The Witness Within Insights on Sufism ( Essays) by E. L. Levi (Musa Muhaiyaddeen)

7/29/2019 The Witness Within Insights on Sufism ( Essays) by E. L. Levi (Musa Muhaiyaddeen)

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Insights on Sufism by E. L. Levi

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Musa Muhaiyaddeen (E. L. Levin)

Musa Muhaiyaddeen (E. L. Levin) is a direct disciple of

the Sufi mystic and teacher Bawa Muhaiyaddeen. He metBawa Muhaiyaddeen in 1972 and studied with him until

Bawa Muhaiyaddeen left his earthly form in 1986. He now

shares what he learned during the 14 years he spent at the

feet of his venerable teacher. He has traveled to Africa,

Europe, Asia and throughout North America speaking on

the teachings of Sufism. The International Association of

Sufism (IAS) has published his book: On the Road to

Infinity, which is a compilation of talks given by him on

Sufism in various venues throughout the world. Hisinsights on Sufism are now available online

at www.thewitnesswithin.com and are presented in audio,

video and print format. He has made numerous trips to

Mecca and Medina and has taken hundreds of people with

him on the pilgrimage. He is co-president of the Bawa

Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship. He is married with 3 children

and 6 grandchildren.


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In the name of God the most merciful and the most compassionate.

Sufism is a state of being not a philosophy. One studies Sufism to changefrom insan (man) to insan kamel(perfected man). It is about leaving the

illusory world and entering reality. It is about becoming peaceful, tranquiland loving. It is about understanding the qualities that are related to realityand differentiating them from the ones that bind us to the illusory world.

To become a perfected man, one must know the portions of the self that arecapable of merging with reality and differentiate them from the rest. Manmust learn to identify himself with that which he actually is as opposed to

identification with his temporary, illusory nature.

The intent of the material on this website is to aid in the process of coming toknow the true self. Each talk is a meditation on a specific aspect that assists

in gaining knowledge of the true self. They are about the difference betweenreality and this illusory world in which we live.

The talks are not scripted. They are meant to be listened to in their entirety inone sitting which is the way they were presented. The essays are edited talks.

They were spoken and then worked on by an editor to put them intoappropriate form for the written page.

Each one of these talks usually covers one point of understanding, and theireffect is cumulative. It takes listening to many of these talks and reading

many of the essays in order to get the thrust of what is being conveyed.

The talks are downloadable, and the essays are printable. They are meant to

be used in whatever format is most convenient for you.

E. L. Levin

(Musa Muhaiyaddeen)


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About Us

A Short Explanation about Sufism, the Author and the Intent of this Website

In the late 1960s my circumstances and point of view led me to question the reason for my existence. I began on a course to find

answers to these questions. I found that these are, in truth, some of the most complex questions that we can have. Questions like,

why am I here? What is the purpose of my creation? How was I created? What is my purpose in existence? Where do we go from

here? What is the purpose of this body? What is our true relationship with the rest of mankind? How are we supposed to act?

What does a human being who understands the answers to these questions look like? What is the essence of one who understands

the answers to these questions?

In this search I came upon the Sufi Saint Bawa Muhaiyaddeen. I met him on Easter Sunday in March of 1972. The interaction

had a profound affect on both my wife and myself. We both realized that we were in front of a being who was different than any

being we had ever met. Even though he was from a culture that was entirely different from our culture and spoke a language that

we did not understand, it did not interfere with the fact that being in his presence made us feel like we were at home. For the first

time in a very long time I felt I had arrived at where I needed to be and there was really nowhere else to go because it was all

right here.

Bawa Muhaiyaddeen returned to his native Sri Lanka from the United States shortly after I met him and returned to the U. S. in

1973. As soon as he was back, we went to see him and he brought us close to him, directing us to meet with those who were

interested in his teachings and share what we were being taught.

We spent from 1972 to 1986, when he passed away, under his direct guidance and influence. Over the years, we understood that

the essence of his teaching, which is called Sufism, is a touchstone to reality. It is the heart within all matters; it is the heart

within all religions. It doesnt belong to anyone, but it teaches everyone. The teachings are loving, tolerant and magnanimous,

generous, trustworthy and gracious. The teachings are given from our Lord as a gift to bring us closer to Him.

Over the last 20 years or so, I have made pilgrimages to various parts of the world. I began to speak about the experiences I had

and knowledge I had gained from my time with Bawa Muhaiyaddeen. We have traveled to Asia, Africa, Europe and throughout

North America to many different countries and locations, speaking about Sufism.

