Showing posts with label spirituality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spirituality. Show all posts
Monday, October 29, 2018
Bilquees Press Catalog
Recently, I have updated my books in a variety of ways -- including formatting changes as well as, in some cases, the introduction of new material. You can find out more about the aforementioned changes by either going to the: Bilquees Press Catalog page or by downloading a free copy of the catalog software (right-click on the previous link) that contains information about 39 books and one DVD (The catalog software will only work with Windows, Parallels, Fusion, and Boot Camp enabled computers).
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Kashf (Unveiling) - A Sufi Perspective
There are two kinds of unveiling (kashf) which occur on the Sufi path. One of these is potentially detrimental to the mystical wayfarer. The other can be a source of great blessings for, and help to, the individual.
The first mode of kashf or unveiling concerns the nature and events of the world. The second form of unveiling gives expression to spiritual realities which transcend the realm of the world.
When, by God's command, an individual is provided with a method for: accessing foreknowledge of worldly events; or, being a witness to events going on elsewhere in the world, without leaving one's residence and without any modern technological assistance; or, becoming privy to the details of the past, present and future of whomever one likes, then such a mystical wayfarer is confronted with a very substantial trial and risk.
There are two options for dealing with this situation. The individual can use her or his discretion for determining whether or not to utilize the abilities which God has made available. The person can wait for instructions from Divinity concerning the use of those abilities.
Whenever the mystical wayfarer uses his or her discretion with respect to whether or not to access hidden knowledge concerning the world, two contingencies come into play. First, this individual will have to answer to God on the Day of Judgement for each and every discretionary use of worldly kashf. Secondly, every time one makes discretionary use of worldly kashf, one runs a risk that one's spiritual progress will come to a standstill.
An individual may believe she or he is using worldly kashf only to help others. This may or may not be so. However, one thing is certain. The intentions, motivations, attitudes, understandings, goals, and purposes of a person who makes discretionary use of worldly kashf will come under the closest of Divine scrutiny and cross-examination.
The individual cannot presume she or he will come through the rigors of this investigation in unscathed fashion. The ordeal of being subjected to the intensity of the aforementioned scrutiny is, in and of itself, likely to raise the question of just how necessary was such discretionary use of worldly kashf.
Nevertheless, on the Day of Judgement, second thoughts don't count. One must be prepared to accept the consequences of the choices one makes in the present life. So, as is sometimes said in the military: "Be advised!".
Having access to hidden knowledge concerning the world and its people, can be very seductive and tempting. One may start out in a seemingly innocuous manner, only to discover, if one is fortunate, one is getting caught up in the world in, yet, another way.
Whether one is entangled in the world through "normal" means or through non-ordinary channels, is a moot point. In either case, entanglement means one has lost one's spiritual purpose.
If one loses one's spiritual way on a "lower" level or on a "higher" level, one remains lost in both cases. In fact, one's predicament may be much worse in the latter case since more is expected of the individual. This individual should have known better than to get seduced by the allurements of hidden knowledge concerning the world.
The foregoing comments notwithstanding, there are occasions when use of worldly kashf or unveiling may be required in the service of others. This especially may be true with respect to the kinds of thing a shaykh may do, from time to time, to help an initiate at certain stages of the mystical journey.
Nevertheless, one is better off when directives in these matters come from Divinity. Waiting, with patience, for Divine assistance is, spiritually, far superior to trying, with impatience, to take matters into one's own hands. The former approach is the best form of spiritual etiquette in these matters.
Some people may wonder why individuals should be given access to hidden knowledge while, simultaneously, being told to refrain from taking advantage of this kind of knowledge. One reason for juxtaposing such extraordinary possibilities next to the challenge of restraint is to test the individual concerning whether he or she prefers lordship over servanthood.
Ultimately, the Sufi path is a journey toward perfect servanthood. Those who become attracted to, if not addicted by, the discretionary use of worldly kashf, are indicating a preference for lordship. This inclination or preference becomes an obstacle to making further progress on the Sufi path.
