Sidi teaches in his book Path to Allah, Most High, that we human beings are all a part of one body, each a cell in the larger body of the universe.
“If you look closely, you will find that the human being is called the big man, or the big world, or the microcosm, and that the cosmos is a big human being.”
– Path to Allah, Most High, Sidi Shaykh Muhammad al-Jamal ar-Rifa’i ash-Shadhuli
Yet, we contain the entire universe within us.
“You think you are a small star,
when in fact you contain the whole universe.”– Music of the Soul, Sidi Shaykh Muhammad al-Jamal ar-Rifa’i ash-Shadhuli
And Sidi also teaches that Allah made thousands of worlds like this one. When we would ask him about extra-terrestrials, Sidi would say,
“Why would you think you are the only one?”
As cells in a cosmic body, Allah has given us free will. Can you imagine what life would be like if we decided to give free will to a certain type of cells within our bodies? What kind of disease might reign the human body? And how might we bring healing to a group of cells who have run amuck within us?
We would certainly be forced to know ourselves more completely if we want to restore health to the larger body. And we would certainly learn to care about all of the cells of our bodies without making separation between them.
Disease teaches us the importance of overall health and the need to care for our physical bodies and self-care, our minds and thoughts, our hearts and emotional well-being, our souls and life lessons and purpose, and our spirits and connection to The One.
Disease teaches us that everything affects everything else. We cannot selectively give love to one part of ourselves and mistreat another part.
And, what does this teach us about what Allah asks from us on this planet day to day? Or in the larger body of the universe?
Sidi’s main teaching for us has been to care about our brothers and sisters without separation, to see the Face of Allah in every face. What is most important is of course to care about ourselves – the body cannot be healthy if we mistreat our own cells – and then to care about the poor and needy. Allah wants us to give love and compassion for His Face which is every face of every being, and to trust Allah.
It’s fascinating to think of ourselves as cells within a much larger body containing perhaps trillions of cells, and to think of ourselves as an entire universe containing trillions of cells within us. Smaller and smaller microcosms within larger and larger macrocosms, and one of many!
Yet, to have the health, peace and harmony which our hearts are coded to seek, it still boils down to the same principles – love, compassion, mercy, peace, justice, equality and freedom.
May you have a blessed weekend, in service to the fellow cells of your body, the microcosm and the macrocosm, with love and compassion for all.
With love and gratitude,
Mastura Graugnard on behalf of all your friends and family at UOS
