|
A Sufi Message of Spiritual Liberty
London 1914
“GOD
Beloved ones of
God, you may belong to any race, cast, creed, or nation, still you are
all impartially beloved by God. You may be a believer or an unbeliever
in the supreme Being, but He cares not. His mercy and grace flow through
all His powers, without distinction of friend or foe.
'Every
leaf of tree, Allah's praise displays,
Only the pious mind can hear their sacred lays.'
The sun, moon, and
stars give light; the timely change of seasons promotes health and
cheerfulness; the rain grows corn, fruits, and flowers; and the
alternation of day and night provides the opportunity for work and rest.
'Earth,
water, fire and air,
All work harmoniously.
For thee they always food prepare,
Thou shouldst not eat unthankfully.
For how each day the sun shines and serves,
All praise from thee Allah deserves.'
If you study your
own body, you will find its mechanism to be the original model of the
artificial mechanism of the world. Art and science fail if compared with
that of His nature. The ear, eyes, and all other organs, how perfectly
they are adapted in shape and mechanism to the purpose which they must
serve! How liberally the needs of life, water, air, and food, are
supplied; even milk is prepared in the mother's breast for the unborn
infant. Should we not appreciate the liberality of the Creator, and
thank him each moment with all humility and gratitude? 'Praise be to
Allah, the worship of whom is the means of drawing closer to Him, and
the giving of thanks to whom involves an increase of benefits. Every
breath which is inhaled prolongs life, and when exhaled it quickens the
frame. In every breath, therefore, two blessings are contained, and for
every blessing a separate thanksgiving is due' (Sa'di).
He has fashioned
and molded you after His own image, and made you Ashrá f al-Makhluá t,
the highest of all beings and the pride of the universe, having given
you command over all other beings of both worlds. As is said in the
Qur'an, 'Do you not see that Allah has subjected all things on earth to
you?' And at the same time He has given you, by His grace, the
attributes of humanity: kindness, gratitude, faithfulness, justice,
modesty, piety, sympathy, reverence, bravery, patience, love, knowledge,
and wisdom. This is an open proof of your being the real object of
creation and the most beloved of God.
NATURE
The argument has
been raised that all manifestation is due to the interaction of natural
elements, working by their own force; every cause has its effect, and
the effect again becomes a cause for the reaction; thus nature works
unaided. The answer is, that every cause must have some preceding cause,
or first cause, to produce it; and logically one cause may produce many
effects, which effects again become second causes, producing new
reactions, 'While intellectual minds are seeking second causes, the wise
man only perceives the first cause. Air, earth, water, being second
causes, the precedent cause, which makes them act and pause, is hidden.'
THE PERSONAL BEING
Granting that we
see nature, and also admitting its original cause, upon what grounds do
we consider the cause to be a personal God, meriting worship? The answer
is that nature itself consists of different personalities, and each of
them has its peculiar attributes. The sum total of all these
personalities is One, the only real personality. In relation to that One
all other personalities are merely an illusion. Just as, in a limited
form, a nation or a community is the sum of many personalities. Just as
nature manifested in numerous names and forms is still called nature,
singular not plural, just as the individual combines within himself the
different parts of his body, arms, limbs, eyes, ears, and is possessed
of different qualities yet is one person, so the sum total of all
personalities is called God.
He is the
possessor of all the visible and invisible attributes of the Absolute,
and has different names in different languages for the understanding of
man. It may be said that the personality of a man is quite
comprehensible, since his actions exhibit him as a single individual,
whereas God's personality has no clear identification of its own. The
answer is, that variety covers unity. 'Hidden things are manifested by
their opposites, but as God has no opposite He remains hidden. God's
light has no opposite in the range of creation whereby it may be
manifested to view' (Jelal-ud-Din Rumi).
The wise man by
studying nature enters into the unity through its variety, and realizes
the personality of God by sacrificing his own. 'He who knows himself
knows Allah' (Sayings of Mohammed). 'The Kingdom of God is within
you' (Bible). 'Self-knowledge is the real wisdom' (Vedanta).
God's relation to
nature may be understood by analysing the idea expressed in the words,
'I myself'. This affirmation means the one individual; at the same time
it identifies the dual aspect of the One. In this phrase 'I' is the
possessor, and 'myself' is the possessed. So also God, the unmanifested,
is the possessor; and nature, the manifestation, is the possessed, which
has its source hidden within itself.
