the way of love - overflow from a sufi heart

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Overflows a Sufi Heart

Taoshobuddha

The way of Love – Overflows from a Sufi Heart

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MEDITATION LEADS TO ULTIMATE FLOWERING

The Way of LoveOverflows a Sufi Heart

© 2010, Taoshobuddha

All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, withoutpermission of the original publisher TAOSHOBUDDHA MEDITATIONS.

Printed and Published by TAOSHOBUDDHA MEDITATIONS

Cover design and graphics: Anand Neelamber

Photography: Taoshobuddha

Overflows from a Sufi Heart

MEDITATION LEADS TO ULTIMATE FLOWERING

All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means,

mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the original publisher TAOSHOBUDDHA MEDITATIONS.

TAOSHOBUDDHA MEDITATIONS


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TAOSHOBUDDHA

The word Taoshobuddha comes from three words, ‘tao,’ ‘sho,’ and ‘Buddha’. The word Tao was coined by the Chinese master, Lau Tzu. It means that which is and cannot be put into words. It is unknown and unknowable. It can only be experienced and not expressed in words. Its magnanimity cannot be condensed into finiteness. The word Sho implies, that which is vast like the sky and deep like an ocean and carries within its womb a treasure. It also means one on whom the existence showers its blessings. And lastly the word Buddha implies the Enlightened One; one who has arrived home.

Thus, Taoshobuddha implies one who is existential, on whom the existence showers its blessings and one who has arrived home. The Enlightened One!


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THE WAY OF LOVEOVERFLOW OF THE

SUFI HEART

ufism is indeed a path of love. The Sufi is a traveller on the path of love. A wayfarer journeying back to God

through the mysteries of the heart is a Sufi. A Sufi views the relationship to God as that of lover and Beloved. Sufis are therefore known as lovers of God. The journey to God takes place within the heart. Indeed for centuries Sufis have been travelling deep within themselves, into the secret chamber of the heart where Lover and Beloved share the ecstasy of union of formless to formless.

Sufism is the ancient wisdom of the heart. It is not limited by time or place or form. It always was and it always will be. There have always been lovers of God, long before they were recognized as Sufis. The path of seeking God within have always existed even before man has discovered the path as Sufism. There is a story about a group of mystics, a band of lovers of God, who were called the ‘Kamal Posh’. ‘Kamal Posh’ actually means blanket wearer. Their only possession

S


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was a blanket which they wore as a covering during the day and used as a blanket at night.

As the story goes they travelled throughout moving from prophet to prophet but no one could satisfy them. Every prophet told them to do this or to do that and this did not satisfy them. Then one day, at the time of Muhammad, the Prophet was seated together with his companions when he said that in a certain number of days the men of the Kamal Posh would be coming. So it happened that on the specified day this group of Kamal Posh visited the Holy prophet. And when they were with him, he said nothing, and the people of Kamal Posh were completely satisfied. Why were they satisfied? When the Holy Prophet invoked love in their hearts, and love began to overflow, what dissatisfaction can there be?

The ‘Kamal Posh’ recognized that Muhammad knew the mysteries of the heart. They stayed with the Prophet and were assimilated into Islam. According to this story the Kamal Posh became the mystical element of Islam. And later these wayfarers came to be known as Sufis, perhaps in reference to the white woollen blanket, ‘sûf,’ which they wore, or as an indication of their purity of heart, ‘safâ’, for they were also known as the pure of heart. Over the centuries Sufism spread throughout the Islamic world and beyond, with most Sufis being strict followers of Islam, though some were persecuted by the Islamic orthodoxy as well.

In the early days of Sufism very little was written down; there were just luminaries, saints, friends of God, wali, who lived


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their own spiritual passion, and their deepest devotion. One such saint was Râbi'a, a woman who was born in the eighthcentury into slavery, but whose 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’ was the reply of Rabia.

Like many early Sufis Râbi’a practiced severe renunciation and austerities. The great ninth-century saint Bâyezîd Bistâmî also practiced severe mortification, but he stressed that the real renunciation was of the lower self:

I shed my ‘self’ (nafs) as a snake sheds its skin, then I looked at myself and behold! I am He.Through the subjugation of the lower self, or ego, the lover realizes his essential unity with the Beloved. Bâyezîd expressed his experience of unity with intoxicated utterances that could be considered heretical:

Praise be to Me, how great is My majesty!


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Bâyezîd Bistâmî was known as belonging to the school of intoxication, as was the tenth-century mystic al-Hallâj, who passionately exclaimed the oneness of lover and Beloved:

I have become the One I love, and the One I love has become me! We are two spirits infused in a (single) body.

Al-Hallâj’s seemingly blasphemous statements, including the famous ‘anâ'l-Haqq’ (I am the AbsoluteTruth), cost him his life on the gallows of Baghdad. But through his death he became immortalized as the prince of lovers, as the one who was prepared to pay the ultimate price for love, his own blood. In contrast to these intoxicated Sufis, al-Junayd of Baghdad advocated the state of sobriety. Junayd stressed the state of fanâ, the annihilation of the ego, and unlike al-Hallâj, whom he supposedly rejected from his circle as a madman; Junayd felt that it was dangerous to speak openly of mystical experiences.

The early Sufi mystics lived their mystical passion. Their teaching was their life and although their sayings were collected by their followers there was no mystical doctrine. But by the twelfth century Sufi teachings began to be organized into a mystical system. In 1165 one the greatest exponents of metaphysical doctrine, Ibn 'Arabî, was born in Spain.

The core of Ibn Arabî’s mystical teaching is known as ‘Wahdat al-Wujûd,’ unity of being. Ibn 'Arabî replaced the idea of a personal God with a philosophical concept of Oneness. Only God exists. He is the One underlying the many and is also the


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many. He is the cause of everything, the essence of everything, and the substance of everything:

He is now as He was. He is the One without oneness and the Single without singleness. He is the very existence of the First and the very existence of the Last, and the very existence of the Outward and the very existence of the Inward. So there is neither first nor last; no outward or inward, except Him, without these becoming Him or His becoming them. By Himself He sees Himself, and by Himself He knows Himself. None sees Him other than He, and none perceives Him other than He. His veil, that is phenomenal existence, is a part of His oneness. There is no other and there is no existence other than Him.

Because there is no one other than He, through knowing ourself we come to know God.

‘He who knows himself knows his Lord.’ This is not a philosophical concept but a mystical experience. ‘When the mystery of realizing that the mystic is one with the Divine is revealed to you, you will understand that you are no other than God and that you have continued and will continue. When you know yourself, your ‘I-ness’ vanishes and you know that you and God are one and the same.’ Fanâ, the loss of one’s ‘I-ness,’ is a state of realizing one’s essential oneness with God. Nothing becomes God or even unites with God because everything is He.


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The greatness of Ibn 'Arabî is not in the originality of his idea, instead in formally organizing ideas that until then, had only been expressed orally. The theory of Wahdat al-Wujûd, unity of being, was already part of Sufi metaphysics. Later Sufis valued the work of the greatest sheikh for systematizing what they regarded as the real essence of Sufism.

Ibn 'Arabî became known as ‘the pole of knowledge,’Jalâluddîn Rûmî came to be known for one of the world’s greatest writings on mystical love. Four years after Ibn 'Arabî's death in 1240, Rûmî, a theology professor, was walking home from school when he met a ragged dervish, Shams Tabrîz. According to one story Rûmî fell at Shams' feet and renounced his religious teaching when the dervish recited these verses from Sanâ'î's Diwân:

If knowledge does not liberate the self from the self then ignorance is better than such knowledge.

Shams Tabrîz was the spark that ignited the fire of divine love within Rûmî, who summed up his life in the two lines:

And the result is not more than these three words: I burnt, and burnt, and burnt.

Shams had awakened in him a fire that could only be satisfied with union, with the ecstatic loss of the self in the presence of the Beloved. ‘Shams’ was the divine sun that lighted Rûmî's life. But one day Shams disappeared, possibly murdered by one of Rûmî’s sons who was jealous of his father’s intense love


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for the wandering dervish. Without Shams, Rûmî was consumed with grief, lost alone in the ocean of love.

