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Friday, November 21, 2008
When was God far? | Ibn Atallah
WHEN WAS GOD FAR So you would need A trail and map To lead you there?
And did you find God on your way?
He who has plenty Should spend from plenty.
And are you still Climbing to God?
It’s you who should Conserve your food.
Be guided by The light you see, Turning your faces Toward the sky.
When you arrive, Accept blindness.
God’s light is God’s And God’s alone.
This world both is, And it is not, Quite as it seems:
Say: God! Then leave Them to their games.
- A poetic rendition of 13th century sufi master Ibn Atallah's classic work, Al-Hikam by Jabez L. Van Cleef. Jabez has taken up the project to rework on the complete Al-Hikam by Ibn Atallah and this is a sample from his beautiful work in progress. May the project be blessed and reach the hearts of many.
.. Quli Allahu! Thumma dharhum fi khowdihim yal'abun.
.. Say Allah! Then leave them to their games of vanity. - The Quran 6:91
I seek refuge in Him and ask for Him and give up for Him.
My Lord You are my Refuge and my End and You are the Sufficer.
1. Do you think you are a small star While, in fact, you comprise the universe?
2.
... the slave (the devotee, lover, the instrument) in outer appearance is not God but the Essence of the slave is indeed God. So when his bondmanship ('ubudiyyah) is annihilated (al-fana to be baqa) in the disappearance of his human density, the Essence of the Lord shows His bondsmanship as that which had happened to Moses when God manifested Himself to him on the mountain and Moses went on his knees stunned.
... recognition is a manifest acknowledgment of what he had witnessed of the Divinity of the Lord existing in the bondsman and that the bondsman is but a rank of Divinity through which the Lord appeared in the form of the slave.
This is the ultimate end, that is, the realization of the slave of the Divine Essence in himself and the existence of it thereby. Then are the two stages distinct: the Earthly and the Divine, from the Essence of God (martabha illahee) which is the manifestation of Divine Existence.
You are the manifestation of the existence - the ground of God (mather al wujud illahee). If you, my beloved, do understand, then you will do so truly and you will recognize your earthly rank and there will be shown unto you the Lights of the Divinity (anwar rububiyah). In effacing yourself, you become fastened to it.
3. None but you is the slave and none but your Essence is Lord.
4.
The Perfect Man said, "I have never uttered a word, except that which Allah hath spoken." Since the Perfect Man is truly a slave of Allah and his bondsmanship is complete, he speaks not, except by Allah by the inspiration of Allah and he hears not but through Allah and he tastes not, nor does he smell or feel except through Allah, who is really his hearing and his eye sight and his hand and tongue and sense of fragrance and all. It is then taken for granted that God is the Hearer (as-Sami), the Seer (al-Basir), the Living (al-Hayy), the Mighty (al-Aziz), the Speaker (al-Mutakallim), the Knower (al-Aalim), and the follower of Him for Him and to Him.
This Gracious breath, the breath of the Perfect Man, teaches us that he who is thus, is then the utterer of every word that is Divine. And the Prophets and their bond by friendship and through apostlehood, eternity and individuality; all are His word. He is then the utterer of them. Nothing is said but God is the Sayer, that is God is the Speaker by necessity and not by probability.
"I perform not anything, but Allah is the performer, who sent it knowingly and the angels are witness, and Allah sufficeth for the Witness, He is the Satisifer."
- from the teachings of Shaykh Muhammad al-Jamal ar-Rifai as-Shadhili, may God be pleased be with him and connect us to his station. Quoted from his book, Music of the Soul: Sufi Teachings, chapter titled: The Reality of Human Essence.
5.
On the ontological implications of the verse in the Qur'an, which states "You did not throw (O Muhammad) when you threw, but God threw" (Quran, VIII:17) Ibn Arabi explains: You did not throw, so He negated, when you threw, so He affirmed, but God threw, so He negated the engendered existence (kawn) of Muhammad, and affirmed Himself as identical ('ayn) with Muhammad..
