international journal of naqshbandi tariqat 0ct-dec 2011
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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NAQSHBANDI TARIQAT OCT-DEC 2011TRANSCRIPT
International journal OF
A Quarterly Journal Volume 1 Issue IV October—December 2011
TO RISE ABOVE NARROWNESS LEADS TO TRUTH
Truth is existential. Truth is beyond Time and space!
Know this as Spirituality!
A Production of
Naqshbandia – Mujaddadia – Mazaharia – Ramchandria Tariqat
Sufi Mystic Shakuntala Devi Rabia Al Basri
The International Journal of Naqshbandi Tariqat
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page i
The International Journal
Of
Naqshbandi Tariqat
© The International Journal of Naqshbandi Tariqat
And Taoshobuddha Meditations
All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
aretrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, withoutprior written permission of the
original publisher TAOSHOBUDDHA MEDITATIONSTM and TAOSHOBUDDHA.
Printed and Published by TAOSHOBUDDHA MEDITATIONS
Cover design and graphics: Anand Neelambar
CHIEF EDITOR: ANAND NEELAMBAR, TRINIDAD
ASSISTANT EDITOR: LARS JENSEN, STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN
ADVISORY EDITOR: MAULWI JALALUDDIN AHMAD AR-ROWI, MALAYSIA
HONORARY EDITOR: SAHABZADA MOHAMMED ZUBAIR MUJADDADI,
ROZAI SHARIF
DARGAH-E-MUJADDADI, SIRHIND SHARIF, PUNJAB
INDIA
The International Journal of Naqshbandi Tariqat
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page ii
Editorial Staff Sheikh Taoshobuddha
Anand Neelambar
Lars Jensen, Stockholm, Sweden
Maulwi Jalaluddin Ahmad Ar-Rowi, Malaysia
Prof. Rattan LalHangloo, Bhatinda, Punjab, India
Sahabzada Mohammad Zubai Mujaddadi,
Rozai Sharif, Sirhind Punjab, India
Managing Editor Anand Neelambar
Assistant Managing Editor Lars Jensen
JNT EDITORIAL OFFICE: 66 College Street St Augustine Trinidad, W.I.
Phone: 1-954-381-1227
1-8680683-8587
Skype.Com: Taoshobuddha1
Website: http://dhyan-samadhi.webs.com/
Email: [email protected]
The International Journal of Naqshbandi Tariqat
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page iii
Contents
1 Editorial 4
2 Sufism and Women 1
3 Rabia Al Basri and Shankuntal Devi 12
4 Sufi Shakuntala Devi 14
5 Choose to be Happy 27
6 Happiness – Door to the Ultimate 30
7 Dua-I-Sharif 33
8 Rabia Al Basri 39
9 Birth and Early Life 42
10 The Way of Rabia 45
11 Antedotes 45
12 Poems of Rabia Al Basri 50
The International Journal of Naqshbandi Tariqat
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page iv
Editorial
Welcome to our fourth issue. In this issue we introduce two stalwarts of Sufism. And also they
embody the feminine aspects on the path to life eternal. Very few masters have been female.
But certainly all masters transcend the male-female duality.
Rabia Al Adawiya is the embodiment of love eternal. In the early days of Sufism very little was
written down. There were luminaries, saints, friends of God, and wali, who lived their own
spiritual passion, and their deepest devotion. One such spiritual luminary was Rabia Al Basri.
I shall paraphrase one of her poems that is in synchronicity with my being.
Oh beloved, if I seek thee for fear of hell
Then verily cast me into the fires of hell.
Oh beloved,
if I seek thee for desire to attain jannat – heaven
Then verily bar me from entrance into your firdous – heavenly abode.
Oh beloved, but if I seek thee for thy own sake
Then certainly cast me a glance
with thy merciful eyes.
If thy favour be bestowed on me
Then grant thy compassion to thy seekers
Who are enraptured with your Name.
I would embrace the fires of hell
If thy grace be then bequeath to thy seekers.
Oh beloved, thy name is my jannat.
Thy merciful is my firdous.
Another stalwart on the Sufi path is Sheikh Shankuntala Devi. Taoshobuddha writes;
“Naqshbandiyah tariqat shall remain incomplete without her role. As a house wife she stood
shoulder to shoulder to sheikh Brij Mohan Lal RA. If Sheikh planted the garden with certain
beautiful plants it was she who nourished and nurtured the garden with her awareness,
tawwajzoh, understanding of the tariqat and compassion for each and every plant of this garden.
She understood that which was not communicated. Like a sheikh she added one kalmat to the
already existing kalamats of the Naqshbandiyah tariqat.”
Anand Neelambar
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page 1
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NAQSHBANDI TARIQAT
OCTOBER – DECEMBER 2011
Medieval Sufi Mystic
Rabia Al Basri
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page 2
Shrine Naqshbandi Sufi Brij Mohan Lal and Sufi Shakuntala Devi
ndeed women are more natural,
and in tune with existence than men. Civilizations down the ages
have falsified this. Civilization is
going astray from nature. The more
man becomes civilized, the more he is hung up in the head. He loses
contact with his heart. Spirituality
seeks to establish inner balance
between head and heart. When lower emotions or nafs is sanctified and the
energy field reaches the realms of
I
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page 3
suluk or intellect that the salik or
seeker attains to the muqamats if Tasawwuf or realms of Tasawwuf. In
the absence the development remains lopsided.
The heart is still primitive. And it is
good that the universities have not yet found a way to teach the heart
and make it so called civilized. That is the only hope for humanity to
survive. The woman is the only hope for humanity to survive. Up to now,
man has been dominant, and man
has been dominant for a very strange reason. The reason is that
deep down man feels inferior. Out of inferiority, just to compensate for it,
he started dominating the woman. Only in muscular strength man is
stronger than the woman. In every other way the woman is far stronger
than the man. The woman lives five to seven years longer than the man.
The woman suffers less through diseases, illnesses, than the man.
To every one hundred and ten boys
are born hundred girls. However by
the time they reach sexual maturity the number is equaled. Nearly ten
boys die and thus disappear down the drain.
The woman has more resistance to
illnesses and diseases of all kinds than men. More men go mad, the
number is almost double. And similarly more men commit suicide
and again the number is double.
In every possible way except the muscular, the woman is far superior.
But to have muscular strength is not really something very superior.
Certainly muscular strength is animalistic. In that sense a wolf is far
superior, a tiger even more, and a
lion still more.
Man must have become aware of his inferiority millions of years ago. And
this is one of the psychological mechanisms: whenever you become
aware of certain inferiority, you have to compensate for it. The ugly
person tries to look beautiful, pretends to be beautiful in every
possible way. He will try with clothes, with cosmetics. He will go to
beauticians, to plastic surgeons. It is over-compensation; somehow he
knows that he is not beautiful and he
has to be beautiful. The inferior person tries to be superior. And
because of muscular strength, the man could prove to be the master,
and he has dominated the woman
down the ages.
But the time has come now for a great change. The future belongs to
women, not to men, because what man has done, down through these
ages, has been so ugly. Just wars and wars and that is his whole
history. The entire human history has created men like Genghis Khan,
Tamerlane, Nadirshah, Alexander, Napoleon, Adolf Hitler, and Mao
Zedong.
Yes, there have been a few men like
Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ, Ramakrishna, Raman, and Krishna
but have you noted one point? They all look feminine. Friedrich Nietzsche
criticized Buddha and Jesus Christ, because they look feminine. Buddha
certainly looks feminine. Whenever a man moves into the heart,
something in him goes feminine. He becomes more round, softer, and
more vulnerable.
Yes, there have been a few buddhas.
But if you look closely at them you will find they are more feminine than
masculine. Certainly there is a reason. After enlightenment one
attains to transcendence. All dualities
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yin and yang; male and female
vanish and in place there is inner oneness. At ultimate flowering zazb
and suluk are not separate instead there is union. Whenever a male
attains to enlightenment he becomes feminine in his approach. Feminine
energy is the creative force of the existence. After enlightenment one
can use either aspects of energy that may be necessary.
And this is the reason that all the
great artists of the world slowly and
slowly start growing a quality of feminineness, grace, elegance, and
exquisiteness. A certain flavor of softness, relaxedness, calmness and
quietness surrounds them. They are no longer feverish. Without this
aspect there can be no creation. What I am teaching here is really to
turn the whole world feminine.
Hindus have experienced this aspect of existential energy as mother. You
will realize that you can very easily get the work done through softness
than the ruggedness.
I make no distinctions between men
and women. Both man and woman have suffered. In fact suffering
always comes like that, it is a
double-edged sword. If you make
somebody suffer, you have to suffer. If you make somebody a slave, you
have to become a slave too by someone else; it is mutual.
The day women are liberated will be
a great day of liberation for men too. But do not make the whole thing
ugly. Otherwise there is every possibility I fear that the possibility is
there, and it is a great possibility that in fighting with men, women
may lose something which is very
valuable intrinsically. Something which has not yet been crushed and
destroyed by men may be destroyed by women themselves in fighting
with men. If you fight ferociously you will lose the beauty of femininity;
you yourself will become as ugly as men.
It has not to be decided by fighting.
It has to be decided by understanding. Spread more and
more understanding. Drop these ideas of being men and women! We
are all human beings. To be a man
or a woman is just a very superficial thing. Do not make much fuss about
it, it is not anything very important and to be proud of. Do not make it a
big deal.
I am not talking about the biological
distinction between man and woman I am talking about the psychological
one. Yes, there are men who are far more feminine than any woman, and
there are women who are far more masculine than any man. But this is
not a beautiful state. Instead this is very ugly, because this is creating a
duality in you. If you have the body of a man and the mind of a woman,
there will be a conflict, a social struggle in you, and a civil war in
you. You will be continuously in a tug
of war, fighting, tense.
If you are a woman physiologically, and you have the mind of a man,
naturally your life will dissipate much energy in unnecessary conflict. It is
far better to be in tune. The Women‟s Lib movement is creating
unnecessary trouble. It is turning women into wolves it is teaching
them how to fight. Man is the enemy then how can you love the enemy?
How can you be in an intimate relationship with the enemy?
The man is not the enemy. The woman, to be really a woman, has to
be more and more feminine. She has to touch the heights of softness
and vulnerability. And the man, to be
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really a man, has to move into his
masculinity as deeply as possible. When a real man comes in contact
with a real woman, they are polar opposites, extremes. But only
extremes can fall in love, and only extremes can enjoy intimacy. Only
extremes attract each other.
What is happening now in the name of unisex movement: men becoming
more and more feminine outwardly, and women becoming more and
more masculine outwardly? Sooner
or later, all distinctions will be lost. It will be a very colorless society, it will
be boring. Psychologically Buddha is feminine but outwardly he is male.
I would like the woman to become as
feminine as possible, only then she can flower. And the man needs to be
as masculine as possible, only then he can flower. When they are polar
opposites, a great attraction, a great magnetism, arises between them.
And when they come close, when they meet in intimacy, they bring
two different worlds, two different
dimensions, and two different kinds of richness, and the meeting is a
tremendous blessing, and benediction.
In Sufism there is no room for
women mystics because of the Islamic influence and the general
role of women in the path and the male oriented society. Even to date
at Sufi Shrines women seekers are not allowed to sit with men folks in
the main pavilion during Fatah and Maraqba.
Tasawwuf is the very essence of
Sufism and that of man‟s existence. Evolving out of Islam it has now
become the part of the inner life of
every aspirant. Islam centers around four pillars namely Shariat, Hadith,
Tariqat, and Tasawwuf. Of these Shariat and Hadith form the part of
the outer body of the religion? And Tariqat and Tasawwuf form the inner
core of The Holy Prophet - Rasool.
