Spirit Matters
the newsletter for the Sufi Movement in Australia
Some people look for a beautiful place, others make a place beautiful. Hazrat Inayat Khan
Volume 19, Issue 2 August 2015.
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What’s in the August issue?
MEMBERSHIPS & SUBSCRIPTIONS Contents 3 Letter from Nuria, your National Representative 4-6 Sacred Reading: Destiny and Free Will – Hazrat Inayat Khan 7 A poem by Hafiz – ‘And for no reason’ 8-11 Universal Worship on the topic of ‘The God Ideal’ 12-14 Sufi Lessons, part 3 of 5 – Nur Al-Alam 15 Dargah Retreat – ‘The Spirit of Guidance’ – Oct/Nov 2015 16 Contacts
Membership to the Sufi Movement in Australia is open to all. If you find yourself drawn to the ideals of universal spiritual brother-and-sisterhood, you may be interested in becoming a member. The Sufi Movement in Australia offers an annual Sufi summer retreat, classes in centres around Australia, and a newsletter three times a year.
Dear friends, Welcome to the August issue of Spirit Matters. I apologise for it coming a little late – August crept up on me unawares! I hope you have been enjoying winter activities at home, or summer ones if you have been travelling to the northern hemisphere. This is a smaller issue than usual, but still it has words of inspiration for everyone. I would like to thank our wonderful contributors for sending in the content within these pages. Don’t forget the last issue for 2015 will be out in December. Please remember to send in your stories and photos and artwork to make it a bumper Christmas issue. Love , Sakina
Spirit Matters - August 2015 - Volume 19 - Issue 2
In addition, members are affiliated with the International Sufi Movement, its teachers and activities. Annual Membership Fees Single-$75 Family-$100 Please contact the treasurer for more details (see the back page for contact details)
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Letter from Nuria, your national representative Beloved Sisters and Brothers We are just back from about two months in Europe, mostly spent in Ireland, and currently feeling very jet-lagged. I have been wondering about the feeling of jet-lag and the difference when flying westwards, which is not so bad, to flying eastwards, which is much more difficult to take. There is much mythology about the warriors going to the western isles when they die, and of course going westwards is clockwise and in the same direction as we turn in Zikar. It seems as if the westward flow of energy is in keeping with our own, whereas going eastwards is against the energy flow or magnetism of the earth. It is a strange feeling and not just tiredness or lack of sleep. Perhaps doing Zikar this evening with the group will realign me. Note – it did! Coming ‘home’ to where we grew up is always an interesting and bittersweet experience. The psyche slowly settles into older rhythms of being and even of speech. My Derry accent became more pronounced and even my phraseology changed. When in Vienna I began to think in German again and in a way became different in myself. It made me examine my background and how it has influenced my life and it made me realise how wonderful Sufism is as a way of life and an attitude of living in peace and harmony. There was even a sort of Divine message for me in a strange way. I went to visit my cousin in Dublin for the weekend and we were discussing spirituality. She has never been interested in this but told me this story. She was sorting her father’s books; he had studied theology in his youth but decided to become a teacher rather than a minister. One of his old books fell out of the bookcase. She picked it up and put it back, but it fell out again, so this time she pushed the book in hard between the other books. It fell out again! She decided to look at the book which kept coming her way and perhaps wanted to be read. It was Thomas A. Kempis’s The Imitation of Christ, so she did in fact read it and found that it changed her life and that of her two daughters. What she told me about the book sounded very Sufi like – about how to live your life in a simple spiritual way without dogma and thinking too much about concepts. It was really meant for monks living in seclusion but was relevant to all our lives. I decided to get the book for myself and was advised to find the Ronald Knox translation. So on Sunday evening I returned to Derry (a four hour bus ride) to find Azad’s sister Anna in the house preparing dinner. Now the story gets even more interesting. Azad’s brother had given Anna the Thomas A. Kempis book to read some months ago, but she
could not get into it because it was in the old biblical kind of language. She wanted to return it but couldn’t find it, but then that very morning at chapel someone had put out a copy of the book for anyone who wanted it to take. She took the book and thought she could as least return the book at last. When she got home, the original book was found – it almost fell out at her! I was truly amazed and thought there was definitely a message for me to read the book. Anna gave me the copy she had picked up in chapel and I have it with me. I will however get myself the Knox translation. The book is about living a pure and simple spiritual life in imitation of Christ and the saints. I think that this journey was about seeing how some people living a non-spiritual life are indeed unhappy and have nothing to live for, while others have found a purpose even in extreme adversity and live a full and happy life. The One works in very mysterious ways, through signs and wonders, if we can notice them. I missed our Sufi community here and it made me realise how blessed we are to be in such a community of like-minded souls. It makes a huge difference. I am glad to be home again. With love to you all,
Nuria
Bookcover Image from Google Images
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Sacred Reading: Destiny and Free Will from v. XIV, The Smiling Forehead, pt. I, chap. VI
