Spiritual Chat 4 - Text Only Version About Spiritual Chat 4 Title: "Say 'Bawa', And Not Be There, Letting God Be There" Date: February, 14, 2002 - Discussion of Some Chat 4 Topics Chat Between: Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler) and Rumi Library Navigation Tree Go To Spiritual Chat 3 Chat 4 - Related Material Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim. In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. My love you, my dearest brothers and sisters MuhaiyaddeenLB: Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim. In the name of God the most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. Rumismith: Al salam alaykum, dear Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen. MuhaiyaddeenLB: Wa 'alaykun al-salam, Rumismith. MuhaiyaddeenLB: We are trying out the new AIM Instant Messaging System, which is a little different from the AOL one, which you can only use if you have AOL. The AIM IM is free for anyone using the Internet, and you can do a lot more with it, like talking directly to each other and transferring files. Also, with it you can send Links, like Spiritual Letter 14, at : www.SpiritualLetter014.homestead.com. Try out this Link and see if it works for you. Click HERE to download the Free AIM IM System. Rumismith: I am asking Bawa inside what to say or write. I am still going over our dialogues of the past couple of times, I was reading them last night, my heart was really open, so much wisdom is in those words. At work I am reading the Dialogues of Plato but our dialogues are even deeper. MuhaiyaddeenLB: They certainly are. Rumismith: Let me try out the Link. Separating From Us What Is Separating Us From God MuhaiyaddeenLB: Once you get it, how the path of God really works, it becomes very easy. For example, just look at the face of a child while the child is playing, and learning something new, and you will realize how easy it is. Once we understand this, then all of the darkness within us becomes what is standing between us and God, between us and our fun, between us and our only real fun which is standing in the "presence of God", rather than something that "we" have to over come or correct, but rather what God has to remove from within us, so we as His Children can have fun, so we as His Children can stand in "His Presence", not "our presence", not "our presence" which in truth is the darkness within us, the darkness within us that has grown over the light within us, which is "God's Presence" within us, the oneness of God and His Children within us. And like any Good Child, when these difficulties appear within us, when this darkness of "our presence", this darkness of "us" as separate from God rises up within us, we then call out to our Mother to get rid of them, to remove all these unnecessary things, that are interfering with our play, with our fun. This is the path of God, a Child of God playing in the "Presence of God", not the personal struggle that we have made it into through our ignorance. MuhaiyaddeenLB: It is this separating from us of all the things that separate us from God, by turning to God to separate them from us, not by personally doing battle with these things of separation, that makes the path easy. Our doing battle with them only strengthens them, like Bawa's story of the elephant and the armadillo. Click HERE for Bawa's story of the elephant and the armadillo, and for a discussion of this Wisdom Topic - Separating From Us What Is Separating Us From God. The Nature of The Path of God Rumismith: Yes, that is how it felt today. You see people seem to be my big button pushers. MuhaiyaddeenLB: We were just reading the definition of the term shukr in the book by His Holiness, "Islam and World Peace: Explanations of a Sufi". It is the whole path, as follows: "Shukr (A) (pl. shukur). Contentment arising out of gratitude; the state within the inner patience known as sabr; that which is kept within the treasure chest of patience. Lit.: gratitude; thankfulness." "Ya Shakur - one of the ninety-nine beautiful names of Allah. To have shukr with the help of the One who is true shukr." In this way, we can only truly have shukr, contentment and gratitude, by turning to God, to Ya Shakur, to the One of shukr, the One of Contentment and Gratitude, when we experience our lack of shukr, our lack of True Contentment and Gratitude. Click HERE for a discussion of this Wisdom Topic - The Nature of The Path of God About Picking Up And Putting Down MuhaiyaddeenLB: In this way, we need to look at what we say, and learn that something else within us is saying these things, not us, and begin to disassociate ourselves from them, and instead associate ourselves more with God. Remember, His Holiness teaches us that we cannot pick anything new up unless at the same time we are putting something old down, because all of the "new" of us has been hidden by God within the "old" of us, like the apple tree is hidden with the apple seed. Click HERE for a discussion of this Wisdom Topic - About Picking Up And Putting Down. For example, take the things you last said, "You see people seem to be my big button pushers". - who said that? Within that one sentence is a wealth of information about the things within you that need to be handed to