Both Tariqat and Tasawwuf are connected to the nisbet of the Holy
Prophet. Tariqat teaches you the way to nisbet. And Tasawwuf prepares
you for inner serenity, and for the continuation of the way of nisbet. In
its essence tariqat and Tasawwuf are
part of each one of you. Tariqat prepares you along the way and
Tasawwuf preserves your awareness.
Sufism is connected with the inner
core or Nisbet of the Holy Prophet. This esoteric dimension is in all
religions and in Islam it originated with the tradition of Prophet
Muhammad. Mysticism in Islam is termed as Sufism. The mystic is a
Sufi.
Fatima Bint (608-633A.H) is one of
the first women Sufis we trace in Islamic mysticism. Fatima was the
first woman Sufi who brought faith on the Rasool. It was she who
infused courage and understanding the Rasool. Yet still women do not
find the equal status in the traditional Islamic society. There is
an interesting transition that you
notice in her personality. While mourning the Death of Prophet
Mohammad she said:
“It is not surprising that whoever catches the fragrance of
Muhammad‟s tomb will never know another perfume. Destiny injured me
with bereavement so sorrowful, and so dark, that if it had fallen on the
days they would have been turned into eternal nights.”
Her expression of this utterance is
Tasawwuf. Poetry and love (Ishq-i-
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Haqiqi) are the important languages
of expression in Tasawwuf.
While traversing on the path for attaining the status of Sufi when the
self undergoes certain transitions it acquires an ecstasy and the
expression of that ecstasy is Tasawwuf.
It is strange that in the country,
Saudi Arabia, where Islam flourished, where holy cities like
Macca and Medina are; where the
holy shrine of Kaaba is; a place that saw the emergence of first woman
Sufi as Fatima Bint who brought faith on the Rasool in the same country
Saudi women folks are down trodden. Women are not allowed to
drive.
As a result there are countable few women mystics. Rabia Al Basri
stands tallest among Sufi mystics. Rabia is the only Sufi women mystic
in the male oriented Islamic world.
However when the Naqshbandi
Sheikh Amkanki told his Khulfa Hadhrath Baqi Billah RA:
„I am sending you to a distant land
whose very texture is soaked in
spirituality. It is the land sanctified,
nourished and nurtured by such forces from times immemorial. A
land which is ready to explode any path! A land whose very being is not
only ready but has the capability to infuse life even in a dead heart. I am
sending you to INDIA.‟
Muhammad Khwaja al Amkanaqi (q)
Naqshbandi path that evolved in the Middle East region travelled to Far
East Asian Sub-Continent. As the
noor was spreading other regions were also prepared. Islamic influence
was spreading in the sub-continent. It was for the preparation of the
advent of the new millennium that Hazradth Sheikh Mohammad Al Baqi
Billah was sent to India. This was the beginning of the tariqat in Indian
sub-continent. The land was already soaked in rich spiritual tradition. Just
a spark was necessary to set the flame ablaze.
Naqshbandiyah tariqat was the part
of the fundamentalist Islamic
tradition until it came to Indian sub-continent. It evolved, grew and
flourished as an oasis amidst the deserts of the Middle East. However,
it was entering a new climate of -
political, religious and social fabric.
Therefore it could not separate itself from the prevailing influences.
Politically Muslim invasions continued
from the North West part of the continent. After the invasion Mughal
rule of Babar was established because of political disunity and
fractions among the Hindu rulers. Because of atrocities of the Islamic
rulers there was social, cultural, and political unrest. In the name of
religion conversions were imposed.
All this was causing unrest.
On the other hand Bhakti movement was at its pinnacle. In north and
South many streams and tributaries were flourishing. A Sheikh of this
Golden chain Hadhrath Al Amkanaqi realizing it to be the will of Allah
Subhan wa Taala sent Hadhrath Al Baqui Billah to India. Before he
actually did he spoke of these words about the land and the climate where
this sacred chain was now being sent.
Hadhrath Amkanaqi said:
“I am sending you to a distant land whose very texture is soaked in
spirituality. It is the land sanctified,
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nourished and nurtured by such
forces from times immemorial. A land which is ready to explode any
path! A land whose very being is not only ready but has the capability to
infuse life even in a dead heart. I am sending you to INDIA.‟
India has been the University of
Meditation and the BEACON LIGHT not only now but from TIMES
IMMEMORIAL. Truly its cultural heritage is older than any of the
oldest civilizations. Indus valley
civilization is even older than the Egyptian or Babylon civilization.
Scientific and astrological researches have proved the existence of
scriptures that mention of constellation of stars that happened
nearly 90,000 years ago. It has created many Buddhas, saints,
sages, incarnations and masters.
It has absorbed many religions and paths for spiritual development. And
in the process has lent its texture to all that once appeared to be alien.
Hadhrath Baqui Billah moved back to India and stayed in the city of Delhi,
which he filled with faith and knowledge and secrets and lights.
Through him the Naqshbandi Order
spread with great swiftness
throughout the Indian Subcontinent and millions of people were
connected to him through his various Khalifas.
All nations in the Subcontinent were
attracted to his knowledge and his ENERGY FIELD as tawwajzoh and to
the Prophetic Characteristics dressing him. It became known
throughout the Indian Subcontinent that anyone coming to him and
looking in his eyes, or sitting in his
proximity doing dhikr, would enter a state of Self-Effacement and
intoxication, through which he could reach a state of Annihilation, in a
single meeting.
By such miraculous energy-field he attracted millions of people, until this
Naqshbandi Order was on the tongue of everyone. And the tariqat blended
with the existing spiritual trends and textures.
His spiritual understanding and
awareness attracted people from all
reaches of the Subcontinent. In his presence, each seeker would find
what he needed, until through his blessing the Indian Subcontinent
became like a Kaaba encircled by
flocks of angelic beings.
The journey of the tariqat continued through various Sheikhs of the
Naqshbandiyah tariqat. Along with also developed other tariqats – like
Quadriyah, Chistiyah, and Sohrawadiyah. The Naqshbandiyah
path traversed through the Mujaddadi era for which Hadhrath
Baqui Billah was sent. The journey passed through Sheikh Ahmad
Farooqui Mujaddadi, Hadhrath
Mohammad Masoom, Hadhrath Sheikh Safuddin, Hadhrath Nur
Mohammd Badyuni and reached another juncture at Hadhrath Mirza
Mazhar Nir Jane Jana.
In the noble person of Hadhrath Mirza Mazhar Nir Jane Jana were
combined the energy of four tariqats. He was a master of the Naqshbandi,
Qadiri, Suhrawardi and Chishti Orders.
Hadhrath Mazhar Mir Jane Jana used
to say, “I received the secrets and
knowledge of these orders from my Sheikh, Sayyid Nur Muhammad
Badayuni, until I attained a very distinguished awareness in these
Orders. He lifted me from the
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page 8
Ibrahamic Stage to the
Mohammaden Stage, which caused me to see the Prophet sitting in my
place, while I was sitting in his. Then I disappeared and I saw him sitting
in the two places. Then I saw him disappearing and I saw myself sitting
in both places.”
Although the tariqat was blending within the social and religious fabric
of the continent yet still the custodians of the various paths
maintained their separate identities
and rancor against one another. Religious narrowness continued
among the fundamentalists and those who considered themselves the
custodians of the path of inner transformation.
In the name of religion and
conversions many atrocities were inflicted upon the common masses.
As a result many revolted. On one hand these custodians (the
combination of the priestly communities and the polity) spoke of
religiousness, however their hearts
were all filled with ignorance and the lack of the understanding of the
message of Allah Subhan wa Taala and the masters. Religious
intolerance remained the order of the
day.
As the journey continued the Naqshbandiyah tariqat that once
wore a totally Islamic texture began to have other color and hue. Some
resented these while others welcomed this as the setting of a
new trend.
Constant atrocities by the Moughal emperors on the other religious
sections especially Hindus in the
name of religions saw the emergence of Sikh religion. The masters
maintained the spiritual values of both Hindu and Islam and
incorporated these as integral part of their religious teaching. Yet still their
survival made the Sikh Gurus follow the road to become militants. This
was once again the revival of the era of the Holy Prophet when for survival
he had to take the sword in his hand. Saints like Tulsidas, Mira, Muktabai,
Sahjobai, Tukaram, Kabir, Nanak, and all the remaining nine gurus
came on the spiritual horizon along
with Sufi Masters like Moin Uddin Chisti, NizamUdin Auliya, Amir
Khushroo, Raskhan etc rose to the occasion. All these different
traditions and faiths blended in the
main stream of Indian spirituality
that was at its pinnacle from times immemorial. Thus out of this evolved
new poetry, values, and many influences.
Naqshbandiyah tariqat could not
keep itself separate from these trends. Both Hindu and Muslim
followed the tariqat. Yet still religious narrowness continued. It was in such
an environment one of the Sheikhs of this Golden Chain of
Naqshbandiyah tariqat made
predictions for the setting of a new trends and influence in the tariqat.
Shah Bahauddin Naqshband is the
17th Sheikh of the Golden Chain. Therefore I have given the chain in
that order. This does not mean there has been no one else who carried on
the tariqat. Each sheikh had many khalifas. However the chief among
them was handed over the golden chain of the tariqat while others
worked in harmony with the main stream. Yet still there were a
significant numbers who cut off the
links for various reasons and started their own work under the false
banner of truth. These I will not mention as this is not the work of the
one who seeks light or Noor. And
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page 9
since this is happening it must have
the sanction of Allah Subhan wa
Taala. Nothing ever happens without
the Supreme will. May the masters
guide those who have deviated along
the path?
here has been many other khalifas who have done tremendous work in the process of transformation as part of the main stream. Still they are not the part of the golden chain. Following is the actual chain from Shah Bahauddin
Naqshband.
1. Kwajah Bahauddin Naqshband r.a. (d. 2 Rajab al-Murajjab, 791AH) - Qasr-e-Aarifan (Bukhara) 2. Hadhrath Alaa'uddin Attaar r.a. (d. 20 Rajab 802AH) - Jafaaniyan (Mawralnahar)
3. Hadhrath Ya'qoob Charkhi r.a. (d. 5 Safar, 851AH) - Charkh (Bukhara) 4. Hadhrath Ubaidullah Ahraar r.a. (d. 20/29 Rabi al-Awwal, 895AH) - Samarqand (Mawralnahar)
5. Hadhrath Muhammad Zaahid r.a. (d. 1 Rabi al-Awwal, 936AH) - Wakhsh (Malk Hasaar) 6. Hadhrath Darwesh Muhammad r.a. (d. 19 Muharram, 970AH) - Samarqand (Mawralnahar)
7. Hadhrath Muhammad Waaqif Amkanki r.a. (d. 21/22 Sha'baan, 1008AH) - Akang (Bukhara)
From here the tariqat came to India and became the part of Indian Sub-continent. There has to be a reason for this. And
when it came to Indian Subcontinent that was predominantly A Hindu community how could it keep itself separate. Such is the will of Allah Subhan wa Taala. Yet still fundamentalists maintain the Islamic texture and negate the will of Allah
Subhan wa Taala, and go on calling themselves to be on the path. It is time to rise beyond narrowness of all kinds. Only then you will seek the realm of spiritualism.
