New eBook: The Pathology of Leadership: A Sufi's Perspective

The word "leadership" is, and has been for some time, a buzz word which is espoused by many to be 'the' key to solving most, if not all, of the problems in the world. If only there were the 'right' sort of leaders in the world, then the political, economic, educational, business, scientific, environmental, military, judicial, and spiritual difficulties facing humankind could be resolved.

The desire for leadership is a pathological disorder which is engendered in others by those who already have succumbed to the malady. Leadership is a delusional belief system in which a human being believes that he or she should be given (or usurp) the authority to organize and control the lives of other human beings.

Chaos is not the opposite of leadership. The co-operation of equals stands in opposition to the idea of leadership.

Every human being is sovereign and has an inalienable right to seek to push back the horizons of ignorance free from interference as long as such efforts are consonant with honoring a like right in relation to others. Reconciling the boundaries of sovereignty among human beings is a dynamic, complex, and nuanced process ... a process that can only be successfully navigated by means of an exercise of co-operation among sovereign individuals and not through the leadership of the few with respect to the many.

This book explores different aspects of the pathological character of 'leadership.' Once the underlying principles of the delusional disorder are appreciated, an individual might be in a better position to realize the character of the pathology of leadership and resist its seductive, Siren-like wail.

 

This book is now available at Smashwords, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble and soon will be released at Amazon in paperback.

 

To purchase the Kindle version, click this link:  Amazon Kindle

Sunflower blooming here at Bilquees Press

From the garden at Bilquees Press.

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.













 

Kashf
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.

New Full-Length Play by Bill Whitehouse - Strange Circumstances - Kindle Book

The Unfinished Revolution: The Battle for America's Soul by Bill Whitehouse

If interested, the book can be purchased either through: Choice 1 (more expensive) or
through Choice 2 (less expensive).

Sufi Reflections Podcast No. 42 is now available.

To download, click here or subscribe to the Sufi Reflections Podcast at iTunes.

The Unfinished Revolution: The Battle for America's Soul

The Unfinished Revolution:  The Battle for America's Soul by Bill Whitehouse is now available in the Amazon Kindle Store and soon will be available in the iBookstore, Barnes & Noble, and other bookstores as an eBook and a hard copy book. 

The 'Occupy Movement' took many people by surprise with both its scope, as well as with the manner in which it resonated with the deep sense of discontentment that appears to be felt by many people in the United States concerning the economic and political character of American life. This book is intended to help bring a sharper focus to the concerns that are inherent in the dissatisfaction that people have concerning the idea of 'politics as usual' by offering a clear differentiation between the way of power (i.e., poltics as usual) and the way of sovereignty that gives expression to a very different notion of democracy ... one that is constructive, not destructive.

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Click to go to the Amazon Kindle Store

To purchase this book from us click this link.

Autonomy - A Sufi's Perspective

The struggle to establish control over our lives is a theme which is intimately woven into the fabric of our existence. In one way or another, we all seek to carve out a place on which we can stand and defend ourselves against intrusions into, and possible threats to, our space, our privacy, our movements, our choices, our time, our possessions, and our identities.

From the very earliest days of our developmental odyssey, the story of our growth is influenced greatly by skirmishes and battles concerning the perceived locus of control in our lives. Our relationship with parents, siblings, relatives, playmates, neighbors, religious figures, school mates, teachers, adolescent friends, bosses, work mates, clients, romantic liaisons, in-laws, and children frequently revolve around problems of whom gets to set the agenda for how, or if, the relationship will proceed and under what set of conditions.

We tend to define who we are and aren't according to the character and outcome of all the different kind of locus-of-control issues which run through our lives. How serious were they? How intense? Were they protracted? What tactics were used?

How important was control in any given instance? Was it an atmosphere of take no prisoners or were there civil negotiations? How long were the periods of relative peace between significant differences of opinion concerning locus of control problems? Were there peaceful alternatives available to hostile encounters? Did the confrontations do lasting damage, or were they no big deal?

The answer to all the above questions, and many others of a similar nature that might be asked, will have a profound impact on us. They will affect our sense of: identity, integrity, self-esteem, and ability to function effectively in a variety of social settings.

If we are lucky, we come out of all this with, perhaps, a few bruises and a couple of scars. However, our basic feeling about ourselves as, in some nontrivial sense, worthwhile human beings is still intact.