In the last seven or eight years, we have had weekly encounters with a small group of seekers of truth wherein we shared our

understandings and experiences. Recently some of these people have suggested that we begin an internet site wherein these

encounters could be shared with a larger audience. We share these insights as a student with other students. The learning process

never ends. We are all initiates on the path. It is our responsibility to share what we have received with others. We agreed to

begin this website.

We ask the blessings of our teacher the Sainted M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen. We ask the blessing of all of the prophets. And we

ask the blessing of our Lord in this endeavor. May it be of benefit to the people in this world.


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Divine Intervention

Why do people come on pilgrimage to the burial places of certain holy beings, why do we come there to pray? We come to

acknowledge there is a world beyond this one. We believe what the prophets have told us, what God has told us through all the

prophets, that there is a world to come after this world. We believe there is a connection between these two worlds, that the next

world can inspire and influence this one. We believe that at places of pilgrimage we are closer to that other world.

There are countless numbers of hypnotizing illusions and deceptions in this world. This means, in part, that there is an enormous

amount of worldly static, influences from this world which are overwhelming. They capture us, hypnotize us, magnetize us, they

lure us into various aspects of creation where we are enchanted, engrossed, and in a very real way, made sluggish, reduced to a

state of torpor. We might come to a point at which we are so engulfed by these things they control our lives. We think we control

them, but they actually are in control of our lives; we are so fascinated by these illusions we are committed to them instead of

anything else.

What are these things? They are different for each of us because we are all caught in different ways. The forces of darkness and

illusion attack us at the point of our weakness and drag us in their direction. Our differing weaknesses depend on the way we


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have been raised, where we have been raised, what our culture is like, the sort of religion we have been brought up in. Our

differences mean we are caught in different ways, but the point is we are all caught, we have all been caught by the world.

We visit holy places to remind ourself that something else is going on although we are caught by the world; we visit such places

to escape from things which have trapped us, hoping for moments of clarity or divine intervention. We go there hoping to have

God interfere with our lives, we go to have God intervene in our lives, we ask Him to intervene in our lives. Now the interesting

thing is that He is always involved in our lives, there is not a moment when He is not involved in our lives. We say prayers to

invoke our God who is the creator, the sustainer and nourisher, the compassionate One whose mercy and compassion constantly

sustain us. If He were to withhold sustenance for one second the world would no longer exist, but since we have lost touch with

the reality of His existence, we ask for His intervention.

What are we actually asking for? We are asking that the hypnotism which has snared us in this world fall away, asking so that we

can see reality, so that we can be in the moment which understands His grace, His glory and His involvement with us. We

recognize the truth that this reality is always there, but we are not there, not there because we have chosen to be not there, or

perhaps we have been so overwhelmed by the forces of the world we cannot involve ourself with Him. When we recognize this

we go to a place like a shrine where we can remind ourself of our connection to God, our connection to the prophets and the great

holy beings, our connection to the friends of God and all those who keep trying to intervene on our behalf.

We have to learn how to intervene on our own behalf, take control of this intervention so that we learn how to make the

experience at theplace of pilgrimage happen more often. This means realigning ourself, letting go of the things we consider

important in our life, even if only for moments at a time.

We have been told that the best form of meditation is the constant repetition of the prayer that only God exists, we do not. If we

can understand this prayer and practice it a little every day, changes occur, practicing this of course, in addition to all the other

prayers and duties we have. The understanding that only God exists means all the other things we are concerned about do not

existour ability to let go of these things is directly related to our ability to be in the moment, to exist now, not in the past or the

future, to exist within the light of His grace at every moment instead of struggling to find it.

People trying hard to stay afloat in a difficult situation are helped significantly if they have something in the water to keep them

afloat, like life buoys, a life jacket or something else to hold onto, almost anything to help them stay afloat. We have been given

things to help us stay afloat, we have been given many things to help us reach the shore in this ocean which is illusion. We have

been given all those divinely wise beings, we have been given a path which has a foundation, a form we can hold onto as we

reach for the space with no form.

Because we ourself have form, it is difficult for us to relate to formlessness, we need help within this form, we need sanctuary

within this form. The place of prayer is a sanctuary, a meeting place is a sanctuary for this form, friends are a sanctuary for this

form. When we gather together with people who understand formlessness, who understand the need to escape to reality, they

buttress us, they keep us from floundering. We come together to help each other recognize the truth, and when we love each other

for the sake of God, this love carries a warmth, an invigorating fire which helps each of us turn more easily to Him.