But from the terrible pain of outer separation and loss was born an inner union as he found his beloved within his own heart. Inwardly united with Shams, the theology professor was transformed into Love’s Poet. Rûmî knew the pain of love and the deepest purpose of this fire within the heart, how it empties the human being and fills him with the wine of love:

Love is here like the blood that flows in my veins and skin. He has annihilated me and filled me only with Him. His fire has penetrated all the cells of my body and now only my name remains; the rest is Him. Rûmî became the poet of lovers, expressing the crazy passion of the soul’s yearning for God. Rûmî's words, though spoken centuries ago, continue to lingerin the soul of every lover, every wayfarer who seeks to follow this passion that is in the innermost core of our being, as the pathway in the soul that leads back to the Beloved. His major work, the ‘Masnavi’, became known as ‘The Quran in Persian.’And today he is the world’s most popular poet, who speaks of the need for love. We have to hear these stories of divine love, and also hear from a master of love how the heart can sing, cry, and burn with passion for God.

Rûmî is known not only as a poet but also as the founder of the ‘Mevlevî or Maulvi Order’. While the work of Ibn 'Arabî, Rûmî, and others established a literature for Sufism, the founding of the different Sufi orders, or tarîqas, was an


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important development in the practical application of Sufi teachings.

By the eleventh century the small groups that gathered around a particular teacher had begun to form into tarîqas, each one bearing the name of its initiator. The essence of each order is the tradition transmitted from teacher to disciple in an uninterrupted chain of transmission. Different orders can be distinguished by the basic practices and principles which they inherit from their founder. Sufism, which has been defined as ‘Truth without form,’ has at its core the mystical love of God. But it also developed according to the need of the time and the place and the people, and different tariqas reflect different facets of mystical love.

For example, the first order to emerge was the Qâdiryyah. It was founded by Abdu’l-Qâdir Gîlânî (d. 1166) in Baghdad. Abdu'l-Qâdir was an ascetic, missionary, and preacher who became one of the most popular saints in the Islamic world, and his tomb in Baghdad is a place of pilgrimage. The followers of this order believed in both the dhikr khafî, the silent repetition of the names of God, and the dhikr jalî, the vocal repetition of His names, and emphasised the realization of moral qualities, like charity.

At about the same time, the Rifâ'iyya order was founded by Ahmad ar-Rifâ'î (d. 1182) and the path spread from Iraq through Egypt and Syria. Until the fifteenth century it was one of the most popular orders. The Rifâ'iyya dervishes were


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known as the Howling Dervishes because they practiced a loud dhikr.

Rûmî's Mevlevî order became known as Whirling Dervisheson account of their mystical dancing to the sound of the reed flute and drums.

In contrast to the Mevlevi are the silence and stillness associated with the Naqshbandiyyah, named after Bahâuddîn Naqshband (d. 1390), but started by Abdul Khâliq Ghidjwânî (d. 1220). The Naqshbandis are also known as the Silent Sufis because they practice a silent rather than vocal dhikr. They do not engage in sama, sacred music or dance. They value of psychological work and dream interpretation along with their spiritual practices, and emphasize the suhbat, the close relationship of master and disciple. The order was very successful in Central Asia, and spread throughout India due to the work of Ahmad Sirhindî (d. 1624), who was also known as the Mujaddid (the renewer).

The Indian branch of the Naqshbandi order became known as the Naqshbandiyya Mujaddidiyya. And with the advent of Hazrat Mazhar Mir Jane Jana the word ‘Mazaharia was added. Now this is known as Naqshbandi – Mujaddadi – Mazaharia.

Naqshbandi Path And Indian Continent


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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 alAmkanaqi (q)

Naqshbandi path evolved in the Middle East region. 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.

Muhammad Al-Baqi BillahHe went to India in the first instance on personal business. There he

was attracted to an attraction from God's attraction.

Introduction to Baqi Billah:

Hadhrath Baqi Billah is the first Naqshbandi master to settle in India in preparation for the second millennium or the advent of Naqshbandi Sheikh Ahmad Farooqui Al Mujaddadi Alif Thani Sirhindi.

ALlah Agr taE)Ik n de #Nsan ke bs ka kam nhI<,


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)Ejane muhBbt Aam hE #r)ane muhBbt Aam nhI.

ALLAH AGAR TAUFIK NA DE INSAN KE BAS KE KAAM NAHI FAIZANE MUHABBAT AAM HE IRFANE MUHBBAT AAM NAHIN!!

IF ALLAH DOES NOT MAKE YOU CAPABLE REMEMBER IT IS NOT IN THE HANDS OF THE FINITENESS OF MAN ORDINARY LOVE IS

COMMON BUT THAT LEADS TO DUALITY AND CONFLICT ETERNAL LOVE OR LOVE DIVINE IS NOT COMMON!! ONLY AN ENCHANTED

HEART IS FILLED WITH THIS ENERGY –THE SUBLIME AND SANCTIFIED!!!

Birth and Life:

He was born in 972 H. in the city of Kabul in the land of Ajam which was a colony of the Sultanate of India. His father was the judge Abdu-s-Salam. He went to India in the first instance on personal business. There he was attracted to an attraction from God's attraction. He left this worldly life behind and sought spiritual knowledge from the Master of the century. He kept company with masters and saints, until he himself became an ocean of intellect and a saint of spirituality.


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SHRINE MOHAMMAD AL BAQUI BILLAH PAHAR GANJ, OLD RAILWAY STATION, DELHI, INDIA

He travelled continuously until he reached the city of Samarqand. There he associated himself to the Master of his time, Muhammad Khwaja alAmkanaqi (q). He received from him the Way of the Naqshbandi Order. In a very short time he received what most seekers require a lifetime to receive. He was elevated also through the spiritual care of Ubaidullah al-Ahrar (q). His honor became known everywhere.

His sheikh, Muhammad Khwaja al-Amkanaqi, authorized him to take followers and to train them in the conduct of the Order. He ordered him to go back to India. He predicted, ‘You are going to have a follower who will be like the sun.’ This prediction was for Imam Rabbani Ahmad al-Farooqi (q).


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Journey to India and Works:

Baqi Billah was the first Naqshbandi master to come to India. Later he settled in New Delhi. His shrine is in old Delhi behind, Pahar Ganj railway station inside the Mohammaden cemetery. Inside anyone can direct you to the shrine. Lucky are those who can pay the visit to the shrine. And those who cannot reach there for such aspirant meditation considering the picture as shrine will work. This is my trust. This work is the link between you and the master. Only you have to be available. His sheikh, Muhammad Khwaja al-Amkanaqi did not make any changes in the technique or tariqat, however he instructed Baqi Billah to bring even the ordinary ones into the fold. Make this spiritual awareness available to the people who are still not on the path, was the trust and the instruction of his master.

Once Baqi Billah visited a master who told him it is good that you have brought so many into this fold. Nearly half of these are incapable on their own. Transform these people. Bring the light divine or Noor into their hearts so that it begins to shine with the Light Absolute and can kindle up the dark being. Sheikh Amkanaqi asked him not to look at the inner capacity of the individual. This way you will never find aspirants. Had Baqi Billah not brought such relaxations in the tariqat a vast


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cross section would have remained deprived of this inner treasure.

Amkanaqi said,

“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. India has been the University of Meditation and the BEACON LIGHT not only now but from TIMES IMMEMORIAL. It has created many Buddhas.”

He 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 was 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 or 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 this miraculous power he attracted millions of people, until this Naqshbandi Order was on the tongue of everyone.


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He passed the Secret of the order to his successor, the Sheikh of this order, the Sheikh Ahmad Farooqui Mujaddadi Alif Thani. Thus the name Mujaddadi was added to the already known Naqshbandi order. Later on another name was added to the Shajarah of Naqshbandi order. And now it is known as NAQSHBANDIA MUJADDADIA MAJAHARIA!

Sheikh Ahmad Al Farooqui Mujaddadi Alif Thani

Sheikh Ahmad al Faruqi is The 25th Sheikh from Silsila Auliya Naqshbandia. He is the master of the second

millennium.

