THE
JOURNEY OF THE SELF
(Excerpts Only)
By:
Shaykh
Fadhlalla Haeri
Chapter
3
Phase Five: The World of Inner Reliance
Entry to the stage of
Inner Reliance occurs when one reaches the highest possible station
in physical, mental and intellectual maturity and wisdom and has
attained the virtue of justice. At this stage one is in the best
state of equilibrium and balance, acquired through our experiential
knowledge and stability, the overall result of true submission and
surrender to reality.
With the advent of the
fifth phase of Inner Reliance, the dynamic interrelationships of
phase four will be superseded by increasing inner awakenings,
knowledge and tranquility. The rational self has evolved and has
become established through self-knowledge. As spiritual unfoldment
increases, one experiences the inner joy of discovering the
prophetically revealed truths and knowledge. The origin and early
evolvement of inner reliance begins early on, and continues for the
rest of one's life. Whilst a person lives, there inevitably will
exist a certain degree of interdependence.
One way of describing
this state of Inner Reliance is to call it the point of realization
or awakening, of inner death, or the annihilation of the self. That
experience is the equivalent of certainty in the station of the
truth of truth discussed earlier. It is that level of certainty as
when one actually experiences the fire and is consumed by it. At
that point, one knows that the entity called the self, that is, the
"I" or "me", is none other than a passing shadow and is dependent on
a higher and all-pervading reality. A point is reached where mystery
and fear are lifted, and one has experienced and tasted death of the
self during conscious life.
Once self-knowledge is
mastered, one attains a joy and happiness which cannot be measured
by any of the normal senses. This joy is of a higher value, and
gives greater solace and comfort, than anything else we can seek or
find in this world.
It is during phase five
that the final unveiling of the self takes place, which is described
earlier in the model of Mulla Sadra. He describes this stage in
man's journey as being with creation in truth, and this is the final
journey toward complete commitment to reality. In traditional Hindu
society, for example, a man, after raising a family and providing
for its welfare, goes off into the woods for a period of spiritual
retreat. After attaining enlightenment to whatever degree possible,
he then returns to society in order to teach and to serve others. He
is amongst creation with the license of surrender and knowledge.
When the gnostic returns
to society, it may appear on the surface that the degree of his
interaction with others has not changed, or even increased. The
actual situation is different. He has returned only to share and
teach the knowledge that he has gained, and to serve selflessly. As
far as the individual is concerned, all he is doing is reconfirming
his inner satisfaction and reliance whilst recognizing other
people's stages of evolution and development, and guiding them
onward. He has already passed through these stages and has reached a
summit within himself, and thus can guide those who follow with
patience, compassion and understanding, and with no expectations or
attachments.
What appears as outer
expectation or dependence is only nature's way of winning others
over, so to speak. It is not contrived nor laced with miracles, for
it is a natural and real way, by familial and societal
interdependence for an enlightened man to guide his people. The
awakened one will, from this viewpoint, reflect and realize that
throughout all existence everyone has been imitating or emulating
one or another of the
divine attributes, or actions of the Creator. Everyone loves and
emulates correctly or perversely the beautiful qualities and names
of God.
The Beautiful Names of
God
The
divine attributes are known as the beautiful names of God and
they are commonly referred to as the ninety-nine names, although in
fact there is no end to the beautiful names – for God is limitless.
Each one of us at one
time or another wishes to be self-sufficient, supreme or
all-powerful. We sometimes emulate the all-powerful ruler, the
sovereign king, the most glorious one, the greatest, the most
praiseworthy, the victorious one, the exalted, the giver of life,
the creator of death, the creator of all things, the precious one,
the wise, the just, the generous, the compassionate, the
all-forgiving, the nourisher, the provider, the forbearing, and the
patient one.
We desire these
attributes or virtues because we intrinsically recall their source
and their meanings within us. That is why basic morals and virtues
everywhere in the world are at the outset similar, because they are
founded on an implanted inner reality within each one of us.
The truly realized
being, the one who has qualified and passed the test, is necessarily
one who has entered properly into the unific state and has connected
outward reality with the inner knowledge of reality. He is the one
who has become that pivotal interlink. He or she is the master of
outer knowledge and understanding and the possessor of inner
awareness and gnosis. This is the state of the real lover of truth.