by Hazrat Inayat Khan There are two points of view: very often people either believe in destiny or in free will. Those who believe in destiny do not believe in free will; it is a question of temperament, and it also depends upon the experience they had in their lives. Some people have worked and had some success and recognized it as the outcome of their work. Then they think, ‘if there is anything it is free will. What we have done shows it: we have achieved results’. And there are others who have worked but did not succeed. In that case they begin to see that something is keeping them back from getting results, and then they think, ‘There is something – destiny – which is holding us back’. Many think, ‘It is a sort of laziness to be fatalist; after all it is a superstition’. And others think, ‘Free will is just a name, a conception, an idea a person may have, but really it is all destiny’. Nevertheless, their idea of free will has its meaning and this belief has its peculiar benefit in life, while at the same time the idea of destiny is profound. Whether a person believes in it or does not believe in it, there is always an attraction about it. One who reads the future will always attract the believer in destiny as well as the unbeliever. The believer goes to him with faith, the unbeliever with smiles. Whether they believe that it is true or not, both are attracted to know about destiny because it is the greatest mystery there is. One’s own life, in which one is most interested, always remains a secret, a mystery, and this mystery is greater than any other in the world. No one can say, ‘I have no interest in knowing about my life, in knowing why I have had that past, why I have this present and what future I shall have’. To know about it is the greatest desire one has. Concerning the idea of destiny one may ask whether a plan is laid out so that every occurrence in life must be according to that plan. And if it is laid out, on what ground? Who has laid it out? If it is God who laid it out, how far could it be just on the part of God to make one happy and another miserable, one great and another small, to let one enjoy and at the same time make another suffer – living under the same sun, walking on the same earth? If it is man’s action, is it in the first place the action of the past or is it the action of the present and, if it is man’s action, to what degree is he responsible for it? These questions take a person to the depths of life’s mystery, and once they are solved a great philosophical problem has been solved. Most often a person has a preconceived idea, and this idea he keeps as a wall before him; content with what he knows about it, he does not try to inquire any further.There is no doubt that a man is born with a plan to be accomplished in life – not only with instincts, with merits or gifts, but with the whole plan of how his life is to be. There is a
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saying in the East that one can read the life of an infant from looking at its feet; even the little feet of the infant show the sign of the plan that it is to follow through life. There is a story that explains a little more the relation between destiny and free will. A seer was working as a porter (from the French portier, i.e. doorman.) in a rich man’s house. Now there is a belief in the East that no sooner a child is born than angels come and write on its forehead the whole plan of destiny. But this seer-porter was a wonderful man. At the door, as soon as the angels came, he said, ‘Stop, where are you going? I am the porter here! You cannot go in unless you promise to tell me about the plan’. The angels told him; he was a strong porter, he would not let them go without telling him. And so every time a child was born in that house he took down the notes of what was going to happen. Then the parents passed away. Theirs had been a rich house, but for some reason or other the money was lost. The children were left without shelter, and it fell upon the shoulders of the old porter to look after them with what little means he had. As soon as they were old enough the children went to different countries with what little they had to spend. One day this servant of the house thought that it was his duty to go and see how they were getting on. Also for a seer it is most interesting to see the material phenomenon of the same thing he had seen inwardly as a vision. That comes as a satisfaction to a seer; it is naturally amusing for him when he sees on the outer plane the same things he had felt inside himself. It gives him the greatest fun, the greatest amusement. So the porter went and saw one child of the house working as a horse groom. He was very sorry to see the child of a house, where so many horses had been kept, in this situation. He went to the young man and told him, ‘It could not be avoided, it was meant that you should be so. Only, I want to give you one [piece of] advice, because it
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Sacred Reading: Destiny and Free Will from v. XIV, The Smiling Forehead, pt. I, chap. VI
makes me sad to think that you, in whose house were so many horses, now have to work as a horse groom. Here is a little money, take it and go to another city and try to work as a horse trainer. Horses of rich men may be given to you to train them, and I am sure you will be successful’. The young man asked, ‘Can I do anything else?’ ‘No, that is the only door out. Perhaps you would have been a horse groom all your life if I had not told you this. Anything else you cannot do; this is the only path for you. Do your work in a different way and you will have success’. The young man did so and was successful.
This story makes us realize what the seer does. A definite plan was made for those two young men; at the same time there was scope for free will to work – but within that plan. If one did not think of this scope one would go on in the lines of the plan and continue to live miserably. Seeing changes the scope. It is a great lesson and those who can understand this lesson can benefit immensely by it: seeing there is a plan and at the same time that there is scope to do better, and much better – yet within the plan. Sadi, the great poet of Persia, has said, ‘Every soul is born for a certain purpose and the light of that purpose is kindled in his soul’. Now the question arises if a person is born with what the Hindus call karma: some action of the past, or something he has brought with him on Earth, a good influence or a bad influence, something that he has to pay. No doubt there is truth in it and we can see that truth very often: a person is placed in a situation where he has to give, where he has to serve, where he has to sympathize without any intention on his part, as if he has to pay a debt to someone. He may not have the slightest desire to do so – at the same time it falls on his shoulders, he cannot help it. It is as if a higher at-one-ment has determined that it must be so. Whether the person does it willingly or unwillingly he must give his time, thought, sympathy and service to someone else.
