There is a concept of rizq in Islam which, usually, is rendered as referring to the Divine apportionment for Creation - both collectively and individually. Often times, when people speak about rizq, they do so in terms of permissible and impermissible means of striving for what is fated for one.
Rizq does not refer to just material goods. It encompasses everything, on every level, in every realm within Creation.
The rizq of spirituality transpires at the same time as the rizq of material gain and losses. In fact, Creation gives expression to a multi-dimensional set of rizq transactions ... everything which occurs is the manifestation of the principles of rizq at work, and rizq is but a simple term which is underwritten by the Divine play of Names and Attributes in accordance with Divine purpose.
The profits, the losses, the blessings, the Divine gifts, expansion, contraction, illness, well-being, family, talents, birth, death, spiritual progress, sin, repentance, wisdom, understanding, learning, forgetting, insight, faith, unbelief, redepmption, food, comforts, difficulties, poverty, and wealth are all manifestations of the principles of rizq transactions at work. Human beings stand at the heart of such transactions and, unlike the rest of creation (with the exception of the species of being known as jinn) have a unique role to play with respect to rizq transactions.
More specifically, through our choices, through the degrees of freedom which are extended to us, we align ourselves or oppose ourselves to the rizq transactions which take place. The choices we make will not affect the rizq transactions which take place one way or the other, but the intentions with which we engage those transactions matter - to us and to God.
To engage rizq transactions with the right intention is what forms the basis of, among other things, right livelihood. When the right intention is present, then, work becomes a form of ibadat and zikr, for one realizes that whatever happens this is a manifestation of the Divine Himma in the form of a rizq transaction of which one is a part.
All rizq transactions have a right over us because such transactions constitute the way in which God wishes events to unfold. We can work with such wishes or we can seek to treat them with kufr and shirk - that is, we can cover up/deny the truth of what is transpiring or we can propose alternative ways of accounting for what is going on that give explanations which are dependent on something other than Divinity as the causal principle for what takes place.
Everything in existence is unique - even if it shares some similarities with other beings of its class of Creation. The nature of Divine creation is such that nothing is repeated - everything manifests ever different modalities of Divine beauty and majesty in infinite combinations of possibility.
Each human being is unique. Each human being has a unique role to play with respect to the realm of rizq transactions. God uses each of us differently to serve as loci of manifestation for rizq transactions.
Our souls have a right over us in this respect for each of must seek to find what is uniquely inherent in the fitra which is our spiritual potential and, then, we must strive to, God willing, give expression to this. There is a beauty, harmony and spiritual quality which arises from rizq transactions which are engaged through the right niyat or intention ... a niyat which is rooted in awareness, understanding, faith, integrity, submission, dependence, love, and character ... such beauty, harmony and spiritual quality are, themselves, part of the rizq transactions which God ordains.
The lives of the prophets and saints bear witness to the foregoing. There is the aura of beauty, harmony, and spiritual quality emanating from their lives as they engage in the dance of rizq transactions which is utterly captivating.
One’s heart and mind are drawn to the purity and sincerity of intention by means of which rizq transactions are manifested through their lives. We seek to follow their example as best we can, according to the rizq of spiritual potential we have been apportioned.
To do what is right for oneself and, simultaneously, right for the world is to enter into rizq transactions with the quality of intention which is most pleasing to God. To achieve this level of quality is a very difficult thing to do for it consists of, God willing, purifying, calibrating, and bringing into active form all of the different dimensions of the human being - including mind, heart, sirr, spirit, kafi, and aqfah - which give expression to the ‘so-called’ perfect human being - which is not really perfection per se (for only God is perfect) but rather the expression of capacity to its fullest extent ... something which varies from person to person.
No matter what one does for an occupation, there should be a vocation or calling which underwrites it. The vocational aspect is the spiritual quality with which one seeks to embrace all of life, including the means through which God uses to provide one with the material rizq of day-to-day living.
There are many people who earn their livelihood through permissible means. There are very few people who do this with the sort of spiritual balance, beauty, wisdom, and quality which transforms such means of livelihood into the acts of worship and zikr which human beings have been given the capacity to achieve if God wishes.
Showing posts with label sufi masters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sufi masters. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Our ebooks at Barnes and Noble
Our ebooks are now at Barnes and Noble. To locate them at the Barnes and Noble website, just do a search for Bill Whitehouse.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Catalysis
Catalysis is a process affecting the speed at which a chemical reaction takes place. This is accomplished by introducing an agent into a reaction system that is capable of either speeding up, or retarding, the rate at which such a reaction proceeds.
In those circumstances when a catalytic agent speeds up the reaction process, the agent is known as a positive catalyst. Agents which impede the reaction rate of a given system are referred to as negative catalysts.
In some instances, a reaction will proceed in the absence of the right kind of catalyst. However, the reaction will do so only very, very slowly. In other cases, a reaction will not proceed at all in the absence of appropriate kinds of catalyst.
Not all catalytic agents perform their function in the same way. Some agents have the ability to bring various components of a reaction into closer proximity than would be possible in the absence of that agent, thus speeding up the rate of reaction of those components.
Other catalytic agents have the means of increasing the surface area necessary for certain reactions to take place. With more surface area available for interaction, the reaction proceeds more quickly than would be the case under non-catalytic circumstances.
Still other kinds of catalyst speed up or slow down reactions by changing the conformational and/or ionic character of the components of a reaction. This is especially true in the biochemical reactions of living systems.
Some catalytic agents have the capacity to lower or raise the level of energy necessary for a given kind of reaction to occur. Thus, for example, when the energy of activation for a reaction is lowered by introducing the appropriate kind of catalyst, the reaction can proceed much more quickly with the same amount of energy in the system than would be the case 'normally'.
Some catalytic agents retard the rate of reaction by becoming competitors with one or more of the components involved in a reaction. When such catalysts occupy surface areas or membrane sites and, thereby, make them unavailable for components necessary for a given reaction, this competitive inhibition, as it is known, slows down the rate at which the reaction proceeds.
There are many other modalities of catalysis. However, the few which have been mentioned are enough for present purposes.
According to the masters of the Sufi path, spiritual development or progress, especially in the mystical sense, either will not take place without catalytic assistance, or, it will do so only at an exceedingly slow rate. In fact, to the extent spiritual progress does occur at all in the absence of the appropriate catalytic agents, it, nonetheless, will be incapable of permitting the individual to make much headway toward the ultimate purpose of spiritual growth which is the realization of the true self.
Mysticism is not an endeavor in which an individual working entirely independently can succeed. The mystical heights cannot be scaled through sheer brilliance, talent or determination.
There are no solitary ascents on the mystical path. Support and assistance and catalytic additives are all necessary for anyone who seeks to reach the top.
Sufi masters do admit that not all people have the same spiritual capacity. Like gifts of intelligence, artistic talent, beauty, athletic ability and so on, spiritual potential is not distributed equally.
These differences in spiritual potential may affect the speed with which spiritual development proceeds. On the other hand, spiritual capacity is not the only factor affecting the rate of progress.
In fact, someone who has less spiritual potential than another individual might not only develop more quickly than the gifted person but actually travel farther on the path than her or his more gifted companion. Qualities of sincerity, perseverance, desire and effort also affect whether, and at what rate, spiritual growth takes place.
The sine qua non of catalytic reagents is God's grace. Absolutely nothing takes place without the presence of this support and assistance.
One could say every modality of help, support, assistance, protection, and catalysis (both positive as well as negative) one encounters on the Sufi path is an expression of God's grace. Differences in the form or character of the locus through which the grace comes, does not alter the underlying reality of grace standing behind such variable manifestations.
Notwithstanding the foregoing comments, spiritual catalytic agents come in different varieties. Prayer, fasting, chanting, charitable acts, spiritual etiquette, night vigils, contemplation, meditation, and reading sacred texts, all, each in its own way: both, give expression to God's grace, as well as, serve as a means to open one up to more grace.
Each of the above mentioned practices or observances has unique spiritual benefits and effects. The Sufi master is one who, by the grace of God, knows what the aspirant requires, at any given time, in the way of practices. Since we are all different spiritual capacities and potentials, some spiritual catalytic agents may be more effective forms of assistance to some of us, than others, among us.
Furthermore, the package of practices may change in character during the course of the spiritual journey as our catalytic needs change during the journey. For example, at certain stages of the path, the teacher may indicate to the student that invoking a certain Name or Attribute of God may be especially beneficial for the individual. At another stage, another Name or Attribute of God may be given for invocation.
At one stage, the spiritual guide may recommend the individual become busy with charitable works. At another stage, more emphasis may be given by the teacher to concentrating on the inculcation of spiritual etiquette in the aspirant.
The general package of practices and observances stays roughly the same. However, the combinations and focal concerns involving this general package may shift during the journey: from stage to stage for a given person, as well as from individual to individual.
In all of this, the Sufi master is somewhat like a spiritual chemist who has expertise in, among other things, the use and effects of different spiritual catalytic agents. Using one of these catalytic agents may help alter the spiritual orientation of the individual's heart in a certain way. Use of another catalyst may help retard the rational mind's interference in spiritual matters.
Use of another agent may have a catalytic property of opening the individual up to various spiritual experiences. This may have the effect of increasing the spiritual "surface area" available for certain kinds of reactions to proceed.
Still other catalysts, in the form of specific spiritual practices, may have an effect comparable to a lowering of the energy of activation necessary for a particular spiritual process to proceed. Alternatively, use of a given catalytic medium may provide the individual with the enabling power needed to overcome normal obstacles standing in the way of making spiritual progress on some aspect of the path.
Some spiritual catalysts may help change the shape and character of one's understanding. Other spiritual catalytic agents may give expression to a form of competitive inhibition by preoccupying the individual with, say the remembrance of God, and, as a result, helping to prevent the world or the ego from gaining access to sites of attachment within consciousness or one's heart.
The primary form of catalytic agent is the spiritual guide or master. Practices, of one sort or another, all have their value and their special catalytic properties. However, one could be engaged in such practices from now until the end of time without any significant essential spiritual benefit manifesting itself as long as one did so in isolation from a spiritual teacher. All of the Sufi masters are in agreement on this point.
The teacher is, in a sense, the straw that stirs the drink. Or, perhaps, more appropriately, the teacher is the one who has responsibility for ensuring that all the right catalytic ingredients and reactants get into the drink in the right proportions and in the correct sequence and at the most efficacious time.
God, of course, provides the drink, the straw, the tavern, the drinkers, the entertainment, the trained staff and everything else which is necessary for the reactants to be able to come together to have the desired spiritual results. The teacher is the one who is looking after things on behalf of the tavern's proprietor. The teacher is the one who, by God's grace, becomes the locus of catalytic manifestation through which things are brought together in the Sufi tavern in an organized and effective manner.
In those circumstances when a catalytic agent speeds up the reaction process, the agent is known as a positive catalyst. Agents which impede the reaction rate of a given system are referred to as negative catalysts.
In some instances, a reaction will proceed in the absence of the right kind of catalyst. However, the reaction will do so only very, very slowly. In other cases, a reaction will not proceed at all in the absence of appropriate kinds of catalyst.
Not all catalytic agents perform their function in the same way. Some agents have the ability to bring various components of a reaction into closer proximity than would be possible in the absence of that agent, thus speeding up the rate of reaction of those components.
Other catalytic agents have the means of increasing the surface area necessary for certain reactions to take place. With more surface area available for interaction, the reaction proceeds more quickly than would be the case under non-catalytic circumstances.
Still other kinds of catalyst speed up or slow down reactions by changing the conformational and/or ionic character of the components of a reaction. This is especially true in the biochemical reactions of living systems.
Some catalytic agents have the capacity to lower or raise the level of energy necessary for a given kind of reaction to occur. Thus, for example, when the energy of activation for a reaction is lowered by introducing the appropriate kind of catalyst, the reaction can proceed much more quickly with the same amount of energy in the system than would be the case 'normally'.
Some catalytic agents retard the rate of reaction by becoming competitors with one or more of the components involved in a reaction. When such catalysts occupy surface areas or membrane sites and, thereby, make them unavailable for components necessary for a given reaction, this competitive inhibition, as it is known, slows down the rate at which the reaction proceeds.
There are many other modalities of catalysis. However, the few which have been mentioned are enough for present purposes.
According to the masters of the Sufi path, spiritual development or progress, especially in the mystical sense, either will not take place without catalytic assistance, or, it will do so only at an exceedingly slow rate. In fact, to the extent spiritual progress does occur at all in the absence of the appropriate catalytic agents, it, nonetheless, will be incapable of permitting the individual to make much headway toward the ultimate purpose of spiritual growth which is the realization of the true self.
Mysticism is not an endeavor in which an individual working entirely independently can succeed. The mystical heights cannot be scaled through sheer brilliance, talent or determination.
There are no solitary ascents on the mystical path. Support and assistance and catalytic additives are all necessary for anyone who seeks to reach the top.
Sufi masters do admit that not all people have the same spiritual capacity. Like gifts of intelligence, artistic talent, beauty, athletic ability and so on, spiritual potential is not distributed equally.
These differences in spiritual potential may affect the speed with which spiritual development proceeds. On the other hand, spiritual capacity is not the only factor affecting the rate of progress.
In fact, someone who has less spiritual potential than another individual might not only develop more quickly than the gifted person but actually travel farther on the path than her or his more gifted companion. Qualities of sincerity, perseverance, desire and effort also affect whether, and at what rate, spiritual growth takes place.
The sine qua non of catalytic reagents is God's grace. Absolutely nothing takes place without the presence of this support and assistance.
One could say every modality of help, support, assistance, protection, and catalysis (both positive as well as negative) one encounters on the Sufi path is an expression of God's grace. Differences in the form or character of the locus through which the grace comes, does not alter the underlying reality of grace standing behind such variable manifestations.
Notwithstanding the foregoing comments, spiritual catalytic agents come in different varieties. Prayer, fasting, chanting, charitable acts, spiritual etiquette, night vigils, contemplation, meditation, and reading sacred texts, all, each in its own way: both, give expression to God's grace, as well as, serve as a means to open one up to more grace.
Each of the above mentioned practices or observances has unique spiritual benefits and effects. The Sufi master is one who, by the grace of God, knows what the aspirant requires, at any given time, in the way of practices. Since we are all different spiritual capacities and potentials, some spiritual catalytic agents may be more effective forms of assistance to some of us, than others, among us.
Furthermore, the package of practices may change in character during the course of the spiritual journey as our catalytic needs change during the journey. For example, at certain stages of the path, the teacher may indicate to the student that invoking a certain Name or Attribute of God may be especially beneficial for the individual. At another stage, another Name or Attribute of God may be given for invocation.
At one stage, the spiritual guide may recommend the individual become busy with charitable works. At another stage, more emphasis may be given by the teacher to concentrating on the inculcation of spiritual etiquette in the aspirant.
