The Gift Of Peace

The Gift of Peace Published in Sufism Journal, Spring & Summer 2007 Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

We are always peace. To get rid of the idea that we are not peace is all that is required. — RAMANA MAHARSHI

THE PEACE OF THE SOUL Peace is a quality of the soul. And like all real spiritual qualities, peace is not achieved or earned by our efforts. It is given through grace, like the peace Christ promised his disciples: Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you: not as the world giveth give I unto you. Because our culture has lost an understanding of the ways of grace, we tend to identify peace with effort. Most of us struggle for peace, thinking we can attain it through striving. Outwardly we seek peace through the resolution of conflict. Inwardly, too, we hope to resolve our conflicts, working to bring the warring factions of our psyche into balance. In meditation we strive to find peace beyond the activity of the mind. We might achieve some sense of peace this way, through effort and struggle. But real peace is an aspect of the divine, and in the words of the Sufi master Bhai Sahib, “How can there be effort with divine things? They are given, infused.” Peace that is given has a different quality precisely because it comes without effort or struggle. It is not a resolution of conflict, either inner or outer. It does not belong to the dimension of struggle, but to the dimension of the soul. It cannot be born from conflict because it is an aspect of the oneness of our true nature. In oneness, how can there be conflict? If there are not two, where is the need for resolution? 1

Real peace is a quality of pure being. The peace that Christ left with his disciples, the peace “not as the world giveth,” is in all of us. It is part of our essential nature. But like many qualities of the soul it remains hidden, overlooked by our perceptions and ways of relating that are so grounded in duality, conflict, and self-interest. Traditionally peace has been transmitted on an individual level, from master to disciple, as Christ gave peace to his disciples. But at this critical time in our evolution, this is no longer enough. All of humanity needs to have access to the peace of the soul, for this peace belongs not just to each individual, but to the soul of the world. And if we look around us we see the world needs this peace; life itself needs to be nourished by its own higher nature in order to recover from past abuse, and to thrive. The spiritual work of the time is to help the soul of the world awaken, to help the qualities of life’s true nature nourish the whole. PEACE AND THE ERA OF ONENESS How can we help the heart of the world awaken? The first step is a step in consciousness. The coming era is an era of oneness, and a consciousness of oneness is emerging in our collective. We see this consciousness reflected in the development of global communication, the Internet, and in our recognition of ecological interconnectedness. But we don’t see the deeper dimensions of this consciousness, how it is part of life’s highest nature, how it contains the divine qualities of peace, love, and real power. Only the divine can heal and transform the world—the forces of antagonism in the world are too powerfully constellated for us to resolve on our own. But the divine needs our participation: we are the guardians of the planet. And what is the nature of this work? In our masculine culture we identify work with “doing” and activity. But to hold a space for the divine requires the feminine quality of “being.” Through the simplicity of living our inner connection to the divine, living the awareness of the heart, we link the worlds together and allow the higher energies to flow into life. The mystic recognizes the play of opposites within herself—the dark and light, masculine and feminine, spirit and matter—and knows that they are part of a greater oneness. No longer caught in the duality of opposites, the mystic lives with the reality of union. The opposites remain, but they no longer appear in conflict. The mystic 2

can, as Judaism’s Midrash urges, “observe how all things borrow from each other”: day borrows from night and night from day…the moon borrows from the stars and the stars borrow from the moon…the sky borrows from the earth and the earth from the sky…All God’s creatures borrow from the other, yet make peace with one another….(1) And in this era of oneness the seeker needs to shift her focus from her own self-development to the development of the whole. This requires that we leave behind patterns of spiritual isolation. By leaving the cave and monasteries we can live the light of the heart in ordinary life, in the marketplace where the density and darkness of materialism needs to be dissipated. It can be helpful to recognize that the divine within life has its own natural rhythm, its own in-breath and out-breath, which we can come to know and work with. The light and energy of the divine is currently following ancient patterns that flow through our collective psyche. We can help peace come into our world by trusting that peace itself has the patience to work around resistances, that its power is not scattered or wasted in conflict. The spiritual energy of peace is currently working with the energy of discord, undermining its arguments, changing the flow of energy from confrontation to understanding. If we allow ourselves to be open to what is already happening, we will begin to see and work with the consciousness of oneness that is emerging. SIMPLE ANSWERS During times of transition it is important to return to what is basic, to what belongs to the core of life. If we look closely, we can see that life itself contains a harmony that is part of its deepest nature. One can see this in the petals of a flower, in the swirl of the water in a river, in a flock of geese flying south. We can allow life to teach us, to show us how to live in a way that does not continually constellate conflict. Life can reveal to us the flow in the opposites, the way night leads to day, winter to spring. Once we change our attitude to life, once we give up the need to be the conqueror or oppressor, then life can show us how to live in peace. Once we step outside of the paradigm of the warring opposites we will find that the sun is shining. 3

A thread is being woven in the inner worlds but we do not know how to look. Harmony is being created, but we remain focused on discord. The energy patterns of life are subtly shifting, the currents that come from the deep are changing. Life is trying to redeem itself, trying to shake off the debris of our power struggles. Because we live at the end of an era life has apparently become more complex. This is one of the signs of things falling apart. With our computer generated models we look for complex answers to our problems. But peace is simple, and is part of the simplicity of life. We always seem to overlook the simple wonder of being human, which means to be divine. We are the meeting of the two worlds, the place where miracles can happen and the divine come alive in a new way. We are the light at the end of the tunnel. We are the warmth and the care and the compassion, as much as we carry the scars of our cruelty and anger. The changes in life are so fundamental and simple, and yet they are not easy to live. There are forces at work that push us outwards towards complexity. These are the forces that take away our joy and demand that we work harder and harder. They drive us into conflicts we do not need, and always try to obscure the simple joy of life, of being together and valuing our companionship. Fast food and mega movies may glitter and catch our collective attention, but we know in our hearts that something fundamental is being overlooked. We do not need to drown in prosperity or impose our beliefs on others. We have simply to recognize what is real and live this in our own way. In the simplicity of our human values—love, and joy, and hope—we are connected in oneness. But we can only discover this connection when we return to this simple core of being. When we return to the heart we will see what is being born, how a linking together of individuals, groups and communities is taking place, how patterns of relationships are growing—and how life energy is moving along these patterns. By acknowledging these changes, we can help peace flow where it is needed.

THE LIGHT OF PEACE

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Many people are frightened of real peace. It cannot be manipulated; it has no role in power dynamics. In the clash of opposites we fight to win, to impose ourself. Even our image of world peace is a balance of power. What would happen if these power dynamics were removed? How would we know who is in control? The drama of power needs adversaries. A life of peace functions in a different way. It does not belong to patterns of control. Peace and freedom belong together. To be open to peace is to leave behind so many of the ways that we define our life. To work with peace would mean that we work with an energy that is free from the constellation of opposites. This energy is a part of our divine nature. In the Qur’an such an energy is described in the “verse of Light” from sura 24: Allah is the Light Of the heavens and the earth, The parable of His Light Is as if there were a Niche And within it a Lamp: The lamp enclosed in Glass: The glass as it were A brilliant star: Lit from a blessed Tree, An Olive, neither of the East Nor of the West, Whose Oil is well-nigh Luminous, Though fire scarce touched it: Light upon Light! Allah doth guide Whom He will To His Light: The golden light of the oil of the “olive, neither of the East nor of the West” is within us. It is the light of our divine nature, which is also a part of life. How can our divine nature be other than the air we breathe? Our breath is His breath. Through the breath the soul and the body, heaven and earth are brought together. His light is “the Light of the heavens and the earth.” Behind the appearance of duality is the light of oneness, and real peace. We can live this oneness, this primal union, or we can remain with an attitude that sees only the continual conflict of opposites. The oil from the “olive, 5

neither of the East nor of the West” is burning and shows us a different way to live. The light sura continues: (Lit is such a Light) In houses, which Allah Hath permitted to be raised To honour; for the celebration, In them, of His name: In them is He glorified In the mornings and In the evenings, (again and again), By men whom neither Trade nor sale Can divert from the Remembrance Of Allah, nor from regular Prayer, The light that is given belongs to the remembrance of God, the simple awareness of divine presence. In this light the divine is remembered and celebrated, even in the midst of life’s activities. We need this light to guide us, and in this light we find our remembrance of what is real. This light is always available, only hidden by our forgetfulness. The light that is beyond the opposites is not gained through conflict, but comes through prayer and remembrance. Those who love Him and remember Him have access to the light that the world needs—the light of peace, the light of oneness. Our world can never be saved by politicians or mediators, but by those whose hearts are turned to the Real. This awareness belongs to the core life, to a creation which celebrates its Creator. It is present all around us, within us, part of the simple truth that we are here in service to the divine. If we can see with the heart, not our conditioning, we can awaken within the peace that is revealing itself at this time. And through the simple combination of our spiritual practice, our prayers, and remembrance, and our everyday life, we can help to bring His light and His peace into His world.

