Comments on Technology of the Heart: Sufi Reading of Jesus' Teaching Parables

2010-08-09T05:42:50.335+06:00

This comment has been removed by the author.

strange thing: every time i try to post a response...

2010-08-07T05:55:22.564+06:00

strange thing: every time i try to post a response on this, it won't let me, as if i'm being informed not to be drawn into debate. but i still want to say that the divine instructs on various levels and the structure and rigors of religion (as guidance given by men like Moses, Jesus, Muhammad) have benefitted us through the ages- not just spiritually but also on the material plane and practically. like codes of conduct, etc. this is why especially the gospels are amazing because there's symbolism that applies to all aspects, and the Qu'ran is like this too. as for Sufism not being solely Islamic: that may very well be the case because i do know sufis who are christian and agnostic too. it was just my belief that Sufism sprung from Islam as it's mystical branch. mysticism and the belief in non-duality has existed long before that time, if that's what you meant James: in which case you're educating me.

I meant that the divine instructs on multiple leve...

2010-08-07T05:48:59.900+06:00

I meant that the divine instructs on multiple levels.. and the structure and rigor that religion has provided (from the teachings of men such as Moses, Jesus and Muhammad) have benefitted us not just spiritually but also materially/ practically too. In the forms of Codes of Conduct, etc. And perhaps I'm wrong because James seems much more widely read on this subject than I am.. but I always had thought/ learned/ been told that Sufism is specifically or at least originally mysticism that sprung from Islam. the ways of the mystic and the belief/ route of non-duality has existed since before sufism.. if that's what you meant? If not, I stand corrected. That being said, I know of sufis who are christian and agnostic: not just muslim.

2010-08-04T15:49:56.306+06:00

This comment has been removed by the author.

"but the outer forms (i.e. the letter of the ...

2010-08-04T14:41:46.385+06:00

"but the outer forms (i.e. the letter of the law of religion) do contribute to progress to the mystical aspects too."

Absolutely not! There are no outer forms in religion, if there are outer forms in religion, then it is no more religion, no more religiousness of the heart. Then it is a structure, an institution, a dead organization, constructed according to dead imposed rules, hierarchy, power trips, mind prejudices, greediness and will to power and domination over alive human beings. Then it is the law of the society, man made, but not the law of God. True religion follows the Law of God, not the law of man. And there is enormous difference between two of them - the Law of God is called LOVE, the law of man is the EGO.
The Law of God is the Ultimate Freedom, whereas no institution, no organization, no structure can imprison your being. You are utterly yourself, authentic and free, the way God created you, not the way the structures of the vested interests want you to be.
"The religion that exists on the earth is false, it is a make believe, it is just for the name sake, but it fulfills your demand. It fulfills a certain demand that you want to pretend that you are religious. You don't want to become religious but you want to pretend. And you want to pretend in such a way that not even you yourself can catch yourself pretending. You want to pretend in such a way that you don't ever come across your pretensions, so a great structure is created. And that great structure is the church, the organized religions. Avoid these structures if you really want to become religious. And unless you are religious you are not!
Now let me tell you this paradox: You are only when you are not, because you are only when the ego has disappeared" - Osho
Religions are empty structures - God is not there. Neither Jesus is there, not Buddha is there, not Mohammad is there. For Jesus, for Buddha, for Mohammad God has never been in the temples and the churches, but in their own eyes of God devotees. God has been their own experience and truth, their only living truth.
There are always alive masters somewhere or other; the earth is never empty of them. Go on searching and searching for an alive master. But never go to the places where conventionally you expect them. There they are not. Jesus was not in the synagogue. Buddha was not in any Hindu temple. Don't go on worshiping ideas - find a living reality.

In John: Jesus and Nicodemus the Pharisee. Read i...

2010-08-04T08:57:47.476+06:00

In John:

Jesus and Nicodemus the Pharisee.
Read it.

RE: religion. it doesn't matter the name or route. we are all seekers. in the abrahamic forms: kabbalah, gnosticism and sufism. but the outer forms (i.e. the letter of the law of religion) do contribute to progress to the mystical aspects too. so if you are a sufi, you will benefit from the formal and outward practice of your religion. and as sufism is naturally and originally islamic, it is easiest and simplest to choose islam. this is all hard anyway, so why not make your life easier. although any of the forms of religion would work. that being said, for some, the destination does not even require religion: like the intellectuals and the alchemists.

In John: Jesus and Nicodemus the Pharisee. Read i...