With him the tariqat attained a new dimension and a new impetus. Earlier the tariqat was known as Naqshbandi one who designs the path of growth and transformation of the consciousness of the aspirants. With Sheikh Ahmad a new era was ushered into the Naqshbandi tariqat. Accordingly Mujaddadi was added to the path. Now the tariqat is known as NAQSHBANDI MUJADDADI.

He is the Diamond of the Crown of the Masters. And the treasure of those who came before and also of those who came after and those who are yet to come as well! In him were combined all their favors and generosity. He is the Sinai of Divine. Manifestation, the Furthermost Bodhi Tree of the


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Knowing, awareness, and understanding is Sheikh Ahmad al Farooqi.

Shrine Sheikh Ahmad Faruqi Mujaddadi Alif Thani Sirhindi, India

Taoshobuddha at Shrine Sheikh Ahmad Al Faruqi Mujaddadi Alif Thani (26th June1564 -10th Of December 1624)


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Also he is the Fountain of the Hidden Prophetic Knowing. The Genius of Scholars is Sheikh. And the Sultan of the Earth, which smiled when he was born and was honored by his existence! He is the perfect Perfected Guide.

He was the Caller to Allah’s presence, the One Qutb and the Unique Heavenly Imam. He was the Reviver of the Second Millennium, Sayyidina and Maulana (our Leader and Master) Sheikh Ahmad al-Faruqi as-Sirhindi. He is regarded as having rejuvenated Islam, due to which he is commonly called ‘Mujaddidi Alf Thani,’ meaning ‘reviver of the second millennium’, referring to the Islamic tradition of Mujaddid. He is said to have had considerable and long lasting influence in India, and to have given ‘to Indian Islam the rigid and conservative stamp it bears today.’

Numerous Naqshbandi suborders, such the Mujaddidi, the Khalidi and the Haqqani sub-orders, trace their spiritual lineage through Sheikh Sirhindi, referring to them as ‘Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi’. Sirhindi’s shrine is located in Sirhind, India and is referred to as ‘Rauza Sharif’.

Birth and Life:

It has been related that the blessed day of the Sheikh’s arrival into this world was Thursday the fourteenth of Shawwal 971 Hijri, or twenty-sixth of June 1564. His place of birth, also the place from where the Sheikh enlightened the world with his presence, was a town called Sirhind. At the time of his birth,


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some extraordinary events were recounted. His mother relates, ‘After the birth of my son Sheikh Ahmad, I fell unconscious whereupon I had a vision, and saw that my home was full of Awliya’ Allah who was all congratulating me on the birth of my son’.

The Sheikh’s father Makhdoom Abdul-Ahad relates, ‘On the day of the birth of my son, I had a vision in which I saw Allah’s Messenger Holy Prophet-sallallahu alayhi wa sallam reciting first the Adhaan and then the Takbir in the ears of my son.’ In addition, the khalifa of Hazrat Sheikh Abdul Quddoos Gungohi, namely Sheikh Abdul Aziz, was present in Sirhind on that day, and in a state of Kashf he saw a huge gathering of angels.

Sheikh Ahmad was bestowed by Allah subhana wa ta'ala with natural adherence to the Sunnah of Allah's Messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam (another name of the Holy Prophet) right from his first days. He was born with the physical requirements of the Sunnah already fulfilled, and as an infant he was unlike other children. He would not cry, would always have a smile on his face and would never be seen naked. When Shah Kamal Kaythli saw the child, he said, ‘A huge number of practicing scholars and kamil Sheikhs will obtain faiz from this child. The light of his guiding words and instructions will shine until the day of Qiyamath. He will rid the land of innovation and falsehood, and will revive the Sunnah of Allah's Messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.’ After saying this, the Sheikh placed his tongue in the baby's mouth, and Hazrat Sheikh Mujaddid Alf Thani suckled on it.


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When Sheikh first went to school, he memorized the Quran in a very short space of time. He received his early education through his father and through many sheikhs of his time. He made progress in three tariqats: Suhrawardiya, Qadiriyyah, and Chistiyya.

He was given permission to guide followers in all three tariqats at the age of 17 years. He was busy in spreading the teachings of these tariqats and in guiding his followers, yet he felt that something was missing in him and he was continuously searching for it. However he felt an interest in the Naqshbandi Sufi Order, because he could see by means of the secrets of the other three tariqats that it was the best and highest. His spiritual progress eventually brought him to the presence of the Ghawth and Qutb of his time, Sheikh Muhammad Baqi Billah who had been sent from Samarqand to India by his Sheikh, Muhammad al-Amkanaqi. He took the Naqshbandi Order from the sheikh and stayed with him for two months and some days, until Sayyidina Muhammad Baqi Billah opened to his heart the secret of this tariqat and gave him authorization to train his murids in the Order. He said about him, ‘He is the highest Qutb in this time.’

Shamshuddin HabibUllah Mirza Mazhar Mir Jane Jana

The path that was known as Naqshbandiyah initially came to be known as Naqshbandiyah – Mujaddadiyah with the advent of Hadhrath Sheikh Ahmad al Farooqui Mujaddadi Alif Thani.


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The Journey continued Through the Mujaddadi era and the advent of Sheikh Ahmad al Farooqui, Sheikh Hadhrath Khawaja Muhammad Masoom, Hadhrath Sheikh Safuddin, and Sheikh Noor Mohammad Badayuni as Sheikhs in the order and then another pause came into tariqat.

This pause came because of Sheikh Shamshuddin HabibUllah Mirza Mazhar Mir Jane Jana. As a result the path came to be known as NAQSHBANIYAH-MUJADDADIYAH-MAZHARIYAH. This is the continuation of the Golden Chain of the path. Naqshbandi Sufi Brij Mohan Lal is the 38th sheikh of the tariqat-i-Naqshbandiyah-Mujaddiyah-Mazhariyah.

His full name is Saidyana Shamsuddin Shaheed Feesawi Lillah Hazrat Shah Mahboob Habibullah Mirza Mazhar Mir Jane Jana. He was the Sun of Eternal Happiness. He was the Beloved of Allah, Almighty and Exalted. He was the Spirit of the People of Truth, and he was the Essence of the Spirit of the People of Taste. He was the Kaaba of the Godly and one of the Flags of the Noble Messenger. He elevated the Knowledge of the Religion of Muhammad. He revived the Way of the Naqshbandi Order.

Birth and Life: Birth and Life:

He was born in 1113 H /1701 AD in India. From his childhood the light of Guidance and the Traces of Piety shone from his forehead. His features (Mazhar) were molded with the Manifestation of heavenly beauty or tajalli-l-Jamal. He was


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famous, like the Prophet Yusuf, for his beauty. And everyone loved him because he represented beauty both inner and outer. That is the attribute of God, about whom the Prophet said: “God is beautiful and he loves beauty,” and it is also the attribute of the Prophet, about whom Anas said, “Your Prophet was the most beautiful in appearance and had the best voice of all prophets.” Because of this, Sheikh Abdur-Rauf al-Munawi said, “The Prophet has no comparison in his beauty.”

When Sheikh Mazhar was nine years of age, he saw Sayyidina Ibrahim, who gave him miraculous powers through spiritual transmission. At this age, if anyone mentioned Abu Bakr as-Siddiq in his presence, he would see him appear with his physical eyes. He was also able to see the Prophet and all the Companions of the Prophet as well as all the Sheikhs of the Naqshbandi Order, especially Sayyidina Ahmad al-Farooqui Mujaddadi.

His father was one of the jewels in the court of Moughal emperor Aranguez. Every one used to call his father MIRZA SAHAB out of respect. Once Mazhar accompanied his father to court of the emperor, someone asked his name. At this Aranguez responded by saying, ‘The child is the life essence of the father. Therefore this boy is JAANE JAANA.’ Thus Mirza JANE JAANA was added to his name.

He was a poet who composed in Arabic and Persian languages. His father raised him and educated him in all branches of religious knowledge. At a young age his heart was


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attracted to the spiritual light coming from his Sheikh, as-Sayyid Nur Muhammad Badayuni. His Sheikh opened the eyes of his heart and fed him from the nectar of the flower of the Hidden Awareness and Understanding. The Sheikh took him out of the state of self-awareness and lifted him up to the Highest Realms, which produced in him great astonishment and caused him to faint. When he awoke up he accompanied Sheikh Nur Muhammad in further ascension. The Sheikh allowed him to observe the Mysteries of the Hidden World and gave him gifts from his miraculous Powers and realms.