FOOTNOTES 6

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Midrash, Exodus Rabbah (31:15), trans. H. Freedman and Maurice Simon. Sufi Dreamwork Published by Seven Pillars Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee The dream is a little hidden door in the innermost and most secret recesses of the soul.... — C. G. JUNG

GUIDANCE ON THE PATH The interpretation of dreams has always been an important part of the Sufi tradition. Early Sufi manuals have sections on dreams, which offer differentiation between “true” and “false” dreams, the latter being dreams without psychological or spiritual value. “True dreams” are those which offer guidance. Traditionally, dreams are interpreted by the sheikh or the representative of the sheikh. The twelfth-century Sufi, Najm ad-dîn Kubra, stressed the importance of dreams and their interpretation, including in the rules of the path, along with “constant silence, constant retreat and constant recollection of God,” “constant direction of a sheikh who explains the meaning of one’s dreams and visions.” In the Naqshbandi Sufi tradition dreamwork has always been important. Bahâ ad-dîn Naqshband, the founder of the order, was renowned as an interpreter of dreams, and apparently wouldn’t actually take somebody as a disciple until they’d had a dream that confirmed that. He also stressed the value of group discussion. “Ours is the way of group discussion,” he would say. As this path has evolved in the West, these two aspects of the Naqshbandi path have come together in the form of group dreamwork. At our meetings we meditate—practicing the silent meditation of the heart —have time for tea and talking together, and then we share and discuss dreams. Through sharing our dreams and listening to those of others we also learn to value the uniqueness of our own path, of our own way of 7

journeying Home. We are each taken to God in our own way, according to the uniqueness of our individual nature, for “every being has its own appropriate mode of prayer and glorification” (Qur’an 2:186). It is so easy to try to identify with others, to walk the path we see being lived by others. Others can inspire us, but we can only walk our own path, follow our own dream, live our own destiny. Our dreams tell our story, how the path unfolds within us. When we share a dream, the uniqueness of our own path is given attention. And through hearing the dreams of others we can see how for each us the journey of the soul is different, demands different qualities. Working with dreams, we learn to read the signposts on the way, to listen with an ear attuned to the music of the path, to the frequency of the soul. We uncover what we need to know, read the next step that we need to take. Our dreams describe the inner processes of the path, the spiritual and psychological work that is unfolding. The Naqshbandi path has always had a strong psychological element. Much of the work of purification is psychological, involving the confrontation with the shadow as well as other psychological processes. Often in the first years on the path the focus will be on this psychological inner work, the alchemical transformation of the nigredo, our shadow, the rejected and unacknowledged aspects of ourselves. We will have dreams of our own darkness and fears, frightening figures chasing us down night-time streets, monsters hidden in basements. Working with these dreams we learn how to accept and love our darkness. Our dreams reveal what is hidden within us, the beauty and the terror. And within the darkness of our shadow we slowly come to see the light of the Self, the pearl of great price hidden in the depths. Deeper than the psychological are the spiritual dreams that speak to us with the ancient images of the path, the bunches of grapes that represent esoteric teaching, the wine of the Beloved that intoxicates the Sufi. Or as in the dream of a room full of old men carding wool, the dreamer is told of the process that says you are a Sufi when your heart is as soft and as warm as wool. The depths of the soul knows these symbols, even if they are unfamiliar to our contemporary minds, and they remind us of the ancient road we are traveling. But dreamwork is not just about interpretation, about finding out what the dream means. Dreamwork is a dialogue, a conversation between the dreamer and the world of the dream. Through this dialogue we make a connection to a part of ourselves 8

that the outer world often dismisses and invalidates. We reconnect with our dreaming, with the soul as it speaks to us in this ancient language of images and symbols. And when we share dreams in a meditation group this dialogue is heard by other people’s hearts and validated within a sacred space. This is an important affirmation of the dream, and of the soul that speaks to us through our dreams. If you believe in your dream it will attract the interpretation, the response it needs. The Jungian Werner Engel said “the dream will always make itself known.” A dream is a living, dynamic reality that attracts the attention it needs. The interpretation may not be perfect; it may even be wrong. You may not discover the real meaning of a dream until weeks or even years later. Dreamwork is not about right or wrong, but a process through which we work with the world of the psyche, we reconnect with the soul. Through dreamwork the energy of the inner world is made accessible to us. Through trying to understand our dream we participate with the inner world, and its energy can come into consciousness, come into our waking life. We are nourished by our dreams more than we know, and dreamwork helps us to access this nourishment, be fed by the manna of our dreamworld. CATCHING THE DIVINE HINT Working with dreams, we gradually become familiar with a reality that is not fixed or static. Dreams are amorphous and changing, and their meaning is neither logical nor pre-determined. Responding to a dream, we have to catch its meaning as it belongs to the moment, a moment that is outside of time and outside of the defined parameters of our rational mind. Dreamwork thus helps us to listen and be responsive to a different, more fluid dimension, and can prepare us for the difficult work of catching the Divine hint. The aim of spiritual training is to lead a guided life, guided by that within which is eternal. The Divine often guides us through hints, which we have to catch and respond to without rational understanding. This is the way of Khidr, the Sufi archetypal figure of direct revelation, a direct and unconditional inner connection with the Divine. In the Qur’an’s story of Khidr, Moses, who represents the established law, wants to follow Khidr and be guided by him. But Khidr tells him, “You will not be able to bear with me. For how can you bear with that which is beyond your knowledge?” (Qur’an 18:61-62). Walking the mystical path of love, we are taken into a reality we 9

cannot understand, which is beyond our preconditioned knowledge. We must learn to listen and respond from a place of unknowing—to be an empty cup. This is a very different attitude from that demanded by the outer world, which requires that we act from a place of knowing and understanding. Dreamwork can help to awaken the part of our brain that can respond without preconceptions. In dreamwork we interact with a reality that is less fixed and more dynamic than the outer world or our rational mind. Listening to dreams, we attune ourselves to this fluid inner world in which things are rarely as they appear. As images shift and change, so their meaning evolves; so hidden parts of the dreamer become known. Gradually our consciousness becomes adapted to functioning in this non-linear, more dynamic mode. Working with dreams, we leave behind the fixed world, which is familiar to the rational mind, and to which we have become conditioned through our education and upbringing. Instead we consciously participate in a constantly changing reality, which we cannot rationally understand. Dreamwork trains the mind not to be caught in any fixed image or idea, and not to judge or have any preconditioned response. There is also a humor in dreams that laughs at our preconceptions or dissolves our established sense of self. Dreamwork frees our consciousness from the rigidity of any imposed pattern, and can awaken us to the laughter and freedom of our true self. It can prepare our consciousness for the work of catching the Divine hint. The Divine hint is “quicker than lightning” and if we interfere, through any judgment or censorship, the hint is lost. If we respond, “What if . . . ,” or “But . . . ,” or “I am not sure . . . ,” or with any of the mind’s conditioned responses, then the hint is lost, the opportunity gone. A Divine hint requires that we listen and act accordingly. Nor will a Divine hint always be about an action. Sometimes it is something we need to know, a quality we need to develop, an attitude we need to change. What matters is that we are always attentive and respond in the moment. We do not weigh up the consequences or consider our actions. We listen and act. But in order to listen and respond unconditionally, the mind has to become free of many patterns of conditioning. We have to leave behind our normal desire to understand, to know what we are doing. Dreamwork can help to free our mind, to enable it to work at 10

this higher, faster level. Dreamwork is a stepping stone to catching the Divine hint. But it is not the same as catching the hint. Dreamwork is a process through which we uncover the meaning of a dream. The hint is just given, and the only participation of the wayfarer is to listen and then respond. The hint works at a much higher vibration than dreamwork. But through dreamwork we can realign our consciousness and work with our mind in a different, non-linear way. Individually and as a group we work at the threshold of consciousness, at the borders of the unknown. We tune into what has not yet taken form, rather than what is already fixed and defined. Dreamwork trains us to listen to the voice of our Beloved, to be attentive to That. THE GOLDEN THREAD Spiritual dreams are those that come from the soul. They teach us about symbols and the meaning that is hidden under the surface. They guide us through the labyrinth of our psyche and tell us about our real destiny. These dreams help us to uncover the real nature of our being, to recognize its quality and bring it into our everyday life. They have within them a “golden thread” that is the destiny of the soul, our own direct connection to God. Spiritual dreams are an elaboration of this “golden thread,” giving it the coloring and texture of the moment, of the time and the place and the people. Working with these dreams, we align ourselves with this innermost quality, this sense of Self. We become alive to this ancient and eternal part of our being. Through dreamwork we become nourished by the numinous and by our own connection to what is sacred and eternal. First we glimpse this thread, and then learn to recognize it. Gradually it becomes the path that we follow, the guidance we need. We learn to know this thread as the unique nature of our spiritual life, of our whole life. This golden thread cannot be recognized with our rational mind, but our symbolic consciousness sees it, and the consciousness of the heart knows its purpose. Through working with this thread, seeing how it is woven into our dreams and hidden within our daily life, we discover that it belongs to the foundation of both our inner and outer life. This thread is our deeper self living within us, giving color and substance to the images of our psyche and also the texture of our days. 11