One might even argue our sense of self has been enhanced by the rigors of, and lessons learned from, that developmental process. Moreover, we have " war" stories to swap with other people - stories that both link us to, as well as differentiate us from, other people who have gone through their own operational theater of developmental conflicts.

If we are unlucky, we end up as casualties. Even worse, we may end up creating other casualties.

We may survive these wars, but we do not always do so free of the horrendous ramifications which may ensue from the seemingly unending years of conflicts. Emotional trauma, arrested psychological development, inability to form intimate relationships with others, poor self-esteem, various kinds of stress syndrome, under-achievement, over-achievement, ambivalence, confusion, inability to commit oneself, debilitating anxiety, and a free-floating malaise are but a few of the dysfunctional possibilities which we may carry with us as mementos of the 'campaigns' marking different stages of our formative years.

There is a very fundamental sense in which much of what goes on in politics, economics, marriage, and other social institutions is dominated by contentious forays into battlefields strewn with bunkers of resistance involving locus of control, perceived or actual. Such battlefields are disasters waiting to happen because they bring together a highly volatile mixture of unresolved or problematically resolved locus of control issues from our collective developmental processes.

Issues of: right or wrong; just or unjust; democratic or undemocratic; equitable or inequitable; legal or illegal; and, reasonable or unreasonable often form only the playing field in which locus of control issues become the game within the game. We talk in terms of values, rights, freedoms, truth and the 'good' as being the reasons for struggling in, say, the political or economic arena. Yet, in reality, we frequently use such language in order to shift attention away from the fact that, more often than not, the issue which actually is being contended is a matter of locus of control in and of itself.

We want to do whatever appeals to us, and we want to do it whenever it appeals to us to do so. Moreover, what appeals to us may not be a function of what is, ultimately, actually true or good or right or just; rather, what appeals to us tends to be a function of our own desires, independent of considerations of truth, justice, and so on.

Indeed, we often try to argue that our desires necessarily reflect what is true or good or just or right. As a result, we convince ourselves that the alleged equivalence between our desires and all that is good and true justifies the locus of control being under our tender, fiduciary care.

From the Sufi perspective, true autonomy is not primarily a question of how we fare in conflicts involving locus of control issues vis-a-vis other people, whether in the past or the present. A Sufi is only free when she or he has realized the essential self and acts in accordance with that nature.

For the Sufi, an individual could be in prison or in chains or limited by the constraints imposed by others. Yet, the individual still could have autonomy if the person were to respond to those conditions in terms of the individual's essential nature and true self.

On the other hand, a person might, seemingly, possesses the locus of control concerning the lives of other people. Nevertheless, this individual might have no substantive autonomy because the person's essential nature was in bondage to, and imprisoned by, the person's own desires - the entity which actually is setting the agenda.

Such an individual may be " free" to desire. However, this person does not have autonomy over those desires.

The Sufi does not seek control over the lives of other people. The Sufi does not enter into conflict with others over matters of locus of control.

The true locus of control is with God. The Sufi attempts to discern how that locus of control is being manifested in any given set of circumstances. Once this has been determined, then, the individual, according to the person's capacity and God's support, will merge horizons with the structural character of that locus of control as it unfolds over time.

The locus of control is a manifestation of God's will and gives expression to the passion play of existence. The more attuned one is to God's will, the greater will be one's ability to detect, and adapt to, the shifting currents of the manifestation which are being expressed through the passion play as it reflects the will of God.

We adapt ourselves to the will of God not by trying to change or control others but by changing, and having autonomy over, our desires and intentions and attitudes. In fact, the great tragedy of so much of the developmental process is that very few people involved in the struggle over issues of locus of control have any understanding of, or insight into, what the real issues of locus of control are.

More specifically, the issue is not about which of the people engaged in a conflict is able to win the battle of dominance in any given set of circumstances. The issue is how do we collectively realize our essential autonomy so we can find harmonious and creative ways to align ourselves with the will of God as it manifests itself through the currents and eddies of the passion play of existence in which we are participant observers.

There is something deeply, intrinsically attractive about those people who are able, by the Grace of God, to accomplish this kind of transformation. In fact, it is deliciously ironic that such people who do not seek or wish to have control over others end up influencing the desires of so many people who are inspired by their example and want to follow in their footsteps and seek the same sort of transformative essential autonomy exemplified in the lives of individuals such as the Sufi masters.