God, the things within you that are separate from God, and cause you to be separate from your brothers and sisters, and from all of the Creation of God within you, a wealth of information about what these things within you are pushing, the agenda of separation that they have, and the belief structure that has grown around you, because of them, because of their life of darkness within you, that is false. Bawa calls this the schemes of the mind. Also Bawa teaches us, that, "What separates us from God is what separates us from each other, and what separates us from each other is what separates us from God". An Uninvestigated Life Is An Unlived Life You know, all day today when I was with my little boy, I asked myself where do the words come from, who or what is saying them. I just went deep inside to listen. I didn't get an answer, but it felt good to have that awareness. MuhaiyaddeenLB: For Earlier Point: And it is only wisdom that can cut these schemes of the mind. So the trick is to take what "you" think, as separate from God, as not the correct thinking, but just as what is being given to you, by your mind and desire, by what has in your ignorance grown within you, covering the life of the soul within you, covering the life of "oneness with" within you, with the life of "separation from" within you, and rather than getting into it, rather than getting into "you" thinking, as separate from God, instead hand it, hand it to Bawa. For New Point: Yes, that awareness is wisdom, it is a connection to something within you other than "you", other than the "you" that is separate from God, other than the mind. There is an old saying that I heard growing up, that an uninvestigated life is an unlived life. It is sort of like that. The value of what you experience, like what you just shared, is investigating it, is opening it up to see what is inside of it, not living it as you. None of it, as separate from God, is you. You are of God, and of the things of God, the things that God is one with, not of the things that you are experiencing that only exist as separate from God. Click HERE for a discussion of this Wisdom Topic - An Uninvestigated Life Is An Unlived Life. How To Merge With The Guru MuhaiyaddeenLB: Today's project is the beautiful discourse given by Bawa on April 26, 1972, "How to Merge With The Guru", and He opens this discourse with the following quote: Beginning of quote ------- " I am telling (this to) my children who are members of the Fellowship. There are about one hundred members, who are members of the Fellowship, and who have accepted the Guru, who have accepted me as your Guru." "It is only when you hold onto a Guru, and rest on the Guru, that you can develop your own wisdom and grace. You must take your heart and merge that heart with the heart of the Guru, and you must take all of your responsibilities and hand it over to the Guru as His responsibilities". End of quote ------- A copy of this discourse is now available as Spiritual Discourse 1 at: www.SpiritualDiscourse001.homestead.com. Try and access this one too. Rumismith: Beautiful - what a gift. What a purpose of life. I certainly will access it. Page Turners On The Path of God MuhaiyaddeenLB: That is the trick of this tricky business, finding ways to keep Bawa, and the life and teaching of Bawa in front of you. Mitch Gilbert used to call it setting up page-turners in your life, setting up things that keep you in front of your Shaikh. In this way, you are tricking your own mind. It really works. So instead of living in the world, you are living in the heart of Bawa tricking "yourself", tricking the "you" of "separation from", allowing the you of "oneness with" to emerge, which is Bawa, tricking your mind and desire with your wisdom. This really helps keep us as a light little child, rather than a dark big adult, and it becomes the game of our life, joining with Bawa against "you". Settling Into Stillness Through The Realization That Everything Is Perfect Rumismith: Yes, it takes practice. Today when I was trying to have awareness of who or what is speaking (from within me), I was in touch with that Truth inside and I tried to speak only from that point, but then automatic responses just kept coming out. MuhaiyaddeenLB: That is very good, but gradually make speaking something that has to be pulled out of you by Bawa, not something that you are trying to improve. In this way, let speaking happen within you, rather than being the one who speaks. Become the one who is silent within so the one who is now silent within you can become the one who speaks from within you. Rumismith: I understand. MuhaiyaddeenLB: In this way, Bawa teaches us that, "Only God can make the one who speaks silent, and the one who is silent speak". So the value of our speaking is to hear it, disassociate from it as "you" speaking, but rather as the speech that is coming from within you, from the mind and desire within you, from the life of separation and differences that has grown within you, no matter how exalted it may sound, and then hand it, hand it to God so God can make it silent, and harvest out of it the silent one who now speaks, and as the silent one speaks we hear it, just like everyone else hears it, but we don't have a sense of being