UNCONDITIONED FREEDOM The practice of dreamwork in a spiritual group makes us aware of how this thread is present in the dreams and lives of others. We see how easy it is to overlook, and how it often appears in a form we do not think of as spiritual, even overlook as insignificant. Many times it is present as an image or event in a dream that seems to be out of place with the rest of the dream. Because the destiny of the soul is so different from the agenda of our ego-self, even our “spiritual” ego-self, this thread will be found where we least expect it. Our “golden thread” is always leading us beyond our preconceptions, into a state of unconditioned freedom. Through hearing and discussing the dreams of others, as well as our own dreamwork, we discover this thread and see how it affects our outer life. We learn to see how this deeper destiny is woven into our everyday life, how outer situations and events have this hidden essence. We learn to recognize this quality of the Divine not just in meditation or moments of ecstasy, but in the midst of life. And as we see it within our own self and within our life, we carry this consciousness for the whole. Both individually and as a group we support what is essential to life, and to life’s making its deeper meaning known. In this way we validate what the world does not validate, we affirm what the world has forgotten. Dreamwork is an ancient spiritual practice that the Naqshbandi path has adapted to the needs of the present moment. Combining a traditional understanding of dreams and their symbols with the insights of modern psychology, dreamwork helps to guide us on the inner journey and be nourished by the symbolic world that our culture has rejected. Dreamwork helps to open the door to our soul, to that quality of ourselves that is eternal. We learn to listen and attune ourselves to this deeper dimension of our own being, so that we can participate more fully in the real wonder of what it means to be alive. And dreams also point beyond our own individual self, our own individual journey, to the greater whole of which we are a part. Sometimes our dreams are not just an expression of our own soul, but of the soul of the world, the anima mundi. Through these dreams we can experience a vaster horizon than our self, and maybe awaken to the transformation that is happening within the whole world. For just as we change and transform, so does the 12

world of which we are a part. Dreamwork can connect us to this greater unfolding, to the primal changes that are happening to life itself. And then we can play our part more fully, be a part of the golden thread hidden within the world. We can realize and live the primal connection between our soul and the soul of the world, and be what is awakening. Spiritual Empowerment Published in edited version in the final issue of Ascent Magazine, Spring 2009 Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

First we receive the light, then we impart the light, thus we repair the world. — KABALISTIC SAYING Every human being carries within them a light that belongs to God. This light is our most precious substance. It is our divine essence, our true nature. It is also potentially the most powerful force in the universe, as it contains the power of the Divine, the Source of all that is created. In the Upanishads this is described as: The boundless power, source of every power, manifesting itself as life, entering every heart, living there among the elements, that is Self.(1) In past centuries, the spiritual work with this light has focused on the inner journey back to God, the reclaiming of our essential nature, which is a state of unity. But there is another dimension to the journey—the mystery of how our individual light works in the world. It is through awakening to this mystery, and claiming our relationship and responsibilities to the whole, that we claim our spiritual maturity and respond to the real spiritual need of the time. The divine power that resides in our heart and connects us all in an unending flow of life and light has a role to play in the world, in both the healing of past wounds and in the creation of the future. Our own individual efforts—efforts born from fractured psyches and corrupted souls—cannot undo the damage that has been done to the earth or humanity, nor can it imagine what is truly possible. It 13

will be through spiritual empowerment—through recognizing that our individual light is part of a greater light—that the divine will play its part in the co-creation of a new era. But how do we wake up to this inner power? How can we allow the divine light within us to work for the sake of the whole? The mysterious relationship between an individual’s light and the light of the whole has been known in many ancient traditions. Just as shamans have understood that their work is always for the sake of the whole, so is all real spiritual practice. Christian monks and nuns praying in their cells were not just praying for their own salvation, but the salvation of all mankind. The yogi in deep meditation was not just dissolving his own individual self in the universal Self, but bringing that universal light and power into this world. The tears of the great Bodhisattvas are the tears of all humanity. But this deep awareness of how our light contributes to the whole has largely been forgotten. In the West we are the victims and purveyors of spiritual censorship, a censorship so profound and deep that we no longer even know of what we have been denied. When the Catholic Church turned toward worldly power and denied spiritual power they systematically deprived us of our spiritual heritage The Gnostic Gospels were purposefully lost along with the suppression of the Gnostics. Any other initiates who understood and had access to real spiritual power, like the Cathars, were ruthlessly repressed. In recent years we have begun to have access to real spiritual teachings. Some of the Gnostic Gospels have been recovered, and teachings such as the Gospel of Thomas have revealed the esoteric depths of Christianity. The West has also benefited from Buddhist and Hindu teachings brought from the East. Sufism has also made its way to West, with its profound understanding of mystical states. Yet it is as though we are still denied part of these teachings, as though certain doors that could have been opened remain closed. For example in Sufism there are is the teachings of the awiliya, the friends of God, who look after the spiritual well-being of the planet. In Judaism there is a similar body of hidden initiates known as the Lamed-Vav Tzaddikim, or Righteous Men, 36 in number who help to avert disasters. Yet only too often we regard these spiritual beings as myths, not recognizing or valuing their real spiritual power, or the meaning that they have for each of us. 14

How can we reconnect with this larger dimension of spiritual wisdom that belongs not just to the inner journey of the individual, but also to the evolution of the whole? Tibetan Buddhism emphasizes the Bodhisattva path in which one works not for one’s own enlightenment, but for the enlightenment of others. Specific practices include symbolically creating a world of harmony and perfection for all, and taking in others’ suffering and offering one’s own happiness in exchange. These practices point to a larger transformation. But do practitioners fully recognize the potential spiritual practices have to change our world? Do they accept this responsibility? How can we recognize the part that we each have to play? First we need to acknowledge the fundamental reality that we are connected to each other, that spiritual gifts are given for the sake of the whole. Some doors will only be opened with an attitude of service—an attitude so undervalued in contemporary culture. Our Western pursuit of individualism, our focus on the individual self, has claimed spiritual treasures almost solely for the purpose of individual development. We think love is given solely to help us feel better. We long for peace so our troubles will go away. Only too often we regard a spiritual path as a way to enrich our self. We rarely live the primal truth that we are never given for our self, but always for others. When we imprison our spiritual aspirations in the enclosed circle of our individual self we deny our self and our world a light and power it desperately needs. Our world is dying not just through exploitation and greed, but also through a denial of the sacred that unifies us all, the sacred that gives meaning and purpose to every life, every moment. We have separated spirit and matter and thus live in a world starved of spirit. Unless spirit can return nothing new can be born: we will continue to live in a materialistic desert empty of joy. Through spiritual practice light can return to the world: the divine light that that is within us can start to heal and transform our battered world. But only if we recognize this non-personal dimension of our prayers, our meditations and devotions. OUR PLACE IN THE WHOLE The time has come for us to ask how we can take this step towards spiritual maturity—how can we retrain our spiritual awareness to 15

focus less on our selves and more on the evolution of the whole? How can we use our light to return to the simple awareness of unity that can heal our fractured world and our selves: Those who see all creatures in themselves And themselves in all creatures know no fear. Those who see all creatures in themselves And themselves in all creatures know no grief. How can the multiplicity of life Delude the one who sees its unity?(2) In order to claim this vision of unity we do not forsake our individual work—this will always be necessary. Purification and inner work, what the Sufis call “polishing the mirror of the heart” gives us more access to our own light. We free it from the distortions of our lower nature and the veils of the ego, so it can shine more brightly, and become more and more a part of our consciousness. It is this light which guides us Home, leads us from the world of duality to the oneness that is within and around us. Through this light we make the journey from separation to union: we consciously reconnect with our divine nature. Traditionally, it was only when seekers realized the stage of union, unio mystica, that they were shown how their individual light connects to the light of the whole. This awareness came after many years of practice, when one awoke with the realization that the individual atman is the universal atman. In this realization everything is connected, there is no other and no individual self. But now we need to place this awareness at the beginning of our journey: to reconnect the individual with the whole as we take our first steps on the path. This is possible now in a way that has not been possible in the past, in fact it is a necessity. The needs of the whole cannot be ignored, or our planet risks widespread destruction. Human and ecological disease and degradation are too imminent to disregard. The world is calling out for oneness, for unity, and needs the light of all of us. It is a commitment we each have to make in our own way, and cannot be forced. But we can be made aware of the real 16