8. Hadhrath Khwaja Baqui Billaah r.a. (d. 25 Jumaad al-Aakhar, 1012AH) - Delhi (India)
9. Hadhrath Imam Rabbani, Mujaddid Alif Thani, Hadhrat Sheikh Ahmad Farooqui Sirhindi r.a. (d. 28 Safar, 1034AH) - Sirhind (India)
10. Hadhrat Muhammad Ma'soom Farooqui r.a. (d. 9 Rabi al- Awwal, 1079AH) - Sirhind (India) 11. Hadhrat Sheikh Sayfuddeen Bin Ma'soom Farooqui r.a. (d. 19 Jumad al-Oola, 1095-1096AH) - Sirhind (India)
12. Hadhrat Nur Muhammad Badyooni r.a. (d. 11 Dhul Qa'dah, 1135AH) - Dehli (India) 13. Hadhrat Mirza Mazhar Jaan-I-Jaanan r.a. (d. 10 Muharram, 1195AH) - Khanqah Mazharia Turk Man gate
Delhi(India)
14. Hadhrat Abdullah Shah Naimullah r.a. (d. 22 Safar, 1240AH) - Behraich U.P.(India) 15. Hadhrat Mawla‟na Muradullah r.a. (d. Dhul Qa'dah, 1248AH) - Lucknow U.P.(India)
16. Hadhrat Sayyed Abul Hasan Sa'eed r.a. (d. Sha'ba'n, 1272) - Rai Bareli U.P.(India) 17. Hadhrat Mawla‟na Khalifa Ahmad Ali Khan r.a. left on 04.11.1904(AD) Kaimganj, Distt. Farrukhabad (Uttar
Pradesh)
T
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page 10
18. Hadhrat Mawla‟na Shah Fazl Ahmad Khan r.a. (1857-1907 A D) Qusba- Raipur Distt. Farrukhabad (Uttar Pradesh)
19. Hadhrat Mawla‟na Abdul Ghani Khan r.a.(1867-1952 AD) Qusba- Bhogaon, Distt. Mainpuri (Uttar Pradesh) 20. Hadhrath Sheikh Ramchandra (Lalaji) Ji Maharaj (1873-1931 AD) r.a. Fatehgarh (Uttar Pradesh) India
21. Hadhrath Sheikh Raghubar Dayal (Chachaji) Ji Maharaj (1875-1947 AD) r.a. Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh India 22. Hadhrath Sheikh Brij Mohan Lal (1898-1955 AD) r.a. Lucknow Uttar Pradesh, India
23. Hadhrath Sheikh Onkar Nath (1935-2008 AD) r.a. Lucknow Uttar Pradesh, India
As I have mentioned earlier it was from Sheikh Baqui Billah that the
tariqat came to Indian Sub-Continent. With Imam Rabbani
Sheikh Ahmad Mujaddadi a new era was ushered in the tariqat. And then
with the advent of Hadhrath Mazhar
Mir Jane Jana the existing tariqat entered a new phase.
And once again after the advent of
Mazaharia Nisbet the path underwent another major influence. It was the
advent of the Naqshbandiyah Sheikh beyond the Islamic religion, instead
from Hindu religion. About this advent a prediction was made by one
of the Sheikhs nearly 100 years before the actual happening of the
event.
It was the 33rd Sheikh Hadhrat
Sayadina Hazarat Kutub-i-alam Abul Hasan Naseerabadi who
made the following prediction to his Khalifa. And in the process each
sheikh waited and then passed on the
forecast to the next Sheikh. It was Hadhrath Abul Hasan Naseerabadi
who mentioned of this forecast to his khalifa – the next Sheikh Hadhrat
Mawla’na Khalifa Ahmad Ali Khan Kaimganji, who left the body on
04.11.1904(AD). The forecast
meant, ‘I am witnessing the lack of interest among the Muslim
community towards this Naqshbandiyah tariqat. I am
seeing two persons from Hindu religion will come to you. They
are the true inheritor of this Nisbet. Do not hesitate in
transferring the secrets of this tariqat and the Golden Chain to
these two persons.’
This was the time of „tassubi‟ or spiritual narrowness, division on the
basis of religious beliefs and many
atrocities in the name of religion. There was division and ignorance as
far as spirituality or „roohaniyat‟ was concerned.
However with this Nisbet came to Hindu Sheikhs beyond the
narrowness of religions and religious belief. Spirituality is beyond religions
and narrowness of any kind.
Almost one hundred years ago a
forecast was made by Sayadina Hazarat Kutub-i-alam Abul Hasan
Naseerabadi. Who in turn mentioned of this to his khalifa Sufi Ahmad Ali
Khan (Khalifa Sahib) Kayamganji.
Sufi Ahmad Ali Khan too waited lifelong for these two people. No one
came. So when it was the time for Sufi Ahmad Ali Khan to leave the
finite realm he spoke to his chief khalifa, Sufi Maulana Fazl Ahmad
Khan, who became the next Naqshbandi master:
„Maybe my master had seen your reflection through me. And this
forecast is for you. Take care and be ever aware about this forecast.
Maybe these people will come to you.
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page 11
All along Sufi Fazl Ahmad Khan
waited. The destined time of the meeting was coming closer. It was
rainy night! Thunder and lightning! Amidst such an atmosphere when
serenity prevailed amidst turmoil indicating that at the center of
cyclone there always exists tremendous serenity. The destined
meeting happened! A person named Ramchandra came to the company of
the master wading through the external turmoil.
This was followed by his younger brother Raghuber Dayal. These were
the two destined ones about whom
the forecast was made nearly one
hundred years ago. Ramchandra and Raghuber Dayal later came to be
known as Naqshbandi Sufi Ramchandra or Lala ji, and
Naqshbandi Sufi Raghuber Dayal or Chacha ji.
The entire system of roohaniyat is
based on such forecasts or wisharads. Thus came the dawn of a
new era in Naqshbandi order of Sufis. This was the beginning of the Hindu
influence into tariqat.
Although the outer appearance may
differ, beliefs too may differ but the
inner state of awareness or truth or
Nisbet never changes. And if there is any change in that state then it is not
truth. Truth is sublime and most auspicious. Truth is ALHAM DIL
ALLAH, SUBHAN ALLAH. OR what Hindus say it SATYAM, SHIVAM,
SUNDRAM. Let us dwell in the realm of truth or haquiqat beyond
narrowness of all kinds. Remember the words of a Sheikh of this tariqat:
„BETASSUBI SADAKAT KI JAAN HAI!‟
„TO RISE ABOVE NARROWNESS IS SPIRITUALITY!‟
Naqshbandia Tariqat saw the emergence of women Sufi mystics who contributed side by side with their consorts. They
remained in the background supporting the Sheikh but their contribution has been immense.
Out of the three women mystics who ably nourished and nurtured the spiritual garden of the master it was Naqshbandi Sufi Shakuntala Devi – wife of Naqshbandi Sufi Brij Mohan Lal RA who stand tallest among women mystics and in times
she has become the pole star guiding weary traveller along the path.
From here the tariqat came to India and became the part of Indian Sub continent. There has to be a reason for this. And when it came to Indian Subcontinent that was predominantly A Hindu community how could it keep
itself separate. Such is the will of Allah Subhan wa Taala. Yet still fundamentalists maintain the Islamic texture
and negate the will of Allah Subhan wa Taala, and go on calling themselves to be on the path. It is time to rise
beyond narrowness of all kinds. Only then you will seek the realm of spiritualism.
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page 12
Rabia says, „Never tell anybody what you have seen and experienced here. Allow the people to come to me. This beauty is nothing but a trap set for them. I use it as a door for them to enter God. Please, promise me that you will never tell
others what you have experienced here tonight. Let them come to a whore and a brothel, because otherwise they will never come to me.‟
his issue celebrates the life and
works of these two Sufi Mystic
women.
A parable: Shakuntala Devi always used to tell the seekers to be
always happy as her blessings.
A parable: Rabia Al Basri - Rabia Al Basri, was immensely beautiful.
Her beauty was not of this world. Once a rich young man from Iran
come to Basra and enquired the people, „Is there anything that is out
of the way, something special here?‟ „Yes,‟ they all told him in one voice.
„Yes, indeed We have the most
beautiful woman of the world!‟
The young man naturally became even more interested and he asked,
„Where can I find her?‟
And they all laugh and said, „Well,
where else in a brothel!‟
That repulsed the rich young man, but finally he decides to go. And
when he gets there, the matron asks for an exorbitant fee. He pays
the fee and is ushered in. There, in a silent and simple room, a figure is
praying. What beauty she has! He has never seen such beauty and
grace, not even in his dreams. Just to be there is a benediction, and the
prayerful atmosphere starts affecting him. He forgets about his
passion. He is entering into another
kind of space. He is drugged. He is turned on to God.
An hour passes and he intensely
feels he is in a temple! Oh, such joy and such purity! He goes on feasting
on her beauty. But it is no more the
beauty of a human being it is God's
beauty. It no more has anything to do with the body it is utterly other-
worldly.
And then Rabia opens her eyes, those lotus eyes, and he looks into
them, and there is no woman in front of him he is facing God. And
this way the whole night passes, as if it were only a moment.
The sun is rising and its rays are
coming through the windows, and he feels it is time to go. He says to
Rabia, „I am your slave. Tell me
anything, anything in the world that I can do for you.‟
She says, „I have only one little
request.‟
T
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page 13
He asks, „What is it?‟
Rabia says, „Never tell anybody
what you have seen and experienced here. Allow the people
to come to me. This beauty is nothing but a trap set for them. I
use it as a door for them to enter God. Please, promise me that you
will never tell others what you have experienced here tonight. Let them
come to a whore and a brothel, because otherwise they will never
come to me.‟
„Oh!‟ he says, „So this is the secret
of this city. The whole city clamors after your beauty, yet nobody tells
me about his experience.‟
Rabia laughs and says, „Yes, I extract the promise, this promise,
from all of them.‟
Rabia used her beauty as a trap. Buddha used his words as a trap.
Krishna used his flute as a trap. Mira
used her dance as a trap. You have
to be trapped. And you can only be trapped in ways that you can
understand. You have to be taken from the known into the unknown,
but the beginning has to be in the known.
You understand passion. The young
man was not in search of God, but he became interested in a beautiful
woman and was trapped. He had gone there because of his passion.
Once he was there in the presence
of Rabia, the passion started changing it became prayer.
You can understand words alone
therefore, all the Buddhas have used words, knowing perfectly well,
saying again and again, that the truth cannot be expressed in words.
But you understand words and the truth cannot be expressed in words,
then how to communicate? The journey has to start from where you
are. The Buddhas have to speak
words. Words will bring you closer
to the Buddhas. However words will not give you truth, but they will
bring you closer to the Buddhas. Once you are close to them, you will
start forgetting the words; you will start falling into silence.
The words cannot express truth, but
they can bring you close to a Buddha. And that is more than you
can expect of poor words! That is why Buddhas go on saying on the
one hand words are meaningless on
the other hand they go on using words.
They are meaningful for you
because you do not know the language of silence, you don't know
the language of being. You know only your mind and the rest you
have forgotten. Therefore starting from the mind, I will have to take
your mind in confidence so that your pilgrimage towards no-mind....
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page 14
‘If Naqshbandi tariqat is the holy sacrificial fire then the life of sheikh Brij Mohan Lal is like the ghee
(offering of clarified butter to the fire) and the life of Sheikh Shakuntala Devi is the havan samigri
(the combined mixture of many sacred ingredients) offered to the holy sacrificial fire of the tariqat.
Together they complete the way of Naqshbandia tariqat.
Human consciousness transcends only when the opposites meet and
merge as complimentary. If I have to put this tariqat according to Hindu
explanation using Hindu terminology
then I have to say, ‘If Naqshbandi tariqat is the holy sacrificial fire then
the life of sheikh Brij Mohan Lal is like the ghee (offering of clarified
butter to the fire) and the life of Sheikh Shakuntala Devi is the havan
samigri (the combined mixture of many sacred ingredients) offered to
the holy sacrificial fire of the tariqat. Togather they complete the way of
naqshbandiyah tariqat.’
Naqshbandiyah tariqat shall remain
incomplete without her role. As house wife she stood shoulder to shoulder
to sheikh Brij Mohan Lal RA. If Sheikh
planted the garden with certain beautiful plants it was she who
nourished and nurtured the garden with her awareness, tawwajzoh,
understanding of the tariqat and
compassion for each and every plant of this garden.
She understood that which was not communicated. Like a sheikh she
added one kalmat to the already
existing kalamats of the Naqshbndiyah tariqat.