The general package of practices and observances stays roughly the same. However, the combinations and focal concerns involving this general package may shift during the journey: from stage to stage for a given person, as well as from individual to individual.
In all of this, the Sufi master is somewhat like a spiritual chemist who has expertise in, among other things, the use and effects of different spiritual catalytic agents. Using one of these catalytic agents may help alter the spiritual orientation of the individual's heart in a certain way. Use of another catalyst may help retard the rational mind's interference in spiritual matters.
Use of another agent may have a catalytic property of opening the individual up to various spiritual experiences. This may have the effect of increasing the spiritual "surface area" available for certain kinds of reactions to proceed.
Still other catalysts, in the form of specific spiritual practices, may have an effect comparable to a lowering of the energy of activation necessary for a particular spiritual process to proceed. Alternatively, use of a given catalytic medium may provide the individual with the enabling power needed to overcome normal obstacles standing in the way of making spiritual progress on some aspect of the path.
Some spiritual catalysts may help change the shape and character of one's understanding. Other spiritual catalytic agents may give expression to a form of competitive inhibition by preoccupying the individual with, say the remembrance of God, and, as a result, helping to prevent the world or the ego from gaining access to sites of attachment within consciousness or one's heart.
The primary form of catalytic agent is the spiritual guide or master. Practices, of one sort or another, all have their value and their special catalytic properties. However, one could be engaged in such practices from now until the end of time without any significant essential spiritual benefit manifesting itself as long as one did so in isolation from a spiritual teacher. All of the Sufi masters are in agreement on this point.
The teacher is, in a sense, the straw that stirs the drink. Or, perhaps, more appropriately, the teacher is the one who has responsibility for ensuring that all the right catalytic ingredients and reactants get into the drink in the right proportions and in the correct sequence and at the most efficacious time.
God, of course, provides the drink, the straw, the tavern, the drinkers, the entertainment, the trained staff and everything else which is necessary for the reactants to be able to come together to have the desired spiritual results. The teacher is the one who is looking after things on behalf of the tavern's proprietor. The teacher is the one who, by God's grace, becomes the locus of catalytic manifestation through which things are brought together in the Sufi tavern in an organized and effective manner.
Friday, January 02, 2009
Sufi Curriculum
Many people believe mysticism is just a lot of pie in the sky, cloaked in bizarre rituals. These same people tend to maintain mysticism is highly subjective, with little practical relevance to the real world. In addition, there is a strong suspicion among such people that spiritual guides are flim-flam artists who either want your money or wish to enslave you, or both.
Mystical teachings are considered by many people to be come-ons which are vague and confused, promising fantastic powers but delivering little, if anything, which is substantial and tangible. Moreover, many people operate under the assumption there is really no difference between mysticism and either magic or the occult.
Generally speaking, people who hold the foregoing kinds of view have never met, or spent time with, a genuine mystical guide. Most, if not all, of their ideas on the matter are opinions based on received doctrine from someone else who, also, is essentially ignorant about things mystical.
They may have come in contact with individuals who claimed to be authentic mystical teachers but who, in reality, were not genuine. However, just as there is a difference between a counterfeit article and that which is being counterfeited, so too, there is fundamental set of differences between, on the one hand, true mystical teachers and teachings, and, on the other hand, pseudo mystical teachers and teachings.
As is the case with all other subjects, there are people who know what they are talking about when it comes to mysticism, and there also are people who do not know what they are talking about but try to sound as if they do have such knowledge. If the audience being addressed on such matters is ignorant of the truth, a false teacher can appear to be as impressive as a true teacher.
The problem faced by the average individual who is interested in mysticism is the following: trying to figure out how to differentiate between genuine tender and its counterfeit. A little gift of the gab, along with a modicum of charismatic showpersonship, plus a dash of chutzpa, can dazzle a lot of people into confusion and error.
Mysticism has absolutely nothing to do with the occult or magic. There may be dimensions of reality which do give expression to magical and occult phenomena, but the mystical path is independent of, and entirely transcendent to, such phenomena.
Mysticism is not about pie in the sky. Mysticism is about the nature of the reality of our essential capacity and identity.
Mysticism is not impractical. It gives expression to eminently useful principles and practices which help us resolve and deal with the problems of day-to-day life.
Mystical teachers are not flim-flam artists who have an abiding interest in money and control of other people's lives. Genuine mystical teachers are artists of truth and love who are unfailingly dedicated to compassion and helping people to realize their full capacity as human beings.
Mystical teachings are not a collection of rambling, obscure and vague pronouncements. True mystical teachings are very specific, often in-your-face, challenges to, and confrontations of, the false self.
Mysticism does not give expression to the ruminations of fanatical subjectivity. Authentic mysticism is the exact opposite of subjectivity.
The more subjective one is, the further from the truth one is. One of the objects of the mystical path is to induce us to give up the many subjectivities which govern and ruin our lives.
The promises of the mystical path are rather substantial and concrete. We will have to struggle and persevere. We will have to exercise patience and do justice. We will have to sacrifice our egos.
We will have to accept difficulty and hardship with equanimity. We will have to learn how to swim in a sea of incredibly strong undertows of confusion and doubts.
We will have to generate not just feelings of compassion for others, we will have to strive to actively and tangibly show compassion for others. We will have exercise sincerity in all we do. We will have to undergo the greater pain and trauma of the death of the false self before we endure the pain and trauma of the lesser death of the physical body.
If, by the grace of God, we are able to accomplish all of the foregoing, then, if God wishes, we will attain the peace, joy, freedom, understanding and love which comes with the realization of our essential capacities and our true identities. Sufi masters have themselves experienced all of this, and their lives give a running testimony to the truth of what has been promised, both with respect to the struggles and difficulties, as well as in relation to the possible fruits of one's endeavors.
A curriculum is sometimes described as the means or method used to bring an educational goal to completion. The curriculum of the Sufi path involves a no-nonsense, rigorous discipline which has a beginning, a middle and an end.
The goal of the mystical path is to know, love, worship and serve God in an unceasing, intense and direct manner. In order to have a chance of realizing this goal, a variety of subjects and methodologies must be experientially engaged, ingested and implemented in the fabric of one's life.
One must study the psychology of the false self. One must be trained in the requirements and nuances of spiritual etiquette which are capable of not only combating the false self but also are able to give expression to spiritual qualities of purity and harmony which supplant the machinations of the false self.
One must learn the nature and significance of objectivity. In conjunction with this, one must become well versed in the sources of spiritual distortion, bias and error.
One must come to understand the parameters and possibilities inherent in different spiritual instruments and modalities within us. In addition, one must learn how to calibrate these instruments and modalities so they give reliable, useful experiential results.
One must be helped to gain facility with a variety of practices and techniques such as chanting, meditation and contemplation. The how, when, why, and what of these practices involve a variety of principles and cautions which are not always easily acquired or implemented.
One needs to develop a taste for, appreciation of, and insight into, the meaning of the events and experiences which one encounters along the Sufi path. The scope of human potential is immense, and learning how to sort out the numerous forces (both problematic as well as beneficial) which act on us and through us, is a very complex issue.
One must learn how to bring balance, harmony and justice into all dimensions of one's life and one's interactions with the rest of creation. The middle way is the golden mean to a properly ordered life in each of these respects. However, coming to understand exactly what this involves in any given instance, requires much practice and struggle.
All of the foregoing areas of investigation are part of the Sufi curriculum. They each have important contributions to make in assisting the individual toward the realization of the goal of the Sufi path.
Anyone who, God willing, sincerely pursues the mystical curriculum under the guidance of a genuine guide, will come to experience, first hand, that mysticism, in general, and the Sufi path in particular, are very, very different from what most people suppose to be the case. Such people will come to know mysticism is not an incoherent, subjective, impractical, occult-like set of speculations and theories which are incapable of satisfying the promise of self-realization and direct experience of Divinity.
This regression line is our link of faith with our experiences. The slope of the regression line is a ratio of what has been experienced to our assessment of that experience.
We extrapolate and interpolate with respect to the future on the basis of that regression line's slope. As new experiences and assessments are added, we stay with, or plot a new, regression line.
According to Sufi masters, the more one experiences the states, stations, tastes, expansions, contractions and so on of the path, the deeper, richer and stronger will one's faith become. There is nothing blind, dogmatic, closed, irrational, or static about this process.
As one learns, grows, develops, changes, and matures on the path, the structural character of one's faith undergoes growth, maturation, development and so on. This transformation of faith is a function of one's own direct experiences and the teacher's guidance in helping one to come to an understanding of the significance, value and meaning of such experience.
As is the case with all mundane species of everyday faith, so, too, mystical faith weds together knowns and unknowns. On the basis of what is known or understood, one develops a commitment to certain dimensions of what is unknown and unseen.
As faith develops, the horizons of the unknown may be pushed back to varying degrees. However, the horizon symbolizes the inexhaustible nature of existence and our relationship with God. No matter how much we advance toward the horizon, the horizon always recedes into the distance.
God willing, we increase in spiritual understanding, insight, wisdom and knowledge, but there will always be unknowns which modulate our interactions with Divinity. Nonetheless, we continue to use what we know as the basis of our orientation toward what is unknown.
When we have faith in God, we rely on God to be our trustee in all affairs. As we acquire enhanced degrees of faith, our faith is transformed, God willing into a certitude that God will never abuse our faith or trust. This certitude is based on reflective experience and not on blind, unthinking, dogmatic belief and opinion. Unfortunately, a lot of people confuse being convinced of something with being certain in the mystical sense. Mystical certitude is a function of direct demonstration and experiential evidence of a sort that brooks no doubt as to its authenticity and truth. The experiences are overwhelming and incontrovertible in nature, and, more importantly, they are corroborated in independent ways by other people and other experiences.
To be convinced of something, however, merely means one has a strong opinion. Furthermore, this strong opinion is often held in the absence of any direct experiential demonstration.
In addition, such an opinion of conviction often is rooted in an interpretation of experiences which leaves room open for considerable doubt. An individual might acknowledge the legitimacy of such doubt under these circumstances if the person meditated on the matter very much or with any degree of rigor, care and consideration.
However, all too frequently, people of strong convictions, whether spiritual or non-spiritual in character, are uninterested in entertaining any doubts concerning their firmly entrenched beliefs. On the other hand, with practitioners of the Sufi path, the examination and exploration of doubt can lead to some very beneficial insights and understandings. One is encouraged to work with doubt, not to deny and repress it.
Mystical teachings are considered by many people to be come-ons which are vague and confused, promising fantastic powers but delivering little, if anything, which is substantial and tangible. Moreover, many people operate under the assumption there is really no difference between mysticism and either magic or the occult.
Generally speaking, people who hold the foregoing kinds of view have never met, or spent time with, a genuine mystical guide. Most, if not all, of their ideas on the matter are opinions based on received doctrine from someone else who, also, is essentially ignorant about things mystical.
They may have come in contact with individuals who claimed to be authentic mystical teachers but who, in reality, were not genuine. However, just as there is a difference between a counterfeit article and that which is being counterfeited, so too, there is fundamental set of differences between, on the one hand, true mystical teachers and teachings, and, on the other hand, pseudo mystical teachers and teachings.
As is the case with all other subjects, there are people who know what they are talking about when it comes to mysticism, and there also are people who do not know what they are talking about but try to sound as if they do have such knowledge. If the audience being addressed on such matters is ignorant of the truth, a false teacher can appear to be as impressive as a true teacher.
The problem faced by the average individual who is interested in mysticism is the following: trying to figure out how to differentiate between genuine tender and its counterfeit. A little gift of the gab, along with a modicum of charismatic showpersonship, plus a dash of chutzpa, can dazzle a lot of people into confusion and error.
Mysticism has absolutely nothing to do with the occult or magic. There may be dimensions of reality which do give expression to magical and occult phenomena, but the mystical path is independent of, and entirely transcendent to, such phenomena.
Mysticism is not about pie in the sky. Mysticism is about the nature of the reality of our essential capacity and identity.
Mysticism is not impractical. It gives expression to eminently useful principles and practices which help us resolve and deal with the problems of day-to-day life.
Mystical teachers are not flim-flam artists who have an abiding interest in money and control of other people's lives. Genuine mystical teachers are artists of truth and love who are unfailingly dedicated to compassion and helping people to realize their full capacity as human beings.
Mystical teachings are not a collection of rambling, obscure and vague pronouncements. True mystical teachings are very specific, often in-your-face, challenges to, and confrontations of, the false self.
Mysticism does not give expression to the ruminations of fanatical subjectivity. Authentic mysticism is the exact opposite of subjectivity.
The more subjective one is, the further from the truth one is. One of the objects of the mystical path is to induce us to give up the many subjectivities which govern and ruin our lives.
The promises of the mystical path are rather substantial and concrete. We will have to struggle and persevere. We will have to exercise patience and do justice. We will have to sacrifice our egos.
We will have to accept difficulty and hardship with equanimity. We will have to learn how to swim in a sea of incredibly strong undertows of confusion and doubts.
We will have to generate not just feelings of compassion for others, we will have to strive to actively and tangibly show compassion for others. We will have exercise sincerity in all we do. We will have to undergo the greater pain and trauma of the death of the false self before we endure the pain and trauma of the lesser death of the physical body.
If, by the grace of God, we are able to accomplish all of the foregoing, then, if God wishes, we will attain the peace, joy, freedom, understanding and love which comes with the realization of our essential capacities and our true identities. Sufi masters have themselves experienced all of this, and their lives give a running testimony to the truth of what has been promised, both with respect to the struggles and difficulties, as well as in relation to the possible fruits of one's endeavors.
A curriculum is sometimes described as the means or method used to bring an educational goal to completion. The curriculum of the Sufi path involves a no-nonsense, rigorous discipline which has a beginning, a middle and an end.
The goal of the mystical path is to know, love, worship and serve God in an unceasing, intense and direct manner. In order to have a chance of realizing this goal, a variety of subjects and methodologies must be experientially engaged, ingested and implemented in the fabric of one's life.
One must study the psychology of the false self. One must be trained in the requirements and nuances of spiritual etiquette which are capable of not only combating the false self but also are able to give expression to spiritual qualities of purity and harmony which supplant the machinations of the false self.
One must learn the nature and significance of objectivity. In conjunction with this, one must become well versed in the sources of spiritual distortion, bias and error.
One must come to understand the parameters and possibilities inherent in different spiritual instruments and modalities within us. In addition, one must learn how to calibrate these instruments and modalities so they give reliable, useful experiential results.
One must be helped to gain facility with a variety of practices and techniques such as chanting, meditation and contemplation. The how, when, why, and what of these practices involve a variety of principles and cautions which are not always easily acquired or implemented.
One needs to develop a taste for, appreciation of, and insight into, the meaning of the events and experiences which one encounters along the Sufi path. The scope of human potential is immense, and learning how to sort out the numerous forces (both problematic as well as beneficial) which act on us and through us, is a very complex issue.