potential of our practice: that we can empower ourselves and the world. Then we can reclaim what has been denied us and bring an understanding of spiritual power back into the world. Our world is never going to be healed by politicians or corporations. But it can be transformed by the divine that is within each of us and within creation. TRUSTING THE LIGHT One might ask: “Where are the sacred texts that tell us how to do this?” There are many spiritual texts that speak about the wonders of the inner journey, and the stages on this path. In Tibet, which was one of the last places where there was real understanding of spiritual power, there were some texts that explain this larger work, but they have been burned, lost, or remain untranslated. In the West we have a few hints in the way alchemy talks about the light hidden in matter, the mystery of divine unity: “as above so below,” and the relationship of microcosm and macrocosm, but there is no description of how to work with this awareness in our contemporary world. There are few answers, perhaps because the questions and possibilities are so new. What would the world be like if we acknowledged our interconnectedness? If we felt the needs of others as our own, if we answered a greater need with as much force as we use to take care of ourselves? If we really respected the sacredness of the planet, recognizing how we are all a part of one living spiritual organism? Part of any adventure is a step into the unknown, and to allow the limitlessness of what is possible. This lack of knowing is part of the journey, part of our return to the Source, and is itself a process of empowerment. The path will always bring us to a place inwardly or outwardly that calls us to trust, surrender, and give ourselves completely, and it is through this willingness to proceed into the unknown that we discover how much we are helped, and held, and how much power is truly available to us. It is time to trust the light itself, trust the light that is within and around us, trust the Divine to awaken and teach us. Just as we know in our own journey the power of synchronicity, of connections being made by an unknown hand, of teachings and wisdom being given through dreams or intuitions. 17

The first step is always just to say “yes.” There is a Sufi saying “It is the consent that draws down the grace.” If we can say “yes” to our own light and acknowledge that it belongs to all of life we step out of the imprisonment of our individual self into the world that needs us, that needs our light. Then we begin to live in the presence of the divine, a divine that is not constricted by our patterns and plans, our images of duality. OFFERING OUT PRACTICE In our spiritual practice we can offer our selves to this larger purpose by consciously acknowledging the basic truth that every prostration, every mantra, ever breath that repeats the name of God, is the world in prayer, is the world remembering, reconnecting with its divine nature. We need to realize that our light is the light of the world, and as we work with our light through our practices we are bringing this light into the world. Our light follows consciousness. As we remember that our practice is always for the whole, our light will flow into the whole. The simple acknowledgement that our spiritual light is part of the world is a return of divine consciousness to the world. And when divine consciousness reawakens in the world anything can happen. We can begin to rediscover the secret potential of spiritual power, the power that threatened the Church and caused the Inquisition to hunt down the Cathars. We will realize that there is a power greater than worldly power, and that this is a power that is all around us and within us. This is the power of our divine light, a light that belongs directly to God who is the Source and Creator of all. Because this power belongs to the Creator it is not limited by the apparent laws of this world, by the constraints of worldly power, it is known as miraculous. And yet it is something as simple as the direct action of the divine. If we work with the light of our divine nature we are working with the light of the Divine in the world. As we consciously affirm our light as part of the light of the world we step into unity, and it is this unity that the world needs. Unity consciousness is a powerful and healing force. Individual consciousness that knows and affirms that it is part of the whole is a true empowerment, because one is no longer isolated with the image of a separate individual self. There is nothing more disempowering than being isolated, alienated, separate. Knowing that we are one reconnects us with the whole of life in every 18

moment, and in this reconnection we both empower and are empowered. In our spiritual light is the light of the whole, and our light is also in service to the whole. Oneness is like the clear blue skyeverything arises, unfolds, and subsides within its all-compassionate love. Oneness is our real Self. Everything is an aspect of Oneness. And our quest to know this comes from Oneness.(3) But it is time for humanity to reclaim the knowledge of how the divine works within creation. It is time for us to step into spiritual adulthood and realize the true meaning of co-creationism: our divine light working with the divine light within creation. It is up to us: if we do not take this step, a door will remain closed, and the soul of the world will know the despair of a lost opportunity. If we respond to the call of the times, we will play our part in the miracle of life being reborn.

FOOTNOTES (1)

Katha Upanishad, Book II (The Ten Principle Upanishads, trans. Shree Purohit Swami and W.B. Yeats), p. 34. (2) Isha Upanishad. (3) Abhinavagupta on the teachings of Non-dual Kashmir Shaivism.

Spiritual Ecology Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee How can we speak about sustainability without speaking about the Sustainer? Finally we are waking up to our ecological imbalance, to the realities of global warming and its catastrophic consequences. It is 19

also beginning to dawn upon us that these environmental changes are accelerating, that time is running out more quickly than we may realize. To quote a recent article in the New York Times by Paul Krugman: The fact is that the planet is changing faster than even pessimists expected: ice caps are shrinking, arid zones spreading, at a terrifying rate. And according to a number of recent studies, catastrophe—a rise in temperature so large as to be almost unthinkable—can no longer be considered a mere possibility. It is, instead, the most likely outcome if we continue along our present course.1 And we are beginning to respond, with concerns about greenhouse gases and plans to reduce carbon emissions. We are proposing global protocols that can delude us into thinking we are taking responsible action even as we continue our demand for materialistic progress. But underlying our global predicament is an even deeper delusion, the notion that we can avoid environmental catastrophe without considering its root cause, without the change in consciousness that is needed to effect real change.

angels fountain by alicepopkorn, used under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license. Behind our present ecological self-destruction, caused by industrial pollution, by the chemicals, toxins and particularly carbon that our civilization emits, lies our desire for material progress, the demon of consumerism and greed that walks with heavy boots over the sacred soil of our world. At the root of our predicament is a deep 20

disregard for the environment, and for the consequences of our actions until it is too late. This is the product of a consciousness that is cut off from the natural world and its interconnectedness. It comes from an attitude that we are separate from the world around us and can do with it as we want—an attitude that is unthinkable to indigenous people who respect and revere the physical world, and whose cultures protect the balance between humanity and nature. Our western consciousness evolved through the birth of scientific reasoning to treat the physical world as a mere object, something mechanical whose laws we could learn and thus master. We developed the gifts of science, but also began to create the materialistic wasteland that we now inhabit. We banned the symbolic world as something superstitious, and the understanding of the relationship between the worlds that linked together all of creation, the concept of the “Great Chain of Being,” was forgotten. Rather than part of an interdependent whole, each part nourishing and supporting the other, we became lords of a soulless earth, which we sought to dominate and subjugate for our own ends. Underlying this outlook is a deep partriarchal conditioning. As our collective consciousness shifted from a matriarchal understanding of the world as a living sacred being, the divine became a transcendent God, living in heaven. The sacred streams and groves became just the stuff of myth, the nature spirits that inhabited them forgotten. Patriarchal consciousness excluded the divine from the natural world, whose darkness man then had to conquer. We were left alone in the world with a God we could only experience after death. Living in a world without the presence of the divine, we had only our own laws to follow, our own desires to nourish us. The results of this consciousness can be seen in our ecological devastation and the soulless world of our materialistic dreams. The question we now need to ask is whether we can redeem our present ecological situation without addressing the consciousness that created it. Can there be any real change without a shift in consciousness? What would this shift mean and how would it address the very real concerns of global warming? We cannot afford to be idealistic dreamers. There must be real solutions to our very real predicament. In our patriarchal hubris we have forgotten something that has been central to every other civilization: the primacy and power of the divine. We may have banished God to the heaven of our imagination, but that does not mean that this supreme power is not 21

present. Every other civilization developed and understood ways to work with this power, to channel Its energy. Shamans were trained to understand the way Its spirit worked, priests and priestesses learned to listen to Its voice, Its prophecies and warnings. Sacred geometry was developed to channel Its energy through sacred buildings. But now we have become blind and deaf to Its hidden ways. We may praise and pray to a God in heaven, but we do not understand how to welcome the divine into our lives. How can we heal and transform the world without the living presence of its Creator? Monotheism pointed us away from the many gods and goddesses of the ancient world towards a single transcendent God. If the living presence of God is to return to our consciousness it will be not as a step back to the old ways, but as a divine Oneness that embraces all of creation. Mystics have always experienced the oneness of being, the many facets of creation reflecting the single Essence. We are beginning to be aware of the ecological unity of life and its interconnectedness; economically and technologically we are being drawn into an era of global oneness. We now need to understand divine oneness: how the different qualities of the divine form a living presence in the inner and outer worlds, and how these qualities work together as one. On a very simple level we do not have the power or technology to “fix” our ecological crisis on our own. The problems we have created are too severe. And yet here is the very root of our misunderstanding. We cannot do this on our own. We need to embrace the divine not as some transcendent being, but as a living presence that contains the visible and invisible worlds, all of the spirit and angelic beings that our ancestors understood. The oneness of God includes many different levels of existence. We know for our individual self that real healing only takes place when we our inner and outer selves are aligned, when we are nourished by our own soul and the archetypal forces within us. What is true for the individual is true for the whole. It is from the energies within and behind creation that the healing of creation will take place, because these are the beings that support, nourish and help creation to develop and evolve. How can we heal creation without the help of the devas and other spiritual forces that are within creation? They are waiting to be asked to participate, for their wisdom and power to be used. We need to once again work together with the divine oneness that is within and around us. 22