Who is the Realized
Being?
The fully realized being
is the one who has returned to the source of one's origin, the pure
state of divine unity. It is the original, adamic state, for Adam
was originally in the pure and unified state in the Garden of bliss.
He was given everything and had no whims, thoughts, or desires,
manifesting only inspired and divinely guided continuous submission.
He was in the realm of pure consciousness, the realm of joy and
contentment.
Then a voice arose, a
wave on the adamic consciousness of being, a whisper that cut
through the state of pure submission. A different moment came about
– the realm of our own existence based on opposite forces and
energies. So Adam descended from the unified field into a realm of
duality, a realm based on opposites where both right and wrong could
be experienced. It is of course in this realm that the faculty of
discrimination develops.
Adam was placed in this
worldly condition in order to evolve in discrimination by being
tested, so that he could develop towards a state of perfection
equilibrium and contentment based on knowledge, differentiation and
on a primal experience, for he was originally conceived in the
Garden of absolute bliss.
Mankind, in essence,
originated by command from the realm of divine unity, and has been
placed in this realm of duality so that in every situation, he must
discriminate between the two thresholds of good and evil. By this he
may emerge, awakened from duality, and return to his original state.
Towards the Non-time
Zone
<snipped>
The Next Consciousness
<snipped>
The Descent and Ascent
of the Self according to the Qur`an
We are given several
references in the Qur`an which describes the self in its descent
from the realm of divine unity to this world of duality.
And He it is
Who has brought you into being from a single soul [self]. (6:99)
Your creation
or your rising is only like a single soul [self]. (31:28)
He created you
from a single being. (39:6)
He it is Who
created you from a single being [self]. (7:189)
Thus we understand that
the genesis of the self, or soul, is unific in origin. Provided that
the self evolves in the path of its intended destiny, it will
ultimately reach the comprehension of its root and thereby complete
its purposeful journey. There are some who say that if the self had
its origin before the existence of our physical body, that earlier
existence must have been in the presence of the absolute divine
light. When does its connection with the physical body veil the self
from its knowledge of its origin in divine light?
Although the self exists
in the world of natural bodies and material phenomena, it exists in
its pure form in the world of the intellect which is a world of pure
light. In the world of the intellect, the soul is not barred or
deprived from its own perfection. However, there is certain
knowledge and experience that the soul could not obtain unless it
descended into the world of creation, as we have already mentioned.
By descending to the body, new horizons are opened to the soul that
would not have been perceived in its realm of pure consciousness and
light.
The descent and ascent
of the soul is referred to in another verse of the Qur`an:
We created man
in the best of forms, then We brought him down to the lowest of the
low, except those who believe [trust] and do good works. (95:4-6)
The Qur`an also speaks
of the story of Adam's descent from the Garden.
And We said,
Descend from it, all of you, until such time there comes to you from
Us, the guidance. And those who follow Our guidance, there is no
fear upon them nor will they ever grieve. (20:123)
The descent is referred
again in another verse.
Descend from
it, some of you enemies of the others, and there is for you a brief
respite in this earth and provision in it for a time. (7:24)
These references suggest
that there was an original unific state from which we have descended
in order to rediscover it in a subjective and objective fashion as
we complete the full loop of descent and ascent. There is a similar
position in this existence with respect to physical objects. For
every object has a fixed reality in the abode of God's will that
preceded existence. In that reality, these objects are saved from
any change or destruction. But here in this world, all things are
under the influence of decay, change and destruction. It says in the
Qur`an:
And God will wipe out
what He wills and He will establish what He wills, and the source of
the book is with him. (13:39)
The source of the book
means the permanent decree that is, the universal laws that will
never change. This world is subject to change, birth, growth and
destruction, but the origin of all things in this world is from
another dimension that never changes – and that is the source of the
book.
