God Most High hath brought forth creation and said, "Entrust Me with your secrets. If you do not do this, then look toward Me. If you do not do this, then listen to Me. If you do not do this then wait at My door. If you do none of this, at least tell Me your needs." - SahlThis beautiful saying contains mystic gnosis of highest nature, answer to our heart and also it is a ladder to an invisible hierarchy to the journey back to God.
As for the gnosis and entrusting the secrets, in the saying of Mustafa, the mystic master of Sufis in the sacred tradition of islam we find, God says, "Man is my Secret (Sirr) and I Am his Secret." The greatest secret of human existence is our Soul. And to entrust our soul, the most precious secret of ours is the greatest act of trust and only Beloved is worthy of such sacred trust.
As for looking towards God, Prophet Muhammad, holy benediction towards his noble soul, said, "Excellence is this that you Pray to God as if you see God, if you can not attain that, pray as if God sees you." Thus to be able to pray in that state where one stands in the Holy Presence is part of mystic practice. In the teaching wisdom of sufi mystic Kharraz, "When entering on prayer you should come into the presence of God .., stand before Him with no mediator between." Hafiz and Daniel Ladinsky have spoken beautifully regarding seeing God not only inside prayer but outside and everywhere. And the poems ending reminds me of St. Francis of Assisi and his love affair with animals:
Start seeing everything as God
But keep it a secret
Become like a man who is awestruck
and nourished, listening to a golden nightingale
sing in a beautiful foreign language
while God nests invisibly upon it's tongue.
Hafiz, who can you tell
in this world
That when a dog
runs up to you
wagging it's ecstatic tail,
you bend down
and whisper in it's ear
'Beloved, I am so glad
that you are happy to see me,
Beloved, I am so glad,
so very glad,
that you have come.'
~ Hafiz ~
As for listening to God, one contemporary scholar gives the analogy of divine inspiration by saying that, 'the transmission is always there but our receiving instrument is not in right tune, not in right frequency. Thus most people are unable to tune into the outpouring of message that is always there, that is descending and ascending ceaselessly.' If we learned how to listen we could listen to the divine inspiration always as it happens outside of time. Its happening now as it happened in the past. On a different level, in our meditation, in our silencing the mind chatter we enter into a space where we can hear the divine voice within. Thus it is said, while prayer is our speaking to God, meditation is listening to God - thus the place of meditation is higher than prayer. Listening to God (meditation) is a higher station than our speaking to God (prayer). Prophet Muhammad thus said, "One hour of meditation / contemplation is worth forty years of worship / prayer."
As for waiting at God's Door is the secret of surrender. Wait implies our humility before God, our abject need in front of Him as creation is poor and in need of God while God is Independent of His creation. Waiting also implies patience on our part and trust in the grace of Beloved.
As for waiting at God's Door is the secret of surrender. Wait implies our humility before God, our abject need in front of Him as creation is poor and in need of God while God is Independent of His creation. Waiting also implies patience on our part and trust in the grace of Beloved.About our waiting at God's Door Hafiz again:
Just sit there right now.
Don't do a thing.
Just rest.
For your separation from God
is the hardest work in the world.
Don't do a thing.
Just rest.
For your separation from God
is the hardest work in the world.
Hafiz calls this doing nothing but waiting as the hardest work because this is surrender and surrender is hardest. To our rational mind doing nothing perhaps doesn't make sense but it is the key to freedom. In the teachings of mystic masters doing nothing is not passive, but an active and dynamic surrender. Turning to the wisdom of Hafiz in his poetry on the freedom (consequently fun) that comes from surrender:
Hafez, if you leave your affair to God's wisdom,
you can have a lot of fun with your destiny.
In the zen teaching we find that as we surrender control over the condition, we allow things to be as they are. We allow the entire world to play itself out in front of our eyes. This profound action implies an immense respect for the intrinsic nature of everything (people and events), for a larger design in the universe, which brings our good to us, and removes that which no longer belongs. This trusting in the intrinsic nature of everything and surrendering to that is a great wisdom teaching of buddhist path.
From Secret to Seeing to Listening to Waiting we come to telling our need to God. This has the answer of an often asked question, "Why should we pray to God and ask for our needs." Some think and ask that if God knows all our need and knows our heart, then what's the need for petition to God.
Hafez, if you leave your affair to God's wisdom,
you can have a lot of fun with your destiny.
In the zen teaching we find that as we surrender control over the condition, we allow things to be as they are. We allow the entire world to play itself out in front of our eyes. This profound action implies an immense respect for the intrinsic nature of everything (people and events), for a larger design in the universe, which brings our good to us, and removes that which no longer belongs. This trusting in the intrinsic nature of everything and surrendering to that is a great wisdom teaching of buddhist path.
