spirit matters winter 2013

A message from the editor

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What’s in the Winter issue?

Spirit Matters - Winter 2013

3 Letter from Nuria, SMIA’s National Representative4 Prayers & Reflections – Nuria Daly5 New blog for ‘Spirit Matters’ readers – Zubin Leonie Shore 5 DVDs of Summer Retreat Amberley 2013 – Azad Roddy Daly6-8 The Holy Book of Nature, part 2 of 3 – Kadir Troelstra8 A poem by Siegfried Sassoon9 Tampaksiring Gratitude – a poem by Talibah Josephine Lolicato10-12 Sacred Reading: The Spirit of Guidance – Hazrat Inayat Khan12 The Essence of God is Love – a poem by Rumi13 Heijarat Retreat – September/October 14-16 The Frog Princess, part 4 of 5 – Nuria Daly17 Cooking with fire of Devotion – Dargah Retreat – November18-22 Zikr, Shurk, Fikr – Nur Al-Alam23 Poem by Hazrat Inayat Khan 24 Contacts

Dear friendsThis winter issue of Spirit Matters coincides with the birthday of our Murshid, Hazrat Inayat Khan, on the 5th July. Our centre in Sydney is planning to celebrate his birthday with a Universal Worship. I’m sure many other centres around the world will be doing something special, as well, and it would be wonderful to hear about what you do. Contributions for our next issue would be lovingly welcomed. Remember, you don’t have to be Australian to contribute (even if your seasons are upside down). Thank you to our wonderful contributors for this issue—poets, essayists, storytellers, photographers. Without you there would be no Spirit Matters. Happy reading.

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Beloved Sisters and Brothers

Letter from Nuria, SMiA’s national representative


It is interesting that each time I write this letter there are new issues and things to deal with and discover. Life is certainly unpredictable and never dull, but it is how we deal with things, not what happens to us, that makes us who we are. What still rocks me is when I am confronted with the worst of human nature (greed and avarice). It is so disappointing and sort of makes me lose faith in human nature sometimes. This is so difficult. During a recent problem, I found that the only way I could manage was to be calm and watch the other person and see where they were coming from: ego—greed and fear of course. There was such a desire for material things, instead of a longing for Spirit. Finding the right moment with the right person to give balanced comments in support of what was needed, as well as to try to show appreciation and love, was all I could do.

While this drama was happening we had a small Sufi group at our house and we read the teaching on Prayer from the Religious Gathekas. Basically Murshid says that it is ‘according to the extent of our consciousness of prayer that our prayer reaches God.’ Our whole being has to be in prayer–our body, mind and heart. He goes on to say that if God already knows what we want and what is good for us, and what we need, then why do we need to ask for it? The answer is that that ‘God knows your need, He knows what you want, but your want becomes clear when it is expressed not by mind or the body only but by your whole being. That is the secret.’ This was an amazing teaching for me. We had a wonderful meditation and ‘prayer’ during our time together and most amazingly the next morning I had a phone call to tell me that there had been a change of heart and all was well. It felt like a miracle had happened and my prayer was answered. Knowing that God can achieve anything for us as long as we are fully conscious and mindful and loving has buoyed me and made me very happy. So miracles do happen.

As I was writing this, Sattva sent out a teaching that was very inspiring and which helped me a lot: ‘How important is it to concentrate on positive ideas and not to think on negative things! In Vol. IV of the Sufi Message Hazrat Inayat Khan says:

When a person begins to think he is under an unlucky star, with everything that happens, good or bad, he will think: ‘It all brings bad luck to me. From everywhere bad luck seems to be coming’. Even a good thing that person will believe to be bad, because he is looking at it in that way. And when a person is living in the thought that good luck is coming to him, everything that comes is in the form of good luck.

The more we study this question, the more we find that our mind is the master of life; and we become the possessor of the Kingdom of God as soon as we have realized the power of thought and concentration upon our life. It is because of the absence of such knowledge

that one does not value that divine spark which is in oneself; and by being unconscious of it one goes down and down, till one reaches the deepest depths. No sooner has one realized this than one begins to respect oneself; and it is the self-respecting person who has respect for another, it is the one who helps himself who will help another, it is the one who can raise himself who will take another person also towards the heights.

Let us always try to be aware of the source of perfection within ourselves and try to awaken others to the divine spark in themselves. From there all healing is coming!

And finally–with Azad now back in Ireland with his family, I am listening to Phillip Adams most evenings and was struck by an interview he had with Dr Sam Parnia where they discussed the science of medical resuscitation and the larger more fundamental mystery of human consciousness. Dr Parnia has written a book called Life after Death: The Lazarus Effect and I was fascinated to discover that in about 10% of cases where patients were clinically dead—sometimes for up to 10 hours—when resuscitated they have a memory of a ‘Being’ full of love, who is leading them towards the Light. This experience is across all cultures, countries and religions or lack of religion. He maintained that in the cases where there was no such memory it was because the brain had swollen due to death and the memory was wiped clean. Considering that the patients were dead, many for some time, and the body and brain were completely dead, where does this memory and feeling of consciousness come from? Well, we are not surprised are we? Murshid tells us the same thing–that when we die we return to the One, and that the One is all love and Light–our body is really just like an old overcoat to be discarded.

So all in all it has been an uplifting time in spite of life’s setbacks.

Our winter day of peace and repose was on 23rd June and we focused on ‘The Spirit of Guidance’. Because of this, I have included the teaching in this newsletter. I hope you enjoy it.

With love and blessings,

Nuria

Nuria at the 2013 Interfaith Ceremony (Buddha’s birthday)


Prayers & Reflections: Interfaith Ceremony for Peace and UnderstandingBuddha’s Day & Multicultural Festival, Federation Square, May ‘13

Welcome to SpiritWe acknowledge

The One beyond AllSource of the universe

Substance of lifeKnown and worshipped

By many names and by noneHere-now and hereafter

Hear! Here!

CHRISTIAN PRAYERThe Prayer of St Francis - source unknown Offered by Dr Nicholas Coleman, Wesley College

Lord, make us instruments of your peace.Where there is hatred, let us sow love;where there is injury, pardon;where there is doubt, faith;where there is despair, hope;where there is darkness, light;where there is sadness, joy.O Divine Master,grant that we may not so much seek to be consoledas to console,to be understood as to understand;to be loved as to love.For it is in giving that we receive,it is in pardoning that we are pardonedand it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen

- Attributed to St Francis of Assisi (1181-1226), first recorded around 1913 by an unknown French source.

WELCOME TO SPIRITOffered by Dr Nicholas ColemanWesley College

So many people today feel a movement of the mindTowards an elusive goal … that can’t be reachedA goal that draws the heart and soul nonethelessA goal as obvious and unattainable … as the treasure at the end of a rainbow, or the perfection of being in the moment

In ordinary human experience There is something quite extraordinary Something magical, elusive and divineSome people call it God or the One

For some it’s everything, for others it’s nothingFor some its fullness, for others its emptinessFor some it can’t be spoken at all

If we empty our mind of distractionsCleanse the doors of perceptionWe can feel our heart open out to something so much more than just ourselves

Then we see infinity in a raindropAnd eternity in flower

I wonder if a simple acknowledgmentMight be enough–a Welcome to SpiritLike a traditional Welcome to Country

A few words to recognise the spirit of the land,Spirit of the place, spirit of the occasion

Perhaps a few words like theseFor us to hear, here.

Poems &

photo supplied by Nuria

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New Blog for ‘Spirit Matters’ readersby Zubin Leonie Shore

Have you ever wanted to respond to authors or articles in Spirit Matters? Congratulate an author, ask questions, offer a poem, deepen the issue, provide a useful link, advertise an event, or send a relevant photo? Sufi Movement in Australia is establishing a blog to accompany Spirit Matters and provide an opportunity for conversations around each issue. Initially your contributions can be sent to [email protected]. Frequent contributors will receive their own uploading details. The blog will publish contributions on at least a weekly basis, and can be read at www.blog.smia.com.au

DVDs of Summer Retreat Amberley 2013by Azad Roddy Daly

Sets of DVDs of SMIA’s Summer Retreat at Amberley 2013 are now on sale.There will be only a limited number of these DVDs. (at this time)There are 6 discs in all (HD 720) Cost $35.00 (plus P&P)Please contact Nuria or Azad should you wish to purchase a set.Proceeds from these sales will go to Dargah Fund

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The Holy Book of Nature ... Part 2 of 3by Kadir Troelstra

This lecture was given at the 2012 Sufi Summer School in Katwijk, The Netherlands, and is continued from the Autumn issue of Spirit Matters.

