External life is the shadow of the inner reality.

Every activity of the outer world is a kind of reaction; in other words a shadow of the activity which is behind it and which we do not see.

The inner life is not separate from the outer life, but is a fuller and larger life. What is necessary is to put first things first. The mystic does more than quote scriptures; he not only says, 'Seek ye first the Kingdom of God,' his whole life is absorbed in the seeking.

Beloved Inayat Khan