In this way we become Gods assistants, helping in His work of returning us to Him. This is our work, to help each other with a

smile, a hand, a good word. When we approach this work in an appropriate way it can have visible results, such a positive effect

it overrides many of the fascinations of the world which capture us. Once we begin to understand, we are drawn to this kind of

work, to this kind of situation.

What is this prayer called the remembrance of God? It is the prayer of remembering moments when we are free of the world,

only in moments when we are free of the world do we remember Him. We need to remember Him and those moments when we

are free of the world, the path to Him. The straight, true path lies through moments which are free of the world, moments when


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we are together with friends who are friends and companions in the name of His love. When love enters the equation, when we

learn to love for the sake of love and not for the sake of other things, when we learn to love for the sake of the truth in each of us,

for His sake, for the sake of the great holy beings and the prophets, everything inside us begins to change, we begin to melt. And

what is it that melts? The lower self melts away, the thing that grasps the world and wants to hold onto it, savor it and collect it

begins to melt. Gods hands replace the hands of desire.

We have to decide whose hands we use, do we use the hands of desire or the hands of our Lord? What does our Lord want, what

do our base desireswant? There is a difference. Once we recognize the difference we drop certain things we can no longer hold

onto because of the stench within them, the seductive outer perfume no longer hides their inner stench. We need to see what

really matters.

Our time in this world is allotted, we do not know how much there is, but we do know it has an end. Where are we at that end,

who are we at that end, what have we collected by then? The love in our hearts stays with us, His grace stays with us, the truth of

His existence stays with us. If we focus on that, if we focus on Him we change, our life changes, the life of the people around us

changes. There is a transformation, a glory and light beyond our imagination, beyond our ability to think. We are limited by what

we can see, hear and feel, but when He intervenes there are no limits. When He touches us there is no end, there is no beginning,

there is endless glory which comes from Him alone, which is His, which He has given us, made our birthright.

This is available if we stop holding back, if we run towards it, excited because it is available and we have discovered its

availability. Sorrow must disappear, we have to shout our joy that we recognize God, we recognize He is here, He created us, He

nurtures and sustains us, we recognize that His secret is hidden within us, a secret which will unfold. When this secret unfolds

our true glory is known, the glory of each of our companions is known and visible on all our faces.

We need to look, we need to look for that glory. As we walk down the street and pass by other people, understand that glory

exists within each person; recognize it in ourself and in others. We have to keep resentment away, keep jealousy away because

they separate us from God. We must not be separate from Him, we must come close to Him. By coming close to each other we

come close to Him. May God help us come closer to our companions in love, may He help us form strong relationships in this

world based on love, based on His rule. May He intervene in our lives to bring us closer to Him.


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The Meaning of Pilgrimage

What is the meaning of pilgrimage, how did it begin, why do we go on pilgrimage? It began when the prophet Abraham came to

visit his son and together they built the first house of God. Abraham told his son it would be a place of pilgrimage for all those

who believed in one God; it did become a holy place, it remained a place of remembrance for a long time. Later, when belief in

one God was lost in paganism and people worshiped many deities, Gods house became a temple for many gods. They worshiped

idols but it remained a temple, a place of reverence without understanding.

When the monotheist rituals of Abraham were restored by Muhammad, this was a problem for those who had earned their living

from all the tribes who came there to worship their gods. But todays pilgrimage re-creates what Abraham did, todays ritual is an

imitation of Abraham. Imitation is interesting, it is an act of becoming, redoing, joining, melting into. Now this ritual is

performed attempting to imitate what two prophets, what Abraham and Muhammad both did. Pilgrims walk in the steps of

Muhammad who walked in the steps of Abraham. The point here is continuity, nothing new, a re-creation of an ancient

observance, pilgrims declaring themselves to be of that lineage, part of that continuity, the truth which has always existed.

Imitation is the act of becoming what existed before. There is a story here to illustrate this point, a story about an enlightened

teacher called John. His disciple Michael was running around town shouting, Im John, Im John!


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Some of the other disciples reported this to the master, Michael is running around town telling everyone he is John, talk to him

about this.

The teacher replied, Ill talk to him when he comes back. Then when Michael returned he sat them all down before him, The

other dervishes tell me you are running around town saying you are John. You should all be running around town saying you are

John, you should all become John!

