Instead, they have discovered that the root of being can only be discovered and known via direct witnessing. They recognize that as one is, one will remain. This third group has discovered that truly there is no reality without a Self to cognize it. The Self,. He is an acclaimed Sufi Master with students around the world, an international lecturer and the author of numerous books including An Introduction to Religion.
In other all vanish. What remains is the reality of self. We may read what the prophets alive center. We will not cognize reality by looking have said, but what they convey has been directly witoutward — by amassing knowledge via studying a nessed beyond the limitation of sensory experience book, going to school, engaging in research, seeking and language; the book of reality transcends words.
While Theirs is a direct witnessing, a Divine understanding. We Discovering and knowcan study these parables, but Discovering and knowing reality, to actually cognize the realing reality, i. This The prophets share their and inputs. If the book. Self contains all that is apparent and hidden, reThere is only one reality and that is you.
What else vealed or concealed. It is the original state, an un- can there be if self does not exist? Knowing self is beplanted seed with perfect potentiality to become ac- yond outer limitations. This is the beginning of mystituality. When the seed of Self is planted within the cism. Yet the seed itself remains unchanging flected in the cycle of seeds in the natural world. The and ever-present. Over energy, the seeds themselves contain the sun.
We can call this process of reaching for the sun an expression of longing for return to the source. This longing arises from within the seed; all the information and knowledge needed to find the source is contained therein. Self, and more specifically, heart, is the address of the Divine. Like a seed whose potential is contained within itself, the potential of self — both hidden and apparent — arises from the heart. And, just as the seed needs water for the germination process to begin, we need the water of meditation.
So how should we practice? Find one image, like the flame of a candle, within the center of your being and focus on it until longing arises from within that center. The teacher is that flame, the catalyst of a longing to find the source. In order to satisfy your quest to discover Self, you must connect with that source of divine love through the heart of the teacher. Find that source of love and be a companion to that lover. The energy of that love will transform you.
Impediments to this process include an unruly mind and lack of self-discipline. Our true companion is our heart, the source of love. So return to your heart, and change your companion from mind to heart.
You must improve your determination to cultivate the heart. Without practice, nothing will happen. Be sincere in your action. Take responsibility for yourself. Increase the value of your being. Be mindful of every action. The key is to connect to your longing, which is wrapped within you.
You have to find the power of longing, nourish it, and cultivate it. Ask yourself, is your longing for food more powerful than your longing for the love of the Beloved? If so, you will always turn to food rather than turning to practice. Whichever longing is more powerful determines the action you take in any given moment. If being ignorant of your Self truly bothers you, then you will forget your hunger and other desires and eat only to maintain your body.
The more you turn your attention to the heart, the more the longing to know Self increases. The more energy you invest, the more it will grow. Astronomers tell us that it is realistic to assume that there exist planets similar to our earth both in nearby and in far distant galaxies. Although in the immensity of the universe it might be a rare coincidence to find a planet with qualities similar to our own, it remains not an impossible assumption. Now, if we were to take such an assumption as a possibility, then there might likewise be countless beings similar to ourselves living on those planets; beings who also search for the reality of the existence, imagining themselves to be the only intelligent beings in the universe to question eternity.
How vast and extensive could the knowledge of each one of these beings be in comparison to that of the existence? How far could the boundaries of their understanding extend?
How limitless can our knowledge be, we, the individual human beings residing in the small planet of earth at the edge of the Milky Way? Even though the goal of science is to discover the universe, we have to question the accuracy of any discovery since we are bound to the limitations of our senses and understanding, so that our idea of accuracy is a relative acceptance of what we un-.
Spiritual masters tell us that the innate knowledge is not based on the collective information of the senses, but by illumination — light poured into the heart of the person on the path of inner travelling, so that the path becomes illuminated, so that the traveller becomes aware of his or her destination and the road he or she has taken.
Science cannot ultimately show us the shortest path to attain knowledge in this limitless existence. When I look up at night at the heavens and see the light of the stars that shine there so beautifully and gracefully, I remember that it was only a few decades ago that we could not believe that these stars were worlds that followed their destiny. If we really could see the grandeur that surrounds the world we live in, then we would begin to question the importance of the limited knowledge that we have acquired.
Our pride would be transformed into the deepest awe and we might begin to ask if there is any chance of unification with such magnificence and beauty so long as we are limited by nature.
Limited sees limits and infinite is infinite. And this simple phrase applies to all that which exists, and to understanding of all that which exists. Life is born through the cooperation of chromosomes, yet each chromosome must complete its mission before another chromosome can begin its.