Such ambivalent negations and affirmations give rise to bewilderment: You are not you when you are you but God is you. But they reveal the truth that it is God Alone Who is the agent of all acts, the agent Who acts through all the faculties of man. (credit)
"Om Mani Padme Hum" is one of the most recited mantra among all faith traditions combined. No matter where you see a buddhist monk or practitioner, whether in the remote deserts of mongolia or the zen monastery of california, every where in the world this mantra is found to be repeated. In Tibet there are adept monks to be found who chant it during all their waking hours as long as they live. The vibrational effect it produce when in a large hall of a buddhist monastery all the monk chant this mantra together is both tremendous and beautiful.
2. Mantra of The Compassionate One
In Tibetan Buddhism this mantra evokes the Chenrezig, the embodiment of compassion and mercy which is also known by other names such as Avalokitesvara, Guan Yin (Kuan Yin), Padmapa-ni, and Lokes'vara. Interestingly enough Avalokiteshvara’s name means "The Lord Who Looks Down (in compassion)." Avalokitesvara is also popularly known as Padmapani, or "Holder of the Lotus."
Because of the mantra's connection with the embodiment of compassion and the quality of compassion, Tibetan Buddhists believe that saying the mantra (prayer), Om Mani Padme Hum, out loud or silently, invokes the powerful benevolent attention and blessings of Chenrezig, the embodiment of compassion.
3. Many layers of meanings
The book Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism by Lama Anagarika Govinda, is a classic example of how a mantra like om mani padme hum can contain many levels of symbolic meaning.
Donald Lopez gives a good discussion of this mantra and its various interpretations in his book Prisoners of Shangri-LA: Tibetan Buddhism and the West. Lopez is an authoritative writer and challenges the stereotypical analysis of the mantra as meaning "The Jewel in the Lotus", an interpretation that is not supported by either a linguistic analysis, nor by Tibetan tradition, and is symptomatic of the Western Orientalist approach to the 'exotic' East.
4. Behold! The jewel in the lotus!
"Mani" means jewel, diamond or precious and "Padme" means lotus flower - a popular symbol in eastern tradition. Om is salutation (as well as the primordal vibration / sound), Hum externally means 'to be in'. The literal translation of "Om mani padme hum" based on the individual syllable is 'Behold the Jewel in the Lotus' / 'Praise the Jewel in the Lotus'.
In apparent symbology 'mani' or the Jewel refers to the mind or consciousness and 'padme' or the lotus refers to the Heart that is the source of Love energy. In this sense it is also a mantra of union and harmony of mind consciousness and inner heart - a hallmark of perfect human being or buddha (awakened one). Thus Om Mani Padme Hum can also be interpreted as, "Salutations to the Jewel of consciousness which has reached the Seat of the Heart." Interestingly inner meaning of Hum referers to "indivisible" or an unified whole.
Esoterically Om Mani Padme Hum can thus be translated as, "hail to the one who is in union."
5. The human being - The Lotus
Lotus flower is found again and again in Gautama Buddha's teachings and buddhist teachings in general that were developed in later. If we go back to the basic symbology of lotus flower, in the east it is viewed as a symbol of spiritual unfoldment. In Buddhist sutra the golden lotus is the symbol for achieving enlightenment. Christian equivalent of lotus flower is the white lily which holds the symbol of purity and traditionally the Archangel Gabriel carries the lily of annunciation to the pure mother Mary. From ancient time in India, lotus flower symbolized among other things, knowledge and enlightenment.
How lotus flower becomes a lotus flower is very significant. The lotus has its roots in earthly mud, in clay but it grows upward in aspiration towards the light. In the book titled, A Lotus Grows In The Mud by Goldie Hawn with Wendy Holden, its said, "The lotus is the most beautiful flower, whose petals open one by one. But it will only grow in the mud. In order to grow and gain wisdom, first you must have the mud the obstacles of life and its suffering. .. The mud speaks of the common ground that humans share, no matter what our stations in life. ... Whether we have it all or we have nothing, we are all faced with the same obstacles: sadness, loss, illness, dying and death. If we are to strive as human beings to gain more wisdom, more kindness and more compassion, we must have the intention to grow as a lotus and open each petal one by one."