The possessed
could not have been created from anything other than the possessor's own
self, as there existed none but the possessor. Although the possessor
and the possessed are considered to be two separate identities, in
reality they are one. The possessor realizes the possessed through the
medium of his own consciousness, which forms three aspects, the Trinity,
of the one Being. The German philosopher Hegel says, 'If you say God is
one, it is true; if you say He is two, that is also true; and if you say
He is three, that is true too, because it is the nature of the world.'
God is regarded
from three points of view: personality, morality, and reality. According
to the first view, God is the most high; man is dependent upon Him and
is His most obedient servant. According to the second view, God is the
all-merciful and all-good Master of the Day of Judgement, while all evil
is from Satan. The third is the philosophic view that God is the
beginning and end of all, having Himself no beginning nor end. As a Sufi
mystic has said, 'The universe is the manifestation of Allah, where from
His own unity He created, by involution, variety — the state of various
names and forms — , thereby distinguished as Allah, worthy of all praise
and worship.'
DUAL ASPECT
According to Sufi
tenets the two aspects of the supreme Being are termed Zá t and
Sifat, the Knower and the Known. The former is Allah and the
latter Mohammed. Zát being only one in its existence, cannot be called
by more than one name, which is Allah; and Sifat, being manifold in four
different involutions, has numerous names, the sum of them all being
termed Mohammed. The ascending and descending forms of Zát and Sifat
form the circle of the Absolute. These two forces are called Nuzul
and Uruj, which means involution and evolution. Nuzul begins from
Zát and ends in Sifat; Uruj starts from Sifat and ends in Zát, Zát being
the negative and Sifat the positive force.
Zát projects Sifat
from its own self and absorbs it within itself. It is a rule of
philosophy that the negative cannot lose its negativeness by projecting
the positive from itself, though the positive covers the negative within
itself, as the flame covers the fire. The positive has no independent
existence, yet it is real because projected from the real, and it may
not be regarded as an illusion. Human ignorance persists in considering
Zát to be separate from Sifat, and Sifat independent of Zát.
WORSHIP
We may ask: why we
should worship God, and whether the theoretical knowledge of His law in
nature is not sufficient For the highest realization. The answer is: no.
Theoretical knowledge of a subject can never take the place of
experience, which is necessary for realization. Written music cannot
entertain us unless it is played, nor the description of perfume delight
our senses unless we smell it, no recipes of the most delicious dishes
satisfy our hunger. Nor can the theory of God give complete joy and
peace; we must actually realize God or attain that state of realization
which gives eternal happiness through the admiration and worship of
nature's beauty and its source. 'The Beloved is all in all, the lover
only veils him; the Beloved is all that lives, the lover a dead thing' (Jelal-ud-Din
Rumi).
TRUTH
Different methods
called religions and philosophies have been adopted by different nations
at various periods. Though the form and teachings of the several
religions appear so unlike, their source is one and the same. But from
the very beginning the differences have created prejudice, envy, and
antagonism between man. Such dissensions occupy a large portion of the
histories of the world and have become the most important subject in
life.
'So many
castes and so many creeds,
So many
faiths, and so many beliefs,
All have
arisen from ignorance of man,
Wise is he
who only truth conceives.'
A wise man
realizes that the fundamental basis of all religions and beliefs is one:
Haq, or truth. The truth has always been covered by two garments:
a turban on the head, and a robe upon the body. The turban is made of
mystery known as mysticism, and the robe is made of morality, which is
called religion. Truth has been covered thus by most of the prophets and
saints, in order to hide it from ignorant eyes, as yet too undeveloped
to bear it in its naked form. Those who see the truth uncovered, abandon
reason and logic, good and bad, high and low, new and old; differences
and distinctions of names and forms fade away, and the whole universe is
realized as nothing other than Haq. Truth in its realization is one; in
its representation it is many, since its revelations are made under
varying conditions of time and space.
As water in a
fountain flows in one stream but falls in many drops, divided by time
and space, so are the revelations of the one stream of truth. Not
everyone can comprehend the idea of different truths being derived from
the one truth. Common sense has been so narrowly trained in this world
of variety, that it naturally fails to realize the breadth and subtlety
of a spiritual fact so far beyond the reach of its limited reasoning.