The porter then went to the other son and asked, ‘What is your condition?’ ‘My condition is that I wander about in the forest and bring back some birds. I sell them in the city and hardly get any money to live’. In those days there was a fashion among kings to keep a certain bird as a pet; that bird was called Shahbaz, the king’s bird. The porter said, ‘You must not look for game birds; look for this bird Shahbaz’. The boy replied, ‘But if I cannot find it, should I then rather starve and die?’ ‘Do you know what your father was and what you are?’ ‘Yes, I had bad luck.’ ‘You will have better luck if only you listen to me. You need not change your profession of catching birds, but catch Shahbaz. You can sell it for millions. That is the bird you ought to catch.’
Then one sees that a person receives money or comfort or love and sympathy from someone else. Whether he deserves it or does not deserve it is not the question to be thought about: one is in a certain situation and cannot help it. Whether people are willing or not willing, there is something that compels them, they cannot help it. This shows that one is born with that relation of give and take, one cannot help it. Among Hindus some people are accustomed to say that to them; others are like children who have nothing to pay, just like parents will say, ‘We have nothing to get from our children’. This makes it clear that man is born with certain obligations which willingly or unwillingly he must fulfill. It also shows that, however powerful and however great a person may be, however good circumstances may seem, when there is to be a difficulty it cannot be helped; the difficulty will be there. And then at other times in life, in spite of all things lacking, a way is open; you have not to do much and it is all smooth. This also shows that there is a plan. It is not only qualification and cleverness that make[s one] successful, but a plan is to be accomplished. There are times when you are meant to have an easy life, success and all you wish, and other times when you cannot have these.
ALL IMAGES ON THESE PAGES: from Google images
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Sacred Reading: Destiny and Free Will from v. XIV, The Smiling Forehead, pt. I, chap. VI
One may ask, ‘Is it so that something is born with a person, or is it the effect of a person’s action on the Earth?’ The answer is, ‘Both’. Suppose an artist first made in his mind a design of a certain picture and then, as he made that picture, so he was inspired by it. This suggested [to] him to change the design and, as he went along making the picture, it changed to such an extent that it became quite different from the picture he had made before. He had thought of putting two horns on a particular figure and now he made two wings: instead of an animal it became a bird. Even to that extent life may be changed by action. A right action, a good action is productive of power; it is creative and can help much more than man can imagine. Then arises the question to what extent man can help himself. The answer is that man has two aspects in him. One aspect is his mechanical being where he is but a machine controlled by conditions, by his impressions, by outer influences, by cosmic influences, by his actions. Everything working mechanically turns his life accordingly: he has no power over conditions, he is just a tool of influences. The more this aspect is pronounced in man, the less evolved he is. It is a sign of less evolution. ALL IMAGES OF MURSHID: from stock images
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Another aspect in man is creative, in which he shows the sign of being representative of the Creator, in which he shows that he is not only linked with God but part of God: his innermost self is God. Be not surprised therefore if you hear those amazing stories of sages, masters, saints and prophets whose command worked in the cosmos and by whose will a generality, a collectivity moved as they wished it to move. It is nothing to be surprised at. Outwardly every man is almost of the same size; no man is as high as a camel, or as stout as an elephant. Outwardly men differ little, but inwardly there is no comparison in the size of the spirit, no comparison between the understanding, the power and insight of one man and that of another. One walks, one runs, one flies and one creeps; yet all walk on the same earth, live under the same sun – all [are] called men. Nevertheless, there is no man who has not a spark of this power, who has not the possibility of changing conditions by his free will, if only he realized what he is. It is the absence of this realization which makes man a machine.
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And For No Reason
A poem by Hafiz And For no reason I start skipping like a child. And For no reason I turn into a leaf That is carried so high I kiss the Sun’s mouth And dissolve. And For no reason A thousand birds Choose my head for a conference table, Start passing their Cups of wine And their wild songbooks all around. And For every reason in existence I begin to eternally, To eternally laugh and love! When I turn into a leaf And start dancing, I run to kiss our beautiful Friend And I dissolve in the Truth That I Am.
IMAGE: from Google images
Taken from the website: Hafiz Poems. [Accessed 16 August 2015]. Retrieved from http://www.astrodreamadvisor.com/Hafiz.html
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Universal Worship on the topic of The God Ideal Readings offered by Eqbal Josephine Lolicato We read from the Hindu Scriptures
We read from the Jewish Scriptures
The Upanishads p:94:5
Psalm 34:8
This Self is Brahman indeed: it consists of understanding, mind, breath, sight and hearing; of earth, water, wind and space, light and darkness, desire and desirelessness, anger and the lack of it, right and wrong: it consists of all things.
Taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
As a man acts, as he behaves, so does he become. Who so does good, becomes good: who so does evil becomes evil. By good works a man becomes holy, by evil works he comes evil … The person consists of desire alone. As is his desire, so will his will be, as is his will so will he act, as he acts so will he attain.
Fear the lord, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing … Psalm 34:9 Come, my children, listen to me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Whoever of you love life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
We read from the Buddhist Scriptures If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the carriage. An evil deed is better left undone, for a man will repent of it afterwards; a good deed is better done, for having done it one will not repent. If a man commits a wrong let him not do it again; let him not delight in wrongdoing; pain is the outcome of evil. If a man does what is good, let him do it again; let him delight in it; happiness is the outcome of good. Let no man think lightly of evil, saying in his heart, ‘It will not come nigh unto me’. As by the falling of water-drops a water-pot is filled, so the fool becomes full of evil, though he gather it little by little.
