On Zikr

I am copying a paragraph or two and you can read the rest

HERE

On Dhikr

From Miftah al-Falah (The Key to Success)

by Ibn 'Ata'llah al-Iskandari

Dhikr is a fire which does not stay or spread – so if it enters a house saying, "Me and nothing other than me," which is one of the meanings of "la ilaha illa'llah' (There is no god but Allah), and there is firewood in the house, it burns it up and it becomes fire. If there is darkness in the house, it becomes light. If there is light in the house, it becomes 'light upon light'.

Dhikr expels from the body impure substances produced by excess in eating or from the consumption of unlawful food. As for food which is lawful, it does not touch it. So the harmful components are burned up and the good components remain.

Dhikr is heard by every part as if it were blowing on a trumpet. When dhikr first occurs in the head, the sound of trumpets and cymbals is experienced there. Dhikr is a sultan – when it descends in a place, it descends with its trumpets and cymbals because dhikr is opposed to all that is other than the Truth. When it descends in a place, it occupies itself with negating what is contrary to the Truth, as we find in the union of water and fire. After these sounds, different sounds are heard: like the ripple of water, the sound of the wind, the sound of fire when it is kindled, the sounds of galloping of horses, and the sound of leaves of the trees rustling in the wind.

Ramadhan Thoughts

I am alive again. I think I was unconscious or very aneasthetised over the last few months or, maybe it was years! When I had the choking cough since January that last for months on end , I could not find a remedy , even though my health did not seem to be affected much , it was pretty embarassing to start coughing badly in front of my patients and what with stress incontinence , the condition was very troublesome. It lingered on , getting almost better and then coming back again.
I think I know the reaon for this cough. It was about communication. I had thoughts and ideas , I had things that I needed to say but it was not coming out. I was keeping my passions my dreams my hopes my fears and my creativitity all bottled up with no where to go , so it came out in the congestion of my lungs, and the spasm and as a choking cough. and I realise that my blogging is not a waste of time, it is answering a need within me, a need to be heard. Then again it surprises me that I still have this need to be heard because I am all the time giving these workshops and healing classes , I am seeing patients every day , doling out chunks of the way I think at people left right ad center . What I found is that it is not the same as writing them down. For me, writing is a need , it is not a frivolity , it is not a vanity , it is not even a charity to anyone but to myself.

I am finally able to fast today and it has been my disappointement that at the ripe old age of 50+ I am still having my menses which had prevented me from starting the fast at the beginning of Ramadhan. I suppose out of sheer protest , I also abandoned most of my zikrs and contemplations at this time so it was only last night when I was able to pray my Isha prayers that I finally sat in zikr and it was this morning waiting for my fajr prayers that I finally got down to reading the Quran. As I read, my mind was muling over some story and I was not fully focused on what I was reading. A part of me must have been attentive though for I suddenly found myself in tears. Deep tears of sadness, of gratitude and a humbleness that seemed to come from a depth of my soul I know exists but still cannot fathom. I know a little Arabic and Surah Al Baqarah is familiar because of frequent readings of it in the past . My tears and emotion made me read the translation. It was the part where God was having a dialogue with the Angels who questioned about God's intention of putting Adam on earth. It was about God teaching Adam the names of things and Adam knew while the Angels did not know.

I am from Adam, and I know the Names, or at least, I have the capacity to know the Names. I am from Adam and I have also within me the capacity for a greatness not given to the Angels. In all humbleness , in all my weaknesses , in all of my faults , it is within me. This is what has moved me to deep tears of sadness and I find it awakens in me my passion , which had lain asleep as I choked and choked it back in my Being resulting in my prolonged cough which seemed endless .

To understand the Names, one may want to read a chapter from Ibn Arabi's Fusus al Hikam

HERE

Yes my passion is awakened and it is sweet and painful at the same time. To be vulnerable , to be sensitive , to be able to love is also to be able to feel sadness. The deepest joy cannot be experienced except if you open yourself to the deepest hurts. The only alternative is to encrust your heart in sheets of ice and a shell...and not feel, neither joy nor hurts.

My heart was awakened by Beauty. Allah had chosen that Beauty would be seen and appreciated by me and knock on the closed door of my heart and open it . But alas for the human, when passion awakens , with it comes a bittersweet longing that sets the hapless soul on a journey of seeking the Beloved .

Al Ghazali The Alchemist of Happiness

The DVD I ordered a month ago is here. It cost me RM200. I think it is worth the price. It is a Documentary on the Life and Works of Imam Al Ghazali a film by Ovidio Salazar.
His Muslim name is Abdul Latif.