We certainly created man in difficulties (suffering, challenges). - The Quran 90:4-5
In Chinese wisdom lotus flower is used to inspire people to continue striving through difficulties and to show their best part to the outside world, no matter how bad the circumstances may be. This is understood as being just like the lotus flower, bringing beauty and light even though originating from the murky darkness at the bottom of the pond.
Thus lotus flower with its origin and growth represent the human condition and his inherent potential to rise above and unfold even greater possibilities of enlightenment. The birth of lotus flower from mud is like the creation metaphor of human being who is likened to be created from mineral / mud / clay.
And surely We created the human beign out of transformed dry dark clay. - The Quran 15:26
Man We did create from a quintessence of clay; - The Quran 23:12
6. The Jewel Secret within: Hu in hu-man
This human being, the marvelous creation, the pinnacle of creation, the highest form of evolution for whom is created the whole of cosmos and beyond - has an indescribable mystery inside, which is its Essence (its precisely because this Essence is indescribable, the mystics always have used parables and imagery to talk about it and Buddha himself was an ascetic mystic in his nature who resorted to nothing but silence in the question of The Highest Truth, the universal language of the mystics). The mantra 'om mani padme hum' praise that Essence which is inside the lotus. In the parable of padme or lotus, there is another symbol introduced which is 'mani' or jewel.
Jewel is not the diamond (the common literal meaning of 'mani') which is precious because it can be sold for much money. Buddha himself born as a prince was not interested in wealth and walked out of the palace renouncing wealth, so does his teachings maintain all through. The precious jewel which is inside the lotus is the secret within. the secret is indeed the most precious truth, thus only it is precious from the point of view of the buddha mind, the mind which is illuminated by the truth.
In islamic wisdom tradition the secret is thus illuminated when God speaks through His Messenger and says: 'Man is My secret and I Am his. The inner gnosis of the spiritual essence ('ilm al-batin) is a secret of My secrets. Only I put this into the heart of My good servant and none may know his state other than Me.'
Thus from a sufistic point of view, the highest mantra of buddhism refers and praise the original Light within each of us, Buddhist call it the Buddha Nature (the Awakened Nature), non-dualistic state, the sufis call it the Sirr (The Secret Within) and the Nur (Light).
7. I am in Thee and Thou art in me.
This mystic mantra above all refers to the indissoluble union between man and the One, and thus conveys "I am in thee and thou art in me." Each of us has within himself or herself the jewel in the lotus or the divine self within. When understood in a kosmic sense, it signifies the divine kosmic self within, inspiring all beings within the range of that kosmic divinity. (credit)
According to the theosophist and mystic H.P.Blavatsky: Om Mani Padma Hum esoterically means "Oh my God within me." Yes; there is God in each human being, for man was, and will re-become, God. The mantra points to the indissoluble union between Man and the Universe. For the Lotus is the universal symbol of Kosmos (man is the microcosm), and the Jewel is Spiritual Stamp of God within.
On this highly esoteric point its worth quoting sufi master Ibn Ataillah who said in Al-Hikam: "God was, and there was nothing with Him, and He is now as He was."
And finally as described in the divine transmission (hadith qudsi): "The heavens and the earth cannot contain Me; only the heart of My humble and faithful devotee contain Me within."
Om Mani Padme Hum. Behold the Jewel in the Lotus. Praise be to the Secret within!
Beneath the sala trees at Kusinagara, in his last words to his disciples, the Buddha said: "Make of yourself a light. Rely upon yourself: do not depend upon anyone else.
Consider your body: Think of its impurity. Knowing that both its pain and its delight are alike causes of suffering, how can you indulge in its desires? Consider your 'self'; think of its transiency; how can you fall into delusion about it and cherish pride and selfishness, knowing that they must all end in inevitable suffering? Consider all substances; can you find among them any enduring 'self'? Are they not all aggregates that sooner or later will break apart and be scattered?
The point of the teachings is to control your own mind. Keep your mind from greed, and you will keep your behavior right, your mind pure and your words faithful. By always thinking about the transience of your life, you will be able to resist green and anger, and will be able to avoid all evils.