We read from the Scriptures of Islam Koran iv78-81 Whatever good O man! happens to thee, is from God; But whatever evil happens to thee, is from thy own soul. And we have sent thee as an Apostle to instruct mankind. And enough is God for a witness. Koran iv84-88 Whoever recommends and helps a good cause becomes a partner therein: And whoever recommends and helps an evil cause, shares in its burden: And God hath power over all things.
We read from the Zoroastrian Scriptures. 43:6
We read from Gayan
O Mazda You are indeed most exalted and powerful through Truth and the Good Mind.
A good person proud of his goodness turns his pearls into pebbles; an evil person full of remorse may make jewels of common stones.
Reveal this as a sign for me to cling to amid the uncertainties of Life.
Wickedness manifesting from an intelligent person is like a poisonous fruit springing from a fertile soil.
So may I approach You in worship and joyous praise.
Every experience, good or bad, is a step forward in man’s evolution. Beyond goodness is trueness, which is a divine quality.
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Universal Worship on the topic of The God Ideal Homily by Azad Daly Beloved Ones of God! This is a phrase that our Murshid used when addressing his Mureeds on many occasions and it is a phrase that should give us pause for some thought! Do we really consider ourselves as beloved or loved by God? Who or What is God? And if we do have some sort of idea or belief, is it not an arrogance to think that somehow we are beloved or special when we think of this God and our perception of it, or more importantly, how ‘it’ perceives us? In the Koran and the Bible it says that man was made in the image of God so perhaps there are some grounds for optimism. In the opening pages of our Retreat Booklet [March 2015], Murshid Inayat explores this idea of the presence of God. He says that the word God has the same origin as the word Good, but the original in the old Hebrew language means ‘ideal’. Once again Murshid tackles a very complex issue and in his own unique way breaks it down – so to speak – and unravels it so that its complexity is dissected and comprehensible to the simplest of souls. So what is a God Ideal? It is something we make or construct. We attach to it desirable attributes which appeal to us; these could be Mercy, Forgiveness, Compassion, Goodness or Beauty. In other words Our Ideal is Our Ideal. It could be that this beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Others will have their own ideal and have a different view on what they see as desirable attributes. In other words, there are as many God Ideals as there are believers in (any) God!
Ironically one can see this also from convinced atheists who can get quite worked up and vehement about this God who apparently, to their way of thinking, doesn’t exist. Stephen Fry is the latest on Irish TV. He seems to have provoked quite a flurry on Twitter with tens of thousands of Tweets. This reminds me of the time when David Tacey once said to Philip Adams ‘The God you don’t believe in doesn’t or never existed’. If we look or examine the Scriptures we have just heard we can see that throughout the ages all the world’s religions – or belief systems – unsurprisingly have a position or a view on the virtues, or lack of virtues on the subjects of Good and Evil. Each of the Scripture readings reflects this. So we can see that there are various interpretations of what God is or perhaps it would be better to say how God is perceived! Who, amongst us, is to say which is right, and which is wrong? In our 2013 Retreat – ‘A Natural Life’ here in Amberley, Murshid Nawab dealt with the God Ideal in some depth. Part of the readings in that Booklet contained the God Ideal 1 and the God Ideal 5. Murshid Inayat wrote: ‘The idea of God is inborn in man. The God-Ideal is the flower of the human race and this flower blooms in the realization of God’, To steal Murshid Nawab’s line – ‘Let me tell you a story’:
And of course as we all know everything in this life has its opposite, therefore someone’s ideal could have less desirable attributes: such as envy, jealousy, dispassion and even ugliness. Perception of God Murshid then again in this opening lesson/reading in our Retreat Booklet deals with people’s different perception of God. To some, he writes he is the Creator, who was here at the world’s creation but is absent now; to others he is the Judge and he belongs to the Day of Judgement – ‘therefore he is also, or must be absent now, as they perceive that there is no Justice in the world’. Murshid makes the point that these people live in the hope that some day they will be called before this God and they will then know then that God does really exist but at present they are not totally convinced. Both therefore think or believe this God to be an Absent God!
I recently planted a packet of Zinnia seeds and a lot of seedlings sprung up as a consequence of this. They required a lot of care due to aphid attacks but as with all seedlings it was wonderfully rewarding to see them grow and progress. Initially when the first flower bloomed it was a disappointment – I had never grown these flowers before and had expected better. The flower just looked like a single petaled daisy, but then within a few days emerging from the centre there came another layer of petals followed by another layer & then another layer all emerging from
ZINNIA IMAGE from Google images
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Universal Worship on the topic of The God Ideal
the centre. It was/is very beautiful and was very symbolic. And the centre itself contained its own beauty as this was comprised of a crown of 5 tiny golden stamen flowers. So from the relatively simple act of growing some seeds we can learn a deep and wonderful lesson! Murshid writes: ‘Is not man the seed of God? Is it then not his life’s purpose to bring forth divine blossoms?’ I was in two minds whether to use this story in this homily but my first message from the Bowl of Saki on Sunday read as follows: ‘sincerity is like a bud in the heart of man that blossoms with the maturing of the soul’. When you consider that a tiny little seed contains everything that is required to produce, or grow, the flower it is simply breathtaking. Some people have what we could call a simplistic idea of God and I don’t mean this in a disparaging way at all – they see God as all good and Satan as the author of all that is bad, or evil, in the world and that is, as far as it goes, fine. Others will be more questioning and try to make sense out of the tragedies of life; they then try to fit this in to their concept or God Ideal and at times they struggle with this as they try to make, or explain (to themselves) the inexplicable. We should realise that man’s intellect will never be able to fathom a time when we will have the intellectual capacity to comprehend and understand this. Our Egos however will drive and spur us on to this unattainable goal and the result will only be confusion. In other words, the Ego thinks that one-day we will be able to comprehend the incomprehensible, that somehow we will be able to conceptualize God. We can’t and we never will! Murshid Hidayat says ‘to conceptualize God is to dethrone God.’ So there are many perceptions of God and many interpretations of what God is and who is to say which is right and which is wrong. But does this really matter? Good & Evil Our Booklet reading then deals with the subject of Good and Evil.
