1.The Exercise
Sit in a room or a quiet, private place. Better even outdoor surrounded by green trees and open air, say children playground or park.
Sit with your back straight, hands folded.
Choose one color. Try finding all things with that color, say Green. Observe for a minute or so.
Repeat with a second color. Repeat with a third color.
Close your eyes.
Choose a sound, and rest your attention on it. Listen for a few seconds or a minute or so.
Then choose another sound, and rest your attention on it. Repeat the above. Then choose a third sound. Repeat the above.
Stay put.
Rest your attention on your breath for a while. Observe how it enters you and leaves you.
Dismiss gently any distracting thoughts. In the first few practices, the thoughts will be overwhelming and perhaps disgusting, disturbing, or silly. Dismiss.
Open your eyes after a while, or whenever your heart feels like it.
The exercise is adopted from the teaching of Shaykh Ebrahim Schuitema, may God bless his work, via Ramla Akhtar's post @ Facebook Group of Zawiya Ebrahim
As our heads talk too much, this simple exercise above is fantastically helpful in taming what our spiritual brothers in Buddhist path call a "monkey mind."
Sit with your back straight, hands folded.
Choose one color. Try finding all things with that color, say Green. Observe for a minute or so.
Repeat with a second color. Repeat with a third color.
Close your eyes.
Choose a sound, and rest your attention on it. Listen for a few seconds or a minute or so.
Then choose another sound, and rest your attention on it. Repeat the above. Then choose a third sound. Repeat the above.
Stay put.
Rest your attention on your breath for a while. Observe how it enters you and leaves you.
Dismiss gently any distracting thoughts. In the first few practices, the thoughts will be overwhelming and perhaps disgusting, disturbing, or silly. Dismiss.
Open your eyes after a while, or whenever your heart feels like it.
The exercise is adopted from the teaching of Shaykh Ebrahim Schuitema, may God bless his work, via Ramla Akhtar's post @ Facebook Group of Zawiya Ebrahim
As our heads talk too much, this simple exercise above is fantastically helpful in taming what our spiritual brothers in Buddhist path call a "monkey mind."
2.
Mystics teach simple things,
And those simple things change people's lives.
- Irina Tweedie .......
3.
Postscript
This following sohbet or spiritual conversation may have happened in an ancient time or it could have happened in our time. It may have happened in an ancient city like Bokhara in Central Asia or a modern city like New York. Both time and space is immaterial, so we can ignore both.
"As you do the exercise", the Master speaks now in soft but clear voice, "when you pick and concentrate on one color and trace everything of that color, as you continue with the practice, one day will come then you will be able to concentrate on the Color of God."
"This practice that is given to us by the great Masters, is for that goal - to be able to concentrate on One Color, the Color of God and abide therein. 'Sibghata Allahi', Color yourselves in the Color of God! When that day comes when you will be able to concentrate on the Color of God know that you have reached at a major milestone in your journey back Home. Whether that day I am in this body or I am beyond the veils, I shall congratulate you that day." Saying thus the master enters into silence. Only the sound of his deep breath and birds chirping outside the lodge.
The Master resumes, "For the sound concentration, learn to hear only One Sound. The reason we come back again and again to the simplest sound of our breath is because this is the first sound our being heard as our spirit entered our body in the womb of our mother, may God bless all mothers in the world." Saying thus the face of the Master changes, tears roll up in his pure eyes. His closest friend and long time student understood that the Master is remembering his mother who is no longer in this world and passed away when the Master was still a young man.
Not trying to hide his tears, with diamond glitters in his eyes the Master continues, "With every inbreath Hu, with every outbreath Hu. Thats the goal for this part of the exercise. Hear only One Sound, Hu, the Nameless Name of the Beloved.
For the Muqarrabun in this path, those who are drawn near to God there is only one virtue and only one sin for the soul: virtue when one's breath is conscious of God and sin when one's breath is not. In surrender to His Infinite Mercy may we be included and accepted among the Muqarrabun."
"As you do the exercise", the Master speaks now in soft but clear voice, "when you pick and concentrate on one color and trace everything of that color, as you continue with the practice, one day will come then you will be able to concentrate on the Color of God."
