We often forget how intrinsic good character is to the Sufi path. People often focus upon awrad and wazaif or their complements such as visions and spiritual experiences and forget that the true testing ground of the Sufi is his/her interaction with fellow creatures. So here are a few reminders.
” God has shaped the character of the wali’ on nothing but generosity” says a tradition sometimes described as a hadith and a saying sometimes ascribed to Sayyidna Ali (ra) informs us “Sufism is good nature, he who has the better nature is the better sufi”. Imam al-Qushayri (ra) cites a dictum describing sufism as “an open hand and a good heart”, but perhaps one the the most thought provoking sayings on this subject is from his master Ustad Abu Ali ad-Daqqaq (ra) who says, ” Sufism is a path which is only right for people with whose spirits God sweeps the dunghills”.
The Purpose of Zen
Over the course of centuries, Zen has branched out into different schools with individual methods, but the purpose is still the same- to point directly to the human mind (read heart).
Changing Methods
Zen teachers of true vision and great liberation have made changes in method along the way, to prevent people from sticking to names and forms and falling into rationalizations.
Half-Baked Zen
What is most difficult to rectify is half-baked Zen, where you stick to quiet stillness and consider this the ultimate treasure, keeping it in your heart, radiantly aware of it all the time, carrying around a bunch of mixed up knowledge and understanding, claiming to have vision and to have attained the approval of a Zen master, just increasing your egotism.
Zen Master Yuanwu
“Take heed, o people of understanding!”
Labels and Objective Truth
Because you grasp labels and slogans, you are hindered by those labels and slogans, both those used in ordinary life and those considered sacred. Thus, they obstruct your perception of objective truth and you cannot understand clearly.
Supernormal Faculties
The six supernormal faculties of the enlightened are the ability to enter the realm of form without being confused by form, to enter the realm of sound without being confused by sound, to enter the realm of scent without being confused by scent, to enter the realm of flavor without being confused by flavor, to enter the realm of feeling without being confused by feeling, to enter the realm of phenomena without being confused by phenomena.
Zen Teaching
I have no doctrine to give people- I just cure ailements and unlock fetters.
Zen Master Linji.
There are many misconceptions about the nature of the spiritual path, the role and function of spiritual masters and the need or otherwise for a connection with a spiritual tradition. In fact in our times the water is muddied even more by the proliferation of charlatans, half-baked teachers and the lack of a clarity of intention on the part of seekers. In such a situation it is always helpful to have recourse to the words of ancient masters as a kind of touchstone or compass by which we may re-orient ourselves. It is with this in mind that I present some sayings of the Zen masters who by not being “sufis” may be said to be doubly objective. Just read Sufi in place of Zen.
Uncritical Acceptance
You take the words of these ordinary Zen teachers for the real Way, supposing that Zen teachers are incomprehensible and as an ordinary person you dare not assess these old timers. You are blind if you take this view all your life, contrary to the evidence of your own two eyes.
Tourist Traps
At Zen centres they say there is a Way to be practiced and a religious truth to be realized. Tell me, what religious truth is realized , what way is practiced? In your present functioning, what do you lack? What would you fix? Young newcomers, not understanding this, immediately believe these mesmerists and let them talk about things that tie people up.
Adding Mud to Dirt
There are Zen students who are in chains when they go to a teacher, and the teacher adds another chain. the students are delighted, unable to discern one thing from another. This is called a guest looking at a guest.
Zen Master Lingi.
Found this excellent talk by Prof. William Chittick on the sufi understanding of Adam’s fall. I first came across this in an article called Ahmad Samani on the Myth of Adam’s Fall by Dr Chittick published a number of years ago in Sufi. It’s an illuminating talk which introduces the brilliant work of Shaykh Ahmad Samani (ra) on the Divine Names. One can only hope that Dr Chittick finds time from his other projects to translate more of Shaykh Samani’s work. You can listen to it by going here. Thanks to Islam from Inside for making it available.
This is a haunting rubai from the great Sufi saint Hz Sultan Bahu (ra). When sung the sound of the elongated HU* at the end of each line is especially moving.