It seems that this innate knowledge of life has its roots established well before the actual birth of the living cell. How do these chromosomes cooperate with and understand one another; is there some type of intuitive process, exchange of energies between them? Everything is so perfect in its function and all live within a harmonious system of cooperation and incorporation. Every movement, even within the smallest particle, follows a universal rule to fulfill its functions, yet every move is suitable to the element moved and follows its own destiny.
Everything follows this most organized chart in existence. We may gradually learn its rules, but we cannot change them. And indeed, our measure of the most advanced scientific discovery is that which mimics and follows these predestined rules most closely.
If we are born within this Being, do we not carry within ourselves the unchangeable rule of the existence? Are we not an organized chart of that intelligence, and so then why should I look outside of my being in the search for reality; can I really overlook the existence of the Existence within? Human being has searched for an ultimate understanding of the universe: laboratory scientists, philosophers, and spiritual masters are frontiers for such understanding.
One speaks of laboratory experiments, the second introduces doctrines, and the third provides a more stable, permanent under-. This last group becomes the standard bearers of humanity and their knowledge is the knowledge of the ultimate understanding. However, spiritual masters tell us that the innate knowledge is not based on the collective information of the senses, but by illumination — light poured into the heart of the person on the path of inner travelling, so that the path becomes illuminated, so that the traveller becomes aware of his or her destination and the road he or she has taken.
Moulana Shah Maghsoud, my father, writes in one of his books that: true knowledge and discovery are based upon the infinite knowledge of the existence, while individual knowledge is the limited knowledge of the surface and its effects.
There is a difference between the information gathered by the mental faculties and knowledge discovered from the experience of its residing in the depths of the awareness. It is then reasonable to conclude that learning the information of the surface will not lead one to become aware of the knowledge of existence.
To reside at the essence of knowledge is knowledge. The traces of images that cover the reality of knowledge impede human beings in their search for understanding. This involves the inner recognition that the superficial knowledge gathered through the experiences of life and the perceptions of senses is based on illusion instead of reality, and represents bondage instead of freedom.
On the path of spirituality one must first learn to draw the fundamental distinction between deception and truthfulness. Such mere information should not be mistaken for actual knowledge—although to do so is the norm of everyday life. We should all be aware of how misleading the perceptions of our senses can be, and even more so, the judgments that we draw from them. What we learn through our senses is limited information concerning the surface of Being that we will judge according to our past and present store of superficial knowledge.
Before a salek receives any spiritual instruction from a Master he must physically and mentally purify himself. Learning to be physically clean at all times teaches the student to help himself in correcting any bad or unpraiseworthy qualities or characteristics that he may possess. It also helps him to keep his environment clean, for impurity must be transformed into purity on the path of the spiritual journey if one is to ascend to the level of the perfect human.
Among the first cleansing that the individual must practice is the erasing and washing away of immorality and evil qualities he sees in himself. Wickedness and base manners are obstacles between the seeker and Divine glorification.
The person seeking spirituality seeks a tranquility that impurities prevent. One parallel to this is the modern subject of ecology; the pure balance which ecology demands has been a practice ever kept sacred by Sufis and their students.
Nahid Angha. Principles of Sufism. The wild tulips and water lilies; the pure and clear current of water; the glory of the setting and rising of the sun upon the horizon of the sea; the splendor of spring blossom are but a few manifestations that are tranquil melodies of the sacredness hidden behind the veils of nature.
Hazrat Moulana Shah Maghsoud Sadegh Angha Greetings of my heart to the steps of the pure, since like the morning breeze they pass along a clean path, keeping their breath from all impurity. Salute to the heart of those who have consecrated the heat of love at the peak of their youth, those whose heart will remain strong by the wealth of their virtue even when the heat of the sun grows cold, the light of the moon darkens, the beauty of the sky dims, and the attraction of the world and ecstasy of life ends.
The fruitfulness of saplings depends upon the attention of the wise and experienced gardener. The safeguard of the flock lies in the guidance and protection of a vigilant shepherd. And hearts find strength through communion with and guidance from pure souls.
Amongst all the praised ones, the best is the bird of the spirit of heart: so consider carefully unto what meadow you lead your heart and to whom you will leave its training. Rejoicing souls and clear-sighted eyes love beauty. They do not find happiness in hiding in the ruins or living in the corners of sorrow.