THE SUFIS
The word Sufi is
derived from Safa meaning pure, purified of ignorance,
superstition, dogmatism, egotism, and fanaticism, as well as free from
limitations of caste, creed, race, and nation. The Sufis believe in God
as the Absolute, the only Being; and that all creation is the
manifestation of His nature.
There have been
Sufis at all periods of human history. Though they have lived in
different parts of the world, speaking different languages and born into
different faiths and beliefs, they have recognized and sympathized with
each other, through the oneness of their understanding. Yet with their
deep knowledge of the world and of spiritual mysteries, they have
concealed their beliefs from the multitude, and have pursued in secret
their way of attainment to the highest bliss.
SELF-KNOWLEDGE
Nature has been
involved through spirit into matter, and evolves through different
stages. Man is the result of the involution of spirit and the evolution
of matter; the final effect of this cause is 'self-realization', which
means that the Knower arrives at that stage of perfection where He can
know Himself...
'Thou art
a mortal being,
And thou
art the Eternal One;
Know
thyself, through light of wisdom,
Except Thee there exists none.'
The human being is
inherently capable of self-knowledge; but to know oneself means not only
to know that one is John, Jacob, or Henry, or short, tail, or of normal
height, or to know that one is good, bad, and so forth, but also to know
the mystery of one's existence, theoretically as well as practically: to
know what one is within oneself, from whence and for what purpose one
was born on earth; whether one will live here for ever, or if one's stay
is short; of what one is composed, and which attributes one possesses;
whether one belongs to angels, contemplating the beauties of God's
nature, or if one belongs to the animals, who know nothing other than to
eat, drink, and be merry; or whether one belongs to the devils. It
requires perfection in humanity to attain self-knowledge. To know that I
am God, or we are gods, or to know that everything is a part of God, is
not sufficient. Perfect realization can only be gained by passing
through all the stages between man, the manifestation, and God, the only
Being; knowing and realizing ourselves from the lowest to the highest
point of existence, and so accomplishing the heavenly journey.
LOVE
The greatest
principle of Sufism is, 'Ishq Allah, Ma'bud Allah' (God is love, lover,
and beloved).
When Ahad, the
only Being, became conscious of his Wahdat, only existence, through His
own consciousness, then' His predisposition of love made Him project
Himself to establish His dual aspect, that He might be able to love
someone. This made God the lover, and manifestation the beloved; the
next inversion makes manifestation the lover, and God the beloved. This
force of love has been working through several evolutions and
involutions, which end in man who is the ultimate aim of God. The dual
aspect of God is significant in Zát and Sifat, in spirit and matter, and
in the mineral, vegetable, animal, and human kingdoms, wherein the two
sexes, male and female, are clearly represented. The dual aspect of God
is symbolized by each form of this wonderful world. This whole universe,
internally and externally, is governed by the source of love, which is
sometimes the cause and sometimes the effect. The producer and the
product are one, and that One is nothing but love.
'A church,
a temple or a Ka'ba stone,
Qur'an or
Bible or a martyr's bone,
All these
and more my heart can tolerate,
Since my
religion now is Love alone' (Abul Ala).
Sufis take the
course of love and devotion to accomplish their highest aim, because it
is love which has brought man from the world of unity to the world of
variety, and the same force can take him back again to the world of
unity from that of variety.
'Love is the
reduction of the universe to the single being, and the expansion of a
single being, even to God' (Balzac).
Love is that state
of mind in which the consciousness of the lover is merged in that of the
object of his love; it produces in the lover all the attributes of
humanity, such as resignation, renunciation, humility, kindness,
contentment, patience, virtue, calmness, gentleness, charity,
faithfulness, bravery, by which the devotee becomes harmonized with the
Absolute. As one of God's beloved, a path is opened for his heavenly
journey: at the end he arrives at oneness with God, and his whole
individuality is dissolved in the ocean of eternal bliss where even the
conception of God and man disappears.
'Although
love is a sweet madness,
Yet all
infirmities it heals.
Saints and
sages have passed through it,
Love both
to God and man appeals.'
PERFECTION
The ideal
perfection, called Baqa by Sufis, is termed 'Najat' in Islam,
'Nirvana' in Buddhism, 'Salvation' in Christianity, and 'Mukhti' in
Hinduism. This is the highest condition attainable, and all ancient
prophets and sages experienced it, and taught it to the world.
