Ahlul Bayt Quotes

It is best to live in a state of perplexity and fluidity, like water, than to live in a hardened and doctrinal state of believing one knows everything.

When you allow your self to travel freely, the self will unerringly move and bring to you exactly those experiences, people and things that you need. A New World will be born from out of your Unicity.

Religion is an inherited form. Sufism on the other hand existed before religion. Do not make a religion out of your experience. Rather, focus on what gave birth to religion, and the rest will flow naturally.

You are an epiphany.

The true Sufi cannot utter any prayer beginning with the word 'I,' for example: 'I want to know Thee better.' For to do this presupposes that there are two beings: the Sufi and Allah. This is the greatest sin. Iblis cried, 'Ana khayrun minhu! (I am better than he is!') The personal pronoun 'I' is the classic Sufi symbol for pride in its extreme form.

You must give the aggressive and hostile aspects of yourself constructive ways of expression through assertiveness, determination, self-assuredness, boldness, mental toughness, decisiveness, learning how to articulate one's feelings, speaking directly, forcefulness, and sport.

To think about our bodies as horses to be ridden or even temples to be occupied, is to create a duality between our thinking and our body. It is like a tourist who arrives in a wild forest in his or her Recreation Vehicle. We have all see those campers with their televisions, and so on. Are they experiencing the nature around them? They have an insular experience, that is, camping without getting their hands dirty.

Instead of worrying about evil, worry about losing the power to do good!

The Way does not consist of gather more knowledge. Abu Madyan Shu'ayb Ibn al-Husayn al Ansari said: 'Worship saves you from the tyranny of formal knowledge.

Oh, our brothers and sisters of the Way, Sufism is the most delicate and dangerous of paths, for the dervish dares to storm the gates of heaven itself.

It is not your job in life to instruct everyone as to what his or her proper opinion or conduct should be.

Sufis acknowledge that in each generation there is a being known as the Qutub, or Axial Centrality, the Spiritual 'Pole' of the Age.

Allah is the Source of the Entire Universe and is also your Source.

It is said that 70,000 veils separate the human being from Perfect Freedom. These veils are not evil, below us or filthy. They are complexes that need to be dissolved, beliefs that need changing and doorways to existential core issues. God has said, 'There are seventy thousand veils between you and Me, but there are no veils between Me and you.' This is why we so greatly stress the importance of the Murid involving him or her self in some kind of psychological and body work.

Beware of becoming too sure of your beliefs, because you run the risk of dissociation, or losing touch with parts of yourself. That is why the irrational and spontaneous are so precious to the Sufi. The 'irrational' circumnavigates the rational mind and by that allows the unconscious to manifest. The spontaneous and flexible person, who is not afraid of non-rational impulses, unorthodox behaviors, poetry, and dreams, in other words, the totality of being, acquires a unitive nature.

Do not let perfection and order become your masters! These are the two most dangerous traps set for the spiritual Murid. True spirituality proceeds from an honoring and awareness of chaos and imperfection. Who would dare untangle a rainforest?

You live an insular existence, going from your soundproofed cars to your air-conditioned, insulated houses. People would not say God is dead if they only looked up at the spectacular panorama of the night sky, or had an unobstructed view of the sunset.

Beware of becoming too sure of your beliefs, because you run the risk of dissociation, or losing touch with parts of yourself. That is why the irrational and spontaneous are so precious to the student of spirituality. The 'irrational' circumnavigates the rational mind and by that allows the unconscious to manifest. The spontaneous and flexible person, who is not afraid of non-rational impulses, unorthodox behaviors, poetry, and dreams, in other words, the totality of being, acquires a unitive nature.

There are many probability axes in Allah's creation. Space, time and probability all have an axis on which it is possible to move. This is why they often refer to the greatest Sufi saints and Sheikhs as Qutubs, Poles, or Axial Centralities of the Universe.

Our society needs a functional mythology of the Dark. We need a spirituality that reminds us that we have to share one half of our existence with the Dark. We can do this willing or unwillingly. The paradox must be lived in our lives in order for us to be truly enlightened.