One look of his Sheikh opened in him the Nine Points, the loci of the Naqshbandi Secrets. From the knowledge of the nine points, he delved into the secrets contained in the five of the more powerful points, until his Sheikh authorized him to ‘activate’ the Nine Points at any time and to use them. Then he brought him back down to be in his presence and only in his presence. He brought him up and down, from one stage to another, and enveloped him with his light and protected him with his gaze, until he achieved the ultimate fruition and awakened himself from Ignorance and inertia.

He stood fast in serving his Sheikh with complete truthfulness and sincerity. He continued to progress by entering seclusions in the desert and in the jungle at the instructions of his Sheikh. In these seclusions, his only food was grass and the leaves of trees. During his period of asceticism in the desert and jungle, he wore only what would cover his nakedness. One day, after many of these seclusions, he looked in the mirror and didn’t see himself instead, he saw his Sheikh.


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At this stage the Sheikh authorized him to guide Allah’s servants to their destinies and to the Straight Path, and he put him on the Throne of Succession, and by him the Sun of Guidance ascended the Tower of Happiness.

When his teacher passed away, he continued to visit his shrine and for two years he received whatever lights and knowledge his master was able to transmit to him from his shrine. Then he was ordered through his spiritual connection to his Sheikh to connect himself with a living master.

He reached the Door of the perfect Saints of his time, Sheikh Muhammad Afzal, Sheikh Safi Sadullah, and Sheikh Muhammad Abid. He attached himself to Sheikh Shah Kalshan and to another Sheikh by the name of Muhammad az-Zubair. He used to attend the session of Sheikh Muhammad Afzal, one of the khalifas of the son of Muhammad Masoom. He visited and studied with Sheikh Abdul Ahad and received from him knowledge of the Prophetic Hadith. During this class, whenever the Sheikh would mention a Hadith, he would disappear through Self-Effacement, and a vision would come to him in which he would find himself sitting with the Prophet and hearing the Hadith directly from the Prophet. He would correct any mistakes that might occur in the Sheikh’s narration of the Hadith, and was acknowledged as a genius in the science of Hadith.

He kept the company of these Sheikhs for twenty years. He progressed further and further in the States of Totality, until


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he became an Ocean of Bliss and Knowing. He rose in the Firmament of the Qutbs until he became the Qutb of his time, shining like the sun at high noon. Sheikh Muhammad Afzal said, “Sheikh Mazhar Habibullah was given the state of Qutb and he is the central pivot of this tariqat at this time and will remain so in times to come.”

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.

In his noble person were combined the energy of four tariqats. He was a master of the Naqshbandi, Qadiri, Suhrawardi and Chishti Orders. He 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 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.”

Alame Ghaib

Bayazid Bistami explains ghaib as that realm of eternity where a master rests after he relinquishes the finite world


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after leaving the body. All that comes from this realm is not only sublime but transforming as well.

About ghaib many misconceptions exist. It is argued that after the master is no more, how can the disciple be nourished and nurtured. Master is the connection or the link between themurid and the realm of ghaib. So when the master is no morehow can this link remain. Just as before the birth of child milk descends in mother’s breasts so too with the inner connection with the master the treasures of this unknown and unknowable realm open for the disciple.

What is needed for this? For this unwavering love and trust as the outcome of love for the master is the first criterion. With adab comes in love for the master. Love is the key to treasure realm of ghaib. For an ordinary consciousness this is very difficult to understand. There is no inner connection. Once the realm doors are unlocked you are connected to all the masters that happened in the past and also those who are to happen at some future date. With this inner connection all the inner states of awareness, tariqat and all that is needed for transformation becomes available.

It is said that with Mazhar Mir the Naqshbandi tariqatattained to its totality. This should not mean the tariqat was incomplete or faulty. He emphasized that one can be in the world and still follow the path to inward journey. One can continue totally in the outer and its affairs and deep within flows the stream of benediction and awareness. With trust and adab one remains connected with the realm of masters.


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Remember trust and adab is not an outward exposition instead it is an understanding. And for this no external expression is needed. Then one realizes that that the energy field of the master is always envelops the aspirants.

#nayt ka r<g Aaj bdla huAa hE,

vh hE< ya< jama bdl kr bEQe hu@.

jra Apne cZme hkIkI se deoae ,

n yh jam oalI n vh jam oalI.

INAYAT KA RANG AAJ BADLA HUYA HAI,VOH HAIN YAN JAMA BADAL KAR BAITHE HUYE;

JARA APNE CHASME HAQUIQUI SE DEKHO;N YEH JAAM KHALI N VOH JAAM KHALI!!!

TODAY THE FORM OF GRACE AND COMPASSION IS DIFFERENT,TODAY HE IS AMONG US IN A DIFFERENT GARB!

FORGETTING YOUR PHYSICAL INSTRUMENTS OF COGNITION,LOOK DEEP WITHIN THROUGH YOUR CELESTIAL VISION;

NO REALM OR PLACE IS EVER DEVOID OF THY PRESENCE SOLEMN AND SUBLIME!!!

The life of Mirza Mazhar is full of anecdotes and incidents. All of these cannot be mentioned. He was quite young when his master Nur Mohammad passed away. Once he had a visionthat a congregation of masters descended from heaven. And one the masters resembled Nur Mohammed! At this he sought


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the confirmation from the master. At this the master responded I am your thought not your master. At this Mirza expressed agony that it was for the first time I have been inclined towards another master. At this the master in question appeared in his true form. He was in fact his master. This he thought was due to any weakness. Thus he attained to the association of 17 masters.

SHRINE HAZRAT MAZHAR MIRZA MIR JA NE JANA, TURKMAN GATE NEWINDIA


the confirmation from the master. At this the master responded I am your thought not your master. At this Mirza

for the first time I have been inclined towards another master. At this the master in question appeared in his true form. He was in fact his master. This he thought was due to any weakness. Thus he attained to

ZRAT MAZHAR MIRZA MIR JA NE JANA, TURKMAN GATE NEW DELHI,


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TAOSHOBUDDHA IN MEDITATION AT THE SHRINE MIRZA MAZHAR MIR JANE JANA, NEW DELHI, INDIA

kae$ naja< hE tIrae tegaE zmzIr ke dm pr

muHe hE )k& dage #Zk kI tnvIr ke dm pr

hU ALlah ke isva kuD _aI inklta hI nhI< mu<h se

yh takt Aa gyI dIvane kae jNjIr ke dm pr

grIbe rahe %L)t zad hU< duinya se Kya mtlb

bjata cEn kI b<sI hU< Apne pIr ke dm pr

KOI NAZA HAI TEERO TEGO SHAMSHEER KE DAM PARMUJHE HAI FAKR DAGE ISHK KI TANVEER KE DAM PAR

HOO ALLAH KE SIVA KUTCH BHI NIKALTA HI NAHI MUH SE


TAOSHOBUDDHA IN MEDITATION AT THE SHRINE MIRZA MAZHAR MIR JANE JANA, NEW

inklta hI nhI< mu<h se

yh takt Aa gyI dIvane kae jNjIr ke dm pr

grIbe rahe %L)t zad hU< duinya se Kya mtlb

KOI NAZA HAI TEERO TEGO SHAMSHEER KE DAM PARMUJHE HAI FAKR DAGE ISHK KI TANVEER KE DAM PAR

SIVA KUTCH BHI NIKALTA HI NAHI MUH SE


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The Sufi Series

YEH TAKAT AA GAYEE DEEWANE KO ZANZEER KE DAM PARGARIBE RAHE ULFAT SHAAD HUN DUNIYA SE KYA MATLAB

BAJATA CHAIN KI BANSHI HUN APNE PEER KE DAM PAR

SOMEONE EXISTS AS THE OUTCOME HIS OWN EGO THE FALSE,I REALLY BOAST ON THE INNER STRENGTH OF LOVE ETERNAL;

WITH LOVE ETERNAL ‘HOO ALLAH’ ALONE ECHOES MY EXISTENCE MY BEING!

