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)

“He who knows himself, knows his Lord”

The truth of the attributes, the beautiful names of God, is infinite, and manifests in different ways at different times. The proof of Truth is in the realization of the oneness of all creation. Yet multiplicity is a part of the one. Unity manifests itself in multiplicity. With all their differences, and in the infinity of manifestation, the parts interconnect and add up to a whole. Whoever can find this in himself, knows his Lord. God has created the perfect human being in His own image – in the image of His attributes. Many Sufis believe that to be able to realize this unity of the self, one must obliterate the manifestation of many “I”s in oneself – in fact, one must deny them existence. Through intensive worship, fasting, meditation, and refusing the desires of the flesh, they attempt to submit their wills to the will of God, and to purify their behavior and habits. All of this discipline and effort is built on the assumption that these many “I”s that one is trying to give up actually exist. Yet there is no “I” other than God. There is nothing but He. How can one manage to give up something that never was? The only way to know your Lord is by knowing your nonexistence. Man is nothing but a mirror where God’s attributes are reflected. He is the one who sees Himself in that mirror. He is the only one who knows Himself. Neither the prophets, nor the angels, nor a perfect human being can know Him. When we recognize our nothingness and God’s totality, we attain the full scope of our knowledge of Him. (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)

How to Find God

The Creator can only be found through His creation. Everything is a witness to His existence. Without knowing the reality of reality, it is impossible to know God. Avicenna, a contemporary of Ibn ‘Arabi, claims that God can be found through rational thinking apart from the knowledge of His creation. Ibn ‘Arabi says that the manifestation of God is in His creation and it is impossible to know Him otherwise. Creation is continuous in the universe. Each event of creation is different: they are not repeated. The endless procession of uniqueness is a proof of infinite divine power. Every new action is a mirror where divine attributes are manifest, and in everyone of them there is a new and special knowledge. This is the only source of divine knowledge. If we look at the heavens, we see a sign of the manifestation of God’s attribute “The All-Covering Vastness.” The seemingly immeasurable ocean suggests the divine attribute of “The All-Comprehending.” We were to contemplate our own life, and the living things around us, we would understand the meaning of “The Ever-Living God” Should we look upon a person of knowledge, we would remember “The All-Knowing God.” In a doctor we would see the signs of “The All-Healing God.” And if we considered the human being, we would see the evidence of “The All-Uniting God.” The human wish to find our Lord can draw us to see His manifestations in everything around us and within us. Then the whole life and the universe becomes a book that teaches of the Lord, because every created being is nothing less than a manifestation of the beautiful names of the One who created it. We will also be aware of things opposite to each other, contradicting each other: the manifestation of the divine attribute of “The Guide” versus the manifestation of “The One Who Hinders”; “The Beneficial One” versus “The One Who Prevents.” In some moments of creation, one of these attributes overcomes; and in others, the other. Whenever “The Guide” and “The Beneficial One” are superior in quantity and quality, peace and prosperity are dominant. When that state decreases, difficulty and hindrance manifest themselves, and pain and poverty become dominant. This can occur within a single human being or in the whole of the world. In this way a creation where good is manifest exists in opposition to a creation where bad is manifest. That is why the people who are bound for Paradise do not like the people who are bound for Hell, and vice versa. There are animals also in which beneficial attributes predominate, other animals in which harmful attributes are manifest. Both of these animal qualities are in every human being. Those who are overwhelmed by the nature of wild animals are much worse than the worst of the actual animals, while those in whom beneficence prevails are raised to the level of angels. The saint Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi says, “O man, you side with the animal in you, and you side with the angel in you. Leave your animal nature behind so that you can rise above the angels!” Thus humanity must know the manifestation of divine attributes in the continuous creation around is, and find its equivalent in our own nature – for God has taught us all His names. If we do this, we will know our Lord in His infinite qualities. But at the same time that we see the immensity and perfection of the Creator, we will see the minuteness and imperfection of the qualities manifested in us. Then we will realize our nothingness and our total need of Him. That is the beginning of the realization of the human being as the servant and God as the Lord, which is the purpose of the creation. (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 Purpose of the Creation of Mankind