But how can we learn how to work together with the inner worlds when our culture has dismissed them to such a degree that we have forgotten their existence? We may talk about angels, and even pray for their intercession, but do we really understand their power, or that they are just one level of invisible beings? The invisible worlds are present all around us even though we cannot see or touch them, just like the wavelengths of light beyond the small portion of the spectrum we can see. First we have to step out of our dream of separation, the insularity with which we have imprisoned ourselves, and acknowledge that we are a part of a multidimensional living spiritual being we call the world. The world is much more than just the physical world we perceive through the senses, just as we are much more than just our own physical bodies. Only as a part of a living whole can we help to heal the whole. Just as we need to work together with the outer ecosystem, we need to work together with the inner worlds. We need their support and help, their power and knowledge. The devas understand the patterns of climate change better than we do, because they are the forces behind the weather and the winds. Just as plant devas know the healing powers of plants (and taught the shamans and healers their knowledge), so are there more powerful devas that know and guide the patterns of evolution of the whole planet. Once we regain our consciousness of the divine within creation, we will discover Her invisible presence in many different ways. And once we acknowledge how we are an interdependent part of this living whole, we will find that the divine can once again communicate with us. It is only humanity that has exiled itself from the divine, banished Her presence and thus become blind and deaf. When we lift this veil of separation we will rediscover the ways the divine within creation communicates with humanity, and how we can work together to save the planet. She will teach us what we need to know, guide us in the ways we need to go. We only need the humility to be open and listen, just as for our own healing we need to listen to our own soul and the deeper rhythms of our body. But this shift in consciousness does mean that we will have to take responsibility for our actions and attitudes. We can no longer walk blindly, uncaring, on the face of the earth. Leaving behind the myth of our banishment means accepting our faults and the damage we have done in the inner and outer worlds. We are beginning to take responsibility for the ecosystem, though we have not yet fully realized that we will need to sacrifice our materialistic dream and to 23

suffer the pain of withdrawal from this addiction. Taking responsibility for the damage we have done in the inner worlds, for example the sorrow we have caused the Great Mother by our abuse, is a step we have not yet taken. Nor do we realize how we have desecrated the symbolic worlds, whose sacred images are today being used as just another way to sell materialistic fantasies. Symbols and sacred images used to be a way to connect with the divine, to make the transition from the physical world to the mystery of the soul. Yet we now use these images for personal gain, without taking any responsibility for our actions, for the rape of the sacred. There will be a price to pay if we are to redeem the symbolic world of the creative imagination, just as we have to pay a price for our own faults and failings. Redemption requires real sacrifice. Only then can we regain the dignity that belongs to us, and help to heal the wrongs we have done. Growing up requires responsibility and is a painful process. To reclaim our dignity and role as guardians of the planet will not be easy. But we can pray for the intercession of His mercy, knowing, according to an ancient promise, that “His mercy is greater than His justice.” There is a real reason that the ancients understood that He is a wrathful God, and made penance and sacrifice to placate Him. We may think that our science and civilization can protect us from this primal power, but the symbol of the dragon as the power of the earth is not without meaning. We have little understanding of the archetypal forces that underlie our surface lives, and of how they are all interconnected and can manifest the will of God. We can no longer afford to be ignorant or think that we can abuse the world as long as we want. Spiritual ecology means reawakening our awareness of what is sacred in all of creation, and knowing that only if we work together with the divine in all of its manifestations can we hope to redeem what we have desecrated and destroyed through our greed and arrogance. It means to reclaim the wisdom of our ancestors who knew the sacred interconnections of life and the divine forces within it. Once again we have to relearn how to relate to the divine, how to bring an awareness of the many facets of divine oneness into our lives and prayers and meditations. We cannot afford to remain in this wasteland of separation, lost in our ego-driven arrogance. And we cannot afford to wait. We have already waited too long, ignoring the signs that are around us. Nor can we afford to think that science and technology will give us the answers we need to restore our ecological imbalance. Their ideology is born from the separation of 24

spirit and matter, and this is what has caused the problems that are now bleeding the lifeblood of the planet. Matter is not dead, however we may treat it. It is part of a living organism like the cells in our own body. And this living organism is an embodiment of spirit. We have to bring together spirit and matter, heal the split that has wounded our world. The world has been through many crises over the millennia, but this is the first global crisis that has been created by humanity. Whether we take responsibility for our predicament will determine our future and the future of the world. There is an ancient teaching that in times of imminent catastrophe we are given the opportunity of divine intercession; we can look towards God and pray for divine help. We are at such a moment and the soul of the world is crying out. Are we prepared to welcome back the divine and work together with the forces of creation? Are we able to claim this real empowerment? Or are we going to remain on the sidelines and watch as the politicians argue while the world continues on its present course? We do not know what it might mean to once again work with the divine forces within creation. In the West we have long since lost touch with this heritage, even though it is buried deep in our psyche. Yet it is a simple shift of awareness to reclaim this consciousness, and in doing so we will step into the future that is being born at this moment of crisis. We will become alive in a new way as we help the world wake up from the dream that is destroying it. We will be active participants in the real ecological work that is needed. Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee is a sheikh in the NaqshbandiyyaMujadidiyya Sufi Order. Born in London in 1953, he has followed the Naqshbandi Sufi path since he was 19. In 1991 he moved to Northern California and became the successor of Irina Tweedie, author of Chasm of Fire and Daughter of Fire. In recent years, the focus of his writing and teaching has been on spiritual responsibility in our present time of transition, and the emerging global consciousness of oneness. He has also specialized in the area of dreamwork, integrating the ancient Sufi approach to dreams with the insights of modern psychology. Llewellyn is the founder of The Golden Sufi Center and author of several books. workingwithoneness.org, goldensufi.org Footnotes 25

(show footnotes) Comments (8) •

I’m delighted to come across this article on spiritual ecology. I’m in the process of teaching a master’s program in Social Ecology at the University of Western Sydney on Ecology and Spirituality. We are clearly tuning into the same thought processes. There are a number of authors and social commentators who have drawn attention to the link between the ecological crisis and the spiritual crisis, including Al Gore himself in a book he wrote around 1992. It’s something I resonate with as a student and practitioner of Sufism myself. I follow Hazrat Inayat Khan’s teaching to read the sacred manuscript of Nature, as he says, it’s only book that will enlighten the reader. This has certainly been my experience. I love reading books and I love reading Nature even more. My sense is that only when we enough of us re-member our deep connections with the web of life that we’ll really be able to save our dear planet and Mother, Earth. Indigenous elders I’ve sat with and read all say the Earth is our Mother! It’s time we learned to listen to these people who are still tuned into the Earth. This is an emergent theme that came out of my own doctoral research in social ecology. I proposed the need to develop an ecology of culture as a way to heal our Great Mother. So thank you for this inspiring article, I’ll recommend it to my students as well, In peace, for the Earth, Arjuna — Arjuna Ben-Zion Weiss on August 19, 2009

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at good last exploring the roots. thank you so very much. — Renate Faber on August 19, 2009 26

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Your wisdom speaks to every part of my being. And if I were to read your words aloud the faery beings around me would be dancing with the angels. Deep gratitude from someone who practices the eco/pagan mysticism of her Celtic ancestors, and the mysticism of the divine human being that I am learning on the Sufi path. — Zahira Conaire Sheehan on August 19, 2009

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Thank you for a lovely article, I have struggled with this developing this awareness in a manifest way in my life for a long time. I live in a rural way, and yet still enslaved to the corporate urban industrial culture, there does not seem to be a way out anymore, all of the trend curves point to catastrophe, except as you say through the development of the spiritual consciousness of the divine within the whole fabric of being, Hafiz poem talks of halting the sword midblow in the realization that we are all one flesh and so it is with all creation — john Khalid on August 20, 2009

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I am aware of this living divine within the deep levels of earth and her supportive beings and I often feel very alone in connecting consciously. Now I pray for others to become aware of these important things that you describe. Your plea is core and key to the present course. Thank you. — Iman on August 20, 2009

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Thank you for this article: it is all so true! I used to feel a deep despair about our treatment of the Mother Earth and in particular the suffering we inflict on the animals. But through recent work I have been able to do on a small scale involving the energies of the Mother Earth and various spirits of nature, I have learnt how extraordinarily powerful the forces of light within and behind everything are. I have learnt also that both earth and cosmic energies are changing rapidly in these days, that everything is becoming new and different and, most encouragingly, that working with these forces does not require complicated procedures or knowledge, only a willingness to help and clarity of intent. — Francesca Gracie on August 22, 2009 27