One must learn how to bring balance, harmony and justice into all dimensions of one's life and one's interactions with the rest of creation. The middle way is the golden mean to a properly ordered life in each of these respects. However, coming to understand exactly what this involves in any given instance, requires much practice and struggle.
All of the foregoing areas of investigation are part of the Sufi curriculum. They each have important contributions to make in assisting the individual toward the realization of the goal of the Sufi path.
Anyone who, God willing, sincerely pursues the mystical curriculum under the guidance of a genuine guide, will come to experience, first hand, that mysticism, in general, and the Sufi path in particular, are very, very different from what most people suppose to be the case. Such people will come to know mysticism is not an incoherent, subjective, impractical, occult-like set of speculations and theories which are incapable of satisfying the promise of self-realization and direct experience of Divinity.
This regression line is our link of faith with our experiences. The slope of the regression line is a ratio of what has been experienced to our assessment of that experience.
We extrapolate and interpolate with respect to the future on the basis of that regression line's slope. As new experiences and assessments are added, we stay with, or plot a new, regression line.
According to Sufi masters, the more one experiences the states, stations, tastes, expansions, contractions and so on of the path, the deeper, richer and stronger will one's faith become. There is nothing blind, dogmatic, closed, irrational, or static about this process.
As one learns, grows, develops, changes, and matures on the path, the structural character of one's faith undergoes growth, maturation, development and so on. This transformation of faith is a function of one's own direct experiences and the teacher's guidance in helping one to come to an understanding of the significance, value and meaning of such experience.
As is the case with all mundane species of everyday faith, so, too, mystical faith weds together knowns and unknowns. On the basis of what is known or understood, one develops a commitment to certain dimensions of what is unknown and unseen.
As faith develops, the horizons of the unknown may be pushed back to varying degrees. However, the horizon symbolizes the inexhaustible nature of existence and our relationship with God. No matter how much we advance toward the horizon, the horizon always recedes into the distance.
God willing, we increase in spiritual understanding, insight, wisdom and knowledge, but there will always be unknowns which modulate our interactions with Divinity. Nonetheless, we continue to use what we know as the basis of our orientation toward what is unknown.
When we have faith in God, we rely on God to be our trustee in all affairs. As we acquire enhanced degrees of faith, our faith is transformed, God willing into a certitude that God will never abuse our faith or trust. This certitude is based on reflective experience and not on blind, unthinking, dogmatic belief and opinion. Unfortunately, a lot of people confuse being convinced of something with being certain in the mystical sense. Mystical certitude is a function of direct demonstration and experiential evidence of a sort that brooks no doubt as to its authenticity and truth. The experiences are overwhelming and incontrovertible in nature, and, more importantly, they are corroborated in independent ways by other people and other experiences.
To be convinced of something, however, merely means one has a strong opinion. Furthermore, this strong opinion is often held in the absence of any direct experiential demonstration.
In addition, such an opinion of conviction often is rooted in an interpretation of experiences which leaves room open for considerable doubt. An individual might acknowledge the legitimacy of such doubt under these circumstances if the person meditated on the matter very much or with any degree of rigor, care and consideration.
However, all too frequently, people of strong convictions, whether spiritual or non-spiritual in character, are uninterested in entertaining any doubts concerning their firmly entrenched beliefs. On the other hand, with practitioners of the Sufi path, the examination and exploration of doubt can lead to some very beneficial insights and understandings. One is encouraged to work with doubt, not to deny and repress it.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Sufi Reflections Podcast No. 24
Sufi Reflections Podcast No. 24 is now available for downloading. We hope you'll join us!
Episode 24: DOWNLOAD
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.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Death - A sufi perspective
We are born to die. Just like managers are hired to be fired, we have been programmed for death. Death is in our nature, and birth is the first step toward fulfilling that nature.
Someone once said that the only certainties in life are death and taxes. This is no longer true. With the advent of shelters, legal specialists, clever accountants, and just your ordinary, garden variety, old-fashioned brand of cheating, taxes are no longer a certainty for some of us.
Death, on the other hand, cannot be cheated. There are no havens and shelters which permit death to be written off as life is depreciated over time.
There are no clever accountants who can set up the ledgers so we can avoid paying death what is due. There are no legal loopholes which permit us to slip past death's auditing process.
Death is very egalitarian. Death offers a flat rate system in which everyone owes and pays the same fixed fee.
The intransigent nature of death has not stopped some people from desperately seeking to discover ways to circumvent the inevitable. Cryogenics, traveling at the speed of light, intense gravitational fields, genes which affect the number of times cells can undergo division, magic, and the occult are just a few of the possibilities being explored in the hope of having the last laugh at death's expense.
Some people praise the quality of longevity which is believed to come from certain kinds of diet. Others talk about the life-prolonging properties of different roots and herbs. Medicine and various health fields trumpet their capacity to push back death's appointment with us.
Even if there may be some modicum of truth in the above claims, none of these remedies has the quality of sufficiency. Sufficiency belongs to God alone.
God may choose, on certain occasions, to work through diet or roots or medicine in order to sustain life. However, diets or roots or medicine, on their own, are not sufficient to effect any benefits whatsoever unless God wishes this to be so.
The origins of causality do not begin with the properties of diets, roots and medicine. Rather, diets, roots and medicine have the properties they do so that, on occasion, they may be a venue for God's grace.
In other words, the inherent nature of various diets, roots, herbs and medicines is in having a capacity to transmit certain kinds of benefit upon God's command. In the absence of God's authorization, no benefit is conferred.
We try different things because we have learned in the past such things have been associated with, say, health or long life. We begin to believe the "magic" is in the thing and fail to understand the thing is merely the locus of manifestation for God's grace. The thing is merely that which God calls upon, from time to time, to serve as a certain kind of medium of transmission.
Many people follow diets, or they consume herbs and roots on a regular basis, or they receive medical treatment, or they take all manner of vitamins and minerals, and, yet, the benefits are limited or non-existent for various groups of these people. Efficacy is a statistical phenomenon in which not everyone benefits equally, if at all.
Scientists and medical researchers look for various kind of co-factors and factor clusters in order to explain the statistical properties of the effectiveness profile associated with a given treatment, medicine, drug, herb or diet. However, underlying all of these sophisticated methods of statistical analysis, is the presence of Divinity which is alone responsible for arranging the shape of the statistical distributions which are observed.
Should one infer from the foregoing that one is a fool to seek assistance in the form of a diet, herbs, or medical treatment? The answer to this question is: no!
By all means, try to find those remedies and health aides which have a strong track record, so to speak, for being a venue for the transmission of certain kinds of benefit. Nonetheless, one also should keep in mind and heart the following understanding: whether or not the remedy works, and to what extent, is up to God.
People who are attempting to discover the secret passageway to immortality make the mistake of believing death is fixed by the properties of things rather by the decrees of God. Such people believe creation is somehow independent of the Creator. As a result, they tend to believe the invention or discovery of an elixir of life is but a matter of the appropriate technology of exploitation.
We fear death, yet there is a lot of confusion and uncertainty interspersed with our fears. Do we fear death in and of itself, or do we fear death for what may come, before and after, the moment of our demise?
For example, some people are quite prepared to accept death per se, but do not look forward to the pain and suffering which may precede it. Since death marks a cessation of such physical difficulty, death actually would bring its own strange form of comfort and relief.
Some people are obsessed with the moment of death. Is it painful? Do we gasp for breath? Do we experience life draining from our consciousness? Will panic seize us as we become aware of our imminent termination?
Since physical death is a once in a lifetime occurrence, we don't know quite how to brace ourselves for it. On the other hand, death may be like a lot of things in life - different that we thought it would be.
Speculating about the experiential character of the moment of death, is just that: speculation. Everyone dies in her or his own way, and we won't know what that way is until we do it.
Should we take the advice of the poet who said we ought not go gentle into that good night? How should we play the death scene.
Like some method actor, we look for our motivation in order to know how we should respond to our exit cue. Our motivation will be shaped and colored by the significance we give to the purpose of both life and death.
Some of us fear what comes after death. Maybe, for example, there is nothing after death except a state of affairs that is oblivious to the universe and to itself.
The upside of the foregoing possibility is that such oblivion is not conducive to regrets or nostalgia. We won't know what we are missing, and, better yet, we won't care. Nothing to be feared in this.
Of course, another consideration is that death merely marks a transition from one mode of conscious existence to another mode of conscious existence. This is kind of a good news/bad news situation.
The good news is: there may be eternal life after death. The bad news is: we may not like what is eternally ours.
The latter case would seem to be a worthy candidate for some degree of trepidation. We may fear death as a harbinger of something much more unpleasant. Since we have difficulty fixating our fear on an amorphous cloud of post-death unknowing, we find the concreteness of death a suitable object in which to invest our fears.
The Sufi masters look upon death in a variety of ways. All of these perspectives carry important implications for the manner in which goes about living life.
To begin with, for practitioners of the Sufi path, death is a necessary constraint on the arrogance of human beings. Death is indisputable proof we are not in charge of things.
Death gives expression to determinate limits on our existence. This is so since no matter how powerful, famous, rich, beautiful, talented or handsome we may be, we will be humbled in death.
If we realize, with our heart and soul, our vulnerability, we will not be so likely to become arrogant. The realities of the tenuousness of our situation will help us to be humble and modest in our demeanor.
Secondly, Sufi masters indicate death introduces a valuable dimension of tension into our lives. We have only a limited amount of time to accomplish whatever we can in this life.
Indeed, some of us have less time than others. Few, if any, of us know how much time we have left.
We ought to strive to be as efficient as possible with the time we have. Consequently, we should be focused and purposeful in what we do.
The fleeting nature of time serves as a reminded that death has come one step closer with each breath we take. Death can be our ally in this regard, encouraging and urging us to take advantage of the time we have.
Death can say to us: "Look! I am powerless just like you. I go to whom I am ordered, and only when I am ordered to do so. For your own sake, do what must be done before I am sent to you."
From the perspective of the Sufi masters, one should look forward to the time of death. Death frees us from the problems of this world and brings us into closer proximity to the beauty and majesty of God. Since realizing the closeness of God is an essential component to the purpose of our existence, death is the lane way which leads to the fulfillment of our essential purpose.
Death stands as the gate which veils our Beloved from us. Eager anticipation should characterize our attitudes toward the moment when God opens the gate which will usher us into the Divine presence.
Finally, the teachers of the Sufi path maintain there is a way through which we can prepare for our moment of physical death. If we undergo this preparation, we will be able to embrace physical death with equanimity.
The method of preparation involves dying to our own desires, attachments, and passions. We must die to our egos. We must die to our addictions to the world.
If we can die this greater death, then, according to the Sufi masters, we will be as ready as we can be for physical death and whatever comes after it. Unfortunately, most of us are in far deeper denial concerning the necessity for this kind of spiritual death than we are in denial concerning the fact that physical death is bearing down on us like a freight train with a schedule to keep.
Someone once said that the only certainties in life are death and taxes. This is no longer true. With the advent of shelters, legal specialists, clever accountants, and just your ordinary, garden variety, old-fashioned brand of cheating, taxes are no longer a certainty for some of us.
Death, on the other hand, cannot be cheated. There are no havens and shelters which permit death to be written off as life is depreciated over time.
There are no clever accountants who can set up the ledgers so we can avoid paying death what is due. There are no legal loopholes which permit us to slip past death's auditing process.
Death is very egalitarian. Death offers a flat rate system in which everyone owes and pays the same fixed fee.
The intransigent nature of death has not stopped some people from desperately seeking to discover ways to circumvent the inevitable. Cryogenics, traveling at the speed of light, intense gravitational fields, genes which affect the number of times cells can undergo division, magic, and the occult are just a few of the possibilities being explored in the hope of having the last laugh at death's expense.
Some people praise the quality of longevity which is believed to come from certain kinds of diet. Others talk about the life-prolonging properties of different roots and herbs. Medicine and various health fields trumpet their capacity to push back death's appointment with us.
Even if there may be some modicum of truth in the above claims, none of these remedies has the quality of sufficiency. Sufficiency belongs to God alone.
God may choose, on certain occasions, to work through diet or roots or medicine in order to sustain life. However, diets or roots or medicine, on their own, are not sufficient to effect any benefits whatsoever unless God wishes this to be so.
The origins of causality do not begin with the properties of diets, roots and medicine. Rather, diets, roots and medicine have the properties they do so that, on occasion, they may be a venue for God's grace.
In other words, the inherent nature of various diets, roots, herbs and medicines is in having a capacity to transmit certain kinds of benefit upon God's command. In the absence of God's authorization, no benefit is conferred.
We try different things because we have learned in the past such things have been associated with, say, health or long life. We begin to believe the "magic" is in the thing and fail to understand the thing is merely the locus of manifestation for God's grace. The thing is merely that which God calls upon, from time to time, to serve as a certain kind of medium of transmission.
Many people follow diets, or they consume herbs and roots on a regular basis, or they receive medical treatment, or they take all manner of vitamins and minerals, and, yet, the benefits are limited or non-existent for various groups of these people. Efficacy is a statistical phenomenon in which not everyone benefits equally, if at all.
Scientists and medical researchers look for various kind of co-factors and factor clusters in order to explain the statistical properties of the effectiveness profile associated with a given treatment, medicine, drug, herb or diet. However, underlying all of these sophisticated methods of statistical analysis, is the presence of Divinity which is alone responsible for arranging the shape of the statistical distributions which are observed.
Should one infer from the foregoing that one is a fool to seek assistance in the form of a diet, herbs, or medical treatment? The answer to this question is: no!
By all means, try to find those remedies and health aides which have a strong track record, so to speak, for being a venue for the transmission of certain kinds of benefit. Nonetheless, one also should keep in mind and heart the following understanding: whether or not the remedy works, and to what extent, is up to God.
People who are attempting to discover the secret passageway to immortality make the mistake of believing death is fixed by the properties of things rather by the decrees of God. Such people believe creation is somehow independent of the Creator. As a result, they tend to believe the invention or discovery of an elixir of life is but a matter of the appropriate technology of exploitation.
We fear death, yet there is a lot of confusion and uncertainty interspersed with our fears. Do we fear death in and of itself, or do we fear death for what may come, before and after, the moment of our demise?
For example, some people are quite prepared to accept death per se, but do not look forward to the pain and suffering which may precede it. Since death marks a cessation of such physical difficulty, death actually would bring its own strange form of comfort and relief.
Some people are obsessed with the moment of death. Is it painful? Do we gasp for breath? Do we experience life draining from our consciousness? Will panic seize us as we become aware of our imminent termination?
Since physical death is a once in a lifetime occurrence, we don't know quite how to brace ourselves for it. On the other hand, death may be like a lot of things in life - different that we thought it would be.
