Shekinah and Sakinah: The Indwelling

Image via Wikipedia

The beginning of movement is stillness. The beginning of sound is silence. Within every dance of creation, the flutter of a bird’s wings, the explosion of a star, the hand that heals an injured child, is stillness at the core. Within every sound in this universe, the singing of a choir, the hammering of a nail, the cry of a gull at sea, there is silence at the centre of each utterance. The Shekinah, Sakinah, the Indwelling, God with us at the heart of all being and It’s manifestations. Ya Hayy!

Justice and Well-Being Kiss Each Other

Image via Wikipedia

I was just speaking to a friend on SU about the film Bab’Aziz and said how I feel the mystic tradition of all religions comes very close to the core reality of being. For me it is the Sufi path but I also find inspiration from the Kabbalah and Mahayyana Buddhism. Finally we are all one, diverse expressions of the One Being. I’m doing research at the moment on the connections between Sufi and Jewish mystics and the rising popularity of Sufism in Israel. I’ll be going there for a field study next year as I want to see to what extent Sufi practices transform the individuals perception of self and other to a more unified, reflective perspective and whether this can contribute to justice and peace. It is really very simple, we are all interconnected and therefore the well being of ourselves in every respect is directly connected to the well being of all those around us and the whole planet. We have to stop giving our egos the primary place in our lives and begin living from the heart, that space of the inner being where the One resides and speaks to us if we listen. The image here is of justice and peace kissing each other. in Psalm 85:11 (Tanakh translation) it says, “Faithfulness and truth meet; justice and well-being kiss”. Jean Paul Lederach uses this verse in his work on reconciliation. I like the image of justice and well-being (peace) kissing. Justice is necessary when people are suffering from the injustices done them but when well-being is an intimate associate of justice then she is accompanied by compassion and seeks a path that leads away from revenge and fear and pursues the well-being of all.

A Poem of Sufi Love from Maryam

Sometimes I write about poetry here and sometimes I write poetry myself. Today I read the following poem on the tasawwuf blog of my sister on the path, Maryam It is beautiful and with its words it captures the impossibility of capturing the Ineffable, yet we can whisper the Names of the One and the soul can hear those words of love whispered from the silence of love, breath joining breath. Please go and visit Maryam’s site for more poems and thoughts on the Sufi path.

Thank you Maryam.

This one sings the most beautiful love songs.

This one lost his voice; but he writes them.

This one weeps while he recites.

This one can’t speak a word,

so he just weeps.

The sky seems to be listening,

some stars sparkle quicker than others;

I don’t close my eyes. I just watch

The wonder of the sound of voices.

Silent voices, in the dark,

whispering countless names.

I breath in, breath out,

with a name forever in my tongue,

my lips,

my throat.

I breath Your name,

exhale Your name,

in, out,

and the effect it has on my dreams

reminds me of those songs I hear,

the weeping that conforts the heart,

and the silent voices in the dark.

I don’t get tired of saying it.

I only get surprised.

Because once more letters, numbers, sounds,

dance a perfect dance,

saying, like a secret,

that life is death, that death is life,

that mixture is balance,

that Love comes through untouchable matter.

The one who sings has retreated himself.

And the one who weeps is tired.

The one who whispers is confused now.

As for me,

I am asleep.

And your name is my breath.

Maryam

Layla and Majnun and the Soul’s Longing for the Real

Image via Wikipedia

In this beautiful miniature painting that illustrates a scene from Nizami’s telling of the folk story of Layla and Majnun we see Majnun in the wilderness longing for his beloved Layla who he is forbidden from seeing. With time however, he begins to see Layla in all things. This story of lovers serves as a wonderful metaphor for the soul and its longing for the Lord, the One Beloved in which all are united. The Names of Allah can be seen manifested through all creation and the sufi seeks to be constantly aware of this in the same way that Majnun sees Layla everywhere in the wilderness. Sometimes when this world appears to be a wilderness I try to remember that “All things pass except the Face of God”. It helps to remember and what better way is there than to do dhikr (or zikr), simply remembering all the time that we are all contained within the Mercy and Compassion of the One.

To read more on Layla and Majnun see this post here

Related articles by Zemanta

• Darkness and light (guardian.co.uk)

Unveiling the Garden of Love

Two well loved stories of love from the Sufi and the Hindu traditions where both serve as metaphors for the love of the Beloved

clipped from astore.amazon.com Discover the common ground shared between Islamic Sufism and Hindu Bhaktism through their literary expressions. This book examines two classic love poems-The Story of Layla Majnun (written by Nezami in the Sufi tradition) and Gita Govinda (written by Jayadeva in the Hindu tradition)-and finds common experiences of love shared between these seemingly disparate cultures.

Eid Mubarak

Image via Wikipedia

Eid Mubarak to all my dear friends and readers! May blessings abound throughout the world!

Muslims Praying in a Virginia Synagogue

Just found this piece of very heartening news. Alhamdulillah!

clipped from www.dawn.com RESTON: On Friday afternoons, the people coming to pray at this building take off their shoes, unfurl rugs to kneel on and pray in Arabic. The ones that come Friday evenings put on yarmulkes, light candles and pray in Hebrew. The building is a synagogue on a tree-lined street in suburban Virginia, but for the past few weeks — during the Muslim holy month of Ramazan — it has also been doubling daily as a mosque. Synagogue members suggested their building after hearing the Muslim congregation was looking to rent a place for overflow crowds. Both groups say the relationship won’t be over when Ramazan ends in North America over the weekend. The rabbi and imam are talking about possibly even making a joint trip to the Middle East, and Friday prayers will still be held at the synagogue.

