The luminous point whose name is the Self
Is the life-spark beneath our dust.
325 By Love it is made more lasting,
More living, more burning, more glowing.
From Love proceeds the radiance of its being
And the development of its unknown possibilities.
Its nature gathers fire from Love,
330 Love instructs it to illumine the world.
p. 29
Love fears neither sword nor dagger,
Love is not born of water and air and earth.
Love makes peace and war in the world,
The Fountain of Life is Love's flashing sword.
The hardest rocks are shivered by Love's glance: 335
Love of God at last becomes wholly God.
Learn thou to love, and seek to be loved:
Seek an eye like Noah's, a heart like Job's!
Transmute thy handful of earth into gold,
Kiss the threshold of a Perfect Man! 1 340
Like Rúmí, light thy candle
And burn Rúm in the fire of Tabríz! 2
p. 30
There is a beloved hidden within thine heart:
I will show him to thee, if thou hast eyes to see.
345 His lovers are fairer than the fair,
Sweeter and comelier and more beloved.
By love of him the heart is made strong
And earth rubs shoulders with the Pleiades.
The soil of Najd was quickened by his grace
350 And fell into a rapture and rose to the skies. 1
In the Moslem's heart is the home of Mohammed,
All our glory is from the name of Mohammed.
Sinai is but an eddy of the dust of his house,
The sanctuary of the Ka‘ba is his dwelling-place.
p. 31
Eternity is less than a moment of his time, 355
Eternity receives increase from his essence.
He slept on a mat of rushes,
But the crown of Chosroes was under his people's feet.
He chose the nightly solitude of Mount Hirá,
And he founded a state and laws and government. 360
He passed many a night with sleepless eyes
In order that the Moslems might sleep on the throne of Persia.
In the hour of battle, iron was melted by his sword;
In the hour of prayer, tears fell like rain from his eye.
When he was called to aid, his sword answered "Amen" 365
And extirpated the race of kings.
He instituted new laws in the world,
p. 32
He brought the empires of antiquity to an end.
With the key of religion he opened the door of this world:
370 The womb of the world never bore his like.
In his sight high and low were one,
He sat with his slave at one table.
The daughter of the chieftain of Tai
was taken prisoner in battle 1
And brought into that exalted presence;
375 Her feet in chains, unveiled,
And her neck bowed with shame.
When the Prophet saw that the poor girl had no veil,
He covered her face with his own veil.
We are more naked than that lady of Tai,
380 We are unveiled before the nations of the world.
p. 33
In him is our trust on the Day of Judgement,
And in this world too he is our protector.
Both his favour and his wrath are entirely a mercy:
That is a mercy to his friends and this to his foes.
He opened the gates of mercy to his enemies, 385
He gave to Mecca the message, "No blame shall be laid upon you."
We who know not the bonds of country
Resemble sight, which is one though it be the light of two eyes.
We belong to the Hijáz and China and Persia,
Yet we are the dew of one smiling dawn. 390
We are all under the spell of the eye of the cupbearer from Mecca,
We are united as wine and cup.
p. 34
He burnt clean away distinctions of lineage,
His fire consumed this trash and rubble.
395 We are like a rose with many petals but with one perfume:
He is the soul of this society, and he is one.
We were the secret concealed in his heart:
He spake out fearlessly, and we were revealed.
The song of love for him fills my silent reed,
400 A hundred notes throb in my bosom.
How shall I tell what devotion he inspires?
A block of dry wood wept at parting from him. 1
The Moslem's being is where he manifests his glory:
Many a Sinai springs from the dust on his path.
p. 35
My image was created by his mirror, 405
My dawn rises from the sun of his breast.
My repose is a perpetual fever,
My evening hotter than the morning of Judgement Day: 1
He is the April cloud and I his garden,
My vine is bedewed with his rain. 410
I sowed mine eye in the field of Love
And reaped a harvest of delight.
"The soil of Medina is sweeter than both worlds:
Oh, happy the town where dwells the Beloved!" 2
I am lost in admiration of the style of Mullá Jámí: 415
His verse and prose are a remedy for my immaturity.
He has written poetry overflowing with beautiful ideas
p. 36
And has threaded pearls in praise of the Master—
"Mohammed is the preface to the book of the universe:
420 All the world are slaves and he is the Master."
From the wine of Love spring many qualities:
Amongst the attributes of Love is blind devotion.
The saint of Bistám, who in devotion was unique,
Abstained from eating a water-melon. 1
425 Be a lover constant in devotion to thy beloved,
That thou mayst cast thy noose and capture God.
Sojourn for a while on the Hirá of the heart, 2
p. 37
Abandon self and flee to God.
Strengthened by God, return to thy self
And break the heads of the Lát and Uzzá of sensuality. 1 430
By the might of Love evoke an army,
Reveal thyself on the Fárán of Love, 2
That the Lord of the Ka‘ba may show thee favour
And interpret to thee the text, "Lo, I will appoint a vicegerent on the earth." 3
Article Source : Sacred Texts
Saturday, February 23, 2008
The Secrets of the Self
Showing that the system of the universe originates in the Self, and that the continuation of the life of all individuals depends on strengthening the Self.
The form of existence is an effect of the Self,
Whatsoever thou seest is a secret of the Self.
When the Self awoke to consciousness,
190 It revealed the universe of Thought.
A hundred worlds are hidden in its essence:
Self-affirmation brings Not-self to light.
By the Self the seed of hostility is sown in the world:
It imagines itself to be other than itself.
p. 17
It makes from itself the forms of others 195
In order to multiply the pleasure of strife.
It is slaying by the strength of its arm
That it may become conscious of its own strength.
Its self-deceptions are the essence of Life;
Like the rose, it lives by bathing itself in blood. 200
For the sake of a single rose it destroys a hundred rose-gardens
And makes a hundred lamentations in quest of a single melody.
