THE JOURNEY OF THE SELF
(Excerpts Only)

By: Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri

Chapter 3
Phase Four: The World of Interdependence

The phase of Interdependence is the main creational nursery of the self. It is the melting-pot in which the ultimate and highest potential in the human may evolve. It is also like the operation and refining of a gold-mine, in which the dross is separated from the gold, which then emerges in its purified state.

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The Holographic Paradigm

A hologram is a special type of optical storage system, in which each of its individual parts contains the whole image. If a holographic picture is torn in half, each of the halves will contain the entire image. If we again tear each piece in half, each quarter will still contain the entire picture. This can be continued ad infinitum until we are left with the tiniest piece of holographic photo – and it will still contain the entire image. In other words, each individual fragment or piece of hologram, no matter how small, contains the whole picture.

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The Chart of Opposites: Grid of Eight

As soon as one begins to analyze, discriminate and differentiate, one realizes that everything in creation is based on opposites. All physical creation or experience falls into, or may be classified by, combinations of the following:

To illustrate this, let us imagine that I am standing before you presenting this discourse. It is an outer event. You are looking at me. It is a sensory experience. We are in the material, physical world. It is therefore terrestrial. So we have an outer, sensory, terrestrial experience. Yet the purpose of my standing before you is to share with you inner knowledge. So the purpose and sharing is an inner, meaning, celestial experience. The two opposites are balanced. The root of every situation or event lies in its opposite.

Ordinary physical or material actions can be given a higher purpose and direction by awareness of the related inner event. For example, eating a meal is an outer, sensory, terrestrial event. However, if we eat with the intention to nourish our body in order that it may be used effectively by the soul, and thus carry us in good stead on the journey to greater perception and enlightenment, we see the hidden bases of the act are inner, meaning, and celestial – like a tree with balancing roots.

Another example is the uplifting of the sexual act to a higher value if one's intentions and attitude are lifted from the usual animal passions. At the physical level this act brings about a momentary state of (physical) freedom, and contentment (or peace of mind) is experienced. Nature uses this experience of desirability and temporary tranquility to ensure the species' continuation. When one's understanding of the nature of the sexual act becomes clear, then the mystery of all other psychological complexities concerning it begins to disappear.

Generally, as the self develops and evolves, there is a trend or movement from the outer towards the inner, from the sensory towards the meaning, from the terrestrial towards the celestial. A balanced and stable situation comes about when the opposites counteract each other. Take, for example, motherly love, where its origin is traceable to inner (instinctive), meaning (connectedness) and terrestrial (material and physical). This love is expressed, however, in three ways: the outer (tenderness and embrace), the sensory (visible expressions of love), and the celestial (inexplicable beyond the world).

The one who seeks a state of health and equilibrium places himself in the middle of the spectrum of opposites. One's experiences of the outer, sensory, terrestrial will be balanced by the inner, meaning, and celestial. If any one of these aspects is not met with its opposite in any given act or situation, one experiences imbalance.

In our present society, the tendency is overwhelmingly towards the outer, sensory, and terrestrial, namely the materialistic and the physical. As a result, we witness considerable increase in social diseases, such as alcohol, drugs, illicit sex, and so on, through which we abortively attempt to seek inner, meaning, celestial experiences.

We see, for example, how untiring is the sincerely motivated social worker or therapist of the handicapped. They are dealing with physical limitations which are generally outer, sensory, and terrestrial, but their motivation is to liberate the person from his ills and handicaps. Whilst most of the actual work is at a very mundane level, the objective and motivation is of a higher dimension, giving inner meaning to their work.

Looking at the secret and indefinable attraction of a masterwork such as the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, we see that the painting of the fresco itself is outer, sensory, and terrestrial, but the motivation and inspiration behind it were the exact opposite – inner, meaning, and celestial.

The Islamic act of worship is another perfect example of such a balance. The prescribed obligatory performance of the prayer has an outer, sensory, terrestrial formula. Yet the condition or inner state of the performer of the prayer is expected to be inner, meaning, and celestial.

All events and experiences, then, can be classified according to any of eight combinations of opposites.⁽²⁾ They are:

Varieties of Love

Relationships of love and friendship are classified by al-Miskawayh⁽³⁾ according to the speed with which they develop and end. All of these types can be seen in ordinary day-to-day relationships.

Quick/Quick is the type of love which occurs swiftly and also dissolves quickly. The origin or drive behind this type of love is pleasure, for pleasure is quickly aroused and quickly consumed.

Quick/Slow is the second type of love, which comes about quickly, but ends or will be forgotten slowly. The root cause of this type of love is often natural goodness. For example, we love to reach those who are in need, and charitable emotions come upon us all of a sudden. We love the act of giving – generously. This goodness occurs quickly and departs from us slowly. Another example is when people of wisdom or spiritual inclination meet one another. Usually a spark of love is ignited in the heart which will last and endure for a long time.

Slow/Quick is the third type of love, and is one which occurs often in the commercial world. It occurs slowly but dissolves quickly. A business relationship builds over time and is based on mutual benefit or trust. Once that benefit is exhausted or the trust broken, then the relationship is quickly terminated. Any love that is based on benefit or existential usefulness arises and builds up slowly, but can dissolve quickly.

Slow/Slow is the love or relationship based on mature and considered goodness. It develops slowly and leaves slowly. This is usually the type of love that occurs between people based on natural harmony and compatibility between them. Whilst this type of love grows, there are often doubts, suspicion and reconfirmation, until love sets in deeply. This type of love is compounded by good will, deep faithfulness and loyalty.

In general, a relationship that builds and dissolves slowly tends to be in the domain of the higher and subtler qualities of human beings. These are the types of relationships that the mature self seeks to establish and will value in life.

Male/Female Relationships

Like everything else in this creation which is based on opposites, so also is the human male/female relationship. There is, as we experience and observe, a basic complementarity in the twin natures of man and woman that can bring about, when the two opposites meet, the right balance and equilibrium for growth and development.

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Notes

⁽²⁾The grid of opposites has been based on the teachings of the eighteenth-century Moroccan gnostic, Sidi Ali al-Jamal, as described in The Meaning of Man by Sidi Ali al-Jamal, published by Diwan Press, Norwich (UK): 1977. [Up]