Tajrid and Tafrid and forms of mental 'yoga,' used in Arab systems of illumination, to help the mystic to free him or herself from (abandon) cultural programming. In Muqarribun texts, Khadhulu is the power that makes the practices of Tafrid and Tajrid possible for the Sufi.

The journey to marifat (becoming the mirror of Allah) may be long or it may occur at your next breath, but in the meanwhile, we must encounter duality. Duality is as 'Divine' as non-duality. The light and the dark must be regarded as sacred, so we do not fall into faulting Allah for the thorns on the rosebush.

Many great truths are told through stories and tales. 'Story' is a part of whom we are as human beings. For untold centuries, occult truths were passed on orally from teacher to student, as stories. Whether these stories were true or not, did not matter. It still does not matter, as long as the message is conveyed.

In the ancient Armenian texts, which include the book 'Merkhavat,' there are references to the 'Sarmoung Society.' This society is described as a well-known occult school that according to tradition, dates from 2,500 B.C.E. The school is said to have fared in Mesopotamia up until the sixth or seventh century, C.E. Attributed to the school were many great occult mysteries.

The Dragon is the gatekeeper to the Divine Court who lets pass only those who have stripped off all the garments of religiosity and custom, and who are ready and willing to give up their very lives. For beyond this desert, the Sufi loses him or herself and gains Allah. That is why they call it a dessert. That is why it is such a frightening place, for the ego cannot pass by the Gatekeeper!

As we know, bears hibernate in caves. They appear almost lifeless. This is an analog to the practices of ancient shamans, and to Sufis who practice the forty-day halvet (retreat), in which the Shaman would enter a cave, have an experience of dying, explore the spiritual realms, and then is reborn as the Initiate or Master (just as the bear is reborn each spring as it “wakes up” and leaves its cave).

Turn your attention to all that is dying and decaying. Look at dead leaves, a lifeless tree, a dead animal. Regard anything that is slowly returning to its constituent elements. Smell the pungent odor of decay. Inhale the effluvium of the dissolution process. The object of this exercise is to know the Earth, not just in its telluric aspect (flower bearing soil), but also in its chthonic aspect. Let death talk to you.

The name Cthulhu provides an important and fascinating parallel with pre-Islamic mystical Sufi practice. Cthulhu is very close to the Arabic world Khadhulu (also spelled al qhadhulu). Khadhulu is translated as 'Betrayer,' 'Forsaker,' or 'Abandoner.' Many Sufis and Muqarribun writings use this term 'Abandoner.' In Sufi and Muqarribun writings 'abandoner' refers to the power that fuels the practices of Tajrid 'outward detachment' and Tafrid 'interior solitude.

A Way is needed which contains a concept of Absolute Existence that includes both the Light and the Dark, and Life and Death. If, for instance, Christianity might see Lucifer as the complement and not the enemy, it might take a valuable step on the road to becoming more holistic and respectful of the human reality. If the Divine cannot partake of the Shadow, it cannot be the Divine, for the Divine cannot truly nourish humanity if it only feeds one pole of the human being.

We fear what is uncontrollable. This 'control' attitude results in an 'order fetish.' People become obsessed with mowing and grooming their lawns and obsessed with neatness. People living in contemporary society are split beings divided against themselves. Our Eurocentric society is wounded. Society does not want to feel pain. Therefore, society denies history, and hides its collective head in the sand. We must reintegrate what we have taken apart and love the thing we fear.

What is the meaning of drawing the sword from the stone? The meanings are several. It is the same message and symbol as Mithra coming from the cave or Jesus rising from the cave after death. The stone - cave represents the body - the apparent world - the nafs – the commanding self. Pulling the Sword from the Stone, in short means, pulling the light from "matter,” extracting essence from base. See it in an alchemical sense. In other words, it is the story of illumination. Thus, it is the moment of “Kingship.

In the most profound of Sufi teachings, we discover that the goal of Sufi practice is to create a kind of twin. In other words, for every apparently living human being, through profound exercises, the Sufi creates a spiritual counterpart (a twin) in the spirit realms. In addition, for every spirit dwelling in the spiritual realms, there exists a physical counterpart in the apparent world. This is precisely why Sufis pray at the Shrines (tombs) of Sufi saints who have made the transition, because these saints are very much alive and puissant in the physical or apparent world.