IMAGES on these pages from Google Images
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Murshid’s comments on Good and Evil [tend to the view] that everything in this life contains its opposite. If we look for it, good contains evil and evil contains good. Murshid uses the example of a child who calls itself good but will tell adults how other children are naughty. He writes: ‘Such a tendency grows and develops; life gathers the wickedness in people; the heart becomes impressed; in time the evil is stored up. That which is in the store becomes the treasure, the world within’. Murshid continues: ‘He who stores evil cannot see good; because there is no good in this world that has not a little spark of evil in it; there is no evil in this world that has not got a little spark of good. If a person only tried to find the spark of good, he could find it; but if a person seeks to find a little spark of evil in every good, he can do that also.’ However in the second Sacred Reading (on Sunday) Murshid tells us that when a Sufi sees the character and nature of life, he says that it is not very important to distinguish between the two opposites, such as good and evil; but that what is important is to recognize THE ONE, which is hiding behind it. The Present Murshid also tells us that the Present i.e. real life seems to be indeed real – that joy, sorrow, happiness or unhappiness are indeed very real whilst they are happening. However once they are past, or not happening they are – to quote – ‘only like a tale that is told’. He contrasts this with dreaming. Whatever the content or subject of the dream, to the dreamer it is real for him or her, in that moment. However when he/she wakes up, the experience has vanished – it is, or was, only during the presence of the experience (the dream) that he (mis)took this for what we call reality. Just think about that for a moment! Everybody here has experience of this, pain and suffering – happiness and joy, and of course dreams. So these are not academic or esoteric points. We all have had these experiences. Murshid makes the point that these real-life experiences of joy and sorrow at different times in our past are like nothing to us now? If you have experienced physical pain,
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Universal Worship on the topic of The God Ideal now, as Murshid points out, this seems like a dream. The pain, the experience is gone. True an impression is left, or in the case of childbirth there may be a bit more than an impression, or as some mothers will testify. But the crucial point here is that the past is indeed the past! He writes: ‘What counts with us is the present; what is here just now is the only thing that counts. The Inner Life In Sufism a tenet of our belief is that in real life an encounter (for want of a better word) with God or the Divine Presence can be experienced in this life. In other words to have a mystical experience. One could say that in Sufism we don’t see life as a continuum where things appear not really to change much although the start and end of life are quite distinct. (i.e. birth and death) But a large majority of people are led to believe that when they are born they either live faithfully or unfaithfully according to whatever belief, or non-belief system, they have either inherited or chosen; and that when they die – as we all surely will one day – it is only then that they may experience the presence of God or Allah or whatever name we wish to use to describe the Divine Presence. We believe that this may not be the case! Hence, in Sufism, we work to control our Ego. We do practices. And here’s the tricky part: we surrender to the will of God. (I’ll do a Tony Abbott here) We surrender to the will of God. How many of us really do surrender. When we say (and bow down) in the Saum – ‘to thee do we give willing surrender’ how many of us actually do this unconditionally? How many of us carry this surrender through the day within us, in our thoughts and actions? So [we need to have] a God Ideal, as best as we can visualize, whilst at the same time realizing that we are trying to comprehend the incomprehensible, and that God is way beyond our mental or intellectual capacity. Our God Ideal is only a very limited attempt by us to try to relate to the Majesty of God or Allah. Murshid talks of the yearning that we all feel and of our heart’s desire to reach upward and to make progress on the path of life. But even if we have attained all the material goods and benefits, he says that happiness is not always its companion. So by doing or having quiet contemplation, by practising concentration and meditation exercises; saying our prayers devoutly; doing our Sufi practices of breath and wazifas and of course Zikar – then, just possibly, we may have an experience of the Divine at some future point in time. This obviously should be our goal! Sufism is deceptive – it appears to be deceptively easy at first glance. There is no dogma, No! You must do this
– or you must not do that. In Sufism there is no one Ideal or name of God or Allah that you must give your fidelity too as has been shown in our Universal Worship where all Deities are acknowledged. In Sufism it all appears to be so easy. Now here’s a dogma for you! You couldn’t be more wrong! With apparently no restrictions nor boundaries, who is left to be responsible for your behaviour and your attitude? Answer! You are! Everyone is on their own personal path with all the trials and tribulations that life brings. There will be times – many times – when you wonder ‘why is this happening to me? What have I done to deserve this?’ We all have had these thoughts at some time or another. After all we are human. All these things will pass, be it personal, such as health, family matters, or otherwise, they will pass. The thing to remember is that you are never truly alone. As it says in the Koran: ‘God / Allah is closer to you than your jugular vein.’ We don’t refer to the Beloved as the Friend for nothing. He/She/ It/ is always there even or especially in times of great distress. Lose the idea of a God of Suffering; there is no such thing. We humans are responsible for most of the grief that exists on our planet. And on a personal level I’ve said it before, ‘in this life, pain is inevitable – suffering is optional’. Acceptance of this is a prerequisite to forming your God Ideal. Acceptance along with the taming of the Ego also plays a vital role in this. We are all part of God and God is in us. Again from the Bowl of Saki: ‘There is but one teacher. God himself and we are all his pupils’. So for all the good and the bad that happens in this world, we, and not God, are responsible. We are all workers for God in this world. We are on this planet to find our purpose in life: to complete ourselves. A task left unfinished by God. That is our purpose!