Baqa is the
original state of God. At this state every being must arrive some day,
consciously or unconsciously, before or after death. The beginning and
end of all beings is the same, difference only existing during the
journey.
There are three
ways in man's journey towards God. The first is the way of ignorance,
through which each must travel. It is like a person walking for miles in
the sun while carrying a heavy load on his shoulder, who, when fatigued,
throws away the load and falls asleep under the shade of a tree. Such is
the condition of the average person, who spends his life blindly under
the influence of his senses and gathers the load of his evil actions;
the agonies of his earthly longings creating a hell through which he
must pass to reach the destination of his journey. With regard to him
the Qur'an says, 'He who is blind in life, shall also be blind in the
hereafter.'
The next way is
that of devotion, which is for true lovers. Rumi says, 'Man may be the
lover of man or the lover of God; after his perfection in either he is
taken before the King of love.' Devotion is the heavenly wine, which
intoxicates the devotee until his heart becomes purified from all
infirmities and there remains the happy vision of the Beloved, which
lasts to the end of the journey. 'Death is a bridge, which unites friend
to friend' (Sayings of Mohammed).
The third is the
way of wisdom, accomplished only by the few. The disciple disregards
life's momentary comforts, unties himself from all earthly bondages and
turns his eyes toward God, inspired with divine wisdom. He gains command
over his body, his thoughts and feelings, and is thereby enabled to
create his own heaven within himself, that he may rejoice until merged
into the eternal goal. 'We have stripped the veil from thine eyes, and
thy sight today is keen', says the Qur'an. All must journey along one of
these three paths, but in the end they arrive at one and the same goal.
As it is said in the Qur'an, 'It is He who multiplied you on the earth,
and to Him you shall be gathered.'
PROPHETS
It is hard for
intellect alone to believe in the possibility of prophetic inspiration.
Intellect is the consciousness reflected in the knowledge of names and
forms; wisdom is consciousness in its pure essence, which is not
necessarily dependent upon the knowledge of names and forms.
The gift of wisdom
gives vision in. to the real nature of things as the X-ray penetrates
material bodies. Wisdom has been specially bestowed upon certain
persons, and in these rare cases the receivers of it are more than
merely wise, and may be regarded as the very manifestation of wisdom.
They are the prophets, who have foresight, inspiration, intuition,
clairvoyance, and clairaudience as their inborn attributes.
A Sufi considers
all prophets and sages, not as many individuals, but as the one
embodiment of God's pure consciousness, or the manifestation of divine
wisdom, appearing on earth for the awakening of man from his sleep of
ignorance, in different names and forms. Just as one's own
sub-consciousness would awaken one at a certain time, if previously
warned, in the same way the consciousness of God is the agency for
awakening His manifestation, projecting itself through different names
and forms to accomplish His desire of being known. All these causes of
wisdom are the manifestation of the one cause, Haq.
The prophetic
mission was intended to train the world gradually in divine wisdom
according to its mental evolution, and to impart it to man, according to
his understanding, in forms suitable to various lands at different
periods. This is why numerous different religions are still in
existence, although the moral principles of all are the same.
Each prophet had a
mission to prepare the world for the teaching of the next; each one
prophesied the coming of the next, and the work was thus continued by
all the prophets until Mohammed, the Khatim al Mursalin, the last
messenger of divine wisdom and the seal of the prophets, came on his
mission, and in his turn gave the final statement of divine wisdom:
'None exists but Allah.' This message fulfilled the aim of prophetic
mission. This final definition is a clear interpretation of all
religions and philosophies in the most apparent form. There was no
necessity left for any more prophets after this divine message, which
created the spirit of democracy in religion by recognizing God in every
being. By this message man received the knowledge that he may attain the
highest perfection under the guidance of a perfect murshid or spiritual
teacher.
Sufis have no
prejudice regarding any prophets and masters. They look upon all as
divine wisdom itself, the highest attribute of God, appearing under
different names and forms; and they love them with all adoration, as the
lover loves his beloved in all her different garments, and throughout
all the stages of her life. Sufis also respectfully recognize and offer
devotion to their Beloved, the divine wisdom in all her garments, at all
times, and under such different names and forms as Abraham, Moses,
Jesus, and Mohammed. Mohammed teachings are studied and followed by the
orthodox as religion, and by the deep thinkers as a philosophy.
