posted September 24, 2012 08:30 AM            

Otherness and ignorance are one. Sight is in the eye, thought is in the mind, feeling is in the heart. Without sight one could not perceive, without mind one could not conceive, without heart one could not achieve. Success consists of finding the true purpose of body, mind and heart; it does not consist in dominating anything outside ourselves, although this may naturally follow because of the laws of attunement and correspondences. But the supreme satisfaction, the supreme success, the only lasting victory is to find what we are, to know what we are.

posted September 25, 2012 06:32 PM            

For only such possess all powers, faculties and gifts - yet they possess nothing. Possessions are burdens, which impede progress; possessions are blocks that prevent the free flow of energy, hindering the electricity of life from flowing freely through the veins of nature. There can be no pretense here, neither the desire to give nor to receive. Freedom is necessary and freedom is impossible when one is not free from thoughts.

The master of thought does not "think" in the ordinary sense of the term, nor does he or she love in the ordinary sense. What thought may come through one, what love may pass through one, is the natural concomitant of one's life and realization. Of this it is impossible to say much in words.

posted September 25, 2012 10:10 PM            

quote:

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I suspect you are the only one reading it

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Not so

I check it daily, and frequently agree with there sayings

So cheers for posting, one thing I would say is place the particular date in its heading?

posted September 25, 2012 11:30 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by juniperb:
Thanks linda, I suspect you are the only one reading it . BUT, my hope is to get it out here and balance the energies & let the wisdom emit.

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Nah, Juni, I think there are many (like Lei) who read and move on. I'm just a bit more expressive, that's all. You know my love for words This is a great thread, 'cause I can't imagine anyone reading it and not feeling inspired. So please do keep it going.

posted September 25, 2012 11:41 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Lei_Kuei:
Not so

I check it daily, and frequently agree with there sayings

So cheers for posting, one thing I would say is place the particular date in its heading?

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Yeah, good idea Lei!

You know you'd asked me a question on that Jesus being married thread, but by the time I came back to it, the thread was locked. A shame 'cause I wanted to discuss what you'd asked some more.

Then I saw you'd started a new thread and I thought oh good now I'll be able to discuss this, but when I found time to actually post, I found that thread was locked too!

All these locked threads! Oh well!

I'll have to find some other way to do it, maybe start a new thread addressed to you or smth down the road.

posted September 25, 2012 11:51 PM            

Also, my locked thread about Yeshua is rebooted on UC, its just glitched/bugged out, happens on occasion. It kept eating posts lol

posted September 26, 2012 08:03 AM            

In order to relieve the hunger of others, we must forget our own hunger.

First, considering physical want: food or clothing should be given with a blessing, with a feeling that imparts life to another. The mere presentation of something without this feeling may turn a gift into a curse, for every particle of such food may bring life or disease. Only by removing the idea of self therefrom can we be sure that it will bring life.

Then, considering the knowledge to be given to another - even the knowledge of the world: you cannot teach geography, arithmetic, language or anything to another if you put self into the picture. Self does not belong there. And so when it comes to satisfying the hunger of the heart, we feed others either with our personal food or with that drawn from the universe. If we give of this for the sake of getting, poison is transferred and hunger is followed by death. But if in the giving we consider it our duty - whether spiritual or ethical duty - then someone is benefited and perhaps all concerned are benefited.

posted September 29, 2012 12:26 PM            

It is when one has lost the idea of separateness and feels himself at one with all creation that one's eyes are opened and one sees the cause of all things.

This is the union of feeling and knowledge. As Krishna has so beautifully expressed it, "To one ever attached to Me, worshipping Me in love, I give that union to knowledge by which one comes to Me." Such universal expression alone is valuable. Separating self from self, we place boundary marks upon knowledge and so make omniscience impossible.

People speak about higher mind and completeness of mind. There can be no such completeness without love. Even if love takes that cool form called interest it is something, for without that interest there would be no knowledge. And what is interest? It is a turning and a tuning - a turning and a tuning often quiet similar to the process by which one attains to any or every goal sought.

posted September 29, 2012 12:27 PM            

To fall beneath one's ideal is to lose one's share of life.

That is to say, since the ideal is the highest of concepts, the whole of the vital force for which one has capacity cannot be expressed or felt unless act, speech and thought are in harmony with it. The practice of "tassawuri Murshid" as well as Darood by Sufis make it possible to retain some relationship, even identity, with the ideal at all times. The average person, not knowing these principles, often has no means by which he can maintain his state, so he or she rises and falls and is subject to both joy and sorrow.