Speculating about the experiential character of the moment of death, is just that: speculation. Everyone dies in her or his own way, and we won't know what that way is until we do it.
Should we take the advice of the poet who said we ought not go gentle into that good night? How should we play the death scene.
Like some method actor, we look for our motivation in order to know how we should respond to our exit cue. Our motivation will be shaped and colored by the significance we give to the purpose of both life and death.
Some of us fear what comes after death. Maybe, for example, there is nothing after death except a state of affairs that is oblivious to the universe and to itself.
The upside of the foregoing possibility is that such oblivion is not conducive to regrets or nostalgia. We won't know what we are missing, and, better yet, we won't care. Nothing to be feared in this.
Of course, another consideration is that death merely marks a transition from one mode of conscious existence to another mode of conscious existence. This is kind of a good news/bad news situation.
The good news is: there may be eternal life after death. The bad news is: we may not like what is eternally ours.
The latter case would seem to be a worthy candidate for some degree of trepidation. We may fear death as a harbinger of something much more unpleasant. Since we have difficulty fixating our fear on an amorphous cloud of post-death unknowing, we find the concreteness of death a suitable object in which to invest our fears.
The Sufi masters look upon death in a variety of ways. All of these perspectives carry important implications for the manner in which goes about living life.
To begin with, for practitioners of the Sufi path, death is a necessary constraint on the arrogance of human beings. Death is indisputable proof we are not in charge of things.
Death gives expression to determinate limits on our existence. This is so since no matter how powerful, famous, rich, beautiful, talented or handsome we may be, we will be humbled in death.
If we realize, with our heart and soul, our vulnerability, we will not be so likely to become arrogant. The realities of the tenuousness of our situation will help us to be humble and modest in our demeanor.
Secondly, Sufi masters indicate death introduces a valuable dimension of tension into our lives. We have only a limited amount of time to accomplish whatever we can in this life.
Indeed, some of us have less time than others. Few, if any, of us know how much time we have left.
We ought to strive to be as efficient as possible with the time we have. Consequently, we should be focused and purposeful in what we do.
The fleeting nature of time serves as a reminded that death has come one step closer with each breath we take. Death can be our ally in this regard, encouraging and urging us to take advantage of the time we have.
Death can say to us: "Look! I am powerless just like you. I go to whom I am ordered, and only when I am ordered to do so. For your own sake, do what must be done before I am sent to you."
From the perspective of the Sufi masters, one should look forward to the time of death. Death frees us from the problems of this world and brings us into closer proximity to the beauty and majesty of God. Since realizing the closeness of God is an essential component to the purpose of our existence, death is the lane way which leads to the fulfillment of our essential purpose.
Death stands as the gate which veils our Beloved from us. Eager anticipation should characterize our attitudes toward the moment when God opens the gate which will usher us into the Divine presence.
Finally, the teachers of the Sufi path maintain there is a way through which we can prepare for our moment of physical death. If we undergo this preparation, we will be able to embrace physical death with equanimity.
The method of preparation involves dying to our own desires, attachments, and passions. We must die to our egos. We must die to our addictions to the world.
If we can die this greater death, then, according to the Sufi masters, we will be as ready as we can be for physical death and whatever comes after it. Unfortunately, most of us are in far deeper denial concerning the necessity for this kind of spiritual death than we are in denial concerning the fact that physical death is bearing down on us like a freight train with a schedule to keep.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Himma (Aspiration)
There are three general categories of aspiration within us. Normally, only one of these is spiritual in character, and this spiritual aspiration is opposed by, and in conflict with, expressions of the other two categories - namely, passion and anger.
The Sufi path involves three broad sets of transformation with respect to aspirations. One set of transformations entails reforming passion and anger so they become spiritual allies instead of liabilities. The other two sets of transformations consist of the purification and perfection of spiritual aspiration, especially in relation to the nature of the modalities or spiritual instruments through which we engage our relationship with God.
All three sets of transformations involve changes in the character of the "object" toward which aspiration is directed. In addition, a transition in the degree of intensity of aspiration occurs in all three transformational sets. More specifically, this change in intensity revolves around the process of becoming less dispersed, and more `gathered', in our intentions, awareness, understanding and behavior.
Although human beings are born with all three categories of aspiration, very shortly after birth, for most of us, passion and anger begin to dominate our lives, while spiritual aspiration is marginalized and relegated to the background. There are, of course, exceptions to this rule, but, generally speaking, the unfolding of spirituality, to the extent it occurs at all, lags significantly behind the unfolding of passion and anger.
Passion encompasses all those tendencies within us which seek to acquire. These acquisitive predispositions are directed toward procuring more and more: material possessions, power, money, fame, status, and physical gratification of one description or another.
Anger includes all the inclinations within each of us which are directed toward defending the passions against anything constituting a threat to past, present or future acquisitions. Hostility, antagonism, malice, conflict and rebellion are all expressions of anger in action. If one looks carefully at the situations in which these different modalities of anger arise, one will detect the existence of one or more vested interests of passion at the heart of the issue.
By dominating consciousness, intentions, motivations, thinking, attitudes, evaluations, judgements and behavior, the activities of anger and passion create the illusion of a self which is being served by such activity. In other words, our awareness is mesmerized, or a state of hypnosis is induced in consciousness, by the activities of anger and passion. As a result, awareness identifies with them as being possessions of, and acting on behalf of, consciousness.
Over time, a history of experiences, decisions and behaviors is generated. Memories are recorded and used by passion and anger to serve their respective agendas.
This entire ensemble of passion, anger, mesmerized awareness and remembered life history are the primary forces which underwrite the existence of the false self or ego. All aspirations which arise in the context of this ensemble are seen as aspirations of the illusory self.
This "self" has no substantive reality per se. In other words, this self had no existence prior to its invention or construction.
The false self or ego is merely an arrangement of convenience and circumstance. It is an artificial business arrangement which has been organized by our various modalities of passion and anger for purposes of carrying on different kinds of commercial transactions with the world.
Our God-given capacity for choice is usurped by the false-self conglomerate. Due to the state of hypnotic trance of ordinary consciousness, the process of exercising free will, within our capacity to do so, is arrogated to the false self through the manipulations, seductions and pressure tactics of passion and anger.
Judgements, decisions, and choices begin to get locked into interacting patterns of habit. These patterns reflect, and conform to, the collective dynamics of the various components of the false self or ego.
Exoteric values, practices and rituals have two important tasks to perform with respect to the ego conglomerate which has arisen. On the one hand, exoteric teachings try to help the individual close the gap between spiritual aspirations, which, for the most part, have lagged behind in development, and the dominant influence enjoyed by the aspirations of passion and anger in our day-to-day lives. On the other hand, exoteric teachings try to help the individual bring passion and anger into an acceptable spiritual balance.
The excesses and extremes of passion and anger must be constrained. A middle way of moderation must be discovered which will prevent the individual from transgressing beyond certain boundaries of spiritual propriety. Acquisitiveness and its protector must be trained to pursue their activities within Divinely sanctioned parameters of permissibility.
Exoteric teachings seek to strengthen the dimension of spiritual aspiration within the individual. At the same time, these teachings provide a framework of moderation which is intended to constrain passion and anger provided the framework is implemented by our developing spiritual aspiration.
If our spiritual aspiration becomes sufficiently mature, then, God willing, it begins to influence our capacity for choice. Over time, if everything goes well, we begin to discontinue some of the more injurious patterns of behavior generated through our aspirations of passion and anger.
The Sufi path is not content to merely constrain passion and anger. It seeks to transform them.
One of the themes of such transformation is to induce (through Sufi discipline, practices and so on) the individual to change the character of the object which is the focus of passion and anger. Instead of using anger and passion to seek the world, these two modalities of aspiration should be used to seek Divinity.
However, in order to have a chance of succeeding in achieving this transition in focus from worldly objects to Divinity, passion and anger cannot remain as they are. The intention underlying them must change, and, as well, passion and anger must come under the sphere of influence of all the qualities of spiritual etiquette.
Intention must become a servant of God. Everything which is done must be done for the love of God. Intention must be purified so nothing remains but the aspiration to please God.
The heart must be trained to collaborate with, and give expression to, spiritual aspiration. The heart's association with the aspirations of the false self or ego must be discontinued.
When, God willing, intentionality and the heart have been purified, then, by the grace of God, qualities of spiritual etiquette such as patience, perseverance, forbearance, compassion, and forgiveness come to ascendancy. These qualities have, God willing, a transformative effect on passion and anger, and, as a result, passion and anger come to serve spiritual purposes.
Under these circumstances, the only aspiration of passion is to seek, know, love and serve God.
Furthermore, the aspiration of anger becomes a tendency to protect this spiritual passion from, and defend against, anything which would undermine or corrupt it.
If God wishes, in later stages of the maturation of spiritual aspiration, different capacities within that potential become experientially active. Although the focus of those experiences always remains God, the structural character, so to speak, of that focus undergoes various transformations.
Sufi masters speak of some of these transformations in terms of gnosis, witnessing, and love. In each case, the experience of Divinity changes. Each kind of experiencing involves its own mode of spiritual etiquette.
On all levels, God responds to us in accordance with the character of our spiritual aspiration. When spiritual aspiration is at low ebb, God's way of relating to us will reflect the character of that kind of aspiration. As the quality and intensity of spiritual aspiration undergoes various developmental transformations, so, too, does God's way of responding to us reflect those spiritual transitions.
In reality, God does not change, from beginning to end, during the journey of development or unfolding of spiritual aspiration. The nature of Divinity always is what Divinity is.
However, as spiritual aspiration goes through various transformations, our essential capacity becomes sensitive and receptive to the modalities of experiencing and realizing Divinity which are consonant with the condition of our aspiration. Consequently, the way God responds to us is merely a reflection of the way we relate to Divinity.
The Sufi path involves three broad sets of transformation with respect to aspirations. One set of transformations entails reforming passion and anger so they become spiritual allies instead of liabilities. The other two sets of transformations consist of the purification and perfection of spiritual aspiration, especially in relation to the nature of the modalities or spiritual instruments through which we engage our relationship with God.
All three sets of transformations involve changes in the character of the "object" toward which aspiration is directed. In addition, a transition in the degree of intensity of aspiration occurs in all three transformational sets. More specifically, this change in intensity revolves around the process of becoming less dispersed, and more `gathered', in our intentions, awareness, understanding and behavior.
Although human beings are born with all three categories of aspiration, very shortly after birth, for most of us, passion and anger begin to dominate our lives, while spiritual aspiration is marginalized and relegated to the background. There are, of course, exceptions to this rule, but, generally speaking, the unfolding of spirituality, to the extent it occurs at all, lags significantly behind the unfolding of passion and anger.
Passion encompasses all those tendencies within us which seek to acquire. These acquisitive predispositions are directed toward procuring more and more: material possessions, power, money, fame, status, and physical gratification of one description or another.
Anger includes all the inclinations within each of us which are directed toward defending the passions against anything constituting a threat to past, present or future acquisitions. Hostility, antagonism, malice, conflict and rebellion are all expressions of anger in action. If one looks carefully at the situations in which these different modalities of anger arise, one will detect the existence of one or more vested interests of passion at the heart of the issue.
By dominating consciousness, intentions, motivations, thinking, attitudes, evaluations, judgements and behavior, the activities of anger and passion create the illusion of a self which is being served by such activity. In other words, our awareness is mesmerized, or a state of hypnosis is induced in consciousness, by the activities of anger and passion. As a result, awareness identifies with them as being possessions of, and acting on behalf of, consciousness.
Over time, a history of experiences, decisions and behaviors is generated. Memories are recorded and used by passion and anger to serve their respective agendas.
This entire ensemble of passion, anger, mesmerized awareness and remembered life history are the primary forces which underwrite the existence of the false self or ego. All aspirations which arise in the context of this ensemble are seen as aspirations of the illusory self.
This "self" has no substantive reality per se. In other words, this self had no existence prior to its invention or construction.
The false self or ego is merely an arrangement of convenience and circumstance. It is an artificial business arrangement which has been organized by our various modalities of passion and anger for purposes of carrying on different kinds of commercial transactions with the world.
Our God-given capacity for choice is usurped by the false-self conglomerate. Due to the state of hypnotic trance of ordinary consciousness, the process of exercising free will, within our capacity to do so, is arrogated to the false self through the manipulations, seductions and pressure tactics of passion and anger.
Judgements, decisions, and choices begin to get locked into interacting patterns of habit. These patterns reflect, and conform to, the collective dynamics of the various components of the false self or ego.
Exoteric values, practices and rituals have two important tasks to perform with respect to the ego conglomerate which has arisen. On the one hand, exoteric teachings try to help the individual close the gap between spiritual aspirations, which, for the most part, have lagged behind in development, and the dominant influence enjoyed by the aspirations of passion and anger in our day-to-day lives. On the other hand, exoteric teachings try to help the individual bring passion and anger into an acceptable spiritual balance.
The excesses and extremes of passion and anger must be constrained. A middle way of moderation must be discovered which will prevent the individual from transgressing beyond certain boundaries of spiritual propriety. Acquisitiveness and its protector must be trained to pursue their activities within Divinely sanctioned parameters of permissibility.
Exoteric teachings seek to strengthen the dimension of spiritual aspiration within the individual. At the same time, these teachings provide a framework of moderation which is intended to constrain passion and anger provided the framework is implemented by our developing spiritual aspiration.
If our spiritual aspiration becomes sufficiently mature, then, God willing, it begins to influence our capacity for choice. Over time, if everything goes well, we begin to discontinue some of the more injurious patterns of behavior generated through our aspirations of passion and anger.
The Sufi path is not content to merely constrain passion and anger. It seeks to transform them.
One of the themes of such transformation is to induce (through Sufi discipline, practices and so on) the individual to change the character of the object which is the focus of passion and anger. Instead of using anger and passion to seek the world, these two modalities of aspiration should be used to seek Divinity.
However, in order to have a chance of succeeding in achieving this transition in focus from worldly objects to Divinity, passion and anger cannot remain as they are. The intention underlying them must change, and, as well, passion and anger must come under the sphere of influence of all the qualities of spiritual etiquette.
Intention must become a servant of God. Everything which is done must be done for the love of God. Intention must be purified so nothing remains but the aspiration to please God.
The heart must be trained to collaborate with, and give expression to, spiritual aspiration. The heart's association with the aspirations of the false self or ego must be discontinued.
When, God willing, intentionality and the heart have been purified, then, by the grace of God, qualities of spiritual etiquette such as patience, perseverance, forbearance, compassion, and forgiveness come to ascendancy. These qualities have, God willing, a transformative effect on passion and anger, and, as a result, passion and anger come to serve spiritual purposes.
Under these circumstances, the only aspiration of passion is to seek, know, love and serve God.
Furthermore, the aspiration of anger becomes a tendency to protect this spiritual passion from, and defend against, anything which would undermine or corrupt it.