it, of being the one who is speaking. This is the experience of this child. This is how we "settle into stillness through the realization that everything is perfect", and since it is all perfect, there is nothing for us to say. This is the ummi, the unlearned one, the unlearned, illiterate one, which is a title given to Muhammad (may the peace and blessings of God be upon Him), the Ummi Muhammad (may the peace and blessings of God be upon Him). The Only Way To Win The Drama of Our Life Is Not To Play MuhaiyaddeenLB: If something needs to be said, like right now, then God has to come and say it, not us. It is this refusing to participate that causes the mind to sit down. For as Bawa teaches us, "The only way to win the drama of our life is not to play." It is the belief that we have something to offer, that there is something for us to do, that keeps our mind active. So it is the realization that "we", as "separate from", have nothing to offer, nothing to say, that in truth there is nothing of value for us, as the life of "separate from", to do. It is this realization that causes our mind to sit down. In this way, we must be certain, without the slightest doubt, that there is absolutely nothing for us, as a life separate from God, to add to what God has already done, and is already doing, at every level within every creation. This is why Bawa teaches us, that, "To find fault with any of the Creation of God is to find fault with God, because God is the one who is conducting every life, and everything affecting every life." Rumismith: Yes, I always think I should say something, because the other person is expecting it. MuhaiyaddeenLB: Right. Instead, sit back and watch the show, God's show. It is all perfect - until we say something, or try to do something, or try to see, hear, smell, taste, touch or understand something, as separate from God. Rumismith: Al hamdu lillah. This is the Truth. MuhaiyaddeenLB: All we do, when we try to act or live as separate from God, is interfere with what God is doing with our life, with His life within our life, not add to it, or correct it, or improve it. This is the heart of it. Become The Children of God For This Age Rumismith: Fun? These words are blessings upon blessings. Ambrosia. MuhaiyaddeenLB: That is fun, God's fun. We must realize it. Life is fun, that is the way it is when God is in charge. Again, use the little child as the guide to life, the little child is always having fun, knowing that everything is Ok. Know The Difference Between Happiness, Sadness, And Peace MuhaiyaddeenLB: Abraham (may the blessings of God be upon Him) was having fun in the pit of fire, that is what the angels failed to realize. MuhaiyaddeenLB: Remember, sadness is the darkness of ignorance, and pleasure is the dream. Both of these occur only within our mind and desire. So we need neither one of them. There is a third, and that is peace, that comes from wisdom, from our direct connection with God, through the realization that God is in charge, and God is taking care of everything, even before we are aware of it. MuhaiyaddeenLB: The mind is always trying to pull us into happiness and sadness, and we avoid them through our wisdom, through our direct connection with God, which for our age is our direct connection with Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him), which is the wisdom surrounding our soul, allowing us to accept them both, both happiness and sadness, as Ok, by accepting whatever comes as from God, and as Ok. This is why Bawa teaches us, "Whatever comes let it come, and whatever goes let it go." But if we get pulled by our mind and desire into trying to reduce our unhappiness or increase our happiness, in some way, we are in deep trouble, because hidden within that is a complaint, that something is wrong in our life, and something needs to be corrected by us, by the life of "separation form" that has grown within us. That is why Bawa teaches us, that, "To find fault with anything is to find fault with God". Rumismith: Yes, I am just learning to accept whatever comes, no duality, so much peace comes with it. MuhaiyaddeenLB: Right. That is the way. A quote follows, a quote from Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him), a quote from our Father, Shaikh Muhammad Rahim Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him) follows: Beginning of quote ------- "Whatever happens to us is meant to correct us, to improve us. Any suffering that befalls us is meant to help us to go one step forward." "As long as we have absolute certitude in God, then no matter what difficulties, dangers, troubles, and suffering that comes to us, they will only make us move forward. These things help us to progress, to move forward on the path." "Never forget your goal which is to reveal God. Therefore, if you receive a blow on the back that is a signal to move forward some more, that is a sign to progress." End of quote ------- MuhaiyaddeenLB: This is why we want no preferences. Because each preference is a but a hidden desire. Remember, Bawa teaches us that the monkey mind can get into heaven but not the dog of desire. So desire is out, completely out. And all of our senses are tied into our desires. So what feels good for us on the path, even a good feeling