In a sense, one becomes all dressed up with the powers of worldly kashf but with no spiritual place to go. At best, wherever one may be spiritually, on whatever level, one becomes stuck there and unable to fully realize the spiritual purpose of one's life.
At worst, things begin to deteriorate spiritually. One falls further and further away from the mystical path. Yet, the tragedy of this is one may not be aware this is happening because one still has use of the "toys" of worldly kashf.
The other kind of kashf, mentioned previously, concerns spiritual unveilings. These are transcendent to the sort of hidden knowledge about the affairs of the world which is the focus of the worldly mode of kashf.
Spiritual kashf involves unveilings in the form of experiences involving states and stations of the mystical path. Through Divine "flashes", intuitions, visions and so on, one receives knowledge, wisdom and insights about various spiritual realities.
The understanding gained from this form of kashf can be extremely useful to wayfarers of the Sufi path. Such understanding serves to guide, support, strengthen, protect, purify, perfect and illumine the individual's mystical travels.
Worldly kashf, for the most part, cannot assist the individual in any of the above mentioned ways. In other words, with certain exceptions, worldly kashf really has no useful role to play on the mystical journey.
There is only one cautionary proviso which needs to be stated in relation to spiritual kashf. This mode of mystical unveiling is not the goal of the Sufi path. Spiritual kashf is a means, not an end.
The goal of the Sufi path is to become a perfect servant of God through realizing one's essential identity and capacity. Spiritual kashf assists one in the pursuit of this primary objective of the mystical journey.
If one should become preoccupied with spiritual kashf, in and of itself, and, therefore, somewhat divorced from the proper focus of the Sufi path, one becomes spiritually at risk. These risks may not be quite the same as those which are associated with discretionary use of worldly kashf, but the risks to further spiritual progress are, nonetheless, still there.
More specifically, if one wishes to reach a particular destination, one cannot permit the beauty and majesty of the landscape to distract one from the original goal. This is especially the case if one is under a time constraint concerning how long one has to complete the journey to the intended destination.
If one spends too much time by the roadside smelling the flowers, one may never reach one's destination in time. As with everything else in life, one must keep things in a balance of proper moderation.
The first mode of kashf or unveiling concerns the nature and events of the world. The second form of unveiling gives expression to spiritual realities which transcend the realm of the world.
When, by God's command, an individual is provided with a method for: accessing foreknowledge of worldly events; or, being a witness to events going on elsewhere in the world, without leaving one's residence and without any modern technological assistance; or, becoming privy to the details of the past, present and future of whomever one likes, then such a mystical wayfarer is confronted with a very substantial trial and risk.
There are two options for dealing with this situation. The individual can use her or his discretion for determining whether or not to utilize the abilities which God has made available. The person can wait for instructions from Divinity concerning the use of those abilities.
Whenever the mystical wayfarer uses his or her discretion with respect to whether or not to access hidden knowledge concerning the world, two contingencies come into play. First, this individual will have to answer to God on the Day of Judgement for each and every discretionary use of worldly kashf. Secondly, every time one makes discretionary use of worldly kashf, one runs a risk that one's spiritual progress will come to a standstill.
An individual may believe she or he is using worldly kashf only to help others. This may or may not be so. However, one thing is certain. The intentions, motivations, attitudes, understandings, goals, and purposes of a person who makes discretionary use of worldly kashf will come under the closest of Divine scrutiny and cross-examination.
The individual cannot presume she or he will come through the rigors of this investigation in unscathed fashion. The ordeal of being subjected to the intensity of the aforementioned scrutiny is, in and of itself, likely to raise the question of just how necessary was such discretionary use of worldly kashf.
Nevertheless, on the Day of Judgement, second thoughts don't count. One must be prepared to accept the consequences of the choices one makes in the present life. So, as is sometimes said in the military: "Be advised!".