The Spirit of the Sufi Path

Sufi Reflections Podcast 41

The latest edition of the Sufi Reflections Podcast is now available for downloading. If you don't already have an RSS feed to the podcast, then, you can download a copy of the foregoing at: Podcast 41

A new book from Bilquees Press: Science, Spirituality and Symmetry by Bill Whitehouse

The premises at the heart of this 100 page extended essay are the following: (1) the principles that constitute the methodological processes of science and spirituality/mysticism closely mirror one another; (2) in addition, both sets of methodological processes entail the property of symmetry -- which, reduced to its essential nature, involves the preservation of invariant properties (that, hopefully, reflect some aspect of truth) across the set of transformations that give expression to the respective methodologies of science and spirituality. In the process of developing the foregoing two premises, this book also takes the reader through an overview of a number of the unsolved mysteries of modern science, together with a biographical synopsis of some of the life events that led the author along the path toward formulating the ideas which make up the essence of this work.

This book is now available in the Amazon Kindle store:

http://www.amazon.com/Science-Spirituality-and-Symmetry-ebook/dp/B005V253WM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318607020&sr=8-1

This ebook is also available at Barnes and Noble and will soon be available in the iBookstore and Kobo Books.

Spiritual Capacity - A Sufi's Perspective

Spiritual Capacity

 

From the perspective of the Sufi path, every human being has a unique spiritual capacity. However, not every capacity necessarily will be realized to its full extent, or even in part.

Life is the opportunity provided by God to become busy with doing the things required for bringing one' s essential capacity on line. Whether or not we take advantage of the chance extended to us, is a matter of choice and an exercise in free will.

Spirituality is only one of the potentials we have been given. We each have been outfitted, so to speak, with other non-spiritual capacities. For example, the capacity for life itself is expressed through our biological nature. Our bodies, including the brain, have been equipped with sensory and locomotor modalities. In addition, we have, in varying degrees: intellectual abilities; creative capacities; a spectrum of emotional possibilities; talents of one sort or another, and a capacity for language.

The Sufi masters also sometimes talk of a wide variety of other powers and capabilities which are, under the right circumstances, available to human beings. These capacities range from: the ability to dream, to various kinds of so-called psychic and occult powers.

Many of these latter kinds of capacity are so infrequently accessed or encountered in any direct way, they are considered to be fictional in nature by most of us. Nonetheless, although such abilities are not really part of, nor pertinent to, the Sufi path, the masters of the way do confirm their existence.

Our numerous capacities generate a multiplicity of experiential possibilities, each of which is conducive to extended exploration. In fact, as human beings, we have such a diverse set of capabilities, potentials, capacities, and powers available to us, we easily become confused about, or distracted from, the purpose of life.

According to the Sufi masters, even if we succeed in developing a whole slew of our many abilities, yet, ignore our spiritual possibilities, we will have failed in life' s primary mission. On the other hand, if we sincerely attempt to realize our spiritual capacity, but fail in relation to some of the other capacities, we, nevertheless, will have chosen the right priorities in life as far as the Sufi path is concerned.

To be sure, there are individuals who, by the grace of God, realize their spiritual capacity and, as well, realize one or more other capabilities. These people may be great musicians or artists or poets or leaders and, yet, not have neglected their spiritual dimension.

The foregoing sort of people tend to be relatively rare. They certainly are individuals of immense ability and good fortune.

They are not necessarily the standard by which most of the rest of us ought to gauge our lives. We can appreciate such lives without either feeling compelled to emulate them or feeling one' s life is somehow impoverished for not having been as accomplished as them in various ways.

The primary focus should be on realizing our essential, spiritual capacity. Indeed, according to the Sufi masters, if one goes about the task and challenge of spiritual realization properly, one, generally, will have little interest in, or inclination toward, doing anything else - except in some minimally necessary manner that still will permit justice to be done to other facets of one' s life.

When one becomes absorbed in God, everything else becomes arranged and organized as a function of that absorption. Priorities are set, and attention is given, in relation to how possibilities and activities can be accommodated to, or become expressions of, one' s spiritual orientation.

God may inspire us to do great things. Nevertheless, this is God' s will acting on us for Divine purposes. For us, on our own, to seek to do great things above and beyond the business of realizing one' s spiritual capacity is a sign of the presence of ego. Many of us sometimes mistake the call of the ego for the call of God.