SUFISM
Sufis, who had
received spiritual training from all previous prophets and leaders,
likewise received training from Mohammed. The openness of Mohammed's
essential teachings paved the way for them to come forward into the
world without the interference they had previously experienced, and a
mystic order called the Saheba-e-Safa, Knights of Purity, was
inaugurated by the Prophet, and afterwards was carried on by Ali and
Siddiq. The lives of these knights were extraordinary in their wisdom,
piety, bravery, spirituality, and great charity of heart. This order was
carried on by their successors, who were called Pir-o-Murshid,
Shaikh, etc., one after another, duly connected as links in a chain.
The spiritual bond
between them is a miraculous force of divine illumination, and is
experienced by worthy initiates of the Sufi Order; just as the electric
current runs through all connected lamps and lights them. By this means
the higher development is attained without great efforts. Sufism was
unostentatiously practiced in Arabia during the period of Sahabis,
Taba'in, and Taba'-i-taba'in. Charity, piety, spirituality, and bravery
are the real proofs of Sufi advancement.
The sensational
Sufi movements which took place in Persia in the later periods, have won
all the credit of Sufism for the Persians, and Sufism came to be
regarded as a Persian philosophy. Imam al-Ghazali, Juneyd-e Baghdadi,
Farid-ud-Din 'Attar had taken the lead in advancing Sufism in the world
at large. Shams-e-Tabré z, Sa'di, Khagani, Firdausi, Omar Khayyá m,
Abdul Ala and other great Sufi poets, have very substantially
established the reputation of Sufism by their inspired poetical works on
divine wisdom. Sa'adi's works (Gulistan and Bostan)
illuminate the intellect; the Divan of Hafiz expands the heart with
divine love; Jelal-ud-Din Rumi's poems, the Masnavi e Ma'navi
inspire the soul.
These works were
originally composed in Persian, but are now translated into many other
languages. They have been a most important source of education for
humanity, and are studied as the most popular treatises on the divine
wisdom of the East.
The spiritual part
of Sufism was most miraculously realized by Abdul Qadir Jilani,
Moin-ud-Din Chishti, Bahaud-Din Naqshband, Shihab-ud-Din Sohrawardi, and
others.
India, being
greatly addicted to philosophy, was well suited for Sufism, where, in
ancient and modern records, a great many Sufis with miraculous careers
are to be found. The tombs of Moin-ud-Din Chishti, Nizam-ud-Din,
Sharif-ud-Din, Bandeh Navaz, Mohammed Gauth, are visited with much
reverence and devotion by people of various nations and many beliefs, in
thankful remembrance of their great careers.
Sufism, as a
religious philosophy of love, harmony, and beauty, aims at expanding the
soul of man until the realization of the beauty of all creation enables
him to become as perfect an expression of divine harmony as possible. It
is therefore natural that the Sufi Order should stand foremost as a
spiritual power in the East, and that it is rapidly becoming recognized
in the West.
Many Sufi saints
have attained what is known as Godconsciousness, which is the most
all-inclusive realization of the meaning of the word 'good' attainable
by man. Strictly speaking, Sufism is neither a religion nor a
philosophy; it is neither theism nor atheism, but stands between the two
and fills the gap. Among the religious, Sufis are considered to be
free-thinkers; while among intellectual philosophers they are considered
religious, because they make use of subtler principles in life to
elevate the soul than can readily be followed by material logic.
Sufis have in many
cases realized and shown the greatest perfection in humanity. And among
the lives of the Sufi saints may be found some of the most divine models
of human perfection in all capacities, from a king to a laborer. The
idea that Sufism sprang from Islam or from any other religion, is not
necessarily true; yet it may rightly be called the spirit of Islam, as
well as the pure essence of all religions and philosophies.
A true Sufi
remains in the thought of truth continually, sees the truth in all
things and never becomes prejudiced, but cultivates affection for all
beings. A Sufi accomplishes the divine journey and reaches the highest
grade of Baqa during this life, but people of all beliefs arrive,
eventually, at the same level of understanding and realization which
Sufism represents.”
Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
http://www.sacred-texts.com/isl/msl/msl.htm
|