On Eating

Eat the food a poor person would eat and leave the table without being full. Do not drink while eating and be sparing in the amount of water your drink. Do not accept special treatment while you eat; do not put on airs and affectations. Do not ever show your hunger. Measure the amount of food you eat so that you only partially satisfy your need. Your bites should be neither large nor small. Remember God at each bite, and chew well before you swallow. Each time you swallow, give time for the food to descend in your stomach and praise the Lord. The practice of the faithful while eating is not to listen to the appetite of the flesh but to eat whatever is in front of one. Eating is a form of worship, so your movement should be controlled. Do not look right and left or think of your errors and shortcomings: be in a state of thankfulness. If there are people sharing the meal with you, avoid looking at them, at what they eat and how they eat, and try to be the last to serve yourself. If someone comments on why you eat so little, be polite but do not respond. If you explain and apologize, beware of being hypocritical. Do not leave the table until it is cleared. Eat only at mealtimes: to eat in between is gluttonous. (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)

On Ablution

First wash your hands, intending to pull them away from the affairs of this world. Then wash your mouth, remembering and reciting God’s name. Wash your nose wishing to inhale the perfumes of the divine. Wash your face feeling shame, and intending to wipe from it arrogance and hypocrisy. Wash your forearms trusting God to make you do what is good. Wet the top of your head feeling humility and wash your ears wishing to hear the address of your Lord. Wash from your feet the dirt of the world so that you won’t stain the sands of Paradise. Then thank and praise the Lord, and send prayers of peace and blessings upon our Master, who brought the cannon of Islam and taught them to us. (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)

First, You Must Search Out Your Master!