It was Naqshbandi sheikh Ibd Khaliq Gijadwani who coined the following
phrases which are now considered
the principles of the Naqshbandi Sufi Order as spiritual commandments.
Over the period of time certain principles are added to it. Bahauddin
Naqshband added three. Another one
‘Always choose to be Happy’ was introduced in this category as the
works of Naqshbandi sheikh Shakuntala Devi. Thus there are
twelve such commandments. These
form the basis of meditation techniques. I mention these here as
under: [REFER TO: CH. SPIRITUAL COMMANDMENTS IN
LEAVES FROM A SUFI HEART VOL 1 BY
TAOSHOBUDDHA]
1. CONSCIOUS BREATHING (Hosh
dar dam) 2. YOUR STEP (Nazar bar qadam)
3. JOURNEY HOMEWARD (Safar
dar watan) 4. SOLITUDE IN THE CROWD
(khalwat dar anjuman) 5. ESSENTIAL REMEMBRANCE
(yad kard)
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page 15
6. RETURNING (baz gasht)
7. RECOLLECTION (yada dasht) 8. NIGAH DASHT
9. WUQUF-E-ZAMANI 10. WUQUF-E-ADABI
11. WUQUF-E-QULBI 12. ALWAYS CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY
Birth and early life
There is almost nothing available about the birth and early life of
Sheikh Shakuntala Devi. All that is known is through intuition and the
narrations of the sheikh, her daughter Gyatri Devi, Sheikh Onkar
Nath and the second son Sheikh Devendra Nath.
She mentioned that she has no
records of her birth. All she recollected was that she lived in the
same city where Sheikh Lala Ji lived.
Her father from the first marriage had a son who was older to her. Then
through the second marriage of her father two daughters and two sons
were born. The elder of the two boys was only 3 years old when her
mother passed away. Her younger brother was quite young when her
mother too passed away. Thereafter her father never remarried.
She and her brothers were brought up by her grandparents from her
mother’s side. She lived with her grandparents until she was 12 years
old. Her grandparents lived in a small town named Kampil not too far from
the city of Fatehgarh, UP where Sheikh Lala Ji lived. Now and then
she will to the town to live with her father and her big uncle during
holidays and then would go back to her grandparent’s home.
Meeting with Lala Ji Naqshbandi Sufi Ramchandra RA
Her big uncle and Sheikh Lala Ji were
friends. Together they would go for a walk. Also during summer they used
to go for morning walk at dawn and
bath in holy Ganges. Quite often little Shakuntala used to accompany her
uncle and the sheikh. From early child hood Sheikh Lala Ji had
developed fondness for little Shakuntala as she was effable. On
one such occasion when the three were accompanying and Shakuntala
was a child of 4-5 years the sheikh enquired from her what she was
going to do. Innocently the little child
Shakuntala responded, ‘she is going
to feed ants!’ She stayed with her grandparents
until she became a teenage girl. There was no talk of education
except the primary one that too at home. She could read and write Hindi
language very well. She was well versed in maintaining her daily
accounts later on and this practice remained with her until the last. I
had the occasion to maintain her accounts as I was very close to her
during my growing up days.
At another occasion, she mentioned,
the cook at her home did not turn up. She along with her sister and the
cousin (daughter of her uncle) were cooking food, and she was baking the
rotis (Indian Bread) that Sheikh Lala Ji happened to pass by. It was lunch
or dinner time. Sheikh’s friend (her uncle) asked the sheikh to have
meals as the daughter was cooking.
At this Lala Ji made a remark which showed his fondness of teenage
Shakuntala, and his intuitive vision to
discern things beyond time and space. He said, ‘He will eat only when
she cooks food at his home.’ Time went by. Others’ may have forgotten
this but teenage Shakuntala did not
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page 16
forget. And even when she narrated
this to me her eyes used to gleam. In such a loving environment under
the mystical care of Sheikh Lala Ji she grew into a young girl of
marriageable age.
On the other hand Sheikh Lala Ji’s nephew Sheikh Brij Mohan Lal was
growing in spiritual stature. The state of master hood was already conferred
on him. He was married. However his first wife did not survive. So he
became widowed. He had developed
aversion towards world, its relations, and life as well. He grew bearded. He
used to work in another job which Sheikh Lala Ji did not approve for
him. However the job as Head Clerk in Police Office Lala Ji approved for
him. As a result he joined the job. This was transferrable one.
Union of two
complimentary ones
Lala Ji decided to get Brij Mohan Lal
married. He had already chosen young effable and dearest to him
Shakuntala. Now it was to be
arranged. There was another proposal for the marriage. But Lala Ji
had already chosen Shakuntala as
the bride for his nephew, who had a
special role to perform in the process of transformation of human
consciousness. It was difficult to refuse either of the two proposals.
Therefore it was decided whosoever
comes early next morning and fulfils the formality of engagements will be
the proposal accepted. The same day Lala Ji went to her home and asked
her brother to come before sunrise to fulfil the formality of the
engagement. Accordingly the choice
of a sheikh became the bride of another sheikh through whose life
thousands have to reach the inward journey.
Intuitively Lala Ji knew the
significance of his choice in Shakuntala. This was proved by later
events and her life alongside her husband Sheikh Brij Mohan Lal and
after his Samadhi in 1955. When the sole aim of her life was to nourish
and nurture each and every seed sown be the Sheikh Brij Mohan. This
she exhibited by her final visit to the
shrine of the sheikh when during her prayer she said, ‘The works you have
left incomplete are over and so is my role. Now is the time to go back
home.’
Marriage
Union of two energies
Sheikh was the male aspect of the
cosmic energy. And Shakuntala Devi represented the feminine aspect of
totality. As per the will of the divine and Lala Ji the two were married on
the full moon day on May 10th. Only this much is known. And thus the
union created an invincible energy field for the continuation of the
tariqat.
Out of this conjugal relationship were
born a daughter Gyatri Devi whose husband Naqshbandi Lakshmi Sahai
is the co-author with Sheikh Taoshobuddha in the book –
‘Tasuwware Sheikh – Life and Works of Naqshbandi Sheikh Brij
Mohan Lal RA.
The next was a male child Onkar Nath, who carried the golden chain of
the tariqat after Sheikh Brij Mohan Lal entered Samadhi. And Sheikh
Onkar Nath carried it with dexterity until May 21 2008 when he too
entered Samadhi.
The third child was a male boy
Devendra Nath who was taken care
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and brought up by his sister Gyatri as
the mother suffered from severe headache.
Still there was another male boy
Kailash Nath who was the second boy. He was sickly and did not
survive after the age of twelve. Out of the three children the daughter
Gyatri and youngest son Sheikh Devendra Nath are still alive and
carrying on the flame in their way.
At the time of the marriage Sheikh
Brij Mohan Lal had long beard. This became the topic of talk among the
bride’s family. When Lala Ji came to know of this he immediately called a
barber and just before getting the beard shaved whispered the following
words in his ears, ‘For sometimes I am taking your beard away from
you.’ Thus the ceremony completed.
Life after Marriage
Immediately after the marriage
Shakuntala Devi became an integral part of the sheikh and the tariqat
which she maintained until she breathed last.
On one hand Sheikh carried the
intricate works of transformation she
nourished and nurtured the hearts of
the aspirants. Out of her loving gestures she instilled the seed of
devotion deep within anyone who came in contact. She took care of the
kitchen. And whenever the murids entered the house all were greeted
with pleasant smile and loving food. She taught the significance of
cooking food meditatively out of love and care.
From her childhood she followed the
ways of rituals and fasting etc. And
persons of such inclination resist from leaving all these for journey
inwards. She instead obtaining the proximity of Lala Ji as the fruits of
her austerities allowed her life to flow into the stream of this tariqat. As per
the instructions of Lala Ji she annihilated her being totally into the
physical and spiritual life of her husband Sheikh Brij Mohan Lal.
Two – three months after the
marriage unlike other married girls of her age she was initiated into tariqat
by Sheikh Abdul Ghani Khan who was
the sheikh of Sheikh Brij Mohan Lal and the uncle master of Lala Ji. Once
Sheikh Onkar Nath enquired from her, ‘the feelings you have for the
Sheikh Maulvi Sahib now (as Sheikh
Abdul Ghani Khan was lovingly called
by all), were the same when you were first initiated by him into
Tariqat.’
At this in a loving gesture she told Sheikh Onkar Nath, ‘Do not talk like a
child. The impact of the magnanimity of Lala Ji and your father was so
immense that even before initiated I had requested your father for
initiation several times.’ However each time he brushed the talk
laughingly until one day when the
telegraphic message came from the place where Maulvi Sahib lived that
he is visiting the family. Everyone at home got astonished at this as he
was visiting the place simply to initiate me.
She also narrated an anecdote. From
childhood she loved the Hindu scripture Ram Charit Manas and this
she recited as part of her daily prayer. In the scripture she loved the
episode of the birth of Sri Ram. And that part was an integral part of her
worship. This I as a growing child had
memorized. Once she was reciting the episode of the sage Vashistha to
her father-in-law Sheikh Chacha Ji as she continued the sheikh depicted
the image of the sage that never
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page 18
erased from her memory. She used
to say whenever she looked at Sheikh Maulvi Sahib the image of
sage Vashistha always fit into him.
Sheikh Shakuntala Devi integral part
She became an integral part of the tariqat and the works of her husband
immediately after marriage. From the time of Lala Ji she began being part
of each spiritual function at the place. This she continued even after Lala Ji
entered Samadhi. At the time Lala Ji
entered Samadhi she along with Sheikh Brij Mohan Lal, witnessed the
dissolution of Lala Ji into the infinite. Once on enquiring she narrated the
whole incident very emotionally how Lala Ji was totally aware when the life
force or soul was leaving the finiteness of body a rare narration
and experience only a lucky one can have.
She said each time the soul would
leave one realm Lala Ji will inform every one. And all present there
witnessed step by step a conscious
dissolution of finite and infinite.
And now came the final moment of
dissolution. This he mentioned that he cannot describe and the life force
has left the vocal cord. And in the final moment as the life force left the
body the entire room was filled with tremendous light as a ball of light
emerged from his mouth and merged in the cosmos. For a moment it
blinded everyone but tremendous bliss into our beings. I could see glow
in her eyes as she narrated this anecdote. She did this only once to
me. The description was so alive that
it is part of my being and continues to linger in my being like the
dissolving notes of an enchanting melody.
If you are aware at the moment
when life force dissolves into its totality you can be enlightened that
very moment. It is indeed a moment of benediction. Lucky are those who
are given such an experience.
She continued to accompany her husband to all such retreats. And the
process that started in Lala Ji’s life
continued even after he entered Samadhi. Her respect for Lala Ji’
consort remained the same. The spiritual retreat at the Shrine of Lala
Ji she never missed. One year before
she entered Samadhi in 1973 it so
happened that for certain reasons it was decided by his grandson to
celebrate ‘Centenary’ the 100th birth anniversary of Lala Ji’ in the springs
of 1973 against her wishes and the wishes of Sheikh Onkar Nath who
was the current sheikh of the golden Chain. The grandson Sri Akhilesh
Kumar felt that centenary was more important as against the annual
function that was started by Lala Ji during Easter holidays. For whatever
reasons Sri Akhilesh Kumar felt the
centenary is not significant at this moment. For me what is more
important is the insight of Sheikh Shakuntala Devi.
When it came the Easter holidays she
decided to visit the shrine as she had started from the time of Lala Ji while
Sheikh Onkar Nath and others were relatively neutral to visit. What she
said is a great teaching of a sheikh who sacrificed all her wishes for the
will of the sheikhs of tariqat. She said, ‘To serve ones beloved
throughout life with devotion is the
only worship.’