about God, or about us in relationship to God, is a red flag to a hidden desire within us. The path is desire-less. So don't get into progress, or a sense of well being, or a feeling of progress. All of these are but hidden desires, and will let you down. Rumismith: Not even a desire to have my own room?!!! MuhaiyaddeenLB: No - that is Ok. Know The Difference Between The World And Bawa MuhaiyaddeenLB: Many times in our short history together, you were very happy, but in truth you were just being set up to be sad. It is connecting the dots - seeing how one leads to the other - how happiness and sadness are but two sides of the same coin, and avoiding them both, by wanting neither of them, by letting either of them come and go within us with no preference for either, and being able to do this by our connection to Bawa, through our partnership with Bawa, our connection to our wisdom, by our direct connection to God for this age, this age of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him). That is the straight path. Whatever comes to us, in our state of "separation from", in our life of separation and differences, that we see as existing "outside" of us, is all the same, it is all from our mind and desire. In this state we have nothing else within us, except Bawa. Bawa is the only thing we have within us that is not of the world. So this is the only thing we can use to leave the world, to transcend our mind and desire. Everything else we have within us, but Bawa, is to help us live in the world, not leave the world. We must realize this and stop trying to use the things of the world to leave the world, stop trying to use "us" as separate from God, to become "one with" God, stop trying to use what God has discarded to get to God, and instead start to use the "us" as "one with" God, which is our wisdom, which is Bawa, to get to God, which is what God has personally placed within each of us, as the wisdom surrounding our soul, as the guardian of our soul, to do this Divine Work. Know What Makes Our Life Valuable Or Valueless MuhaiyaddeenLB: In this way, the value of our day is always the same. It has no value to us, but it is of great value to God. But God doesn't have it, He doesn't have our day, our experiences of the day, we have it, but we cannot do anything of value with it. Sounds like the grounds for a great partnership. We have it but cannot use it, and God can use it but doesn't have it. Realizing this is our wisdom talking to us, telling us that we only have value in our partnership with God, when we connect what is within us to God, then and only then does anything we have, have value. So thinking about your day, or reflecting on your day, or evaluating your day, separate from God, is useless work. It is only in the handing of your day, your experience, your thoughts, your intention, your qualities, to God that makes them valuable. Do you understand, my sweet Rumi? Become Peaceful About Your Ending, Not About Your Getting Better MuhaiyaddeenLB: In this way, stop trying to get better. There is no getting better, there is only letting God end within us what has grown in the darkness within us, by harvesting something of value out of it, by harvesting the light of God from out of the darkness of us, discarding everything but that light as of no value. This is like the work of the farmer, planting the rice seed, then protecting and nourishing the small rice plants, and finally harvesting the rice seeds from the mature rice plants, discarding in the process all of the rice plants themselves, as of no value, except as the vehicle for producing the rice seeds. In this way, we must become peace about our ending, about the ending of the plant that is us, so the seed that is us can be harvested by God within us, realizing that the "seed of us" is God and the "harvest of us" is also God, as the seed of the rice plant is the rice seed, and the harvest of the rice plant is also the rice seed. In this way, as His Holiness teaches us, "God is both the cause and the effect." Rumismith: Yes, I do understand. May God make it happen now-once and for all, no falling back into ignorance. May God destroy the seed (that has become the plant by harvest the seeds that the plant has now become). MuhaiyaddeenLB: Al-hamdu lillah. And He will, He most certainly will. We all must know that. Through Understanding Realize That All Is Well MuhaiyaddeenLB: At the very beginning of the new book, "The Pearl of Wisdom" there is a poem by one of Bawa's Children from Ceylon. In the poem the brother keeps asking God when his condition will change, as follows: "Seeing within me the Triple Fame, within Alif, Laam, Meem, When will my sorrow depart, O Lord of mind?" "Knowing Thee, dwelling within Thee, When will I open my eyes and find Thee, O Lord of Mine?" "Forgetting the Earth, discarding the damsel, When will my heart melt thinking of Thee, O Lord of Mine?" I handed this poem to Bawa and Bawa said to this child, "His condition will change when the thought of himself ends, of himself as having a condition ends". Rumismith: Yes, I like that. All is well. MuhaiyaddeenLB: So it is the idea of ourselves, as separate from God, that is the problem, not anything about us. The Two Different Forms of Life Given To Us