modern. The film is peppered with personal introductions to an inspired many that collectively keep his message alive today.

A particularly intimate view is offered of Inayat’s son, the magnetic Pir Vilayat and his grandson, the current spiritual leader of The Sufi Order International Pir Zia Inayat Khan.

The viewer is also taken into the textured world of the mystic’s life in practice. Explained and observed one gets the feeling that there are as many ways to “practice” Sufism as there are people alive on earth. This matches the Sufi cosmology. One in which each seeming separate part of nature is without duplication and so logically all living beings will experience and express truth uniquely and from their own vantage point. Allergic to dogma and with no book of it’s own, no temple and no hard rules, the Sufi life might seem untethered. But what the film’s close up view reveals is another perspective altogether. Those interviewed report an ecstatic inner life and a practical outer life steeped in the human social strata. A Sufi’s learning and growth are tied up in their goal to harmonize with the whole human family.

The film maker speaks to initiates, teachers and those without ‘official’ affiliation who’s hearts bind them invisibly to the master. We meet them, a radiant mix of color, creed, country and sect at Inayat Khan’s dargah, the site where his body dwells and he is celebrated with full grander each year in India.

In some ways the film makes simple the role the mystic plays in society. As a friend-like companion the mystic points the way and helps one become a complete human being. Inayat Khan’s grand son Pir Zia offers seekers of our day a crystal clear teaching to this effect. He asks students to contemplate the latin root (re ligio) of the word religion which translates to re (again) ligare (connect); as well as the meaning of the Sanskrit word nirvana which by it’s root is no difference; when the word plays are intertwined one can reason that the intention of religion was to make tools for reconnecting. Connecting to what? The answer implied is “to everything.”

The film is currently appearing in festivals and is also available for purchase through The Sufi Order’s web site.

By Wendy Tremayne