THE LAMP OF THE MESSAGE 

Cherags should note that the final candle is for the Spirit of Guidance. It is not the "Sufi Candle." The way we understand and represent this candle is very subtle and important. Murshid states often and clearly that the Message in Our Time is to be given without a claim. In presenting this candle we should do nothing which appears to make a claim that we (the Sufi Message of Inayat Khan) in some special way represent The Truth. The proper way to do this portion of the service is to take the Gayan, Vadan and Nirtan from the alter and read from it without making any announcement of the source of the text (as we do with the other traditions); after reading place the text back on the alter and then make the offering for the Divine Truth which embraces all the manifestations of the Spirit of Guidance. This is a very powerful experience and much more in attunement with the vision of the Message. The Message brings a new way of understanding and new categories and it is important that we not be seem merely as the next religion in an historical progression.