If God wishes, in later stages of the maturation of spiritual aspiration, different capacities within that potential become experientially active. Although the focus of those experiences always remains God, the structural character, so to speak, of that focus undergoes various transformations.
Sufi masters speak of some of these transformations in terms of gnosis, witnessing, and love. In each case, the experience of Divinity changes. Each kind of experiencing involves its own mode of spiritual etiquette.
On all levels, God responds to us in accordance with the character of our spiritual aspiration. When spiritual aspiration is at low ebb, God's way of relating to us will reflect the character of that kind of aspiration. As the quality and intensity of spiritual aspiration undergoes various developmental transformations, so, too, does God's way of responding to us reflect those spiritual transitions.
In reality, God does not change, from beginning to end, during the journey of development or unfolding of spiritual aspiration. The nature of Divinity always is what Divinity is.
However, as spiritual aspiration goes through various transformations, our essential capacity becomes sensitive and receptive to the modalities of experiencing and realizing Divinity which are consonant with the condition of our aspiration. Consequently, the way God responds to us is merely a reflection of the way we relate to Divinity.
Saturday, November 03, 2007
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Otherness (Ghayr) - A Sufi Perspective
In modern civilization one hears much talk of estrangement and alienation. For example, many of us speak about not feeling at home in our homes. We lament how familiar faces hide an existential strangeness and distance which separates us, in hard to define but fundamental ways, from the ones with whom we often are most physically and emotionally proximate.
We are lonely in the midst of people. We have affection for many people. We care about what happens to them. We seek varying kinds of companionship with them. We help them, and they help us in different ways.
Yet, there is an alien dimension to them which we frequently find frightening. There is an otherness (ghayr) about them which isolates us from each 'other'.
We experience this alien otherness with our spouses, our children, our parents and our relatives. Our friends bear the mark of otherness.
As we journey outward into the neighborhood, community, city, nation, the world and the universe, the sense of otherness intensifies in unpredictable and terrifying ways. We are haunted by the feeling things can go sour and turn on us at any moment.
We do not appear to live in a user-friendly world. In fact, we seem to be traveling in potentially hostile country almost on a continuous basis. The boundaries of that country extend from the beds in which we sleep and recedes outwardly through 360 degrees of arc, encompassing everything between us and the horizon.
The aura of otherness which pervades our lives affects virtually everything we think, feel and do. For instance, otherness is at the heart of the territorial imperative which governs much of our lives.
We spend a great deal of time, energy and resources marking and labeling that which is ours and to which the other is not entitled. We seem to need to constantly remind ourselves and the other that she or he is, indeed, the other.
We struggle with great diligence to reinforce the self/other boundary lines which distinguish our territory from all others. For most of us, life is a game of Go in which, both consciously and unconsciously, we seek to maximize our spheres of influence while minimizing the spheres of influence of the other.
Much of our sense of personal space is constructed from materials of otherness. The degree of access to our personal space which we extend to anyone is a function of their otherness classification.
Few, if any, are granted entrance to the sanctum sanctorum in the innermost reaches of our being. This means, for most of us, that everyone and everything is rated as other in one way or another.
Business, government, law, sports, marriage, family, economics, international relations, and religion are all saturated with the ramifications of otherness. We treat the environment as an emphatic other.
Ironically, otherness is not just reserved for others. Many of us have become other to ourselves. Indeed, many of us have become so confused we cannot differentiate, within ourselves, what is self and what is other.
If we don't know who we are, then how can we know what is other? Our uncertainty about our own identity is often reflected in the changing patterns of otherness which we perceive in the world.
In other words, as our ideas about ourselves change, so, too, do the otherness classifications we issue to the people and things of the universe. Access codes to personal space are constantly being reconfigured.
The confusion between self and other within us is the source of much of the ambivalence we experience concerning ourselves. We are both attracted to, and repelled by, the denizens of the deep within us. There is both fear and hope concerning whom we might be.
If we feel ambivalence toward ourselves, we cannot but project this ambivalence outwardly. In the mirror of the other, we see the image of our own ambivalence toward ourselves.
According to the masters of the Sufi path, the source of all otherness flows from our conscious decision to treat God as other. We are other to ourselves because we issue to God, just as we issue to everyone and everything else, an otherness classification. We have set the access code to the door of our hearts to reject God when Divinity buzzes us.
We treat God as other because we fail to recognize the presence of Divinity within us. We relegate God to otherness because we do not understand we are loci of manifestation of Divine Names and Attributes and cannot be other than this. We try to restrict God to our various conceptual and emotional categories of otherness because we get caught up in the forms of otherness and do not see the One Whom is the common denominator linking all of these forms.
We treat others as other because we fail to recognize that they, too, are loci of manifestation of Divine Names and Attributes. Otherness, strangeness, alienness, separation, and distance are all illusions generated out of our spiritual ignorance and projected onto our experience.
If we could witness the reality of Divinity within us, we, automatically and simultaneously, could not but witness the reality of Divinity in others. In fact, others would no longer be other, we would all be participants in the theater of Divine manifestation known as existence.
Moreover, according to Sufi masters, we could take this one step further, and, simply say, there is no we in existence. Being is the locus of manifestation through which the reality of the one and only "I" gives expression to diversity of forms and meaning.
We are like sunspots on the surface of radiant Divinity. We do not understand that our darkness is an artifact of a relative absence of Presence which has been made possible by Divinity Itself.
When the forces underwriting this localized and relative darkness are dispelled, the full radiance of Divinity again is manifested. "Otherness", "we" and the false "I" all disappear with the darkness.
Oddly enough, many of us fight tooth and nail to retain our darkness. We seem to fear the possibility of the Sun's return with the disappearance of the temporary and relative absence of presence which we experience as spiritual darkness.
Darkness may involve all manner of misery, but, at least, it is "our" darkness. We derive identity from our darkness and its concomitant misery.
We fear the lost of this identity, such as it is, because we do not know what will replace it. We seem to feel being "other" is better than not being at all.
The practitioners of the Sufi path tell us the only thing to be lost is the darkness. In losing the darkness, we will reclaim the radiance which always had been intended for us.
Sufi masters indicate the only thing that will cease to exist are the illusions generated by the darkness of otherness. The falsehood of our ego will be replaced by the reality of our essence.
The inertia of otherness stops us from seeking to dispel the darkness. Otherness has a vested interest in maintaining the system of otherness classifications through which it parcels up existence, including its own.
Sufi masters try to show us the nature of this system of otherness which we, through our darkness, have generated. They also try to help us, God willing, to activate and realize our potential for radiance which dissolves all sense of otherness.
We are lonely in the midst of people. We have affection for many people. We care about what happens to them. We seek varying kinds of companionship with them. We help them, and they help us in different ways.
Yet, there is an alien dimension to them which we frequently find frightening. There is an otherness (ghayr) about them which isolates us from each 'other'.
We experience this alien otherness with our spouses, our children, our parents and our relatives. Our friends bear the mark of otherness.
As we journey outward into the neighborhood, community, city, nation, the world and the universe, the sense of otherness intensifies in unpredictable and terrifying ways. We are haunted by the feeling things can go sour and turn on us at any moment.
We do not appear to live in a user-friendly world. In fact, we seem to be traveling in potentially hostile country almost on a continuous basis. The boundaries of that country extend from the beds in which we sleep and recedes outwardly through 360 degrees of arc, encompassing everything between us and the horizon.
The aura of otherness which pervades our lives affects virtually everything we think, feel and do. For instance, otherness is at the heart of the territorial imperative which governs much of our lives.
We spend a great deal of time, energy and resources marking and labeling that which is ours and to which the other is not entitled. We seem to need to constantly remind ourselves and the other that she or he is, indeed, the other.
We struggle with great diligence to reinforce the self/other boundary lines which distinguish our territory from all others. For most of us, life is a game of Go in which, both consciously and unconsciously, we seek to maximize our spheres of influence while minimizing the spheres of influence of the other.
Much of our sense of personal space is constructed from materials of otherness. The degree of access to our personal space which we extend to anyone is a function of their otherness classification.
Few, if any, are granted entrance to the sanctum sanctorum in the innermost reaches of our being. This means, for most of us, that everyone and everything is rated as other in one way or another.
Business, government, law, sports, marriage, family, economics, international relations, and religion are all saturated with the ramifications of otherness. We treat the environment as an emphatic other.
Ironically, otherness is not just reserved for others. Many of us have become other to ourselves. Indeed, many of us have become so confused we cannot differentiate, within ourselves, what is self and what is other.
If we don't know who we are, then how can we know what is other? Our uncertainty about our own identity is often reflected in the changing patterns of otherness which we perceive in the world.
In other words, as our ideas about ourselves change, so, too, do the otherness classifications we issue to the people and things of the universe. Access codes to personal space are constantly being reconfigured.
The confusion between self and other within us is the source of much of the ambivalence we experience concerning ourselves. We are both attracted to, and repelled by, the denizens of the deep within us. There is both fear and hope concerning whom we might be.
If we feel ambivalence toward ourselves, we cannot but project this ambivalence outwardly. In the mirror of the other, we see the image of our own ambivalence toward ourselves.
According to the masters of the Sufi path, the source of all otherness flows from our conscious decision to treat God as other. We are other to ourselves because we issue to God, just as we issue to everyone and everything else, an otherness classification. We have set the access code to the door of our hearts to reject God when Divinity buzzes us.
We treat God as other because we fail to recognize the presence of Divinity within us. We relegate God to otherness because we do not understand we are loci of manifestation of Divine Names and Attributes and cannot be other than this. We try to restrict God to our various conceptual and emotional categories of otherness because we get caught up in the forms of otherness and do not see the One Whom is the common denominator linking all of these forms.
We treat others as other because we fail to recognize that they, too, are loci of manifestation of Divine Names and Attributes. Otherness, strangeness, alienness, separation, and distance are all illusions generated out of our spiritual ignorance and projected onto our experience.
If we could witness the reality of Divinity within us, we, automatically and simultaneously, could not but witness the reality of Divinity in others. In fact, others would no longer be other, we would all be participants in the theater of Divine manifestation known as existence.
Moreover, according to Sufi masters, we could take this one step further, and, simply say, there is no we in existence. Being is the locus of manifestation through which the reality of the one and only "I" gives expression to diversity of forms and meaning.
We are like sunspots on the surface of radiant Divinity. We do not understand that our darkness is an artifact of a relative absence of Presence which has been made possible by Divinity Itself.
When the forces underwriting this localized and relative darkness are dispelled, the full radiance of Divinity again is manifested. "Otherness", "we" and the false "I" all disappear with the darkness.
Oddly enough, many of us fight tooth and nail to retain our darkness. We seem to fear the possibility of the Sun's return with the disappearance of the temporary and relative absence of presence which we experience as spiritual darkness.
Darkness may involve all manner of misery, but, at least, it is "our" darkness. We derive identity from our darkness and its concomitant misery.
We fear the lost of this identity, such as it is, because we do not know what will replace it. We seem to feel being "other" is better than not being at all.
The practitioners of the Sufi path tell us the only thing to be lost is the darkness. In losing the darkness, we will reclaim the radiance which always had been intended for us.
Sufi masters indicate the only thing that will cease to exist are the illusions generated by the darkness of otherness. The falsehood of our ego will be replaced by the reality of our essence.
The inertia of otherness stops us from seeking to dispel the darkness. Otherness has a vested interest in maintaining the system of otherness classifications through which it parcels up existence, including its own.
Sufi masters try to show us the nature of this system of otherness which we, through our darkness, have generated. They also try to help us, God willing, to activate and realize our potential for radiance which dissolves all sense of otherness.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Gardens
Gardens, both wild and cultivated, appear to have an attraction of near universal proportions for human beings. Different races, ethnic groups, nationalities, religious traditions, and eras all have been drawn to gardens.
One might wonder why this should be the case. Why do gardens appeal to us in such a deeply satisfying manner?To be sure, the flowers, shrubs, trees, grass and so on, have both individual, as well as collective, beauty. In addition, the diversity of shapes is intriguing, and the endless combination of flora arrangements is fascinating. Moreover, everything contributes to the wonderful bouquet of aromas which vary in character throughout the day and night.Toss in the mystery of the unfolding of life going on in the garden, and one might suppose all of the foregoing explains why most people are inclined to gardens.
The answer, however, may run deeper still.We find gardens peaceful and restful. Gardens seem to induce us to reflect on life. We find varying degrees of contentment and joy from gardens.We come away from gardens refreshed. There appears to be some kind of energy or source of renewal which we take away with us from gardens.There is almost a timeless quality to gardens. Things do change, but, somehow, time often seems to be suspended. The rest of the world recedes.Our senses are somewhat intoxicated from the effects of the garden. Our minds are massaged.
Gardens tug at our hearts and emotions. Every aspect of our being seems to be connected to, and affected by, gardens.We are captivated by the balance and harmony in gardens. Thoughts and remembrance of God tend to arise naturally in the context of gardens.Sufi masters indicate physical gardens are only one variety in a spectrum of infinite diversity.
In fact, the gardens of the physical world are but a distant reflection of the gardens associated with spiritual possibilities.Whatever contentment, peace, joy, happiness, rest, refreshment, wonder, beauty, fascination, intoxication and satisfaction we may receive from physical gardens is virtually nothing compared to what can be experienced in different kinds of spiritual garden.Indeed, on the basis of experience and not theoretical speculation, the Sufi masters note there is no way to describe the intensity, depth, richness, subtlety and diversity inherent in spiritual gardens. At best, one only can allude, in a very limited way, to a few superficial dimensions of the experiences involving non-physical gardens.
Our senses, mind , heart and soul are drawn to gardens because their many qualities strike a resonance deep within our being. For people of insight and understanding, such as the Sufi masters, the qualities of the gardens of the physical world are but a sign of the existence of other non-physical gardens which have garden-like qualities capable of reaching even further into the possibilities of our essential being.
The meaning of "garden-like qualities" in the foregoing refers to the capacity of non-physical gardens to generate, albeit on a much grander scale of both majesty and beauty, a sense of peace, joy, refreshment, contentment and so on, just as physical gardens do. However, the ultimate character of these non-physical gardens may not have anything in common with the structural forms given expression through physical gardens. In fact, some spiritual gardens are without any form, per se, whatsoever, yet induce in us extremely intense experiences which are somewhat analogous - in a distant sort of way - to those experiences engendered in us in physical gardens.
