Hassan Scott Odierno
Our spirit or soul is what defines us. At the Day of Judgment it will be the very definition of us, and it will be seen how we treated our soul, whether we kept it clean or dirtied it. All the external stuff such as what we look like, our physical characteristics, what we did for a living and whatnot will not be important. It will be our soul which will save us. Therefore we need to keep our soul as clean as possible. This soul starts out clean, and is created by God. This sentence implies an even deeper connection, one where God actively takes care of our soul. With God caring for our soul, what right do we have to dirty it!
Suriya's reflection
This is the context of the phrase and its place in the Quran
They Ask You Concerning The SpiritThey ask thee concerning the Spirit.
Say: "The Spirit (cometh) by command of my Lord:
Of knowledge it is only a little that is communicated to you."
If it were Our Will, We could take away that which We have sent thee by inspiration:
Then wouldst thou find none to plead thy affair in that matter against Us.
surah 17: 85-86 Al Isra’ (The Night Journey)
(Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur'an, 1989.)
Hazrat Inayat Khan explains that it means the soul is an activity of God. The true nature of this activity is revealed to Prophets and saints but even they know a little of the truth of the matter. How does Allah ochestrate the Universe and ochestrate our puny little lives is a mystery that we will be unlikely to comprehend entirely. Yet the human being was born with a thirst to know. Many even speculate when they do not know for sure. Personally I do not like to dwell on theories and speculations and prefer to keep things simple. For me , taking care of what I am inclined to do while guarding that this is in line outwardly with the Syariah code and does not harm anyone or any thing , to the best of my ability , is what I need to do in order to do my part to participate in Amri Rabbi, ie the command of my Lord. And , knowing that the soul is Allah's activity and under Allah's direct command makes me persist in asking for guidance by prayers meditations and zikr. Allah guides us to people who will be our collaborators in doing Allah's bidding by making us feel th synergy of working with certain people. They seem to arrive at one's doorstep so to speak and then they seem to fill in the gap that was preventing us from doing what was to be done. When what we set out to do keeps meeting with a wall and we find ourselves banging our heads against it , it is tme to have a relook at the intentions we had when we started out on the task and reevaluate. That does not mean all tasks that align with Allah's plan do not meet hardship. The Prophets are the ones who suffered the most at the hands of evil men yet they persisted, some were killed , as were many rightoeus men after them.
Yet death perhaps is also part of God's plan for it is sometimes the death that wakes up the others to set things right .
I am clear of what you associate (with Allah) Quran 6:19
Hassan's reflection
Allah is one. There is nothing similar to Allah. Allah is our creator and the creator of everything. How can anything be associated with Allah? There is nothing like Allah. This also makes it very clear that we are responsible for our own actions. We will not be able to say we were simply following someone else’s guidance and suggestions. We will need to take personal responsibility. If we try to place the blame on anyone or anything else they will clearly state that they were not a part of whatever we were up to.
Indeed , associating with Allah that which usurp's Allah's command is shirk. The truth of the matter is , all of us are guilty of commiting shirk when we forget that the Ultimate cause of everything is Allah. Even the bad that comes to us is by Allah's permission. To seek to understand the reasons for bad things happening is not as important as to respond positively rather than react when bad things happen. Bad things do not choose good people, they happen to everyone. Good people respond positively and pick themselves up and overcome because they have acceptance and compassion as well as gratitude as part and parcel of their daily lives. They take responsibility and do not blame others , even though it seems that their trials were meted out to them by fellow humans yet these trials were sanctioned by Allah and these evil people also have souls that maybe heedless to guidance yet they act according to Allah's will. This paradox is perhaps difficult to understand and the truth is seldom simple.
In the article on your website you mention that negative emotions are simply stuck feelings inside of us, and that for people in an occupied area it takes on the stuck feelings of the entire people. This is similar to Palestine now. So, what can be done by or for such people?
Suriya's response
Negative emotions are guests that come to the living room of our beings and stay for a while. The ones that fail to leave are the stuck emotions. EFT can deal with them and so can good spiritual practices.
The dialogue exercise was fascinating. I started with one subject but it quickly moved to another, with the final result being the conclusion that I have a strong desire not to get hurt. This causes me to put up defenses and do certain things where in reality I need to just accept that Allah has a plan, surrender to the fact that Allah knows best, and Allah will take good care of me, like a child in the parents arms.