O seeker who wishes to find salvation, the first thing you must do is to search out a master who will see your faults and show them to you. You may travel far and wide trying to escape yourself, but it is a master who will save you from slavery under the tyranny of your ego. Do it now, because whatever one has now is better than the best one imagines one will have tomorrow. When you find him you must behave like a dead body in the hands of the one who gives it its last ablution. You must be ready to accept your master as he is. Never criticize or find any fault in him, even if he acts against religious canons. No man is faultless. All men err and sin and are not safe from wrong. You are not a judge seeking someone guilty; you are someone guilty seeking a judge who is just. Do not hide anything from your teacher, an idea or an intention, be it bad or good. Do not ever sit where he sat. Do not wear anything he wore. Place yourself across from him with dignity and good manners, like a slave in front of his master. When he asks you for something or orders you to do something, open your ears and use your mind to understand exactly what he wants. Don;t do anhything without being absolutely sure that it is what he willed. Don’t seek the reasons why he wills what he wills. If you have to ask something from him, do not expect or insist upon an answer. You must tell him your dreams, but do not insist on an interpretation. Don’t listen to people who talk against him, for it will produce opposition to him within you. If you know people who oppose him, leave them alone: neither fight with them nor keep their company. Leave them to God, who will see to them. Love those who praise your master and serve their needs as you would your own. If your master divorces his wife, don’t ever marry her or have anything to do with her. Even with the best of intentions, never enter his house without his permission. You must stay as close as possible to him without making yourself noticed. If he wishes to consult with you do not ask any questions or enter into discussion with him. Do not wish anything that he does not wish. If something comes to mind, keep it to yourself: do not exteriorize it. Follow the path he has indicated for you. It is thus that you will keep your noble station, the station achieved by the dignity of good behavior. That is the tie between you and him. When you consult him about a matter concerning yourself, do it if he approves, do not do it if he disapproves – but if he told you to do it and gets angry at you for doing it, stop doing it. This change of mind is for your good, yet he will regret it. Remembering later that you bore no fault in it, he will find himself responsible and feel pain. He will try to repair what he did to you and at the same time you will keep your dignity and your good conduct. Beware: bad feelings toward the master are only found in students who are lazy, who do not do what they are supposed to do, and had the wrong intentions to begin with. Don’t oppose any of the master’s actions or ask his reasons. Always be obedient. Be humble towards students whom your master favors above you. Even in his absence, sit properly, stand properly and talk properly in accordance with good behavior, as if he were there and looking at you. Do not walk in front of him unless it is dark. Do not look him in the eye – if you do, it will reduce your respect for him and take the beautiful feeling of shame from your heart. Don’t sit in front of him unless it is necessary, but wait behind the door, so that you can be there immediately when he wants you. Do not go anywhere, even if it is to visit your father, without his permission. When you come into his presence the first time, kiss his hand and remain standing until he asks you to sit. Protect his property. If you bring him something to eat, bring what he likes, in the amount he likes, the way he likes it. Don’t stare at him while he eats. When he finishes, clear the table immediately. If there is anything left on his plate and he asks you to eat it, do so, for there is blessing in it. Don’t be envious of what he eats and don’t count his mouthfuls. Work hard always, that is what will please your master. Always wish good for him and expect good from him. Yet beware that he might trick you, for sometimes masters purposely do this to test their students. Be heedful and very careful when you are with him. If you do something inappropriate in his presence, thinking that he will not see it, know that he sees it very well for he sees everything you do and whatever passes inside you. He merely pretends that he does not, because he does not wish you to be punished. On the other hand, if he chastises you and punishes you and hurts your feelings, accept it without resentment. As long as he is pleased with you and approves of what you do, your love and respect for him will increase. And as long as your humbleness and obedience toward him increase, your presence will grom in his heart and your state will improve. When your master is on a journey, keep the times when you usually meet him, and at the place where he sits, salute him inwardly as if he were there. It is not for you to ask him where or why he travels. When he consults you about a matter, know that he is not asking your opinion because he needs it, but as a sign of appreciation and kindness. Your answer should be, “You know best.” Above all beware of opposing what he wishes to do. Even if you are absolutely sure that what he is doing is wrong, help him to do it and keep your thoughts to yourself. On the Sufi path one advances only as one’s master advances. Your hand is in the hand of your master, and the hand of your master is in the hand of God. Talking, discussing and interpreting are not going to get you anywhere. The path to truth is to follow instructions without interpreting them, for the understanding of secrets belongs to those who know them. If you say, “I think he means this or I suspect he wants that.” Trying to interpret your master’s orders, you are really only trying to escape from doing what you must: best sit and cry over your failure! All disasters that befalls a student comes from interpreting the indications of the master. This all is the play of the ego. The mind, the true Reason, does not accept interpretation, it is not either this or that. There is an origin and a reason for every order; the true intelligence is anxious to fulfill it. Even if you know what should be done next, don’t do it or even think about it until your master so instructs you. Accept your master’s every action, his whole way of living. The way he eats, drinks, sleeps, and behaves is his business, and you should have no opinions or comments on it. For your own sake, enter your master’s life only when invited. Don’t say, “Master, shall we eat together at home?” or “If you are not coming to such and such a place, should i go?” Youa re then trying to make him ask you to eat with him – indeed, to lie down with him! Instead of bringing you together, this will drive you apart, for it will decrease the love and appreciation and respect for you in his heart. If these feelings disappear, the tie is broken and that student will never find salvation or peace. Whoever says otherwise knows neither the path nor himself. O seeker, see to it that your relations with your master are as I have described: may God so will. Know also that the beginning of this path is repentance. You must try to make even your enemies pleased with you. Forget their tyranny and shed tears for the time that you have spent fighting anything but your ego. Be a friend to knowledge: there is no one who is free from fault and sin. To make public accounting of the wrongs you have done in the attempt to show your master that you are repenting is in itself hypocritical and dangerous. The true sign of repentance is to leave what you have been doing, and from there on to be heedful, sincere, industrious, and pure. (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)

The Creation of Adam

The One whose great light shines upon this world and the next and through whose bounty Adam’s plain clay produced a rose garden. In the blink of an eye His boundless power shaped the universe, visible and invisible. He had only to speak Kun (Be!) and all matter became. This one potent word moved the Divine Pen, which drew infinite beautiful shapes and designs on the void’s pristine tablet. The sound of this one word created both worlds, including our father Adam’s first mortal breath. As well as the mind given Adam in order that he know the universe, in order that he seek and find all causes. When Adam first saw himself as a being distinct from the rest of creation, he plunged deep into thought to discover what he was. His thoughts traveled from his being out to the vast cosmos; then from the totality, his thought returned to this partial world. The material world around was a fraudulent trivial thing, single, Like the number one, spread around, with all numbers being but its repetition. The worlds of matter and the spiritual realms were born through that single sound – breath. It came, and returned from whence it came. But here, there is no coming and going back. If you watch carefully, you see that coming here is the route of your return. Everything returns to its origin. Both worlds, one hidden from the eye and one seen, become one and the same, and are gone. Praise be to God who is before all time, who decided the beginning and the end of the two worlds in one breath. From the Gulshani Raz of Shabistari (1317 CE)