One does not necessarily have to leave the physical plane in order to get some semblance of taste of a non-physical garden. For example, in the garden of association with one's spiritual guide, one experiences garden-like qualities.When one is with one's shaykh or teacher, one feels at peace. One is happy, joyful, restful. One discovers a contentment in the presence of one's spiritual guide.Time almost seems to be suspended. The rest of the world becomes relatively unimportant.Life seems to have more balance and harmony while in the company of one's teacher. One finds thoughts of God and remembrance of God come more easily in the presence of the shaykh than when one is removed from the teacher. One is more given to spiritual reflection when associating with one's spiritual guide.One is drawn to the inner beauty of one's shaykh. One keeps discovering new facets of wonder and fascination in her or him.One can become extremely intoxicated or ecstatic in the presence of the teacher. One comes away from the spiritual guide refreshed and invigorated. One longs to return to the garden of spiritual association as quickly as possible.
Sufi masters refer to many other kinds of garden. There are, for instance, gardens of remembrance which are accessed through saying, and becoming absorbed in, the Names and Attributes of God.
When, by the grace of God, one is summoned into the reality of these Names and Attributes, as well as opened up to their infinite meanings of overwhelming beauty and majesty, one is transported to gardens unlike any in the physical realm. One is given entrance to gardens beyond all description.There are gardens of forgetfulness in which one is released from the veils of the false self. There are gardens of subsistence in God when one's true, essential self is realized.
There are gardens of gnosis. In these gardens, one has direct, certain, unmediated knowledge of God. In these gardens, God discloses different dimensions or facets of Divinity.There are gardens for every spiritual station. There are gardens of repentance and longing. There are gardens of dependence on God. There are gardens of gratitude, patience and sincerity.
One travels, if God wishes, from gardens of friendship to gardens of exclusive friendship. By the grace of Divinity, one is transported from gardens of passion to gardens of ardent affection.There are gardens of intense love in which the spirit soars in flights of intimacy with Divinity. During such flights, one becomes both enslaved and bewildered by the infinite beauty of the face of the Beloved manifested through these gardens.There are gardens of uniqueness. If God wishes, one is opened up to the mystery which is breathed into one's essential nature by Divinity at the advent of Self-realization.
There are countless other gardens. No two gardens are the same.No two spiritual gardens give the same kind of joy and happiness. No two gardens give the same modality of contentment, peace and satisfaction.No two gardens disclose the same Divine colors. No two gardens share the same wonder and beauty.No two spiritual gardens bring the same flavor of ecstasy. No two gardens show the same kind of breathtaking balance, symmetry and harmony.
The point of embarkation for the possibility of journeying to any and all of the aforementioned gardens is, God willing, in the garden of spiritual association with the shaykh. Without this association and the grace and barakah, or blessings, of Divinity to which it gives expression, the nearest one will come to a first-hand experience of any of these other gardens is a spiritual travelogue such as the one being itemized in this essay.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Detachment from a Sufi Perspective
Indifference is not a synonym for mystical detachment. The individual who, by the grace of God, has acquired the quality of detachment is not above it all, but very much in it all.The secret lies not just in how one is in it all. The secret also concerns the nature of that which one is all in.
One cannot be detached, in the Sufi sense of the word, without submitting to the will of God. Detachment means to become disengaged from one's own will and to become a locus of manifestation for the will of God. In fact, the process of becoming detached from one's own will is an expression of becoming attached to the will of God.
As long as we prefer our own perspective to God's will, we cannot achieve detachment. As long as we persist in being entangled in our desires, moods, and attitudes, we are not free to align ourselves with the will of God. To the extent we insist on pursuing the gratifications generated by the dialectic of ego, body, and the world, we will be separated from the condition of detachment.
Upon hearing about the idea of mystical detachment, many people react negatively and wonder how, for instance, a detached person can be loving and compassionate. Detachment sounds so cold and uncaring.
In reality, we cannot be truly loving and compassionate until we are oriented toward everything by means of detachment. The attachments, preoccupations and entanglements of our egos prevent us from being loving and compassionate human beings. Like the destructive form of cholesterol, ego and worldly attachments cling to the walls of our spiritual arteries and block the passage of the flow of love and compassion.
In ways reminiscent of medical practitioners, Sufi masters tell us to refrain, as much as we can, from a steady diet of the attachments of the ego because of their injurious effects on our spiritual system. Nonetheless, we continue to consume all the worldly things which are harmful to us.
One cannot be suffering from the spiritual counterpart to arteriosclerosis and, yet, be free from the symptoms of the disease. One experiences a pain and discomfort in the heart which spreads to other parts of one's being. The heart becomes dysfunctional in a variety of ways. One has difficulty breathing in the joy and beauty of life. There is a general lassitude and drop in spiritual energy levels. One becomes more sensitive to, and less able to constructively deal with, stress and strain. One feels a sense of existential malaise.
Someone who is caught up in the throes of the disease process tends to withdraw, to varying degrees, from the activities going on around one. One might like to show compassion for, or help, others, but due to one's disabled condition, one is not in a spiritual position to do so.
When the heart has been cleansed of attachment to other than God, the heart becomes a fountain of love and compassion which is offered freely to all of creation. The love and compassion of the heart of detachment is inherently generous and active and dynamic. The heart of detachment gives expression to part of the spiritual legacy of the human being. Such a heart is operating in accordance with the specifications called for by the Divine blueprints. The heart of detachment is charismatic and magnetic. It has an appeal which is extremely attractive to almost everyone coming into proximity with its radiating sphere of influence. Consequently, we tend to want to attach ourselves to the people of mystical detachment.
Detachment is like an inertial guidance system. No matter what the nature of the potentially disruptive forces are which are acting on the individual, the person of detachment always stays on course. Whatever adjustments need to be made to counter the effects of such forces are implemented.The person of detachment locks on to the will of God and does not permit any other kind of guidance to take priority in his or her journey.
However, this process of locking-on does not imply rigidity, inflexibility, or fanaticism of any kind.
All too frequently, when we believe we are locking-on to the will of God, we are merely tuning into the noise of our own likes and dislikes. In our confusion we sometimes become unyielding in our approach to things as we operate under the mistaken belief we are doing God's will when, in fact, we only are doing our own will.
Although the will of God permits many things to transpire in the affairs of human beings, some of our intentions and motivations are more consonant with the spirit and essence of Divine will than are other instances of our intentions and motivations. Compassion, love, kindness, generosity, forgiveness, co-operation, peace, justice, tolerance, mercy, nobility, fairness, and patience are but a few of the qualities close to the heart, so to speak, of God's will.
An individual who, by the grace of God, is cloaked in the above mentioned attributes, is someone through whom the will of God can be manifested in a way which is capable of benefiting humanity and all of creation. Someone who is cloaked in such qualities tends not to be inflexible or rigid or fanatical. Instead, this individual tends to operate creatively and aesthetically through a set of permissible degrees of freedom which allow accommodations to be made without compromising the person's submission to the will of God.
The gateway to becoming adorned in these kinds of quality is detachment. Until one has cast off the garments of the ego, one will not be allowed into the Divine fitting room.
Detachment permits one to focus on the essential in all circumstances. Detachment removes one from the distractions of the ego and the world. Detachment fortifies one against the onslaught of forces seeking to corrupt intention and motivation. Detachment allows one to distinguish between the true self and the false self. Detachment provides the understanding and freedom through which to recognize, and do, the will of God in a way that is pleasing to God.
One cannot be detached, in the Sufi sense of the word, without submitting to the will of God. Detachment means to become disengaged from one's own will and to become a locus of manifestation for the will of God. In fact, the process of becoming detached from one's own will is an expression of becoming attached to the will of God.
As long as we prefer our own perspective to God's will, we cannot achieve detachment. As long as we persist in being entangled in our desires, moods, and attitudes, we are not free to align ourselves with the will of God. To the extent we insist on pursuing the gratifications generated by the dialectic of ego, body, and the world, we will be separated from the condition of detachment.
Upon hearing about the idea of mystical detachment, many people react negatively and wonder how, for instance, a detached person can be loving and compassionate. Detachment sounds so cold and uncaring.
In reality, we cannot be truly loving and compassionate until we are oriented toward everything by means of detachment. The attachments, preoccupations and entanglements of our egos prevent us from being loving and compassionate human beings. Like the destructive form of cholesterol, ego and worldly attachments cling to the walls of our spiritual arteries and block the passage of the flow of love and compassion.
In ways reminiscent of medical practitioners, Sufi masters tell us to refrain, as much as we can, from a steady diet of the attachments of the ego because of their injurious effects on our spiritual system. Nonetheless, we continue to consume all the worldly things which are harmful to us.
One cannot be suffering from the spiritual counterpart to arteriosclerosis and, yet, be free from the symptoms of the disease. One experiences a pain and discomfort in the heart which spreads to other parts of one's being. The heart becomes dysfunctional in a variety of ways. One has difficulty breathing in the joy and beauty of life. There is a general lassitude and drop in spiritual energy levels. One becomes more sensitive to, and less able to constructively deal with, stress and strain. One feels a sense of existential malaise.
Someone who is caught up in the throes of the disease process tends to withdraw, to varying degrees, from the activities going on around one. One might like to show compassion for, or help, others, but due to one's disabled condition, one is not in a spiritual position to do so.
When the heart has been cleansed of attachment to other than God, the heart becomes a fountain of love and compassion which is offered freely to all of creation. The love and compassion of the heart of detachment is inherently generous and active and dynamic. The heart of detachment gives expression to part of the spiritual legacy of the human being. Such a heart is operating in accordance with the specifications called for by the Divine blueprints. The heart of detachment is charismatic and magnetic. It has an appeal which is extremely attractive to almost everyone coming into proximity with its radiating sphere of influence. Consequently, we tend to want to attach ourselves to the people of mystical detachment.
Detachment is like an inertial guidance system. No matter what the nature of the potentially disruptive forces are which are acting on the individual, the person of detachment always stays on course. Whatever adjustments need to be made to counter the effects of such forces are implemented.The person of detachment locks on to the will of God and does not permit any other kind of guidance to take priority in his or her journey.
However, this process of locking-on does not imply rigidity, inflexibility, or fanaticism of any kind.
All too frequently, when we believe we are locking-on to the will of God, we are merely tuning into the noise of our own likes and dislikes. In our confusion we sometimes become unyielding in our approach to things as we operate under the mistaken belief we are doing God's will when, in fact, we only are doing our own will.
Although the will of God permits many things to transpire in the affairs of human beings, some of our intentions and motivations are more consonant with the spirit and essence of Divine will than are other instances of our intentions and motivations. Compassion, love, kindness, generosity, forgiveness, co-operation, peace, justice, tolerance, mercy, nobility, fairness, and patience are but a few of the qualities close to the heart, so to speak, of God's will.
An individual who, by the grace of God, is cloaked in the above mentioned attributes, is someone through whom the will of God can be manifested in a way which is capable of benefiting humanity and all of creation. Someone who is cloaked in such qualities tends not to be inflexible or rigid or fanatical. Instead, this individual tends to operate creatively and aesthetically through a set of permissible degrees of freedom which allow accommodations to be made without compromising the person's submission to the will of God.
The gateway to becoming adorned in these kinds of quality is detachment. Until one has cast off the garments of the ego, one will not be allowed into the Divine fitting room.
Detachment permits one to focus on the essential in all circumstances. Detachment removes one from the distractions of the ego and the world. Detachment fortifies one against the onslaught of forces seeking to corrupt intention and motivation. Detachment allows one to distinguish between the true self and the false self. Detachment provides the understanding and freedom through which to recognize, and do, the will of God in a way that is pleasing to God.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
How Fraudulent Shaykhs can Abuse Legitimate Principles of Spiritual Guidance (Part 1)
Sometimes, when the issues of fraudulent shaykhs or spiritual charlatans arise, a person listening may remark that, down through the ages, various authentic shaykhs have listed and discussed a number of indications which can be used for differentiating between a legitimate spiritual guide and a fraudulent one. For instance, some of these individuals make reference to the exemplary work of Hazrat Suhrawardi (may Allah be pleased with him) and the 15 rules governing the conduct of a shaykh which might be used in this context for identifying authentic teachers.
There are some problems which surface, however –– at least, potentially –– in conjunction with the 15 rules that are cited ... problems which indicate that the difficulties surrounding the recognition and choosing of a spiritual teacher can be fairly complicated and not at all straightforward. Nevertheless, none of what follows should be construed as a criticism of Shaykh Suhrawardi (May Allah be pleased with him), since the material he provided was really not intended to deal with the cleverness or duplicity of spiritual charlatans and the manner in which such individuals often alter the teachings of the great shaykhs to accommodate the needs of a false teacher.
For example, let’s examine the first rule put forth by Shaykh Suhrawardi (May Allah be pleased with him).
1. The purifying of resolution and the searching for the cause.
He should seek out of himself that the cause not be the desire of precedence, the desire of being a shaykh, or the desire of being followed.
While it is true that someone who is a shaykh should not have a desire to be a shaykh, or to be followed, or to have any wish for precedence in the eyes of either the would-be guide or others, let me ask a question: If I am looking for a spiritual guide, how do I know what is in the heart or intention of another human being? Yes, I can spend time listening to what is said, as well as watching behavior and trying to determine if I can detect any trace of the foregoing desires in the man or woman I am considering, but if the person I am thinking of taking initiation with is clever –– and many of the spiritual frauds and charlatans who are out there are very clever and they know the game inside and out -- then, two things are likely to be the case. First, what the sociologist Irving Goffman referred to as ‘front room’ behavior (to distinguish it from how people behaved when they were in ‘back rooms’, out of people’s sight), is likely to appear exemplary. Indeed, the whole advantage that a counterfeiter has is that she or he knows –– from either reading or personal experience –– what the object being imitated (in this case, a spiritual teacher) is supposed to look like. The spiritual fraud knows, for example, that a true shaykh or teacher is supposed to be, among other things, humble, kind, generous, compassionate, loving, considerate, thoughtful, ethical, and so on. Consequently, the ‘front room’ or public arena in which people meet the counterfeit shaykh are often carefully managed and staged to generate exactly this kind of impression in the minds and hearts of unsuspecting individuals.
Secondly, many people who are seeking spiritual guidance will never get a whole lot of time, under a variety of circumstances and settings, to be able to form any kind of informed judgment about what the actual state of desire in a spiritual teaching candidate may be. A seeker’s exposure to an alleged spiritual guide tends to be very restricted, and, consequently, information about a so-called teacher tends to be managed under highly controlled circumstances.
Someone, who was being asked for advice, once asked the advice-seeker who was trying to decide whether to become involved, in some way, with another individual if the man (that is, the advice-seeker) had either been on a journey with the other individual or had any business dealings with that person. The question was asked because such close contact often provides one with some reliable information about the character and temperament of a person under conditions which are not of a person’s choosing and over which they tend to have little control.
Prior to making a decision about whether, or not, to be initiated onto the Sufi path through a certain individual, 99.9999% of the people doing this know, in reality, almost nothing about the actual interior state of the person with whom they are taking initiation. To be sure, a person seeking initiation may have impressions or feelings which are positive in relation to the alleged spiritual guide based on such things as having read a book by the person, or having listened to talks by the individual, or having received the personal testimonies of other people whom one may know who also have had some exposure to the ‘teacher’, or having watched the ‘teacher’ interact with his or her followers, but all of this information is capable of being spun in any direction which an alleged teacher wishes to spin things. Politicians are managed in precisely the same way –– that is, things are done to create certain positive impressions and feelings in the minds and hearts of the electorate.