‘The Sufi’s book is not of ink and letters, it is nothing but a heart as white as snow.’ (Rumi)

Last week I came across a little booklet which describes the friendship between Constantijn Huygens—a Dutch diplomat, poet and composer and Rene Descartes the famous French philosopher, in the early 16th century. Those

were exciting times, also here in the Netherlands where Descartes worked. There was an enormous interest in nature; the exploration of nature and the world became more and more important. Theology, philosophy, science were perhaps more related than in our time, and the way one could look at the world, how to perceive it, was an important debate. Huygens and Descartes talked and corresponded often about it. In those days

the making of lenses for telescopes and microscopes was considered very important; it underwent an important improvement. The skill of lens grinding was crucial, and people like Descartes and Huygens were very interested in it. It provided a means to look at creation as never before. Whole worlds opened up; the smallest creatures could be seen for the first time, and one could have a closer look at the universe as well. For people like Huygens it was a way to look at the Divine Creation, which was considered as the Book of Nature.

In the Christian profession of faith (also of the Dutch Reformed Church to which Huygens belonged) it is said that one could know God in two ways. Firstly through creation: ‘For it is before our eyes as a most beautiful Book in which all creatures, from the least to the greatest, are as certain letters and marks through which the invisible things of God can be examined and understood.’ And furthermore that God could be known from the Bible—‘But He also bears His very self to us, much more clearly and openly, in His holy and divine Word’. So that is why the study of nature was so important in those days, and there was much to be discovered.

The thought was that if you look at nature, you have to come to the conclusion that there must be a creator. So looking at nature was important, because it made clearer how

wondrous creation is. Witnessing nature was considered as a way of honoring the Divine Being, who had created it all. Instruments like the telescope and the microscope made it possible to look at nature as a Divine Creation. Seeing is knowing and honoring the Divine. It was an observational and contemplative attitude towards nature. For Descartes it became different. He emphasized more the explanation of the laws of nature, which became more and more apparent and clear. Creation could be explained through reason. This way of thinking led to the scientific revolution, in which the discovery of the laws of physics became more important. Everything in nature could be explained, there are no wonders. Stories of wonders in the Bible had to be explained metaphorically. Perhaps this illustrates a shift to the first paradigm of which Matthijs Schouten spoke. It gave us enormous insights into nature and tremendous development of science. It freed us from the dogmatic view the church provided, because these views could no longer sustain the new scientific insights.

But it also led to the banishment of the Divine Being from our consciousness and there from our experience of nature, of our lives. It gave way to a more materialistic worldview. This had its downside. Now we often use nature just as matter, as a thing, a commodity, which makes us use nature as a big storehouse from which we can take anything we need, or as a waste bin, or just as a recreational site. This has enormous impacts on the environment and devastating consequences for nature. We do not take the interconnectedness of nature, the way ecosystems work into account. And it is commonly not seen as a sacred expression of the Divine Being, or a sacred manuscript, which can enlighten the reader.

But the second paradigm is still there, I suppose that way of looking, that mode, is also a part of us. And Murshid upholds this idea that nature is a Holy Book you can read, saying: ‘Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that there is no greater Scripture than nature, for nature is life itself. It is an ever living Scripture by which all Masters and

Constantijn Huygens


Teachers have been inspired and all so called scriptures are interpretations of this scripture.’ In the Christian tradition it was said that there are two sources of knowledge, nature and the Bible, equally important, where the one is needed to understand the other. Murshid says that the Sufi respects all sacred texts of the world, as interpretations of the same Holy Book of Nature: ‘The Sufi, when the eye of his soul is opened and his sight is keen, reads in the manuscript of nature the Divine law, which has been read from the same source and taught by the Teachers of humanity to their followers.’ But language is not sufficient enough to really express the truth; what could be said is handed down as sacred texts. To quote Murshid again: ‘All scriptures, before nature’s manuscript are as little pools of water before the ocean.’ That’s why Murshid sees the Book of Nature as more important, but at the same time respects all the sacred books and prophets of the different traditions.

Murshid says with regard to this:

All the teachings that the great prophets and teachers have given are only interpretations of what they have seen. They have interpreted in their own language what they have read from the manuscript of nature: that trees and plants and rocks spoke to them. Did nature only speak to those in the past? No, the soul of man is always capable of that bliss if he only realized it. Once the eyes of the heart are open, man begins to read every leaf of the tree as a page of the sacred Book.

This is also why a Sufi never debates the authenticity of the sacred books and manuscripts. All are to be respected and revered as messages expressed by great souls and prophets who all drew from the same Divine source.

Murshid also emphasized the study of life:

One kind is by reading the teachings of the great thinkers and keeping them in mind, the study of metaphysics, psychology, and mysticism. And the other kind of study is the study of life. Every day one has an opportunity for studying; but it should be a correct study. When a person travels in a tramcar, in the train, with a newspaper in his hand, he wants to read the sensational news which is worth nothing. He should read human nature which is before him, people coming and going. If he would continue to do this, he would begin to read human

beings as though they were letters written by the divine pen, which speak of their past and future. He should look deeply at the heavens and at nature and at all the things to be seen in everyday life, and reflect upon them with the desire to understand. This kind of study is much superior, incomparably superior, to the study of books.

So, we can ask ourselves, why is this so? Murshid emphasizes that creation is expressive, is revealing. Life originates from the one Source. All the variation we see in creation is seen as an expression of One Life, the manifestation of One Being, which is hidden within creation, or perhaps manifestation is a better word, because it is about that which has become manifest. Life evolved through evolution, carried by this tremendous expressive force. ‘I was a hidden treasure and I longed to be known. So I created the Creation so that I may be know,’ as it is said in the Islamic tradition [Hadith].

Or from the Upanishads:

The supreme Being wished, may I be many, may I grow forth. He brooded over himself (like a man performing penance). After he had thus brooded, he sent forth (created) all, whatever there is. Having sent forth, he entered into it. Having entered it, he became sat (what is manifest) and tyat (what is not manifest), defined and undefined, supported and not supported, (endowed with) knowledge and without knowledge (as stones), real and unreal. The Sattya (true) became all this whatsoever, and therefore the wise call it (the Brahman) Sat-tya (the true).

This shows that the manifold creations are an expression of One Source. Perhaps that is why Murshid says that ‘All who have realized the secret of life understand that life is one, but that it exists in two aspects. First as immortal, all-pervading and silent; and secondly as mortal, active, and manifest in variety.’

But there is more to it, for the attentive soul nature speaks of the secret of life continuously. There is a beautiful psalm (19) which describes the expressive nature the Divine Being:

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.


Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.

And humans have the ability to hear it, more than any other creature. Humans have the possibility to expand their consciousness and see beyond, perceive it. Humans have the possibility to engage in this life-force and make it meaningful.

Murshid says: ‘Every name and every form speaks constantly, constantly makes signs for you to hear, for you to respond to, for you to interpret, that you may become a friend of God. The whole purpose of your life is to make yourself ready to understand what God is, what your fellow man is, what the nature of man is, what life is.’ And also: ‘The deeper we look into life the more it unfolds itself, allowing us to see more keenly. Life is revealing. It is not only human beings who speak; if only the ears can hear even plants and trees and all nature speak, in the sense that nature reveals itself, reveals its secret. In this way we communicate with the whole of life. Then we are never alone, then life becomes worth living.’ And: ‘Just as there is a communication between persons who love each other very much, so the sympathy of a person whose soul has unfolded itself is so awakened that not only every person but even every object begins to reveal its nature, its character

and secret. To him, every man is a written letter. We hear stories of saints and sages who talked with rocks and plants and trees. They are not only stories; it is reality.