God has a part waiting for us in the Divine passion play. Whether we opt for the role of the fool who squanders his or her spiritual potential, or we strive for the part of the servant of God who struggles to realize her or his essential spiritual capacity, will make no difference to the beauty and majesty of the play.

In either case, we will bring our own, inimitable style to the existential stage. In success or failure, our contribution will be unique.

Either kind of uniqueness will fit equally well into the unfolding of the play. Our choices will neither improve nor diminish the quality of the production or staging process.

There is room for heroines and heroes. However, villains and villainesses are welcome as well. If anything, the presence of antagonistic forces merely heightens the dramatic tension of the whole affair.

In one sense, the choice of roles is entirely up to us. On the other hand, there are a variety of twists, turns and mysteries involved in the plot line.

Sometimes we can have our heart set on playing the bad guy and, suddenly, our world is turned upside down and we start acting, much to our disgust, the part of the hero or heroine. At other times we may be quite prepossessed with being on the side of right and good only to find ourselves falling head first into the underside of life.

Some of these role reversals are temporary. Some of them are permanent. In all cases, they are reflections of capacities within us, and we all wonder where we will end up when the music stops and the house lights are turned on.

We have a unique potential to know God and to experience Divinity. We each have a unique capacity to give expression to the Names and Attributes of God.

Sufi masters maintain that human beings, alone in all of creation, have the capacity to reflect all the Names and Attributes of God. Other aspects of creation do reflect various dimensions of the Names and Attributes of God according to their capacity, but none of the rest of creation has the potential given to human beings.

As indicated previously, there are differences in spiritual capacity among human beings. However, each of these capacities, if realized, can reflect the full, infinite spectrum of Divine Names and Attributes. Each has the potential to do so in a unique fashion.

Because spiritual capacities are unique, there really is no basis for comparison. All jewels have their own beauty and appeal. Each jewel brings something that cannot be offered by any other jewel.

The only ground for comparison lies within the individual. The sole criterion for such comparison is what a person has been able to actualize in the way of spiritual realization, as measured against that individual' s essential spiritual capacity. The degree of success or failure in life is a function of the status of the ratio of these two factors

Baqa - A Sufi's Perspective

Deep within us there is a longing for permanence and stability. We dream of a place or condition in which we can feel completely at rest in some fundamental way.

In our heart of hearts we fervently hope that an abiding, essential sense of peace and security will somehow come into our lives and embrace us. We scan the horizons within us and around us for some trace of the very archetype, as it were, in which the idea of home, in the best sense of the term, is rooted.

This deep sense of longing or dreaming or hoping shadows us for much, if not all, of our lives. It is pervasive and persistent, and, yet, seems like a will-o'-the-wisp which cannot be pinned down in any concrete, determinate manner.

We have a feeling we might be able to recognize the object of this longing if we ever were to come face to face with it. However, in the meantime, the longing just manifests itself as: an ineffable emptiness waiting to be filled; or, as an amorphous cosmic alienation waiting to be dissipated.

Many of the activities we pursue throughout our lives are actually attempts to satisfy the aforementioned longing. We entertain a wide variety of candidates during the course of our existence on Earth.

We seek to derive experiences of essential belonging in different organizations, groups, political parties, institutions and communities. We try to resolve the longing through relationships, marriage, sexual intimacy and families. We look to careers to fill the emptiness which haunts our waking hours.

Sooner or later, most of us discover that none of the foregoing, either individually or in combination, are capable of satisfying our longing. As a result, many of us pursue activities which will either anesthetize the pain or distract us from such pain.

Thus, some of us drink to excess and take drugs. Some of us become promiscuous. Some of us take up hobbies. Some of become sports fanatics.

Some of us gamble. Some of us go shopping. Some of us become inveterate party-goers or fitness buffs. Some of us bury ourselves in our work and so on.

Sometimes we plunge into these sorts of activity as a kind of distant consolation. In other words, they don't necessarily quench the longing inside, but we find them enjoyable and, perhaps, even satisfying in certain ways.

Many of us, for the most part, have given up on ever finding a way to resolve our essential longing. Therefore, we try to find whatever small consolations in life we can and let it go at that.

In addition, due to our lack of success in locating the key or keys that will unravel the puzzle of unrequited longing, many of us gravitate toward bitterness, frustration, and disillusionment. As a result, we become prone to depression and cynicism.