From Secret to Seeing to Listening to Waiting we come to telling our need to God. This has the answer of an often asked question, "Why should we pray to God and ask for our needs." Some think and ask that if God knows all our need and knows our heart, then what's the need for petition to God.
There are perhaps ten thousand way to share the answer on the wisdom of prayer, but mystics have a certain take on it. I quote here from contemporary sufi master Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee's blessed writing The Circle of Love where he talks about the Prayer of the Heart and need of prayer:
The mystic knows that the essence of prayer is the hidden secret, "I am He whom I love, He whom I love is me." In the deepest prayer of the heart there is only oneness, for when the heart is open and looks towards God, He reveals His unity. In this state of prayer there are a merging and melting that transcend the mind and its notion of duality: the heart overwhelms us with His presence which obliterates any sense of our own self. These moments of prayer are moments of union in which the lover is lost. The lover has stepped from the shore of his own being into the limitless ocean of the Beloved.
.. In ways we make known our need to call upon Him and to be with Him, make it known to ourself as well as to our Beloved. He knows we belong to Him, but with the words of our prayer we come to Him and remind ourselves of His eternal presence. our supplications remind us of our need to be nourished by Him alone.
Yet prayer, born of need, does not answer this need - it makes it more potent. We come to know more fully that we are separate, and that only He can help us. But to whom do we pray? To some idea of a distant God, a kind father figure, a nurturing mother? .. We personify our longing, clothe our tears in the image of a deity or lost love. In our weakness we look for strength, in our sorrow a comforting shoulder, in our pain a tormentor. Later, much later, we come to glimpse the closed circle of love, that our need is His need, that our cry to Him is His eternal answer: "Thy calling 'Allah!' was My 'Here I am!', thy yearning pain - My message to thee."
We make an image of God to suit us, to give us comfort and security, to contain the pain of being human. But gradually all images fall away, for they too are veils of separation, denying the truth of union. How can we be separate from Himself? How can He call to Himself, long to return to Himself? ...
In the closed circle of love He calls to Himself within the heart of His lover. Our need is His need, and yet He is complete in every way. We carry the seed of His longing and make it our own. Our very prayer to come close to Him is an unfolding intimacy, a sharing of something so precious that only His trusted servants are awakened to know it. To know that we need Him is to know that He needs us. He shares His longing with us.
Need is the beginning of prayer. Calling His name, crying out to Him, we make known our need to ourself and to Him. Need is the potency of our hidden love, and our prayer makes this love more visible, makes its fire burn stronger. Ibn Arabi prayed, "Oh Lord, nourish me not with love but with the desire for love."
.. We who are so small and alone - look to Him, and so turn our attention from multiplicity back to oneness. Sometimes people think, "Why should I bother Him? How can my difficulties be of concern to Him?" But this is in fact arrogance (of us), because it places the individual against God. In His oneness everything is included, everything is embraced. Nothing is other than He, and we are His eyes and ears in His world. In offering our sorrow, our difficulties, back to Him, we help Him to heal Himself, if it is His Will.
"He loves them and they love Him"
- The Quran 5:59
God, Beloved doesn't need anything from us and we can not bring anything, any gift worthy of Him. How badly a lover wishes to bring gift to beloved, yet we are unable to do so to the Beloved. Thus in 'telling our need' with supplications we bring a gift that is dear to our Beloved, and that is our consciousness, our remembrance of Him in our heart.
Rumi got the secret of this gift paradox and expressed so eloquently,
Rumi got the secret of this gift paradox and expressed so eloquently,
You've no idea how hard I've looked for a gift to bring You.
Nothing seemed right!
What's the point of bringing gold to the gold mine,
or water to the Ocean?
Everything I came up with
was like taking spices to the Orient.
It's no good giving my heart and my soul
because You already have these.
So - I've brought You a mirror.
Look at Yourself and remember me!
Nothing seemed right!
What's the point of bringing gold to the gold mine,
or water to the Ocean?
Everything I came up with
was like taking spices to the Orient.
It's no good giving my heart and my soul
because You already have these.
So - I've brought You a mirror.
Look at Yourself and remember me!
In telling our needs to God we bring a mirror to our Beloved as a gift. The holy mirror of our remembering Him, as He remembers us.
. Invisible hierarchy of the journey back to God
Contemplate once again at the quote by Sahl, may God be pleased with him:
God Most High hath brought forth creation and said, "Entrust Me with your secrets. If you do not do this, then look toward Me. If you do not do this, then listen to Me. If you do not do this then wait at My door. If you do none of this, at least tell Me your needs."
