Letter from the Editor
Every human being, at one time or another, asks the perennial questions: Where did I come from? Where am I going? What is the purpose of life? Some people dismiss these questions, since the answers seem impossible to find. Others continue to strive for understanding, and this quest leads them to knowledge. One thing is certain...no knowledge is more important than the knowledge of the Self. No wealth is richer than the discovery of the essence of existence which lies within. Yet this wondrous creation is so tightly wrapped that it is rare indeed that someone is able to uncover its richness. The diversions of the outside world can amuse us for a lifetime and bury our jewel of existence farther within us; the jewel which we usually let remain untouched. Living the life of “the marketplace,” we keep ourselves busy and rarely do we remember our real Self. It starts when we are children. We make castles out of sand, we play with our dolls as if they were real. We become the speaker, the listener and the player. And so it continues as we make our way through our society, building bigger houses, “playing the game.” We may have fun, but we are never deeply satisfied. Before we know it we are old. Every cell seems to
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Sufism: An Inquiry Vol XVIII, No. 4
slow down, becoming sedentary until the very elements which made up our body are scattered and return once again to earth. This is how nature works. The rule of nature is the rule of change–continuous gathering and continuous scattering. Through the principle of homogeneity, elements live together in cooperation. Societies operate according to this principle too. It is the basic rule of any association or group but many things take place in this “spirit of cooperation” because whenever there is an association of diverse elements, some members will be “eaters and some will be eaten.” The weak nourish the strong. In the final analysis, however, all will be eaten. It happens in the ocean which is a place of diverse creation. The whale feeds on fish. When the whale dies, other creatures of the deep feed on it. The ocean creates a myriad of motivations, actions and reactions. The nature of the ocean can be found in all its beings. The fish and the whale carry with them a shared heritage of the conditions and qualities of the water. Human beings are creations of water as well. And this principle of the eater and the eaten is also illustrated in our own lives. Living within this system focuses our attention outside, keeping peace and tranquility out of our reach.
