Tuesday, July 3, 2012

The Unity of Being

Three different approaches are necessary for understanding the unity of being. There is a unity of essence, a unity of attributes, and a unity of action. The unity of essence is the concept that there is only one existencem one cause – inconceivable, unknowable, yet responsible for the existence of all and everything. The quality, the character, the attributes, the identity of all and everything are the manifestation of this one cause. Every existence is related to it, and every action of every created thing is caused by and connected to it. Everything is from God, and yet is not God. He is before the before and after the after. He is the outer and the inner, the visible and invisible. His outward manifestation is the unity of everything, and still He is hidden in His Oneness. In the beginning, there was nothing but He. Right this moment, there is nothing but He. He is infinite – therefore, He will be when all is gone. His actions are unceasing and change constantly, no two are alike. Therefore there is none like Him, and there is none other than He. Whoever does not see this blind in this life, and whoever is blind here will be blind in the Hereafter. Mullah Jami’ says, “Look at the whole creation under one single light, so that you will see the truth. There is only one light, but under that light different things are seen. The light unites all. This is the meaning of the unity of being.” That light erases the doubt and ugliness of imagination. The human being whose heart is freed of this ugliness sees the one, the most perfect, the most beautiful existence. There is no more harm, confusion, or deformity; all is right and true and beautiful. Such a one sees his own imaginary existence as a manifestation of the true existence, and thus passes from his existence to the true existence. He sees all humanity and all the created world as faultless, perfect and beautiful, for truth is beautiful. And all is united in love. (The Tree of Being:Shajarat al-kawn. An Ode to the Perfect Man. Interpreted by Shaykh Tosun Bayrak al-Jerrahi al-Halveti. Archetype Pub. London, 2005)

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