For one sky it produces a hundred new moons,
And for one word a hundred discourses.
The excuse for this wastefulness and cruelty 205
Is the shaping and perfecting of spiritual beauty.
p. 18
The loveliness of Shírín justifies the anguish of Farhád, 1
The fragrant navel justifies a hundred musk-deer.
’Tis the fate of moths to consume in flame:
210 The suffering of moths is justified by the candle.
The pencil of the Self limned a hundred to-days
In order to achieve the dawn of a single morrow.
Its flames burned a hundred Abrahams 2
That the lamp of one Mohammed might be lighted.
215 Subject, object, means, and causes—
They all exist for the purpose of action.
p. 19
The Self rises, kindles, falls, glows, breathes,
Burns, shines, walks, and flies.
The spaciousness of Time is its arena,
Heaven is a billow of the dust on its road. 220
From its rose-planting the world abounds in roses;
Night is born of its sleep, day springs from its waking.
It divided its flame into sparks
And taught the understanding to worship particulars.
It dissolved itself and created the atoms, 225
It was scattered for a little while and created the sands.
Then it wearied of dispersion
And by re-uniting itself it became the mountains.
’Tis the nature of the Self to manifest itself:
In every atom slumbers the might of the Self. 230
p. 20
Power that is unexpressed and inert
Chains the faculties which lead to action.
Inasmuch as the life of the universe
comes from the strength of the Self,
Life is in proportion to this strength.
235 When a drop of water gets the Self's lesson by heart,
It makes its worthless existence a pearl.
Wine is formless because its self is weak;
It receives a form by favour of the cup.
Although the cup of wine assumes a form,
240 It is indebted to us for its motion.
When the mountain loses its self, it turns into sands
And complains that the sea surges over it;
But the wave, so long as it remains a wave in the sea's bosom,
Makes itself a rider on the sea's back.
p. 21
Light has been a beggar since the eye first rolled 245
And moved to and fro in search of beauty;
But forasmuch as the grass found a
means of growth in its self,
Its aspiration clove the breast of the garden.
The candle too concatenated itself
And built itself out of atoms; 250
Then it made a practice of melting
itself away and fled from its self
Until at last it trickled down from its own eye, like tears.
If the bezel had been more self-secure by nature,
It would not have suffered wounds,
But since it derives its value from the superscription, 255
Its shoulder is galled by the burden of another's name.
Because the earth is firmly based on self-existence,
p. 22
The captive moon goes round it perpetually.
The being of the sun is stronger than that of the earth:
260 Therefore is the earth bewitched by the sun's eye.
The glory of the plane fixes our gaze,
The mountains are enriched by its majesty:
Its raiment is woven of fire,
Its origin is one self-assertive seed.
265 When Life gathers strength from the Self,
The river of Life expands into an ocean.
Article Source : Sacred Texts
The form of existence is an effect of the Self,
Whatsoever thou seest is a secret of the Self.
When the Self awoke to consciousness,
190 It revealed the universe of Thought.
A hundred worlds are hidden in its essence:
Self-affirmation brings Not-self to light.
By the Self the seed of hostility is sown in the world:
It imagines itself to be other than itself.
p. 17
It makes from itself the forms of others 195
In order to multiply the pleasure of strife.
It is slaying by the strength of its arm
That it may become conscious of its own strength.
Its self-deceptions are the essence of Life;
Like the rose, it lives by bathing itself in blood. 200
For the sake of a single rose it destroys a hundred rose-gardens
And makes a hundred lamentations in quest of a single melody.
For one sky it produces a hundred new moons,
And for one word a hundred discourses.
The excuse for this wastefulness and cruelty 205
Is the shaping and perfecting of spiritual beauty.
p. 18
The loveliness of Shírín justifies the anguish of Farhád, 1
The fragrant navel justifies a hundred musk-deer.
’Tis the fate of moths to consume in flame:
210 The suffering of moths is justified by the candle.
The pencil of the Self limned a hundred to-days
In order to achieve the dawn of a single morrow.
Its flames burned a hundred Abrahams 2
That the lamp of one Mohammed might be lighted.
215 Subject, object, means, and causes—
They all exist for the purpose of action.
p. 19
The Self rises, kindles, falls, glows, breathes,
Burns, shines, walks, and flies.
The spaciousness of Time is its arena,
Heaven is a billow of the dust on its road. 220
From its rose-planting the world abounds in roses;
Night is born of its sleep, day springs from its waking.
It divided its flame into sparks
And taught the understanding to worship particulars.
It dissolved itself and created the atoms, 225
It was scattered for a little while and created the sands.
Then it wearied of dispersion
And by re-uniting itself it became the mountains.
’Tis the nature of the Self to manifest itself:
In every atom slumbers the might of the Self. 230
p. 20
Power that is unexpressed and inert
Chains the faculties which lead to action.
Inasmuch as the life of the universe
comes from the strength of the Self,
Life is in proportion to this strength.
235 When a drop of water gets the Self's lesson by heart,
It makes its worthless existence a pearl.
Wine is formless because its self is weak;
It receives a form by favour of the cup.
Although the cup of wine assumes a form,
240 It is indebted to us for its motion.
When the mountain loses its self, it turns into sands
And complains that the sea surges over it;
But the wave, so long as it remains a wave in the sea's bosom,
Makes itself a rider on the sea's back.
p. 21
Light has been a beggar since the eye first rolled 245
And moved to and fro in search of beauty;
But forasmuch as the grass found a
means of growth in its self,
Its aspiration clove the breast of the garden.
The candle too concatenated itself
And built itself out of atoms; 250
Then it made a practice of melting
itself away and fled from its self
Until at last it trickled down from its own eye, like tears.
If the bezel had been more self-secure by nature,
It would not have suffered wounds,
But since it derives its value from the superscription, 255
Its shoulder is galled by the burden of another's name.