This she exhibited throughout her life. In spite of cold and her health
during Christmas holidays she never
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page 19
missed visiting the shrine of her
sheikh and that of her husband Sheikh Maulvi sahib. And when it was
the occasion of the death of Janab Abdul Jaleel Khan the grandson of
the Sheikh Maulvi Sahib she made sure to participate of the 40th day
ceremony and she also did not forget consoling the bereaved family. She
said something very significant. Only intelligence can really comb out the
seeds of wisdom from her life to travel along this path. She
mentioned: ‘As far as possible never
allow laziness or indolence when it comes to the works of the sheikh or
tariqat.’
Teachings of Sheikh Shakuntala Devi
Through practical examples and her life she continued to set the
examples as guiding force for aspirants.
Compassion, lovingness, care, and
intelligence were all blended in her day to day life. She suffered from
asthma. As a result to ease the
situation she will take hot beverage – tea each morning. One day I
enquired how she got this attack of
asthma. What she explained as the
cause explains the loving care of a sheikh for the aspirants and also the
methodology for those who are given the opportunity to carry on the flame
of this tariqat alight.
She became a conciliatory force into human life from the time she entered
the fold of the tariqat. People come from far and wide with their problems
and found solace in her company. All the murids considered her as mother
and were very open to her than the
sheikh.
From my birth I had developed extraordinary affinity to her. My
growing years I spent in her company. My role was to prepare the
place for regular morning and evening meditations and other works
that apparently seemed insignificant. One day I complained to her that no
one tells me any ritual, dhikr, pooja etc. She did not say anything then.
Later that night when I went to squeeze her feet before she retires
she raised the issue of my complaint.
What she said is the methodology of a sheikh. To my complaint she said:
‘You were complaining that no one told you anything to do. Your Nana or
grandfather has already given you
everything and when the time comes
it will reveal itself.’
Also when I first began reading she instilled the teaching that, ‘You have
to develop your habit like that of your grandfather.’
At another occasion when I was only
10 one day I asked her, ‘What is my religion?’
She could have condition me by
saying something. But what she said
reveals the methodology of a sheikh. She replied, ‘Your religion is the
same as that of God.’
She had replied. But it was beyond human comprehension. So I
acknowledged with another question, ‘What is, then the religion of
God?’
At this with a smiling gesture she replied yet still she did not. Instead
she revealed the entire methodology. She continued, ‘You ask too many
questions? What is the religion of
God – this you will have to enquire?’
She could have given me a
readymade answer. But such is not
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page 20
the tariqat. She prepared nourished
and nurtured each seed that was planted in the garden by her sheikh
husband.
It was she who prepared her eldest son who was in his mid-teens when
Sheikh Brij Mohan Lal entered Samadhi. She brought up her second
son Devendra Nath into a flower of consciousness that he is now and
sacrificed his entire life for the tariqat and in harmony with her elder
brother sheikh Onkar Nath.
Not only, had she nourished her
biological family she took care of her spiritual family in the same way.
Life is full of such unending
anecdotes. However I have to contain the matter within a certain
frameworks. Also it is for the first time that the life of a female sheikh
is being presented in such a way. Pausing for now I will take you
through the final journey as this is full of the teaching and tariqat.
Journey of final ascendance
Life and death are two sides of the same coin. One that comes into life
has to exit as well. In case of the
man of awareness body comes into
existence. Body is short lived. It must decompose into its components.
However that which enters the body is immortal and is never born or
attains to death.
It was the occasion of the birth anniversary of her husband sheikh
Brij Mohan Lal she has to visit the shrine in another city (Lucknow).
Early that morning she returned after visiting another aspirant whose
daughter- in- law had a complicated
child birth. She visited that city along with her send son Sheikh Devendra
Nath. There was a question of life and death for the mother and doctors
predicted only one can be saved. In spite of her ailing health she visited
the family. She was suffering from intense stomach pain as she returned
early that morning for the celebration of the birth anniversary of Sheikh Brij
Mohan Lal.
The next day pain became unbearable she was brought by car
from Lucknow to Kanpur where the
entire family lived. On the way she did not forget to visit another
aspirant. And on reaching Kanpur she straight away went to visit her doctor
son like devotee. Along the way she
mentioned, ‘This time when she
visited the shrine she requested to be relieved from her responsibilities.’
When enquired by Sheikh Onkar Nath she immediately diverted the
attention saying that things never happened her way.
She reached 1st April in the year
1974 to Kanpur. These ten days from 1st to 10th saw many ups and downs
in her condition. I was all along with her. It came the 10th April 1974. I
was sitting by her side. She asked if I
do not have to go to work (I was lecturer in Kanpur University). At this
I responded that, ‘I do not have too many classes today, and I better stay
home.’ At this she insisted that I go to work. These were the last words
that she spoke to me.
She went into coma. And, remained in that state as if waiting for the right
moment to enter the existence! She regained partial consciousness one
morning. Then I and Sheikh Onkar Nath were by her side. Addressing
Sheikh she enquired the day sheikh
Chacha Ji took Samadhi. At this Sheikh hesitated somewhat.
Immediately in her pleasant yet nonchalant ways looked at him with
an unasked question, ‘is this the way
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page 21
you are going to carry the work.
‘Then in her own way she responded that Sheikh Chacha Ji took Samadhi
on Friday.’ She had chosen Friday as the day for her Samadhi.
On Wednesday around dawn I
envisioned that Sheikh Shakuntala Devi is sitting in her usual spot in the
house and at the threshold stood Sheikh Brij Mohan Lal. Addressing
her sheikh told all the time you want to accompany me, now I have come
to take you along with me. This
vision was another confirmation that her time for Samadhi is near. She is
waiting for the precise moment to enter the existence.
Now came Friday 12th April 1974
early 6 in the morning another
disciple just happened to come by.
Aspirants and family had started pouring in as messages were sent
intuitively and otherwise as well.
The name of this aspirant is Pt Srinarian. When Sheikh Brij Mohan
Lal took Samadhi he could not reach for the final rites. For this he was felt
responsible. When he mentioned of this to the holy mother, she
responded by saying Pundit I will never do that to you. For my last
time I will call you. This she said 19
years ago. And the aspirant felt very strongly that the holy mother is
calling her as she had promised.
Whenever a man of awareness says something or promises out of love
the entire existence takes care that
these words never fail. Such are the
ways of existence.
On Friday 12th April 1974 little after midday at half past one Sheikh
Shakuntala Devi entered Samadhi fully conscious.
The finite form is no more. The body
and its various components merged into whole. Another form – the
cosmic appeared. She became one with the whole and part of the whole.
From the whole one she came into
existence and this very moment she once again dissolved into the
vastness of the WHOLE. A Hindu heart enchants:
pU[Rmd> pU[Rimd< pU[Rat pU[R mudCyte ,
pU[RSy pU[Rmaday pU[R meva v iz:yte .
Totality alone is. Feel it within. Feel its harmony! And its rhythm as well!
jIvn sumn cFa kr hm terI AcRna kre<ge<
jnm jnm hm terI v<dna kre<ge<.
EMBELLISHING LIFE TO BE A FLOWER FOR THY ALTER I SHALL ERELONG SING THY GLORIES!!!
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page 22
This is an excerpt from Tasuwware Sheikh
Books of Taoshobuddha Available on Amazon.com
TAOSHOBUDDHA'S PAGE LINK FOR BOOKS:
http://www.amazon.com/TAOSHOBUDDHA/e/B004W4BA22/ref=sr_tc_ep?qid=1311674968
From her childhood she followed the ways of rituals and fasting etc. And persons of such inclination resist from leaving all these for journey inwards. She instead obtaining the proximity of Lala Ji as the
fruits of her austerities allowed her life to flow into the stream of this tariqat. As per the instructions of Lala Ji she annihilated her being totally into the physical and spiritual life of her husband Sheikh Brij
Mohan Lal. She became an integral part of the tariqat and the works of her husband immediately after marriage. From the time of Lala Ji she began being part of each spiritual function at the place. This she
continued even after Lala Ji entered Samadhi.
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Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page 27
Choose to be happy!
The Spiritual Commandment
Each moment life presents different situations, circumstances and
conditions. Certain are acceptable to human understanding while others
are not. In all circumstances you choose to be unhappy. And to human
understanding this is normal while to a meditator it is not. In all
circumstances you choose to be unhappy. And slowly and slowly this
becomes your musculature. And your entire life centres on this
unhappiness.
ALWAYS CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY‟ is
the very essence of finite existence that overflows the being of
Naqshbandi Sheikh Shakuntala Devi.
Each moment life presents different situations, circumstances and
conditions. Certain are acceptable to
human understanding while others are not.
In all circumstances that life presents
you choose to be unhappy. And to human understanding this is normal
while to a meditator it is not. In all circumstances you choose to be
unhappy. This is not your essential nature. And slowly and slowly this
becomes your musculature. And your entire life centres and moves around
this unhappiness.
Be aware of this situation. Awake and
arise! Therefore o Friend this is your right to „Choose to be happy!‟
I teach you to be happy under all
circumstances. Be it sorrow or pain or anything else always „Choose to be
happy‟! Life will begin to move in a new dimension.
You will find this difficult in the
beginning. I am here to bring an energy field that will help you make
this beginning. And once you have consciously decided for this journey
will begin.
How long will you continue the saga of misery and unhappiness? Now is
the time!
To be happy is your choice and right.
To be happy is a conscious choice only you can make. But in all
situations you choose to be unhappy.
Remember a happy heart is the door to the beyond, or door to the inner,
or door to the being. You tend to be
To be happy is a conscious choice only you can make. But in all situations you choose to be unhappy. Remember a happy heart is the door to the beyond, or door to the inner, or door to the being. You tend to be happy or
unhappy because of the other or the circumstances. No one chooses to be happy for no reason. To be happy is the greatest blessing. It unfolds a totally new unknown and unknowable realm.
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page 28
happy or unhappy because of the
other or the circumstances.
No one chooses to be happy for no reason. A happy heart is filled with
gratitude towards the WHOLE. To be happy is the greatest blessing. It
unfolds a totally new unknown and unknowable realm.
One Sufi Naqshbandi master
Shakuntala Devi, always used to bless any one bowing to her by
saying “BE ALWAYS HAPPY”. If you
really decipher these simple words, these will manifest a totally new
realm.
When a master says something, the seeker needs to introspect on these
words. The master can never be wrong or unconscious. The very fact
that he or she is a master implies
now something has changed within. A master may look like you, but in
reality he differs in his understanding of the cosmic phenomena and
awareness. None of his actions are ever guided by unconscious. Even
when he moves his hands he is totally aware of this.
Let this be your meditation each
moment. A new meaning will unfold in life. Serenity, blessedness will
engulf you. Only then it can be said
that you are living in the image of a master. Then something of the
master, his awareness, his understanding, will be part of you as
blessing.
Awake and arise O mortal being! Immortality pulsates within you.
Allow it to overflow. The overflow
needs the door. A „Happy Heart‟, a
„Heart full of Gratitude‟ is the door. And „Choose to be happy‟ is the
window. Through this window look at the existence each finite moment!
A new meaning will arise.
To be happy is your choice and right.
To be happy is a conscious choice only you can make. But in all
situations you choose to be unhappy. Remember a happy heart is the door
to the beyond, or door to the inner,
or door to the being. You tend to be happy or unhappy because of the
other or the circumstances. No one chooses to be happy for no reason. A
happy heart is filled with gratitude towards the WHOLE. To be happy is
the greatest blessing. It unfolds a totally new unknown and unknowable
realm.
[I have used this commandment and gave you all a guided meditation:
see www.youtube.com/TAOSHOBUDDHA01‘MEDITATION CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY PART 1 & 2]
One Sufi Naqshbandi Sheikh Shakuntala Devi, always used to bless any one bowing to her by saying “BE ALWAYS
HAPPY”. If you really decipher these simple words, these will manifest a totally new realm. When a master says something, the seeker needs to introspect on these words. The master can never be wrong or unconscious. The
very fact that he or she is a master implies now something has changed within.