2010-08-04T08:57:46.021+06:00

2010-08-03T19:09:40.348+06:00

This comment has been removed by the author.

2010-08-03T02:48:53.324+06:00

This comment has been removed by the author.

James, "Human beings may favour one religi...

2010-08-02T20:35:18.992+06:00
James,
"Human beings may favour one religion over another, but interestingly God doesn't seem to have any such preferences."

In every cycle and in every age, revelation is renewed, the Divine Patter / Shariah (Sunnati'Llah) is refreshed by a new messenger who give life to the pattern and renew it.

If one understand that fact well, then one have no need to speak of conversion and I never spoke of conversion. If you choose to interpret it and make lengthy comment with projection of that interpretation then you are wasting your valuable time and mine when I am writing a response to it.

You seem to have heard about haqiqa. You seem to have listened about marifa. if you have, then why you speak of conversion, or even use the term Muslim in ethonocentric way? Do you need to be reminded what "Muslim" truly mean and if that meaning is understood, then external label of religiousness does not matter.

And if someone has experience of the reality of God, what possible value do the outward forms of religion have for them - except as a way of communicating with others?

The outward form of religion has the same role as the rib cages of human body has to protect the delicate and soft physical heart within.

2010-08-02T12:48:59.204+06:00
This comment has been removed by the author.

Dear Sadiq, Thank you very much for this post. I...

2010-08-02T05:50:37.983+06:00
Dear Sadiq,

Thank you very much for this post. I look forward to future posts on the parables. Inshallah ~ may we all come to the know Isa ibn Maryam

Kindest wishes,

mo'in

I can also recommend a book written by a quantum p...

2010-08-02T04:26:06.361+06:00
I can also recommend a book written by a quantum physicist which is in the biblography of my e-book: The Gospel of John in the Light of Indian Mysticism, by Ravi Ravindra (Published by Inner Traditions 1990, 2004)

Thank you for the lovely comments and sharing. Som...

2010-08-02T01:12:21.645+06:00
Thank you for the lovely comments and sharing. Some of you have emailed me personally. Please do keep your favorite parables coming and in doing so, may your reading be blessed and become sacred contemplation. May your reading transport you to the time and place and above all, to the presence from where such truths were spoken.

Just a quick sharing from a book I was glancing at, "Mystic Christianity Or the Inner Teachings of the Master" by Yogi Ramacharaka

St. Clement, a mystic himself wrote, "Those who are still blind and dumb, not having understanding, or the undazzled and keen vision of the contemplative soul, must stand outside of the divine choir. Wherefore, in accordance with the method of concealment, the truly sacred Word, truly divine and most necessary for us. The Egyptians called it among them adyta, and the Hebrews 'the veil'. Only the consecrated were allowed access to them. For Plato also thought it not lawful for 'the impure to touch the pure.'

Thence the prophecies and oracles are spoken in enigmas, and to the untrained and uninstructed people. Now, then, it is not wished that all things should be exposed indiscriminately to all and sundry, or the benefits of wisdom communicated to those who have not even in a dream been purified in soul , for it is not allowed to hand to every chance comer what has been procured with such laborious efforts. Nor are the Mysteries of the Word to be expounded to the profane.

The Mysteries were established for the reason that it was more beneficial that the holy and blessed contemplation of realities be conceded. So that, on the other hand, then, there are the Mysteries which were hid till the times of the apostles, and were delivered by them as they received from the Lord, and, concealed in the Old Testament, were manifested to the saints. And on the other hand, there is the riches of the glory of the mysteries of the Gentiles, which is faith and hope upon in Christ. Instruction, which reveals hidden things, is called Illumination, as it is the teacher only who uncovers the lid of the ark."

- The Stromata of Clement.

St. Clement also quotes approvingly the sayings of Plato that, "We must speak in enigmas; that should the tablet come by any mischance on its leaves either by sea or land he who reads may remain ignorant."

St. Clement, who was a man in a very exalted position in the Early Christian Church, recognized and actually taught the Inner Teachings, or Secret Doctrines of Mystic Christianity - that the Early Christian Church was an organization having a Mystic Center for the few, and Common Outer for the multitude.

And now that center being destroyed and unprotected, the whole Christian Church and its structure is becoming a corpse devoid of soul, like many other, faith traditions unfortunately. What Sufism is to Islam as a whole, Mystic / Esoteric Christianity were for Christianity as a whole and unfortunate for us, by neglecting their respective soul, we are doing irreparable damage for future generations to come.