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Until we see the global as personal we will continue to race headlong to destruction. Until we stop blaming ‘them’ and realise it is each of our thoughts and actions that creates our world there can be no return to sanity. When we listen to the prompting of our heart we remember what we once knew… we are one. — Gillian Stokes on August 25, 2009

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Great position on Ecology, friend. It is true that we as a part of the larger must recognize that our “environment” has never been separate from us. The very notion of an environment is as much a misnomer as the arcane ideal of some god in the sky watching our every move. And I believe our spiritual “environment” is as vast as the physical (since again, they cannot be isolated from one another). I do have to bring one element to your attention: the charge of monotheism as one catalyst in the separation of our physical/logical selves from our deeper reality. After reading a number of monotheist scriptures, I could not determine that with the close reading of any of those works one could not attain the deeper understanding of the inner and find a path through the Messenger, Savior or Prophet into the Self any less or more than any polytheistic work I’ve read. Perhaps it is the intention of those who molded the scripts themselves to have lesser meanings that didn’t require deep thought and reflection and silence—those privileged persons who saw their wealth and power as scarce and could not themselves find the deep abundance of Truth became drunk with the thirst for material power and control. Perhaps we continue to relive these chapters BECAUSE we haven’t outgrown them as a people: Kings to Landowners, Politicians to Corporations—this chain is our temporary sentence. But it is weakening. We need to prescribe a non-logical solution, like the one you mentioned. One that brings light from the divine (beyond our senses) into the physical and dovetail that with the passions and fervour of those who are out on the front lines of the physical plane. We must look to those who brought us here (good and bad) and thank them for their efforts (good and bad), for we can now move forward with warmth and compassion. This will trigger the new dawn that theosophists and countless others before them touted we’re meeting in this century. 28

I deeply thank you for your works, thought and actions. Peace be unto you forever! — Idris on August 25, 2009 The Iron Rules, Number Five Pir Zia Inayat-Khan My conscientious self, do not claim that which belongs to another.1 I have two small children and I take great delight in watching them grow and change. In children one can see the simplest impulses of the human personality before it has been socially conditioned. For example, when two children are playing together with an assortment of toys, a toy will often lie utterly neglected until one child happens to takes it up, at which point the other child will develop a sudden interest in it, and demand it as his own. As long as it lay on the floor there was no special attraction, but when another grasps it, it acquires urgent importance. In reality, adults are not so different from children in this respect, although we might hide it. We are drawn to possess what others possess. In extreme cases, acquisitiveness drives people to deceit and violence. More often, it simply involves spending a great deal of time and energy accumulating and discarding possessions, hunting for the object that will bring happiness, yet never quite finding it. The whole economy is based on our acting this way. If we stopped, the economy would collapse and would have to be reinvented. From a Sufi point of view, every motivation is ultimately grounded in a divine impulse. Even in our concupiscence there is hope for redemption. The pursuit of an object leads to the attainment of the object, which in turn leads to rising above it. If one were not to strive to obtain that which one desires, if one were to prematurely renounce it while inwardly still hankering for it, one’s renunciation would be hollow and hypocritical and liable to be broken at any moment. But one who has attained the object and risen above it, that one can be said to be free. Even the path of acquisition must have its end, as all things have their end, in realization. William Blake expressed this when he said that the road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.

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Yet it must be said that it is one thing for an individual to follow the path of excess to the palace of wisdom, and another for the whole of society to do so. The enrichment of one nation or species very often spells the impoverishment of another, and with a human population of over six and a half billion, the Earth’s resources are already stretched precariously thin. Mahatma Gandhi was once asked if India could be expected to attain the standard of living of Britain. He answered that it took Britain half the world to feed itself —“if India became like Britain, how many worlds would it need?” Collectively, the path of realization through excessive consumption is simply not tenable. Yet many of us go through a stage of preoccupation with objects. As one becomes a connoisseur, one’s tastes develop and there is no limit to what one wants. When one has obtained this thing, something else seems more desirable, and it goes on and on. But after some time one realizes that this is all dunya (wordliness) and that the thing itself is not what provides the satisfaction. The thing is just a trigger for an inner experience, and the experience itself is the source of the pleasure. What does possession really mean after all? In truth, possession is nothing more than legal proximity to an object. Is there any kind of invisible force that links a person and an object? There is no such force, except in the mind. When one realizes this one moves to the next stage—from dunya to akhira (otherwordliness). Instead of seeking possession of objects, one seeks satisfaction in beautiful and joyful states of being. One sets out on the spiritual path, and perhaps one attends seminars and workshops and retreats and reads a lot of books. In this way one discovers a marketplace of beautiful spiritual ideas. Eventually one might begin to notice that the same impulses that impelled one in the marketplace of things drive one through the marketplace of spiritual ideas: the same acquisitive desire, the same attempt to obtain satisfaction through possession of something that is expected to be stable and pleasurable. Moreover—in the spiritual world as in the physical world—one is often tempted to seize that which belongs to another because it has more attraction than what one possesses oneself. As one pursues one’s spiritual path, one sees that there are other people who are apparently endowed with a quality of realization that is extremely attractive. One wishes that one had what the other person has, and feels the need to test out every new methodology or discipline in order to latch onto something that will 30

maximize one’s satisfaction. One craves to possess that which belongs to another, the apparently perfect spiritual state of those who surround one, and one feels oneself to be trapped in a lesser state. So one becomes, on the one hand, idolatrous of the others, and on the other, most unkind to oneself, feeling profoundly one’s unworthiness and incapacity. Ironically it is likely that the one upon whom we project our ideal of perfect spiritual accomplishment likewise feels his or her limitation and wishes for the state of a more perfectly realized being, and so on ad infinitum, everyone turning and looking at another—that is, until we return to the principle of this Iron Rule: Do not claim that which belongs to another. The rule tells us, only claim that which belongs to you, that which arises from your own experience. That is what you can claim, accept and be content with—your own state of being. Understand its changeableness. Understand that your state is not the essence, but it is a quality of essence that is shifting. In the acceptance of one’s state one is better able to sense how it is poised on the ground of pure essence. So take the truth of your experience as that which belongs to you, the special vantage point that has been disclosed to God by God exclusively through you. Your angle of vision is necessarily unique to you, and something is thereby added to life that could not be added in any other way. Nothing is superfluous. All is providential. Our critical judgments of our experience as good or bad, negative or positive are ultimately very relative. There is simply the life experience that we have been given for the enrichment of the divine self-disclosure. It is in embracing that experience that we enjoy the fulfillment that is our birthright. Translating the Invocation Toward the One Into The Hebrew of the Jewish Tradition Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and Netanel Miles-Yepez Toward the One, The Perfection of Love, Harmony, and Beauty, The Only Being, United with All the Illuminated Souls, 31

Who Form the Embodiment of the Master, The Spirit of Guidance. Years ago, when I first began saying the Toward the One prayer of the Sufi Master Hazrat Inayat Khan, I found that I was often unable to get beyond the opening words. For even as I was speaking, I would be lifted “Toward the One” to regions of “Love, Harmony, and Beauty” where my feet no longer touched the ground of materiality, but instead were grounded in “The Only Being.” I was overwhelmed by the energetic qurb—‘proximity’ to the One—in the words themselves. There was such holy precision in them and manifest spiritual energy that my heart could not fail to respond to them. And, as with other things that touched me powerfully from outside of the Jewish tradition, I immediately wanted to translate it into Hebrew, the language of my spiritual upbringing.1 In the years since I originally made this little translation for myself in the 1970’s, other Hebrew translations of Toward the One have appeared in various places. This is in no way meant to imply criticism of other Hebrew translations, but only to offer another version. The beauty of a translation is the access it gives to a ‘message’ originally given in another language, but we must always understand that it is an interpretation of that ‘message.’ For each language has a beauty and sophistication of its own which resists translation. There is no one-to-one equivalence for the cultural understandings of words translated from one language into another. Thus, there is a practical truth to what Muslims say when they speak of the miraculous ijaz (‘inimitability’) of the Arabic Qur’an. And when they say that a Qur’an in English is not the Qur’an, they are also right. It is an interpretation. This is not to say that the spirit of the ‘message’ is not conveyed in the translation, only that there is variation between one and the other. And just as a translation is an interpretation of the original, different translations sometimes yield quite different interpretations. Thus, it is possible that there will be some who will find value in my particular Hebrew interpretation of Toward the One. This is why I am now hoping to make this translation available, for I have noticed that the Hebrew translations of the Toward the One I have seen are interpretations into modern Hebrew. This is good, and I am delighted to see them, just as I am pleased to see 32