When you have this acceptance and surrender to the will of God you will find that you have really lost nothing of importance, but you have in fact gained everything that is worthwhile to be gained. Amen
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Sufi Lessons (part 3 of 5) by Nur Al-Alam Sufi lessons1 that we can learn from the story of Prophet Joseph (pbuh2) in Qur’an and Bible Continued from Part 2, which appeared in the April 2015 issue of Spirit Matters
Repentance is a privilege and to be able to be sorry for all that one thinks was not right makes one live and feel more fully. It awakens justice in the heart of man.3 – Hazrat Inayat Khan
human beings are given divine guidance through three forms of communication from God: Intuition, Inspiration and Revelation. In this article, I’ll cover how we can nourish the virtues of repentance and forgiveness so that we can purify and strengthen our hearts, and that may lead us to blessings and miracles in our life here and hereafter.
One day Adam cast a look of contempt and scorn
4th Lesson - Virtue of Repentance (Tawba)
Upon Iblis, thinking what a wretch he was.
How the virtue of repentance was taught to (or practised by) Prophet Joseph’s brothers and Zuleikha.
He felt self-important and proud of himself, And he smiled at the actions of cursed Iblis. God Almighty cried out to him, ‘O pure one, Thou art wholly ignorant of hidden mysteries. If I were to blab the faults of the unfortunate, I should root up the mountains from their bases, And lay bare the secrets of a hundred Adams, And convert a hundred fresh Iblises into Mosalmans.’ Adam answered, ‘I repent me of my scornful looks; Such arrogant thoughts shall not be mine again. O Lord, pardon this rashness in Thy slave; I repent; chastise me not for these words!’4 – Mevlana Jalal al-Din Rumi Hazrat Inayat Khan and Hazrat Mevlana Jalal al-Din Rumi, in the above-mentioned quotations, are directing our hearts towards some spiritual remedies if we are seeking to cure the sickness in our hearts. For, we definitely need healthy and active hearts to continue our journey to meet God, on the Path of Perfection of Love, Harmony and Beauty. In part 1 of the Sufi lessons1 from the Wisdom of the Prophets, especially from Prophet Jacob and Prophet Joseph (peace be upon them), I have covered the lesson on human ego (nafs) and in Part 2, I covered the lesson on ‘Dreams and Inspirations’. I have illustrated that through the understanding of prophetic stories, we can be aware of corruptions of our own human soul, how through the arrogance and egotism it gets blind-folded from seeing the glory of God everywhere and also how
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We learned from the story of Prophet Joseph that due to envy and jealousy, arrogance and egotism, the hearts of Prophet Joseph’s brothers were corrupted. Because of this, they plotted to kill Prophet Joseph: they threw him into the well, sold their own brother as a slave to the merchants of Egypt, and concocted a lie to their father Prophet Jacob, as well as committing many other acts which were displeasing to God. As a result, a calamity of distrust, unhappiness, poverty and many other griefs befell the family of the Prophet Jacob. But the brothers were blind to how much harm they brought to themselves through their wrongdoings, and upon their respective souls. The following verse in the Qur’an clearly describes what happened to them, i.e. their hearts became blind: ‘...For surely the eyes do not go blind, but it is the hearts which are in the breasts that go blind.’ (22:46) We know from the part 2 lesson, that if the eyes of our hearts go blind, our intuition doesn’t work anymore. That means, Divine Guidance: Intuition and Inspiration stops flowing. That’s what happened to the brothers of Joseph.