Let’s move on to the second rule noted by Shaykh Suhrawardi (May Allah be pleased with him)
2. The knowledge of Capacity.
The shaykh must regard the capacity of the student.
Again, there is nothing wrong with this rule. In order to be a good shaykh, a person does need to take into account what the spiritual capacity of a seeker is, and this is necessary for a variety of reasons. For example, the practices which are assigned to a given seeker should be aligned with what a person can handle, and what a person has the potential to handle is an expression of that individual’s spiritual capacity. If a shaykh does not take such things into consideration, a seeker is likely to encounter difficulties which could prove harmful to that individual’s spiritual well-being and growth. We do not grow out of our spiritual potential. Rather, we grow into our spiritual potential, and if an alleged teacher does not understand what that potential is, then, the spiritual instructions given will not be conducive to a healthy, constructive unfolding of the capacity which is present in a given seeker.
Nonetheless, having said this, there are still some problems surrounding this rule. To begin with, if a seeker knew what her or his spiritual capacity actually was, then, someone with that much understanding of one’s own spiritual condition likely would not be in need of spiritual guidance for such a person already would be in direct contact with that for which one steps onto the spiritual path to discover –– that is, the realization of one’s unique, essential spiritual capacity. Lack of knowledge is one of the things that sets us in motion to seek a teacher –– someone who, hopefully, knows what we do not, and someone who will be willing to share with us what she or he knows so that our lack of knowledge can be lessened to whatever extent we are capable of doing. So, when we try to select a teacher who will help us in this respect, we are looking for someone who, as Shaykh Suhrawardi (May Allah be pleased with him) points out, has a knowledge of the spiritual capacities of the seekers who come to him or her. But, knowing this rule doesn’t help a seeker one iota, because the seeker really doesn’t know what such knowledge looks like –– that is why he is called a ‘seeker’ rather than a ‘knower’.
A charlatan can say whatever she or he likes to in this regard, and the seeker won’t know the difference. All a sham-teacher has to do with respect to the issue of ‘capacity’ is have a gift of gab which enables the con-artist to throw things together in a way that sounds interesting, desirable, plausible, and mysterious, and many would-be seekers get hooked –– even when they know about this second rule of Shaykh Suhrawardi (May Allah be pleased with him), since knowing about this second rule provides an individual with absolutely no insight concerning what the issue of ‘spiritual capacity’ really entails. Seekers are trusting the teacher to know this. And, therefore, a seeker’s trust is either well-placed or misplaced depending on the actual spiritual authenticity of the individual in whom the trust is being invested.
Let’s take a look at the 3rd rule cited by Shaykh Suhrawardi (May Allah be pleased with him):
3. Being pure in respect of the students property.
The shaykh must show no greed for the property or service of the student.
Again, this is a perfectly sound rule. The spiritual integrity of a true teacher should be such that like greed have long since disappeared from the interior life of an authentic teacher. After all, one of the purposes of the mystical path is to undergo a process of transformation in which reprehensible properties such as greed become rehabilitated, so to speak, into useful allies rather than spiritual obstacles. For instance, the object of the focus of greed should be directed away from the ego and dunya (or our entanglements with the world) and become occupied with constructive purposes –– thus, the Qur’an describes the Prophet (peace be upon him) as being ‘greedy’ (Harith) for the spiritual welfare of his ummah or community.
Be this as it may, fraudulent spiritual guides are very adept at using a technique which is known as “reframing”. We are all familiar with the fact that how one frames a photograph or painting will determine what will be seen and what will not be seen in relation to that painting or picture. One can select frames which hide certain things (say, flaws in the original) as well as frames which tend to bring out certain colors or features of a painting or photograph. One also can select frames which dominate a painting or picture and take attention away from what should be the center of focus. In addition, one can choose frames which either complement a given painting or picture, and, therefore, leave one with a sense of harmony, or one can select frames which are discordant with the subject matter of a painting or photograph and create a sense of discord. The possibilities for reframing things in the context of human interaction are enormous and very complicated. Among other reasons, this is because we human beings have within us a great many weaknesses which are very vulnerable to being influenced by the manner in which things are presented to us –– quite independently of issues about the actual intrinsic value of what is being presented for consideration ... and smart sales professionals and advertisers have known this for centuries.
Yes, an authentic shaykh should show no greed for the property or service of a seeker. If I am a false spiritual guide and I wish to utilize this rule for my own self-serving purposes, what this rule says to me is this: as long as I don’t do anything which “shows” that I have greed for either the property and/or service of my followers, then, I can actually have greed for their property and/or service –– all I have to do is convince them that I don’t through the art of influence, manipulation, hypnotic suggestion, and reframing. For example, if a false teacher can induce someone to believe that, say, serving the teacher is good for the spiritual condition of a seeker, then, even without asking for service, the false teacher can command service because the whole situation has been reframed –– from one of greed for service on the part of the false teacher, to that of a seeker feeling that it is incumbent on her or him to serve the teacher and, thereby, make spiritual progress through such selfless devotion. The false teacher, through writing, discourses, stories, and so on, indirectly plants in a seeker’s consciousness that serving the teacher is a good thing, a noble thing, an act of love, and, consequently, lo and behold, without having to ask for anything, the teacher is served in more ways than one can shake a stick at.
Now, lest anyone get the wrong idea, service to others is a good thing when it has a proper niyat or sincere intention behind it. But, an unscrupulous teacher can take advantage of this and make it appear that his or her desire for the property or service of others is not present and that, instead, what we are dealing with here is merely the wish of others to serve and give to the teacher –– in fact, from time to time, the false teacher can even put on a big show about how he or she wished one’s followers wouldn’t do these things, but, in the end, bow in humility to the offer of love which is being made to the would-be teacher and accept the gift of property or service with a ‘well, what can one do’ shrug of the shoulders ... which will endear the false teacher to his or her followers even more so.
The forth rule of Shaykh Suhrawardi (May Allah be pleased with him) is:
4. Offering
Delights of offering and of severing attachments are incumbent on the shaykh.
Once again, the teaching is impeccable. A true teacher takes delight in giving to others, serving them, and severing attachments of the nafs or ego in relation to its entanglements with various dimensions of interior and exterior life. However, where there is a will, there is often a way, and the will of false teachers is inclined to look for ways of turning sound spiritual advice –– such as that which is given by Shaykh Suhrawardi (May Allah be pleased with him) –– inside out and using it to their own advantage.
Consider the technique of ‘priming the pump’. More specifically, most people know that if one wishes to get a water pump or a fuel pump or the like, going, then, sometimes, one has to add some water or fuel first in order to get the pump functioning properly. False teachers often are very good at giving things away as a means of priming the pump of material goods and/or service, so that this pump will begin to function ‘properly’ –– that is, so that followers will freely give back to the teacher without the teacher having to say much, or anything, except receive what is offered. Thus, a false teacher might give, for example, a hundred dollars to someone in need, knowing that, in time, either that individual and/or those to whom the needy person talks to about the gift, will interpret the gift-giving as indicating that the false teacher is a humble, charitable, compassionate, loving, selfless individual who is sacrificing his or her own meager resources for the good of others, or a false teacher might arrange to underwrite the expenses of a trip for someone far away to come and visit the teacher (and, more often than not, the money does not come from the teachers own resources but from the resources of someone whom the false teacher controls), and to the recipient of such a seemingly generous and selfless act of friendship, the offer and arrangements are overwhelming to such an extent that the recipient has great difficulty even considering the possibility that something evil or untoward or unsavory may be behind the offer –– which is precisely what the offer has been intended to do ... misdirect attention away from the actual motives to making someone feel guilty or ashamed for being so cynical as to suppose that the offer is not entirely sincere.
In addition, a fraudulent spiritual guide can put on great performances in the public sphere about severing attachments with issues of power, sex, money, property, comfort, control and so on. However, because most of the seekers have no clue about what actually goes on outside of the domain of publicly viewable events, it is the publicly consumed events which shapes people’s opinions, attitudes and judgments of the teacher. Moreover, in most cases, the only people who are permitted to get close to the teacher are those (1) who either have been so corrupted that they have vested interests which parallels those of the teacher and they will not blow the whistle on what is going on and, thereby, undermine their own advantages in the overall set-up, or, (2) those who have become so mesmerized by what is going on that they are ready to re-frame anything which the teacher does –– no matter how destructive and reprehensible –– as being something other than it is, or, (3) those who, however vaguely, do see what is going on, but whose psychological and emotional vulnerabilities are so intense that they cannot bring themselves to act upon what they know and, thus, suffer in silence, not knowing what to do about such knowledge, and experiencing a great deal of anxiety, stress, and fear as a result.
Shaykh Suhrawardi’s (May Allah be pleased with him) fifth rule for identifying an authentic spiritual guide is:
5. Concordance of deed and word in invitation.
Indeed, there should be no inconsistencies or disharmonies between what one says and what one does. Unfortunately, as with everything else, there are ways of circumventing this teaching and transforming it into a tool for misleading people. One of the easiest ways of accomplishing this is to allude to knowledge that the seeker does not have but that if he or she did have, the seeker would be able to utilize in order to reconcile, in a harmonious manner, what, on the surface, appear to be inconsistencies of words and deeds with respect to a false teacher. For instance, almost everyone who has done any reading about the Sufi path or who has heard what are sometimes referred to as ‘Sufi teaching stories’, is likely to be familiar with the Quranic account about Moses (peace be upon him) and Khizr (peace be upon him), the mysterious patron saint of the spiritual path who, from time to time, enters into the lives of certain people in order to teach them or assist them in some spiritual manner. When Moses (peace be upon him) encountered this mysterious figure, the former person had an intuition that this latter individual was someone who possessed hidden or esoteric knowledge which Moses (peace be upon him) hoped to learn. Moses (peace be upon him) asked permission to accompany the stranger, and permission was given with one condition –– no matter what happened, no questions could be asked, and that if any questions were asked that would be the end of the association. Moses (peace be upon him) agreed to this condition. To make a longer story somewhat shorter, there were three events which took place that offended the moral sensibilities of Moses (peace be upon him). On one occasion, Khizr (peace be upon him) put a hole in a boat that belonged to a poor fisherman. On another occasion, Khizr (peace be upon him) killed the young son of a couple who both believed in God, and, finally, on a third occasion, Khizr (peace be upon him) repaired a wall outside of a town where the two had been mistreated. Moses (peace be upon him) believed Khizr (peace be upon him) to be one who believes in, and submits to, the truth of God’s teachings, and, yet, Moses (peace be upon him) was confronted with three deeds which each seemed to conflict with what Moses (peace be upon him) understood to be the truth about treating the property of other people, the sanctity of life, and how one should behave when someone mistreats one. In each case, Khizr violated the expectations and beliefs of Moses (peace be upon him). Each time Moses (peace be upon him) asked a question. Each time, Moses (peace be upon him) was reminded of the promise he had made to not ask any questions no matter what happened. Each time, Moses (peace be upon him) sought pardon and forgiveness for having violated his promise. Each time –– except for the third instance –– he was forgiven and allowed to continue on the journey with his mysterious companion. On the third occasion, Moses (peace be upon him) was informed that the association had now come to an end, but before going their separate ways, an explanation was given of why Khizr (peace be upon him) had done what he had done. In the case of the boat, Moses (peace be upon him) was told that there was an advancing army which was confiscating all boats to use in a war, and that if a hole –– which was easily repairable –– had not been put in the boat, the fisherman, whose entire livelihood depended on that boat, would be ruined. With respect to the youth who was killed, the youngster was no good and unsalvageable and, in time, could undermine the faith of the parents who were good people, so, the youth was eliminated in order to save the parents. Finally, in the town where the two had been thoroughly mistreated by the inhabitants, a wall was repaired because it contained, hidden within it, an inheritance which belonged to two orphans who lived in the vicinity and that if the wall had deteriorated much further, the hidden contents would have been discovered by the miserable town people and they would have stolen it, and, therefore, in order to protect the inheritance of the two orphans –– who in time would be led to the treasure –– the wall was repaired to hide the secret it contained.
Fraudulent teachers can take this teaching and convert it entirely to their own unsavory purposes and all the time, come off smelling like a rose because the surface acts which “appear” reprehensible are really being described as mere camouflage for an underlying and hidden principle which serves the truth and God. If Moses (peace be upon him), as great and knowledgeable as he was, wasn’t able to fathom the truth when a servant of God (namely, Khizr –– peace be upon him) was performing in front of his eyes with God’s sanction, then, how do the rest of us, who are far removed from the elevated spiritual condition of Moses (peace be upon him), know how to differentiate between apparent discrepancies involving words and deeds which can be reconciled on a deeper level of truth, and real discrepancies between words and deeds which cannot be reconciled on a deeper level but are passed off to us as if they could be so reconciled if we only ‘knew’ what the fraudulent spiritual guide allegedly knew and which sometime, perhaps, when we become spiritually mature, we too, will have access to such secrets ... but not just now.
To be Continued tomorrow, insha'Allah.
There are some problems which surface, however –– at least, potentially –– in conjunction with the 15 rules that are cited ... problems which indicate that the difficulties surrounding the recognition and choosing of a spiritual teacher can be fairly complicated and not at all straightforward. Nevertheless, none of what follows should be construed as a criticism of Shaykh Suhrawardi (May Allah be pleased with him), since the material he provided was really not intended to deal with the cleverness or duplicity of spiritual charlatans and the manner in which such individuals often alter the teachings of the great shaykhs to accommodate the needs of a false teacher.
For example, let’s examine the first rule put forth by Shaykh Suhrawardi (May Allah be pleased with him).
1. The purifying of resolution and the searching for the cause.
He should seek out of himself that the cause not be the desire of precedence, the desire of being a shaykh, or the desire of being followed.
While it is true that someone who is a shaykh should not have a desire to be a shaykh, or to be followed, or to have any wish for precedence in the eyes of either the would-be guide or others, let me ask a question: If I am looking for a spiritual guide, how do I know what is in the heart or intention of another human being? Yes, I can spend time listening to what is said, as well as watching behavior and trying to determine if I can detect any trace of the foregoing desires in the man or woman I am considering, but if the person I am thinking of taking initiation with is clever –– and many of the spiritual frauds and charlatans who are out there are very clever and they know the game inside and out -- then, two things are likely to be the case. First, what the sociologist Irving Goffman referred to as ‘front room’ behavior (to distinguish it from how people behaved when they were in ‘back rooms’, out of people’s sight), is likely to appear exemplary. Indeed, the whole advantage that a counterfeiter has is that she or he knows –– from either reading or personal experience –– what the object being imitated (in this case, a spiritual teacher) is supposed to look like. The spiritual fraud knows, for example, that a true shaykh or teacher is supposed to be, among other things, humble, kind, generous, compassionate, loving, considerate, thoughtful, ethical, and so on. Consequently, the ‘front room’ or public arena in which people meet the counterfeit shaykh are often carefully managed and staged to generate exactly this kind of impression in the minds and hearts of unsuspecting individuals.