So according to this view, life is expressive. It is communicating, wants to communicate, if we only could listen. It also means that creation is not static. There is a force within nature which always wants to go further, wanting to evolve, in as many ways as possible. We can see in this creation, as it is a manifestation of variety which develops and changes constantly. And because creation is seen as a divine expression, nature is considered sacred.

This lecture will be continued in the Spring issue of Spirit Matters.

Thank you to Talibah Lolicato for contributing this lecture.

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A poem ...by Siegfried Sassoon

Everyone suddenly burst out singing; And I was filled with such delight

As prisoned birds must find in freedom, Winging wildly across the white

Orchards and dark-green fields; on—on—and out of sight.

Everyone’s voice was suddenly lifted; And beauty came like the setting sun:

My heart was shaken with tears; and horror Drifted away ... O, but Everyone

Was a bird; and the song was wordless; the singing will never be done.

Thank you to Ananda Bernadette Hogan for contributing this poem.


Tampaksiring Gratitudepoem and photo by Talilbah Josephine Lolicato

A veiled woman shuffles Estagfurullah Head held downwards Estagfirullah Body – Mind confused Astagfirullah Repenting heart bleeds Astaghfirullah She shatters in a watery pool Her earnest heart’s desire on her lips Stretching out her arms Invoking sacredness Within and without Under and below Spouts of communal chilly waters Wash over her A pearly droplet lingers Remembering Rising higher and higher towards her moon self Surrounded in spaciousness Lotus waterfall showering blessings Ishq Allah Mabud Lillah


Sacred Reading: The Spirit of Guidanceby Hazrat Inayat Khan

Taken from Volume IX - The Unity of Religious Ideals, Part III

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The Spirit of Guidance may be called in other words the divine mind; and as the human mind is completed after its coming on earth, so the divine mind is completed after manifestation. In fact, the Creator’s mind is made out of His own creation. The experience of every soul becomes the experience of the divine mind; therefore the divine mind has the knowledge of all beings. It is a storehouse of perfect wisdom. It is the soul of Christ and the spirit of prophecy. Intuition, inspiration, vision, and revelation—all come from the same source whence every kind of revelation comes, and that is the divine mind.

There are some who receive knowledge from the divine mind indirectly, and some who receive it directly. In those souls, which happen to receive the central current of the Spirit of Guidance, the spirit of prophecy is conceived. The messengers of all times, of whom we hear in the histories and traditions of the world, have been souls in whom the central current of the divine light has functioned. In other words, the prophets of all ages have been the reflections of the divine mind on earth. No one has ever seen God, and if evidence of God’s existence has ever been manifested, it was in the man who reflected God. Apart from all that the prophets have taught, it was their personality, which proved their prophecy. In their thought, speech, and word they reflected God, which was more than morals, doctrines, and teachings could do.

Every inspired person reflects in his own way some divine spark hidden in his soul, which wins the world. A musician may show his inspiration in music. A poet may show it in his poetry. An artist may show his inspiration in his art. But

the central ray of light, which the prophets reflect, falling upon every plane and every aspect of life, makes all things clear to their sight. Therefore the presence of the prophet clears away perplexity from the minds of those who are confused. In his presence a person can feel and think more clearly, even without having spoken to him. Many forget their questions when before a prophet, for the light falling upon their hearts brings them the answer, and they realize that the answer was in themselves, something that they already knew. No doubt both the question and answer are in the soul. The first step of the soul’s progress raises questions, and the second step brings the answer. This is why a prophetic soul is also a physician, a scientist, and an artist. A prophetic soul is capable of commerce, industry, and business, and he is qualified in warfare and competent in peacemaking.

The Spirit of Guidance is like the yeast, which is used to make bread, preparing humanity for the purpose for which it was created. The Spirit of Guidance is a plant that grows and blossoms when it meets with response and care; and when it is watered by the rainfall of divine inspiration it blooms in the light of the divine sun. The Spirit of Guidance is the light of God, which may be likened to a lantern that the farmer carries when walking on the farm in the darkness of night. It is like a searchlight, which shows up any object upon which it is thrown; and so when the light of the Spirit of Guidance is thrown upon any aspect of life, man receives a keen insight into it. In the Spirit of Guidance one finds a living God active in the heart of every person.

One who depends upon the Spirit of Guidance to direct his life, is guided rightly. We always have a counsel within, but the one who ignores the existence of the Spirit of Guidance is left alone by it for some time, so that he has to look out for himself. It is like the mother and the dependent child that tries to hold its mother’s hand at every step it takes; so the mother’s whole attention is drawn to every step of her child. But when the child tries to move about by its own will, and tries to keep away, then the attention of


the mother, to some extent, becomes released. This does not mean that the mother entirely gives up the care of the child. It only means that she allows the child to have its own way to some extent, and feels sorry when the child falls and hurts itself. In point of fact, all souls are children of God, but such souls as are conscious of their relationship with God, like that between a child and its parents, certainly deserve to be called children of God. They are especially cared for. They are always guided, because they ask for guidance.

The soul of the prophet, therefore, shows the innocence of a child. Of what is known to the world about Jesus Christ and his life, the most lovable attribute of the Master was his innocence in spite of his perfect wisdom. Certainly he deserves to be called the only-begotten son who has all his life depended for everything that he said or did upon the guidance of God.

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Divinity is that aspect of God which emanates from God and forms itself into the Spirit of Guidance. The Spirit of Guidance may thus be called the heart of God, a heart which is the accumulator of all feelings, impressions, thoughts, memories, and of all knowledge and experience. It is like putting a man at the head of a factory who has been in that factory from the beginning. He has had experiences of all kinds, of the pioneer work and of how things have changed, of the new methods and of the right or wrong results, which have come out of them. All such impressions have thus been collected in that one person.

In this mechanism of the world, all that happens, all that is experienced in the way of thought and feeling, is accumulated. Where? In the heart of God. Divinity is that heart which contains all wisdom and to which all wisdom belongs. The heart of God is the intelligence and the current of guidance in the heart of every man, and therefore it is not disconnected from the heart of man. Indeed, the heart of man is one of the atoms, which form the heart of God.

If people have called Christ divine that is right too. The heart of the Master, which fully reflected the divine heart naturally, showed the sign of divinity. Not understanding this, people made this idea exclusive and incomprehensible, and by this they have taken away the ground from under the feet of the Master. And by this, too, further harm has been done, taking away the worthiness of man who was made to be the representative of God. The Hebrew scriptures say that man was made in the image of God, and the Muslim scripture says that man was made the Khalif of God, which means His representative.

When one says that man was born in sin, that man is on earth and that God is in heaven, one separates man from God; and this takes away the possibility of human perfection of which Christ has said, ‘Be ye therefore perfect, as your father which is in heaven is perfect.’ That possibility of human perfection is taken away by making the idea of divinity exclusive and remote, and thus depriving man of the bliss of God which was meant for him. That is why disputes have arisen among the followers of different religions, each of them thinking their teacher to be the only teacher. For that reason wars have taken place in all ages, and people have disagreed with one another. People from one community have called the others heathen, depriving themselves of the bliss, which constantly is, which was, and which always will be.

In reality the Spirit of Guidance may be pictured as one thread; and all the great masters of humanity are like the beads on that thread: one spirit and many individualities; one soul and many personalities; one wisdom and many teachers who have expounded wisdom according to their own personality. But at the same time, wisdom always being one they cannot be compared with different scientists. For

scientists when they have discovered something new say they have made a new discovery; but the prophets have never said that they had made a new discovery. They have always said, ‘What those who came before me perceived I perceive, and those who come after thousands of years will perceive the same.’ Yet in spite of that it is always new, for every moment has its new joy. As Hafiz says, ‘Sing, my soul, a new song that every new moment inspires in you.’

Once the soul awakens, it begins to see that truth is always new and renews the soul, giving it perpetual youth. When


one finds differences between the teachers of humanity, these are only in the lives they lived. But no matter what their life was, whether they were kings or faqirs, whether they walked or rode on an elephant’s back whether they were on a throne or in mountain caves or in deserts, they all had the same experience: realization. They might appear to be comfortable and rejoicing, but they heard the same note which others heard in tortures. Those who were kings such as Solomon and David, and those who were sages such as Krishna and Buddha, all these different souls had the same realization, the same philosophy. There could never be an argument if they were all to meet. But they are not meant to meet because they are all one. It was the Spirit of Guidance which manifested through all these different names and forms.