According to the traditions of the Ahlul Bayt, Fatima's Mushaf is not a Qur'an, but most definitely a revelation by Allâh, to the Mistress of Women and Daughter of the Master of Prophets, just as He chose to make revelations to Moses' mother.

Humanity's form is drawn from twenty-eight letters comprise the Arabic alphabet. Each section of the human form is represented by one of these letters. When the Murid becomes the Complete Human Being, he or she becomes the eternal mother source of the Qur'an revealed to Muhammad (Peace be upon him). The inner pilgrimage to Macca (al-Mukarramah) is accomplished when the Murid becomes the Complete Human Being.

In Sufism, the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) has a hidden Reality. The Sufis call this Reality 'al nur al-muhammadi,' or the Light of Muhammad. This Light is the paradigm of creation, the template of the whole natural world.

When you make Zikr and contemplate on a Name of the One Living Reality, focus on your heart. Become aware that this One Living Reality exists within your heart. However, before you begin, pray to this One Living Reality beseeching forgiveness for your actions and thoughts of duality (what the traditional teachings call 'sin'). As you contemplate on the Name, allow your heart to fill with this Attribute of the One Living Reality. That is all. Do not walk around thinking 'God is inside me,' for that is pride and dualistic behavior. You are privileged even to say the Name. Do not think you are special, for believing in a 'you' is to set up partners with the One Living Reality.

Your brain is a mirror that reflects the One Mind. The mirror is a sacred object. For verily we are the mirror reflections of the Ancient Holy One. In looking at your mirror reflection you see The Only One.

Another great Sufi Master, Bayazid Bistami, deliberately picked up and ate a piece of food, breaking his fast, during Ramadan (the month of fasting), in order to scandalize his students, and cause the unworthy to leave him alone. Very many well-read students of Sufism are highly familiar with stories such as this, but when they come across a Master who acts in unexpected and surprising ways, they run away. This is precisely the opposite of what all their reading taught them is the correct course of action in such situations.

Fakhruddin ‘Iraqi produced one of the most exquisite commentaries on Ibn ‘Arabi’s doctrine of Love. This great poet-scholar had initially been associated with wondering qalandars, a group of outsiders who disregarded social norms and incurred the wrath of the orthodox community.

Strong emotions may be experienced just prior to illumination; terror most readily comes to mind. In addition, amazement may be experienced.

There is a Law of Synchronicity (in the Jungian sense) involved in the Sufi Path of Illumination. The Sufis say that there is no coincidence, and that coincidences are merely Allah’s orders.

To the Priory of Sion, the secret organization described in the novel “The DaVinci Code,” the Bear was an animal of the Goddess Diana. The Merovingian kings, from their founder Merovee to Clovis (who converted to Christianity in 496) were kings who worshipped the Goddess Diana.

Bees are a recurring symbol of the Merovingians and the humming or buzzing sound of bees is likened to supersensible “sounds” experienced by many Sufis as they enter spirit realms.

There are eleven bees on the Merovingian Coat of Arms because eleven is the number of the sephirah on the Tree of Life, called Daath, which provides an opening into the Abyss or Void.

All initiatory truths are veiled. While almost every reader of Sufism and metaphysics in general, is very familiar with the fact that Allah does not gaze at His friends (awliya) directly but cloaks His gaze with a veil (hijab), very few students will pause to consider of what these veils may consist.

However, very little thought, or for that matter, information, is given as to how Allah veils His Truths. One way that the Truth is veiled is through the veil of: the fear of appearing or becoming insane or “crazy.” Other veils include: becoming or appearing a fool, the veil of obviousness, the veil of shame, the veil of no longer being concerned with “stations” on the path, the veil of behaving contrary to Shariah, the veil of heresy, and the veil of leaving the Path.