Because the earth is firmly based on self-existence,
p. 22
The captive moon goes round it perpetually.
The being of the sun is stronger than that of the earth:
260 Therefore is the earth bewitched by the sun's eye.
The glory of the plane fixes our gaze,
The mountains are enriched by its majesty:
Its raiment is woven of fire,
Its origin is one self-assertive seed.
265 When Life gathers strength from the Self,
The river of Life expands into an ocean.
Article Source : Sacred Texts
Friday, February 22, 2008
O Cup-bearer! Give me again that wine of love for Thee
O Cup-bearer! Give me again that wine of love for Thee;
Let me gain the place my soul desires.
My lyrical vein was all but dried up, still
The sheik decrees that, too, should be choked to death.
No trail now blazes in new fields of thought,
But blind slaves of sufies and mullahs survive.
Who snatched away the piercing sword of love?
Knowledge is left with an empty sheath alone.
With a luminous soul the power of song is life;
With a darkened soul that power is eternal death.
A full moon glistens in Thy brimful cup;
Deprive me not of its silver beams at night.
Article Source : Poetry Chaikhana
Let me gain the place my soul desires.
My lyrical vein was all but dried up, still
The sheik decrees that, too, should be choked to death.
No trail now blazes in new fields of thought,
But blind slaves of sufies and mullahs survive.
Who snatched away the piercing sword of love?
Knowledge is left with an empty sheath alone.
With a luminous soul the power of song is life;
With a darkened soul that power is eternal death.
A full moon glistens in Thy brimful cup;
Deprive me not of its silver beams at night.
Article Source : Poetry Chaikhana
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Attributes of God
Man is the most superior creation of God and is a reflection of the divine attributes.
As we know God by His attribute Al-Rahim, man is also capable to show this attribute towards other creations. However, he also can be qahaar, a compelling subduer, as this is also a divine attribute (Al-Qahaar).
However, as I understand, while man can show some divine attributes, he is incapable or partially incapable of showing others.
Man cannot be Al-Samad (a complex attribute meaning The Self Sufficient, The Impregnable, and The Eternally Besought of All). He has to rely upon food for energy and can never be self sufficient in complete sense.
He cannot be Al-Khaaliq (The Creator). He may have created the wheel but the creation of matter and energy that drives the wheel is not his creation.
He can give food the beggar, but the true source of food is again God (Al-Razaaq- The All Provider), since he grew the food, but did not create it.
The true greatness of Allah is so immense; beyond all attributes we know and beyond every word we have.
As narrated in Quran, when Moses (p.b.u.h) pleaded God to show him a little glimpse of Himself, God remarked 'Lan Tirani', which means 'you are incapable of it'. Upon Moses' insistence, God asked him to come to the Mount of Toor and as He revealed a slight glimpse of his Greatness, Moses was shattered to unconsciousness and upon wakening was too weak to narrate the Greatness of His Glory.
No wonder when Prophet Muhammad went to Mairaj, he remarked to God that he wish to present to him something which even He does not possess. Prophet presented his humility to Allah.
Most certainly His Glory is too Great to be humble. Subhan-Rabiyall-Aala.
Article Source : The Sufi Blog
As we know God by His attribute Al-Rahim, man is also capable to show this attribute towards other creations. However, he also can be qahaar, a compelling subduer, as this is also a divine attribute (Al-Qahaar).
However, as I understand, while man can show some divine attributes, he is incapable or partially incapable of showing others.
Man cannot be Al-Samad (a complex attribute meaning The Self Sufficient, The Impregnable, and The Eternally Besought of All). He has to rely upon food for energy and can never be self sufficient in complete sense.
He cannot be Al-Khaaliq (The Creator). He may have created the wheel but the creation of matter and energy that drives the wheel is not his creation.
He can give food the beggar, but the true source of food is again God (Al-Razaaq- The All Provider), since he grew the food, but did not create it.
The true greatness of Allah is so immense; beyond all attributes we know and beyond every word we have.
As narrated in Quran, when Moses (p.b.u.h) pleaded God to show him a little glimpse of Himself, God remarked 'Lan Tirani', which means 'you are incapable of it'. Upon Moses' insistence, God asked him to come to the Mount of Toor and as He revealed a slight glimpse of his Greatness, Moses was shattered to unconsciousness and upon wakening was too weak to narrate the Greatness of His Glory.
No wonder when Prophet Muhammad went to Mairaj, he remarked to God that he wish to present to him something which even He does not possess. Prophet presented his humility to Allah.
Most certainly His Glory is too Great to be humble. Subhan-Rabiyall-Aala.
Article Source : The Sufi Blog
SUFISM AND THE PARADOX OF SELF
By Sheikha Fatima Fleur Nassery Bonnin
Bismillaah ir Rahmaan ir Rahiim
In the name of Allah, The Merciful, The Compassionate
THE PATH OF SUFISM
Allah (swt) uses many different ways of awakening people from the sleep of this world and attracting them to Him. Upon awakening, people begin searching and become travellers of the path (salek). As they start their journey towards God, their thoughts and feelings shift. They begin to behave and live differently in varying degrees. This change is necessary for a person to be considered a traveller of the path. Why the change? They are now beginning to distinguish between the ‘reality’ that they have always known and the Reality that truly is. They start to realise and understand that the purpose of this life’s journey is not what they had thought and that the journey of life, in fact, encompasses greater depth and meaning than they had ever imagined. The innermost part of their self responds strongly to this realisation and the outer mechanics of the person therefore shifts.
There are various spiritual paths that attract people but, sooner or later, all these little roads lead to one main road and unless one travels the distance to this grand highway, one will not get far. To travel on this highway, one must disable and break down the self, removing the self (nafs) from its position of king and ruler, and making it the slave. While the terms used may differ, all the mystical paths are in agreement on this fundamental aspect. In Buddhism, they speak of suffering and killing the ego; in Sufism, they speak of servanthood of the nafs to Allah (swt). This also marks the separation between the real traveller and the pseudo traveller.
