THE
ELEMENTS
OF SUFISM
(Excerpts Only)
By:
Shaykh
Fadhlalla Haeri
Chapter
8
Sufi
States
The first step for the seeker to achieve is witnessing, which is 'to
be'. Witnessing has many levels. A child witnesses physical things
that are proximate and close to him, such as his mother's face, his
toys and so on. As one grows in maturity, one begins to witness an
ever increasing display of natural phenomena, most of which are
causal, as well as becoming aware of other laws that govern this
existence. This witnessing expands wider and goes deeper as one
grows in experience and wisdom.
The acute observer begins to witness the laws of duality everywhere.
The Andalusian Sufi Ibn Arabi says that the entire existence is
suspended between the opposites of what is praiseworthy and
blameworthy, or desirable and undesirable. Everything in existence
is either what one wants or what one rejects. We want health, and
dislike illness. We want wealth, and despise poverty. We want
freedom, and resist shackles. The entire creation is hinged upon
opposites.
Subtler witnessing relates to the inner aspects of reality such as
the self. The process of witnessing goes on until one ends up close
to the inner core of unitive reality and pure consciousness. In the
beginning one is conscious of duality, but as one's spiritual
dimension grows, one begins to see creation from the unitary
perspective. Thus witnessing takes place from two different
perspectives. One is used to witness outer phenomena, and the other
to witness inner phenomena. This witnessing goes on and on. In the
beginning, a person is conscious of one thing or another, then he is
conscious that he is conscious of this thing or the other, then he
is generally conscious of his consciousness, which is a prelude to
pure consciousness. No one can describe pure consciousness for it is
beyond ordinary experience. It is for that reason that nobody can
claim that he is in pure consciousness. The moment he talks, he has
entered into an experiential state.
So witnessing is the first step towards self-knowledge. As regards
self-knowledge, it is said that he who knows himself knows his Lord.
However self-knowledge exists in many degrees. At an ordinary level,
it relates to the lower self. To know how weak and dependent one is,
is to recognize that one is seeking a Lord who is most mighty and
self-sustaining. He who knows how selfish he is, can realize that he
is seeking a Lord who is most generous. If he recognizes his
limitations, he may have a glimpse of the Limitless. In recognizing
how low one is, one may recognize how high God is. All this
knowledge of the self is at a basic level. However, knowing oneself
ultimately means knowing that the whole creation is encompassed
within the self. Imam Ali says, 'You think that you are a small
germ, but in you is encompassed the entire creation.'
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In the Qur`an God commands Muhammad – and by extension his close
followers – to invite people to the truth of Reality. This can
occur only if they themselves have fulfilled the other requirements
according to God's natural way. The Sufi way of the prophetic path
points towards inviting people to the feast of light within. The
light within cannot be kindled unless the lamp which protects it has
been purified and made suitable for its radiation. The mirror of the
'heart' will not reflect the Truth if it is covered with layers of
dust which have been allowed to accumulate upon it either
inadvertently or through carelessness.
Once the seeker himself has seen the Truth, he cannot help but sing
its glory; he cannot help but sing what is life's opposite, and he
cannot help but try to attract people to it. All this in accordance
with the laws and rules in existence, whichever level of existence
it may be. A spiritual master cannot invite anyone he desires to the
feast, nor can he give knowledge to people who are not ready for it
or destined to see that light. However, a spiritual master will
continue to sing the pure song of good news, good news and only good
news.
Every real Sufi master who has followed in the footsteps of the
Prophet Muhammad has been tried and tested by God, just as all the
prophets were tested, afflicted and denounced by many of their
people. A Sufi master once said that a seeker will not reach the
final step of real enlightenment unless some 400 people who are
considered to be good Muslims have renounced him. Many Sufis have
been renounced by their wives, children and relations, but they
never lost sight of the prime purpose of life which is arriving at
knowledge of the Creator, and then passing on that knowledge to
creation. In the Qur`an God says,
Do men think that they will be left alone on saying, 'We believe',
and not be tried? And certainly We tried those before them so that
God will certainly know who are the sincere and who are the liars.
(Qur`an 29:2-3)
Even when a person verbally acknowledges his belief in reality,
God's mercy will come upon him to test him. He will also be tried
because of his love of knowledge itself, which is one of the last
and most difficult veils or barriers to be removed before true
awakening takes place.
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Numerous Sufi masters have given attention to dreams and visions.
The dream state has been recognized as an important dimension of
life's experience. Dreams are of different types, and often reflect
an aspect of the self. In most cases they relate to the material and
mental level of the person. For a disciplined seeker, dreams can
reflect higher and subtler meanings. The more spiritually refined
one is, the more subtle will be the nature and the meaning of the
dream. The more spiritually elevated a person is, the greater is the
possibility of his receiving true dreams or visions. Sometimes
dreams complement and interchange with the dreamer's physical
reality. Once I dreamt of being injured in a car crash.
Shaykh
Bashir Uthman, who was a master of dream interpretation, told me
that it is very testing to experience a crash, but this even had
been transferred to the world of dreams instead of occurring in the
physical world, so that I could experience the test without having
to undergo actual physical injury.
A miracle is generally an experience that is uncommon and
unexplainable in the ordinary sense. If a seeker is exceptionally
alert and sensitive spiritually, he can sometimes see the
inter-relationship between the worlds of the seen and the unseen.
When, later on, he reflects upon events which span both worlds and
talks about them, his audience regards these events as miracles.
People who are steeped in the inner realities continually connect
between the seen and the unseen, for they do not separate the two,
except in an intellectual sense for the purpose of verbal
description. They are the people of unity. The greater a person's
inner knowledge and awareness is, the less surprised he is about any
outer events. In other words, the greater our vista of understanding
is, the easier we can see the relationship between cause and effect
in all occurrences, both in the seen and in the unseen.
In the history of the rise of man's consciousness, we find that the
earlier messengers or prophets performed more miracles than the
later ones. The one who especially performed many miraculous acts
was Prophet Jesus. One way to attract people's attention or to prove
prophethood was to perform supernatural feats. All these events,
however, belong to another more subtle natural order which can
easily be understood by one who has insight into that dimension.
Human consciousness has evolved during the last few thousand years,
and has reached a point of alertness and intelligence where it no
longer needs the shock treatment of miracles and unexplainable
events in order to be convinced about the world of the unseen. The
Prophet Muhammad did not profess to perform miracles except that of
the Qur`an which was revealed to him in perfect Arabic through the
Angel Gabriel despite his being unable to read or write. That is to
say, he was not a conscious performer of miracles. His life and
presence reflected the eternal truth which in itself is the greatest
miracle.
Sufis throughout the ages have been concerned with unifying and
understanding events, both in the seen and in the unseen. A few Sufi
Orders have deviated from the original path of Islam and have become
concerned with strange or mystical phenomena, often verging on mass
hypnosis and mind control. Indonesia and some remote parts of Africa
and the Far East have produced mystics who perform feats or
illusions which are considered by onlookers to be miracles. As
mentioned earlier, some spiritual masters from the Rifa'i Order are
known to pierce their faces and other parts of their bodies with
their swords without causing blood to be shed. One wonders how such
unusual or mystical powers are attained, if at all! Are such
abilities a help or a hindrance to the seeker?
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