This is a central understanding of the path, we all need to become the innermost part of our enlightened master, we need to

imitate him, be like him, become him. In the long tradition of reinforcing what existed before us, walking in the steps of those

who came before us, being in the way of what came before us, we can be in the way of God; if we get in His way enough we will

bump into Him. We need to be in His way, we have examples of those who have been in His way. We should be in His way and

love each other as we love those who are in His way, love each other as enlightened beings have taught us to love. In that love

our true grace, our glory exists. If we are incapable of wakening that love, bringing it to fruition, we cannot be in His way.

One characteristic of certain enlightened teachers is their ability to love strangers, they have the capacity to love people they do

not know, they love them, give them attention and sympathy, listening to their problems as if they were the only problems in theworld. Do we give ourself to our companions that way, give ourself to those who come our way?

This is what the great luminous beings do, they come to dispense love, they plant love in the heart of every person they meet.

They plant love by being love, nothing more, just the transcendent state of being which elevates all those who come near. If we

are going to follow this path we are obliged to do that too, this love should grow in us, we should be able to love others. Reach a

point where this love begins to live, it exists within us, call it up and use it. If it is so hidden we have lost touch with it we must

uncover it, learn to respect ourself and the dignity of others. We need to dignify ourself with that love, understanding it in such a

way that we can be appropriate inwardly and then outwardly with others. Have the dignity of that love, learn to give it to others,

be the dignity we offer.

Can we imagine any more dignity than God Himself has, can we imagine His representatives without dignity, without the calmstrength or the qualities which make us want to be their companion? If we want to walk in the steps of the holy ones, if we want

to imitate the prophets we have to adopt their qualities, the love, the kindness, the tolerance, compassion and mercy, all the

qualities which give dignity to others, which encourage their growth as true human beings.

We do not make a child mature by beating it, we do not help our friends by berating them, we do not create good relationships in

our household by shouting at our wife or husband. They say that half the path to purity lies in marriage because here we have an

opportunity for a deep, close relationship where we can treat each other with dignity, we can treat each other in an exalted human

way with the qualities of God. If we cannot do this at home we cannot do it at all.

Most people seem to have only one kind of relationship, one they repeat again and again with everyone they know. Since we

create it, we ought to establish what that relationship should be because we have models of what it could be, models we can toimitate until we become that model. This is a process of becoming. Let us ask each other what we are becoming, what we intend

to become.

Intention is important, it is the first step and part of every other step we take. If intention is tied to the self, to self-importance,

self-gratification, things of the lower self, actions coming from that intention will always be impure. We have to cleanse our

motives and cleanse ourself with constant vigilance, understanding why we do thingsthe reason is relevant. We have to correct

that reason, check our motives, be clean. There is a reason why we are supposed to wash, a reason why we have rituals of water


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in the religions, a reason for all this washing. We need to cleanse ourself repeatedly, cleanse our motives and our lower self, self-

interest, desire, the things we think we need, the things we want.

Someone who does not want anything worldly is empty of such needs. If we have no individual need or will, no motive or desire,

we can be filled with the qualities and the will of God. If the qualities of God become who we are, these qualities engage the

actions of God; when our actions are no longer ours, the qualities become the duties of God, duties we no longer perform for

ourself.

God does not only live in us, He lives through us, He must pass through us which means we have to be empty. We need to be

empty and stay empty: being empty once does not mean we necessarily stay empty, there must be nonstop vigilance. Even great

teachers have lost their way with a moment of indulgence, they did not maintain a state of emptiness.

To understand pilgrimage, to understand what the prophets did, the steps they took, we need to take the same steps, walk together

with those who took them before, with those who walked for Him. When we understand this we understand all moments are the

same, all time is the same. Know the nature of this existence, know what comes and what goes, know how we fit into the scheme

of things. Everything goes yet everything remains. God is always with us, with every breath we are created again. If Heabandoned His sustenance of everything in existence for a moment, it would all disappear. Understand the connection we have to

our Lord, exult in it, praise it. We must be thankful, have gratitude, be gracious. One way to show our gratitude lies in our actions

with others, those around us, those we meet. We show our gratitude by remaining empty, without thinking that something is

missing, that we need something, without thinking we need to create more for ourself because it has all already been given. When

we do not we create the veils that keep Him from us He lives within us.