AND NOW BINDS MY EXISTENCE EACH FINTE AND INFINITE MOMENT,WITH LOVE ETERNAL

EVER INTOXICATED I DWELL IN MY MASTER UNCONCERNED OF THE FINITENESS AND DUALITIES:

INTOXICATED! NOW EACH PARTICLE OF MY BEING ECHOES THE SONG OF BLISS AND HARMONY!!!

Before beginning the Shazrah or anything sublime one must begin with prayer. Such is eternal etiquette or adab. Never consider this a mere tradition. Something that springs forth from deep within the inner sanctum is not tradition. Know this as your being. Pointing toward this I now begin this overflow.

Each finite moment life is plundered with what appears to our individual ego as benediction and at other times as obstacles. All this happens because of the cosmic energy field or what we know as God. The source of all this ever remains hidden from human cognition! From an unknown source it springs forth. Sufis call this as ghaib.

Guided by an energy field within we interact. Undergo pain and pleasure! Continue to blame others for all states of unpleasantness. Thus moves on life and living. This we consider as our destiny. Ecstatic Umar Khayyam laments:


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The Sufi Series

Moving finger writes and having writ, moves on!Nor all thy wit nor piety shall lure it back to cancel half a line!!

Such are the ways of human understanding. However this is not Sufi understanding. Generally ghaib refers to the realm that contains within its womb all that is hidden and remains unknown to human understanding. To a Sufi ghaib refers to a state of awareness. It is a storehouse of various energy fields that are capable to transform human consciousness.

Bayazid Bistami explains ghaib as that realm of eternity where a master rests after he relinquishes the finite world after leaving the body. All that comes from this realm is not only sublime but transforming as well.

Man ultimately gets all that he has earned for. Hindus call this as the law of Karmas. Because of our accumulated actions we assume human form. Each moment we continue to accumulate new actions. With awareness and meditative insights each action exhausts the web of past actions and impressions on our consciousness. And in this process never accumulates any more impressions. Such are the ways of a spiritual life. A life of Awareness! Only benediction happens! Even amidst all vicissitudes and turmoil that life presents. Awake and arise therefore! O Fool! Laments an ecstatic Shankar through Bhaja Govindam – an immortal epic of the being!

It is said that at the time of initiation or what Sufis call as bay’at the aspirant once again becomes childlike. Like a mother the master nourishes and nurtures the disciple even


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when he is no more in physical form. What flows from a mother’s heart as love towards her child flows from the being of a master towards the disciple or murid as compassion or spiritual energy or faiz. This can happen no other way. This is the reason that mother is considered second after God as replica. So too a master is replica of the Whole in finite form. This all happens because of this indomitable unknown and unknowable energy-field or ghaib. All that one attains this way can happen no other way.

Initiation is like a mother feeding the child. Unless the mother breast feeds the child the child cannot grow. So too without initiation and its conscious recognition by the disciple no progress is ever possible along this path.

Hindu and other Influences

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. India has been the

University of Meditation and the BEACON LIGHT not only now but from TIMES IMMEMORIAL. It has created many Buddhas.

Sheikh Mohammad Al Amkanaqi RA-to Sheikh Mohammad Baqi Billah

Naqshbandiyah tariqat was the part of the fundamentalist Islamic tradition until it came to Indian sub continent. It


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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 Moughal 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. Babar imprisoned Sikh preceptor Nanak. Atrocities were tremendous. As a result Hindu and Sikh influence continued to filter into main

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, 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


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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 BEACONLIGHT 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


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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 Janawere combined the energy of four tariqats. He was a master of the Naqshbandi, Qadiri, Suhrawardi and Chishti Orders.


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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 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 rancour 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.


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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, 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, 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


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The Sufi Series

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 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?

There 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. Hadhrat Alaa’uddin Attaar r.a. (d. 20 Rajab 802AH) -Jafaaniyan (Mawralnahar) 3. Hadhrat Ya’qoob Charkhi r.a. (d. 5 Safar, 851AH) - Charkh (Bukhara) 4. Hadhrat Ubaidullah Ahraar r.a. (d. 20/29 Rabi al-Awwal, 895AH) - Samarqand (Mawralnahar)5. Hadhrat Muhammad Zaahid r.a. (d. 1 Rabi al-Awwal, 936AH) - Wakhsh (Malk Hasaar) 6. Hadhrat Darwesh Muhammad r.a. (d. 19 Muharram, 970AH) - Samarqand (Mawralnahar)


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7. Hadhrat 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. Hadhrat 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)


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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) 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) India21. Hadhrath Sheikh Raghubar Dayal (Chachaji) Ji Maharaj (1875-1947 AD) r.a. Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh India22. Hadhrath Sheikh Brij Mohan Lal (1898-1955 AD) r.a. Lucknow Uttar Pradesh, India23. 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.


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Advent of Naqshbandi Ramchandra (Lala ji) R.A.

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


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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. Yet still people go on living in narrowness and confine spirituality within the narrow boundaries of religion, caste and creed.

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.’

All along Sufi Fazl Ahmad Khan waited. The destined time of the meeting was coming closer. Then one day the destined occasion came.


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‘It was rainy day! 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 sheikh 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 Sheikh Ramchandra, LalalJi.

‘BETASSUBI SADAKAT KI JAAN HAI!’


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‘TO RISE ABOVE NARROWNESS IS SPIRITUALITY!’

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.

This Sufi order was brought to the West in 1967 by Irina Tweedie, author of ‘Daughter of Fire, Diary of a Spiritual Training by a Sufi Master’. After the death of her husband, when she was in her fifties, she had gone to India where she met a Sufi master, Bhai Sahib Sufi Radha Mohan Lal1. Bhai Sahib means elder brother, because traditionally the Sufi sheikh is ‘without a face, without a name.’ Sufis do not believe in personal worship, or in idealizing the teacher. The teacher is just a guide, a stepping stone from the world of illusion to the world of reality. Bhai Sahib trained her according to the tariqat, and she was probably the first Western woman to be given this ancient spiritual training of the Naqshbandis.

She stayed with him for a number of years, undergoing an intense spiritual training, which she recorded as a diary.


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When she met him he told her to keep a diary of her experiences, and to keep a record of her dreams. Later he said, ‘I am not going to teach you anything. If I teach you things you will forget them. Instead I will give you experiences.’

Sufism is a path of experiences, in which the very inner substance of the individual is totally transformed. Later, her diaries became a book, Daughter of Fire (Chasm of Fire in its abridged version), the first written record of this spiritual training. It tells of how first of all love is created within the heart, the process of transformation of love and then the process how divine love is experienced as burning longing, and of the slow and painful process of purification that grinds down the ego until the disciple surrenders totally to the Beloved, to the currents of love that take her Home.

THE MARAQBA OF THE HEART

The two central practices of the Naqshbandi path are the silent dhikr and the silent maraqba of the heart. Repeating His name, we bring the remembrance of the heart into consciousness and connect our everyday life with the eternal moment of the soul. Whatever our outer situation, the heart can hear the name of its Beloved and our whole being becomes attuned to love. But in our everyday life we are still confronted by the veils of illusion. Only when we close our outer eyes can we turn our whole attention to the Beloved.


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I have heard once Râbi’a 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 Râbi’a 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 so that 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


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duality to the oneness within the heart. Muhâsibî, a ninth-century Sufi from Baghdad, stresses its importance:

Meditation is the chief possession of the mystic, that whereby the sincere and the God -loving make progress on the journey

to God.

Different Sufi paths use different meditation techniques. One practice developed by the Naqshbandi order uses the energy of love to go beyond the mind. Love, ‘the essence of the divine essence,’ is the most powerful force in creation. Coming from the dimension of the Self, love has a faster vibration than the mind and it has the ability to overcome the mind. We taste this in the experience of ‘falling in love’ when we find that we cannot think clearly or rationally. When we give our self in love to the Beloved this experience is amplified many times, that is why Sufis are often referred to as ‘idiots of God.’ In the words of Attâr, ‘When love comes reason disappears. Reason cannot live with the folly of love. Love has nothing to do with human reason.’

