THE JOURNEY OF THE SELF
(Excerpts Only)

By: Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri

Chapter 3
Towards Phase Five of Inner Reliance

As we emerge from the experiences of Interdependence, we begin to rely more and more on the store of experiences and inner awareness. Attaining the age of maturity, physically, emotionally and intellectually, we slowly move away from the appetites and distractions of this existence. The creational melting-pot of the world of Interdependence has served its purpose, as a laboratory in which we have tested and have been tested in situations of interaction and interrelationships. All of these have aided in spurring on and refining the development of the rational self.

At this point, we are beginning to approach the state of Inner Reliance. <snipped>

The Earth and the World

There is an important distinction to be made here between the earth (ard) and the world (dunya). The earth is the natural, creational world, whereas the world represents man's attachments and desires to it. Earth is neutral and passive, and is simply the planet itself. It is the necessary physical melting-pot, the arena in which creation, development and evolution take place, where worldly attachments and suffering are experienced, and where the love and quest for the Garden and peace are practiced. From the earth emanates life, and to it return the bodies of the dead. It is an objective, healthy and rational phenomenon. Within it, much irrationality and confusion can take place. The earth is tolerant of the world it brings about. It is most patient and generous, for it only reflects the nature of the Creator.

The Arabic word for the world is dunya, from the root dana, which means to be accessible or low (in the sense of abased). It refers to the attachment, instant pleasure and desirability that sets in when a person is interacting with the events that take place on earth.

Dunya is the world as we make it. Each of us has his personal world, whereas the earth itself is always the same in essence. All of us are on the same earth, but each one of us is engrossed to varying degrees in his own world.

In Islamic tradition, the world is always regarded as that which causes one to be distracted from the true purpose of creation. It is related in the Qur'an:

And what else is the life of this world but a sport and a pastime? (6:32)

A Prophetic tradition states that this world is a prison for the believer, and a garden for the one who denies the truth. Another tradition relates that he who loves this world causes harm to himself in the next life, and he who loves the next life will neglect this world, that is, he will be neither attached to nor dependent upon this world.

We naturally prefer desirable experiences which last forever to those which are transitory and short-lived. It is related in a Prophetic tradition that love of this world is at the head of every wrong action or wrongdoing. The Prophet Muhammad further says, 'What is there for me in this world? I am like the traveler who stops to rest for awhile under the shade of a tree, before moving on.'

One of our traditions relates the following narrative concerning the Prophet Jesus. The world was revealed to him in the image of an old crone who had adorned herself, and he asked her how many times she had been married. She replied that she could not count them all. He asked if her husbands had died or divorced her. She replied that she had killed all of them. He then said, 'Woe to your striving husbands, who did not heed the lesson of those who passed away before them.'

Ali ibn Abi Talib⁽⁴⁾ comments in his description of the world, 'How shall I describe an abode whose beginning is difficulty and whose end is destruction? Whatever of it is allowed, you are accountable for, and whatever is forbidden, you will be punished for. He who rises above it will be afflicted and he who is in need of it will be saddened. He who strives towards it, will lose it, and he who turns away from it will see it coming towards him. He who sees through it will have insight, and he who looks at it with fascination will be blinded.'

One sage has said, 'This world is the mother of death, and whoever settles in it will not be content with it. No matter what your position in it, you will be discontent.' This is proof that it is a transient stage and that one can never be content with it.

Socrates said that the treachery of the world comes very quickly to whoever trusts it, and yet comes little to those who do not trust it. He who loves this world will sorrow greatly and his enemies will be many. But for him who is an ascetic in the world, his heart will be at rest, and those who are jealous of him will be few.

A story is related about the woman saint, Rabi'ah,⁽⁵⁾ that there was a gathering at her place where many men of wisdom and gnosis were present, and they were speaking against the world and its vices. She kept her silence until they all had their say, then she said, 'He who loves a thing mentions it often, either by praising it or by denouncing it. So if this world were not in your hearts, why do you mention it so often?'