"This practice that is given to us by the great Masters, is for that goal - to be able to concentrate on One Color, the Color of God and abide therein. 'Sibghata Allahi', Color yourselves in the Color of God! When that day comes when you will be able to concentrate on the Color of God know that you have reached at a major milestone in your journey back Home. Whether that day I am in this body or I am beyond the veils, I shall congratulate you that day." Saying thus the master enters into silence. Only the sound of his deep breath and birds chirping outside the lodge.
The Master resumes, "For the sound concentration, learn to hear only One Sound. The reason we come back again and again to the simplest sound of our breath is because this is the first sound our being heard as our spirit entered our body in the womb of our mother, may God bless all mothers in the world." Saying thus the face of the Master changes, tears roll up in his pure eyes. His closest friend and long time student understood that the Master is remembering his mother who is no longer in this world and passed away when the Master was still a young man.
Not trying to hide his tears, with diamond glitters in his eyes the Master continues, "With every inbreath Hu, with every outbreath Hu. Thats the goal for this part of the exercise. Hear only One Sound, Hu, the Nameless Name of the Beloved.
For the Muqarrabun in this path, those who are drawn near to God there is only one virtue and only one sin for the soul: virtue when one's breath is conscious of God and sin when one's breath is not. In surrender to His Infinite Mercy may we be included and accepted among the Muqarrabun."
+ Resources:
. Join the Facebook Group of Zawiya Ebrahim for teachings, updates and further resources
. A collection of the works of Shaykh Ebrahim Schuitema: Articles and Literary Works
. Becoming Conscious Through Our Senses
video interview by Peter Kingsley via Global Oneness Project
. Abraham: Training of monkey mind, youtube
+ Related:
. Conscious Breath | Reshad Feild
. Awareness in the Breath | Awareness in the Moment
. Only Breath - Rumi
. Painting credit: Coloured Glass
7 comments:
bhitore bahire antare antare ......shudhui TUMI...shudhui TUMI...Allah Hu....Allah Hu ....Allah Hu.
nice post.we can also say it "self realization exercise".
may Allah help us to reach our destination.
Attachment`s are the basic cause of bringing the pure Self(Immortal) in to the framework of mortal body, called birth in this world of you and me. In between, The I am (reflection of the Pure Self) and the inert shell ,the body( made out of 5-basic element of creation), there is a mysterious presence of 3rd.called Mind. Now it depends upon the Mind, how it will behaves in the world.
Infact,every matter in this world are Inert , what matters actually is the Mind only. So far,3M(Materials, Machine and Money) have been developed/used successfully, because nature is inert here. But, the 4rth., Man basically Mind cannot be treated in the same manner. It has vibrant consciousness within it, may bring waterloo for Science and Technology.
Mind is under influence of topsy-turvy evolution of Consciousness, since ever. Practices,religions,and saint`s have come and gone by civilization to civilizations, but Mind could not be trained successfully so far. What it is?
Mind is a beautiful instrument in the hands of the Mother, through which She exercises control over all of us. Animals and below species are controlled through instinct/reflexes, because, their instrument has not yet developed. Human birth has fully developed Mind & it`s nervous system. Therefore, the Consciousness appears , resounding itself, as the feel of “I am ness” for the first time, in human birth only,and the Mother/Shakti sleeps in dormancy. This little I am(Consciousness) needs to evole further, in order to be able to go back to the Source.
Is this not a journey of the Pure Self!
Your site is very small in order to consume these subjective topics Mind,Consciousness and beyond.May be the users are not yet awakened enough. Chandram Thakur
Dear Chandra, There is a conundrum here, if you will pause to recognize it..........
On the one hand you say that the site is very small (by which I assume that you mean limited) and you speculate that this 'smallness' is the consequence of the users not yet being 'awakened enough'.
On the other hand, it seems to me that takes a being who is not himself not very fully awakened to make such a judgment about others, does it not?
And yes, it takes someone equally pitiful (like me) to find it within themselves to illuminate these painful contradictions wherever they encounter them.
Alhamdulillah.