If you observe carefully you may see the invisible hierarchy for the journey back to God.
The saying is in the descending order from higher order to lower order and this is:
Entrusting our secrets
Looking toward Him
Listening to Him
Waiting at His Door
Telling our needs to Him
Thus the ascending order to our journey back to God is just the opposite. We begin by practicing of telling our needs to Him, then practicing the waiting at His door, then learning to Listen to Him within and without, then learning to see Him wheresoever we turn,then trusting our secrets to Him where we live in Him, by Him, for Him, with Him in a holy transparent state of presence (baqa)
and finally we return to Him.
The circle completes.
Innanillahi wa innailaihir rajiun
Indeed we are from God and to God we return.
- The Quran
- Sadiq Alam
Dhaka University Campus, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Dhaka University Campus, Dhaka, Bangladesh
# Related:
. Secret of Prayer: Love Dogs | Coleman Barks reads Rumi
. Why Muslims pray everyday?
14 comments:
What a wondrous and exquisite entry this is. I have now read it three times through and deeper meaning, subtler mysteries and further blessings were bestowed with each consecutive reading. Thank You.
I do so hope that this finds you well and that irrespective of your recent relocation (and all that that brings with it), that there is a healthy balance and deep contentment in your life at this time. Clearly (or so it would appear herein) you are sweetly nestling, dearly and warmly, in the breast of God at present.
I will write you, to catch up, sometime soon okay! I am sure you would agree, that far too long a period without a more personal embrace of each other has somehow passed between us. This said, I would sincerely hope that you have come to know by now that not a single day passes (nor barely a few hours in fact) without you arising in my hearts awareness.
In and with Love,
Your Anam Cara
Cailean X
MashaAllah. Tabarakallah. La hawla wala quwata illa billah.
And I thought one abdullah was busy building websites last night, this is what he came up with! Absolutely profound inspiration! MashaAllah...
-E-
Assalamu Alaikum, hope you will be doing fine. May Allah bless you. Amen
Beautiful entry, Dear Bhai, filled with wisdom, and the rungs of the ladder of Love :)
Since you are back in Bangladesh, please email me. I have a question for you :)
Ya Haqq!
Dear Friend,
I feel a great insight and profound knowledge about mystics paths in you. I have a big admiration for your endeaviour to give a well sytsematized explanation of what cannot be explained. Truth cannot be said, at the moment you say it, it has already become a lie to the other. Words are from the mundane world, not from the divine. Language falls short to express the unexpressible. Truth can only be experienced. Mind always tries to use the logic, to classify, to devide and create orders: descendent and ascendent. Truth is illogical, a mystery to be lived, a magic to be experienced. God is not an object to study and search, God is a subject, our very subjectivity. The only way to him is not through the mind, but through the heart, the way of the union and dissolving. On this way there are no clearcuts and strongly determined phases and stops. The way is individual for each of us.
With love and admiration for you,
Aliya
Marvellous. I have translated this to my mother. She is awe. I love you dear brother.
Maryam
It’s good, that the insight is deepening.
Summarized views from my experiences are herein;
“Issa vaasyam Iddam sarvam,yat kinchit Jagatyam Jagat,
Tyen tyaktyen,Bhunjitha,,Ma gridhaah kasya Siddhaanam”
It’s first proclamation of “Issavasyopnishad”. Say’s The Supreme is in NOW everywhere, however a world is being created (every now and then)over this (like conditioning or covering of clouds),those who can dissolve this (2nd. World), enjoys merging( back to the source), what effort do you need further (nothing)!
Kalyan Rishi(seer) pinned down, Alexander the great, “It’s you, who is obstructing the light from source, remove yourself and the light will be effulgent everywhere. Know Thy Self.” In that contemplation he realized and return back to Greece, without conquering the world.
Long back I met a Param Hansa, my friend asked him, what is to be done in order to have grace of Supreme. Smilingly he said, nothing! You can wind up your umbrella, because His grace is showering upon us all the time!
It is every days experience of we all, that in deep sleep one looses himself completely along with his world. So, there is no demand/craving etc..Moment he gets up, where from this I am and the world appears? He knows about the good sleeps only after he get’s up. That he slept well!
Wise people have given thought over this mystery and it’s benefit. Founders of religion and sects devised rituals/practices in order to loose the individuality, were the central theme of the religion. Because the glimpse of the other world can only be seen ,if you remove yourself completely! God and the world can not appear together. Few of initial generations of the religion and sects have practiced the rituals with utmost sincerity and devotion and have been benefited also. Later generations are engaged in rituals only, lost the deeper insight of these practices.