When one looks at this subject from a metaphysical point of view, one observes that light has three principal currents: one current that takes the central line and shoots out, one current that goes to the right, and a third one that goes to the left. It is these three currents which are the secret of what is called Trinity, and by this threefold aspect the mystery of manifestation can be interpreted.

The current of the Spirit of Guidance, which runs to the right, is significant of power; that is why those who came under that current were called masters. The characteristic of such a soul is power. He is one who conquers himself, who contends with circumstances, struggles with life, and rises above conflicts.

The story of Daniel in the lions’ den is the picture of the master: of the magnetism, power, and peace that make lions tame. The same power spreads and in time makes

all hard things soft. The master therefore is a living power. His power of mind, of feeling, of heart, of spirit has its influence on all living beings, things, and objects to what extent, the human mind cannot imagine.

The other current, which runs to the left, is the sign of the saintly inspiration; of that passive character which has the desire to serve, an overflowing sympathy, a tender heart, widespread compassion, continual forgiveness, a gentle manner, a constant self-sacrifice, and perpetual renunciation.

And the central current, which is prophetic, is both, the power of the master and the wisdom of the saint. Such a character has been directed to go into the world, to the crowd, to endure the coarse vibrations of men, to go through all the experiences of life and yet to retain that fineness, delicacy, and tenderness which keep the soul close to God and in communication with the Spirit of Guidance, which ever-flows and manifests in the form of the message.

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The Essence of God is love by Jalaluddin Rumi

The essence of God is love and the Sufi Path is the path of love. Love is to see what is good and beautiful in everything. It is to learn from everything, to see the gifts of God and the generosity of God in everything. It is to be thankful for all of God’s bounties. This is the first step on the road to the love of God. This is just a seed of love. In time, the seed will grow and become a tree and bear fruit. Then, whoever tastes of that fruit will know what real love is. It will be different for those who have tasted to tell of it to those who have not. When you find love, you will find yourself. When you have the knowledge of love, you will then feel peace in your heart. Stop searching here and there, the Jewels are inside you.This, my friends, is the holy meaning of love.

Taken from http://sufism.org/store/products/love-is-the-wine

Thank you to Nick from Sydney for this contribution.


THE SUFI MESSAGE OF HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN

‘Exploring The Elements – from Earth to Ether’

A celebration of 103 years of the Sufi Message

of Love, Harmony and Beauty in the west.

‘As there is need of sun and water for plants to grow, so there is need of the five elements for a person to keep in perfect health. These five elements he breathes according to his capacity of breath.’

Hazrat Inayat Khan

4pm Fri 27th September to 12 noon Tuesday 1st October, 2013

At The Chevalier Resource Centre 1 Roma Ave, Kensington, Sydney NSW 2033 (Parking onsite).

The retreat will be guided by experienced leaders of the

Sufi Movement in Australia and include a focus on the wisdom and exploration of the Elements from Earth to Ether

Cost: $490 includes retreat, meals, accommodation, linen and parking.

For further information please contact: Hamida - 02 9387 5263 m 0420 302 739, [email protected]

Or – Zubin 0478 679 533 [email protected] Or Nuria – 03 9561 4861 [email protected]

REGISTRATION To register, please email participant name to

Nuria, [email protected] and you will receive program, map, dietary needs.

Please pay deposit $50 by 23rd August, full payment by Friday 13th September 2013 to

Commonwealth Bank, Brandon Park Branch, Sufi Movement in Australia Inc, BSB 063 587 Account number 10251994, Payee Reference: Your name.

We look forward to deepening our practice of the Sufi Message with you.


The Frog Princess Part 4 of 5retold by Nuria Daly

This interpretation continues from issue 17.1 of Spirit Matters (Autumn, 2013).

In Part 3, Princess Vassilisa has just turned into a grey cuckoo and flown away because Prince Ivan had burnt her frog skin. Prince Ivan, heart-broken by his mistake, is about to begin a great and important journey.

Prince Ivan walks for so long that he wears out his boots, his clothes are torn, and the rain is soaked through his cap. This is indeed a very long time. One day he happens to meet a very old man, who asks him:

‘Hello, young man! What are you seeking and where are you going?’

The Prince tells him how he had lost his wife, and is now seeking her. Notice that when Ivan finally finds his teacher, the old man, we have

direct speech, so rare in this short story. And the old man says:

‘Ah, Prince Ivan, what made you burn the frog skin? You did not have to wear it or take it off.’ It feels like incredible wisdom hidden in these few words. Yes, we would like to speed up our ‘waking process’ and remove the veils, but life has to take its turn and forcing something against the course of natural flow might bring negative consequences. Murshid says that we should not wake people up against their will and we should raise their consciousness slowly according to their natural development. It also speaks of certain laws of nature: we should not judge what is right and what is not right according to our limited understanding. If we have not put this ugly skin on, then we should not force it out. Patience of letting things develop in their own course is perhaps another great test of life. This is a point to ponder—it is really often much simpler to keep the covering over the soul—the inner journey is dangerous and difficult. The skin had to be burned so that the feminine, the soul could be released from her spell—her imprisonment. The feminine in us is often if not always imprisoned in the world of the ego and patriarchy, where the soul is hidden deeply in so many levels beyond Kaschey’s body. It is the task of the feminine to free herself from this and it is the masculine which must assist by actively doing it, consciously.

However the old man goes on to say: ‘The wise Vassilisa was born cleverer and wiser than her father, and he was so annoyed that he ordered her to be a frog for three years. What is done cannot be undone. Take this ball; wherever it rolls, you boldly follow after it.’

So turning the wise Vassilisa into a frog was in the nature of a punishment for her being cleverer and wiser than her father. This is about not honouring the wisdom of the feminine principle—in fact punishing it—and this has been the fate of many wise women, indeed the feminine in our culture. The task of women is therefore to rise above this ‘punishment’, be freed from it and to be as they really are. This is their life’s task. How do women live as women in a patriarchy which does not recognise their wisdom and value? Perhaps because it comes from the feeling, intuitive and emotional side of nature—it comes from Eros rather than Apollo.

The old man gives Prince Ivan a ball to follow wherever it rolls. The ball symbolises either the sun or the moon—the power of solar or lunar gods moving the celestial bodies across the skies. So to follow the ball is to follow his fate wherever it takes him. The wise old man is of course a spiritual teacher and guide. He understands the quarrel between Princess Vassilisa and her father, as well as with Kashchey, could be seen as the eternal combat of the soul versus the ego that are part of one Being and are thus related. While the ego rules, the soul is in exile in the marshes; when the ego is conquered the soul rules supreme.

The prince thanks the old man and follows the ball across open country, where he comes across a bear and takes aim, intending to kill it. But the bear speaks to him in a human voice: ‘Do not kill me, Prince Ivan. Someday I shall be of service to you.’ The prince takes pity on the bear and goes on his way without shooting it. The bear signifies initiation, new life in the form of a resurrection, and so it has an association with rites of passage. Prince Ivan is starting a new journey, so the bear is a symbol for the first stage. The bear is described in masculine form (medved) in this story, and I believe that the first chakra can also be seen as masculine. The bear and all the animals Ivan encounters speak with a human voice and he is told instinctively not to kill the animals off at this stage of inner initiation. We must honour our inner ‘animals’ (instinct or intuition) rather than kill them off as soon as they make their appearance.


As he walks he sees a drake flying above him. He again takes aim to shoot it, but the drake also speaks to him in a human voice: ‘Do not kill me, Prince Ivan. I shall be of service to you. So again he has pity on the drake and goes on his way. In

many other stories a duck frequently appears but in this story the creature is said to be a drake—specifically male. The duck is a mediator between sky and water, so the drake in this case could be symbolic of the yang or Jelal energy of the air. Air is a masculine noun in Russian, and these stages of initiation could well be related to the elements. The bear being masculine, could be related to the power of the Earth (although Earth is a feminine noun, the power is masculine). Prince Ivan takes pity on the drake and again goes on his way.