„Chose to be happy‟ is a spiritual commandment given by Sheikh Shakuntala Devi.
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page 29
MEDITATION CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY
CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW FOR THE VIDEO MEDITATION ON YOU TUBE.COM
http://youtu.be/dtznprRZmm8
**********************************************************************
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page 30
HAPPINESS
DOOR TO THE ULTIMATE
appiness is divine. Happiness is bliss. Happiness is
godliness. Happiness leads to inner flowering. Happiness is the
door to the ultimate. Therefore attain to happiness. Make happiness
the way of your life. It may seem difficult. But this is the way in.
Earlier I had emphasized ‘Always
choose to be happy’ as part of the guided meditation. Thus for the
transformation of human consciousness and your inward
journey to begin I had given you this meditation as part of
Naqshbandiyya tariqat and the
methodology of Sheikh Shakuntala Devi.
Today I take you into another
dimension of this meditation and inward journey. Earlier when I
asked you ‘Always choose to be happy’ this was a choice at the
level of the mind. Mind divides. Happiness or unhappiness – always
a choice in needed. At this level the pair of opposites continues.
However happiness in its ultimate sense is beyond dualities. It is the
quality of the being. Then happiness is transformed as BLISS.
In the beginning happiness is an approach to life and living. One has
to make conscious effort to be happy under all circumstances and
situations. Many a times along the journey unconsciousness griped and
you forget altogether that you were choosing to be happy consciously.
This is normal. And yet still you have to remain more and more
conscious and alert so that at no time the unhappiness could grip
you.
As the process continues with an unwavering consciousness
happiness becomes the quality of your being. In the beginning
H
Today I take you into another dimension of this meditation and inward journey. Earlier when I asked you ‘Always choose to be happy’ this was a choice at the level of the mind. Mind divides. Happiness or unhappiness – always a
choice in needed. At this level the pair of opposites continues. However happiness in its ultimate sense is beyond dualities. It is the quality of the being. Then happiness is transformed as BLISS or SUROOR!
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page 31
happiness is a conscious effort.
However it has to be effortless. Then happiness becomes natural
and spontaneous. A spontaneous and natural happiness is the quality
of your being. And when happiness becomes the quality of your being
the ultimate has happened. You have arrived home.
Happiness does not remain
anything from outside instead it becomes light from within.
Happiness is bliss of the being. Happiness manifesting from within
is the light of the being. Beyond all religions, and all other narrow
boundaries:
Happiness is the LIGHT OF THE BEING. The very essence of
human existence! ‘Happiness’ is the beginning and ‘Light’ is the
ultimate. Together Happiness and Light form the two wings
for inward journey.
Just as light has no religion so too happiness has no religion. It is the
quality of the being. Of which bliss is the light.
When your inward journey begins it
becomes difficult to choose to be happy under all circumstances and
situations. By nature mind
complains and finds faults. Mind can never be happy. Because the
moment mind learns to be happy it can no more remain as mind!
Human mind represents ego. Ego is against happiness, light and bliss.
Ego prefers darkness, and ignorance. The moment you are
gripped by ego ignorance becomes your ornament. Carrying the tool of
ignorance as an embodiment of ego you continue the life of duality,
conflict and despair.
Ego, unhappiness, mind, ignorance etc are all like hard crust on the
surface of the being difficult to penetrate. Let me take an example.
You have to dig a deep hole
somewhere. You need tools like pick axe and many other tools. Some of
these tools are hand held while other tools are powered. The
process is difficult and labor intensive when you use hand held
tools. However with powered tools the process is accentuated.
So too when you have to journey on
your own it is difficult and takes time. Also it may not be possible to
journey on once own. Only once in a while someone attains of one’s
own. The assistance and support of
someone who has journeyed through the dark caves of the being
the journey not only becomes easy but faster as well.
This is like using the powered tools.
The energy field of the master comes like a power-tool. The energy
field of the master clears many such impediments effortless. For the
energy of the master the disciple has to be a conductor of energy to
channel through. The moment the disciple has attained to such a state
inward journey attains impetus. That which once appeared to be
impossibility has now become within the sight of the aspirant.
Back to the physical example - The
place where you have to dig a hole has many layers. The outermost
layer is the hardest and therefore most difficult to penetrate. As you
go deeper and deeper under the
outer crust it becomes easier and easier to penetrate. And deeper you
go you find softness of the soil. For agriculture it is this soil that is
considered suitable. Something like this happens in inward journey.
To break the outmost layer one has
to be cautious so that no damage is
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page 32
caused and at the same time the
outer crust is broken. When I gave you the first meditation ‘Choose to
be happy’ as a device enunciated by female Naqshbandi Sufi Sheikh
Shakuntala Devi it was for the purpose of breaking the outer crust
of ego. Also ego has various layers. However just ‘choosing to be happy’
consciously all the layers of ego or ‘Nafs’ dissolve.
In the process first there comes a
crack and then the outer layer begins to crumble. Ego starts
dissolving. One gets the first glimpse of light as emanating from
deep within. This is like the light in
the faraway lands. When this
happens for the first time one cannot believe.
You consider this light as alien to
you. Remember this is light now shining from you hidden core.
Something of which you have become oblivious long ago!
Therefore it will take some time for you to recognize your own being
and thus the light emanating.
Remember this is the Ultimate reality as lurking as light from the
faraway lands. But this is the beginning of a new life. Continue
the inward journey on the self
chosen wings of happiness. Bliss is
the Ultimate along this journey.
Allow happiness to reflect through
countenance, actions and thinking
under all circumstances. Let happiness be your vey texture.
Happiness is the Door to Ultimate. Happiness is bliss. Happiness is
light. Happiness is your being.
Happiness is beyond all religions. Happiness is unfathomable ocean.
Happiness is vast infinite sky.
Happiness is the essence of Sheikh Shakuntala Devi.
Happiness is the LIGHT OF THE BEING. Happiness is the light of Allah Subhan wa Taala. The very essence of human existence! ‘Happiness’ is the beginning and ‘Light’ is the ultimate. Together Happiness and Light
form the two wings for inward journey.
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ya oudaya ya ALlah mere rb mere mailk
krtI hU< Agr daejk ke fr se #badt mE terI
tae bezk tU muHe daejk kI Aaitz me< )e<k
krtI hU< #badt terI mE Agr
jNnt kI ouznuma cah me<
ya Agr #badt hE merI
jNnt ke sr sBj vagae< kI oaitr
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page 35
tae bezk jNnt se mhêm kr muHe
AaEr ykInn hram kr jNnt ke dr
AaEr drvaje merI oaitr
Agr merI #badt AaEr priStz
is)R AaEr is)R terI muhBbt kI oaitr hE
Taea ya oudaya mhêm n kr muHe ApnI muhBbt se
AaEr Ata kr muHe Apne nUranI
AaEr munBbr cehre ke dIdar se sda ke il@
ApnI inSbt AaEr tjiLlyae se ya oudaya
ya ALlah iloa hE #badt ka jae isla
nsIbae< me< mere %se bOz de duZmnae kae tU
AaEr jae kuD -I dena Agr tU cahe
Aaiort me< tU Ata kr %se hbIbae kae Apne
jha< tk hE mera Apna taLluk
mere il@ tae bs ka)I hE
terI muhBbt ik tU phcanta hE muHe
tera dIdar AaEr terI tjiLlya< hI
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page 36
Ya Allah Ya Khudaya Mere Rab!
If I worship you because of fear of hell
Certainly throw me in the eternal fire of hell
If I worship you for the desire of heaven
Or because of the walled garden of heaven
Certainly deprive me of the heavenly realm
Also close the doors of heaven too for me
If my prayer or worship is for thy love
Deprive me not from thy love and grace
Grant me the boon of the light of thy presence
Serenity, ecstasy and grace for ever
Whatever be the rewards of thy worship
Verily grant to thy enemies and ignorant ones
Who fail to recognize thy presence solemn?
Still if you want to give me anything
Give it certainly to thy messengers
For me thy love eternal incessant alone
And thy recognition is enough and comforting!!!
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page 37
له له ب تاد Khudaya خدا ب س من ا
ر ه من اگ شما ب بادت ه ع رس خاطر ب نم از ت جه
عا ط ش در من ق دی آت نم اب اب جه رت پ
ر شما اگ رای بادت من ب یل ع شت از م ه ب
ا و ه ی یل ب واره دل اغ دی سمان ب آ
عا ط لمرو از من ق ی ق سمان محروم آ
ین ن ک همچ زدی سمان درهای ن رای آ یش من ب حد از ب
ر ا دعا اگ بادت ی ست من ع رای ا شق ب و ع ت
ردن محروم شق از من ک طف و ع و ل ست ت ی ن
ه من ت ب رک ور ب ضور ن و ح ت ت ران گ
طف و وجد آرامش، رای ل شه ب ی هم
شد چه هر ا اداش ، ب بادت پ و ع ت
ا اعطای ه همان نان ب شم و د ی و ت های ه آن ادان ک ن
سی چه ادر ک ه ق یص ب شخ ضور ت و ح سمی؟ ت ر
ا ن ب ر حال ای شما اگ ید می ه خواه یزی هر من ب را چ
عا ط ه را آن ق ن ب سوال و ر ت
رای شق من ب و ع ی ت ی در پ ه پ ی ب نهای دی ت اب
ه و یت ب سم تن ر ناخ ش و ست ت ه ا دازه ب ی ان اف !آرامش و ک
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page 38
azrat Rabia Al Adawiya is the embodiment of love eternal. Love flows through her veins. Love for Allah Subhan Wa
Taala is her solace and her heart beat. Myriad salutations to Rabia – the embodiment of love eternal!!!
In the early days of Sufism very little was written down. There were just luminaries, saints, friends of God, and wali, who lived their own spiritual passion, and their deepest devotion. One such saint was Rabia Al Basri, a woman who was
born in the eighth century into slavery. However her owner was so impressed by the intensity of her devotion that he gave her freedom.
She became known for stressing the love that exists between the mystic and God. Always looking towards God, she
cared for nothing that might distract from or interfere with this relationship. She was once asked,
‘Do you love God?’ ‘Yes,’ Rabia replied.
‘Do you hate the devil?’
‘No, my love of God gives me no time to hate the devil’ Subhan Allah!
was the tranquil reply of Rabia.
H
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page 39
Like many early Sufis Râbi’a
practiced severe renunciation and austerities.
I have heard once Rabia was sitting
in a darkened room in meditation on a beautiful spring day. Her
servant called to her to come out and see what the Creator had
made. From within her room Rabia replied:
‘Why not come in and see the
Creator? Contemplation of the
Creator so much preoccupies me that I do not care to look upon His
creation.’
In meditation we learn to feel the stillness of the mind and the senses
too. Thus we can directly
experience the inner reality of the
heart.
At another occasion one friend had a dream that gave her a glimpse of
the sweetness beyond the mind.
I am sitting in a congregation and the teacher silently speaks to me,
saying, ‘I will show you what this
meditation can offer you.’
The congregation begins to
meditate and when I fall into meditation I hear the sound of the
most beautiful chord of music whose notes become louder and
whose vibration fills my whole being until its essence absorbs me in an
intense sweetness and bliss which I
can only describe as a glimpse of
heaven. The notes cease as the meditation ends.
Such bliss is the substance of the
Self which cannot be experienced at the level of the mind. The mind is
known as the ‘slayer of the Real’. Mind separates us from spiritual
Truth which is found within the heart. The mind understands
through duality, - the differentiation of subject and object. Truth is
always a state of oneness: the
knower and the knowledge are one, and the lover and Beloved are
united. Meditation is the technique to take us from the world of duality
to the oneness within the heart.
Not much is known about Rabia al
Basri, except that she lived in Basra in Iraq, in the second half of the 8th
century AD. She was born into material poverty. However she had
infinite reservoir of love. She is the
embodiment of Ishk-I-Haquiqui.