renderings into modern Spanish, German, French, and Arabic. But with this translation I intended to render Toward the One into a Hebrew that has a resonance with the liturgical Hebrew of the beit midrash, where Jews traditionally prayed and studied. For today, there is both a traditional Hebrew of Judaism and a secular Hebrew of social discourse. For Israelis (who have often been raised in a secular environment), modern Hebrew obviously makes more sense and is far more palatable, but for others who are more oriented toward the Hebrew of prayer and study, there are certain words and phrases in modern Hebrew that are foreign to traditional Judaism and do not come across as authentically Jewish. Thus, I labored to translate Toward the One in such a way that those who have solid footing in Jewish tradition may add it to their prayers without it feeling like something foreign. Here is my translation of Toward the One into traditional Hebrew: Liqrat ha’ehad, Ha’yahid ha’ehad v’ha’m’yuhad, Shleymut ha’emmet, ha’tzedeq v’ha’tif’eret, Hannimtza ha’yahid, Ha’kolel kol hann’shamot ha’ne’orot, Yotzrey hag’shammat harrabbi, Ha’ruah haqqodesh. Of course, some of the words will be the same in nearly all translations into Hebrew, but there will also be critical differences, and in this case, even additions. First of all, the phrase Liqrat ha’ehad is a fairly direct translation of ‘Toward the One’ into Hebrew. But if we wish it to impart more of the sense intended by Hazrat Inayat Khan, and to connect with how the Jewish tradition expresses this notion, we have to include another phrase here. In Hasidism, there is a distinction between ehad ha’manuy, the number one, and ehad v’eyn sheyni, the One that has no other, no two or three. The phrase in traditional Hebrew that best expresses this notion comes from the Italian Kabbalist and 33

hakham (‘sage’), Rabbi Moshe Hayyim Luzzatto (1707-1747), the author of the Mesillat Yesharim (‘Path of the Upright’), who gives us Ehad, yahid, u’meyuhad, ‘One Uniquely Simple Unity.’2 But since this phrase cannot follow Liqrat ha’ehad in a natural way, I created a kind of echo of it with Ha’yahid ha’ehad v’ha’m’yuhad. In the next line, we have Shleymut ha’emmet, ha’tzedeq v’ha’tif’eret, which is quite different from what we have in the English and requires some explanation. First of all, shleymut, ‘wholeness,’ is simply the word that best conveys the notion of ‘perfection’ in Hebrew,3 but ha’emmet, ha’tzedeq v’ha’tif’eret actually translates to ‘truth, righteousness, and beauty.’ Somehow, emmet, ‘truth,’ struck me as a better choice from within the Jewish tradition to put in this trilogy of words.4 Nevertheless, I think ahavah, ‘love,’ (ha’ahavah if put into the whole phrase) would still be acceptable here. I chose to use tzedeq, ‘righteousness’ for ‘harmony’ because ‘righteousness’ in Hebrew carries with it the sense of balanced scales.5 Now, tif’eret is in fact the Hebrew for ‘beauty,’ but it is also a word that is loaded with meaning in the world of Jewish mysticism (kabbalah). In a very simple sense, tif’eret is what balances and completes the forces of Love and Justice in the Universe. The next three lines are fairly straightforward. Hannimtza ha’yahid is basically, ‘the only one who can be found,’ ‘the only existent.’ Yahid is also the One Infinite Being, the Simple Unity without separation or parts, the God without limits. Ha’kolel kol hann’shamot ha’ne’orot is ‘Who contains all the souls that have been illuminated.’ Yotzrey hag’shammat harrabbi is ‘Forming the actualization of the master,’6 the rebbe, in Hasidic parlance. Finally, in the last line, I chose not to translate the words, “The Spirit of Guidance,” but to replace them with the parallel concept from the Jewish tradition, Ha’ruah haqqodesh, ‘the Spirit of Holiness,’ or Holy Spirit. This is the phrase most often used in the Talmudic and Midrashic literature to denote prophetic inspiration. And while there are statements in the tradition that say that ruah haqqodesh departed after the passing of the prophets Haggai, Zachariah and Malachi, Hasidim clearly believe that it is still available, even today. If one were to translate this Hebrew Toward the One back into English, it would probably come out something like this: 34

Toward the One, Unique, One, and Unified, The Wholeness of Truth, Righteousness, and Beauty, The Only One in Existence, Who contains all the Illuminated Souls, Forming the actualization of the Master, The Spirit of Holiness. As you can see, there is clear variation in the sense of the words, but I believe that the Message is still available in them. The English prayer of Hazrat Inayat Khan is so precise and beautiful that all attempts at translation will fail in one way or another. It has its own miraculous ijaz and will stand forever among the great prayercreations of the English language. Nevertheless, I offer this rendering into Hebrew as a way for those who wish to pray in Hebrew, but who are also committed to the Message, to add this to their other prayers in a way that will feel natural in the prayer-space of Judaism. Netanel (Mu’in ad-Din) Miles-Yepez studied History of Religions at Michigan State University and Contemplative Religion at Naropa University, specializing in non-dual philosophies and comparative religion. He is the editor of Living Fully, Dying Well: Reflecting on Death to Find Your Life's Meaning, and co-authored A Heart Afire: Stories and Teachings of the Early Hasidic Masters (2009) with Reb Zalman. Rabbi Zalman (Suleyman) Schachter-Shalomi, better known as ‘Reb Zalman,’ was born in Zholkiew, Poland in 1924. He was ordained by the HaBaD-Lubavitcher Hasidim in 1947 and is professor emeritus of Psychology of Religion and Jewish Mysticism at Temple University and World Wisdom Chair holder emeritus at Naropa University. Today he is primarily known as the father of the Jewish Renewal movement and is widely considered one of the world's foremost authorities on Hasidism and Kabbalah. He is the author of Jewish with Feeling: Guide to a Meaningful Jewish Practice (2005). In 2004, he co-founded The Desert Fellowship of the Message: The InayatiMaimuni Tariqat of Sufi-Hasidim with his student, Netanel (Mu’in adDin) Miles-Yepez, fusing the Sufi and Hasidic principles of spirituality 35

espoused by Rabbi Avraham Maimuni in 13th century Egypt with the teachings of the Ba’al Shem Tov and Hazrat Inayat Khan. Footnotes (show footnotes) Comments (1) •

Shalom and Light upon a Light to you, dear Reb, and thank you for your beautiful inspiration. I had an inspiration for All Prophets Day to be observed July 5, 2010 in honor of all prophets and the spirit of guidance today, and co-incidentally on the birthday of Hazrat Inayat Khan. May I add your translation to those I am hoping to gather from as many languages as feasible? — Ganesh Dawdy on July 24, 2009

The Iron Rules, Number Three Pir Zia Inayat-Khan Editor’s note: Continuing our examination of various moral codes, Seven Pillars is pleased to present Pir Zia Inayat-Khan’s talks on the Iron and Copper rules of Hazrat Inayat Khan as an ongoing series. While this material originates from a Sufi context, it can be helpful to anyone who is looking for practical guidance on applying chivalric principles to the conundrums of everyday life. A new rule will be posted monthly until the series is complete. The third rule is: My conscientious self, do not take advantage of a person’s ignorance. Each rule begins with the words, “My conscientious self.” This means that the rule is a soliloquy, a conversation with oneself. It is not imposed by an external authority. The rule is the articulation of an ethical orientation. If that orientation resonates with one’s conscience, then the rule is a reminder to fully commit oneself, in all situations, to one’s ideal. If the orientation does not resonate, then the contemplation of the rule presents an opportunity to clarify one’s own ethical position. In neither case is the rule a dogma that demands adherence on the basis of an external authority. The only true authority is the illuminated human conscience. 36

An X-Ray of Homer Simpson's Brain Now to the rule: Do not take advantage of a person’s ignorance. Of course the extreme form of taking advantage of a person’s ignorance is hucksterism, preying on people’s gullibility and misleading them to make a quick buck. Most of us are innocent of this. But there are subtler forms of taking advantage. In Creating the Person, Murshid1 speaks of what he calls “the persuasive tendency.” He says: There is a tendency hidden behind human impulse, which may be called the persuasive tendency. . . . By this, people achieve for the moment what they wish to achieve. But in the end, the effect is the annoyance of all those who are tried by this persuasive tendency. Does it not show that to get something done is not so hard as to be considerate of the feelings of others? It is so rare that one finds a person in the world who is considerate of another person’s feeling, even at the sacrifice of getting his or her own desires done. Everyone seeks freedom, but for himself or herself. If one sought the same for another, one would be a much greater person. The persuasive tendency, no doubt, shows a great will power. And it plays upon the weakness of others, who yield and give in to it, owing to love, sympathy, goodness, kindness and politeness. But there is a limit to everything. There comes a time when the thread breaks. A thread is a thread, it is not steel wire. Even a wire breaks if it is pulled too hard. The delicacy of the human heart is not comprehended by everyone. Human feeling is too fine for common perception. A soul who develops his or her personality, what is (s)he like? (S)he is not like the root or the stem of the plant, nor like the branches or leaves. (S)he is like the flower, the flower with its color, fragrance and delicacy.