The vast treasury of Sufi teaching, poetry and literature, points out this fundamental and uncompromising stage of spiritual unfoldment. In Sufism particularly, this highway is well sign-posted and can be followed if sincerity governs the heart. This road is marked with many teachers and once one surrenders himself to be taught and becomes a salek, he or she is well on the road to God discovery. Guided by his teacher (murshid), the salek follows and obeys the murshid, whose job is to prevent the salek from falling into the trap of its self (nafs). The self uses every trick and manipulation to get the traveller off the road that will ultimately lead to the self’s demise. Its tools include man’s mind, emotions and belief systems - a dangerous and powerful array of weaponry. One must be most aware and equipped to defy the attempts of the nafs.
THE PARADOX OF SELF
The teachings tell us two seemingly contradictory things about the self. In the first instance, the self is the most dangerous trap in the path to God. It is the biggest obstacle, it is vile, it is beastly. It is only interested in the fulfilment of its animalistic and selfish desires. It is a veil to the Truth and Reality. It makes you believe things that are not true and makes you like things that are not good for you. It is difficult to recognise this because you have always lived this way and you are surrounded by people who live similarly. So, pay attention! These are the characteristics of Satan as described in the Qur’an. For example in Surah 15:39-40, Satan says:
“O my sustainer! Since Thou hast thwarted me, I shall indeed make (all that is evil) on earth seem goodly to them, and shall most certainly beguile them into grievous error – save such of them as are truly Thy servants.”
At the same time, Sufism points to the other aspect of self, the high station of the self. Man is created in the image of God and is the height of creation. God created other creations for the sake of human beings and made man the master over other creations. He created everything for man and created man for Himself. He blew His spirit into man and gave man the ability to rise above angels. He did all of this so that man could know Him, worship Him and love Him.
There appears to be a paradox here and one may get confused or fall into the trap of taking himself to be the higher self without wanting to acknowledge the lower, animal self. It is important to recognise both aspects of self, the satan and the angel, the shadow and the light, the ignorance and the consciousness. Within man are both potentialities. In the heart of man is the treasure of knowing his Creator, but he is sent to this world of distraction through attraction to temporal pleasure. The part of the self that is in absolute darkness becomes consumed with this temporal pleasure and material engagement. Becoming totally conscious of self and preoccupied with the material world, man does not pause to look inside himself to find the treasure within his heart. The treasure of knowing his Creator marks the highest aspect of the self. This is the Self that is God-conscious, rather than self-conscious.
The purpose of man’s creation is to become close to God. In order to reach this destination of knowing his Creator, the traveller must travel a road of war with his ego until it is brought into submission. This is only possible by bringing the ego self to a place of servanthood. But modern man’s ego or self has a big problem with the idea of servanthood. The irony is that man is in the grip of his demanding self and a slave to the material world, but he is not aware of it. Modern society promotes ‘individuality’, which in reality is ‘slavery’ to materiality, yet ignores and/or shuns servanthood to God, which is the true purpose of creation. It is only through servanthood to God that man can actually be freed from servanthood to the material life. One cannot be a servant of God and a servant to oneself at the same time. All the Prophets have pointed this out to us.
Prophet Jesus (pbuh) says in the Gospel of Thomas, Verse 47:
“A person cannot mount two horses or bend two bows, and a servant cannot serve two masters.”
Moulana Rumi, from his treasure box of Masnavi, brings out pearls and forms verses urging man to recognise both aspects of the self. He explains how this ‘donkey’ (or self) perpetually runs to the pasture for grazing and self-satisfaction, forcing you to continually run after him, unless you learn to break him in, mount him, and become his master. It is then that the ‘donkey’ becomes your transcended Self, the vehicle to take you to the Beloved.
“Sell the donkey ears (these worldly ears) and buy another ear
since the worldly ears cannot receive secret words of God”
and
“The way to become a king is through servanthood
when you submit to be a slave of the Beloved, you become the beloved”
Moulana Rumi
The ego self uses everything for its own benefit, including truth, justice, fairness and even God. It even worships God to get something in return. This is why the self needs to be dismantled.
“A true believer and an infidel both say ‘God’
but there is a difference between the two
The beggar (infidel) says ‘God’ for the sake of bread
the true believer says ‘God’ in his very soul”
Moulana Rumi
In Sufism, dismantling and fighting the ego self is an essential part of the work. The degree of a man’s success depends on the degree of the man’s sincerity of effort.
We are being warned that the most important work of the salek is the difficult task of subduing the authority of the nafs, as it is our most dangerous enemy. One metaphor used to describe how one must deal with the self is:
Imprisoning it - killing it - burning it - and scattering its ashes.
Servanthood imprisons the self. Abstaining from passion kills it. Love of God burns it. Gnosis scatters the ashes of the self, eliminating all of its traces.
“Until one hair strand of your being you, remains
the business of vanity and self-praise, remains
You said, ‘I broke the idol of my mind, therefore I am free’
this idol ‘that you are free from your mind’, still remains”
Moulana Rumi
The make up of the ego self is in stark contrast to serenity and peace, because peace and serenity are states that can only be experienced as a result of closeness to God (taqarob). The self requires constant movement and turmoil. If events and problems in life are not enough to keep the system going, it will create more. Therefore, one is in a constant state of busyness of the mind, of inner chatter, of existing in the past or future and in turmoil in order not to be present. All of these are constructs of the personality to fog and blur one’s vision to what lies beneath - like waves on the surface of the ocean preventing one from seeing the depth of the water. One exists in this fallacy of distraction until one day, by the Grace of God, one wakes up just a little and realises the untruth of life’s predicament. When one makes the effort to quieten the mind and to negate the demands of the nafs then, little by little, one purifies the state of the self. Only when the self is transmuted is one able to experience serenity and peace and it is in that station that one can hear with the inner ear, the voice of his Creator.
Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) says:
“If you did not talk too much and if there were no turmoil in your heart, you could see what I see and hear what I hear.”
The paradox of self is that man has two aspects of the self in him, one hidden and one apparent. He needs to break away from the one to get to the other. If he spends his life busy with the little self, which is considered his lowest level of being, then that will be his predicament in this life and in the hereafter. It is man’s task in this life to break away from his habitual behaviour and his immediate gratification in order to become worthy of what he has been created for. If he breaks through the illusion of identifying with his self as the only reality and if he gets to know his self from his Self, then he moves ahead on the highway towards the Beloved.
Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) says:
“He who knows his self knows his Lord.”
Prophet Jesus (pbuh) says:
“One who knows all, but is lacking in oneself, is utterly lacking.”
He also says:
“Whoever has found oneself, for that person the world is not worthy.”
“You know the price of every merchandise,
but you are ignorant of knowing the value of your self”
Moulana Rumi
In the Qur’an, this theme has been addressed many times by the Creator. For instance in Surah Al Asr, Allah (swt) says:
“Verily man is in loss (in his trades). Except the ones who attain to faith and do good work.”
Imam Ali (a.s.) says:
“It is a losing trade if you believe that this world is worthy of you.”
In all the above quotes, the message is that when man sells his self to the goods of this life, he is a loser because what he is selling is far more precious than what he is buying.
The irony is that one does not know his own value and is not in touch with his Self. All he knows is the little self. Yet at the same time, there is no shortage of signs, teachings, prophets, saints and teachers from Allah (swt), to point out the truth, and the way to it.
Moulana Rumi remarks in the story of Moses and Pharaoh:
“Don’t look at that staff (Moses’ staff) and think of it as a piece of wood
look at what is in it that could part the sea of Ahmar”
In a similar teaching, Prophet Jesus (pbuh) says:
“If two make peace with each other in a single house, they will say to the mountain, ‘Move from here,’ and it will move.”
_________________________________
“Nothing can kill the nafs like the shadow of the master
hold tight to his skirt for he is a good killer of your self
Your lower self is after material affairs
how long will you trade in unworthy affairs, give them up
Someone who says ‘I am thinking to deny my lower self’
is still captive to the lower self
And he who says, ‘God is merciful and kind’
is also being manipulated by that wretched self”
Moulana Rumi, Masnavi, II/2528, 2601-02, 3086-87
Translated by Fleur Nassery Bonnin
You can say very sincerely that you will control your selfish ego but it is not easy. Therefore, you need a sheikh to help you because your carnal desires will continue to trick you. In many cases you may think that God is Forgiving and Merciful and that He will forgive your sins. This idea is also put into your heart by your ego, which is in the command of Satan. Without doubt, God is Forgiving but there is a limit to that because He is Just at the same time. “We shall set up scales of justice for the day of judgment, so that not a single soul will be dealt with unjustly” Qur’an 21:47 and “God did not save angels who sinned” Bible 2 Peter 2:4. God is unlikely to place those who sacrifice their lower self for the love of God in the same scale with those who depend on God’s Mercy without deserving it.
Article Source : Australian Sufi Center
Bismillaah ir Rahmaan ir Rahiim
In the name of Allah, The Merciful, The Compassionate
THE PATH OF SUFISM
Allah (swt) uses many different ways of awakening people from the sleep of this world and attracting them to Him. Upon awakening, people begin searching and become travellers of the path (salek). As they start their journey towards God, their thoughts and feelings shift. They begin to behave and live differently in varying degrees. This change is necessary for a person to be considered a traveller of the path. Why the change? They are now beginning to distinguish between the ‘reality’ that they have always known and the Reality that truly is. They start to realise and understand that the purpose of this life’s journey is not what they had thought and that the journey of life, in fact, encompasses greater depth and meaning than they had ever imagined. The innermost part of their self responds strongly to this realisation and the outer mechanics of the person therefore shifts.
There are various spiritual paths that attract people but, sooner or later, all these little roads lead to one main road and unless one travels the distance to this grand highway, one will not get far. To travel on this highway, one must disable and break down the self, removing the self (nafs) from its position of king and ruler, and making it the slave. While the terms used may differ, all the mystical paths are in agreement on this fundamental aspect. In Buddhism, they speak of suffering and killing the ego; in Sufism, they speak of servanthood of the nafs to Allah (swt). This also marks the separation between the real traveller and the pseudo traveller.
The vast treasury of Sufi teaching, poetry and literature, points out this fundamental and uncompromising stage of spiritual unfoldment. In Sufism particularly, this highway is well sign-posted and can be followed if sincerity governs the heart. This road is marked with many teachers and once one surrenders himself to be taught and becomes a salek, he or she is well on the road to God discovery. Guided by his teacher (murshid), the salek follows and obeys the murshid, whose job is to prevent the salek from falling into the trap of its self (nafs). The self uses every trick and manipulation to get the traveller off the road that will ultimately lead to the self’s demise. Its tools include man’s mind, emotions and belief systems - a dangerous and powerful array of weaponry. One must be most aware and equipped to defy the attempts of the nafs.
THE PARADOX OF SELF
The teachings tell us two seemingly contradictory things about the self. In the first instance, the self is the most dangerous trap in the path to God. It is the biggest obstacle, it is vile, it is beastly. It is only interested in the fulfilment of its animalistic and selfish desires. It is a veil to the Truth and Reality. It makes you believe things that are not true and makes you like things that are not good for you. It is difficult to recognise this because you have always lived this way and you are surrounded by people who live similarly. So, pay attention! These are the characteristics of Satan as described in the Qur’an. For example in Surah 15:39-40, Satan says:
“O my sustainer! Since Thou hast thwarted me, I shall indeed make (all that is evil) on earth seem goodly to them, and shall most certainly beguile them into grievous error – save such of them as are truly Thy servants.”