If you find your mind tempted and so entangled in greed, you must suppress and control the temptation; be the master of your own mind.
A man's mind may make him a Buddha, or it may make him a beast. Misled by error, one becomes a demon; enlightened, one becomes a Buddha. Therefore, control your mind and do not let it deviate from the right path.
You should respect each other, follow my teachings, and refrain from disputes; you should not, like water and oil, repel each other, but should, like milk and water, mingle together.
Study together, learn together, practice my teachings together. Do not waste your mind and time in idleness and quarreling. Enjoy the blossoms of Enlightenment in their season and harvest the fruit of the right path.
The teachings which I have given you, I gained by following the path myself. You should follow these teachings and conform to their spirit on every occasion. If you neglect them, it means that you have never really met me. It means that you are far from me, even if you are actually with me; but if you accept and practice my teachings, then you are very near to me, even though you are far away.
My disciples, my end is approaching, our parting is near, but do not lament. Life is ever changing; none can escape the dissolution of the body. This I am now to show by my own death, my body falling apart like a dilapidated cart.
Do not vainly lament, but realize that nothing is permanent and learn from it the emptiness of human life. Do not cherish the unworthy desire that the changeable might become unchanging.
The demon of worldly desires is always seeking chances to deceiver the mind. If a viper lives in your room and you wish to have a peaceful sleep, you must first chase it out.
You must break the bonds of worldly passions and drive them away as you would a viper. You must positively protect your own mind.
My disciples, my last moment has come, but do not forget that death is only the end of the physical body. The body was born from parents and was nourished by food; just as inevitable are sickness and death.
But the true Buddha is not a human body - it is Enlightenment. A human body must die, but the Wisdom of Enlightenment will exist forever in the truth of the Dharma, and in the practice of the Dharma. He who sees merely my body does not truly see me. Only he who accepts my teaching truly sees me.
After my death, the Dharma shall be your teacher. Follow the Dharma and you will be true to me.
During the last forty-five years of my life, I have withheld nothing from my teachings. There is no secret teaching, no hidden meaning; everything has been taught openly and clearly. My dear disciples, this is the end.
In a moment, I shall be passing into Nirvana. This is my instruction."
his lips grew sweet with the praising, until a cynic said, 'so! I have heard you calling out, but have you ever gotten any response?'
the man had no answer for that.
he quit praying and fell into a confused sleep, where he dreamed. he saw khidr, the guide of souls in a thick green foliage.
- 'why did you stop praising?'
'because I never heard anything back.'
- 'this longing you express - is the return message. the grief you cry out from draws you toward union. your pure sadness that wants help is the secret cup.
listen to the moan of a dog for its master, that whining is the connection.
listen to the moan of a dog for its master, that whining is the connection.'
there are love dogs no one knows the names of, give your life to be one of them!
- Coleman Bark's rendition of 13th century sufi mystic Rumi's poetry
2.
The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, out of love for his Master, Lord of the Worlds, would stand up in the middle of the night to offer his gratitude to his Lord in prayer. He would pray for so long that his feet would swell!
When asked by his wife Aisha, being an exalted prophet and messenger who is already close to God, why he adored and worshiped God so much?
The Prophet's only response was: “Shall I not be a thankful servant of God?”
- sacred tradition of the Prophet recorded in the book of Bukhari and Muslim collection.
3. When asked what his favorite name was, the Prophet used to say, 'AbduLlah' - 'servant of Allah'.
Seminar on al-Hikam of Ibn Ataillah with Shaykh Yahya Ninowy, Shaykh abdur-Rasheed and Shaykh Nooruddeen Durkee
If the Divine opens a door for you, thereby making the Divine Self known, pay no heed if your deeds do not measure up to this.
For, in truth, the Divine Self has not opened it for you but out of a graceful will to make the Self known to you.
Do you not know that Divine is the One Who presented the knowledge of the Self (ta'aruf) to you, whereas you are the one who presented the Divine with deeds?
What a difference between what the Divine brings to you and what you present to the Divine Self!