In his monumental work The Meccan Revelations, Ibn ‘Arabi claims that God created humanity in order to make Himself known. He bases his belief on the verse in the Qur’an where God says: I have only created jinn and men that they may worship me (Surah Zariyat, 56) The great commentator Ibn ‘Abbas gives the meaning of “to worship” as “to know”, stating that the purpose of man’s existence is to know God. God has created everything in perfect order, connecting everything with everything else, and connecting also, everything to Himself. He has manifested His attributes upon His creation, and regulates the actions of each thing in relation to the divine attributes bestowed upon it. Speaking through His Prophet, God says, “I was a hidden treasure, I loved to be known, and through this love I created creation.” God has honored humanity, His supreme creation with being a means of His becoming known. p.54 Just as God’s essence is incomparable with, and other than, His creation, so human being has no equal in creation as a manifestation of all His most beautiful names and attributes.God is Most Perfect and has created humanity perfectly. The human being contains all of the potential necessary for reaching the perfect state. As God is in need of nothing, He has made humanity in need of nothing but Himself. Thus God made man to know Him, and man is capable of knowing the truth and finding perfection. The practical meaning of “worship” in this Qur’anic verse is to abase oneself, to erase oneself in front of the Lord. The reward of that undertaking is a conscious connection between the created and the Creator. It is a means of coming close to Him and knowing Him. The Lord says: “Pray to Me so that I accept your prayers.” In the same divine verse, not only men but also jinn are mentioned, because in the whole of creation there are none but men and jinn who, with arrogance, claim to be Lords themselves, over everything that exists. Nothing else in creation is given the possibility of ownership. Nothing else can inherit. Nothing else can claim another of its own kind its slave. Nothing else can claim to represent God. Nothing else in the world is conscious, claiming to have life, power and will – the divine qualities of Ever-Living, All-Powerful, and Total-Will, which belong to God. The possibility of this claim is the meaning of “God has created man in His own image.” These manifestations of divine attributes in man, so misused by him, are also the connection and the relationship between us and our Lord, and a means for us to know our Lord. It is in consideration of man’s willfulness and arrogance that “worship” must signify self-abasement before it can mean knowledge of the Lord. For all the knowledge that human beings with their given intelligence can attain, is as nothing before God’s infinite greatness. We must bow our heads in cognizance of that fact. It is only through utter humbleness that we will be able to realize the purpose of our creation. But it is also true that someone who does not know his Lord already is incapable of erasing himself in the first place! (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)

“We are so conditioned by the idea that we have to struggle for what we want that it can be revolutionary to realize that we are being given something that only requires our acceptance and participation.” (Llewellyn Vaughan Lee)

