Gullregel nr. 6

Mitt samvittighetsfulle selv;
Møt verden med et smil under alle livets omstendigheter.

Pir Zias kommentar:

It is ordinary to smile when circumstances are favorable. The challenge of this rule is to learn to smile even amidst hardship; even when we are tired, stretched, exhausted, still to smile, if not with one’s mouth, with what Murshid calls a smiling forehead, a face that beams.

What is meant by a smile? A smile on the lips is wonderful. Murshid speaks of the smiling forehead, of radiating love, understanding, forgiveness, and blessings. It is done with a face expansive and open to the world. Noor’s last words, in some real sense, are as a smile in the face of terrible violence and darkness. She chose not to react in kind with a hostile word. In the midst of such violence, to be able to declare freedom can only be a smile. In all conditions, we might contemplate, “What is the smile that best answers the moment?” Is it a smile from the lips, the forehead, or is it a word? In all conditions, there is a possibility of a smile. Noor very much proves this point.

There was once a village, just outside of which was a great wall, and the villagers always wondered what lay beyond the wall. It was terra incognita, the place of mystery. And from time to time some intrepid soul would venture to climb the wall, but invariably the explorer never returned. And so villagers were left in the dark. Finally one of them had an epiphany. He thought if I tie myself by a rope and climb over the wall, my friend can pull me back and then the mystery will be solved. So this fellow climbed the wall, reached the other side and was reeled back over. But there was a problem. Everyone was eager to find out what he would say about this strange land beyond. They asked him endless questions but he wouldn’t respond; in fact he wouldn’t speak at all. From that day he was speechless, but the villagers noticed a change had come over him. He always wore on his face a wide, beaming smile. And the wall henceforth was known as the Wall of Smiles.

The smile is a natural expression of a state of inner peace and it gives peace to others. But it’s also true, when we lose our inner repose, that the practice of smiling can help us to regain our peace. Not only does the smile express peace but it stimulates it within.

My conscientious self, meet the world with smiles in all conditions of life.