Actually life is expressed through the ideal, the ideal in this event being higher than the idea. Idea is a thought which is connected with nufs; ideal, while not always free from nufs, is in the direction of independence from nufs. To attain to any ideal, no matter what its characteristics, one must remove the nufs from one's path. Therefore, selfishness is a bar even to passion, crime and aggrandizement. Fortunately the wicked people do not generally know this so they are caught by their own misdeeds.

posted September 29, 2012 12:28 PM            

The wise of all ages have taught that it is knowledge of the Divine being that is life and the only reality.

That is to say, Ilm is knowledge and knowledge is nothing but Ilm. Worldly knowledge is symbolical - the application of names to processes - but understanding of the process requires a subtle union with it. Naming a thing does not bring knowledge of it. One can distinguish electricity from magnetism and light, but what is electricity? What is magnetism? What is light? We know only so far as our senses tell us or as our limited mind has opportunity to convey some idea.

Yet from a certain point of view, there is a great reality in electricity, in magnetism and in light beyond their phenomenal appearance and even beyond noumenal conception. There is a reality which can be experienced in Zikar, in which state the three are one; one will then know, without always being able to explain, that they are certain aspects of life which appear more clearly when seen in the mineral (or chemical) world. They are present in vital processes, though more hidden, and when we come to humanity we observe other forms of magnetic behavior closely interwoven with the personality. This shows that true magnetism is connected with life.

Above and beyond the sphere of mind is Ishk, the Universal Subtle Energy which is what we call love. Comprehension of Ishk is Ilm, but neither Ishk nor Ilm is possible without union with the Supreme Being, at least in the form included in Darood. That union is still possible in name and form, for "Baka" is the goal of all. That is to say, the expression of the Divine Light and Love through our personalities. This brings all knowledge and all gifts.

posted October 01, 2012 08:55 AM            

When the stream of love flows in its full strength, it purifies all that stands in its way, as the Ganges - according to the teaching of the ancients - purifies all those who plunge into its sacred waters.

The real Ganges, the real Jordan, the real Red Sea is the heart of man and its tributaries. Heart heals body, heart heals mind, heart heals heart, heart heals all that pertains to the self, heart heals all that pertains to others (that is to say to the phenomenal non-self). Heart takes one above the realm of self and non-self, heart is the throne of Unity. All the teaching of Sufism is to bring one to this great realization of Heart. This secret is described in Nirtan but not revealed. It cannot be revealed if by revelation one means making clear some mystery for the head. It will always be a mystery to the mind; it need never be a mystery to the heart.

This realization is the most important thing in life, in the highest sense. It is the eternal life which is possible whenever one lays down the ego and surrenders gladly. Without that surrender there is no plunge into the Ganges, there is no division of the Red Sea or drying of Jordan. This supreme Unity is above mind, beyond the mind-mesh. In that realm Bhakti and Jnana become one.

posted October 01, 2012 08:57 AM            

Each soul's attainment is according to its evolution.

That is to say, the soul sees life openly insofar as it is uncovered and no longer veiled by its vehicles. Removal of matter, removal of mind, removal of heart - these are the three stages in the evolution (so-called) of soul.

posted October 02, 2012 09:15 AM            

It always means that you must sacrifice something very dear to you when God's call comes.

This includes sacrifice of all things, but as even the most selfish person does not attach value to all things, one only feels the sacrifice of what one has valued. It might be wealth, but the wealthy one may be quite willing to surrender worldly knowledge; it might be worldly knowledge, but the learned one may be quite willing to surrender his or her friends; it might be friendship, yet the philanthropist might be willing to sacrifice everything else. Yet hand, head and heart - in clinging - prevent one from accepting the Divine Grace freely given to all.

posted October 03, 2012 02:14 PM            

Renunciation is always for a purpose; it is to kindle the soul that nothing may hold it back from God, but when it is kindled the life of renunciation is not necessary.

Now renunciation is a letting go of things, but this does not make things depart. A man can surrender his title to his home, yet live in it. It is this surrender of the title that is important in the spiritual life. Bible teaches, "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof." What is meant by this fullness? It signifies that every blessing that comes to one while on earth comes from God.

posted October 04, 2012 09:31 AM            

There are those who are like a lighted candle: they can light other candles but the other candles must be of wax - - if they are of steel, they cannot be lighted.

Buzurg is one who can kindle the hearts of others even without speech; his or her personality alone may be able to accomplish this. Every one is a potential Buzurg, which is to say, Bodhisattva - the essential nature of the Sufi Buzurg being the same as that of the Buddhist Bodhisattva. Such a one is an instrument of the Spirit of Guidance, the incarnate spirit of the Divine Master.