Payam-e-del the message of heart is a divine inspiration. The essence of my heart is Truth, howsoever you might hear it. The humble soul hears the melodies of heavens and sees the manifestations of truthfulness. The divine message is heard only at the Horizon of Equilibrium.
Sweep away all from the house of your heart For the Beloved to reside She reveals her beauty when you are naught So void yourself from the house of heart. Protect and honor the Earth for the Earth is like your mother.
URI United Religions Initiative is a global grassroots interfaith network that cultivates peace and justice by engaging people to bridge religious and cultural differences and work together for the good of their communities and the world.
The spiritual journey is therefore also an alltoo human embodied journey which includes the manifest sensory realm of bodily sensations, feelings, thoughts and imaginal events. All are included in the spectrum of experience that is self-discovery. I saw that they all go back to one Named Object, one Entity. That Named Object was what I was witnessing, and that Entity was my own existence. So my journey had been only in myself.
I have provided no indication of anything but myself. If the self is thus one face of the many faces of the Real, then by following and investigating our own selves we recover our original nature. Observation of it has no end in this world or the next.
He is an ongoing student of the Beshara School in Scotland. This work is a reflection on courses offered by Shah Nazar Seyyed Dr. Faith is the root of personality, and as such, weaves the texture of society, standing at the frontier of civilization. If we understand the root of faith, we can correct society in the right direction.
This understanding is not about East or West, one society or another, but about understanding exactly the culture of human being as it is supposed to be - in harmony and balance, with itself and with its Origin. When faith enters the marketplace, and is used as a source of power in the external world, it becomes a way of manipulation, deception and display.
Faith here becomes about real estate and visible demonstrations of power, where structures and buildings begin to appear on the best corner of every city in every country, yet the internal structure of the human being goes unaddressed and unattended. It is not enough to observe the modern landscape of religion and reject faith outright and altogether.
We need to understand the reason for this impulse to reject and the solution. The reason to attend to our ideas about faith is not because God or anyone else, makes an edict, but because faith creates a question for human beings, and one who can research the self in the way of faith can research the self in the way of eternity, discovering knowledge within knowledge.
It asks, have you ever thought about your being? Have you ever been aware of, considered, the time of your being, and your Origin? Have you asked what there is beyond this physical life, and all of its decoration?
If there is no precedent, and the human being comes into this physical world by accident and. Potential is when you can activate every cell of your system into Absolute knowledge.
The wisdom of the universe is as the Tree of Life. It can and should be as a companion, not to touch, but to understand. Wisdom puts everything in the right place, and needs no alteration.
They will provide a valuable resource for people of all religious and spiritual traditions who are seeking to deepen and enrich their own understanding and spiritual practice. It is this measure upon which human beings can rely, and by which the human system itself is structured. Are we awake to this? If this question comes in this way, it will be by Absolute knowledge that the answer also comes. Are we preparing ourselves to know what lies beyond?
Can we really sleep or rest before we find the answer? Human beings have the opportunity to close the door to ignorance and to live in the way of knowledge and wisdom. The more respect you have for yourself, the more open you are to hearing more about yourself. Every cell in the human being is a body of knowledge, if you are aware. If we swim in the ocean of being, yet spend all of. We could, however, be the ocean itself.
We could break the cup and become that which it holds. The address of life is within the soul. It is constant from every direction, even in the stone that somehow bears the leaf coming forth. Are we identified with life or with the stone? Divinity is not found someplace else; it is wrapped within every cell. Rather than reject faith, we can come to a solution. This solution is never to accept anything under the name of God except the knowledge of God. Under the guidance of a knowing teacher, one can learn to locate his or her address in eternity.
In this way, judgment can only be the job of wisdom, which alone can recognize what is good in balance , or what is has lost its state of equilibrium, making slow progress, when it could be just right. Wisdom should flow from your heart, where we find the root of the body itself, and which never dies. The rule of knowledge and wisdom already is set within our system.
Faith and spirituality do not operate on a scale or on percentage. It is not a system of bargaining or partiality.
The gateway of knowledge does not open for any percentage, and complete purity is the only way of access. The line is narrower than the eye of the needle; and is there.
Powerfully magnetic, Caravan introduces and accentuates the omnipresence of the ultimate human art form: the gift of love and divine attraction, founded in the heart of every being.
Ignited throughout the experience and reflection of 50 elegant autobiographies, Caravan exemplifies the energy of such magnetic attraction, beyond the dimensions of time and space.
The demonstration of unity is: every aspect of life on the chart of existence, From particles and thoughts to waves and whole flocks of birds So become more trustworthy, I try.