The same happens with the hare, which comes running past and again Ivan lets the hare go on his way. Note that all the creatures know who the prince is and call him by name. They also know that they will be of service to him at some stage in the future.

Now the hare is a lunar animal and is the yin/Jemal attribute of all moon deities, and so represents birth and resurrection, as well as intuition. It is said in the story that the hare comes running past, and indeed the hare is associated with speed and therefore perhaps lightning. Fire itself as an element (it is a masculine noun) is the next stage or level of evolution. In the Sufi element breathing practice the lowest element is earth, then water, fire, air and ether which is the highest and finest element.

Next Prince Ivan comes to the blue sea and sees a pike lying on the sand of the shore. It is barely able to breathe and it says to him: ‘Prince Ivan, have pity on me; throw me back into the blue sea.’ So he throws the pike into the sea. To have reached the blue sea is very important as he has come to the realm of the great mother, the source of all life and containing all possibilities in manifestation.

It is unfathomable like life itself, and can be considered to be the deep unconscious, so finding a sea creature lying on the shore really means that a part of his own unconscious

has been thrown up onto the earth which is not its own element, so he must again throw it back and not let it die. When Russian stories mention sea, it is most probably big fresh water bodies, like big lakes. Pike is feminine in Russian and is thus a wise fresh water fish, king of the fish. The pike together with water is a feminine symbol, but the pike itself can symbolise the wisdom of the waters.

In this story the water is the highest element, as it symbolises the whole depth of the unconscious, the ocean or sea of which we are all drops: the unity of consciousness.

Prince Ivan has had to learn compassion for the animals and for the instinctual parts of himself. His reaction to kill must be sublimated, as these creatures will later aid him on his journey as we shall see. Indeed when we are disciplined enough to acknowledge our rising instincts, honour them and let them go, rather than repressing them, we have gained in mastery.

The first two animals/elements that Prince Ivan encounters are masculine: the bear with earth, and the drake with air. The third one is feminine: the hare with lightning or fire and the last and highest one is both masculine and feminine—the pike with water. This is a progression towards the higher and more oceanic wisdom of the feminine or the soul. This is the second stage of the journey, where Prince Ivan has overcome his instinctual reactions and mastered the small self. This usually happens in mid-life on life’s journey.

The next stage then relates to the highest element which is ether and is not of the outer world at all. Prince Ivan follows the ball as it rolls along the shore and at last it rolls into a forest. There the Prince sees a little hut standing on a chicken leg, and twisting round and round. So Ivan says to the hut: ‘Little hut, little hut, stand just as you were built, with your back to the forest, your front to me.’ This is like an incantation.

This little hut is the home of the Baba Yaga—the witch of Slavic fairy tales. I feel that this myth originates in the matriarchal times, perhaps just as the patriarchy and Christianity were becoming prevalent/dominant. The great forests of the Komi region are still the meeting point between Christianity and the old shamanic paganism of the Asiatic tribes. Christianity was thus a veneer over the ancient pagan culture concealed beneath the Russian one. The influence of Asia is manifest in Russian language, customs, in melodies and harmonies and in all their fairy tales. The motifs and metaphors were thought to come from Persia ( B y z a n t i u m ) and from Mongolia (the descendants of Genghiz Khan). Both Persians and ancient Russians had idealised the tree as a sacred

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cult, so this hut standing on chicken legs, is symbolic of the dwelling place of the sacred, as in a sacred tree. The Baba Yaga is the wise old woman or shaman who taught the

people of the forests.

The figure of Baba Yaga and her chicken legged house might also be a relic of the ‘conflict’ between Christianity, growing from the royal court and the cities, and the traditions of the pre-Christian ‘pagan’ folk living in the vast forests of northern Russia. This divide existed in Russia right up to the 19th century. Although the peasants would have been devout Christians, the old myths and

superstitions remained in the folk memory. ‘Turn your back to the forest and your face to me’ thus means, ’I am entering the forest, the realm of old, mysterious beliefs’, by proxy.

The little hut is turned with its front towards him, and its back to the forest, demonstrating that with the right attitude and incantation, the seeker, having journeyed thus far, has access to this mysterious realm.

I find it interesting that Prince Ivan knows exactly what to say and do when confronted with the chicken legged house! It sounds like an incantation—part of a rite or ritual. He has done the inner work, so that he can proceed safely into the realm of the Baba Yaga. The little hut does indeed turn with its front towards him, and its back to the forest. He goes inside, and sees the old witch, the Baba Yaga, lying on top of the stove, her chin resting on the shelf at the top of the stove, and her nose pressed up against the ceiling. Baba Yaga is said to be a guardian spirit of the fountain of the Waters of Life and of Death. She rules over the elements and is the Arch-Crone, the Goddess of Wisdom and Death, the Bone Mother, a wild and untameable nature spirit bringing wisdom and the death of ego (and, through death, rebirth). The image of her lying on the stove facing the ceiling seems to indicate that she is at the centre of warmth and safety (the hearth). The stove, or Kachelofen, is the tiled stove used in eastern Europe and Russia for warming the whole house, and also for cooking. (See picture right.)

Lying on top of the stove could also suggest that she is in a meditative position—off the ground, as is the house, and just under the ceiling—an in-between place, perhaps, of practice. The house is like a tree house as

we will see later in the story, and is connected with the ancient mythology of the oak.

However, it is said that the Baba Yaga appears to have no power over the blessed and the pure of heart, who are protected by the power of love, virtue or a mother’s blessing, and she reveals her all-knowing, all-seeing and all-revealing side to those who dare to ask. There are stories where the Baba Yaga helps people with their quests, and stories in which she kidnaps children and threatens to eat them, so seeking her aid is usually portrayed as a dangerous act, requiring proper preparation and purity of spirit, as well as basic politeness.

‘Why have you called on me, young fellow?’ the old witch asks him. ‘Are you seeking your fortune, or are you running away from it?’ This is actually a profound question which we should all perhaps ask ourselves before we embark on the next stage of our journey. It is also a question that Baba Yaga often asks in a ritualised way.

Prince Ivan has no fear and asks for what he needs. What he needs is the sort of thing one would ask of a mother.

‘You old scold,’ the prince answered, ‘before you start asking questions you should give me food and drink and a hot bath.’ (‘There are laws of civility in dealing with these sacred energies. They expect companionship (taking bread with them), a sharing of energy that becomes forever a part of whoever partakes. But before bread can be broken, one must first know to ask for it, for such food is not freely given to strangers.’ Quote from Marion Woodman.) Note that bread was seen as a sacred link between this world and the next, and it was connected with the folklore of the stove, where the spirits of the dead were said to live.

So the old witch Baba Yaga gives Prince Ivan a hot bath, gives him food and drink, and puts him to bed, much like a good mother would. Then and only then does the prince tell her he is seeking his wife, the wise Princess Vassilisa.

‘I know, I know,’ the old witch says. ‘Your wife is with Kashchey the Deathless now. It will be difficult to get her away from him; Kashchey is not easy to deal with. His death is right at the point of a needle, the needle is in an egg, the egg is in the duck, the duck is in the hare, the hare is sitting in a stone chest which is in the crown of a lofty oak, and Kashchey the Deathless guards that oak as

he would the apple of his eye.’

So the Baba Yaga knows what is happening—she is all knowing and all seeing—a wise old woman teacher. She tells Prince Ivan what he needs to know about where Kashchey the deathless resides and how to deal with him.

‘The Frog Princess’ will conclude in the Spring issue of Spirit Matters.


COOKING WITH THE FIRE OF DEVOTION October 26-November 2, 2013

An eight-day retreat at the Dargah of Hazrat Inayat Khan,

New Delhi, India UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF MURSHID NAWAB PASNAK

Mysticism without devotion is like uncooked food; it can never be assimilated.

— The fire of devotion purifies the heart of the devotee, and leads to spiritual freedom

. —HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN—

This retreat on the theme of spiritual devotion is for mureeds of Hazrat Inayat Khan; some experience with the retreat guide is recommended. Each day involves both group practice and suggested individual exercises. During some portions of the retreat, the discipline of silence will be observed. The retreat is limited to fifteen places.