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Sufi Lessons (part 3 of 5) To understand the state of their hearts, I would also refer you to the following Qur’anic verses:
Hazrat Inayat Khan has the following beautiful teaching for us on this lesson of Repentance (Tawba):
In their hearts is disease, and so God lets their disease increase; and grievous suffering awaits them because of their persistent lying. And when they are told, ‘Do not spread corruption on earth,’ they answer, ‘We are but improving things!’ Oh, verily, it is they, they who are spreading corruption but they perceive it not? [2:10-12]
Repentance is a privilege and to be able to be sorry for all that one thinks was not right makes one live and feel more fully. It awakens justice in the heart of man ... The one who offers his repentance to God, in whom he sees perfection and justice, and who goes with his sorrow to Him who is love itself, who is forgiveness itself, will experience a phenomenon and see the wonderful results coming from it – an upliftment, an unfoldment.5
God put veils over their hearts so that their hearts were blackened and blocked. No light of inspiration (ilham) or guidance could they see. As a result, they failed to perceive their mistakes for a very long time. This is a normal human condition of the modern day. They actually not only forgot God, but they forgot their own selves i.e. their personal souls. So the brothers continued to lie even when they visited Prophet Joseph in Egypt. They did not realize their mistakes until Prophet Joseph showed them one by one, every specific detail of each wrong they did to him, how he overcame all of those calamities, and how God saved him and raised him to a high position. As we know, later, through realisation of their mistakes, the brothers of Joseph repented sincerely. When Prophet Jacob and all his other family members were migrating to Egypt to live there permanently, one night all of them woke up and started crying to their father. It was the time of the dawn prayer. They confessed everything to their father, cried whole-heartedly, repented with humility and sought forgiveness from him. Prophet Jacob, out of tremendous love, cried with them and well and truly forgave them. Allah accepted their repentance and blessed them and their future generations with high status and bestowed upon them the rewards of success in this life and hereafter.
So the lesson for a Sufi traveller is that we reflect on our actions on a daily basis, so that we do not fall into the trap of our own ego and veil our hearts from the light of inspiration (ilham) and guidance from God. We need to cultivate a routine practice of repentance for all of our known and unknown (i.e. unaware) mistakes and shortcomings, so that the lights of guidance and inspiration are never blocked or stopped.
5th Lessons on the virtue of forgiveness How the virtue of forgiveness was practised by Prophet Joseph (pbuh) and Prophet Jacob (pbuh)
It was the same with Zuleikha, who did not understand for a long time that she was blinded by lust and passion, making mistakes, one after the other. These mistakes included lying to her husband about the indecent incident with Prophet Joseph, jailing Joseph with a concocted crime, and punishing him for not giving in to her desire. Finally she saw how God raised Prophet Joseph from slavehood to mastery over the people of Egypt. She realised her wrongdoings and started surrendering everything.
We all know that forgiveness is a Divine quality. We all cherish our journey ‘Towards the One’. Hence, we need to enliven this quality of forgiveness in our life because ‘Forgiveness Opens the Door of Hope’.
As we all might know, ‘Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) himself did repentance (tawba) 70 times a day’, which confirms that ‘daily practice of repentance’ is the cure for a veiled heart and that’s why all sufis and mystics embrace this way of internalising tawba to keep their hearts away from corruption.
Joseph’s brothers and Zuleikha took a very long time to seek forgiveness for their shortcomings. We can all fall into that kind of trap. Human beings have a tendency to lose hope or to become complacent; as a result, they do not seek forgiveness due to pride or complacency. Here is what the Qur’an says about this kind of behaviour of a human soul: ALL IMAGES ON THESE PAGES: from Google images
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Sufi Lessons (part 3 of 5) MAN NEVER TIRES of asking for the good [things of life]; and if evil fortune touches him, he abandons all hope, giving himself up to despair. Yet whenever We let him taste some of Our grace after hardship has visited him, he is sure to say, ‘This is but my due!’ And, too, when We bestow Our blessings upon man, he tends to turn aside and keep aloof [from remembering Us]; but as soon as evil fortune touches him, he is full of wordy prayers! (Al Fussilat, 41:49-51) Also in the Qur’an: [Thus speaks God:] ‘O you servants of Mine who have transgressed against your own selves! Despair not of God’s mercy: behold, God forgives all sins – for, verily, He alone is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace!’ (AnZumar, 30:53) Joseph’s brothers definitely made a severe mistake. They knew what they did to Joseph was wrong, and their father never trusted their concocted stories. In the pain of separation from Joseph and also in the frustration plus disappointment of the fact that he failed to bring up his own children to the standard of prophetic teachings, Prophet Jacob cried for many years. Because of this he lost his sight at one stage. Despite these sufferings of their father, for a long time the children of Israel did not feel any repentance for the crime they committed, let alone sought any forgiveness from their father or from God. Yes, truly the children of Israel were complacent. That’s why one of them said, ‘Slay Joseph, or else drive him away to some [faraway] land, so that your father’s regard may be for you alone: and after this is done, you will be [free to repent and to live once again as] righteous people!’ (Qur’an, 12:9). However, when they found that their father was continuously suffering, wailing and weeping, they were ashamed of their misdeeds but lost hope that they could ever be forgiven. So instead of repentance, confessing the truth and seeking forgiveness, they kept on lying to their father. But they forgot about this word of God, ‘Despair not of God’s mercy’. So when they were eventually aware of their mistakes, they sought forgiveness from both Prophet Jacob and Prophet Joseph. Both prophets forgave them. Instead of taking revenge on his brothers, Prophet Joseph forgave them and gave them love and respect. In order to adorn our heart with the virtue of forgiveness, we need to immediately acknowledge our mistakes, instead of being stubborn or caught up in pride. We should immediately say ‘sorry’ when we realize our shortcomings. Also when someone apologises to us, forgiving him or her is a great quality that Sufis wish to acquire.
