Kheyal

The Kheyal is a spontaneous thought, a direct flash of inspiration which comes of itself all of a sudden. It's counterpart in poetry is the Japanese Haiku. Kheyal is an original eastern tradition, more than a saying or aphorism, a mystic utterance which in Tennyson's words "Cometh from afar". One knows not at which time of day or night it will come, and sometimes a Kheyal comes after months, or several Kheyal come in deep sleep, or spring forth in common conversation, but always in a spiritual context, or a sacred utterance. It is the delight of spiritual utterance, the mark of the mystic, both a Hindu and Sufi tradition, and famous Kheyals have come from souls as diverse as Maiyee Ma of Allahabad, the Sufi saint poets of Kashmir, or the Tamil saint poets. A Kheyal comes in complete form and cannot be in any way improved because it is the spark of a divine enlightenment sprung at the forge of the burning foundry of human consciousness at its deepest. The Granth Sahib of Sikhs and Suras of the Koran are Kheyals.