A tradition relates that the Prophet Jesus said that one who builds a home for himself on the waves of the ocean – and that is this world – should not expect it to be an abode of lasting reliability and certainty.

Our teachings do not imply renunciation of this world, nor is the world ever to be considered an illusion. Its very transiency impels us to see beyond it in order to free ourselves from its snares and attachments.

We have seen that this world and all its pleasures are passing affairs that have no permanent reality in themselves. By investigating and interacting with the world, the self develops the faculties of reasoning, discrimination and intellect. So the world and one's relationship with it as we have mentioned earlier is a training-ground for evolvement towards the higher self.

The sad truth is that he who falls in love with this world will be forever in sorrow and in ever-increasing pain. It is like one who is in love with something that is ultimately an illusion. How can there be any fruit from such a transient and ever-changing relationship? It is like a person who watches the waves on the surface and completely forgets the deep ocean below them: all his thoughts and vision are turned to the waves which are only localized surface events. He misses the vision of the vast world of the ocean depths by staring at its changing surface only.

The people of reality, on the other hand, are those who are absorbed in witnessing the greatness and limitlessness of the ocean. This absorbs them to such an extent that they are hardly concerned with the waves, except as a certain aspect of the total reality. They know how shallow is the wave compared with the ocean's vastness and depth. They also know that the wave derives its power and energy from the ocean, and that it is only a changing ripple on the surface of a vast and fathomless sea. Such is the transient nature of this world, according to the people of wisdom and reality.

As we gain greater discrimination of the world and begin to taste the delights of the vast unific state, our inner practices of self-development increase, resulting in more fruitful and positive behavior. We now turn to a few of the practices and teachings of self-development.

Doing Without (zuhd)

Zuhd is normally translated as asceticism, but its real meaning is doing without. It means turning away from something desirable by turning to something else that is more desirable. So he who exchanges attachment and desire for this world with love and yearning for the next world is an ascetic in that he prefers the next life to this. Another definition of zuhd is to take little in order to give back more.

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Reflection and Retreat

Sometimes one leaves the company of others for awhile and enters a retreat, because of the trouble and affliction that come from people and the world. At other times, leaving people can bring about increased love and intimacy with Reality. In either case, the practice of retreat is to be used as a temporary exercise when a state of reflection, devotion or inner spiritual growth is desired. Retreat as an outer practice is never recommended as a permanent measure.

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Right Companionship

Just as one's character and intellect improve by being with noble and virtuous beings, equally, companionship with people who are corrupt and evil will bring about one's corruption. A Prophetic tradition relates that he who sits with a person of virtue is like a man who sits with someone wearing musk: if one does not benefit from exchanges with him, at least his fragrance will bring one goodness. But he who sits with a person of vice is like he who sits next to the blacksmith. If one is not burnt by the sparks of his furnace, then his smoke will suffocate one.

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Relationship with Others

A Prophetic tradition enjoins us to reach out to those who have cut off relationships with us and to give to those who have wronged us. It also states that all creation is the family of God, and those whom God loves most are those who are most useful and helpful to creation. Another Prophetic tradition relates that serving one's brother for an hour is better than remaining in devotional solitude for a year.

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Models of Wayfaring

In Islam, many illustrations, analogies and models are given to show the different stages of self-evolvement. The analogy of the traveler or the journey is frequently used to describe the seeker's ascent from a state of ignorant darkness to illumination and awareness.

The models below are three such examples. The stages within a given model naturally overlap, and the entire spectrum within the model remains active to varying degrees of intensity within the human self throughout one's life.

In the first model, for example, the saint is not wholly exempt from recognizing a glimpse of the commanding self within him.

The Seven Stations of the Self

1. The commanding self. The first and lowest station is that of the commanding self (al-nafs al-ammara). This is the station of one who is not sufficiently developed inwardly, who is crude and childish, base, egoistic and selfish, with little concern or connection with other than self-gratification.
   