Farhana, I see Chandra's point. He was saying limited (as i understand it) is because of the gravity of the subject matter and the vastness of wisdom these each topic of self knowledge contains. i will agree too that many subject i opt to post time to time deserve life time of study, my job is very small, to inspired in that very moment and if God wills something further can flower from there on the himmah (intention and drive) of the individual reader who chance upon here or who is brought here. So i would agree with Chandra.
and on the second point, user being awakened or not, if i am to look at, i would certainly say yes we are not awakened enough - is the safest attitude to have and rely upon. else there is no growth and further awakening.
Chandra,
i appreciate your sharing of these pearls of wisdom. there is no disagreement that the self / consciousness require further evolution even on a larger human scale, let alone individually. on macro level of humanity we are still as if living in the beginning of middle age. we are still killing other fellow human beings for what is beneath the soil (oil and minerals), we are still killing humans with savage mind. evolution has a lot to play still.
Dear Self ‘Farhana',
Let`s understand a Sufi story. A men went to a Sufi Saint in a Masjid, and asked to him, that he has come to get illuminated this very night. Saint said alright,but you have to do a thing for me before I illuminate you. There are few lamps, put some oil and light up them all. He got busy immediately on to the task. He found that oil is mixed with water, lamp were also not in good condition(they were unbaked earthen lamps).Struggling over for about an hour, he went back to the Saint. Said to him that lamps are unbaked, it will not hold the oil and the oil is mixed with water,therefore,it will not help in burning of lamp. Saint said so you make corrections on to these and light up the lamps. The man said, it`s not possible in this night. Saint replied, you have come here to get illuminated in this night. How is it possible for me to illuminate in this night? Your body has to be made like a burnt earthen lamp, so that it can hold oil. your mind has to be refined from worldly attachment`s(watery substance) in order to burn like oil. Your consciousness is like cotton strings, normally available in 3 basic forms –tamasic (inertial behavior) means energy is still dormant, rajasic means energy liberated in to passions and sattvic i.e. right concentration means will to surrender. When these are available to you, sit down beside the Saint, who is a burning flame of the divine and you will be illumined by yourself from within.
One see`s the world in accordance to the degree of illumination, unilluminated will only see the body, Goldsmith will be keen in purity of gold if you are wearing ornaments in front of him. So are Jyani`s and Pure hearted Saint`s, they see the presence of divine everywhere.
Kabir says;”jahhan tahhan Hansa najar pare, samujhi pare jaab dhyana dharai” means ‘here and there see`s Swan(reflection of the Self),but will be understood only when you will pass through the boundaries in Meditation.
Farhana, if the desire to know, who is Farhana, or who bears this name Farhana in me is strong , then digging onto this alone, will bring fruits of virtues in life. He will create situations for your purification in order to be near you.
Have you not heard; aaleefe aalah chammeli booti… Nafiaas baat kaa paani..He is the beginning of all, put His name like a seed in your heart and nurse it well with good thought, it will sprung out through all your veins and cells, definitely a day. Chandram.Thakur
Dear Self “Mystic saint”,
Evolution and involution is His is game plan, in Vedic system we call it ‘Leela’. Have heard a Sufi line; Rooh ko jism ke pinjarey ka bana kar panchchi, saamaney maut ka pehara bhi bitha rakha haai. Further line say`s and off and on, you are sending Saint`s also to remind me that I have to break this confinement in order to fly free .
Evolution in larger scale is the work assigned to Prophets,saint`s,Avataras, dear one`s of the Divine, appearing here in this world as per the wish of the Divine. One can take care of the self, can become example to others,service,brotherhood, mercy ,love, compassion are central teaching in all sects.So,therefore,Be good,Do good. As far as macro level, world has always been like this. Please do not create guilt in you. It is His responsibility.
Consciousness is like a wave in the Ocean, it comes and goes. Thought patterns in your mind are also waves, comes and goes, apply policy of forgive and forget.
Awareness is the Whole, like depth of ocean, no wave can disturb it`s Silence and Peace. There cannot be a consciousness without awareness, but there can be awareness without consciousness. Think….can there be a thought without Mind. There can be a Mind without thought. If you can, You hold the key to the door of Divine!ChandraM.Thakur
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