Buzurg can affect most everybody, but in two ways. Some are like the wax candle, that once the heart is kindled it is always kindled. It may require some effort to light it, but once the flame appears the rest is sure. In these there is the fire of love. But others are like the piece of iron or steel which is magnetized in the presence of some force but does not retain its magnetism. Often these souls appear brilliant, even highly inspired in the presence of Buzurg, but elsewhere and otherwise they are no different from ordinary people.

The really hard-hearted ones have as much fire, as much energy, even as much love as others, but their direction in life is wrong; they become attached to this wrong direction and in the end lose all hope and all permanent success.

posted October 06, 2012 08:18 AM            

There is no greater scripture than nature, for nature is life itself.

Nature is both the forms we see and the essence permeating those forms. Without that life the forms would express neither beauty nor inspiration, for illumination of mind depends upon the kindling of both its thoughts and essence. Nature is more than the forms and yet dependent on forms. God created the world as a mirror to God's self, and the beauty of that mirror of Nature is the beauty of God. In that mirror we can study the reflection of God, in other words, of life.

posted October 06, 2012 08:20 AM            

Wisdom can only be learned gradually, and every soul is not ready to receive or to understand the complexity of the purpose of life.

By "soul" here, really "mind" is meant. Mind learns by a series of steps and stages, while heart learns at a single glance. Thus while some teach evolution and others revolution, while some teach gradual progress and others propound suddenness, there is truth in both. In one case, soul is identified with mind, in the other case with heart. Actually soul is neither mind nor heart, but in speaking of wisdom we refer to those vehicles. Wisdom is life itself reflected in the individual being.

posted October 07, 2012 10:30 AM            

It is a very high stage on the path of love when one really learns to love another with a love that asks no return.

This is the real condition on the path of love: that one gives out love and asks no return. So long as one expects love from another creature, of whatever degree, that is reflected love. It is only in God and from God that giving and receiving are one and the same. Heart feeds heart and nothing else feeds heart. Heart can feed heart of self, mind of self, body of self; heart can also feed heart of another, mind of another, body of another. All healing, all help, all love come from heart, which is to say, they come from God Who is hidden in the heart of every one.

posted October 08, 2012 07:32 AM            

Love alone is the fountain from which all virtues fall as drops of sparkling water.

Virtue is life itself as reflected in the moral nature of man. By moral nature is meant that which qualifies life, speech, thought, action. This moral nature is connected with essence of mind, and this essence of mind (Citta) really belongs to heart.

Every virtue is an outpouring of life - that is to say, of Ishk as Ishk touches the surface. In the depths it is Ishk; on the surface it becomes the various moral qualities, or as Shakespeare has beautifully put it, "The Quality of mercy is not strained, it droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven."

posted October 09, 2012 03:33 PM            

The whole purpose of life is to make God a reality.

Now life is nothing but God, and God's purpose in the creation was to know Himself and love Himself and express Himself. This is the supreme purpose and the essence of purpose: it is the seed of the purpose of every individual entity taking form on any plane.

posted October 10, 2012 05:07 PM            

If you seek the good in every soul, you will always find it, for God is in all "things". Still more God is in all "beings".

The "thing-ness" in things is that which holds the particles together into a unity. And what is this? It is cohesion, in other words, love. And what is it that keeps beings as beings? It is also a form of cohesion which, while sometimes called life, is really Ishk. Without Ishk there could be no form, no entities - not even thoughts - for there would be no coherence, only Chaos. And what is Ishk? It is the essential quality which characterizes the personality of God, so that God is not only emptiness but also absolute fullness.

posted October 11, 2012 09:31 AM            

**
This one is dedicated to Lei_K

The knowledge of God is beyond human reason. The secret of God is hidden in the knowledge of unity.

The knowledge of God precedes illumination of mind and causes it. It is not strictly speaking acquired by any accumulative method. In this sense, there is no evolution. Yet there also is evolution in the sense that, as the heart awakens the mind does grow. Illumination of mind is the result of knowledge of God, not the cause of it. Therefore mystics and scholars have practiced meditation.

To the mystic meditation means the centering of all the consciousness on Supreme Deity, the nature or characteristic of which is definite. That is to say, God is love, mercy and all the attributes, and while knowledge of the attributes is not knowledge of God, attainment of the Supreme includes such knowledge. That is to say, "Ilm" or supreme knowledge includes "Hakma" or universal science.

Now the scholar, while he does not always recognize heart as the center of the intuitive faculty, often finds it advantageous to clear his mind of all concepts - not only of false concepts but of all concepts - to facilitate its operation. Therefore the scholar can often be raised to a higher degree through his own processes. This is the way of Jnana.

Sufis include all systems in their sciences and regard the Divine Knowledge not as the "only valuable" knowledge but as the "only" knowledge. In other words, all knowledge is knowledge of God, but many people do not know it.