   This is the self that is dominated by the physical body, and follows mainly the gratification of sensual pleasure and fleeting desires. This state draws the heart towards its lower and negative extreme. This facet of the self is the abode of most vices and the source of all bad characters.
   
   The characteristics of the commanding self encompass meanness, greed, envy, jealousy, ignorance, self-importance, pride, glory, presumption, arrogance, sensuality, anger, violence, insensitivity, lack of insight, and vile manners, interference in what does not concern one, making fun and mocking others, avarice, hatred, qualities of rigidity and dogma, opacity, and the inability to be reached or to form stable relationships. The color related to the commanding self is blue. It is the blue of intense heat in the middle of the flame.
    

2. The reproachful self. The second station is the reproachful self (al-nafs al-lawwvama). In this station, the self develops some sense of right and wrong. It begins to have glimpses of insight into its own conduct and occasionally even blames itself for wrong behavior. The reproachful self does have some measure of awareness and discrimination, but that reproach usually occurs after the event. It is like a crack, so to speak, in the solid frame of the commanding self, that gives rise to the reproachful self with a slight degree of flexibility and awareness.
   
   Its characteristics are acting upon whims of the moment, conceit, having to do with self-image, vanity, injustice, bias, backbiting, slander, lying, and excessive love of leadership. Its color is yellow. This color is located on the edge of the flame and it represents descending and decaying energy.
    

3. The inspired self. The third station is the inspired self (al-nafs al-mulhama). This condition of the self is supple and dynamic, and therefore leads to vulnerability. It is an interspace between good and bad. The keeping of good company and right guidance is necessary at this stage for the self to evolve. This is also the station of love, and of being in love. We generally find this type of self attractive because it reminds us of a free spirit, as it is less attached and more willing to change course, and is freer of inhibitions and attachments.
   
   The inspired self is considered easy to treat, for it is not tethered. It has no firm anchorage or rigid boundaries. It is inspired and mobile like quicksilver. One may think of it as mercury – flexible and mobile, but elusive and difficult to steady and grasp. This type of self may begin to be developed and groomed once it has been contained, stabilized and nurtured within a stable base. In this state is the danger of excessive love and wonderment of nature, even worship. This state can be found in scientists, painters, musicians and artists, because of the preponderance of wonderment and marvels that are experienced in their arenas.
   
   The characteristics of the inspired self are generosity, forgiveness, tolerance, endurance, good opinion, acknowledging faults, an open-faced smiling countenance, love of peace and meditation, contentment with the decree, and having the ability to weep easily, which is the opposite of the commanding self. Its color is red, which is lively and vivid and at the centre of a flame.
    

4. The certain self. The fourth station is the certain self (al-nafs at-mutma'ina). Here, the self attains confidence and security by knowledge and experience. The self can journey back to its origins, to recall and become inwardly awakened to the reality that everything, including itself, is from reality and to that reality is its return, by the grace and mercy of the same reality.
   
   It is that self whose light has been ignited by the spark of the heart, and has overcome the lower characteristics and taken on the higher qualities. It is content, not out of ignorance, but with knowledge. Its contentment is a result of the knowledge that it has done its best within its limits, and therefore all is well. The heart is clear and it is tranquil, content, and steady with faith and trust.
   
   Amongst the characteristics of the certain self are unsolicited generosity, dependence on the Creator, freedom from fear of need or attachment, spontaneous awareness of the rule of the opposites in the world, sincerity, contentment, freedom in action, contentment with the decree, absence of agitation, gratitude for the perfection of creation and one's place in it, fear and dread of trespassing the bounds (for fear at the beginning of the path is knowledge, fear in the middle is ignorance, and fear at the end is delight), being on a clear path, acting only out of certainty, a heart full of trust, faith, certainty, knowledge, right action and security. Its color is white, reflecting all the colors (and holding or absorbing none).
    

5. The contented self. The fifth station is the contented self (al-nafs al-radhiya). It is the station of the one who sees the truth always, in every situation and everything.
   