Rather than attempting to still one’s thoughts by focusing on the mind, through focusing on the heart and the feeling of love within the heart one leaves the mind behind. Thought vanish slowly and our emotions are also stilled in the same proportion. The ‘meditation of the heart’ is a practice that drowns the mind and the emotions in love’s ocean.


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For the heart meditation, as long as the body is relaxed the physical position does not matter: one can sit or even lie down. Relaxation of the body is foremost.

The first stage in this meditation is to evoke the feeling oflove, which activates the heart chakra. This can be done in a number of ways, the simplest of which is to think of someone whom we love. This can be God, the great Beloved. But often at the beginning God is an idea rather than a living reality within the heart, and it is easier to think of a person whom we love, a lover, and a friend.

Love has many different qualities. For some the feeling of love is warmth, or sweetness, or softness or tenderness, while for others it has a feeling of peace, tranquillity or silence. Love can also come as a pain, heartache, and a sense of loss. However when love comes to us we immerse our self in this feeling; we place all of our self in the love within the heart.

When we have evoked this feeling of love, thoughts will arise. Thoughts intrude into our mind about the past that is no more and the future that is not yet. Memories float by and images appear before the mind’s eye. We have to imagine that we are getting hold of every thought, every image and feeling, and drowning it, merging it into the feeling of love.

Every feeling, especially the feeling of love, is much more dynamic than the thinking process, so if one does this practice well, with the utmost concentration, all thoughts will disappear. Nothing will remain. The mind will be empty.


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This meditation is practiced both individually and ascongregation. In a congregation the energy of love is increased by all those participating. Those stronger inwardly helpothers who are less experienced. A few hearts longing for God magnifies the energy field of love present at the congregationmany fold. Individually this meditation should initially be practiced for at least half an hour a day. Early morning is usually the best time as there are fewer thought-patterns in the air and we are not saturated by the activities of the day. Meditating before falling asleep is also a good practice. But this meditation is not a rigidly prescribed discipline. It should not be forced. As in all Sufi practices if there is too much effort it is not spiritual. And sometimes one is unexpectedly drawn into meditation. The heart, awakened from within, calls one. Then if possible one turns away from outer activities and sits in silence for a few minutes or even hours, called by love into the innermost chamber of the heart.

In time we make the meditation our own way of life. We find the time that suits our schedule and inner nature. There are also different ways to initially evoke love and still the mind. While some practitioners just instinctively awaken the love within their heart, others may begin by thinking of their sheikh, or placing themselves in his presence. Others begin by saying the dhikr, repeating Allâh a few times, in order to inwardly align themselves with the currents of love. You can use any word.


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Usually we just let the thoughts come and go as we focus on the love. Fighting or arguing with the mind just gives it more energy. The mind enjoys a good argument. But there are also times when we need to use our will power to stop the mind, to cut its incessant chatter and never-ending discussions. However, the mind does not like to be controlled, or lose its power and autonomy. So it will often fight back, creating the thoughts that it knows will engage us totally. Thus in every way mind tries to distract us from our focus on love. It is best to just let love do its work, or allow its power to conquer the mind.

Surrendering the mind in the heart, we offer to the Beloved our own individual consciousness, as spark of His Divine Consciousness which is His gift to humanity. Myriad wonders and evils too have been enacted with His gift of consciousness. But to make the journey back to God we need to return this gift, this source of our illusion of self-autonomy. Each time we go into meditation we sacrifice our individual consciousness on the altar of love. In so doing we give space for Him to reveal Himself.

Go in you, clean the inner sanctuary of your heart. Prepare it to be the abode and home of the Beloved. When you go out He will come in. Within you, when you are free from self, He will show His Beauty.

Emptying the mind, we create an inner space where we can become aware of the presence of the Beloved. He is always here but the mind, the emotions, and the outer world veil us


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from Him. He is the silent emptiness, and in order to experience Him we need to become silent. In meditation we give our self back to Him, returning from the world of forms to the limitless ocean of love within the heart.

INNER SILENCE - BASIC EXPERIENCES:

The lover longs to go far beyond the mind and the ego, to be absorbed in love’s limitless ocean. Drowning the mind within the heart, we wait to be taken, to be absorbed in love’s emptiness. However, this complete giving of oneself takes time, patience, and practice. The initial stages of meditation are often the work of stilling the mind and the emotions, creating an empty space where we can be attentive to love and listen to the voice of our Beloved.

He reveals Himself to those who love Him, and it alwayscomes as an act of Grace. The work of the lover is to be waiting, always listening for His call. ‘Catching the divine hint’is an important Sufi practice in which we learn to be continually attentive to our Beloved in order to serve Him. But only too easily does the clamor of the world deafen us and the noise of our own mind distracts us. In order to hear the guidance that comes from within, we need to attune our self to the frequency of the heart and be sensitive to the still, and the small voice of the Self. We need to learn to focus our attention on the inner world and cultivate stillness.


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Shiblî tells a story of going to see the Sufi master, Nûrî, and seeing him sitting in meditation so motionless that not even one hair moved. He asked Nûrî, ‘From whom did you learn such deep meditation?’ Nûrî replied, ‘I learned it from a cat waiting by a mouse hole. The cat was much stiller than I.’

Within the silence of the heart, the attention of the lover is receptive, waiting for the Beloved. Meditation is a state of receptivity which is a container of communion with God. Later the lover learns to carry this state of inner attention at all times, always keeping an inner ear attentive to the voice of the Beloved, always receptive to His hint. But in the early stages of the path it can be difficult to hear His voice when we are engaged in the activities of our outer life. We need the sacred space of meditation to withdraw into silence and keep our attention focused on the heart. Meditation also attunes us to the higher frequency of the divine hint, for the hint from God is ‘faster than lightening.’ Through the continual practice of meditation, the mind is purified and disciplined, made more accessible to the voice of the Beloved.

At the beginning we have to learn the art of listening, the art of being inwardly present, attentive and empty. We have to learn to be silent, because listening is born out of inner silence. It is only in silence can we catch the voice of our Beloved. We can also learn to ask, to seek guidance for our self or others. Immersed in the silence of the heart we can speak more directly to the source, ask without the distortions and disturbances of everyday consciousness. And in this silence,


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surrendered to the emptiness, we are receptive to any answer that may be given. Often we sit in meditation and even when we ask there is neither guidance nor hint and we remain alone in the empty space of our listening. But the listening of theheart is always an act of love. It is coming together, even when nothing is heard. Listening is a wisdom so easily overlooked. It is feminine, receptive, and hidden.However, our culture values only that which is visible. But Rûmî knew how central a part it plays in our loving and in our wordless relationship with our Beloved.

Make everything in you an ear, each atom of your being, and you will hear at every moment what the Source is whispering to you, just to you and for you, without any need for my words or anyone else’s. You are - we all are – the beloved of the Beloved, and in every moment, in every event of your life, the Beloved is whispering to you exactly what you need to hear and know. Who can ever explain this miracle? It simply is. Listen and you will discover it every passing moment. Listen and your whole life will become a conversation in thought and act between you and Him, directly, wordlessly, now and always. Through our meditation we learn the art of being silent, receptive, empty, and attentive. We learn to listen with the inner ear of the heart which is attuned to the voice of our Beloved. Surrendering the mind in meditation, we also learn to give our self to a reality that is not limited by reason, and this helps us to unconditionally follow the divine hint. Immersed in love, the mind becomes more malleable, less crystallized, and learns to accept a higher authority that does not follow its laws of logic. Meditation floods the mind with


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light and love, changes its texture, making it more accessible to the wisdom and guidance that come from a dimension of oneness.

The lover is the servant of the Beloved, and it is within the heart that He makes known His needs. When the ego and mind have become subservient to love, we are able to be attentive to Him whom we love. In being attentive to the heart we are able to fulfil the deepest purpose of our being, to ‘be here for Him.’

There was a ruler who had a servant for whom he cared more than his other servants. None of them was more valuable or more handsome than this one. The ruler was asked about this, so he wanted to make clear to them the superiority of this servant over others in service. One day he was riding with his entourage. In the distance was a snow – capped mountain. The ruler looked at that snow and bowed his head. The servant galloped off on his horse. The people did not know why he galloped off. After a while he returned with some snow, and the ruler asked him, ‘How did you know I wanted snow?’