- Al-Hikam of Ibn Ata Illah, translation inspired from Victor Danner (Abdul Jabbar)
1.
On the first weekend of November, 2008 the Green Mountain Branch of the Shadhdhuli School of Tasawwuf organized and hosted a two day seminar on Al-Hikam, considered a classical masterpiece in spiritual / sufi literature - written and compiled by sufi master of 13th / 14th century Ibn Ata Illah. Al Hikam is essentially a book of sufi aphorisms containing timeless and pure spiritual wisdom for the seekers of illumination.
The Author of al-Hikam, Shaykh Ahmad ibn Muhammad Ibn Ata'illah as-Sakadari (d. 1309) is the third successor (khalifah) of the Shadhdhuli, one of the major sufi order. He was born and grew up in Alexandria (Iskandar), Egypt where he met his sufi master Shaykh Abul Abbas al-Murshi, the successor of Imam Abul-Hasan as-Shadhdhuli the eponymous 'founder' of the Shadhdhuli sufi lineage, May God be pleased with them all. Ibn Ata'illah is given the credit for the systematizing the teachings of his two predecessors who did not leave any written works. So the branch of Shadhdhuli school of sufism is truly indebted to him as well as the science of tasawwuf in general.
His collection of aphorisms known as al-Hikam which are the pure nectar of the teachings of Shaykh ash-Shadhdhuli. The outer simplicity of al-Hikam veils the depth and profundity of their meanings and are best understood if read and considered over a long period of time, preferably under the tutelage of a shaykh with inner knowledge.
2. During the 2 day seminar held at the Islamic Study Center in Charlottesville, Virginia - the distinguished speakers were Shaykh Muhammad Yahya Ninowy, Shaykh Nooruddeen Durkee and Shaykh Ahmed abdur-Rasheed who touched and commented upon the hikam of Ibn Ata Illah.
Shaykh Abdullah Nooruddeen Durkee, the Director of Green Mountain School and organizer of the seminar started the seminar by giving a background on Ibn Atallah, the author of Al Hikam and his sufi lineage the Shadhiliyya School of Sufism.
Shaykh Ninowy started his talk on Al-Hikam with an introduction to the science of tasawwuf or sufism. He is one of the most gifted speaker I have ever come across. Most of the audience was captivated with his heart-warming eloquence, depth of wisdom and sense of humor too, that he brought into the explanation of the hikam.
Click the links below to listen to his 4 talks from the 2 days (mp3):
Shaykh abdur-Rasheed also spoke on Hikam with insight and we had wonderful singing and praising (nasheed, hamds) by beautiful voices who made the seminar wholesome and touched everyone's heart deeply.
Ana al-Haqq | Mansur al-Hallaj and quicksand of Unicity
"If you do not recognize God, at least recognise His sign; I am the creative truth - Ana al-Haqq, because through the Truth, I am eternal Truth."
"Divine Love is that you remain standing in front of your Beloved: When you are deprived of all your attributes, then His attributes become your attributes, your qualities."
- Mansur al-Hallaj, may God be pleased with him
1.
'Ana al Haqq' meaning 'I am the Truth' was the famous (and controversial) pronunciation of the intoxicated sufi mystic Mansur al-Hallaj (858 - March 26, 922) for which the literalist orthodox establishment condemned him of blasphemy since 'Haqq' or Absolute Truth is a Holy Attribute of the Divine (one of the 99 Sacred and Revealed Name in Islamic Wisdom Tradition). The proclamation of 'Ana al Haqq' was controversially interpreted as his self-proclaim of divinity, and consequently he was executed for heresy charge at the hands of the Abbasid rulers.
This charge was controversial because the proclamation in ecstasy of a mystic in his or her ecstatic state (haal) is not legitimate to be used against, thus some scholars believe that he was charged more because of political reason than theological point (similar to the false charge of blasphemy against Jesus Christ, peace be upon him, which was more of a political move than anything, to protect from the naked challenges that Christ was posing to the then corrupt Jewish orthodox establishment).