   Its characteristics are sincerity, innocent genuineness, continuing caution and fear of trespassing the bounds, scrupulousness, total inner courtesy, and avoiding any desire except that of knowledge and the pleasure of reality. The contented self is childlike in its simplicity. It is spontaneous, always living in the moment. Its color is green, the color of growth and life on earth – the pleasant and 'middle' color.
    

6. The self that everything is contented with. The sixth station is the self that pleases and satisfies the rest of creation (al-nafs al-mardhiya). If one is knowingly content with one's Creator, then everything in creation is content and in harmony with oneself. This is the station where the world of the macrocosm is in equilibrium with the microcosm.
   
   This self overflows with mercy and love towards all creation, is devoted to the service of others, and is in complete balance in that interspace between the outer world and the inner reality. This self's responsibilities in the outer world do not veil it from the joy and bliss of inner realities, nor do the inner delights blind it from outer obligations. Here, the self does not know anger, greed, revenge or hatred. Its color is black, which absorbs all the outer colors. All shades and colors stop here.
    

7. The perfected self. The ultimate station is the perfected self (al-nafs al-kamila), or the station of pure beingness.
   
   Of this station, the Prophet Muhammad said, 'He who knows himself, knows his Lord.' He is the one who knows himself to be an interspace, combined of a physical vehicle (or body), and a spirit of divine origin that rides upon the vehicle as a means of witnessing and arriving back to its blissful abode – the eternal Garden. It also means that he is where the beautiful names of God (the divine attributes of Reality) are gathered and known.
   
   The perfected self is in the state of unific knowledge, oneness in divine unity, the state of pure consciousness and pure beingness.

Levels of Certainty

Another model of the stages of inner awakening and awareness can be described as the unfolding of three levels of certainty.

The first level is the knowledge of certainty ('ilm al-yaqin). <snipped>

The second level is that of clear or witnessing certainty ('ayn al-yaqin). <snipped>

The third level is the truth of certainty (haqq al-yaqin). <snipped>

There is, however, a final stage beyond the three described and that is the truth of truth (haqq al-haqq). Here one can no longer refer to a duality of experiencer and experienced. It means one is completely consumed by the fire, engulfed by it, and completely transformed by it. <snipped>

The Four Unveilings

Another model of the journey of the self is given by the great Sufi master, Mulla Sadra.⁽⁶⁾ He uses the analogy of the wayfarer to describe man's journey from the state of ignorant darkness to one of illuminated awareness. In this model he describes four stages of unveilings along the journey. It begins when man reaches a point where he realizes there is no lasting fulfillment in the existential, changing world.

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The First Unveiling: From Creation to the Creator

The first barrier to cross, or the first unveiling, is from the creation to the Creator. The wayfarer flees from the confusing, physical and material universe of opposites to another dimension – the dependable, real and reassuring world of the unified field of reality. The silence within is the knock on the inner door.

The unveiling of the first barrier involves tearing away veils both of darkness and light that exist between the seeker and the spiritual reality within. Then the ascent can begin from the station of the lower self to the station of the intellect, and from the station of the intellect to the station of the spirit, and from the station of the spirit to the farthest goal of supreme splendor. If the wayfarer succeeds in reaching the goal, the final veils are lifted and he is annihilated by the death of the transitory, dissolved and submerged in the divine source.

The Second Unveiling: With the Creator by the Courtesy of the Creator

The second unveiling is the journey across the barrier to knowledge of the Creator. The wayfarer is now exposed to Reality by the courtesy of Reality. He moves totally in the inner realm. He attains gnosis. His essence, attributes and actions become annihilated in the divine essence. In this journey, he sees through His seeing, hears through His hearing and knows through His knowing.

When the inner journey and discoveries are taking place, the wayfarer looks for greater confirmation of these openings. He is like someone who discovers that he is truly a guest, and that his Host is most generous and understanding. The wayfarer then hopes for this condition to last and for him to remain in this refuge. As though he sees his image in a mirror for the first time, he seeks confirmation and establishment of what he has seen.