Absolutely nothing can happen without Her Mercy, without Her Grace. The most advanced spiritual techniques in the world are powerless to transform us, unless first She wills it. There are some writers today who want us to believe that if a certain sequence of practices is followed, then enlightenment is guaranteed, somewhat like following a sequence of driving instructions to arrive at a destination. Some of these writers forget completely the necessary ingredients of awe, devotion and love, without which it is not possible to complete the Great Work. The Goddess is not a machine, astagfirullah. Nor is She a Woman that can be raped and forced to yield Her Secrets.

Absolutely nothing can happen without Her Mercy, without Her Grace. The most advanced spiritual techniques in the world are powerless to transform us, unless first She wills it.

A deity is worshipped and adored with intense devotion and faith not only throughout South India and Sri Lanka but also in places such as Mauritius and Malaysia where there is a high population of Tamil people. The deity carries a sword of Light. This deity’s name is Lord Muruga. Muruga is the powerful son of Shiva and Shakti, the Mother and Father of the universe. They created Him from the elements of divine fire and holy water. He is the embodiment of bravery, wielder of spear of tremendous shining light, called the vel. This sacred spear destroys all negativity and fear in an instant.

Serving humanity is the priority of the real dervish, not serving in some overly sentimental sense of being charitable to those “less fortunate” than we are, but through recognizing the Divine Light in all human beings, and acting accordingly. Think of all the numerous ways that our Prophet (Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) would constantly suggest to his community to help those who were poor, sick, widowed, orphaned, and some way in need. Spend your time thinking how you can help your neighbor, rather than worrying about tekke politics. As a dervish, you only exist to serve; forget about sleights to your ego. We are only dust under the feet of Muhammad (s.a.w.s.).

It is not an easy thing for certain men and women to remain hidden. However, they accomplish this in a variety of ways. Remember the story of the Sufi Master who deliberately passed wind to rid himself of students who were not there out of a love of Essence? Many stories such as this have been told.

Most students have very little patience when it comes to the Sheikh. As soon as they observe behavior that they “believe” is improper they start saying all sorts of nasty things in public about the Sheikh and run away. All Sheikhs will “appear” to fail you . . . however, this criticism of the Sheikh is due to your nafs seeking an “easy way out.” Very, very few people are truly willing to do the work necessary to rid themselves of egoic pride. Moreover, as we know, egoic pride can infect the dervish at any point on the path.

Dive right into the Heart of Blame and leave your titles, your imagined “position” in the tekke, your sense of being “special,” and other subtle ways that try to communicate to people that you are 'spiritual'.

You cannot grow spiritually by repressing the "dark" side. To grow as a person, it is imperative that you respect both poles of the psyche. The unity of the self encomásses light and dark poles. Since the Shadow is an inherent and necessary part of the human being, the Western religious standard causes individual to be split from themselves. It is essential for those on the spiritual way to integrate the shadow. Because Western religion has created this image of the "God of Good in Whom there is no Darkness," a grand enantiodrama is occurring around the globe. The "Light" has been over-emphasized in spiritual paths, and they have sentenced its opposite characteristic to the dungeon of society's collective unconscious. Sometimes the repressed characteristic bursts forth wildly into daylight with a lethal force.

One warm June morning, during rush hour, a man appeared at the entrance to the rag picker's shack. 'I am intruding,' the mysterious man said, startling the rag picker. The first thing Sam noticed was the green tie. Sam had seen green ties before certainly, it was just that Sam wasn't sure that he had ever seen that particular shade of green. It made him think of the green in a rainbow he had once seen, sparkling and brilliant, or a flash of green he once saw in a botanical garden. Sam wasn't sure, but the essence of the color resonated deep inside Sam. The tie was paired with shoes the shade and shine of the was red lips children sometimes wear at Halloween. With the conservative black suit and shirt, the outfit should have looked ridiculous. On this man it did not. Sam tried to collect his wits. 'O my soul. Who are you?' he asked more in wonder at the visitor than in fear. Sam was no longer used to people. He didn't give many people the time of day. Nevertheless, there was something about this one that was fascinating. It was as if he exuded life from every pore in his body. 'My name is Mr. Khadir. I am from the Middle East.' Sam thought the stranger was referring to the East End of Long Island. He figured the man was a commuter whose car had probably overheated on the Expressway. 'I am a stranger,' Mr Khadir continued, 'and so are you; come with me in these deserts so that you may seek God.