A Gospel from Bible also hint’s; why Adam was thrown out of the Eden Garden? It is being read and heard like ritual. I really apologies, If It is hearting to the faith of anybody.
What I mean here is please get up and realize to find out, how and where we have lost the insight. Think deeply ,Am I living in wrong footing, or my follow up of religion is merely a mechanical repetition. Am I creating my own contradictions , misalignment between Head, Heart and Hand (cris-cross in doing, thinking and feeling)? Do I need Purification, and realignment of my 3-H?
Human’s have 4 channels through which the divine energy due to Divine presence, are continuously converting in to his actions, thought & ideas, feelings & emotions and lastly psychic personality in support of his individuality. Therefore he can traverse back through these paths only to the sourse.It is therefore, human’s have 3-authentic pathways for dissolving their Individuality, 4rth. is for purification of individuality.
1.Pathway of Negation-The Gyana,
2.Pathway of Affirmation-The Bhakti(Devotion) and
3.Through all pervading Prana (pure Energy)-Tantra and Yoga.
The rest(including actions) are pathways of purification of Individuality in order to qualify for the other three path.
Purification here relates primarily with the mind and body complex as a whole, which is a nurturing ground of Faith, Love and many essential attitudes necessary in the path of salvation. These attitudes can not be borrowed or purchased. Weak body and mind is the biggest hindrance in bringing results from the same age old proven religious practices given to us by our ancestors.
1. Path of Negation; It is the channel through which thoughts & ideas percolates in to the Mind. A seeker of Self traverses back through this gate in search of himself.
“Give up all question except one: Who am I? After all, the only fact you are sure of is that you are. This feel of I am is only certain( the truth), whereas I am this or that(associates or adjectives) are not (transient. illusions). Find out what you are in reality.
In order to know what you are, you must first investigate and know what you are not.
Discover all that you are not - body,feelings,thoughts,time,space this or that - nothing concrete or abstract, which you perceive can be you. The very act of perceiving shows that you are not what you perceive. (Mysterious separation establishes between perceiver and perceived - is important an out come of this practice)
The clearer you understand that on the level of mind you can be described in negative term only, the quicker will come to the end of your search and realize that you are the limitless Being“.
In this path the I am is separated from all transient existence to feel like I am not, after establishing in to this intense loneliness, vision appears I am That , later which converts in to feeling He alone is the Truth.
It is for those who are thought predominant.
2. Path of Affirmation: It is also called path of devotion, therefore, it is easy for the emotion predominant personalities. In this path worship, service and prayers becomes rituals. An important in gradients to this are Love and affection. Thought and Intellect are forbidden right from the beginning, considering untouchable liable to spoil the mystic love affairs with the Beloved. Service, worship or prayer to loved one is core of the practice. Loved One can be with or without form, can be an idol, living person or imaginative presence of god or demon doesn’t matter, what matters is uninterrupted effulgent flow of emotions -the purity of Love is the basic offerings, in the form of service, worship or prayer( rituals).This kind of strong intoxication is for cleaning the heart in order to install the beloved There! As the days passes, he is cut off from mundane worldly affairs, in the lone vicinity of his beloved. Such a devotee, when he get’s up in the morning, what does he see`s!.He is the Self, a servant, ever absorbed in to the service of the master, My Lord -The Self Supreme. What remains for him are the flowers, fragerance,inscenes,and the instruments of service, this too is the Self in the creation. Three Self, servant, Master and the instruments of service are after all One, is the gateway of the devotee in this path.
3. The path of all pervading Prana:This mysterious path is rather unknown to the people of the world. In order to fulfill a wish of Supreme, His inherent energy “Prana” sprang out, pervading everywhere. This has the secret of Duality, the pulsating energy waves and witnesser.This pulsating energy takes all the forms and shape (constantly changing) in this universe, under command/wish of witnesser/observer. The nature of witnesser/observer/seer is not known to the scientists, but mysterious presence has been observed, while conducting practical’s on Plank’s equations, i.e. “dual nature of particle under influence of the observer“. This co existing energy and witnesser are the eternal principles of the creation, time and space the duality. which needs to be transcended.
Our breath,inhalation and exaltation, contains vital energy beside oxygen and is called “Prana”.Therefore, our life can be equated with number of breaths. Thus Pranayama is important practice in Yoga.Tantra(Tanoti-expansion, Iti,Trayati-liberation, two words together)) has vision that this pulsating vital force, if expanded, can be a successful cause of liberation, Yoga is it’s practical accomplishment.
