Sufi Ruhaniat International Esoteric Studies Program God is Breath Murshid Wali Ali Meyer Class 9 This paper is not to be transferred or duplicated without the expressed written permission of the Sufi Ruhaniat International. It is intended only for private circulation among initiated Sufi mureeds, and this printing does not constitute publication. Works of Hazrat Inayat Khan © The Inayati Order www.inayatiorder.org [email protected] Works of Murshid Samuel L. Lewis ©1978 Sufi Ruhaniat International www.ruhaniat.org [email protected] Toward the One, the Perfection of Love, Harmony, and Beauty, the Only Being, United with All the Illuminated Souls Who Form the Embodiment of the Master, the Spirit of Guidance. Gatha Kashf : Insight Series III, Number 6 Excerpt from Commentary by Murshid Samuel Lewis: TASAWWUF: Contemplation in the highest sense is called Mushahida by Sufis. Its root is shahud means perception. It differs from meditation and concentration in that there must be openness and effort both. The concentration helps the focusing, but usually in concentration there must be the one-pointedness of individual endeavor. In contemplation it is so to speak as if the Universe itself were finding its expression in and through man. <•><•><•><•><•><•> from Physicians of the Heart, Chapter 21: The real position of the complete human being is not in the Absolute, nor in the Relative. The human being, in essence, is like the description of the Prophet Muhammad: sayyed al-alameyn. He is the master of the two worlds, which means one foot is in the relative and one foot in the absolute. That is the pinnacle of the position of the human being. To simply merge with the Absolute and identify with it is not yet a complete experience…. When you reach union with the Beloved and become one with the Beloved, there is no sense of a ‘me’ separate from the Absolute. There is just pure awareness. In that pure awareness there is an awakening. You realize you are a unique being with a unique frequency, with a unique soul, a unique history, and a unique evolution, a being that is beautiful and delightful. You develop a consciousness that can unify and integrate the absolute and the relative. That is the great witness consciousness, the consciousness described as mushahida. Pure awareness lacks differentiation. Pure awareness sees Unity and Oneness. The moment it enters differentiation, it becomes witness consciousness. It becomes diamond-like consciousness, a consciousness that unifies the relative and the absolute. This is the middle ground where the human being resides. We weave the relative and the absolute together. We are like the spiders who are at work unifying the spider web. What is desired in this process is your remembrance of the birthright of your whole soul, what is yours by right by creation. Toward the One, the Perfection of Love, Harmony, and Beauty, the Only Being, United with All the Illuminated Souls Who Form the Embodiment of the Master, the Spirit of Guidance. Excerpts from Murshid Samuel Lewis' teachings on the path of the Master with a focus on the Mushahida practice. Malikiyyat Series I number 28 One on this path should cultivate silence. He or she is not usually selected to give advice, nor do they have to give advice….The practice of Mushahida enables one to feel the atmosphere of a greater and greater area of space or a more intense function within a limited space. As he or she identifies themself with a larger space accommodation or with more particular purposes within a limited area, their very breath will hold that akasha or accommodation. They are then able to purify what is within that accommodation and by purifying it, diminish tendencies to wrongdoing. *** Series I Number 16 There is an article in In an Eastern Rose Garden, called Mind-Human and Divine. (Note: much of this is included later in these texts). It concludes: "What is the perfection of mind that we have to touch. It is touched through contemplation, through realizations and understanding of the one current running through the whole life." We begin to contemplate on that. It is this contemplation, this Mushahida, that enables a man or woman to control themself and also the world outside. *** Series I Number 15 In the practice of Mushahida one actually sees the universe as if within oneself. In a sense one becomes a living sculptor, and also potter. Every situation presents itself as an opportunity to act as the representative of Allah in the manifestation. One can seize what is within one's heart, so to speak, as if it were a lump of clay within, to be shaped and molded as one wills. By keeping to one's principles one can mould that clay, one can even shape the universe around oneself. *** Series I Number 5 The Mushahida is to awaken the SHAHUD and this is used in the daily life inwardly and outwardly. According to one's grade one has an assignment to protect persons or places first in a limited area and then in a larger area. But for this proficiency is needed. One has to regard the Heart as the Universe, or the area, and to look upon it as if it were composed only of one's children, so to speak, whom one had to nourish and protect. And this is done by looking at the Heart in contemplation. It is something like looking at the mirror for a telescope. One does this during the processes of construction; one polishes the mirror until it reflects perfectly the light of the stars and perhaps the light of the universe. In Mushahida one looks at the heart and sees into the Heart and in the Heart. *** Series I Number 4 One repeats Allaho Akbar aloud or in thought and learns the cosmic mirror practices of Mushahida, to serve God by becoming as if one were God on a small scale, with humanity to protect, or places to guard. One improves the breath by refinement and performs Fikars. Yet also one does not separate oneself from the affairs of the world. In a rough way the Master is concerned with events and the Saint with people. This is not always exactly so but it gives some idea of the work and duties. *** Series I Number 15 … First one will gain all this instruction as verbal and intellectual knowledge. Then one learns to find the principles in oneself, in the study of self…and then to apply what one learns. See the whole cosmos before one as one's heart. Find everything within that heart. Explore that heart. Shape that heart, and above all purify that heart and keep it pure. Then one will not be disturbed for whatever the events, one's own innermost peacefulness is more powerful than anything else. By dwelling in the peacefulness, by feeling it expand and become more powerful one benefits the whole world and oneself. No doubt one must begin with one's own home, one's family and one's immediate surroundings. But after a while the benefits from this attitude, the applications of Mushahida, bring endless wonder. *** Series I Number 23 … The Apostle has said: "Praise Allah in times of prosperity and surrender to Him in times of adversity." Sages are instructed to attain equi-mindedness. This comes from watching the breath and in the contemplation called Mushahida, which is the norm of Malik (the one on the path of Mastery). The more one can practice the Mushahida, the more even minded he or she becomes. Then one is not so easily emotionally elevated by success, nor is one depressed by its absence. The Bible teaches. "Every valley shall be exalted and every hill laid low." *** Series I Number 29 "Prove trustworthy in all your dealings"—Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan When one practices Akhlak Allah one does not deal as with another. One should act as if all undertakings, even of a commercial nature, even the most materialistic endeavors, are with Allah. As soon as there is a phase as if dealing with "another" there can be a weakness in one's affairs, in one's undertakings, in one's being, and this weakness will manifest and thus stand in the way of the fulfillment of the purpose of life. Toward the One, the Perfection of Love, Harmony, and Beauty, the Only Being, United with All the Illuminated Souls Who Form the Embodiment of the Master, the Spirit of Guidance. Excerpt from Fana-fi-Sheikh an original Sangatha by Murshid Samuel Lewis Man's growth to realization is called evolution. We find this in the ultimate teachings of both Sufis and Hindus and no doubt of all truly spiritual schools. For there is only One Truth, no matter how verbalized. This also is the baka, the divine life which is there but of which man is not usually aware. There are many aspects and practices in esotericism (ryazat) which help bring this about. But Murakkaba, or concentration, can be used to push man a little; while Mushahida, or sublime contemplation actually regards man as already illuminated even when he is not aware of it. It is through Mushahida that man truly becomes the servant of God in the outer plane. Although contemplation (Mushahida) is looked upon as man's effort, actually he is permitting the divine in him to express and live and no longer the ego-self. For in Mushahida there can be no ego self; the self has to be removed. And when the self is removed as the Sufi Thoughts tell us, God is there and is expressing Himself Herself in both the outer and inner worlds.