The more complex your lives become with intellectual machinations, piles of paper, and social intrigue, the less you are aware of the Simplicity of the Moment.

How can you tell if a Chinese poem is a good poem if you do not read the kind of Chinese in which it is written? Certain realms of experience charge an entrance fee. To evaluate certain experiences a person must have encountered that realm of experience in some fashion. He or she must have access to that realm.

The physical universe is an unresolvable dilemma to the materialist because he or she insists on trying to decipher it in terms of its own makeup. Nothing can be explained in terms of itself, but only when shown in the light of a greater totality. As the saying goes, 'You cannot see the forest from the trees.' You need somehow to step out and back from some event to put it in proper perspective. Therefore, in addition, to understand the physical world, you have to take a step back. However, where do we step? All the last steps were in the physical world. There are no more steps available. This is where Spirit becomes a feasible possibility. Spirit is the dimension you can enter to see the physical world in some perspective.

People blame God for this or that, when instead they should be facing what is inside them.

When we face the Abyss, we stare into a mirror. In Shinto temples, there is a mirror. The purpose of this mirror is to remind the Murid of the fact that to see REALITY, it is necessary to see both oneself and the illusory nature of the self.

Ultimately, the mirror reflects our mortality; when we gaze in the mirror, we gaze at a skeleton.

The brain is a mirror that reflects the One Mind. The mirror is a sacred object. For verily we are the mirror reflections of The Ancient Holy One. In looking at your mirror reflection you see The Only One.

Lovers 'devour' one another.

The Balanced Person simply does not add worldly affairs to his or her 'tale of woes.' For instance, if a Balanced Person is fired, he or she does not list among his or her problems: wars in the Middle East and Inner City crime. The Balanced Person feels his or her feelings, without distorting, exaggerating, or inflating the feeling to the point where he or she becomes Unbalanced. It is necessary and good to feel all your feelings; it is unhelpful to become the victim of inflated emotional reactions to your problems.

Prayer and other forms of worship all have their own status and importance but the true sense of worship is that a person can become a 'proper human being' and that he or she adopts Akhlaaq-e-Hameeda (laudable manners). The reason for doing Dhikr and sitting in the company of the Awliyaa (friends of Allah) is solely to become better human beings, to diminish our bad habits and to learn from their excellent conduct. One of the biggest problems which we are facing is that we have forgotten those manners that should have been befitting of the Umma (followers of Muhammad).

You have the means to direct knowledge of the spiritual worlds. You have the senses that will help you to perceive these subtle spheres. It only remains for you to develop your sleeping powers. The question should not be 'is there life after death', it should be 'what am I doing to awaken my faculties to perceive the spirit worlds?

Islamic Tasawwuf traditionally has its origin in the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and Imam Ali ('Alaihi Assalam) with the Forty Companions. The forerunners of Islamic Tasawwuf are the Ahlul Bayt, the family of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), and the 'insan kamils,' the perfect human beings, who by following this road have held a light to our world and to humanity.

The identity of Shaitan of the Islamic tradition is crucial. By the time Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was reciting the Qur'an, they were calling Shaitan 'the Old Serpent (Dragon)' and 'Lord of the Abyss.' The Old Serpent or Old Dragon is, according to experts such as E.A. Budge and S.N. Kramer, Leviathan. Leviathan is Lotan. Lotan traces to Tietan. Tietan, the authorities on Near Eastern mythology tell us, is a later form of Tiamat. According to the experts, the Dragon of the Abyss called Shaitan is the same Dragon of the Abyss named Tiamat. Scholars specializing in Near Eastern mythology have stated this repeatedly.

Sometimes it rains, and sometimes it is sunny. You accept the weather. You may not like the day's weather, but you do not label it 'good' or 'evil.' Shouting at a tornado does no good. Rebuking a tidal wave has no effect.

Who is awake within yourself while you are asleep? There is a witness who does not rest who is inseparable for your life. This witness watches everything that occurs in your waking state as though it were a dream. THAT witness is aware. The Way of the Sufi inspires you to see THAT.