Rabia gave a new meaning to Love. Rabia freed love from the quicksand
of personal love. Her love for Allah
Subhan Wa Taala was indeed a
transcendence from worldly to love divine or love eternal. From Ishk-I-
Mazazi to Ishk-I-Haquiqi was the way of Rabia.
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page 40
Rabia’s love for Haq or Allah was
the outcome of understanding her austere life. But many spiritual
stories are associated with her and what we can glean about her is
reality merged with legend. These traditions come from Farid ud din
Attar a later Sufi saint and poet, who used earlier sources. Rabia
herself though has not left any written works.
Love for Rabia was the ultimate way
to relate to the Allah Subhan Wa
Taala. Love is the fragrance of Rabia’s
being. It is a way of communion with the unknown and unknowable.
Love is the Ultimate way to Relate for Rabia.
Rabia contended that Love is not a
relationship. You cannot give it a name, form, shape or anything
finite. Love is an unseen but realized truth. When it grips you are
overwhelmed. It comes from the unknown and unknowable – the
Allah Subhan Wa Taala. And then
gives you the taste of your being. And before you become aware you
dissolve into the vastness of love. You attain to Fana-Fi-Allah and
Baka-Bi-Allah as you subsist in Allah
Subhan Wa Taala.
Love relates. Indeed love is the only way to relate. Love is a way to
relate to sentient and insentient beings when you subsist in Allah.
Then Love is awareness. Also Love is a way of life. Love descends from
Allah as the understanding. And finally becomes your being. Love is
the way to manifest your being. Certainly love cannot be a
relationship.
A ‘relationship’ implies that
something is finished. A relationship is a noun. The full stop has come.
The honeymoon is over. Now there is no joy, no enthusiasm, now all is
finished.
Yet still you can carry it on like the dead corpse. Life moves on just to
keep your promises. You can carry it on because it is comfortable,
convenient, and cozy. You carry it on because there is nothing else to
do. You carry it on because if you
disrupt it, it is going to create much trouble for you.
Relationship means something
complete, finished, and closed. Love
is never a relationship. Love opens
its wings in the unknown and unknowable field.
And before it reaches the known
realm it disappears. This is what you need to meditate upon. If you
start seeking newness then you are moving to the realm of world of
conflicts, duality and misery.
Love is milestone. A little meditation on its nature changes the gestalt
and directs your energy towards the
inner realm.
Love is relating. It is always like a river, flowing, unending. Love
knows no full stop. Once your love for Allah Subhan Wa Taala beging it
never comes to end. It is not like waning for the moon. Instead it is
the Sun of the Noor-I-Illahi. Love’s honeymoon for haq begins but
never ends. It is not like a novel that starts at a certain point and
ends at a certain point.
Love is an ongoing phenomenon.
Lovers end, love continues. Like haq love is the beginning and the end
too. It is a continuum. It is a verb, not a noun. And why do you reduce
the beauty of relating to
Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page 41
relationship? Why are you in such a
hurry?
To relate is insecure, and relationship is a security.
Relationship has a certainty. Relating is just a meeting of two
strangers, maybe just an overnight stay and in the morning we say
goodbye. Quite contrary to this love for haq is bliss. It is beyond time
and space. Life may end but not the love.
Who knows what is going to happen tomorrow? And you are so afraid
that you want to make it certain. You want to make it predictable.
You would like tomorrow to be according to your ideas. Naturally
you do not allow it freedom to have its own way. So we immediately
reduce every verb to a noun.
In the world with more meditativeness around, with a little
more enlightenment spread over the earth, people will love, love
immensely, but their love will
remain a relating, not a
relationship. It will be love for haq –
truth. Certainly there will be something more of poetry and more
of God in it.
The flowers of love take years to come and sometimes many years.
The longer it takes, the deeper it goes. And longer these last.
But it has to be a commitment from
individual heart to the cosmic heart. It has not even to be verbalized,
because to verbalize it is to profane
it. Love expresses itself in verses, songs and dances. Rumi whirling or
Mira’s dance are all expression of immense love. When love for Allah
springs forth from within it can assume a song, a dance, a melody,
a painting. Indeed love expresses itself in myriad ways.
Love is a silent commitment; eye to
eye, heart to heart, and being to being. It has to be understood, not
said.
Love is the way to penetrate deeper
and deeper into his realm of inner
feelings, into the deep recesses of
his being.
Indeed you are trying to unravel a mystery which cannot be unraveled.
But the effort is always fulfilling. That is the joy of love. This is the
exploration of consciousness. And if you relate, and never reduce it to a
relationship, then the other will become a mirror to you.
Exploring Allah Subhan Wa Taala,
unaware you will be exploring
yourself too. Getting deeper into your being, knowing inner feelings,
thoughts, and deeper stirrings, you will be discovering your own inner
sanctum as well.
In Love you become mirror to life and living, and then love becomes a
meditation.
Such is the love of Rabia for her eternal beloved Allah Subhan Wa
taala whom she felt in her heart beat, experienced in deep recess or
her rooh.
Volume 1 Issue IV October – December 2011 Quarterly Publications Page 42
Rabia was born between 95 and 99 Hijri in Basra, Iraq. This
is 8th century AD. Much of her early life is narrated by Farid
al-Din Attar, a later Sufi Saint and poet, who used earlier
sources. Rabia herself did not leave any written works.
She was the fourth daughter of her family and therefore was
named Rabia, meaning ‘fourth’. Although not born into
slavery, her family was poor yet respected in the community.
According to Farid al-Din Attar, Rabia’s parents were so poor
that there was no oil in house to light a lamp, nor a cloth
even to wrap her with. Her mother asked her husband to
borrow some oil from a neighbour, but he had resolved in his
life never to ask for anything from anyone except the
Creator. He pretended to go to the neighbour’s door and
returned home empty-handed.
In the night Prophet Muhammad appeared to him in a dream
and told him, ‘Your newly born daughter is a favourite of the
Lord, and shall lead many Muslims to the right path. You
should approach the Amir of Basra and present him with a
letter in which should be written this message: ‘You offer
Durood to the Holy Prophet one hundred times every night
and four hundred times every Thursday night. However,
since you failed to observe the rule last Thursday, as a
penalty you must pay the bearer four hundred dinars’.
Rabia’s father got up and went straight to the Amir with tears
of joy rolling down his cheeks. The Amir was delighted on
receiving the message, knowing that he was in the eyes of
Prophet. He distributed 1000 dinars to the poor and joyously
paid 400 dinars to Rabia’s father. The Amir then asked
Rabia’s father to come to him whenever he required
anything, as the Amir would benefit very much by the visit of
such a soul dear to the Lord.
After the death of her father a famine overtook Basra and
Rabia separated from her sisters. Legend has it that she was
accompanying a caravan, which fell into the hands of
robbers. The chief of the robbers took Rabia captive, and sold
her in the market as a slave. The new master of Rabia used
to take hard service from her.
The legend also says she was sold to serve as prostitute.
When the people would be send to her Rabia would pass the
whole night in prayer and the men too as she could not be
the Imam. And with the dawn the man will walk away
quietly. The owner one day suspected something. So he
decided to peep into the room and he observed as the man
Volume 1 Issue IV October – December 2011 Quarterly Publications Page 43
would enter she will encourage him into prayer. The man
remained in prayer whole night. And in the morning would
disappear never to come back again.
After she had finished her household jobs Rabia would spent
many of her days observing fast.Once the master of the
house got up in the middle of the night, and was attracted by
the voice in which Rabia was praying to her Lord. She was
entreating in these terms: ‘Lord! You know well that my keen
desire is to carry out Your commandments and to serve Thee
with all my heart, O light of my eyes. If I were free I would
pass the whole day and night in prayers. But what should I
do when you have made me a slave of a human being?’
At once the master felt that it was sacrilegious to keep such
a wali in his service as captive. He decided to serve her
instead. In the morning he called her and told her his
decision; he would serve her and she should dwell there as
the mistress of the house. If she insisted on leaving the
house he was willing to free her from bondage.
She told him that she was willing to leave the house to carry
on her worship in solitude. This the master granted and she
left the house.
Rabia went into the desert to pray and became an ascetic.
Her murshid was Hazrat Hassan Basri.
Throughout her life, her Love of God, poverty and self-denial
did not waver. They were her constant companions. She did
not possess much other than a broken jug, a rush mat and a
brick, which she used as a pillow. She spent all night in
prayer and contemplation, chiding herself if she slept
because it took her away from her active Love of God.
As her fame grew she had many disciples. She also had
discussions with many of the renowned religious people of
her time. Though she had many offers of marriage, and
(tradition has it) one even from the Amir of Basra, she
refused them as she had no time in her life for anything
other than God.
More interesting than her absolute asceticism, however, is
the actual concept of Divine Love that Rabia introduced. She
was the first to introduce the idea that God should be loved
for God’s own sake, not out of fear—as earlier Sufis had
done.
She taught that repentance was a gift from God because no
one could repent unless God had already accepted him and
given him this gift of repentance. She taught that sinners
must fear the punishment they deserved for their sins, but
she also offered such sinners far more hope of Paradise than
most other ascetics did. For herself, she held to a higher
ideal, worshipping God neither from fear of Hell nor from
hope of Paradise, for she saw such self-interest as unworthy
of God's servants; emotions like fear and hope were like
veils—i.e. hindrances to the vision of God Himself.
Volume 1 Issue IV October – December 2011 Quarterly Publications Page 44
She prayed:
‘O God! If I worship You for fear of Hell,
burn me in Hell,
and if I worship You in hope of Paradise,
exclude me from Paradise.
But if I worship You for Your Own sake,
grudge me not Your everlasting Beauty.’
Rabia was in her early to mid-eighties when she dissolved in
Allah Subhan Wa Taala, having followed the mystic Way to
the end. She believed she was continually united with her
Beloved.
As she told her Sufi friends, ‘My Beloved is always with me’
Rabia’s final departure from this world is recorded in a
beautiful account by a Persian biographer. He says that
during her last moments, many of her followers surrounded
her but she bade them to leave, asking them to make way
for the arrival of Allah’s messengers.
When they had left her, they all heard her voice making the
profession of faith – La illaha ilallah.
And then a voice said “O’ soul at rest, return to thy Lord,
satisfied with Him, giving satisfaction to Him. So enter
among my servants and enter into my paradise.” [Al-Quran]
Rabia died in Jerusalem in 185 AH.
Volume 1 Issue IV October – December 2011 Quarterly Publications Page 45
abia was the first who set forth the doctrine of Divine
Love and who is widely considered to be the most
important of the early Sufi poets.
Much of the poetry that is attributed to her is of unknown
origin. After a life of hardship, she spontaneously achieved a
state of self-realization. When asked by Sheikh Hasan al-
Basri how she discovered the secret, she responded by
stating:
‘You know of the how, but I know of the how-less.’
One of the many myths that surround her life is that she was
freed from slavery because her master saw her praying while
surrounded by light, realized that she was a saint and feared
for his life if he continued to keep her as a slave.
While she apparently received many marriage offers -
including a proposal from Hasan al-Basri himself, she
remained celibate and died of old age, an ascetic, her only
care from the disciples who followed her. She was the first in
a long line of female Sufi mystics.
It is also possible that she helped further integrate Islamic
slaves into Muslim society. Because of her time spent in
slavery early in life, Rabia was passionate against all forms of
it. She even refused a slave later in life, despite her
heightened spiritual status.
Rabia had unique way of teaching through anecdotes,
Parables and stories.
One day, Rabia was seen running through the streets of
Basra carrying a torch in one hand and a bucket of water in
the other.
When asked what she was doing, she said, ‘I want to put out
the fires of Hell, and burn down the rewards of Paradise.
They block the way to God. I do not want to worship from
fear of punishment or for the promise of reward, but simply
for the love of God.’