Overview

Director:

Abdul Latif Salazar

Writer:

Simon van der Borgh

Genre:

Documentary

The story line:

Exploring the life and impact of the greatest spiritual and legal philosopher in Islamic history, this film examines Ghazali's existential crisis of faith that arose from his rejection of religious dogmatism, and reveals profound parallels with our own times. Ghazali became known as the Proof of Islam and his path of love and spiritual excellence overcame the pitfalls of the organised religion of his day. His path was largely abandoned by early 20th century Muslim reformers for the more strident and less tolerant school of Ibn Taymiyya. Combining drama with documentary, this film argues that Ghazali's Islam is the antidote for today's terror.

You can peep at some parts of it here

Actually I think somebody downloaded the whole DVD on u tube..that is a shame...it must have cost a lot of money to produce , and putting it up for free is infringement of copyright.....

The Inner Journey

Masjid Jami in Delhi built by Shah Jehan and still used as a mosque.It had rained a bit and when I removed my shoes and stepped on the wet stones, the cold penetrated my feet.

I am doing my reading which I promised my spiritual teacher I was going to do.
Am sharing with you this part of the lesson:

The inner life is a journey, and before starting to take it there is a certain preparation necessary. If one is not prepared, there is always the risk of having to return before one has arrived at one's destination. When a person goes on a journey, and when he has to accomplish something, he must know what is necessary on the path and what he must take with him, in order that his journey may become easy and that he may accomplish what he has started to accomplish. One must have everything prepared, so that after reaching a certain distance one may not have to turn back.

The first thing that is necessary is to see that there is no debt to be paid. Every soul has a certain debt to pay in life; it may to be to his mother or father, his brother or sister, to his husband or wife or friend, or to his children, his race, or to humanity; and if he has not paid what is due, then there are cords with which he is inwardly tied, and they pull him back. Life in the world is fair trade, if one could only understand it, if one knew how many souls there are in this world with whom one is connected or related in some way, or whom we meet freshly every day. To everyone there is something due; and if one has not paid one's obligations, the result is that afterwards one has to pay with interest.

There is the inner justice which is working beyond the worldly justice, and when man does not observe that inner law of justice, it is because at that time he is intoxicated, his eyes are closed, and he does not really know the law of life. But that intoxication will not last; there will come a day when the eyes of every soul will be opened; and it is a pity if the eyes open when it is too late. To some consideration is due, to some respect, to some service, to some tolerance, to some forgiveness, to some help. In some way or other, in every relationship, in every connection there is something to pay; and one must know before starting the journey that one has paid it, and be sure that one has paid it in full, so there is nothing more to be paid. Besides this it is necessary that man, before starting his journey, realizes that he has fulfilled his duties, his duty to those around him and duty to God. But the one who considers his duty to those around him sacredly does his duty to God .

Hazrat Inayat Khan

In the shade of Hazrat Nizamudin

I am back from Delhi
The first two days I spent in the Chilla of Hazrat Nizamudin Auliya listening to my teacher.It is located just after the Humayun tomb and gardens a heritage monument of the Moghul kings.
It was shady and cool there , bright with no direct sun, surrounded by the sound of birds and tombs of Hazrat Nizamuddin's followers. The meditation room in the front was locked so we could only peek in.In front of this room was a small alcove that people used for Muslim prayers .

The back of this meditation rooms was in ruins , it used to house Hazrat Nizamudin's sleeping quarters as well as the stores perhaps that housed the food donations that were received daily. It was Hazrat Nizamudin's own rules that no food or donation should be kept overnight, all should be distributed the same day that it came. Hazrat Nizamudin left instructions not to repair the place which is probably why it has become ruins over the more than 500 years that have passed.


Sharing with you something my Sufi teacher taught in the 2 day meeting we had with him at the Chilla of Hazrat Nizamudin Auliya .
This is about Rabb.
Rabb means Lord, Where we get our tarbiyyah which means education, lovingly raising as we raise children or raising and growing plants , teaching, protecting,
Also the Cheriser of humanity

When Allah asked, Alastu bi Rabbikum ( Am I not your Rabb?)
The soul answered Balaaaaaa ( Yes)
The answer carried the soul trhough the planes of becoming ..and the soul is placed in a human form....in the womb of our human mother....
Hence we need to 'remember' ( zikr) our origins in the Angelic planes and the key to this rememberence is Prayer ( Doa and Salat)

The Message:
There is only ONE message, and there is One guidance which has a role in every single place of Human evolution.It is said in the Quran there are 124,000 prophets and prophetesses send to mankind, some made known and some unknown and all of them brought just One message that was suited to the perspective of the nation and time it was sent.It is that people over time made it seem that each message was exclusive and it lost its universal nature and became restrictive.

These are some points we may want to dwell upon:

"There is an unfolding pf the horizon of meaning in the world
The Divine Wish evolves and developes in our own process of unfolding
The Amanah for us :A responsibility to participate consciously and sincerely to open to the future which we cannot know yet.
Our body is the flow of humanity through time
Our bodies are the single cells of one planetary being . The soul has a longer memory before the creation of the body and before the creation of the earth."