At the same time, Sufism points to the other aspect of self, the high station of the self. Man is created in the image of God and is the height of creation. God created other creations for the sake of human beings and made man the master over other creations. He created everything for man and created man for Himself. He blew His spirit into man and gave man the ability to rise above angels. He did all of this so that man could know Him, worship Him and love Him.
There appears to be a paradox here and one may get confused or fall into the trap of taking himself to be the higher self without wanting to acknowledge the lower, animal self. It is important to recognise both aspects of self, the satan and the angel, the shadow and the light, the ignorance and the consciousness. Within man are both potentialities. In the heart of man is the treasure of knowing his Creator, but he is sent to this world of distraction through attraction to temporal pleasure. The part of the self that is in absolute darkness becomes consumed with this temporal pleasure and material engagement. Becoming totally conscious of self and preoccupied with the material world, man does not pause to look inside himself to find the treasure within his heart. The treasure of knowing his Creator marks the highest aspect of the self. This is the Self that is God-conscious, rather than self-conscious.
The purpose of man’s creation is to become close to God. In order to reach this destination of knowing his Creator, the traveller must travel a road of war with his ego until it is brought into submission. This is only possible by bringing the ego self to a place of servanthood. But modern man’s ego or self has a big problem with the idea of servanthood. The irony is that man is in the grip of his demanding self and a slave to the material world, but he is not aware of it. Modern society promotes ‘individuality’, which in reality is ‘slavery’ to materiality, yet ignores and/or shuns servanthood to God, which is the true purpose of creation. It is only through servanthood to God that man can actually be freed from servanthood to the material life. One cannot be a servant of God and a servant to oneself at the same time. All the Prophets have pointed this out to us.
Prophet Jesus (pbuh) says in the Gospel of Thomas, Verse 47:
“A person cannot mount two horses or bend two bows, and a servant cannot serve two masters.”
Moulana Rumi, from his treasure box of Masnavi, brings out pearls and forms verses urging man to recognise both aspects of the self. He explains how this ‘donkey’ (or self) perpetually runs to the pasture for grazing and self-satisfaction, forcing you to continually run after him, unless you learn to break him in, mount him, and become his master. It is then that the ‘donkey’ becomes your transcended Self, the vehicle to take you to the Beloved.
“Sell the donkey ears (these worldly ears) and buy another ear
since the worldly ears cannot receive secret words of God”
and
“The way to become a king is through servanthood
when you submit to be a slave of the Beloved, you become the beloved”
Moulana Rumi
The ego self uses everything for its own benefit, including truth, justice, fairness and even God. It even worships God to get something in return. This is why the self needs to be dismantled.
“A true believer and an infidel both say ‘God’
but there is a difference between the two
The beggar (infidel) says ‘God’ for the sake of bread
the true believer says ‘God’ in his very soul”
Moulana Rumi
In Sufism, dismantling and fighting the ego self is an essential part of the work. The degree of a man’s success depends on the degree of the man’s sincerity of effort.
We are being warned that the most important work of the salek is the difficult task of subduing the authority of the nafs, as it is our most dangerous enemy. One metaphor used to describe how one must deal with the self is:
Imprisoning it - killing it - burning it - and scattering its ashes.
Servanthood imprisons the self. Abstaining from passion kills it. Love of God burns it. Gnosis scatters the ashes of the self, eliminating all of its traces.
“Until one hair strand of your being you, remains
the business of vanity and self-praise, remains
You said, ‘I broke the idol of my mind, therefore I am free’
this idol ‘that you are free from your mind’, still remains”
Moulana Rumi
The make up of the ego self is in stark contrast to serenity and peace, because peace and serenity are states that can only be experienced as a result of closeness to God (taqarob). The self requires constant movement and turmoil. If events and problems in life are not enough to keep the system going, it will create more. Therefore, one is in a constant state of busyness of the mind, of inner chatter, of existing in the past or future and in turmoil in order not to be present. All of these are constructs of the personality to fog and blur one’s vision to what lies beneath - like waves on the surface of the ocean preventing one from seeing the depth of the water. One exists in this fallacy of distraction until one day, by the Grace of God, one wakes up just a little and realises the untruth of life’s predicament. When one makes the effort to quieten the mind and to negate the demands of the nafs then, little by little, one purifies the state of the self. Only when the self is transmuted is one able to experience serenity and peace and it is in that station that one can hear with the inner ear, the voice of his Creator.
Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) says:
“If you did not talk too much and if there were no turmoil in your heart, you could see what I see and hear what I hear.”
The paradox of self is that man has two aspects of the self in him, one hidden and one apparent. He needs to break away from the one to get to the other. If he spends his life busy with the little self, which is considered his lowest level of being, then that will be his predicament in this life and in the hereafter. It is man’s task in this life to break away from his habitual behaviour and his immediate gratification in order to become worthy of what he has been created for. If he breaks through the illusion of identifying with his self as the only reality and if he gets to know his self from his Self, then he moves ahead on the highway towards the Beloved.
Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) says:
“He who knows his self knows his Lord.”
Prophet Jesus (pbuh) says:
“One who knows all, but is lacking in oneself, is utterly lacking.”
He also says:
“Whoever has found oneself, for that person the world is not worthy.”
“You know the price of every merchandise,
but you are ignorant of knowing the value of your self”
Moulana Rumi
In the Qur’an, this theme has been addressed many times by the Creator. For instance in Surah Al Asr, Allah (swt) says:
“Verily man is in loss (in his trades). Except the ones who attain to faith and do good work.”
Imam Ali (a.s.) says:
“It is a losing trade if you believe that this world is worthy of you.”
In all the above quotes, the message is that when man sells his self to the goods of this life, he is a loser because what he is selling is far more precious than what he is buying.