Cost, Deposit and Accommodation: The retreat fee is INR42,000/-, or the equivalent, payable upon arrival at the Dargah. To ensure a place in the retreat, participants must either provide a deposit or proof of ticket purchase. The fee includes food and accommodation for ten days (the retreat plus two days extra) staff gratuities, a contribution to the Staff Welfare Fund, and a donation to the Dargah. Additional contributions and donations are of course welcome. Extra days of accommodation can be arranged at a modest cost. Accommodation will be either in the Dargah retreat house or a nearby guest-house. Food and lodging are simple, Indian style, but most rooms have western style toilets. Please note that during the retreat, accommodation can only be provided for retreat participants; those thinking of further travel in India with friends or family should arrange to join them either before or after the retreat.

Arrival: When planning your travel, please be aware that because of staff holidays we will not be able to accept guests at the Dargah before October 23rd.

Health and Visas: When planning your trip, remember that all foreigners require a visa to enter India; a simple tourist visa is usually the easiest to obtain. Also, you may wish to discuss your trip with a doctor or travel clinic.

Registration and Information: To avoid unnecessary bank charges, deposits may be remitted personally, or proof of ticket purchase may be provided by email. Please check with us to see if places are available before buying your ticket. To register, or to request further information about the retreat, please contact Nirtan Ekaterina Pasnak at [email protected] .


Zikr, Shukr, Fikr: Efficacy of these very powerful Sufi practicesby Nur Al-Alam

In my last article ‘Reflections on the retreat 2013’, I promised that I would write about some of the Sufi practices like Zikr, Shukr, Fikr. Out of many practices, these three beautiful practices were found to be most effective in life.

Also since the subject is too broad to fit in one article, I’ll be writing a three-part series covering each of the three practices separately. However, I’ll provide a brief overview or definitions of these three practices (Zikr, Sukr and Fikr) in this part of the series.

Zikr

The Arabic word Zikr (ركذ) means ‘remembrance’ or ‘invocation’. In this article, Zikr means ‘Remembrance of Allah’. It is also transliterated as ‘Zikar’ or ‘Dhikr’. It is generally an esoteric practice by all Sufis irrespective of their Tariqa or paths. In this practice, a sacred phrase is used for chanting or singing which varies from ‘La ilaha illa Allah’ or ‘La El La Ha, El Al La Hu’1 or ‘Allah Allah Allah Hu, La ilaha illa Hu’.

Shukr

The Arabic word Shukr or Shukar (ركش) means ‘thankfulness’ or ‘gratitude’. It is a practice of expressing gratitude to Allah, the most exalted, through our feelings and emotions, by reflecting on food we eat, the bounty or gifts we use from the Universe in our day-to-day life. While Zikr is a chanting or singing or incantation practice, Shukr is an expression practice of self reminders by the Sufis. The 12th century Sufi, Al-Ghazali said, ‘Know that God the exalted united thankfulness (Shukar) with remembrance (Zikr) in His holy book, al-Qur’an. Although He said, ‘God’s remembrance is greater’2, He said, ‘so remember Me, and I will remember you; and be thankful to Me and be not ungrateful3‘. This practice will be elaborated in Part 2 of this series.

Fikr

The Arabic word Fikr or Fikar (ركف) means ‘reflection’, ‘meditation’, ‘contemplation’, but in Hazrat Inayat Khan’s teachings, the same word was used to describe silent repetition, such as a wazifa phrases (in contrast to Zikr, which he used to describe spoken repetition). But here is in this article, I have used this term ‘Fikr’ to mean contemplation, i.e. deep thinking on the creation of Allah the most exalted. This practice will be elaborated in Part 3 of this series.

Virtues of Zikr

The Zikr with the sacred name of the beloved Almighty Allah carries the blessing, taste, sweetness, thrill, and peace

of mind that is invariably experienced by the one who has practised and remained absorbed in His Remembrance for a considerable time. This Zikr practice brings joy to the heart and peace of mind. Almighty Allah has said Himself:

‘Those who believe, and whose hearts find their bliss in the remembrance of God—for verily, in the remembrance of God, [humans’] hearts do find their bliss and peace.(Q13:28)’4

All of the Biblical or Qur’anic prophets uttered this phrase, ‘La ilaha illa Allahu’ as a part of their constant remembrance of Allah. Prophet Noah, Prophet Abraham, Prophet Moses, Prophet David, Prophet Solomon, Prophet Jesus , all of them did the Zikr with this phrase. They were always in constant Zikr in all of their time on this earth. This sacred phrase ‘La ilaha illa Allahu’ is a phrase loved by Allah so he mandated to all of his prophets and their followers to chant this phrase loudly or silently, alone or in groups.

For example, when Adam came as the first human being and the Prophet of Allah, the invocation for his family was ‘La ilaha illa Allahu, Adam As-Safi yyu Allah’ which means ‘None exist but Allah and Adam is a Reflection of Allah’. When Abraham came as a Prophet of Allah, the invocation for his nation was ‘La ilaha illa Allahu, Ibrahim Al-Khalilu Allah’ which means, ‘None exists but Allah and Abraham is the bosom Friend of Allah’. When Musa came as a Prophet to Israelites’, the invocation for them was ‘La ilaha illa Allahu, Musa Al-Kalimu Allah’ which means ‘None exists but Allah, and Musa was the Speaker of Allah’. When Jesus came as a Prophet of Allah, the invocation to his nation was ‘La ilaha illa Allahu, Eyi’sa Ar-Ruh’u Allah’ which means ‘None exists but Allah and Jesus is the Spirit of Allah’. Finally when Muhammad came as a Prophet of Allah, the invocation to his nation was ‘La ilaha illa Allahu, Muhammad Ar-Rasul Allah’ which means ‘None exists but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah’.

So as it appears from all of the above-mentioned invocations, i.e. in the chanting of all of the hundreds of thousands of Prophets, named and unnamed, pronounced this scared phrase ‘La ilaha illa Allahu’. Thus the highest virtues and rewards, i.e. Friendship and Love of Allah, was promised to the one who does the Zikr with this sacred phrase ‘La ilaha illa Allahu’.

Guarantee of blissful peace and heavenly love

Zikr is the only practice for which a guarantee was given by the Almighty Allah to receive the blissful peace and heavenly love to its doer. That’s why our beloved Almighty God said, ‘so remember Me, and I will remember you (Q2:152)’.


In the Hadith Qudsi, Allah the most exalted said, ‘Take one step towards Me, I will take ten steps towards you. Walk towards Me, I will run towards you.’

If we take the example of earthly romantic love—how it starts—then we would understand the ‘law of attraction’, the seed of which Allah has sown in his creation. If you fall in love with someone at first sight and you are desperate to get closer to him/her, you have to offer unconditional love first, and then courage will build, until one day by pushing away all hesitations, you are able to go nearer to him/her. But there is no guarantee that he/she will accept your love. Whereas, in the case of Divine Love, Allah has given the guarantee that if you take the first step with this action of doing the Zikr, remembrance of Allah, you will be remembered by Him. Friendship with Allah and bliss from the Divine Spirit will be bestowed in your heart.

A real story: experience of bliss

I have a friend who told me how he started doing the Zikr constantly for five years and started feeling the efficacy of this practice. He knew these verses before but never understood the hidden meaning. He told me that he did this practice of Zikr for many years, but only as a ritual and as a duty, so he never got anywhere with it.

However, one day he read the following in the Buddist scripture, which was described by Buddha as ‘Brahmavihara’, which means ‘living in the infinite’:

Do not deceive each other, do not despise anybody anywhere, never in anger wish anyone to suffer through your body, words or thoughts. Like a mother maintaining her only son with her own life, keep thy immeasurable loving thought for all creatures.

Above thee, below thee, on all sides of thee, keep on all the world thy sympathy and immeasurable loving thought which is without obstruction, without any wish to injure, without enmity.