The servant replied, ‘Because you looked at it, and the look of the sultan comes only with firm intention.’

So the ruler said, ‘I accord him special favor and honor, because for every person there is an occupation, and his occupation is observing my glances and watching my states of being attentively.’


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Meditation prepares us for the work of servant hood. It attunes us to the higher frequency of His hint, and takes us into the inner chamber of the heart where lover and Beloved commune. Meditation helps us to live in His presence and follow His will.

STAGES: DHYANA AND SAMADHIThe regular practice of meditation prepares a place for the lover and Beloved to meet. Within the heart the lover and Beloved are always united, but in order to realize this bothego and mind have to be drowned in love. The ego’s world of separation is dissolved in the currents of love that are activated through the meditation of the heart.

Technically the act of focusing on the feeling of love within the heart activates the heart chakra, the psychic center which experiences and generates love. The heart chakra comes in motion and begins to spin. This generates a greater feeling of love and one feels more love, which further helps to still the mind. As the mind becomes more still the heart spins faster, which, like a chain reaction, further stills the mind. Eventually love completely overwhelms the mind. This is the first stage of Dhyana, the complete abstraction of the senses.

The experience of Dhyana rarely happens during the first practice of meditation. It may take months, even a few years


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to reach this stage. Then when we initially experience Dhyanait is usually for a split second, and the mind does not even know it was absent. For a moment the mind dips into the infinite and there is little or no conscious awareness of what has happened. Just for a moment we were not present. Gradually the mind goes for longer periods, which can seem like sleep; because this is the nearest equivalent we have ever known to this mindless or no – mind state. But it is not sleep, and if one is observant one sees that coming out of Dhyanahas a different quality than waking from sleep.

There can be a sense of being or clarity different from the ‘fuzziness’ of sleep. Or we emerge with sweetness within the heart, softness, tenderness, or deepened feeling of longing. Sometimes it can seem that one is gradually returning as if from a great distance. In fact during the state of Dhyana the individual mind is thrown into the universal mind. One is merged into the source.

But the mind does not take easily to this loss of control. Often it fights back, generating all sorts of thoughts. It can also evoke fear, patterns of anxiety, and even panic. For most of our life the mind has been dominant, and now it is losing its control. Sometimes, just before it is about to dip into the state of Dhyana, the mind becomes frightened because now it is reaching the experience in which it does not exist. It may pull us back from the brink. And we are caught again in the grip of its self – generating thoughts. But through perseverance the energy of love triumphs, and gradually the mind becomes


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used to this transition, and surrenders to its own non –existence.

Dhyana is the first stage in the meditation of the heart. There are different levels of Dhyana as the lover is immersed deeper and deeper into a reality beyond the mind. More and more one feels the peace, stillness, and deep sense of well – being that comes from being immersed somewhere where there is no duality, or the limitations of the mind and the senses. For a few minutes, maybe an hour each day, one is allowed to merge into a vaster reality, where the problems that surround us so much cease to exist.

Dhyana is the process that changes the level of awareness. The states of Dhyana gradually lead to the states of Samadhi, where a higher level of consciousness is awakened. Dhyana is the first stage after transcending the thinking faculty of the mind. And from the point of view of the intellect it must be considered as an unconscious state. It is the first step beyond consciousness as we know it, which will lead eventually, by easy degrees, into the state of Samadhi, the Super-Conscious state. The highest stages of Dhyana are gradually transformed into the lower stage of Samadhi, which is still not completely conscious. The higher state of Samadhi represents a Total awakening of one’s own divinity.

The states of meditation slowly change. The heart is activated and the energy of love slows down the mind. The mind loses its control and individual consciousness is lost, at first for an


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instant and then gradually for longer periods of time. The lover becomes absorbed, drowned in the ocean of love.

Then in this state of unconsciousness a higher level of consciousness begins to awaken. At first there may be a sense of being not an ego identity, because this ‘being’ is not separate, but contains everything within it. It is our true, unique self that is not separate from the whole. This awakening sense of being may be accompanied with peace or bliss. This is the peace that belongs to the Absolute, the bliss that is the sheath of the soul (Anandamaya Kosha or Bliss Sheath).

The difficulty of describing the experiences of Samadhi is that they belong to a different level of reality, beyond the mind and its quality of distinction. This is a dimension of unity in which different states interpenetrate. In Samadhi we begin to experience our true nature which is a state of oneness. We are what we experience. Gradually we glimpse, and are infused with, the all – encompassing unity and energy of love that belong to the Self and underlie all life. And this oneness is not a static state; instead a highly dynamic state of being that is constantly changing. Also our experience of it changes. No two meditations are the same and our experience becomes deeper and richer, more and more complete. On this plane of unity everything has its own place and fulfils its real purpose. Here the true nature of everything that is created is present as an expression of divine oneness and divine glory. In the outer world we experience only a fragmented sense of our self and


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our life. Here everything is complete and we come to know that everything is just as it should be.

Each wayfarer will have his/her own experiences as oneglimpses the oneness and the true nature of divinity. There are also different levels of reality beyond the ego. In different states of meditation one can be taken to these different levels. There is the plane of pure consciousness, Buddhi, (or the ‘higher mind’) which functions without the limitations of duality. This clear light of consciousness, undistorted by ego or desires, sees things in their real nature, in which their true purpose is revealed. Here the knower and the knowledge are one, in a knowing that belongs to our inner nature and its interconnectedness with all of life. Here the knowledge that we need is instantaneously accessible. For most people this quality of ‘knowing’ is experienced as intuition, in which we suddenly know something without any process of thought.Pure consciousness is also a state of being in which awareness is present in its essential nature the individual is a state of awareness.

And then the wayfarer can travel deeper, drowned into the limitless ocean of love, which can seem like nothingness to the mind, but a nothingness that loves and cares for you with infinite tenderness. The love that is experienced beyond themind is total and intoxicating beyond all borders andlimitations. The love that belongs to the outer world becomes just a pale, distorted reflection of this real love on the level of the soul. One is loved so completely and one realizes it was always like this only one has forgotten it. And this love and


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bliss become deeper and richer. The oneness of lover and Beloved, the meeting, merging, dissolving in love ‘like sugar in water,’ can only be hinted at.

Kabir says, ‘It cannot be told by the words of the mouth. It cannot be written on paper. It is like a dumb person who tastes a sweet thing. It cannot be explained.’ Awakening from these states, dazed and bewildered, one would gladly give everything for just another sip of this intoxicating wine.

And then further, beyond the realm of the known, is the realm of non-being, the frontier from which no news returns. Here all traces of the lover are absorbed, and one returns from these states knowing nothing except that one was taken. This is the true resting place of the mystic. In the words of 'Abdu'l-Qâdir Gîlânî:

Then the pilgrim returns home, to the home of his origin that is the world of Allâh’s proximity, that is where the home of the inner pilgrim is, and that is where he returns. This is all that can be explained, as much as the tongue can say and the mind can grasp. Beyond this no news can be given, for beyond is the unperceivable, inconceivable, indescribable.

INTERPRETATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS


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The Sufi meditation of the heart is a simple practice that uses the energy of love to take the seeker Home. The lover gradually passes from the stage of fanâ, the annihilation of the self, to the stage of baqâ, abiding in God, or ‘abiding after passing away.’ Through the power of His love for us, which is hidden within the heart, we are awakened to love’s unity that underlies all of life. Leaving behind the mind and the ego, we are able to enter the innermost chamber of the heart where lover and Beloved are one. Surrendering our ego-consciousness, we gradually become acclimatized to the inner dimensions of oneness, and at the same time create a vessel that can contain this higher consciousness. At first we may be frightened of a reality beyond the mind and the ego. But as the states of meditation change we become familiar with this state of absorption. Thus one is no longer fearful of being in a state where the ‘lover,’ annihilates in love.

Love has moved in and adorned the house, and the ‘Self’ hasleft. You imagine that you see me, but I no longer exist: what remains is the Beloved.