R The Way of Rabia
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In his Life of St Louis, Jean de Joinville reports this story of a
woman, but no name or religious affiliation is given to the
woman, and the report appears to be contemporary (when in
fact Joinville lived three centuries after Rabia).
At one occasion she was asked if she hated Satan. Hazrat
Rabia replied: ‘My love to God has so possessed me that no
place remains for loving or hating anyone
else.’
When Hazrat Rabia would not come to
attend the sermons of Hazrat Hasan Basri,
he would deliver no discourse that day.
People in the audience asked him why he
did that. Hasan replied: ‘The syrup that is
held by the vessels meant for the elephants
cannot be contained in the vessels meant
for the ants.’
Once Hazrat Rabia was on her way to Mecca, and when half-
way there she saw the Kaa’ba coming to meet her. She
exclaimed: ‘It is the Lord of the house whom I need, what
have I to do with the house? I need to meet with Him Who
said, ‘Who approaches Me by a span’s length I will approach
him by the length of a cubit.’ The Kaa’ba which I see has no
power over me. What joy does the beauty of the Kaa’ba bring
to me?’
At the same time the great Sufi Wali Hazrat Ibrahim bin
Adham arrived at the Kaa’ba, but he did not see it. He had
spent fourteen years making his way to the Kaa’ba, because
in every place of prayer he performed two rakats.
Hazrat Ibrahim bin Adham said: ‘Alas! What has happened? It
maybe, that some injury has overtaken my eyes.’
An unseen voice said to him, ‘No harm has
befallen your eyes, but the Kaa’ba has gone
to meet a woman, who is approaching this
place.’
Ibrahim Adham responded: ‘O indeed, who
is this?’
As he ran he saw Rabia arriving, and that
the Kaa’ba was back in its own place. When
Ibrahim saw that, he said, ‘O Rabia, what is
this disturbance and trouble and burden
which you have brought into the world?’
Rabia replied, ‘I have not brought disturbance into the world.
It is you who have disturbed the world, because you delayed
fourteen years in arriving at the Kaa’ba.’
Ibrahim: ‘Yes I have spent fourteen years in crossing the
desert because I was engaged in prayer.’
Volume 1 Issue IV October – December 2011 Quarterly Publications Page 47
Rabia: ‘You traversed it in ritual prayer - Salat but with
personal supplication.’
Then, having performed the pilgrimage, she returned to
Basra and occupied herself with works of devotion.
One night Rabia came on the road outside her home and
started searching something under the lamp-post. Crowd
gathered. Rabia continued her search very intensely.
People enquired: ‘What are you searching on the road?’
Rabia responded: ‘I am searching for my needle that fell
somewhere.’
The people also started searching for the needles. Then
someone from the crows further said: ‘Rabia the road is very
big area and the needle is very small. Tell me which part of
the road needle fell so that we can search for the needle in
the right place.’
Rabia responded: ‘The needle fell inside the room where I
was working.’
Someone from the crowd said: ‘We know Rabia you are
crazy. But we did not know that you will be crazy to this
extent. The needle is lost inside the room and you are
searching outside.’
Very innocently Rabia responded: ‘Indeed the needle was lost
inside. But there was darkness so I came in the light to
search for the lost needle.’
Such were the ways and means of teaching of Rabia Al Basri.
Salih Qazwani always taught his disciples, ‘Who knocks at the
door of someone constantly, one day the door must be
opened to him?’
Rabia one day heard it and said: ‘Salih, how long ‘will you go
on preaching thus, using the future tense, saying ‘will be
opened’? Was the door ever closed? It was ever open.’
Separation... simply unbearable!
One day, people asked why she kept no knife in the house.
Rabia replied, ‘Cutting asunder is the work of the knife. I fear
it may not asunder the bond between that exists between me
and my beloved Lord.’
A fervent prayer
One day she was going on an errand. Whilst passing a street
a vagabond pursued her. She ran to save herself from him
and in doing so her foot slipped and she fell down and broke
her arm.
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She thereupon prayed to the Lord, ‘I am poor orphan and a
slave. Now my hand too is broken. But I do not mind these
things if Thou be pleased with me. But make it manifest to
me that you are pleased with me.’
The Divine voice in reply said, ‘Never mind all these
sufferings. On the day of judgment you shall be accorded the
status that shall be the envy of the angels even.’ Then she
returned to her master’s service.
Thanking the Lord
One day Sufyan Thauri went to Rabia. She passed the whole
night in worship, standing before the Lord. When the morning
broke she remarked, ‘God be praised that He conferred His
grace on us that we could pass the whole night in prayers. As
a mark of gratitude, let us pass the whole day in fasting.’
The joy of pain!
A man was crying, ‘Ah! How great is a pain!’ Rabia
approached him and said, ‘Oh! What a lack of pain!’ He asked
her why she said the contrary. She replied, ‘Because pain is
the privilege of great devotees, who cherish even with the joy
even so much anguish that even talking and drawing breath
become a matter of strain to them.’
Why no bandage for His blessings?
One day Rabia saw a man passing on the way with his
forehead tied with a bandage. She asked him why he put on
the bandage. He replied that he was suffering from headache.
‘What is your age?’ she asked.
He replied that he was thirty. She asked, ‘Till today, how
have you passed your life?’
He replied, ‘In perfect health’.
She said, ‘For thirty years the Lord kept you sound, and you
did not fly any colours on your body to express your gratitude
for His gift, so that people could ask you the reason for your
joy and knowing of God’s blessings on you would have
praised Him, but when for your own fault you have suffered
from a little headache you have tied a bandage and go about
exhibiting His harshness to you in making you suffer from
headache. What a base act is yours!’
Neither this nor that world,
you are enough for me
O Lord,
If tomorrow on Judgment Day
You send me to Hell,
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I will tell such a secret
That Hell will race from me
Until it is a thousand years away
O Lord,
Whatever share of this World?
You could give to me,
Give it to Thy enemies;
Whatever share of the next world?
You want to give to me,
Give it to Thy friends.
You are enough for me.
O Lord,
If I worship Thee
From fear of Hell, burn me in Hell.
O Lord,
If I worship Thee
From hope of Paradise,
bar me from its gates.
But if I worship Thee for Thy sake alone
Then grace me forever the splendour of Thy Face.
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Love
I have loved Thee with two loves
a selfish love and a love that is worthy of Thee.
As for the love which is selfish,
Therein I occupy myself with Thee,
to the exclusion of all others.
But in the love which is worthy of Thee,
Thou dost raise the veil that I may see Thee.
Yet is the praise not mine in this or that,
But the praise is to Thee in both that and this.-
Rabia al Basri
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Reality
In love, nothing exists between heart and heart.
Speech is born out of longing,
True description from the real taste.
The one who tastes, knows;
the one who explains, lies.
How can you describe the true form of Something
In whose presence you are blotted out?
And in whose being you still exist?
And who lives as a sign for your journey?
Rabia al-Basri
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If I Adore You
If I adore You out of fear of Hell,
Burn me in Hell!
If I adore you out of desire for Paradise,
Lock me out of Paradise.
But if I adore you for Yourself alone,
Do not deny to me Your eternal beauty.
Rabia al-Basri
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Ya Allah! If I worship thee for fear of hell
Burn me in hell
If I worship thee in hope of paradise
Exclude me from paradise
But if I worship thee for your own sake
Grudge me not Thy everlasting
Beauty, splendor, and grace.
Volume 1 Issue IV October – December 2011 Quarterly Publications Page 54
These are the words of the female mystic Rabia al Basri. She
grew in the tender love and training of the higher intuitive
powers of God and is one of the few women in the realm of
Sufism. Indeed she is considered the first female mystic
or saint in Islam. She was not trained by a murshid but was
born a devotee with great love for Allah.
Rabia’s parents died in her childhood and sometime later
when Basra was in the grip of a fierce famine, she got
separated from her sisters. She was captured by a man
who sold her off for six dirhams. The purchaser subjected
her to hard labor. Many hardships fell upon her but she
immersed herself in relentless devotion and worship of Allah.
Her devotion for Allah was fired by a deep-rooted love and
longing for the Divine.
„Rabia‟s worldly possessions
are said to have been a broken
jug from which she drank, an
old rush mat to sit upon and a
brick for a pillow. She spent
each night in prayer and often
chided herself for sleeping as it
prevented her constant
contemplation and active love
of God.‟
Broken Mug – Rabia‟s Posession
Little is known of her early years except that she spent her
youth as a slave and was later freed. What we do know of her
however, is that throughout her life her asceticism was
absolute and unwavering as was her love for God. Poverty and
self-denial were Rabia’s constant companions.
For example, her worldly possessions are said to have
been a broken jug from which she drank, an old rush
mat to sit upon and a brick for a pillow. She spent each
night in prayer and often chided herself for sleeping as it
prevented her constant contemplation and active love of God.
She refused all offers of marriage – of which there were many
– because she had no room for anything in her life that might
distract her from complete devotion to God. Indeed, in this
same manner she rebuffed anything that could distract her
from the Beloved, i.e. God.
More interesting than her absolute asceticism however, is the
concept of Divine Love that Rabia introduced. She was the
first to introduce the idea that God should be loved for His
own sake and not out of fear - as earlier Sufis had done.
For example, she is reported to have walked the streets of
Basra with a flaming torch in one hand and a bucket of water
in the other. When her intentions were questioned, Rabia
replied: “I want to pour water into Hell and set fire to Paradise
so that these two veils disappear and nobody worships God
out of fear of Hell or hope of Paradise, but only for the sake of
His eternal beauty.”
Volume 1 Issue IV October – December 2011 Quarterly Publications Page 55
In her master’s house she fasted by day and spent the night
praying. One night her master is said to have been awakened
by a strange voice urging him to free Rabia his slave. When he
looked through the window of his apartment, he saw Rabia in
prostration offering the litany “O God, you know that the
desire of my heart is to fulfill your commands and that the
light of my eye is in serving you. If the affair was with me I
would not rest even an hour from serving you, but you
yourself have left me at the mercy of a creature.”
Her master then perceived a lantern suspended above her
head giving out a blinding light. When day broke he
summoned Rabia and set her free. Rabia left the house and
wandered through the desert in search for what Allah had
apportioned for her. For a while she served God in a
hermitage and according to one version returned to her
master some days later, playing a flute with the skill of a
professional musician. Determined to perform the pilgrimage
she then set out for the desert to pray and became an ascetic.
Unlike many sufi saints she did not learn from a teacher
or master but turned to God himself.
It is said that on the way to the desert the donkey carrying
her bundle died. She entreated the Lord saying “O my God, do
kings deal thus with a woman, a stranger and the weak? Thou
art calling me to thine own house but in the midst of the way
thou hast suffered my donkey to die and left me alone in the
desert.” She had hardly completed her prayer when the
donkey stirred up and came to life.
Rabia was a mystic of the newly emerging Sufi order. She
often spoke of the concept of Hubb-e-Illahi or Divine Love in
Sufi philosophy. She expressed her love of God as:
“I love you with two loves, a love of passion and a love
prompted by your worthiness of that. As for the love of
passion, it consists in occupying myself with remembering you
and no one else. And as for the love of which you are worthy,
it consists in your lifting the veils so that I may see you.
However mine is not the merit in this or that. But yours is the
merit in this or that.”
“She was so singularly devoted towards achieving
divine union that all other attractions were meaningless
to her.”
Rabia was the one who first set forth the doctrine of mystical
love and who is widely considered to be the most important of
the early Sufi poets. Much of the poetry that is attributed to
her is of unknown origin. After a life of hardship she became
spontaneously realized.
When asked by Sheikh Hasan - al-Basri how she discovered
the secret, she responded: “You know of the how, but I
know of the how-less.”
Volume 1 Issue IV October – December 2011 Quarterly Publications Page 56
Whirling – Dance of Ecstasy