Secondly, many people who are seeking spiritual guidance will never get a whole lot of time, under a variety of circumstances and settings, to be able to form any kind of informed judgment about what the actual state of desire in a spiritual teaching candidate may be. A seeker’s exposure to an alleged spiritual guide tends to be very restricted, and, consequently, information about a so-called teacher tends to be managed under highly controlled circumstances.
Someone, who was being asked for advice, once asked the advice-seeker who was trying to decide whether to become involved, in some way, with another individual if the man (that is, the advice-seeker) had either been on a journey with the other individual or had any business dealings with that person. The question was asked because such close contact often provides one with some reliable information about the character and temperament of a person under conditions which are not of a person’s choosing and over which they tend to have little control.
Prior to making a decision about whether, or not, to be initiated onto the Sufi path through a certain individual, 99.9999% of the people doing this know, in reality, almost nothing about the actual interior state of the person with whom they are taking initiation. To be sure, a person seeking initiation may have impressions or feelings which are positive in relation to the alleged spiritual guide based on such things as having read a book by the person, or having listened to talks by the individual, or having received the personal testimonies of other people whom one may know who also have had some exposure to the ‘teacher’, or having watched the ‘teacher’ interact with his or her followers, but all of this information is capable of being spun in any direction which an alleged teacher wishes to spin things. Politicians are managed in precisely the same way –– that is, things are done to create certain positive impressions and feelings in the minds and hearts of the electorate.
Let’s move on to the second rule noted by Shaykh Suhrawardi (May Allah be pleased with him)
2. The knowledge of Capacity.
The shaykh must regard the capacity of the student.
Again, there is nothing wrong with this rule. In order to be a good shaykh, a person does need to take into account what the spiritual capacity of a seeker is, and this is necessary for a variety of reasons. For example, the practices which are assigned to a given seeker should be aligned with what a person can handle, and what a person has the potential to handle is an expression of that individual’s spiritual capacity. If a shaykh does not take such things into consideration, a seeker is likely to encounter difficulties which could prove harmful to that individual’s spiritual well-being and growth. We do not grow out of our spiritual potential. Rather, we grow into our spiritual potential, and if an alleged teacher does not understand what that potential is, then, the spiritual instructions given will not be conducive to a healthy, constructive unfolding of the capacity which is present in a given seeker.
Nonetheless, having said this, there are still some problems surrounding this rule. To begin with, if a seeker knew what her or his spiritual capacity actually was, then, someone with that much understanding of one’s own spiritual condition likely would not be in need of spiritual guidance for such a person already would be in direct contact with that for which one steps onto the spiritual path to discover –– that is, the realization of one’s unique, essential spiritual capacity. Lack of knowledge is one of the things that sets us in motion to seek a teacher –– someone who, hopefully, knows what we do not, and someone who will be willing to share with us what she or he knows so that our lack of knowledge can be lessened to whatever extent we are capable of doing. So, when we try to select a teacher who will help us in this respect, we are looking for someone who, as Shaykh Suhrawardi (May Allah be pleased with him) points out, has a knowledge of the spiritual capacities of the seekers who come to him or her. But, knowing this rule doesn’t help a seeker one iota, because the seeker really doesn’t know what such knowledge looks like –– that is why he is called a ‘seeker’ rather than a ‘knower’.
A charlatan can say whatever she or he likes to in this regard, and the seeker won’t know the difference. All a sham-teacher has to do with respect to the issue of ‘capacity’ is have a gift of gab which enables the con-artist to throw things together in a way that sounds interesting, desirable, plausible, and mysterious, and many would-be seekers get hooked –– even when they know about this second rule of Shaykh Suhrawardi (May Allah be pleased with him), since knowing about this second rule provides an individual with absolutely no insight concerning what the issue of ‘spiritual capacity’ really entails. Seekers are trusting the teacher to know this. And, therefore, a seeker’s trust is either well-placed or misplaced depending on the actual spiritual authenticity of the individual in whom the trust is being invested.
Let’s take a look at the 3rd rule cited by Shaykh Suhrawardi (May Allah be pleased with him):
3. Being pure in respect of the students property.
The shaykh must show no greed for the property or service of the student.
Again, this is a perfectly sound rule. The spiritual integrity of a true teacher should be such that like greed have long since disappeared from the interior life of an authentic teacher. After all, one of the purposes of the mystical path is to undergo a process of transformation in which reprehensible properties such as greed become rehabilitated, so to speak, into useful allies rather than spiritual obstacles. For instance, the object of the focus of greed should be directed away from the ego and dunya (or our entanglements with the world) and become occupied with constructive purposes –– thus, the Qur’an describes the Prophet (peace be upon him) as being ‘greedy’ (Harith) for the spiritual welfare of his ummah or community.
Be this as it may, fraudulent spiritual guides are very adept at using a technique which is known as “reframing”. We are all familiar with the fact that how one frames a photograph or painting will determine what will be seen and what will not be seen in relation to that painting or picture. One can select frames which hide certain things (say, flaws in the original) as well as frames which tend to bring out certain colors or features of a painting or photograph. One also can select frames which dominate a painting or picture and take attention away from what should be the center of focus. In addition, one can choose frames which either complement a given painting or picture, and, therefore, leave one with a sense of harmony, or one can select frames which are discordant with the subject matter of a painting or photograph and create a sense of discord. The possibilities for reframing things in the context of human interaction are enormous and very complicated. Among other reasons, this is because we human beings have within us a great many weaknesses which are very vulnerable to being influenced by the manner in which things are presented to us –– quite independently of issues about the actual intrinsic value of what is being presented for consideration ... and smart sales professionals and advertisers have known this for centuries.
Yes, an authentic shaykh should show no greed for the property or service of a seeker. If I am a false spiritual guide and I wish to utilize this rule for my own self-serving purposes, what this rule says to me is this: as long as I don’t do anything which “shows” that I have greed for either the property and/or service of my followers, then, I can actually have greed for their property and/or service –– all I have to do is convince them that I don’t through the art of influence, manipulation, hypnotic suggestion, and reframing. For example, if a false teacher can induce someone to believe that, say, serving the teacher is good for the spiritual condition of a seeker, then, even without asking for service, the false teacher can command service because the whole situation has been reframed –– from one of greed for service on the part of the false teacher, to that of a seeker feeling that it is incumbent on her or him to serve the teacher and, thereby, make spiritual progress through such selfless devotion. The false teacher, through writing, discourses, stories, and so on, indirectly plants in a seeker’s consciousness that serving the teacher is a good thing, a noble thing, an act of love, and, consequently, lo and behold, without having to ask for anything, the teacher is served in more ways than one can shake a stick at.
Now, lest anyone get the wrong idea, service to others is a good thing when it has a proper niyat or sincere intention behind it. But, an unscrupulous teacher can take advantage of this and make it appear that his or her desire for the property or service of others is not present and that, instead, what we are dealing with here is merely the wish of others to serve and give to the teacher –– in fact, from time to time, the false teacher can even put on a big show about how he or she wished one’s followers wouldn’t do these things, but, in the end, bow in humility to the offer of love which is being made to the would-be teacher and accept the gift of property or service with a ‘well, what can one do’ shrug of the shoulders ... which will endear the false teacher to his or her followers even more so.
The forth rule of Shaykh Suhrawardi (May Allah be pleased with him) is:
4. Offering
Delights of offering and of severing attachments are incumbent on the shaykh.
Once again, the teaching is impeccable. A true teacher takes delight in giving to others, serving them, and severing attachments of the nafs or ego in relation to its entanglements with various dimensions of interior and exterior life. However, where there is a will, there is often a way, and the will of false teachers is inclined to look for ways of turning sound spiritual advice –– such as that which is given by Shaykh Suhrawardi (May Allah be pleased with him) –– inside out and using it to their own advantage.
Consider the technique of ‘priming the pump’. More specifically, most people know that if one wishes to get a water pump or a fuel pump or the like, going, then, sometimes, one has to add some water or fuel first in order to get the pump functioning properly. False teachers often are very good at giving things away as a means of priming the pump of material goods and/or service, so that this pump will begin to function ‘properly’ –– that is, so that followers will freely give back to the teacher without the teacher having to say much, or anything, except receive what is offered. Thus, a false teacher might give, for example, a hundred dollars to someone in need, knowing that, in time, either that individual and/or those to whom the needy person talks to about the gift, will interpret the gift-giving as indicating that the false teacher is a humble, charitable, compassionate, loving, selfless individual who is sacrificing his or her own meager resources for the good of others, or a false teacher might arrange to underwrite the expenses of a trip for someone far away to come and visit the teacher (and, more often than not, the money does not come from the teachers own resources but from the resources of someone whom the false teacher controls), and to the recipient of such a seemingly generous and selfless act of friendship, the offer and arrangements are overwhelming to such an extent that the recipient has great difficulty even considering the possibility that something evil or untoward or unsavory may be behind the offer –– which is precisely what the offer has been intended to do ... misdirect attention away from the actual motives to making someone feel guilty or ashamed for being so cynical as to suppose that the offer is not entirely sincere.
In addition, a fraudulent spiritual guide can put on great performances in the public sphere about severing attachments with issues of power, sex, money, property, comfort, control and so on. However, because most of the seekers have no clue about what actually goes on outside of the domain of publicly viewable events, it is the publicly consumed events which shapes people’s opinions, attitudes and judgments of the teacher. Moreover, in most cases, the only people who are permitted to get close to the teacher are those (1) who either have been so corrupted that they have vested interests which parallels those of the teacher and they will not blow the whistle on what is going on and, thereby, undermine their own advantages in the overall set-up, or, (2) those who have become so mesmerized by what is going on that they are ready to re-frame anything which the teacher does –– no matter how destructive and reprehensible –– as being something other than it is, or, (3) those who, however vaguely, do see what is going on, but whose psychological and emotional vulnerabilities are so intense that they cannot bring themselves to act upon what they know and, thus, suffer in silence, not knowing what to do about such knowledge, and experiencing a great deal of anxiety, stress, and fear as a result.
Shaykh Suhrawardi’s (May Allah be pleased with him) fifth rule for identifying an authentic spiritual guide is:
5. Concordance of deed and word in invitation.
Indeed, there should be no inconsistencies or disharmonies between what one says and what one does. Unfortunately, as with everything else, there are ways of circumventing this teaching and transforming it into a tool for misleading people. One of the easiest ways of accomplishing this is to allude to knowledge that the seeker does not have but that if he or she did have, the seeker would be able to utilize in order to reconcile, in a harmonious manner, what, on the surface, appear to be inconsistencies of words and deeds with respect to a false teacher. For instance, almost everyone who has done any reading about the Sufi path or who has heard what are sometimes referred to as ‘Sufi teaching stories’, is likely to be familiar with the Quranic account about Moses (peace be upon him) and Khizr (peace be upon him), the mysterious patron saint of the spiritual path who, from time to time, enters into the lives of certain people in order to teach them or assist them in some spiritual manner. When Moses (peace be upon him) encountered this mysterious figure, the former person had an intuition that this latter individual was someone who possessed hidden or esoteric knowledge which Moses (peace be upon him) hoped to learn. Moses (peace be upon him) asked permission to accompany the stranger, and permission was given with one condition –– no matter what happened, no questions could be asked, and that if any questions were asked that would be the end of the association. Moses (peace be upon him) agreed to this condition. To make a longer story somewhat shorter, there were three events which took place that offended the moral sensibilities of Moses (peace be upon him). On one occasion, Khizr (peace be upon him) put a hole in a boat that belonged to a poor fisherman. On another occasion, Khizr (peace be upon him) killed the young son of a couple who both believed in God, and, finally, on a third occasion, Khizr (peace be upon him) repaired a wall outside of a town where the two had been mistreated. Moses (peace be upon him) believed Khizr (peace be upon him) to be one who believes in, and submits to, the truth of God’s teachings, and, yet, Moses (peace be upon him) was confronted with three deeds which each seemed to conflict with what Moses (peace be upon him) understood to be the truth about treating the property of other people, the sanctity of life, and how one should behave when someone mistreats one. In each case, Khizr violated the expectations and beliefs of Moses (peace be upon him). Each time Moses (peace be upon him) asked a question. Each time, Moses (peace be upon him) was reminded of the promise he had made to not ask any questions no matter what happened. Each time, Moses (peace be upon him) sought pardon and forgiveness for having violated his promise. Each time –– except for the third instance –– he was forgiven and allowed to continue on the journey with his mysterious companion. On the third occasion, Moses (peace be upon him) was informed that the association had now come to an end, but before going their separate ways, an explanation was given of why Khizr (peace be upon him) had done what he had done. In the case of the boat, Moses (peace be upon him) was told that there was an advancing army which was confiscating all boats to use in a war, and that if a hole –– which was easily repairable –– had not been put in the boat, the fisherman, whose entire livelihood depended on that boat, would be ruined. With respect to the youth who was killed, the youngster was no good and unsalvageable and, in time, could undermine the faith of the parents who were good people, so, the youth was eliminated in order to save the parents. Finally, in the town where the two had been thoroughly mistreated by the inhabitants, a wall was repaired because it contained, hidden within it, an inheritance which belonged to two orphans who lived in the vicinity and that if the wall had deteriorated much further, the hidden contents would have been discovered by the miserable town people and they would have stolen it, and, therefore, in order to protect the inheritance of the two orphans –– who in time would be led to the treasure –– the wall was repaired to hide the secret it contained.
Fraudulent teachers can take this teaching and convert it entirely to their own unsavory purposes and all the time, come off smelling like a rose because the surface acts which “appear” reprehensible are really being described as mere camouflage for an underlying and hidden principle which serves the truth and God. If Moses (peace be upon him), as great and knowledgeable as he was, wasn’t able to fathom the truth when a servant of God (namely, Khizr –– peace be upon him) was performing in front of his eyes with God’s sanction, then, how do the rest of us, who are far removed from the elevated spiritual condition of Moses (peace be upon him), know how to differentiate between apparent discrepancies involving words and deeds which can be reconciled on a deeper level of truth, and real discrepancies between words and deeds which cannot be reconciled on a deeper level but are passed off to us as if they could be so reconciled if we only ‘knew’ what the fraudulent spiritual guide allegedly knew and which sometime, perhaps, when we become spiritually mature, we too, will have access to such secrets ... but not just now.
To be Continued tomorrow, insha'Allah.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)