Suriya's response
Yes indeed. I think my writing above helps us to understand this.
Hassan
I have been giving a lot of thought on what to do with pain, like you asked in the article. So, is it best to live with the pain, take pain killers, focus on the pain thinking poor me, or find the source of the pain and get rid of it? I had always taken pain killers so I know that is not the right path. Saying poor me is also not right. This leaves living with the pain or finding the source of the pain and getting rid of it. Obviously getting rid of it is the best way, presumable through EFT. How to do this in real life though, as it can be quite a challenge? Reading your article, just being aware of the pain is best, as it will dissolve. Is this part of the practices we will learn?
Suriya's response
You have to be present to the pain and just let it be , giving it the attention it needs. I used to do zikr and breathing exercises and all I got was pain. My spiritual guide was perplexed , he was saying I should feel joyous, and I said no , it made me cry and filled me with deep pain and sadness. But I did not try to avoid it , I faced it and let it be experienced. It was like journeying in a tunnel and being unable to see any light at the end. As time went by , I kind of got used to feeling the sadness and the deep pain. Then one day I began to feel some of the joy that my guide talked about. I still have my moments of sadness and sometimes a feeling of sheer loneliness but now it is less intense and , I think that all of us , with no exception have some of this . It is the pain of separation from the Beloved and it is not another human being but Allah ! Human relationships are nice , but they are not the ultimate. When you think you are falling in love with another human being, the real truth is that you have not found a relationship that was completely fulfilling and you never will for this relationship cannot exist except with God no matter what the love stories tell you.
Hassan:
I agree that for all the things mentioned above not having expectations is best, along with having hope and doing zikr. Doing this will likely be a challenge though.
Suriya:
Yes indeed
On Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 8:02 PM, Hassan Scott Odierno wrote:
"Allah takes care of everything"(similar but not identical to 11:12)
We try so hard to be independent, to take care of ourselves. We plan so much for the future and the things that seem so important to us. In reality Allah takes care of everything. Allah knows what we really need and how we fit into this crazy world. It is up to us to surrender to the will and plan of Allah, to give up with our own selfish desires and plans. Allah will take care of everything; we can have faith in that. We still need to strive to the best of our ability in this world, but we must go with the flow, accepting when trials and tests hit us. Allah knows best!
There is a difference in meaning between qadir and wakil . These two phrases are ones that I frequently teach healing students to use because they teach us two qualities that is redha and tawakkal. These need elaboration and I think you can read the elaboration here.
http://nursyifa..info/
Scroll down to the pink writing if you do not want to read the whole article .
Allāhu nūru s-samāwāti wa-l-arḍ 24:35
Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth
Hassan:
Sometimes things seem so dark with the tests and trials that we face. We are sometimes faced with such tests that it seems that there will never be a letup in the pressure to survive. In such times we need to just feel the light of Allah all around us, guiding us and protecting us. Allah is absolutely everywhere on the heavens and the earth, lighting the world for all of creation.
Allah is the Light . Ya Nur , Ya Munawwar. Light is one of the 99 names .The nature of light is to enlightened. "Allahu waliyul ladhi na amanu yukhrijuhim minazulumati ila nur." Allah is the protector of the faithful bringing them from darkness into light. When we polish our hearts with zikr and prayer good deeds and tears of repentence , we will find that there is light in our hearts. This is the light that is mentioned in the surah Nur and this is the light that when it is lit guides the faithful from within. Those whom Allah chooses will be able to recognise this light in another faithful and they indeed will love one another for this light has with it qualities of love , joy and peace and attracts those who have the potential to have these qualities. Those whose hearts are black with unconsciousness and heedlessness, even if they pray until there is a black mark on their foreheads , fast and go without sleep will not be able to recognise this Nur whether they see it in another or whether it reaches them when they pray. It is sad that many Muslims nowadays are not able to benefit from this Nur because they have blinded themselves to its nature . For this Nur to benefit one, the heart must b soft yielding , humble and empty of notions that are harsh and unyielding . Haq or truth is more strange than you could ever think so only those willing to empty themselves of all preconceived notions will recognise it when it comes to them.
No comments:
Post a Comment