Having access to hidden knowledge concerning the world and its people, can be very seductive and tempting. One may start out in a seemingly innocuous manner, only to discover, if one is fortunate, one is getting caught up in the world in, yet, another way.
Whether one is entangled in the world through "normal" means or through non-ordinary channels, is a moot point. In either case, entanglement means one has lost one's spiritual purpose.
If one loses one's spiritual way on a "lower" level or on a "higher" level, one remains lost in both cases. In fact, one's predicament may be much worse in the latter case since more is expected of the individual. This individual should have known better than to get seduced by the allurements of hidden knowledge concerning the world.
The foregoing comments notwithstanding, there are occasions when use of worldly kashf or unveiling may be required in the service of others. This especially may be true with respect to the kinds of thing a shaykh may do, from time to time, to help an initiate at certain stages of the mystical journey.
Nevertheless, one is better off when directives in these matters come from Divinity. Waiting, with patience, for Divine assistance is, spiritually, far superior to trying, with impatience, to take matters into one's own hands. The former approach is the best form of spiritual etiquette in these matters.
Some people may wonder why individuals should be given access to hidden knowledge while, simultaneously, being told to refrain from taking advantage of this kind of knowledge. One reason for juxtaposing such extraordinary possibilities next to the challenge of restraint is to test the individual concerning whether he or she prefers lordship over servanthood.
Ultimately, the Sufi path is a journey toward perfect servanthood. Those who become attracted to, if not addicted by, the discretionary use of worldly kashf, are indicating a preference for lordship. This inclination or preference becomes an obstacle to making further progress on the Sufi path.
In a sense, one becomes all dressed up with the powers of worldly kashf but with no spiritual place to go. At best, wherever one may be spiritually, on whatever level, one becomes stuck there and unable to fully realize the spiritual purpose of one's life.
At worst, things begin to deteriorate spiritually. One falls further and further away from the mystical path. Yet, the tragedy of this is one may not be aware this is happening because one still has use of the "toys" of worldly kashf.
The other kind of kashf, mentioned previously, concerns spiritual unveilings. These are transcendent to the sort of hidden knowledge about the affairs of the world which is the focus of the worldly mode of kashf.
Spiritual kashf involves unveilings in the form of experiences involving states and stations of the mystical path. Through Divine "flashes", intuitions, visions and so on, one receives knowledge, wisdom and insights about various spiritual realities.
The understanding gained from this form of kashf can be extremely useful to wayfarers of the Sufi path. Such understanding serves to guide, support, strengthen, protect, purify, perfect and illumine the individual's mystical travels.
Worldly kashf, for the most part, cannot assist the individual in any of the above mentioned ways. In other words, with certain exceptions, worldly kashf really has no useful role to play on the mystical journey.
There is only one cautionary proviso which needs to be stated in relation to spiritual kashf. This mode of mystical unveiling is not the goal of the Sufi path. Spiritual kashf is a means, not an end.
The goal of the Sufi path is to become a perfect servant of God through realizing one's essential identity and capacity. Spiritual kashf assists one in the pursuit of this primary objective of the mystical journey.
If one should become preoccupied with spiritual kashf, in and of itself, and, therefore, somewhat divorced from the proper focus of the Sufi path, one becomes spiritually at risk. These risks may not be quite the same as those which are associated with discretionary use of worldly kashf, but the risks to further spiritual progress are, nonetheless, still there.
More specifically, if one wishes to reach a particular destination, one cannot permit the beauty and majesty of the landscape to distract one from the original goal. This is especially the case if one is under a time constraint concerning how long one has to complete the journey to the intended destination.
If one spends too much time by the roadside smelling the flowers, one may never reach one's destination in time. As with everything else in life, one must keep things in a balance of proper moderation.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Bilquees Press Spiritual Stories for the Heart now an Amazon Kindle Book
Spiritual Stories for the Heart (50+ Stories) is now available as an Amazon Kindle Book.
Amazon Kindle Book
The next Bilquees Press offering in the form of Kindle books will be The Sufi Lighthouse: Illuminating Spiritual Abuse.