It is important to stay to the topic in a conversation. Bouncing around from topic to topic destroys spiritual power. Spiritual power derives from consistency. Consistency strengthens the subtle bodies of the human being. Carefully follow the thread of what someone is saying and add something to this conversational thread.

It is time for Sufism to experience a quantum metamorphosis. It is time for a dawn of splendor on the path of Reality to occur.

Sam scrutinized Mr. Khadir’s face. It expressed kindliness and gentleness, as well as mischievousness and fierceness. He stood about five feet ten inches with a pale-skinned complexion. His long softly curly hair, slightly graying at the temples, was parted in the middle, and went to the bottom of his neck. He had a hooked nose over which rose a prominent brow ridge. His eyes wee penetrating like an eagle’s. He held a sing rose in his hand. Although, Sam couldn’t se it, a drop of green blood lay on his hand where one of the thorns had pierced his skin. A hint of a smile was on his face and he seemed restless. He said nothing but looked at Sam expectantly. ‘I’m tired of seeking. My life is empty, and that’s just fine with me,’ Sam declared emphatically. ‘If you feel with all your being that you are empty, then I advise you to try once more,’ Mr. Khadir gently replied. ‘Mr. Khadir wore a jewel around his neck, a large emerald. It was remarkably similar to a jewel Sam’s mother used to wear. Something about the sight of the emerald touched Sam deeply within his soul. Sam took it as a sign that he should take Mr. Khadir up on his invitation. Sam knew there was no such thing as coincidence. Finally, the homeless man answered his enigmatic visitor, ‘I will follow you if you will teach me the Right Way.’ ‘You will not be able to bear patiently with me, for how can you experience true patience concerning events about which you lack full knowledge?’ Mr. Khadir answered turning away. The panic Sam felt that the stranger might leave him behind surprised him. He was already following Khadir toward the service road as he replied, ‘You will find me, if God wills, patient and obedient to your mystic teaching.’ Mr. Khadir said softly, ‘Then yes, I will teach you. When your poverty is complete, you will be God. But I must warn you: even if you see me doing strange things, acting foolishly, childishly – you must bear with me and attend to it all. Woe to you if you turn away.’ ‘Where are we going?’ Same wanted to know. ‘Allah knows best,’ Mr. Khadir replied.

All humanity is an aspect of Divinity, having its existence within the Omniconscious Unicity known as God.

Through stories and tales, we can bypass the egoistic conscious mind and see through the veil of our Limited Selves to a larger view of reality.

Because Western religion has created this image of the 'God of Good in Whom there is no Darkness,' a grand enantiodromia is occurring around the globe. The 'Light' has been overemphasized in religion, and they have sentenced its opposite characteristic to the dungeon of society's collective unconscious. Sometimes the repressed characteristic bursts forth wildly into daylight with a lethal force. We are witnessing this enantiodromia enacted daily as we watch the Evening News.

It is very important that you stick to your decisions. Following through on your resolutions is a potent way to develop yourself spiritually. Dismissing and disregarding your decisions can wreak havoc with your spiritual self. You must develop a sense of being able to follow through on whatever you set your mind to. Every decision is a force. If you have not applied this force to the achievement of your decision, then this force will still be operable. It will seek to expend itself in another fashion.

The Sufi is a trumpet blast of Truth, a clarion call to all Lovers of God to gather to chant 'Hu,' the name of the Divine Essence.

One. The Clear. The Obvious. The Infinitely Pre-Existent. The Living. The Reality. The Mighty Splendor. The Knower of the Most Subtle Mysteries. We put our trust only in Allah. IT's Essence is unknowable, as IT IS. They asked Abu 'l-'Abbas al-Dinawari, 'How do you know God?' He replied, 'By the fact that I do not know Him.' No book, speech, wisdom, or religion can fully explain Allah. For Allah is Endless and Fathomless. IT is the beginning and the end. However, there is no beginning to IT's beginning and no end to IT's end.

The Infinite Reality that cannot be contained in all the universes upon universes can fit into the heart of the believer.

At his or her deepest level, the Sufi cares not for religions or mystical states (although these states and levels exist); his or her only aim is Proximity with the Beloved.