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Hazrat Inayat Khan said, ‘One cannot arrive at true nobility of spirit if one is not prepared to forgive the imperfections of human nature. For all men, whether worthy or unworthy, require forgiveness.’ According to him, both forgiver and forgiveness seeker receive a great joy when it is practised. The practice of forgiveness increases a person’s capacity to such a degree that great virtues like Love and Tolerance emanate from his/her heart. Also self-forgiveness moves us forward and makes us ready to do things differently. Also by showing compassion and forgiveness to others, we can become more tolerant, less judgemental. Tolerance creates in us an appreciation of diversity. The Prophet Joseph was imprisoned by Zuleikha, who ordered the jailor to flog him until he bled, but when he became the Chief Minister, he forgave Zuleikha and ordered her immediate release as well as all the inmates from the jail. Through his forgiveness he showed his magnanimity and love for all creatures, instead of becoming vengeful, despite having legitimate reason. He taught us here that if we become more patient and forgiving in our lives when others make mistakes, tolerance and forgiveness will spring naturally from our hearts. So the lesson for a Sufi traveller is to internalise the virtue of forgiveness in his life. Never lose hope; seek forgiveness from Allah for all shortcomings. At the same time, a Sufi overlooks faults in others and develops a culture of love and tolerance in his life. To be continued in the next issue of Spirit Matters.
Endnotes 1 The reason I called this article ‘Sufi lessons’ is because of the Sufi longing
to find the taste (Dhawk) in everything in life. They feel the sweetness (Halua) of life wherever they are and whatever they do. So when they watch or read about the lives of Prophets or Saints, they get that Halua (sweetness) in their characters, in their actions, perfume in their hearts. The lessons mentioned here, therefore, are relevant more for Sufis than others.
2
pbuh – peace be upon him – this is as per Muslim practice of saying ‘Alaihi as-Salam’ in Arabic, to show respect and also, to earn blessings for ourselves, by sending peace & greetings to prophets, as per Qur’an (verse 33:56)
3
A Sufi Message of The Unity of Religious Ideals - London 1914, Part1, Volume IX, Prayer, Hazrat Inayat Khan. http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/IX/IX_7.htm
4
Mathnavi – Book1, Mawlana Jalal Ad-Din Rumi, http://wahiduddin.net/ mevlana/masnavi_book_1.htm
5
A Sufi Message of The Unity of Religious Ideals, Volume IX, Part I, PRAYER; Hazrat Inayat Khan. http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/IX/IX_7.htm [Please note - I am not trying to teach anyone or give lesson to anyone but myself. In reply to a question on publishing an article or a poem I wrote before, my beloved Murshid told me, we write for none but ourselves. So it doesn’t matter whether it is published or not published or read by anyone etc. As mentioned in part One of my article in this series, I was inspired to write this series after watching the TV Series5 on Prophet Joseph.]
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Upcoming Retreat at the Dargah: The Spirit of Guidance
The Spirit of Guidance is like the yeast, which is used to make bread, preparing humanity for the purpose for which it was created. The Spirit of Guidance is a plant that grows and blossoms when it meets with response and care; and when it is watered by the rainfall of divine inspiration it blooms in the light of the divine sun. In the Spirit of Guidance one finds a living God active in the heart of every person.
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Contacts NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVE Nuria Daly Phone: 03 9561 4861 Email: irenenuriadaly@hotmail.com VICE-PRESIDENT Celia Genn Phone: 07 5494 0724 Email: cgenn@bigpond.com SECRETARY Zora Floren Phone: 03 5348 7603 Email: briafloren@gmail.com TREASURER Azad Daly Phone: 03 9561 4861 Email: roddydaly@hotmail.com INTERNATIONAL SUFI MOVEMENT CONTACTS GENERAL REPRESENTATIVES 24 Banstraat, 2517 GJ The Hague, Netherlands Phone: +31 70 3657 664 Email: sufihq@xs4all.nl GENERAL SECRETARIAT 78 Anna Pulownastraat, 2518 BJ The Hague, Netherlands Phone: +31 70 346 1594 Email: sufiap@hetnet.nl SUFI MOVEMENT WEB SITES International: www.sufimovement.org Australia: www.smia.com.au
Spirit Matters - August 2015 - Volume 19 - Issue 2
REGIONAL CONTACTS AND REPRESENTATIVES ACT Talibah Josephine Lolicato Phone: 02 6297 5107 Email: loliavec@ozemail.com.au NSW – SYDNEY Hamida Janice Phone: 02 9387 5263 Email: hamida.janice@yahoo.com NSW – BRUNSWICK HEADS Zubin Shore Rosegarden Phone: 0478 679 533 Email: zubinshore@gmail.com QLD – GLASSHOUSE MOUNTAINS Celia Genn Phone: 07 5494 0724 Email: cgenn@bigpond.com SOUTH AUSTRALIA – ADELAIDE Karim and Bahkti Parkhurst Phone: 0427 671126 or 0429 996950 Email: sitaramanzil@bigpond.com TASMANIA Habiba Aubert Phone: 03 6223 6085 VICTORIA – MELBOURNE Nuria Daly (details above) EDITOR, Spirit Matters Sakina Kara Jacob Phone: 0448 839641 Email: klsjacob@gmail.com