Respect for all things

"Interdependence is a living practice. Courtesy, manners, and right action are the expression of a practice that allows brotherhood to find expression. It is most characteristic of the Way of Love. 

"This practice begins with respect. "We can respect the carpet that is walked on, the cup that is drunk from, the candle that bears light. In times past a dervish wouldn't 'put out' a candle; he would 'put it to rest.' A dervish, knowing that the word dervish also means 'threshold,' always paused in remembrance before stepping over the threshold. In this respect for inanimate things is the recognition of an identity between the observer and what is observed. Although the material world is not taken as the final reality, it is considered a manifestation of the Spirit and therefore worthy of respect. 

"If the material world deserves our gratitude and respect, if the Sufi kiss the tea glass from which they drink, how much more respect do they owe to other creatures and beings?"

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Source:
Quoted from: Kabir Helminski, Founder of Threshold Society and a Sheikh of the Sufi Melvevi Order in Turkey, website. https://sufism.org/​. 

Illustration:
By The original is located at Muzeul Naţional de Artă al României, digitalized by Institutul de Memorie Culturală cIMeC Bucureşti, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1197101