Furthermore, since many of us are ill at ease with ourselves due to our feelings of alienation from things in general, as a result of our inability to experience a sense of being at home within ourselves and within the universe, many of us become easily annoyed with other people. Consequently, we tend to become involved in endless rounds of bickering, conflict and disputations.

Most of us may not even have any inkling why we do these things. They kind of just happen. We have plenty of rationalizations but no real answers.

In fleeting moments of reflection, we may feel the reverberations of the longing. However dimly we understand its significance, we often sense that satisfying that hunger is the key to many of our problems.

Yet, the solution to our dilemma remains as elusive as ever. Time moves on. The reverie evaporates before our eyes.

We long for stability and permanence, but we are inundated by transience and instability. Whatever happiness we find, it does not last. Whatever joy we find, it comes to an end. Whatever peace we stumble onto is but a brief reprieve in the eye of life's storms.

Like a roller coaster, our lives creep ever so slowly up the track to that first peak. Childhood and adolescence seem to last forever. Suddenly, our stomachs slam into our throats, and the descent of our lives takes us careening down the track through a few twists and turns to the end of the line.

We cannot get off. We cannot stop it. We only get one ride.

Desperately, we try to make sense of the ride. However, this is very difficult to do because everything is changing so quickly. Moreover, almost all of our attention and energies are spent screaming and trying not to regurgitate our lunch.

The Sufi masters indicate that essential permanence (baqa) can be realized, if God wishes, under certain circumstances or conditions. The Sufi path gives expression to these circumstances and conditions.

To find permanence and stability in the midst of fluctuation, one must permit God, through the exercise of one's free will, to remove everything except the will of God from one's soul, heart and essential being.

God alone is permanent. Consequently, everything which veils the presence of such permanence must be dissolved.

The guidance of the Sufi masters, the practices, the moral training, the struggle, the litanies, and so on are all supports provided by God to assist the individual to work toward permanence. Permanence is realized when the true self is, and the false self is not.

Only the true self is capable of giving expression to the will of God in an undistorted fashion. Only the true self is capable of participating in the quality of permanence. Only the true self has the capacity for essential and complete servitude before God. Only the perfect servant is able to reflect the will of God as God wishes it to be reflected through such a capacity.

God desires permanence for us. This is so because through permanence human capacity realizes its purpose and potential as an expression of God's will.

The reality of permanence cannot be described. It can only be experienced. Nonetheless, the experience of permanence colors, directs, shapes, informs and orients everything which the individual thinks, says, feels, does and is. This is what is entailed by those whom abide in God's permanence and, as a result, journey with, and by, Divinity.

Download Sufi Reflections Podcast No. 40.

Balance - A Sufi Perspective

One of the most sought after, yet elusive, qualities in life is balance. We are besieged with a plethora of problems and issues which are demanding our attention: finances, family, career, education, meaning, desires, spirituality, friends, politics, health, fears, love, pollution, identity, crime, purpose, death and so on.

How do we budget our time and set our priorities to do justice to these issues? Furthermore, even if we could find the time and energy to delve into these areas with something more than superficial commitment, what should we do? What exactly does doing justice to these issues entail?

How we view death often has a huge influence on how we go about living life. Our attitudes toward death affect our system of values, goals and choices.

Who we believe ourselves to be, has ramifications for education, family, career, politics, crime and love. Are we animals? If so, what kind of animal are we?

Are we rational beings? If so, what does it mean to be rational?

Do we have a soul? If so, what, if anything, follows from this with respect to the question of identity?

What does being healthy mean? One can be physically fit and, yet, be emotionally crippled. One can be emotionally and psychologically well-adjusted to a given set of societal norms and, nonetheless, turn a blind eye to injustice, abuse, homelessness, poverty, hunger and corruption.

Some might say the ability to shut out the world and stay focused on only the things one can control is the key to emotional and psychological stability in a complex world. Yet, how many times do we discover, much to our chagrin, that the world we have shut out has the capacity to radically affect what we can and cannot control in our own lives?

No one is an island because it is in the nature of the world to refuse to leave us alone. Even if we do not go seeking the world, nonetheless, the world will come looking for us.

We may be convinced we are, in some sense of the word, spiritual beings. We may even be very much involved in spiritual activities of one sort or another.

We may prioritize our lives as a function of spiritual values, orientation and the like. Yet, in our heart of hearts, in the stillness of the night, we may wonder about: why we still have doubts and why we feel so empty and estranged from everything - especially God.