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Some people have a very distorted idea about the nature of worship (ibadat). They are under the impression God is in need of worship.
However, this is not so. Human beings are in need of worshiping God. God does not need the worship of human beings.
The people who believe worship is for God's sake, apparently consider God to be so insecure that Divinity requires constant reassurance from human beings. These people make it sound as if God were saying: "Please, women and men, tell Me again how wonderful I am and how great I am. My Self-esteem is a little shaky today."
Alternatively, maybe these people are implying God is addicted to vanity and needs to hear praise over and over again. In fact, one might suppose a logical progression of this sort of thinking is to believe God punishes people who do not worship Divinity because such people become like a drug pusher who holds out on the one who desperately needs a fix. In the light of this kind of scenario, hell is the revenge, in spades, of an addict scorned.
Sufi masters have a completely different perspective on the issue of worship. To begin with, they maintain God is totally independent of any need of what human beings do or do not do.
Our existence is an act of Divine generosity and love. Something has been given to human beings for which we have done nothing to deserve and which can never be reciprocated in kind by us.
To be sure, we have been created in accordance with a Divine Plan. Yet, the purpose of this plan is all to the benefit of human beings.
God is not getting anything out of it that was not possessed already by Divinity. God, in Essence, is sharing Divinity, as manifested through Attributes, with Divinity, as manifested through human reflections of those Attributes.
Unfortunately, we are, for the most part, too dumb to appreciate what God is doing for us. Thus, the need for worship.
Worship is the path which, if God wishes, leads from, on the one hand, human ignorance, darkness and density, to, on the other hand, the gnosis, light and subtlety of Divinity. Worship, when done properly, is the on-going spiritual realization of, and bearing witness to, the Presence of Divinity in every aspect and facet of human existence.
For many of us, worship is something of a burden. We struggle and strain and huff and puff and sweat and fret to produce some pathetic, tattered, stumbling spiritual offering.
Some of us fervently hope these offerings bear a remote resemblance to expressions of worship which are minimally acceptable to God, worried as we are about the cut off points for heaven and hell. Others among us, are quite taken with "our" efforts, as if we actually had the capacity to do anything on our own. Still others among us, are resentful we should have to make any such efforts whatsoever, as if we were doing God a favor.
Our attempts at worship seem to be saturated with resistance, doubts, uncertainty, conflict, weakness, obstacles, inconsistencies and ambivalence. This is so because our false selves or egos are busy doing everything within their power and capacity to oppose worship of God.
If worship of God can be converted to worship of the ego, the difficulties often will stop. The ego will even permit the external character of the spiritual framework to remain as a front for the underlying non-spiritual reality of things. We seem to find consolation and solace in, at least, being surrounded by the trappings of spirituality, despite the absence of its essence.
Ultimately, worship is not about forms and rituals, although the journey to real worship must begin there. In fact, only when real worship is attained, does the essential value and meaning of the forms and rituals become transparent and alive with truth.
For most of us, however, the forms and rituals are like dead things to us because we are like dead things to them. We may go through the motions, but our minds and hearts are in a state of suspended animation.
For Sufi masters, worship is the essence of life itself. When one becomes attuned to the nature and purpose of life, one becomes worship.
One can never become worship as long as the ego is trying to usurp the role of Divinity. Worship cannot take place in an atmosphere of lordship, only of servanthood.
By the grace of God, worship flows through the intentions of Sufi masters. By the grace of God, worship takes flight on the wings of sincerity of the Sufi shaykhs.
Through the grace of God, the thoughts, feelings and actions of the Sufi masters all become modalities of worship. This is so because every thought, feeling and action reflects the active presence of Divinity in the life of Sufi masters.
Among the Sufi masters, family life, social interaction, worldly activities, spiritual practices, work, sleeping and eating all become occasions for worship. By the grace of God, nothing is done or undertaken by Sufi masters except as an expression of a servant's knowing and aware intention of loving service to Divinity which is present, as manifestation, in the form of the server, the service, and the served.