To be dwelling in such contemplation while standing, walking, sitting or laying down, until sleep overcomes thee, is called living in Brahma.5

My friend told me that this reading, specially the last line of this quote, changed his life. He immediately remembered the following Qur’anic verse:

Verily, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the succession of night and day, there are indeed messages (signs) for the people of Hearts (i.e. those who are endowed with insights). Who remember God when they stand, and when they sit, and when they lie down to sleep and [thus] reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth: O our Sustainer! Thou hast not created [aught of] this without meaning and purpose. Limitless art Thou in Thy glory! Keep us safe, then, from suffering through fire!(Q3:190-191)

He immediately realized how true was the ‘Unity of

Religious Ideals’ written by Hazrat Inayat Khan (HIK). How the message brought by the Prophet Gautama Buddha is the same as the message brought by Prophet Muhammad. He told me that, in the beginning, he used to listen to many motivational audio talks while driving. He could not get motivated at all if he stopped listening to them. But after a while he said he became bored with all of such lectures, even his favourite ones like Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer etc.

So after finding that Hazrat Inayat Khan’s message is the most applicable for the modern day, he started practising HIK’s singing Zikr (as recorded by his son Pir-o-Murshid Hidayat) every day instead of listening to any more motivational lectures. He told himself that if he got bored ever, he would stop it as well. But to his amazement, he found that even after doing it for almost five years, he was never bored; instead he started loving it and started experiencing so much feeling of joy and bliss through it. The efficacy of Zikr was so powerful to him that he told me, you couldn’t describe it in words. It was an experience we have to feel together only, it cannot be spoken or written in words.

Zikr is the intimate conversation with the Beloved

Intimate conversation with Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him): Prophet Muhammad had the Night Journey to have intimate conversations with Allah the most Glorious. There are many verses of Hadith Qudsi and Qur’anic verses of such conversations. For us, the believers, Allah said to His Prophet, ‘a’lamu annahu la ilaha lllah al-Allah—Know that there is no god but Allah (Q47:19)’ So with this verse, in His intimate conversation with Muhammad, He enjoined His beloved Muhammad on the constant duty of the word of Oneness.

Intimate conversation with Prophet Moses (Peace be upon him): The story of Moses in the Qur’an is an important learning for Sufis. We all know about this story which reflects a human dimension in all of us (e.g. fear, which is an ego behaviour). The story was that Moses went to mount Sinai and spoke to Allah. He had been asked to carry the message of ‘Oneness’ to the Pharaoh with three miracles. In the Qur’anic verse in full verse, (beginning with a continuation of the divine address to Moses from within the burning bush): ‘‘Cast down your staff!’ And when he saw it quivering like a serpent, he turned round retreating (due to his fear), and did not turn back. Allah said ‘O Moses, come forward and fear not; for surely you are among those who are protected and secure.’ (Q28:31)

About this verse one of the 13th century Sufi saints, Ibn Arabi, said, ‘O Allah let me taste, O You who is ever Glorified and Praised, ever Sanctified and Holy, the sweet delight and intimate conversation (Muanajat) that you had with Moses in that verse’. (Q28:31)6

One feels the presence of Allah, when he/she does the Zikr. According to an Islamic tradition, ‘Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said that Moses asked his Lord to


teach him something that will make him remember Allah in all moments, and he was told to say, ‘ La ilaha illa Allahu None exists but Allah’. He replied to his Lord that all His servants said this, but he wanted something particularly for himself (i.e. an special prayer for Moses himself), and then Allah said, ‘O’ Moses, if you were to put the seven heavens, earths and their inhabitants, apart from Me, on one side of a balance and ‘La ilaha illa Allahu ‘ on the other, ‘La ilaha illa Allahu ‘ would outweigh them.’7 So according to this intimate conversation of Moses and Allah, the most exalted, there is no other sacred phrase dearer to Allah, than this Zikr phrase ‘La ilaha illa Allahu’.

Allah assures us all that if we remember Him, He’ll remember us. Allah refers, in many other places in theQur’an, to the protection he will provide if we do the Zikr on a constant basis. Allah said, if we were to become a friend of God, we would need to become a believer in God. And if we can become His friend, He will bring us from the shadow/ darkness of our ego to the light of illumination, light of guidance, light of awakening. (essence of Q2:257)

Also we have to do Zikr because something in us is from God, which is called ‘Ruh’, the soul which makes us a living being. For the sake of our Ruh, we have to do the Zikr. Allah said Ruh is his instruction. (Q17:85)

In regard to Ruh, the soul that is present in each of us, Allah said, ‘Inna Iillahi Wa Inna Ilaihi Ra’zi’un—you came from Me, and you will return to Me’. (Q2:156) That’s why, when a Muslim hears that a person has died, immediately he/she recites this verse to remind him/herself that we are a visitor on this planet. ‘He came from Allah, so he went back to Allah’. But how many Muslims (i.e. those who say: To Thee do we give willing surrender) know the meaning of this verse and use it as a reminder for their transitory state of this earthly life? That’s a question we all need to ask ourselves.

This Ruh, which is inside of us, has come from Allah. Whenever we are doing the Zikr, we hear our own voice. When we hear our own voice, we can ask ourselves, who is that in us, who from inside our body is making that voice. We feel the presence of Ruh. That is something from Allah that was inserted into our body when we were inside the womb of our mothers. This means that the presence of Allah is inside us and outside us; it is Allah who is hearing us and doing the Zikr with us.

There is a Hadith where the Prophet of Allah said, ‘An angel comes to breathe the human soul into the womb of his/her mother’8. This confirms to us the invisible being we are, which is called Ruh (soul). So we should have no doubt that it is the ‘Ruh’ which makes us grow, which

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causes our body cells to multiply; so we should not be identified as our body but soul. (That’s why, Hazrat Inayat Khan taught us to do the outer Zikr with the phrase, ‘This is not our body; this is the temple of God’ before starting the singing Zikr)

Thus, when we do the Zikr, our soul gets peace. Hazrat Inayat Khan said, ‘Our heart is the seat of our soul. Our mind is the instrument of our soul and our body is the instrument of our mind9‘. Allah says in the Qur’an ‘for verily, in the remembrance of God, [humans’] hearts do find their bliss and peace.’ (Q13:28)

When you plant a seed in the ground, it doesn’t grow out automatically. When the right environment is created with five elements: earth, water, light (fire), air and space, angel comes and injects the plant’s soul into the seed; then the cells in the seed starts multiplying making it to grow off the ground as a plant. Allah says in the Qur’an ‘a good land lets the plant grow out of it with the instruction of Allah (Q7:58)’. In another part Allah said, ‘qul ar-ruho min amr al-Allah—say the ruh is an instruction of Allah (Q17:85)’. When we see a living thing, plant or human or animal, we see Allah as ‘Ya Muhiyyu’—Oh All-Living. So by seeing ourselves, a human face or an insect or a plant, we see Allah, we remember Allah as ‘Ya Muhiyyu’—Oh Life Giving Force’. Allah’s Life Force is constantly flowing into everything and making this planet a living being.

That’s the feeling to come into your thought when you do Zikr practice in a regular timely manner, that will give you the joy and feeling of Allah, then the light of Allah will be awakened in your heart, making your feeling of connectedness towards Allah alive in your heart.

So utterance of this phrase, La ilaha il al-Allah, is the voice of Allah, the sound of Allah, which we hear when we do Zikr, as Moses heard it, Muhammad heard it, developing in us a feeling of the intimate conversation with Allah. It’s a magic formula of Allah, a key to opening the secret chamber of our heart.

Zikr is a feeling of Synchronous Dancing with the Universe

Another effect of Zikr is the feeling of Synchronous Dancing with the Universe , feeling the presence of Allah within us and without during the practice. Allah said, ‘There is not a single thing but extols His limitless glory and praise: but you (O human) fail to grasp the manner of their glorifying Him’. (Q17:44)

So as per the Qur’an, every atom, every sub-atom or quantum in the universe is doing His Zikr. One way to bring about such a feeling into the heart of the Zaker (the person who does the practice of Zikr), is to ponder on the action of every quantum which is doing the Zikr. As a Zaker, we have to try slowly to synchronise our Zikr action, our own utterance (vibration we create through our voice), our rhythm in our heart, vibrations in every atom or cell in our body with the vibrations of every atom or quantum in the universe.