The Secret Heart

Image via Wikipedia

I recently put this in my Facebook notes and then thought that readers here might also enjoy it. Just a few thoughts on the experience of the dissolution of the nafs (ego matrix) that is the aim of the Sufi path.

The soul dwells amidst the utmost silence of total awe and the secret heart expands in space, knowing itself, knowing the Beloved. All is abandoned. Entirely. In savage nakedness veils are torn and slip noiselessly back into the created universe. Light pierces this being and excises every remaining trace of space and time. Stars, galaxies, universes are but sparkling jewels set in the dark mystery of the Unmanifest.

‘I was a hidden Treasure and desired to be known; therefore I created that I might be known’ (Hadith Qudsi)

From the Fusus al-Hikam of Ibn ‘Arabi

Image by Ghaylam via Flickr

It is He who is revealed in every face, sought in every sign, gazed upon by every eye, worshipped in every object of worship, and pursued in the unseen and the visible. Not a single one of His creatures can fail to find Him in its primordial and original nature.

Ibn ‘Arabi, Fusus al-Hikam

The photo on the right is of the mosque which contains the tomb of Ibn ‘Arabi.

Eyes Wide Open

Sometimes I get a bit of a squint trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel. But it’s always there. I just have to take off my sun glasses! Ya Rabb! Ya Allah! Help me to keep my eyes open.

Contemporary Sufi Poetry

This is a re-posting that was originally on my other blog, The Sufi Book and Music Blog but I thought it worth posting it here too as I get more readers here and contemporary Sufi poetry is definitely worth bringing to a wider audience.

If you do a Google search on Sufi poetry the results will most likely bring up a wealth of sites with information and examples of the masters of the art. Honoured and respected poets on the Sufi path who wrote about what they experienced and ‘tasted’ on the journey of return to unity with the One. It is a journey of longing and struggle in which all things are seen as the signs of God, including our own selves. Metaphors of love are commonly used in such poetry where the lover longs for union with the Beloved. We see this in the images of the nightingale singing to the rose or the moth drawn to the flame. There are many translations from the original languages in which this poetry was written, Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Urdu, to English. Some of these translations are more like free interpretations attempting to capture the spirit of a piece for contemporary readers. For example, the thirteenth century Sufi poet/mystic Jalaluddin Rumi is one of the most widely read poets in the United States today. But what about Sufi poetry written today by contemporary students on the Sufi path?

Very little contemporary Sufi poetry is published for a mainstream readership. There appears to be little publishing interest in contemporary Sufi writing. Yet many of today’s dervishes, like Sufis of old, still feel compelled to allow words to flow and the recent phenomenon of the blog provides a structure for that expression. Try some of the following blogs for poetry from the heart written today. Just click on the titles.

Knocking from Inside

Poems from the Edge of the Continent

The Wandering Troubadour

Court of Lions

Ecstatic Exchange

Gathering of Thoughts

Loving You

I love, I hurt, I learn, I love again

Am I foolish?

Every step is reckless,

Every caress attempts

To touch anew

The first innocence of hope

That I will return to You

Sharing Water

A watchful eye

Originally uploaded by Dave-F

I just watched a bird taking a bath in the hedgehogs drinking water. We have a whole family of hedgehogs here and my landlady puts out water for them and feeds them every evening. During the day though the drinking water is a free for all and with the first bit of sunshine in a week our regularly visiting lady blackbird was not going to miss out. She plunged in and splattered water all around her as she performed her daily ablutions with gusto. May she fly high and sing beautifully and bring some cheer to Winchester as it experiences a very patchy summer weatherwise. Life and beauty is all around us no matter what the weather is doing. A lesson in keeping my eyes open to the wonders of the universe.

Further reading: Conversation with a Hedgehog

Malalai Joya: Standing for Justice for Women in Afghanistan

I have just read this article in the Independent and feel inspired and saddened. While the British public is calling for an end to the war in Afghanistan and the US and the UK have the sudden ‘good idea’ of speaking with the Taliban, Malalai Joya speaks of the injustices to women under what she calls, “the regime of warlords”. This, she says, is what British and US soldiers are dying for. Self educated and working hard to educate other women, Malalai says, as quoted in the Independent article today, that, “Dust has been thrown into the eyes of the world by your governments. You have not been told the truth. The situation now is as catastrophic as it was under the Taliban for women. Your governments have replaced the fundamentalist rule of the Taliban with another fundamentalist regime of warlords. [That is] what your soldiers are dying for.” Malalai is willing to risk her life for the women of her country and she is in constant danger.
Go here to read the full article.

Malalai Joya has written a book of her memoirs
which can be ordered from here:

Drunk in the Tavern

Europahütte Predawn View

Originally uploaded by Jeff Pang

Ah, we are all drunk in this tavern
for the innkeeper keeps our cups full
with the elixir of love, Hu!

Friends from the Unseen dwell here too
and give us a nudge when our eyes
alight on the summit ahead

With the wine of love that we imbibe
we look toward the light of dawn
and mount our steeds with daring tread

On this journey of love’s desire
The Beloved burns our hearts with fire
As across ice peaks we are led