Ali ibn Abi Talib said,
'The Creator has mercy upon one who knows whence, in what, and
whither', meaning, whence the self originated before its
descent, in what state is the self and how does it manifest and
interact in this world, and whither is its final destination after
this life. So the Creator's mercy is experienced by those who know
where they have come from, the state they are in now, and whither
they are going. This knowledge is the foundation of ultimate
security, certainly, lasting happiness and contentment. He also
said, 'Let him prepare his intellect and let him be from among
the sons of the next life, for he has come from the next life and to
it he will return.'
Concerning the essence
of the self, Ali ibn Abi Talib also said, 'Know that the human
consciousness is the greatest evidence of God upon His creation, and
it is the book that He wrote with His hand. The human consciousness
contains the collection of the images of all the worlds and it is
the abbreviation of the permanent Tablet,(7)
and it is the straight way to every good action. It is the bridge
between this world and the next, and the way that connects between
the Garden and the Fire.'
Those who have
discovered the truth about the descent and ascent of the soul agree
that the descent of the soul to this world does not in any way
permanently harm it. On the contrary, the soul retains all its
possibilities and potentialities, and the reason it has come is to
benefit from this world. The soul will benefit from this world by
knowing and understanding the nature of the material, physical
reality. It will come to know the world's true outer and inner
nature, the good and bad things that emanate from it, and the
duality that it is built upon.
By descent to this world
of nature and the fact that the self has given the body its
sentiency and its power and life, it has come to know what the
angels are deprived of. The self comes to know all these creational
realities in their totality. The feeding of the body and its
nourishment is only a pale reflection of the feeding and the
nourishment of the soul through knowledge acquired by itself.
There is in the body of
original Islamic traditions an enormous variety of parables and
examples referring to the descent of the soul and the capturing of
the soul in the body, where it is imprisoned, like a caged bird.
These teachings demonstrate that the soul has a reality and an
existence prior to that of the body, and that its existence was in a
world or dimension beyond our human comprehension. The soul, or
self, will return to that existence just as it has come from it.
One must not reproach
the self or look down upon it if it leaves the abode of the
intellect and dwells in the physical world, because it is capable of
encompassing both worlds. The self is of this nature because it is
both the last of the noble divine essences and the first of the
natural sensed essences. When it enters the world that can be
sensed, it does not lose its inherent nobility; on the contrary, it
infuses that world with its powers and will adorn it and add to its
glory.
The Return of the Soul
Physical death is the
beginning of the journey of the soul back to its origins, in the
same way that the beginning of this natural life is the end of the
descent of the soul from its source. Natural life is the product of
that descent, and death is the beginning of the return of the self,
as we have described earlier.
The Agony and the Reward
of the Grave
Upon death, one will
experience oneself as one had left this world. <snipped>
The Interspace between
this World and the Next
The time spent in the
grave awaiting the final Day of Reckoning(8)
is an intermediate stage between the world of matter and
physicality, and the next creation. The parallel of this
intermediate stage is like that of the development of the fetus in
the womb. The self, or soul, continues to await the moment when it
will be reborn on the Day of Reckoning. That is why we say, if a
person dies, his 'small' Day of Reckoning has occurred, because he
will be reborn in the interspace, which is the womb of the earth.
The universal Day of Reckoning will be an event in which all of
creation will partake at the same time.
The Nature of the Soul
in the Next Consciousness
Souls in this life hang
on to their bodies, and that is how they manifest, whereas, in the
next life, or next consciousness, one's manifestation and state will
be according to one's degree of awakening and evolvement. One's
inner reality will be reflected in how one appears in the next life.
One will be restyled in a manner appropriate to one's degree of
inner awakening. We realize, then, that one's manifestation in the
Garden of the next life is nothing other than in the image that was
sustained by the self according to what it had wished for, desired
and earned in this life.
The experience of the
Garden, or the next consciousness – that is, its fruits, streams and
mansions – are brought about by the self according to its deeds,
actions and orientation in this life before death. We ourselves
bring about our own experience of the Garden or Hell – or whatever
is in between – whether in this life or the next.
Also, the nature of the
Fire is none other than the nature of this world and its base,
ever-changing, worldliness. The abode of the Fire, its afflictions
and suffering, is neither separate from nor independent of this
present world. Rather, it is an additional creation, an additional
development. Its origins and beginnings are essentially of this
world, but have been transposed into the next realm of
consciousness. It is, however, a part of this total creational
reality.