Space is limited. Pre-registration is required by November 1st, On Saturday morning, November 7, , SWO hosted a successful and breakfast in please For well-attended reservation and payment San Rafael, California with and activist Michele call:author Raffin. Michele talked about her latest book, The Birds of Pandemonium, an enchantby motherhood and then a very unexpected turn of ing story which offers rare insights into how following events occurred when she found an injured dove on a passion can transform not only oneself but also the the side of a road — tending to that dove changed her world.
She soon developed a reputation ongoing work of SWO and its founder, Dr. Nahid Anin the birding community as being a soft touch who gha. She introduced SWO as a significant forum for all would take in troubled birds no else wanted from women, with seventeen chapters around the world.
SWO has devoted time and financial ed taking in finches, injured lorikeets, and African support towards many humanitarian organizations cranes.
She mesmerized the audience with how she working towards human rights, immunizations, clean learned and observed how birds fall in love, mourn, water, education and more. Her career in business was briefly put on hold.
Millions of children in California qualify for a reduced price lunch or a free lunch meal, however about 4 of 5 children are missing out on meals.
Voices for Justice will be donating collections received to a local school that provides services to low income communities. Help Voices for Justice to keep children learning and growing by supporting meal programs. Dedan Gills transitioned peacefully in the company of his beloved wife, Belvie Rooks, and three sons, Dedan Jr. During his stay at the Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco this past fall, he could often be found sitting quietly in the backyard gardens, joined by hummingbirds and ravens as he wrote poems and reflections.
Dedan was also a founding member of the poetry slam collective Avay-i-Janaan, and presenter at the Songs of the Soul Festival.
He was co-founder of the W. Dedan was heavily influenced by Dr. King, Nelson Mandela and Malcolm X, and shared their unrelenting commitment to human right and human dignity. He identified himself first and foremost as a student of life, interested in connection and in the location and cultivation of common ground.
Inspiration for this work arose in Ghana, where Dedan and Belvie were married in , and in response to a visit to El Mina slave dungeon, and awareness of the millions of unremembered women, men and children sold and enslaved there over years. Tree planting efforts began in Selma, Alabama, and have continued so far in West Africa; Colquitt, Georgia; Los Angeles and Oakland; and included children, teenagers, parents, and grandparents.
For the past twenty years, Dedan served as a role model and mentor, with particular interest in helping those experiencing homelessness, drug addiction, incarceration, and with eyes always on the power and potential of every human being.
He traveled extensively to participate in international conferences on conflict resolution, peace and global healing in locations from Russia to Bali, and was Associate Producer of Watts Up! They are also featured in the upcoming film project The Power of Love. He was a founding board member of Pseads, a nonprofit working at the intersection of health, education and ecology. Dedan is survived by his wife, children, stepchildren, sisters, brother and grandchildren, and preceded in his passing by his parents and two sisters.
His love and legacy live on in individuals and communities all over the world who will remember always his wise and kind way, insatiable generosity, curious nature, and unyielding belief in the human spirit.
Returning home to the safe harbor of beauty, again and again. Allowing an ageless quiet to penetrate, allowing the aching body to grow serene. Allowing the ripple of the stream, rustle of wind and whine of cicadas to envelope any untamed thought. Mountain air filling and emptying the twin balloons of lungs, Alpine light pouring through watery eyes.
I sit amidst lakeshore grass as rays of ebbing daylight cast a soft glow upon the mirror-like surface. A cloud parade whimsically dances to uncharted music of birds and occasional breezes. Pleasure craft lay anchored above their reflections, no sign of humans to be seen. A solitary sense of communion unfolds. When in pursuit of images as a photographer, the inner hunter is awake. An intuitive sense is active which allows a bypassing of countless vantage points without the need for response, trusting that when an opportunity arrives which holds a balance of desired qualities, something inside will know.
A shaft of light streaming through the forest canopy; Layers of alpine ridges woven through with a rolling mist; Floral wisps creating a multi-hued corona around a solitary rose.
Beauty and harmony display themselves everywhere and anywhere, in the balance of dark and light, in geometric ratios and proportions. A frozen lake covets unseen mysteries. How might such brittle cracks mirror a different kind of brokenness, the everyday veneer which deftly covers hidden worlds waiting to be known?
What willingness does it take to dive beneath the surface of everything? What calls for this moment-by-moment recalibration of attention to the plethora of surrounding details?