Let’s think or ponder on the depth of any matter or form. Quantum Physics says every quantum is vibrating. The way you can think about synchronising with the dances of the universe, is to observe closely through the inner mind one’s own actions during the Zikr: we are moving our tongues, moving our bodies; through all these movements we are doing various actions. As we learnt from the Qur’an, everything around us is doing Zikr and through our actions we are aligning ourselves with all the objects in and around us. If you like, we can think, the way I wrote in my poetry ‘I am, I am not’ published in this newsletter in 2010:

At the centre, I feel

I am not the ocean, but a drop in the ocean,

I am not the solid mass of bone, flesh and blood

But a vortex,10

doing the constant Zikar around my heart.

When I move, every cell moves

I am in synch with every cell

Circling on vortex-axis, in the core of my heart.

I see it like the simultaneous reflections

In the three trillion mirrors,

one in each cell, showing movement of Zikar

It’s such a magic to watch.

As per Pir Vilayat’s imagery, our body is like a vortex. Every atom or cell in our body could be thought of as a mini-magnet, each with dual polarity. Then through our Zikr action we are aligning or arranging, attracting them in a uni-directional way into a synchronously dancing along with the vibrations in our hearts. Every cell in our body goes in synchronous motion. By adding a mirror in each cell, we can see ourselves, as reflections of us doing the motion of the Zikr.

Quantum physics says that if we could magnify a cell in our body up to 10 to the power -23, we could see each quantum behaviour using nano-particle imaging and a superlense of sub-wavelength optical quantum dots techniques. We can see that movement with our human naked eye using the right equipment, the way scientists have seen them and photographed them.

If you have seen the video of 2012 Nobel Prize winner Quantum Physicist Dr. David Wineland & Serge Haroche, then you would understand what I am alluding to here. I have seen their lectures. David’s team has photographed quantum particles doing vibrations between states. Each particle has a dual state. They proposed a theory using that phenomenon. They have already prototyped an ’optical clock’ which was proven and tested. Because of that work they won the Nobel Prize.


So in our body every particle is doing the Zikr of Allah through vibrations between polarities. So when we are doing Zikr, we are in synch with our body, in synch with every particle of our body. We feel the rhythm of each particle. That’s why my friend told me that he likes doing HIK’s singing Zikr—because it has a rhythm, melody and a feeling of synchronicity with dances of the universe.

Various phases of Hazrat Inayat Khan’s singing Zikr are extra-ordinary. This is what Pir-o-Murshid Hidayat Inayat Khan wrote in his book titled ‘Sufi Teachings: Lectures from Lake O’Hara’ about HIK’s singing Zikr:

The four parts of this singing Zikr practice form a mystical journey from awareness of the self longing for the Divine presence to the loss of self in the realization of the Divine Presence. Zikr One (La el la ha el Allah hu— which means ‘None exists except God, God alone I’s; negation and affirmation in the same phrase) is the ‘love song’, which is the song in itself; Zikr Two (el Allah hu— ‘God alone is’) is the yearning call for the Divine Presence; Zikr Three (Allah hu) is the tremendous feeling of happiness because Divine Presence has answered the call and is becoming a reality in the depth of the Heart; and Zikr Four (Hu) is that ‘reality alone’, when the self is no more there.

My friend told me, when he first started his journey on the path of Hazrat Inayat Khan, he was learning how to do the element purification breaths. So he downloaded a breathing practice demonstrated by Pir-O-Murshid Hidayat Inayat Khan from Nuria Sabato’s website. There Hidayat Khan, in his teaching, said to do element breathing even in odd places like bus or train stations i.e. when standing for a bus or train. That idea of breathing exercises in these unheard of places brought home the message for him (my friend) to do the Zikr through the breath in all places he found himself to be idle. So he started doing the Zikr through his breathing in all sorts of places like when he was waiting for the tea or coffee to be served, when he was waiting for the lift to arrive, when he was awaiting his computer to boot up or when he calls to pay his utility bills over the phone and the operator puts him on-hold. He started using those idle times to do the Zikr practice silently. Later he told me that he found in the Qur’an, Allah, the most Glorious said to Prophet Muhammad to do the Zikr through using the breath. In the Qur’an Allah says ‘And do thou (O Muhammad) remember thy Lord within thyself humbly and with awe, below thy breath, at morning and evening, not allow thyself to be heedless.’ (Q 7:205)

My friend also told me, he was motivated by these Qur’anic verses to start with the Zikr practice in an unceasing manner: ‘O YOU who have attained to faith! Remember God with unceasing remembrance, and extol His limitless glory from morn to evening. He it is who bestows His blessings upon you, with His angels [echoing Him], so that He might

take you out of the depths of darkness into the light. And, indeed, a dispenser of grace is He unto the believers. On the Day when they meet Him, they will be welcomed with the greeting, ‘Peace’; and He will have readied for them a most excellent reward.’ (Q33:41-44)

So I agree with my friend, and I have started doing it myself as well. He told me that when you make Zikr a constant act of remembrance of Allah, a natural habit for yourself, in all conditions of your physical or mental state, i.e. standing, sitting and lying, that will definitely cause you to be awakened or to remain connected to Allah.

Heartland and Headland

Finally, I wanted to conclude part 1 of this article here. However, in re-reading the article, I felt that some readers might think that there is more head-stuff than heart-stuff here in this article. Yes, it might be true in some respects. But in my opinion, to go to the heartland, one needs to go there via headland. Heartland is a flat infinite land, which has no boundaries or time and space; it is formless; whereas headland is the ego land. It is in the time and space, it is the land of reasons, science and images, matters and forms, full of hills and valleys. So without crossing the ego land, no one can directly dive into the heartland. That’s why this article had to be written in such a way that whatever is felt in the heartland, as was described by my friend to me, those feelings and emotions needed to be depicted with imageries, words and references so that people in the land of reasons, matters and forms can understand it.

This article will be continued with Part 2 on Shukr practice in the Spring issue of Spirit Matters.

Endnotes

1 For more details on this version please refer to ‘Path of Remembrance: Teachings on Singing Zikar of Hazrat Inayat Khan’ written by Hidayat Inayat Khan

2 Qur’an, 29:45, cited in Al Ghazali on Patience and Thankfulness – Kitab al-sabr wa’l-Shukar; book XXXII of The Revival of the Religious Sciences, translated by H.T. LittleJohn, Islamic Text Society 2011

3 Al-Qur’an, verse 2:152, cited in the same book as mentioned in endnote 2.

4 Al-Qur’an verse,13:28 cited in Fazail-e-Dhikr by Maulana Zakaria

5 Cited in P-56 by Rabindranath Tagore in his book, ‘The Religion of Man’, Oxford Lectures, 1930

6 Page 84, Ad-Darud Al-a’La (the most elevated cycle of prayer), Ibn Arabi translated by Suha Taji-Farouki, Onqa Publishing, Oxford press, 2006

7 Al-Tirmidhi Hadith# 2306, Narrated byAbu Sa’id al-Khudri

8 Hadith, Al Bukhari- Kitab Al-Qadr, 77:593

9 Hazrat Inayat Khan, Soul Its origin and unfoldment, Volume X1V, Chapter X1X

10 Vortex - A cloud of moving particles around axis, ‘That which Transpires behind that which appears’ – Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, Omega publication, 1994


In memory of Murshid and his birthday, I would like to conclude this issue with a poem written by him. It is found in The Dance of the Soul, in the section, ‘Nirtan’. It is a poem that touches

me deeply; I hope it does you, as well. The Editor

Some did say that I knew nothing,Some still held that I knew all.

Some did turn their back to me, and Some quickly answered my call.

Some on hearing my words exclaimed, ‘Nothing he said that was new’.

Some said, ‘I have always thought this;That is my own point of view’.

Some asked, ‘What mystery he revealed?’What wonder did he perform?’

Some answered, ‘We ask no wonder,So long as his heart is warm’.

Some said, ‘He is a man as we are,What difference in him do we see?’Some answered, ‘It is not to know;

What is needed, is to be’.

Before you judge my actions,Lord, I pray, you will forgive. Before my heart has broken,

Will you help my soul to live?Before my eyes are covered,

Will you let me see your face?Before my feet are tired,

May I reach your dwelling-place?Before I wake from slumber,

You will watch me, Lord, I hold.Before I throw my mantle,

Will you take me in your fold?Before my work is over,

You, my Lord, will right the wrong.Before you play your music,

Will you let me sing my song?

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spirit matters winter 2013

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