Academicians of the arcane fall prey to the illusion that they can label and control that which will always be partially Unknowable, Fluid and Chaotic. To approach spirituality from an academic point of view may yield valuable information about the framework of the spiritual way, but never about the Alchemical Mysteries themselves.

Some misguided scientists and professors of academe possess a kind of arrogance. By misguided we mean those who are content with the extent of their formal knowledge without being characterized by its inner meaning. There is often a lack of humility in science and academia. To them, their intellectual-linear paradigms are the one true way to perceive reality.

Sufism travels into the realm of story, inspired analogy and esoteric understanding of the Qur'an, so that the Sufi may ultimately become the Essence.

There is THAT within us that creates dreams. There is the playwright, the cinematographer. A part of us selects which 'shots' we will see. The plot and outcome of our dreams are determined. Therefore, in addition to our waking lives, we each create our personal story, our history. We connect events and experiences to form a coherent whole. A story of our lives goes on simultaneously with our waking life. We also constantly revise our story through recurrent feedback loops, for example, during a conversation between two people, as long as the communication system is maintained. A history is accumulated over time from the impact (sending and receiving) we have on each other.

One goal of the daily time of contemplation is to become aware of the essential in life, to become aware of that, which does not change upon death. If you can find that which is eternal in yourselves, suddenly your lives will have attained much significance and meaning.

This is because Spirit is as much the Irrational as it is the Rational. Academicians need to show some humility in the face of what will always be Irrational. They only see half the picture.

The Sufi is a person of rare courage. He or she looks into the naked face of Reality and does not flinch. While it may be difficult to face the facts of physical existence so honestly, half the battle is won once you acknowledge your place in the natural world. There is a 'fearful symmetry' to the face of nature. All of creation contains infinity within it. A harmonious relation can be achieved with the facts of existence, but this can only be discovered through an honest appraisal of your physical existence on the Earth.

The Sufi must feed daily at the waters of the Original Wholeness. We are completely dependent upon Allah. There is no existence but the Ultimate Reality, nor does anything exist other than the Ultimate Reality, 'in that you are His Form, and He is your Spirit.

Gradually, the Murshid helps the Murid to see wider horizons, leading the ego to open its petals and flower, embracing a greater totality of being.

Each human being contains the Essence within himself or herself, but the knowledge remains latent in most people.

Dualistic, patriarchal religion cuts humanity off from an entire pole of being, calling it evil and devilish. This type of religion tells people that exploring this pole of the human being is sinful and will eventually lead to being completely cut off from God, the Lord of the other pole. What a terribly destructive image this is. It leads people to shun and cut themselves off from one half of their beings!

Therefore, humanity's unconsciousness of its identity, is the Shadow of the Supreme Reality.

Stagnation equals death. A stagnant pond eventually becomes mud. A human being, whose biological system becomes stagnant, dies. There must be movement in the waters! The Waters of Life cannot flow in a clogged and stagnant human being.

Guides will give various practices, but rarely do Murids perform them and even more rarely with any kind of consistency. Many people run around from Sheikh to Sheikh or therapist to therapist, trying to get answers. Often the problem is that these people never truly put into effect the answers they have already been given. Rather than always looking for more, more, more, they should use what they have already been given.

The way to become a REALIZED person does not so much lie in doing good things, which of course we all should do, but in coming to some kind of understanding with the Dark, with the Shadow.

Learn how to work and then the Great Work will be revealed to you.

People flock into churches to have the world explained to them in a neat little package. For most people, religion is chaos insurance. Religion lays down a template on the world so that people can try to make some sense of it. The problem is that people end up living in the template and shutting out reality altogether.

Because Western religion has created this image of the 'God of Good in Whom there is no Darkness,' a grand enantiodrama is occurring around the globe. The 'Light' has been overemphasized in religion, and they have sentenced its opposite characteristic to the dungeon of society's collective unconscious. Sometimes the repressed characteristic bursts forth wildly into daylight with a lethal force.

If you are to accept that embracing the Sacred Dark is as necessary as embracing the Sacred Light, does that mean that it does not matter if you live or die, heal or hurt, love or hate?