The Garden is a picture
of God's mercy, and it is related to His essence. In the same way,
the Fire is a picture of the anger or displeasure of God. But anger
is not of His essence, it is part of the creational reality. Thus we
can say that the Garden exists by its own essence, but the Fire has
an existence only because people follow its way.
The Day of Reckoning
As far as the Day of
Reckoning, or Resurrection, is concerned, it is the life into which
the soul finally emerges from the dust of the images of the grave,
in just the same way that the newborn emerges from the womb. The
difference between being in the grave and the Day of Resurrection
parallels the difference between being in the womb and being born.
For as long as the soul
is not reborn and has not emerged from the belly of the earth, it
cannot reach the expanse of its next abode, or consciousness.
This rebirth, however,
is achieved in this life by men of gnosis who have attained
self-awakening through the death of the personal will. This is what
is referred to as the death, or annihilation, of the self in God,
and what Jesus meant when he said that one will not reach the
Kingdom of Heaven until one is born again. For others who have not
arrived at this experience and have not awoken, its truth will be
realized at the point of natural biological death, at which time
they will come to know.
The Return, or the Next
Creation (Consciousness)
There are many levels of
understanding and certainty about the return to the next realm of
consciousness.
The simplest level of
understanding holds to the belief that all of the affairs of the
next life, including the agony of the grave, the Day of
Resurrection, and so on, are matters which will only be sensed once
physical death has actually occurred. It is said that God in His
wisdom has deliberately deprived us of these experiences for the
present, for we will come to know them in due time later on.
<snipped>
<snipped>
<snipped>
In summary, what we
shall witness after this creation are essentially inner pictures
which do not exist in this physical world of ours; nor can we truly
feel or experience them by our present senses which are based on the
physical realm. They exist in another world which has its own laws
for sensing them.
The self, or soul, of
each of those who are happy in the next life contains within it an
incredible kingdom of unending dimensions and a world that is much
vaster than whatever there is between the heavens and the earth.
Those souls do not go beyond their own essence, but indeed, all that
they own, all of their kingdom – the rivers, gardens, trees, pure
companions and mansions – have arisen out of it. Those souls are
actually the keepers of these wonders and the originators of all of
it, by the permission and decree of the Creator.
So the final awakening
and the images and pictures that come with it are so strong and
powerful in their existence, so affecting in their trace, that they
are more arresting and more powerful than anything one can
experience in this world. A comparison between what one experiences
and senses in the next creation with our present creation, is the
difference between being suddenly but fully awake after being deeply
asleep. That is the meaning of the Prophetic tradition, 'People
are asleep, but when they die, they awake.'
Some people try to
demonstrate that the next creation or consciousness is only
spiritual in nature, and that there is no physical or material body
involved with this return. The Prophetic teachings and the great
gnostics affirm it is not a question of material return – it is a
question of another form, another dimension, another consciousness
altogether.
Most of those who claim
that the next creation is not of a material form are trying to prove
that the next creation is based only on images. The great masters,
Mulla Sadra, Ibn Arabi(9)
and others say that it is a matter of even greater difference than
what are called the 'images' and more remarkable than that. Nor does
it matter what one calls it. It is an experience of another reality,
another dimension and realm, beyond our power to describe adequately
– more immediate, more powerful, more total and more arresting than
anything we know in this life.
The journey of the self
to the Garden of the next consciousness lies within our own
existence – is in our essence. It is not something outside
ourselves. The light that we see is not outside us. It is all part
and parcel of one whole. It is totally interconnected by us, from us
and to us, and we experience it that way after death, as we leave
the body and enter the next consciousness.
Thus we have described
how the self completes its journey in this life and begins its
return towards its eternal source in the unseen.
Notes
(7)The intention, meaning and source of all creation. [Up]
(8)This is the same event that is referred to in
Christianity as the Day of Judgment. [Up]
(9)Muhyiddin ibn Arabi, or al-Arabi, sixteenth-century
theologian and mystic of Andalusia, Spain. [Up]
