Tune my heart to sing thy praise...

I randomly walked into St. Marks Bookshop the other day, and found there, in the religious section, a book called The Mysticism of Sound of Music: the Sufi Teaching of Hazrat Inayat Khan. Seeing as the things I care most about are mysticism and sound, I'm obsessed with Sufism, and the book has chapters called, "The Spiritual Significance of Color and Sound", "The Effect of Sound on the Physical Body", "Spiritual Attainment by the Aid of Music", "The Power of the Word", and "The Word that was Lost"... this is the perfect book for me.

I'm sharing, here, the introduction, because it's beautiful.

I gave up my music because I had received from it all I had to receive. To serve God one must sacrifice the dearest thing, and I sacrificed my music, the dearest thing to me.

I had composed songs, I sand, and played the vina. Practising this music I arrived at a stage where I touched the music of the spheres. Then every soul became for me a musical note, and all life became music. Inspired by it I spoke to the people, and those who were attracted by my words listened to them instead of listening t my songs.

Now, if I do anything, it is to tune souls instead of instruments, to harmonize people instead of notes. If there is anything in my philosophy, it is the law of harmony: that one must put oneself in harmony with oneself and with others.

I have found in every word a certain musical value, a melody in every thought, harmony in every feeling, and I have tried to interpret the same thing with clear and simple words to those who used to listen to my music.

I played the vina until my heart turned into the same instrument. Then I offered this instrument to the divine Musician, the only musician existing. Since then I have become His flute, and when He chooses He plays His music. The people give me credit for this music which, in reality, is not due to me, but to the Musician who plays on His own instrument.

Yeah.

Also:

If only we would listen to the voice of all the beauty that attracts us in any form, we would find that in every aspect it tells us that behind all manifestation is the perfect Spirit, the Spirit of wisdom.

Actually I would like to quote all of this book, as it is apparently everything I believe. (hmm... Lent?)

It just defined music as the movement of beauty.

guuuuuuh.