By God MuhaiyaddeenLB: Yes - all is well, but that is not enough, we must know why everything is well, or when the mind brings us a complaint, a very valid complaint, from the mind's perspective, we won't have the appropriate answer for it, and it will have its way with us. And why all is well, is because, "There is nothing other than God". We, as separate from God, don't exist, and that is the trash the mind is constantly bring us, the trash of "self existence", of an existence separate from God, separate from each other, and separate from the Creation of God. And it is all false. MuhaiyaddeenLB: This is Iman, the realization that we, as separate from God, don't exist, that in truth, "There is nothing other than God." And that is why "we", as separate from God, and separate from His Messenger for this age, from Bawa, cannot do anything on the path, not pray, not know, not progress, because there is no moving forward of "us" as "separate from". Only the other life within us, the life of "one with", which is our soul life, our light-life, can move forward. We have both, but we have become the life of "separate from", and as such we must let that life end within us, let it die within us, let it be discarded as the life of "one with", the life of light, is harvested from the life of darkness within us, and in this way, discarding the wheat plant from the wheat seed, the shaft from the wheat. And only the Shaikh can kill it, only the wisdom that God has provided as the guardian of the soul can kill it, can kill the enemy of the soul, can harvest the light within us from out of the darkness within us, but He can only kill it when we are done with it, when we have realized, understood, accepted, and joined with the truth that emerges from within us, from with the life and teaching of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him) that God has personally placed within us. In this way, it can only occur within us when we have realized that only He can do this work within us, and join with Him to do it, by handing everything of "us" to Him, by handing everything of "us" as "separate from", by handing everything of the "Plant of God" within us, to the "Farmer of God" within us, so He can harvest the "Crop of God" within us. In this way, we must end this "us" of us, this "plant" of us, this darkness of "us", this life of separation and differences of "us", that separates us from God, from each other, and from the Creation of God, not work it, not use it, not try to move it, not try to fix it, or correct it, or keep it, and not playing with it, but handing it, hand it to Him to end it. MuhaiyaddeenLB: If you are not handing your thoughts to Bawa, then nothing of value is happening with your thoughts, if you are not handing what you see to Bawa, then your seeing is of no value, if you are not handing what you hear to Bawa, then your hearing is of nor value, if you are not handing what you smell to Bawa, then your smelling is of no value. MuhaiyaddeenLB: It is just this simple. Everything else, everything else, everything else, is of no value. MuhaiyaddeenLB: This is the true Shaikh-Disciple Relationship, this is God, the Guru, and the Disciple, the Triple Flame of God within each of us, within everyone of God's creations. But only man can do anything with it, in partnership with God, because God has given man, and only man, the consciousness to do this Divine Work, this Divine Work of joining with God to reveal True Man within the Creation of God, and of joining with True Man to reveal God within the Creation of True Man. MuhaiyaddeenLB: If we join with the Guru who has already joined with God, then the Triple Flame of God within us becomes One. There is nothing else happening in our life. It is the realization of this truth that allows us to do any of this. That allows us to answer the mind when it brings us the world, and all of its very valid complaints, from the perspective of the mind. MuhaiyaddeenLB: We must ignore them all, knowing that all of these valid complaints of the world of separation and differences are in truth only valid for us if we are joined with the mind within us, but they all become invalid for us if we are joined with God within us. For if we are joined with God within us, then only complaints of "oneness with" are valid for us and when they do come they will be immediately attended to, and resolved, by our wisdom. So we don't need to be concerned with them either. In this way, everything that comes to us from our mind as a valid complaint of the earth world can be ignored by us, and everything else that comes to us as a valid complaint from the 18,000 universes within us, from the world of souls, and from akhirah, will be automatically handled by our wisdom. In this way, everything is taken care of within us, and we can settle into stillness through the realization that everything is perfect, allowing the "Three of us" to emerge from within us - Ya Allah, Ya Rasul, Ya Muhaiyaddeen - allowing the "Three of us" to become the "One of us" within us, which is Allah Muhammad, allowing True Prayer to occur within us, the Prayer of the One to the One who Is, the state of Allahu Ill Allahu. MuhaiyaddeenLB: We can't have two masters, either God is in charge within us, or "we" as separate from God are in charge within us, and if God is in charge within us, then the only agenda is God's agenda, and God's only agenda is the "One becoming the Three and the Three becoming the One" within us, which is the story of True Man within God within us and the story of God within True Man within us, and if we let our mind and desire be in charge within us, then the "stuff" of the world is the agenda, all the stuff of separation and differences is the agenda. This is the choice we have to make. Rumismith: Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen, Dana just called me, she needs to get on the internet and I am on her line. As they are paying for it I have to give her first go. MuhaiyaddeenLB: The worst of both worlds is believing in the world while acting like we believe in God, then we will not find any peace in anything that we do. This is what this child took from the earlier dialogue where it was said, "give it up". Rumismith: All I can say is Al hamdu lillah for these beautiful words of wisdom, so helpful. MuhaiyaddeenLB: Al-hamdu lillah. My love you Rumismith. May all the peace and blessings of God be upon us all. May God help us and grant us His grace. My love you (anbu) - Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler). Rumismith: Anbu, Rumi End of Spiritual Chat 4 - Text Only Version - .............................. Spiritual Chat 4: Related Material or Discussion of Some Chat 4 Topics This material is normally accessed from within the Chat, but can be read separately here. List of Discussion Chat Topics 1. Separating From Us What Is Separating Us From God Remember the story by His Holiness about the elephant that got bitten by the armadillo. Beginning of quote ------- "An elephant put its trunk in the wrong place, in a hole in the ground, and an armadillo living in that hole, thinking it was being attacked, bit into the trunk of the elephant. The elephant feeling the pain pulled outs its trunk with the armadillo still holding onto its trunk, for dear life, thinking something was trying to kill it." End of quote ------- Now the question that His Holiness asked, was what should the elephant do to escape from the armadillo now attached to his nose, which if not removed would eventually kill the elephant, preventing the elephant from eating, drinking, and breathing properly? And His Holiness gave two answers, first what the unwise elephant did, and then what the wise elephant did, in this circumstance. And we, that is "you" and "I", are both types of elephants, depending on the state we are in, depending on who we are trusting in to eat, drink, and breath properly. His Holiness said, Beginning of quote ------- "Now the unwise elephant, in its panic, in its fear for its life, in its belief that it had to attack what was attacking it, started to beat the armadillo on the end of its trunk against the nearest tree, thinking incorrectly that if it hurt the armadillo it would let go, but the pain it gave the armadillo had the opposite effect, because the nature of the armadillo, when it is holding onto something, in fear of its life, is to hold on tighter and tighter as it is hurt more and more." "So the more the elephant banged the armadillo against the tree the deeper and deeper the armadillo bit into the trunk of the elephant, until the elephant became exhausted, and eventually died." "But the wise elephant didn't panic, instead it trusted in God for its life, and for the protection of itself, and through its faith and trust in God it was able to reflect on its condition without fear, but with faith, and immediately ran to a nearby pond and put its trunk in the water, submerging the armadillo beneath the water." "Immediately the armadillo realized it was under the water, and the fear of drowning was greater than its fear of being attacked, so it let go of the trunk of the elephant and swam to the surface of the water, free the elephant and the armadillo from all danger." End of quote ------- End of Discussion of Wisdom Topic 1 ------- 2. The Nature of The Path of God Our peace comes from understanding "how it works" and being able to deal with everything that comes to us by turning to this understanding of "how it works", preventing what comes to us from overwhelming us, or catching us, or making us overly happy or sad, helping us put everything into its proper perspective, helping us realize the value of the things that come to us, what to do with them to profit from the experience, and in this way, to harvest the maximum value from the experience, and what not to do to avoid the inherent danger in every experience in the world, because like the honey bee, each experience has both honey and a stinger. This definition of Sabr shows us clearly "how it works". Lets review "how it works" in steps. Step 1. God is good. Step 2. Only God is good. Step 3. There is nothing other than God, You Are God, And Muhammad Is The Messenger of God. Step 4. The nature of God is unity. Step 5. The nature of the Creation of God is understanding. The understanding that occurs through contrast, the contrast of unity and the lack of unity. In this way, the nature of the Creation of God is both unity and lack of unity, and as unity, is the Oneness of God and His