However, this is not so. Human beings are in need of worshiping God. God does not need the worship of human beings.
The people who believe worship is for God's sake, apparently consider God to be so insecure that Divinity requires constant reassurance from human beings. These people make it sound as if God were saying: "Please, women and men, tell Me again how wonderful I am and how great I am. My Self-esteem is a little shaky today."
Alternatively, maybe these people are implying God is addicted to vanity and needs to hear praise over and over again. In fact, one might suppose a logical progression of this sort of thinking is to believe God punishes people who do not worship Divinity because such people become like a drug pusher who holds out on the one who desperately needs a fix. In the light of this kind of scenario, hell is the revenge, in spades, of an addict scorned.
Sufi masters have a completely different perspective on the issue of worship. To begin with, they maintain God is totally independent of any need of what human beings do or do not do.
Our existence is an act of Divine generosity and love. Something has been given to human beings for which we have done nothing to deserve and which can never be reciprocated in kind by us.
To be sure, we have been created in accordance with a Divine Plan. Yet, the purpose of this plan is all to the benefit of human beings.
God is not getting anything out of it that was not possessed already by Divinity. God, in Essence, is sharing Divinity, as manifested through Attributes, with Divinity, as manifested through human reflections of those Attributes.
Unfortunately, we are, for the most part, too dumb to appreciate what God is doing for us. Thus, the need for worship.
Worship is the path which, if God wishes, leads from, on the one hand, human ignorance, darkness and density, to, on the other hand, the gnosis, light and subtlety of Divinity. Worship, when done properly, is the on-going spiritual realization of, and bearing witness to, the Presence of Divinity in every aspect and facet of human existence.
For many of us, worship is something of a burden. We struggle and strain and huff and puff and sweat and fret to produce some pathetic, tattered, stumbling spiritual offering.
Some of us fervently hope these offerings bear a remote resemblance to expressions of worship which are minimally acceptable to God, worried as we are about the cut off points for heaven and hell. Others among us, are quite taken with "our" efforts, as if we actually had the capacity to do anything on our own. Still others among us, are resentful we should have to make any such efforts whatsoever, as if we were doing God a favor.
Our attempts at worship seem to be saturated with resistance, doubts, uncertainty, conflict, weakness, obstacles, inconsistencies and ambivalence. This is so because our false selves or egos are busy doing everything within their power and capacity to oppose worship of God.
If worship of God can be converted to worship of the ego, the difficulties often will stop. The ego will even permit the external character of the spiritual framework to remain as a front for the underlying non-spiritual reality of things. We seem to find consolation and solace in, at least, being surrounded by the trappings of spirituality, despite the absence of its essence.
Ultimately, worship is not about forms and rituals, although the journey to real worship must begin there. In fact, only when real worship is attained, does the essential value and meaning of the forms and rituals become transparent and alive with truth.
For most of us, however, the forms and rituals are like dead things to us because we are like dead things to them. We may go through the motions, but our minds and hearts are in a state of suspended animation.
For Sufi masters, worship is the essence of life itself. When one becomes attuned to the nature and purpose of life, one becomes worship.
One can never become worship as long as the ego is trying to usurp the role of Divinity. Worship cannot take place in an atmosphere of lordship, only of servanthood.
By the grace of God, worship flows through the intentions of Sufi masters. By the grace of God, worship takes flight on the wings of sincerity of the Sufi shaykhs.
Through the grace of God, the thoughts, feelings and actions of the Sufi masters all become modalities of worship. This is so because every thought, feeling and action reflects the active presence of Divinity in the life of Sufi masters.
Among the Sufi masters, family life, social interaction, worldly activities, spiritual practices, work, sleeping and eating all become occasions for worship. By the grace of God, nothing is done or undertaken by Sufi masters except as an expression of a servant's knowing and aware intention of loving service to Divinity which is present, as manifestation, in the form of the server, the service, and the served.
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