“When a student reaches and is complete, there is no difference between him and his Lord – he is His mirror. But in the beginning he must follow every word that God has given him and every order. He must pray and send love and mercy to everyone and know the meaning of this mercy. Help yourself, begin with yourself, then you can send mercy and love to another. You cannot send mercy if you do not see the mercy in every face. Love everything because everything in this world is the picture of God. Without love you cannot reach and without giving mercy and being courteous with everyone, you cannot reach.” From the book Music of the Soul by Shaykh Muhammad Sa’id al-Jamal ar-Rafa’i ash-Shaduli.
This teaching captures many key elements of the Sufi Path.
Everything is from you and to you.
At the basic level of everyday witnessing in the realm of the physical world this means that if we are grumpy or agitated, that is what we are going to witness from others. We cannot be loving towards others until we purify our own inner state. When we turn towards God in surrender we know that Allah is always there waiting for us to return. We witness love and containment in our inner reality. This is also the hidden meaning of helping ourselves first and then another. If we cannot acknowledge and contain and purify our unsupportive states, our own veils first, we continue to witness them in others as anger, resentment and disease. Every veil is an opportunity to get closer to God.
You cannot reach without courtesy, or the Deep Polite.
In the realm of the heart there is a lot of emphasis on our polite inner conversation and being with God. You listen and watch for everything as a message from your Creator. Since every face is the face of God, all actions, thoughts and conversations are witnessed by Allah and we are guided to turn away from heedlessness, boasting, hidden arrogance and anger towards others and ourselves.
The Divine Quality Ar Rahman; the merciful, compassionate womb of our higher selves. In the realm of the soul, we are encouraged to purify our human mercy, that is limited by fear and self-preservation to become the Divine Mercy Ar Rahman.
We find in ourselves the light of ar-Rahman by accepting our states and needs and by using our free will to do good to ourselves and others.
Follow every word that God gives and every order.
In the level of the secret, conforming to the deeper inner wisdom and laws of the Prophetic way is the door to the unfolding of the hidden states of ishq and tasting.
‘Ishq’ or the deep secret longing and love in the Sufi way is the wine rich with the milk of the knowledge of Oneness.
Register for the Fall first year Program
http://sufiuniversity.org/academic-programs/
UOS is currently offering 3 Free Courses as introductions to some of the core concepts and practices.
Spiritual Healing in Families and Relationships
Click here for the free download
Intro to Divine Guidance
Click here for the free download
Blast through Your Internal Glass Ceiling: The Fastest Way to Transform Your Life
Click here for the free download
Healing Clinic
If you are looking for Purification in any area of your life (health, family and relationships, money, spiritual), or you feel blocked in some way, we invite you to book a low-cost spiritual healing