The irony is that one does not know his own value and is not in touch with his Self. All he knows is the little self. Yet at the same time, there is no shortage of signs, teachings, prophets, saints and teachers from Allah (swt), to point out the truth, and the way to it.
Moulana Rumi remarks in the story of Moses and Pharaoh:
“Don’t look at that staff (Moses’ staff) and think of it as a piece of wood
look at what is in it that could part the sea of Ahmar”
In a similar teaching, Prophet Jesus (pbuh) says:
“If two make peace with each other in a single house, they will say to the mountain, ‘Move from here,’ and it will move.”
_________________________________
“Nothing can kill the nafs like the shadow of the master
hold tight to his skirt for he is a good killer of your self
Your lower self is after material affairs
how long will you trade in unworthy affairs, give them up
Someone who says ‘I am thinking to deny my lower self’
is still captive to the lower self
And he who says, ‘God is merciful and kind’
is also being manipulated by that wretched self”
Moulana Rumi, Masnavi, II/2528, 2601-02, 3086-87
Translated by Fleur Nassery Bonnin
You can say very sincerely that you will control your selfish ego but it is not easy. Therefore, you need a sheikh to help you because your carnal desires will continue to trick you. In many cases you may think that God is Forgiving and Merciful and that He will forgive your sins. This idea is also put into your heart by your ego, which is in the command of Satan. Without doubt, God is Forgiving but there is a limit to that because He is Just at the same time. “We shall set up scales of justice for the day of judgment, so that not a single soul will be dealt with unjustly” Qur’an 21:47 and “God did not save angels who sinned” Bible 2 Peter 2:4. God is unlikely to place those who sacrifice their lower self for the love of God in the same scale with those who depend on God’s Mercy without deserving it.
Article Source : Australian Sufi Center
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Al-Haqiqat | The Station of Truth
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
In sufi teaching, the masters talk about stations, the stations to reach God. In Shadhiliyya sufi path, the teacher Sidi al-Jamal in his book, Music of the Soul, talks about different stations, such as seven stations of the self (nafs), heart (qalb), soul (ruh) and the secret (sirr). Here is an excerpts from one of the station of heart, al-haqiqat: the station of truth / true reality.
You are the secret. If you know the deep secret, you can reach Him and sit in the holy garden. In the garden you will find the wine of the truth. Every heart needs this wine because the heart is the tree of God and tree needs to drink His wine. You cannot drink this wine if you do not know its meaning. How would you know the way of the wine if you did not clean your house? Because He is the Holy House.
There are two things that make war in the heart – the family of light and the family of darkness. Clean your heart of the family of darkness, because many things come from the darkness. Leave everything, and open you heart only to God to know the secret inside your heart. If you change your heart, then you are the qiblah (the direction of payer). Your heart is the qiblah, and you are the qiblah.
When you are in this station, you can pray from your heart. You face yourself when you pray because He wants you to know yourself. When you know yourself, you know God and you reach His place, which is no place because He is the beginning and the end. You can pray inside your heart when you live in this station. You are the truth, and your ear is the ear of God, and your eye is the eye of God. Your picture is the picture of God, and there is no picture now because you are a deep secret. Now you can reach and you can know yourself.
Always remember that you will not reach if He does not love you. First He loves you and then you love Him, yet there is no first. He can see everything in your face and He can hear every voice. When you speak, you should know how to speak with yourself. When you are in this station, there is no body because you have lost your body. It has become completely light. Where can another sit inside you? There is no room for another, there is room only for God. You can live in this station because it is the real life. The guide wants you to spend all your time with Him. Do not lose any minute because every minute is very holy, I live with my soul now. This is the holy light, if you know.
Praying is different here from any prayer before. You now pray in two ways – the ritual prayer for the self and the deep prayer for the soul. You live all your time in everything with your soul, but the real soul. This is from the truth. No one can reach if he or she does not change everything from the outside to the inside, and there is no outside and no inside.
Pray, but do not pray only with your body. Pray with your heart and soul. You live now in al-wahid al-ahad, not just one, but all one. Al-ahad is the divine oneness of God. All your qualities in this station are the qualities of Allah because your sun (soul) is rising, and it is a holy sun which contains every meaning. When the sun rises in your heart, you can see everything and know everything. He loves your prayer because when you pray in this station, you pray with your God face to face, and there is only the face of the unity.
“ Oh my God, keep me in this station to pray deeply because my face is Your face. Help me to know, and do not discharge me back to the life I lived before I came to You because now I could not live without You.”
This is the way of the soul. My Beloved is inside me. What do I want after that? I want nothing. He stays inside, and I love Him and He loves me. The prayer now becomes deeper and deeper. I do not want to live without this wine because I receive all that I desire through this wine. When I walk in this station, how could I live without the wine of the truth? This is the true song.
. Text and credit The Stations of the Way
. From Music of the Soul by Shaykh Muhammad al-Jamal
. Sidi Muhammad Press
. SufiGift
. graphics: Art by Chrysti
Labels: book, God, love, mysticism, sufi, sufism, truth
Article Source : Mystic Saint
In sufi teaching, the masters talk about stations, the stations to reach God. In Shadhiliyya sufi path, the teacher Sidi al-Jamal in his book, Music of the Soul, talks about different stations, such as seven stations of the self (nafs), heart (qalb), soul (ruh) and the secret (sirr). Here is an excerpts from one of the station of heart, al-haqiqat: the station of truth / true reality.
You are the secret. If you know the deep secret, you can reach Him and sit in the holy garden. In the garden you will find the wine of the truth. Every heart needs this wine because the heart is the tree of God and tree needs to drink His wine. You cannot drink this wine if you do not know its meaning. How would you know the way of the wine if you did not clean your house? Because He is the Holy House.