Meditation both takes us into the oneness of love and prepares us for this experience. T.S. Eliot wisely remarked, ‘human kind cannot bear very much reality,’ and the tremendous experience of the eternal emptiness that lies beyond the mind and the ego can be terrifying. We are conditioned by the basic belief that we exist as an individual, separate entity. The ego is the center of our conscious awareness. In meditation we begin to glimpse a deeper truth, that the ego is an illusion and the outer world as insubstantial


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as a dream. In Shakespeare’s words, ‘We are such stuff as dreams are made on.’

Of course many times when we meditate, even after years, the mind and its thoughts remain present. But then there are those times when we are taken, drawn by love into the vaster dimension of our self. To awaken in the emptiness of the ego’s annihilation is blissful. However, when we return to ordinary consciousness we can be dazed and confused, as we are left bewildered at the roadside of life. We do not know what we have seen. The mind cannot comprehend the Truth told by the heart. And reports of those who have travelled along this path only emphasize that the mind and ego cannot grasp what is experienced. Al-Junayd describes this state with paradoxical clarity: ‘Being wholly present in God, he is wholly lost to self. And thus he is present before God, absent in him; absent and present at the same time. He is where he is not and he is not where he is.’

We have to learn to contain the dynamic experiences of the inner worlds without being overwhelmed. To realize that ‘there is nothing but nothingness’, and at the same time to live one’s daily life, coping with the responsibilities and problems of the world, takes years of preparation. Meditation both opens the inner eye and creates a quality of consciousness that can contain what we experience. Slowly the veils ofillusion that separate us from the dazzling darkness of the Beloved are removed.


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A friend once had a dream in which she met her teacher and he had curtains falling from his hands. He said to her, ‘There are such mysteries here that it would blow away your mind if you were to glimpse them.’ Then he pointed out a path for her to follow that led into the distance.

Spiritual Truth is confusing to the mind. It vibrates at a higher frequency. Spiritual life is a question of speed. We need to be able to contain the dynamic vibrations of the Self; otherwise we would become dangerously unbalanced. Meditation creates an inner structure of consciousness that enables us to operate at a higher frequency. Through years of disciplined meditation we attune our whole being to the higher frequencies of divine love so that this intoxicating energy can flow through us.

Faster flows the currents of love, in the same proportion heart too spins. If we resist this energy we could be dangerously battered. If we were not centered we would be thrown off balance. The ego cannot provide any stability and the center that we need. It must be surrendered so that we can stand on the rock of the Self. Surrender allows us to spin the dance of total devotion. And the totality of love that thus happens, in which every cell of the body knows that it is love that creates a sense of security, cannot be shaken.

As we learn to lose our mind in the empty spaces of the beyond, we long to be drawn deeper and deeper into this totality of loving, and this bliss of abandonment. But we also need to be able to come back to our everyday world. The inner


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world with its intimacy and freedom from restraints is intoxicating, and it can make the outer world appear as cold, alien prison, and a place where one can be known and loved only partially. The veils of this world, full of distortions and half truths can be heavy and depressing after they have lifted even for just a moment. But one must not allow states of meditation to interfere with everyday life and work. One needs to be able to focus on the outer world and function on the level of the mind whenever necessary. Inwardly lost in love we always remain His servant, living in His world for His sake.

There was a disciple who, while sitting in the presence of his teacher, slowly fell into meditation. Just as he was going into the state of Dhyana, his teacher suddenly enquired about his mother? Coming painfully back to his senses, the disciple answered, ‘Thank you, master, ‘She is very well.’ His head dropped back into the bliss of meditation when again his teacher asked a second time, ‘How is your aunt?’ Awakening again, he respectfully answered, ‘Very well, thank you.’ Once again he fell back into meditation, only to be brought back by another question from the teacher. So it continued until finally the sheikh allowed the man to meditate undisturbed. Later someone asked the sheikh why he interrupted the disciple’s meditation. The sheikh replied, ‘He has to be able to come out of meditation at a moment’s notice. We must not be attached even to our meditation.’

Sufism is not a monastic or ascetic path. The Sufi wayfarer lives in the inner world of the heart as well as functioning


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responsibly in everyday life. Immersed in love’s unity, we come to know our essential nature wherein the deeper purpose of our life is hidden. Returning from meditation we bring the fragrance of this inner reality into our everyday life.And we are able to live grounded in the deeper roots of our being. Access to the plane of unity allows us to participate in life in a new way. We are able to live from the center of ourbeing, and thus realize our deepest potential as human beings. We begin to see the way our life reflects the divine, and how His name imprinted within our heart is reflected in our daily life. Knowing our own essential unity and how this unity is a part of the whole of life gives us a dynamic sense of purpose.We are no longer an isolated individual but an integral part of life’s unfolding.

The journey of the Sufi is the journey of the lover returning to the arms of the Beloved, a journey of love in which we die to the limited ego bound perspective of our self. Drowned in love, in the formless emptiness that is beyond the mind, we discover within us that which is eternal, and awaken to the life within the heart. In this dynamically unfolding oneness the path and the seeker are forgotten. Only His Formless Presence is real:

In God there is no duality. In that Presence ‘I’, ‘We’ and ‘you’cease to exist. ‘I’, ‘you’, ‘we’ and ‘He’ all become one. In the Unity there is no distinction, the Quest and the Way and the Seeker become one.


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Knowing and living this unity, the lover reflects the light and love of the Beloved into his daily life. The secret of love’s oneness becomes the ground upon which we walk the essence of the air we breathe. Inwardly merged in our Beloved, we impress the stamp of His reality into each and every moment. Outwardly we see His oneness reflected in the world; we come to know the hidden face of creation, what the Sufis call the secret of the word Kun! (Be).

Attentive to Him, we are here to serve Him. The lover who has given himself in love has embraced the poverty of the heart, ‘having nothing and wanting nothing.’ Surrendered to our Beloved, we want nothing for our self, not even the states of meditation. But through the mercy of His love for us He comes to us and takes us to Him. We become nourished from within, from the love and guidance that flows into the heart. Through the practice of meditation we are given access to the secrets of love, and can help to bring these secrets into the world.

[Ref: 1. BhaiSahab is the way the disciples and followers called the Sufi Radha Mohan Lal. He is the second son of Sufi Raghuber Dayal RA and Jai Devi and the younger brother of Sufi Brij Mohan Lal RA with who the Golden chain of the Tariqat remained.

Sufi Radha Mohan Lal is not the part of main golden chain. However he had permission from his father Sufi Raghuber Dayal but not from LalaJi. When Irina Tweedie visited BhaiSahab Sufi Raghuber Dayal and Sufi Brij Mohan Lal had entered Samadhi. The family of Sufi Brij Mohan Lal was not living there as long before Samadhi Sufi Brij Mohan Lal had moved out of the property that he built at 8/223 Arya Nagar, Kanpur, India because of the family conflict created by Bhai Sahab. The entire building was occupied by BhaiSahab and the younger brother Sufi Jyotindra Mohan Lal. This is the reason there is no mention of Sufi Brij Mohan Lal and other masters in her


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work. This she was deliberately kept deprived of. Sufi Brij Mohan Lal entered Samadhi in 1955. It was somewhere 1967 that the son of Sufi Brij Mohan Lal the next Sheikh of the Golden Chain Sufi Onkar Nath was transferred to Kanpur. Therefore while settling in the work, in consultation with his mother Sufi Shakuntala Devi he claimed the property rights that legally belonged to him. Around the same time as part of peaceful settlement the property was divided among the descendants of the three brothers. The two elder brothers Sufi Brij Mohan Lal and Radha Mohan Lal had already left the world however the youngest one was still alive. Thus the property was legally divided among the three brothers and the portion that came in the share of Sufi Onkar Nath became the active center of Sufi Tariqat. The sun that was hidden on the compound began to shine once again.

From 1966 the regular meditation began at the third portion occupied by Sufi Onkar Nath which grew in proportion in a short period. Taoshobuddha is the grandson of Sufi Brij Mohan Lal and lived with his uncle Sufi Onkar Nath afrom 1968 to 1980 before migrating to Trinidad. Ido not recollect and such event pr person visiting the place. However humanity shall remain thankful to Irina Tweedie for introducing the path to the western world. As a small boy growing up I had heard several stories of the French Lady being the disciple of Sufi Radha Mohan Lal who was also known as Munshi Chacha or BhaiSahab depending on the relation with the person. However I never met her.]

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