On Friendship

The hardest thing for the one who has taken this path is to keep old friendships. The student aims to leave behind all his old habits and all that his ego desires. Friendship, though, is connection and closesness. Of all things, to leave one’s friend behind is the hardest and saddest. The one who wishes to come close to God must indeed distance himself from mankind. Yet when he does that, he is not necessarily with God – but he is necessarily alone. Worse, he may imagine himself to be with God. The best course is to distance oneself from one’s habitual friends and tie oneself to one’s master. One shouldn’t even become too close to the other students of the master, or be with them against the wish of the master. Like a beast in the jungle, a student should stay together with his own species. Those who wish to be with God and come close to Him should be independent of other people. They should remember, tie themselves to, and count upon God alone. When he is together with the other students, a seeker should feel that he is not with them, but with his master, and if he feels the absence of his master in the company of his friends, he should leave. If he feels no trace of the presence of his master in the conversation, and the conversation is totally secular and flippant, although it may be pleasant, he should escape from there. The same applies to the clothes you wear. If you like your clothes and feel that they suit you well, sell them or give them away and buy yourself clothes toward which you are neutral. If you like your room or your house, change it. Keep giving things away and changing your place until you have nothing that pleases you, that preoccupies you, that captures your heart – until you feel that you are left by yourself in this world without anything belonging to you. Know that God will not enter a heart where anything else resides. P 27 A heart devoid of God is sick; if the student did not have his master as a doctor, that sickness would cause his spiritual death. Though the sick at heart cannot be with the doctor always, one must live very close to him, and when in need, seek his help. Still the doctor knows best when to see the patient, and the master, when to see his student. His purpose is to see the student’s heart cured and renewed with the medication of remembrance of God and the diet of peace contained in trust in God. If you get involved in something without telling your master and he knows what you are doing from your behavior, it is a sign that your heart has opened to him and you are truly attached to him – for he can read your heart. Your relations with people should be gentle, generous and sincere. You should ask nothing from them, knowing that you have no rights over them and that everyone is better than you. The best thing is to have as little as possible to do with people. In any relationship people have rights over each other. If you have relationships with too many people and if you follow the right course in your relationships by giving them their due, you will not have much left with which to give God His due. If you are bankrupt like this, it is better to run away from the world and its demands. When you separate yourself from the friendship of this world, if your friends complain about it, admit that you deserve their reproach. If they praise you for it, do not accept their praise; think that they see their own good qualities in you. If you do this, God will hide your real state from them. Woe to the one whose real state becomes visible to others! Remember that he who praises you is your enemy, because he is the friend of your enemy, and he who condemns you is your friend, because he is the enemy of your enemy. Do not move around much. If you do, let your trips be of short duration. Too much moevement is disruptive. It prevents you from advancing toward your real goal. If you have to go somewhere, do not get distracted by what is on your right and what is on your left. Look where you are going; lower your eyes; watch your steps. Keep your mind on God and remember Him always. Do not stop to talk with this person or that, asking “How are you?” or “What are you doing?” Idle talk! But if someone gives you salutations. If you see a believing servant of God, offer God’s peace and blessingsto him as if to all the believers in heaven and earth. If you come across something that hinders your path, take it and remove it so that it does not hinder others. If you see something good that someone has lost, pick it up so that it is not trampled and put it somewhere visible on the side of the road. Show the right way to anyone who is lost. Help the weak. Share the load of the one who is havily burdened. Walk at a fast and steady pace. If you get tired, draw to the side and rest, being careful no to be in anyone’s way. Do not visit other teachers or participate in their meetings without the approval of your master. If your master permits you, you may go there to sit quietly and respectfully. Do not participate in their activities and ceremonies of remembrance, but do your own remembrance inwardly. This is better for you than to get involved in things you do not know. You may be affected by the hymns, the music, and the movements, and you may find yourself swaying. You may hear a hymn about death that casts fear into your heart, saddens you, and brings tears to your eyes so that you feel that life is passing, that the terror of death is near, and that there is a Day of Reckoning and punishment in Hell. All this excitement may seem like an invitation to get up and enter the circle of dhikr. Think twice! What is being said? What is being done? Who is saying it, what are his intentions? Is he sincere? If what you feel is a separation from your senses, and from this world, then get up and participate. That is not a voluntary decision. You are not doing it for yourself; what makes you participate is something else. As soon as you return to your senses, stop and sit, and assume your previous state. Moving in the ceremony of the Remembrance of God is a break from one’s usual temperance and sobriety. Then one either soars above the norm or sinks under it. When you feel your movements and your physical body, you are in descent. If you descent continues, you end up under seven layers of the material world and sink into the condition of Hell. If you lose your sense of yourself, of your movements, and of what is around you, then you leave yourself. Your heart ascends, filled with the might of Truth, to lofty celestial levels. One is either in Paradise or Hell. Those who see you may think you are in a state of rapture, in communion with God, but that may not be the case at all. So it is best to abstain from participation in the religious services of dervishes of other circles. If your need for friendship is too pressing, seek out friends who are sincere and righteous. Perchance you will find your master among them or through them. If you do not find such friends in the well-traveled quarters of cities and towns, seek them in lonely places, in ruined little mosques. What such people seek is in these lonely ruins, in deep valleys, or on top of inaccessible mountains. If you find them, try to be with them at the times of prayer. The most inept seekers are those who miss the times of prayer and come to the congregation late. If you are late, even though you came, you did not come together with the ones who are there. Those who are delayed have been rejected by their guides. When you participate in congregational prayers, do not stand at the same place, or in the same rank, each time, even change mosques from time to time. Ask forgiveness from God for each moment of your life. Befriend and be close to the poor. Serve them, help them, remember them, and think about them and their needs. Your consideration of them, your thoughts about their needs, are like honorable messengers coming from the One who protects them. How can you refuse to honor such messengers? So do what they need to have done; cook for them, clean for them, be a part of the good that comes to them. Then you will be part of what enters into their heart. Only good inspiration enter the hearts of the sincere and faithful who are needy, for their continuous battle with the desires of the flesh prevents them from having unclean thoughts. God Most High rewards them with both worlds for their trust in Him, and when you are with them, He will make you remember what they remember. If you remember and satisfy their needs, they will receive the rewards of their efforts from your hands, and you will be proving your own Trust in Him. Is that going to be counted as a good deed? Are you to expect a reward? No! Yet do not belittle your action either. Your reward is that you have been brought to this path of truth, while the ones who negate Him are damned. Whoever has these four attributes will be saved: 1. Service to the needy 2. Purity and peace of heart 3. Good will to the believers 4. Thinking well of everybody and everything Keep these principles with you at all times. At the beginning, your efforts may not bear fruit. Your good deed may be thrown back in your face, some by the people involved, some by your Lord. If you try to do good with an eye toward people’s opinion of you, you will consider yourself farsighted, trustworthy, experienced, well respected, and you will end up thinking that others are inferior to you. Then know that the Devil has turned all your good deeds into evil. The devil’s aim is to tire you, to trip you, to make you fall. He tells you that your lies are truth and that the truth is lies. He rewards you with unexpected gifts for your sins. Repent, take refuge in God, tie your heart to Him and remember Him always. He is the only one who can save you from the accursed Devil. As long as you are sincere and constant on the path of truth you will keep the Devil at bay. God knows best. May He keeps you safe from evils of this world and of your own self, and may He guide you on the straight path to truth. Aamin, bi hurmati, Sayyid al mursalin.[] (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)