Creation, which is the Secret of His Creation, the Secret of God that is hidden by God within each of His Creation when He Created it, when He gave it form, when He looked at it allowing it to manifest or exist as a form separate from Him, but not as a life separate from Him. n this way, God Creates, Protects and Nourishes the form of His Creation, as He secretly exists as its life within its form, allowing it to exist as "separate from" Him, for His higher purpose, which is to reveal Himself, for the benefit of all of His Creation. As such God as the life within His Creation is "one with" His Creation, while the form of His Creation is "separate from" God, and "separate from" all of the rest of the Creation of God. In this way, the nature of the Creation of God is both unity and lack of unity, is both "one with" and "separate from", is both God and the opposite or the contrast to God, through which the understanding of God can occur, is both life and form, is both Secret and manifestation, is both Sirr and sifat. Step 6. Islam is Unity, and only Iman Is Islam Islam is unity or tawhid, which is the principle tenet of Islam, is the affirmation of this truth, the affirmation of the unity of Allah, and this unity of Allah, this Islam is only reflected from the purified heart of Iman, of absolute faith, certitude, and determination in God, and reflected in the face of God's beauty, which is the heart or aham and the face or muham of Muhammad (may the peace and blessings of God be upon Him). Step 7. True Man is the Oneness of God and His Creation. And as such, is the Secret hidden by God within each of His Creation, when God looks at it and gives it a form, a form which is "separate from" God, but with a life that is God, is "one with" God. Step 8. Understanding only occurs through contrast. So the purpose of the Creation of God is to provide the contrast so understanding can occur, to provide the contrast of "one with" and "separation from" so understanding, the understanding of the life of God, the Secret of God hidden within the manifestation or form of the Creation of God, which is True Man, can occur. Step 9. Man is the Creation of God that can understand God. The Creation of God that has the consciousness to understand God, to understand the nature of God hidden within the Creation of God, which is unity, which is "one with", which is the life of God within the form of all of the Creation of God, through the contrast provided by the form of the Creation of God, through the contrast provided by the form of "separate from". Step 10. The path is extracting the life of Creation out of the form of Creation. The path is extracting the Oneness of God and His Creation from His Creation, is extracting the Secret from the manifestation, is extracting the "one with" from within the "separate from", is extracting True Man out of the Creation of God. Step 11. The path is walked by not walking alone. It is walked by not walking as the Creation of God, by not walking as "separate from", by not walking as the form of the Creation of God, but by walking in partnership with God, by walking as the Oneness of God and His Creation hidden within His Creation, by walking as "one with", by walking as the life of God within the Creation of God. Step 12. The path is completed when True Man has been revealed within us. This is our path in the world, in the dunya within us, which is the 18,000 universes within us, allowing True Man within us to reveal God within the Creation of True Man, which is akhirah within us, which is firdaus or the Kingdom of God within us. In summary, these 12 steps are: Step 1. God is good. Step 2. Only God is good. Step 3. There is nothing other than God, You Are God, And Muhammad Is The Messenger of God Step 4. The nature of God is unity. Step 5. The nature of the Creation of God is understanding. Step 6. Islam is unity, and only Iman is Islam. Step 7. True Man is the Oneness of God and His Creation. Step 8. Understanding only occurs through contrast. Step 9. Man is the Creation of God that can understand God. Step 10. The path is extracting the life of Creation out of the form of Creation. Step 12. The path is completed when True Man has been revealed within us. Applying these 12 steps to the following definition of Shukr, gives us another way of looking at "how it works". "Shukr (A) (pl. shukur). Contentment arising out of gratitude; the state within the inner patience known as sabr; that which is kept within the treasure chest of patience. Lit.: gratitude; thankfulness." "Ya Shakur - one of the ninety-nine beautiful names of Allah. To have shukr with the help of the One who is true shukr." Step 1. God is good. God is shukr, contentment and gratitude. Step 2. Only God is good. Only God is shukr, contentment and gratitude. Step 3. There is nothing other than God, You Are God, And Muhammad Is The Messenger of God There is nothing other than shukr, contentment and gratitude. Shukr is what is there in everyone and everything, that is the truth of everyone and everything, that is the reality of everyone and everything, not lack of shukr, not lack of contentment and lack of gratitude. This is what should ground us in all situations, this is what should support us in all situations, this