The Parables of Jesus: A Commentary By Arland J. Hultgren

This is a book the readers may find interesting and useful.

I am reminded by your posting of Mathew 7:7. Par...

2010-08-02T00:50:04.226+06:00
I am reminded by your posting of Mathew 7:7.

Particularly this section ".Knock and the door shall be opened." This is something I often think of if I am struggling with something.

For me it says that life is not meant to be a struggle and the way shall be opened to you easily. Therefore I use the door as a metaphor and I know that if I am struggling and nothing is going right. If I feel as if I am banging, kicking, pushing and trying to force the door to open-things to come together in my life-I know I am knocking on the wrong door and operating from my will not god's will for me.

I always believed if I am knocking on the right door it shall easily open. in other the words the path will be made easy or things will just
come together as they are meant to.

I just have to put one foot in front of the other and keep going. I get into problems when I forget that.
I don't mean that life is always going to be perfect but if the door has opened and I have walked through easily then there is something for
me to learn or to do. a reason to be in that time and place.

Naturally there are other parables but when I read your post this came to mind so I decided I would send it off to you. I hope I have described
it clear enough so that you understand.

To me there is a close connection to the parable of the friend who knocks on the door and asks for bread and is refused.

Not everything we want or ask for is ours (Luke 11:5-8).

I love the parable of the pearl of great price.......

2010-08-01T21:57:45.624+06:00
I love the parable of the pearl of great price....
because it casts a light on the gift
of Jesus as the messenger of God's Love
who paid the price of surrendering his life
to convey God's great love for us

the sufi is a wanderer.....a seeker.............a lover who turns toward
the night that reveals the inner light of God
and honors the mystery
in the fully developed
seeds of creation

So many parallels of the pearl of great price
with the purity of Love
being the pinnacle!

Beautiful communion!
I can feel the love of Christ flowing through it.

I do not have to words to say more than what has b...

2010-08-01T09:35:37.159+06:00
I do not have to words to say more than what has been said in this posting. Let me say something what I felt by reading this piece.

`Gaze on the sky
When it is midnight
You will see me
Among the smiling stars
If you really love me.'

Ershad Mazumder

"Parable of Mustard Seed" - a favorite o...

2010-07-31T23:29:25.699+06:00
"Parable of Mustard Seed" - a favorite of Osho.

Here goes his interpretation:

What happens when a seed
becomes a tree?

The seed has to die,
only then does it
become a tree.

... Don't cling to the seed,
because the seed is a bridge.

Help it to die, dissolve,
so that the inner life
and the seed becomes a great tree.

I don't want you
to become Christians
- that is useless,
that's a lie.

I would like you
to become Christs.

And you can become,
because you have the same seed.

- Sri Rajneesh Osho, from his book, "The Mustard Seed"

"The Hidden Parables: Activating the Secret o...

2010-07-31T23:27:08.401+06:00
"The Hidden Parables: Activating the Secret of the Gospels" by Todd Michael is an interesting book we may recommend here for the spiritual seekers who stumble upon here. From the book description we read: The Hidden Parablesis a complete retranslation of the parables used by Jesus to illustrate critical lessons about the nature of reality. These thiry-two enigmatic parables spoken by Christ reveal a hidden layer of meaning which shows that the parables are NOT a random collection of stories, but present a unified system of knowledge. The integrated system of knowledge delineates the laws of thought forms of controlled intentions in creating more beneficial, more miraculous circumstances in our personal lives. The information presented is clear and very practical and bears an uncanny resemblance to cutting-edge self-help and metaphysical thought.

Comments on Technology of the Heart: Sufi Reading of Jesus' Teaching Parables

strange thing: every time i try to post a response...

I meant that the divine instructs on multiple leve...

"but the outer forms (i.e. the letter of the ...

In John: Jesus and Nicodemus the Pharisee. Read i...

In John: Jesus and Nicodemus the Pharisee. Read i...

James, "Human beings may favour one religi...

Dear Sadiq, Thank you very much for this post. I...

I can also recommend a book written by a quantum p...

Thank you for the lovely comments and sharing. Som...

The Parables of Jesus: A Commentary By Arland J. HultgrenThis is a book the readers may find interesting and useful.

I am reminded by your posting of Mathew 7:7. Par...

I love the parable of the pearl of great price.......

I do not have to words to say more than what has b...

"Parable of Mustard Seed" - a favorite o...

"The Hidden Parables: Activating the Secret o...

The Parables of Jesus: A Commentary By Arland J. Hultgren

This is a book the readers may find interesting and useful.