We are constantly borrowing from Paul to pay Peter and, then, borrowing from Mary to pay Paul, and so on. More specifically, we devote time to our career by borrowing, if not stealing, time from our families. We borrow money in order to buy things in order to try to make up for what we have borrowed from our families. We steal time and energy away from the pressing social issues of the day in order to work to pay back the money we have borrowed to give to our families.

We borrow time from spiritual pursuits to devote toward satisfying various sorts of physical, emotional and psychological desires we have. We go to weekly religious services as a kind of down payment on our intention to do more spiritually in the future.

We borrow time from a whole set of activities in order to have the opportunity for an education to prepare for a career and, possibly, to learn the meaning of life. When our education is completed, we borrow some more time and energy in order to go fishing, or whatever, and reflect on why we always seem to be running behind on our payments to life.

Juggling is not taught in the vast majority of public schools, secondary schools, universities and colleges of the world. There are no post-doctoral programs in the art of juggling.

If you want to be a juggler, then join the circus or go to clown school. However, many of us feel very much like clowns because our lives appear, in so many ways, to be circus-like. Our lives are filled with: animal acts; high wire feats performed without a net; death-defying stunts; fast-foods; showmanship; a lot of moving from place to place, and, finally, a fairly substantial mess to clean up before we fold up our tents and silently steal away into the night.

We have a sense in which, as card-carrying circus performers we ought to know how to juggle the different parts of our lives. Unfortunately, most of us are unable to do so because no one has taught us the necessary skills.

The Sufi masters are very accomplished jugglers. They have dedicated the better part of their lives to learning the techniques, discipline, concentration and aesthetics necessary to be artful practitioners with respect to meeting the extraordinary challenge of keeping all the components of life in harmonious movement.

In order to be a proficient juggler in the mystical sense, one needs to learn when and how to grab hold of a component of life. Furthermore, in order to ply one's craft competently, one also needs to know when and how to let go of the various aspects of one's life. One also needs to know where to place these features as one releases them.

In addition, one needs to know how to simultaneously focus on what is at hand, as well as to be aware of what is going on around one. To be capable of juggling excellence, one must be prepared to improvise, on the spur of the moment, as unforeseen contingencies threaten the harmonious movement of the different components of one's life.

To be a Sufi juggler, one must learn to trust one's inherent capacity to juggle. However, before one can learn to trust oneself in this regard, one must learn how to trust the individual who is helping one to develop juggling skills.

Without trust of this latter sort, one will never find one's way to realizing one's inherent capacity for juggling. Without trust in one's teacher one will never come to understand, with any clarity or intensity, that learning how to juggle is a fundamental part of the calling and purpose of human existence.

To be a Sufi juggler, one has to have a deep, sincere and abiding desire to commit oneself to all that becoming a juggler presupposes. One must be prepared to make sacrifices and to accept the rigors of the training program. One must be ready to patiently deal with, and persevere through, the frustrations of protracted periods of juggling incompetence, before one experiences the joy and exhilaration of being, if God wishes, a successful participant in such an art form.

Ultimately, to be a Sufi juggler, one must understand that one is not the juggler but the jugglee. One is the object being juggled. One's life, in all its myriad aspects, is brought into harmonious movement by the Supreme Juggler. As such, learning to be a Sufi juggler involves giving oneself over to that process and not interfering with it, and, thereby, permitting the forces of balance and harmony to flow through one in an unimpeded fashion.

To be a Sufi juggler, one must abandon one's desire to be a juggler. To be a Sufi juggler, one must be content with being a witness to, and servant of, the acts of the one and only true juggler in existence.

To attain this station of understanding, may seem to be a rather dubious, if not trivial, achievement. Nevertheless, those individuals who have been permitted to bring this process to resolution, are deeply satisfied with the result and prefer it to all other possibilities. They indicate that all lasting and non-illusory meaning, purpose, identity, significance, direction, value, and balance are derived from, and through, such an understanding.

Sufi Reflections Podcast No. 39

Sufi Reflections Podcast No. 39 is now available for downloading.  We hope you'll join us! This is our new staff member at Bilquees Press and the Interrogative Imperative Institute, Yuri, becoming acquainted with the podcasting microphone.

Human Potential - A video

http://spiritual-health.org/potential.htm

Sufi Reflections Podcast No. 38

 

Download: SufiReflections38