is what should support us, and help us, and see us through each and every situation of our life, the realty of us, the truth of us, that is always there within us, and never leaves us, because it cannot leave us, because it is the "us" of us, it is the "us" of us that is permanent, that is immovable, that is immutable (not capable of or susceptible to change), as the basis of us, as the life within the life of us, as the God of us, as the True Man of us. Anything other than this, that is being experienced is not us, is not "who we are", is not "where we are", is not "what is happening" in our life, is something else, is someone else, but not us, and has to do with something God is doing, has to do with understanding that "There is nothing other than God", has to do with that God is doing to us, to Himself through us, to help us, to support us, to move us forward in our journey, in the journey that God sent us on, as His representative, as His Messenger, as His Son, to "teach us what we do not know", so we can become One with Him, so we can become Him, so He can reveal Himself for the benefit of all of the Creation of God. As the apple seed becomes hidden within the earth so it can reveal the apple tree that is hidden within it, and as such them are one, one within the other as one, one revealing the other within it, as one hides oneself within the one that is being revealed. And as such True Man and God are one, one within the other as one, one revealing the other within it, one hiding oneself within the other as the other is revealed from within it. Step 4. The nature of God is unity. Step 5. The nature of the Creation of God is understanding. Step 6. Islam is unity and only Iman is Islam. Step 7. True Man is the Oneness of God and His Creation. Step 8. Understanding only occurs through contrast. Step 9. Man is the Creation of God that can understand God. Step 10. The path is extracting the life of Creation out of the form of Creation. Step 12. The path is completed when True Man has been revealed within us. End of Discussion of Chat Topic 2 ------- 3. About Picking Up And Putting Down So in truth there is no picking up without putting down, no "new" of us without discarding the "old" of us, like there is no apple tree without the destruction of the apple seed, because the apple tree is hidden within the apple seed, and is only revealed when the apple seed realizes, understands, accepts, and joins with this truth about itself, which is the story of the apple tree hidden within it, and joins with the earth to germinate, to destroy itself as it is currently being experiences, and reveal the apple tree hidden within it. To destroy the life surrounding the apple seed buried in the earth, the life of the two coverings of the apple seed that protects the apple seed from the earth it is buried within, from being destroyed by the earth it is buried within, and reveal the apple tree hidden within it. In this way, we must be putting down what we are currently holding onto, as "who we are", as "where we are", and as "what is happening" in our life, putting down the life that surrounds the "Seed of God's Grace" buried within the "Earth of God's Grace", putting down the life that surrounds the Seed of God buried within the Creation of God, putting down the life that now surrounds our soul, putting down the life of mind and desire, the life of separation and differences, the life that we are currently experiencing as existing "outside" of us, that now surrounds our soul, that now surrounds the Seed of God buried within the Creation of God within us. So the truth of our life can be revealed, so the "Tree of God's Grace" can be revealed within the "Seed of God's Grace" within the "Earth of God's Grace" within us, so God can give us an experience, of "who He is" within us, and of "where He is" within us, and of "what He is doing" within us. So in each situation, we must realize that what we are experiencing within us, as "who we are", is something less than the experience of "who God is" within us, in the same situation, like the difference between God's shukr, God's contentment and gratitude in each situation, and our lack of shukr, our lack of contentment and gratitude in each situation, And when we experience our lack of shukr, our lack of contentment and gratitude, in a situation that we are experiencing, as "what is happening" to "us, then hand what we have, what we are currently experiencing, to God, with the intention that God transform it into what He has, into what He is experiencing in that same situation, with the faith and trust that God will then hand us back what He has. For example, that God will take our lack of shukr, that we are currently experiencing in a situation, and harvest out of it His shukr, His contentment and gratitude, and then hand His shukr to us. In this way, and only in this way, does what we have become valuable, having been transformed by God into something valuable, through our partnership with God. My dearest loving brothers and sisters, may we both think about these beautiful wisdom points a little. End of Discussion of Chat Topic 3 ------- End of Discussion of Some Chat 4 Topics .................................. |
This page was last updated on: March 15, 2002