There are two things that make war in the heart – the family of light and the family of darkness. Clean your heart of the family of darkness, because many things come from the darkness. Leave everything, and open you heart only to God to know the secret inside your heart. If you change your heart, then you are the qiblah (the direction of payer). Your heart is the qiblah, and you are the qiblah.
When you are in this station, you can pray from your heart. You face yourself when you pray because He wants you to know yourself. When you know yourself, you know God and you reach His place, which is no place because He is the beginning and the end. You can pray inside your heart when you live in this station. You are the truth, and your ear is the ear of God, and your eye is the eye of God. Your picture is the picture of God, and there is no picture now because you are a deep secret. Now you can reach and you can know yourself.
Always remember that you will not reach if He does not love you. First He loves you and then you love Him, yet there is no first. He can see everything in your face and He can hear every voice. When you speak, you should know how to speak with yourself. When you are in this station, there is no body because you have lost your body. It has become completely light. Where can another sit inside you? There is no room for another, there is room only for God. You can live in this station because it is the real life. The guide wants you to spend all your time with Him. Do not lose any minute because every minute is very holy, I live with my soul now. This is the holy light, if you know.
Praying is different here from any prayer before. You now pray in two ways – the ritual prayer for the self and the deep prayer for the soul. You live all your time in everything with your soul, but the real soul. This is from the truth. No one can reach if he or she does not change everything from the outside to the inside, and there is no outside and no inside.
Pray, but do not pray only with your body. Pray with your heart and soul. You live now in al-wahid al-ahad, not just one, but all one. Al-ahad is the divine oneness of God. All your qualities in this station are the qualities of Allah because your sun (soul) is rising, and it is a holy sun which contains every meaning. When the sun rises in your heart, you can see everything and know everything. He loves your prayer because when you pray in this station, you pray with your God face to face, and there is only the face of the unity.
“ Oh my God, keep me in this station to pray deeply because my face is Your face. Help me to know, and do not discharge me back to the life I lived before I came to You because now I could not live without You.”
This is the way of the soul. My Beloved is inside me. What do I want after that? I want nothing. He stays inside, and I love Him and He loves me. The prayer now becomes deeper and deeper. I do not want to live without this wine because I receive all that I desire through this wine. When I walk in this station, how could I live without the wine of the truth? This is the true song.
. Text and credit The Stations of the Way
. From Music of the Soul by Shaykh Muhammad al-Jamal
. Sidi Muhammad Press
. SufiGift
. graphics: Art by Chrysti
Labels: book, God, love, mysticism, sufi, sufism, truth
Article Source : Mystic Saint
Your Image
Rumi Translated by Rezwani and Helminski
Furuzanfar Divan 644
Once Your image settled into our hearts,
we found ourselves sitting in Paradise .
All our worries of Apocalypse and Armageddon
each turned into the face of a houri
and the charm of a Chinese beauty.
All that men and women fear to look at,
all that stalks them, now became close companions.
The skies became a rose garden and earth a buried treasure;
yet, what sort of "thing" are You
that all existence became this way because of You?
Since we saw Him we have been prospering day after day;
the thistle that happened to find Him
became a flower bed of certainty.
The unripe grapes turned ripe by the Sun and became sugary;
likewise, dark rock turned into a gem.
Many an earth was transfigured by His charisma;
the sinister turned felicitous out of His hand of fortune.
The darkness of the heart, became an opening of the heart;
the waylayer of faith is now a mentor and a leader.
The dark well of suffering which was a prison to Joseph,
became a strong rope for him to climb out.
Every particle is, like the army of Allah,
under Divine command,
to the faithful servant a guarantee and to the denier an ambush.
Keep silent, these words are like the Nile :
One, a Copt, will drown in this blood;
another, a blessed Israelite, will be buoyed along.
Keep silent. These words are ripened figs,
but not every bird of the air
will come to discover them.
Sufi Lodge
streaming audio
(weekly sohbets),
written reflections
are back!, and Stories
Sufi Music (Store)
You Are Joy, The Poetry of Rumi read by Kabir & Camille with great Sufi musicians from California, Iran, and Turkey.
CD $15
Call 831-685-3995 or order online
The 99 Day Program is back by popular demand. This mentored home-study program will introduce you to the framework of knowledge, as well as some of the practices of Sufism.
Article Source : Sufism.org
Furuzanfar Divan 644
Once Your image settled into our hearts,
we found ourselves sitting in Paradise .
All our worries of Apocalypse and Armageddon
each turned into the face of a houri
and the charm of a Chinese beauty.
All that men and women fear to look at,
all that stalks them, now became close companions.
The skies became a rose garden and earth a buried treasure;
yet, what sort of "thing" are You
that all existence became this way because of You?
Since we saw Him we have been prospering day after day;
the thistle that happened to find Him
became a flower bed of certainty.
The unripe grapes turned ripe by the Sun and became sugary;
likewise, dark rock turned into a gem.
Many an earth was transfigured by His charisma;
the sinister turned felicitous out of His hand of fortune.
The darkness of the heart, became an opening of the heart;
the waylayer of faith is now a mentor and a leader.
The dark well of suffering which was a prison to Joseph,
became a strong rope for him to climb out.
Every particle is, like the army of Allah,
under Divine command,
to the faithful servant a guarantee and to the denier an ambush.
Keep silent, these words are like the Nile :
One, a Copt, will drown in this blood;
another, a blessed Israelite, will be buoyed along.
Keep silent. These words are ripened figs,
but not every bird of the air
will come to discover them.
Sufi Lodge
streaming audio
(weekly sohbets),
written reflections
are back!, and Stories
Sufi Music (Store)
You Are Joy, The Poetry of Rumi read by Kabir & Camille with great Sufi musicians from California, Iran, and Turkey.
CD $15
Call 831-685-3995 or order online
The 99 Day Program is back by popular demand. This mentored home-study program will introduce you to the framework of knowledge, as well as some of the practices of Sufism.
Article Source : Sufism.org
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