Transition and Global Imbalance

Oneness is very simple: everything is included and allowed to live according to its true nature. This is the secret that is being revealed, the opportunity that is offered. How we make use of this opportunity depends upon the degree of our participation, how much we are prepared to give ourselves to the work that needs to be done, to the freedom that needs to be lived. The opportunity is everywhere at the same time, because this is the nature of oneness. And it is totally individual, because it respects the divine oneness that is present within each atom of creation, embodied in every human being. Human being have the unique capacity to live this oneness consciously, to know and live their own uniqueness, their own participation in the whole. This is His gift to humanity, and with this gift comes also the free will that allows us to make mistakes, to miss the opportunity that is being given. We are capable of continuing with the same ego-oriented goals that have dominated our cultures for centuries and of using the tools of oneness to further these aims. Then the power structures that have access to these tools will become very powerful on a global scale and a certain imbalance will become irreversible. Finally these power structures will self-destruct as they are not meant to continue into the next millenium. But their destruction could be catastrophic and cause much pain and suffering. Humanity would then have to rebuild itself from the debris of the past. This has happened for before many times – one has only to remember the destruction caused by the Third Reich in the last century. Or looking back further, the Dark Ages in Europe that followed the downfall of the Roman Empire, and empire that had become unbalanced and corrupted with power. However, as the present power structures become global, it is likely that their downfall will have a global effect, rather than being contained within a country or continent. Chaos on a global scale is a very real possibility – and the ecological state of the planet offers visible warnings of this. But there is also the possibility that this transition to a new era can be made without a global disaster. If enough people access the new energy of oneness over the next few years and learn to use it according to its higher potential, then there can be healing rather than destruction. How this will happen is not yet known, except that people and groups are being positioned throughout the planet to create a container of energy that will minimize the destructive effects of this transition. They are creating a cocoon of love and power that can help humanity where the need is greatest. Every time of transition is dangerous as well as full of potential. We need to know that we are supported and contained, that we are being helped. We need to know that the Friends of God and their helpers are with us, guiding us, directing the currents of love and wisdom as they have done for millenia.[] (Llewellyn Vaughan Lee. “Working With Oneness”. The Golden Sufi Center. California, 2002. p.12-14)