The variety of abounding wonders never fails to curry favor from a heart-mind seeking a new vision. When a vista calls me to stay, to pause and explore, it is not accompanied with a fanfare of trumpets or sense of exaltation, but a simple knowing and a relaxing into the moment. Olive and fig trees share earth with rose bushes, and everyone gets along. The birds happily visit whenever possible, having long ago discovered this repository of edible delights.
Lakeside moment, end of day. A place to sit and reflect upon what has been, is, and yet will be. Light upon the path. Here is a good place to spend some time, bringing different viewpoints into focus. A perch for visual meditation upon beauty in all directions and distances. From the widest viewing angle, in which the grandest spectacle may be appreciated at length, to the nearest blade of grass - all points of view are invited as guests of my attention. Where is the light at the center of everything?
What illuminates the most delicate citizens of creation? Beyond myriad distractions, may I remember the simplicity at the heart of it all, the beauty in the core of each moment. Even in one singular direction, the variety of nature is endless.
Shifting the ring of focus brings to life a panorama of expressive beings - whether growing fresh from the earth or baking for eons beneath the sun - each subject in turn a perfection of shape and color, a distinction of name and form, from the infinite one to the multitude. How long does the journey take? How far does the tunnel go? Just when a moment of respite seems to arrive, the awareness of yet-unwalked-territory once again appears.
Often longer than expected, sometimes further than desired, the way will be met step by step, breath by breath. Michael Stillwater is an artist whose work derives inspiration from a universal spirituality, the underlying Great Song of life.
An award-winning filmmaker www. He resides in Switzerland with his wife, contemplative psychologist Doris Laesser Stillwater. Charles Upton was first and perhaps continues to be most well known for his poetry. He was born and came of age as a writer in San Francisco during the waning sensibilities of the Beat movement and the prestige of City Lights publishing. In his working years he was politically active and spiritually seeking.
Eventually, at the age of 40 he turned in to Sufism and its journey of the heart. And overtime he has begun to increasingly identify as a writer and practitioner in this way.
His most recent works include Day and Night on the Sufi Path. In this text he provides a detailed organization and summary of what he has learned as a student along the path he has travelled, with careful attention and reflection, for nearly 30 years.
Upton lays out affecting descriptions for the theological landscape of an inherently peaceful, compassionate, respectful and deeply private religious practice. His discussion on nafs is particularly apt in the early chapters, and his attention to the inseparable relationship between the changing world around us and the stable, unchanging and unseen reality hidden within provides substantive illustration to the fine veil between the world of suffering and the invitation into the way of unity Tasawwuf by degrees of spiritual development known in Sufism as the stages of the heart.
Even his appendices offer some important considerations, for example concerning the sometimes-confusing nexus between what it means to be a Sufi committed to a practice within the depths of the heart while also navigating the experience of being a human subject in a complex and politicized global community that is constantly under the influence of the swirling cooption of language and rhetoric for ulterior motives.
However, this book is most useful in its moments of self-reflection and self-honesty, whenever it is clear Upton has dealt very directly with the landscape about which he describes. Day and Night on the Sufi Path is frequently enough insightful and practical, and Upton, the student, is inspiring throughout. I will show them My signs simultaneously and without division - on the horizons and in their own souls [Q. New Release This book is now available for purchase online and through the International Association of Sufism.
Sarah Hastings Mullin, Ph. D is a licensed psychologist who works with young adults, couples and with families after divorce. She holds a second-degree black belt in Aikido. We will begin with basic practices and studying the teachings of Sufi masters Seyyedeh Nahid Angha, Ph. Granick is a senior student of Uwaiysi Sufism under the guidance of Dr. Angha and Dr. To learn more, please contact me at or jamalg sbcglobal.
The path of life has simple and yet complicated ways. According to an unpublished manuscript by Sufi master Dr.
Even our own bodies experience stages of change along a line from what appears to be a point of birth to a point of death. It is from this condition precisely that the experience of loss as things change reveals the phenomena of suffering; and mirroring from this condition the question of heaven as a linguistic signifier for an eternal unity arises as a potential solution to temporality. If eternity is, then it must be a unity without the possibility of division, argument or changing cultural times.
Angha notes that there have developed multiple disciplines for the cultivation and discovery of knowledge. By degrees, there are the disciplines of theology, philosophy, science, and mysticism, each. And each of these has its own conceptions on eternity.
The theologian bases understanding on lineages of commentary and religious suppositions. This app has been updated by Apple to display the Apple Watch app icon. Vi har rettet en fejl, som gjorde, at Dropbox-synkronisering af dine backups ikke fungerede 3.
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