2. Interestingly enough archetypal master of the sufi mystics to whom goes back all sufi lineage, Prophet Muhammad, may God's peace and blessings be upon him is recorded to have said the following: "He who has seen me has seen the Truth (al-Haqq)."
This statement is recorded in the authority of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri and found in sound hadith collection of Bukhari and Muslim. Although there is a qualitative difference between the saying of Mansur al-Hallaj and Prophet Muhammad, yet they seemingly point to the same reality and amidst all of it reside a divine paradox.
The Divine paradox continues and intensifies if we look at the Quranic affirmation that everything that is created, is created with Truth (al-Haqq).
Khalaqa alssamawati waal-arda bi al-Haqqi ..
He created heaven and earthly manifestation with the truth (al-Haqq). - The Quran, 16:3
At the same time in the same place of the Quranic chapter 'An-Nahl', above and below it is warned against the quicksand of unicity. The very verse (16:3) goes on to say, taAAala AAamma yushrikoona, meaning: Highly exalted be the Divine above what they associate. Thus the Highest Divine Essence is beyond comparison and any association with It in any form or shape is falsehood, intense veil of Supreme Divine Reality.
The next verse thus points to that quicksand by reminding the created nature of human being, in a sense to remind that man is man, God is God; creation is always creation, Creator always remains in the exalted status of Creator.
God has created man from a drop of fluid; and behold this same becomes an open disputer! - The Quran 16:04
3.
Despite Mansur al-Hallaj's ecstatic proclamation, he sums up his sincerity to Divine Oneness in the following writing: "Allah, Most High, is the very One Who Himself affirms His Unity by the tongue of whomsoever of His creatures He wishes. If He affirms His Unity in my tongue it is He Who does so, and it is His Affair. Otherwise, my brother, I myself have nothing to do with affirming Allah's Unity."
4. "O God! Strike through me at the false in all of its manifestations in all places and locations, that I might refute by the Truth in the Presence of the Most True.
Plunge me into the Seas of Oneness containing all thing complex and simple.
Remove me from the quicksand of Unicity to the Undelimited Space of Oneness, that is far removed from any releasing and binding; and drown me in the Source of the Sea of Singularity of Witness, until I do not see and I do not hear and I do not suffer and I do not feel except by it, descending and ascending, as it is without ceasing to exist."
- from the prayer of Ibn Mashish, the Qutb of his time, may God sanctify his Sirr.
Mystic Poetry of Mansur al-Hallaj | Translated by Bernard Lewis
1. 'I am the One whom I love'
I am the One whom I love, and the One whom I love is myself. We are two souls incarnated in one body; if you see me, you see Him, if you see Him, you see us.
2. 'Your spirit is mingled with mine'
Your spirit is mingled with mine as wine is mixed with water; whatever touches you touches me. In all the stations of the soul you are I.
3. 'Kill me, my faithful friends'
Kill me, my faithful friends, For in my being killed is my life.
Love is that you remain standing In front of your Beloved When you are stripped of all your attributes; Then His attributes become your qualities.
Between me and You, there is only me. Take away the me, so only You remain.
4. 'You glide between the heart and its casing '
You glide between the heart and its casing as tears glide from the eyelid.
You dwell in my inwardness, in the depths of my heart, as souls dwell in bodies.
Nothing passes from rest to motion unless you move it in hidden ways, O new moon!
Location: Dhaka, Bangladesh, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States
Knowing me is knowing nothingness. Knowing The Truth is knowing the Real. afterall we are all dispensable .. "And I do not make myself free of blame, for the human soul is inclined to ignorance, except what my Lord has mercy on. Surely my Lord is Forgiving, Merciful." (Quran, 12:53). ... "O my Lord! bestow wisdom on me, and join me with the righteous." (Quran, 26:83). . . "O my Lord, Sustainer of all that lives, Your real face is covered by Your dazzling effulgence. Kindly remove that covering and exhibit Yourself to Your pure devotee". (Isha Upanishad).
"When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky". (Buddha). "Satis Est, Domine, Satis Est" / It is Enough, O Lord, It is Enough. (St. Francis Xavier)