Ay tan Rabb sache da hujra te pa faqeera chati, HU
na kar mintan Khawaj Khizr diyan tere andar aab hayati, HU
shawq da dewa baal hunairey matay lab peye wast karati, HU
maran tu aggay mar rehe Bahu jinnan ramz puchate , HU.
(This body of yours is the True Lord’s dwelling, so mystic look inside! HU
Don’t beg favours of Master Khizr, the water of life is within you. HU
Illuminate the darkness with the lamp of longing, then perhaps you’ll find what you’ve lost. HU
They die before they die, Bahu, those who understand the riddle of Truth. HU)
Hz Sultan Bahu (ra)
* Hu meaning He stands for the Divine Essence.
Hz Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi (r.a.) explains the relationship between the Shariah (law), the Tariqah (way) and the Haqiqah (Truth/Reality) thus:
The Law is like a lamp: It shows the way. Without a lamp you will not be able to go forward. When you enter the path your going is the Way. And when you reach the goal, that is the Truth.
The Law may be compared to learning the theory of medicine. The Way involves avoiding certain foods and consuming certain remedies on the basis of this theory. Then the Truth is to find everlasting health and to have no need for theory or practice.
When man dies to the life of this world, the Law and the Way will be cut off from him and only the Truth will remain………The law is knowledge, theWay is works and the Truth is attainment to God.
Masnavi BK 5 (Intro)
Quite angry and sad at the present state of affairs in Pakistan. It seems that the politicians are up to their old games yet again. Do these people ever learn I ask myself? Their lack of vision, indecisiveness, putting personal interests before that of the country and political blunders is what makes many except the dictators when they come marching in. People feel relieved despite the evils of dictatorship.
Anyway, here’s a very recent article by Javed Chaudry which relating to the “deadlock” on the Judicial crisis. JC is an excellent columnist and one of my favorites.
Love has nothing to do with the five senses and the six directions:
its goal is only to experience the attraction exerted by the Beloved.
Afterwards, perhaps, permission will come from God:
the secrets that ought to be told will be told
with an eloquence nearer to the understanding
than these subtle confusing allusions.
The secret is partner with none but the knower of the secret:
in the skeptic’s ear the secret is no secret at all.
Masnavi BK 6 (5-8).
Separation is the most precious gift bestowed by the Beloved. The times of separation are times when great characters are formed. It is in these times that the inner man is woken, hidden and latent qualities and capabilities are brought forth. The remembrance of the Beloved keeps man awake at night and this waking causes treasures to be bestowed on man. The night of longing, of inner sorrow is the night of acquaintance with the Self. Man’s tears write a great destiny for him. The one who stays awake will never know misfortune.
The one who cries out of love is set free from the worries of the world. The prostration of love frees one from a thousand other prostrations………..Separation is not a loss. It is a trust which is only given to those deemed worthy, a trust which the mountains, the heavens and the earth refused to carry… that trust is a gift to the human heart from God. Love is not a treasure attained through knowledge or intellect. A bat does not possoess the heart of a moth, this is a special grace from God. For He is Beauty Itself and the story of love is nothing but the story of separation from Him.
In short, all are manifestations of the Beloved. If the Beloved is in vision it is the season of union and days of spring. If the Beloved in the heart, it is the season of separation and the days of “another” spring. In this spring of separation pearls are created and fresh flowers brought forth. This world is the valley of separation and the place of ardent longing. After this……after these manifestations of the Self (Dhat) there is the vision of the Self Itself. After this vision there is only the Self….neither why nor where….no blink of eyes….no place for heartbeats….absorption in Beauty….dumbfoundedness in the face of Splendour…no complaint of the difficulties of the journey….no awareness of ancient separations….knowledge neither of being or non-being. Union is only absorption!
Separation is intoxication. It is a river of tears in the desert of remembrance from which seekers fill goblets of the eternal wine whereby they die everyday and are brought to life everyday. The important truth is the bond with the Beloved…tis neither nearness nor distance.
Wasif Ali Wasif.