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Murshid is speaking here of the tendency to argue, to cajole, to wheedle, to badger—in short, to do all within one’s power to change someone’s mind in the interest of personally benefiting. We all, at times, try to leverage our rhetorical skills to the best advantage. When one feels the stakes are high, one argues one’s case tenaciously, with lawyerly intensity. To “win” an argument one must downplay the weaknesses in one’s position and emphasize the strengths. Certain facts must be highlighted and other facts must be concealed. That which is congenial to one’s argument one plays up, and the rest is conveniently ignored. We all have this tendency, more or less. It is just part of the rhetoric of speech, almost unavoidable. We always want to give the best reason for our decisions, our thoughts, and so on. But when this tendency takes an extreme form it becomes abusive. When one knowingly withholds critical information in a discussion, one is no longer contributing positively toward a mutually favorable resolution. If the purpose of a conversation is a “meeting of minds”—and when should it not be?—then what is wanted is not the triumph of one point of view over the other, but rather a cognitive synthesis in which multiple facets of a subject are brought into harmony and the understanding of both parties is expanded. When, on the contrary, one takes advantage of the blind spots in another person’s angle of vision, that which results is just a form of exploitation. Knowledge is power, and the manipulation of knowledge with the motive of self-interest can be tyrannical. Of course secrecy is not in itself a negative or destructive force. In fact, it is a natural and necessary aspect of life. All of nature is a revelation of the mystery of the divine secret in successive stages of disclosure. If the pure, all-encompassing truth of reality were ever to be disclosed in its totality, the witness’s mind would melt. Neither you nor I could stand the force of the disclosure and survive. It is as a mercy to us that, “Allah hath seventy thousand veils of light and darkness.” It is only as the human being’s capacity deepens and expands that the veils can be lifted, one by one. Not every moment is the right moment to express a finer perception, a realization of the soul. 38

Secrets of the heart are not to be blurted out carelessly. The luminous darkness of silence nourishes and protects spiritual knowledge until its moment of expression has come. This secrecy is beautiful and empowering. It empowers not only oneself, but also the other. The Prophet, Saint, or Master who keeps the divine secret does so in a spirit of compassionate solidarity with all life, supporting the natural unfoldment of each being. This is just the opposite of the secrecy of the tyrant, who uses knowledge to dominate others. Both use power, but the tyrant uses power against others, whereas the Prophet, Saint, or Master uses power for and with others. The result is very different. Pir Zia Inayat-Khan, founder of Seven Pillars House of Wisdom, is the spiritual leader of the Sufi Order International, a mystical and ecumenical fellowship rooted in the visionary legacy of his grandfather, Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan. Pir Zia is also President of the Suluk Academy for esoteric studies. Pir Zia holds a doctoral degree in religion from Duke University, is a recipient of the U Thant Peace Award, and is a newly appointed Lindisfarne Fellow. The Iron Rules, Number Two Pir Zia Inayat-Khan Editor’s note: Continuing our examination of various moral codes, Seven Pillars is pleased to present Pir Zia Inayat-Khan’s talks on the Iron and Copper rules of Hazrat Inayat Khan as an ongoing series. While this material originates from a Sufi context, it can be helpful to anyone who is looking for practical guidance on applying chivalric principles to the conundrums of everyday life. A new rule will be posted monthly until the series is complete. The second rule is: Speak not against others in their absence. This is a saying that, like all wise words, has several levels of meaning. On the most literal level it means: do not speak unkindly about people who are not present in the conversation. At a deeper level, one could say that to speak against someone in his or her absence means to speak judgmentally of someone to whom you are not present. In this case, being present means being conscious of the soul of the person. To lightly discuss the characteristics of a person without truly being present to that person—without experiencing the person’s soul—is an error. 39

But again, the literal meaning is: do not to speak about people when they are not around, except in praise. The situation that the rule addresses is a common one, I think, in the experience of all of us. In the social world we inhabit, people are more likely to speak about other people in their absence than in their presence. Gossip has a kind of infectious quality. One might not naturally incline toward it, but one finds oneself in conversations in which the intoxicating atmosphere of casual criticism gets the better of one. In that moment, a feeling of license prevails. But as one steps away from the conversation, the thought suddenly dawns: what have I said? The ego does not exist in isolation. Rather, it is a construct formed of layers of psychic substance generated in relationships. Our selfimage is bound up in other people’s image of us, and vice versa. When we cast negative judgments on others, we may imagine ourselves to be revealing the person’s true nature, but we are in fact concealing it. We are wrapping the person up in veils of darkness, covering over the light of the soul. From a mystical point of view, the physical presence or absence of a person is incidental. We are interconnected beyond time and space. Nothing goes unheard; every word, and indeed every thought, resounds through the universe. Nothing is hidden; every vibration has its effect. Murshid says: “It must be remembered that one shows lack of nobleness of character by love of gossiping. It is so natural, and yet it is a great fault in the character to cherish the tendency of talking about others. In the first place, it is a great weakness one shows when one passes remarks about someone behind his back; in the second place, it is against what may be called frankness. Besides it is judging another, which is wrong according to the teaching of Christ, which says Judge ye not, lest ye be judged.” Judge ye not, lest ye be judged. That is the best touchstone: to ask, how would I feel if that person spoke of me as I am speaking of him or her? If you would feel comfortable, what you are saying is probably fair. Likewise, one might ask, would I speak in this way if the person were present? If so, again, what one is saying is probably fair.

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When we have stopped speaking against others, we will have more energy to direct to a nobler and ultimately more satisfying occupation: speaking in favor of others. The Iron Rules, Number One Pir Zia Inayat-Khan Editor’s note: Continuing our examination of various moral codes, Seven Pillars is pleased to present Pir Zia Inayat-Khan’s talks on the Iron and Copper rules of Hazrat Inayat Khan as an ongoing series. While this material originates from a Sufi context, it can be helpful to anyone who is looking for practical guidance on applying chivalric principles to the conundrums of everyday life. A new rule will be posted monthly until the series is complete. Iron Rule 1 The first of the Iron Rules is: My conscientious self, make no false claims. Well, that sounds very easy. None of us would like to think that we make false claims, and probably consciously we don’t. But if one were to apply this rule to everything that one says, I think that one’s awareness of one’s speech would deepen dramatically, and one would see that there are shades of truthfulness in speech. There are things that we say that our full will is behind—we are transparent at that moment, and that gives the speech great power. And there are other things that we say where there is no transparency; there is just the opposite, opacity. We are projecting a smokescreen with the view of obtaining a desired end. And yet the result that is obtained cannot possibly compare to the purity of the state that is lost in so doing, and the joy and peace that is the natural consequence of that purity. In connection with this, one could refer to the chapter from The Art of Personality by Murshid (Hazrat Inayat Khan) on “Word of Honor.” Here are some highlights: “What is the word? Word is one’s expression, the expression of one’s soul. The one upon whose words one can rely, that one is dependable. No wealth of this world can be compared with one’s word of honor. The person who says what he or she means, proves, by this virtue, spirituality. To a real person, to go back on one’s word is worse than death, for it is going backward instead of going forward.” Murshid refers to the story of Haris Chandra who suffered great sacrifices to uphold his word of honor. Afterward, Murshid was asked a question: What happens if 41

you find yourself in a situation where you have carelessly given your word of honor and now, to uphold your word, you must do something that, in the light of present circumstances, seems more harmful than beneficial? In such a case, is it not too extreme to stand on this principle? Murshid answered, very tactfully I think, that no principle should be taken to extreme and made absolute. There is danger of excess in everything. However, if one develops the tendency of compromising one’s word of honor because the situation has changed, the effect is that one becomes all the more likely to continue to make casual promises knowing that one will later allow oneself to deviate from one’s word. Insofar as we remain firm in our dedication to our word of honor, to such a degree will we be judicious in exercising our promise. If one studies one’s life, one may find that there are relatively few occasions when one signs on a dotted line or makes a vow or pledge or declaration. But very frequently, in casual conversation, one commits to something; one accepts responsibility for something; one projects into the future: I will do this; I will be there. Very often we do so with the unexpressed subtext that, after all, circumstances are changeable and I reserve the right to change my mind. But to such a degree as we do so, our word loses the sacred power that is possible in the pledge of the knight. When one deviates from one’s promise it is invariably because there is benefit to be gained. Sometimes the rewards are very tangible and extremely tempting. Yet when one looks back on one’s life and contemplates the times one has given one’s word and not followed through due to some temptation or other, it is clear that the benefit obtained cannot compensate for the sense of loss that one now feels, a loss of integrity. But we need not become mired in the guilt of the past. We need only repent, make amends, learn the lesson and move on, wiser and truer to our life’s purpose. It is a new day and we have new choices, and we have learned to give our word of honor judiciously and to uphold it conscientiously.

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