Working With What is Undefined

Everything that is created comes from the inner worlds. The energy of life flows from the uncreated emptiness out into the planes of manifestation. This is why events first constellate on the inner planes. As the energy of life comes into manifestation, it becomes more visible. At first it takes form as a pattern of energy, a fluid, dynamically flowing reality out of which the primal oneness of creation begins to differentiate itself. This is the archetypal dimension where undifferentiated energy constellates into the forms behind the physical world. Finally the energy of creation enters the physical plane and becomes part of the world of the senses, at which time it becomes fixed into matter, into a physical form or event. Once energy becomes embodied, takes form on the physical plane, it is fixed and more difficult to work with; it requires more effort to change. On the inner planes one can move energy through conscious attention, while on the physical place change often involves laborious effort. This new energy demands our attention and our participation, yet it is hardly visible, glimpsed mostly in dreams and visions. How can we work with what we do not know, what we cannot see? First we need to know that this energy is present, and that although it is invisible, our consciousness can become attuned to it. Like subatomic particles, which are visible only through their effects, this energy can become known through its signs, the way it interacts with us. This energy of oneness dynamically moves, interacts, and constellates in a new way. Because this energy is new and undefined, there are no fixed rules, and yet it has certain qualities that will define the nature of our participation with it. For example, it is so new that we ourselves must be as free as possible of our personal and collective conditioning in order to work with it. Also, this energy has an impersonal nature and a global dimension that require that we shift our focus away from our own individual inner journey and give ourself to the work of the whole. And it is an energy of life itself, and so it demands that we live it in all aspects of our ordinary everyday existence. This energy and the patterns through which is comes into creation cannot be defined or described with any exactness. Instead they require a new way of relating to life, of interacting with life as an energy flow rather than something fixed or static. If you try to grasp it as a defined concept you will be frustated, because it is too fluid and alive to be made concrete. As with flowing water, the moment you hold it, its essential quality of motion disappears. Yet through observing its movement we can come to know some of its qualities, how it flows, how it carries things along. The energy patterns of life are very dynamic, but if they are met with an attitude of receptivity and attention they can reveal to us their nature and how to work with them. This is a time of wonderful opportunity because we have the capacity to create our own destiny, to work directly with the energy of life as it comes into being. We may have to renounce our spiritual expectations and leave behind many patterns of conditioning. But there is a celebration waiting to be lived and we are being asked to participate. This shift is so fundamental that it requires courage and a sense of adventure. We do not know what will happen and yet we are standing on the edge of a new age that has arrived so completely we have barely noticed it. The danger is always to try to make something concrete and defined, to look for clear advice or an exact path to follow. But the mystic who swims in love’s infinite ocean knows that nothing real can be defined, it can only be glimpsed or hinted at. We need both commonsense and a commitment to what is new. We have to live the reality of what is here as well as the infinite possibilities of the future. This energy will affect us each in our own way, and will often go undetected because it is so new. We always look for what we know, for the way our conditioning has prepared us. What is wondrous and unexpected takes longer to accustom ourselves to. Nor do we realize the degree to which our intention, our attitude, our individual participation can affect the life of the whole and the way the future will unfold. At the dusk of a patriarchal era, we are still conditioned to being children who are told what to do. The future is here and waiting to be lived, and it carries the stamp of divine oneness. The energy that is needed to change everything has arrived, and although it has not yet come into manifestation, we can work with it. The energy of divine oneness is not separate from us, and individual consciousness has the capacity to become directly attuned to it. Through conscious attention we can work with this energy as it comes into manifestation. One of its qualities is that it carries within it the knowledge that is needed in order to work with it. This knowledge is also fluid, organic, relating directly to “the need of the time and the place and the people.” This is why the first task of the future is to learn how to be attentive and responsive. The knowledge of the future is too dynamic and too responsive to the changing conditions of the moment to be fixed. It is given freely, and only requires that we give it our undivided attention, that we say “yes” to the now. Through our conscious participation this knowledge is revealed to us; it comes alive through us. We are needed to help this energy come into being, to bring it alive in our world. Without our conscious cooperation the future will not be born in its full potential. We are the book in which the knowledge of oneness is being written.[] (Llewellyn Vaughan Lee. “Working With Oneness”. The Golden Sufi Center. California, 2002.) p. xv-xviii

"In each mirror, each moment. A new face reveals His beauty." - Fakhruddin Iraqi

"Jealousy and most of all your sufferings are from believing you know better than God" - Hafiz