That’s all from my side to you.Chandram.Thakur
Dear Friends,
Allow me to refer to Osho saying that: "All the methods that lead man to realization are, essentially, awareness. Their non-essential components may be different.
I have spoken on yoga, on tantra, on Hassidism, on Tao, on Zen, on all possible methods that humanity has tried. I wanted you to be aware of all the ways through which man has been searching to reach the truth that liberates ― but each method is essentially awareness.
That's why now I am emphasizing only awareness.
So whatever you are doing, whatever method you are practicing, it makes no difference. Those are different names given by different people in different ages, but they were all practicing awareness.
In essence, it is only awareness that leads you to the ultimate goal.
There are not many paths. There are many names for one path, and that one path is awareness."
With love,
Aliya
Some say, there are many paths unto God. Others - only one. There are None.
All paths lead astray. REALITY - is pathless.
In Awareness
God IS
Here-Now
"You do not have to struggle to reach God,
but you do have to struggle to tear away
the self-created veil that hides him from you."
Paramahansa Yogananda
Dear Cailean, beloved Anam Cara,
How can I thank you enough for such a beautiful, heart warming message from your heart. Indeed I would love to catch up with you and there is something interesting 'cooking' which I would like to share with you. In and with Love,
Sadiq
Dear Ezza,
Alhamduillah. Your dua is my treasure.
Dear Afterwind,
Amen to your prayer. Always good to see you and yes I am doing fine Alhamds. Hope and pray you are doing well as well.
Dear Irving Bhai,
I have written to you!
Dear Aliya,
May God bless you for your kind words, comment and inspiration. Its very true what you have spoken, Truth can not be said, all we try is to smell its fragrance. And that only if we are lucky. Mystery to be lived, yes!
Dear Sister Maryam,
What a true delight it is to know that you translated this to your mother and she loved it. May God reward you immensely for this service to her. Indeed paradise is beneath the feet of our mother, the service to our mother is the path to sainthood. Love you too!
Dear Chandra mohan,
The Supreme is in NOW everywhere, however a world is being created (every now and then)over this (like conditioning or covering of clouds),those who can dissolve this (2nd world), enjoys merging (back to the source), what effort do you need further (nothing)!
I bear witness that this is truth!
By God's permission, I would love to compile your sharing oneday in a separate blog post. With deep appreciation.
Aliya & Cailean again,
Only awareness yes, everything else is to reach that goal. May we all come to attain that supreme awareness. then all shall dissolve and only in the Abiding Presence shall we dwell in.
In Awareness
Hu Is
Here - Now.
All Glory be to ONE.
Dear Self Aliya,
Sorry for delay in answering was out of station.
“Awareness is like depth of Ocean, where as,Concioussness are waves only.
Awareness is summit of various path, provided by the consciousness,
Awareness is whole(you yourself),consciousness is like your thoughts,feelings,actions,all transient appearances on you. Therefore know Your Self“.
Normally, natural awareness or Pure consciousness is lost in childhood(before 3rd. Birthday),when we are randomly introduced to the self as body by others, and we hold this seed in us as ‘I am‘. Since than, we are searching back this natural innocence. In order to regain the burning flame of Awareness one has to pay a heavy price to the ‘veiling power‘, you may call it litmus test!
Lukewarm Awareness, every one has. But, it does not help anywhere against the veiling power, nor intellectual understanding. They are for day dreamers.
Guru,Satsanga,Holybooks shows us the pathway only,does`nt walk with us,
I know Osho,since he was Rajneesh Jain, in Jabalpur. That time, he was doing intense Meditation - ‘trataka on self image‘.
Yogananda was Pure Soul sent to the earth for a work specific, by Mahavatara Babaji,in order to assist Sw.Yukteswar Giri,for propagating similarity in Geeta and Bible. This promise was made in Purna Kumbha long back, when Yukteswar Giri was Young Sanyasi and Yoganand was yet to take birth.
I had followed all through in my life, path of;
Jaano pahile,
Phir manno.
Reverse way may create difference of hell and heaven. This is essential test before knowing ‘Dharma’ - the righteousness, needs discriminative look to a complex situation.
Chandram.thakur
Dear self Benjamin,
Sorry for delayed answer.
1. That’s His way!
Hamaney Mana ke Kuchch nahin Tum bin,
Phir ye Hangama-aai-Khudaa kya haai!
2.In Awareness,
‘GOD IS‘,
Here in ‘Now’.
Very true, sit on tightly,don`t connect to the powerful current’s of illusions down below.
May God help to maintain this for ever.
Chandram.thakur
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