The Third Unveiling: From the Creator to Creation by the Permission of the Creator

The completion of the second unveiling marks the start of the third journey. In this, the wayfarer returns from the Creator back to creation by the permission of the Creator. In this journey, he is armed with the knowledge of truth.

The wayfarer's state of self-annihilation is complete and he now attains full sobriety and balance. He subsists through the subsistence of the Creator. He returns to creation by the authority of the Creator with the knowledge of the unveiling.

The nature of life does not change and it carries on with its ups and downs. There is no avoidance by anyone of experiencing these outer waves which occur at the surface above the still depths of the ocean. So when the wayfarer is established in his station, he returns to creation with all its turmoil. However, the wayfarer, because of his knowledge of the nature of the ocean, is now far more able to deal with its changing surface. The waves are of little significance and the storms are relative puffs of wind compared to the stable mass of the deep.

The Fourth Unveiling: With Creation by the Authority of the Creator

The wayfarer then embarks upon the fourth stage, which is to be among creation by the authority of the Creator, when nothing else remains but service in the bliss of knowledge. The seeker observes and recognizes creation and humanity, their behavior and needs. He knows the good that they bring about and the evil that they cause, and what causes them happiness and what brings them misery.

In all this, he is with the truth, for his entire being has been submerged in reality, and the service rendered by him to other beings does not distract him from inner divine bliss, steadfastness and certainty. The fully realized being is now in the ultimate unitive state. He is completely in outer service of humanity and in inner abandonment, freedom and joy.

When reality in all its various aspects is unveiled to the wayfarer and he is established in the knowledge of truth within, a new outlook towards creation emerges. The awakened being sees the divine thread through all existence and therefore is qualified to serve with selflessness, with no danger to creation or to himself. When the individual self has aligned itself with the original unified reality, the flowering of the spiritual being has occurred. It is this unveiling that is referred to as 'with creation by the authority of the Creator'. Wherever the enlightened being looks, he sees the trace and the mark of the Creator. He is now an agent of transformation, a loyal slave to the Divine Master and a freed being with no choice but to reflect what comes to his pure heart. This is the state of a prophet with his people – outwardly the same as any of them, inwardly turned to his eternal origin.

Summary

We have seen that as the power of discrimination matures and the faculties of cognition evolve and develop, they begin to supersede and control the physical and all other material tendencies. We can say of this person that he has mastered the art of the unitive state. He has mastered the art of dynamic submission. He has integrated and connected with both his inner and outer environment. He understands the interrelationships and the interplay of events instantly, as there is no longer any dispersion or confusion at any point within him. There is no longer an observer and the observed. There is no 'two', or duality in his existential make-up, for all is seen with the unific viewpoint.

So our traveler has reached a condition where he understands new situations instantaneously. He has entered into a state of integrated ecology of the unitive life. We can say he is fully realized, awakened. He is in complete inner tranquility yet dynamically alive and active. The outer humility and abasement of such a being is balanced by an inner joy and elevation in the true spiritual heritage.

As we enter Phase Five of Inner Reliance, the rational individual has reached a station where he has taken himself as far as possible in discipline, in keeping to the bounds, in being aware of his inner state and of what impinges upon him from the outer world. He therefore becomes a fully mature, reliable human being, who is at the stage of achieving full potential of the self.

Notes

⁽⁴⁾The fourth Islamic caliph, and first Shi'ite Imam, the renowned seventh-century master, gnostic and traditionist to whom all Sufi orders trace their origin. [Up]

⁽⁵⁾Rabi'ah al-Adawiya bint Ismail, the eighth-century saint of Basra, Iraq. (Also see Elements of Sufism – Sufi Biographies by Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri.) [Up]

⁽⁶⁾Sadr al-Din Muhammad al-Shirazi, widely known as Mulla Sadra, the renowned sixteenth-century Persian theosopher. [Up]