May our faith be strong, may certitude and our determination be strong. May He show us this straight, true path and make our

steps easy.


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Obedience to God

We should understand that everything happens according to Gods will, whatever occurs happens with His will. We are here with

obligations, with duties to perform, this we should understand too, something which can be difficult to grasp. If everything occurs

with Gods will, why are we involved? If everything is ordained, why are we given the options of what is correct and what is

prohibited? To understand, first we need to establish trust in God, and part of that trust means living without tomorrow, it means

we are not worried about the future. We have no doubt, that worry has left because we trust in God, because we know everything

is in His hands. Nevertheless we do have obligations, we do have duties, there are things we need to accomplish.

Sometimes this might be difficult to grasp because here we are, doing what we can in the world to accomplish certain things, and

we are supposed to be satisfied with whatever occurs. This means we persist with goals, yet without attachment to them, we try to

do things but without attachment to results. We think we are supposed to have results with certain things, we think a state of

prayer should have results. The preparation to receive God seems to promise results, but prayer to God should be understood as

obedience to Him.


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If we understand obedience, the scope of obedience, and put ourself in that state, we can have that state of trust, we are not

worried about results because all we are doing is being obedient. We need to find satisfaction in this act of obedience which

requires an understanding quite different from the understanding of obedience in worldly terms, obeying the authority

admonishing us to go to college, get a degree, raise a family, to work, to do all this in our life. Understand why we do what we

do. Is it to make money, to satisfy our desires, our mind? Do we understand root causes, the reason we do things?

To understand this path we must understand our root causes, we must take the time to learn what they are, and if they are not the

right reasons, we need to learn what they should be. This is what wise teachers tell us, they tell us how to interact with our life

and our God, how to teach ourself to behave in certain situations if we want to be obedient to His will.

We can only understand Him if we are obedient to His will. Find someone who has that obedience, who can show us what it is

like to be obedient, what happens when we are. When this is foremost in our existence our state begins to change. That is what

this path is about, understanding a way to be, to live, to exist, it is about becoming, being a certain way, incorporating specific

states of being, not merely talking about them, being them. What happens to us in moments of stress, moments of difficulty, how

do we react, how are we different? If things seem easy, are we happier than when they are difficult? When we are praised are we

more at ease than when we are blamed? Who are we? How do we react in different situations?

They say those with the greatest trust in God welcome difficulty more than they welcome ease, the usual possibilities of the

world mean little to them. Their understanding is that things unfold as God wills, so they can exult in whatever they receive, it is

something to praise, it is seen as a gift, even difficulties are seen as gifts. This means a different way of approaching the world, an

approach no longer intended to satisfy the ego driven animal soul. This understanding, bypassing everything else, tries to form a

relationship with the deepest part of our being, the part of our being which is the soul that comes directly from God.

First we have to be conscious of what constitutes everything else, so that when it begins to interfere with our state of being we

recognize the interference. When this takes hold of us, pulling in certain directions, we need to know what it is, we need to know

how to get off the train. Once we board the train it takes us wherever the conductor is headed, and he is someone we do not

necessarily know, someone who can drop us off at strange, dangerous places unless we watch where we are going. Under the

influence of our own lower self, or the influence of others following their lower self, we go only to places where the lower self

goes, places where this inclination goes. This is an inclination away from God towards corruption, which means here anything

taking us away from God. Not being involved with God takes us away from Him, confusing because there are many ways, even

in the name of religion, we can be taken away from God. We should be careful, apply the smell test to everything we do. Does it

smell authentic, does it smell holy, does it smell God-like or does it smell of the world?

We have an indwelling sense of right and wrong, an inherent sense of the soul which is from Him. If we can be at ease without

the motives of our animal self, we can have the right understanding. To do this we have to be rid of our animal inclinations, be in

a peaceful enough place so that these raging inclinations leave us, so that the ego driven inclinations of the world, of mind and

desire leave us, then we can be in the place where we know right from wrong.

If we are thirsty we need to search for water to quench our thirst. We have to develop a true thirst for truth, not let anything

quench that thirst but truth, we have to develop a sense of the appropriate and hold ourself to that standard, nothing less. The truth

exists within us, we should not let it be veiled. The truth walks with us as the animal qualities do, both are within us. We can

choose which side we are connected to and stand with that.

To stand on the side which is truth we need to develop trust in God, trust that what we are given is satisfactory, trust that what we

are given is appropriate for our development. We should learn contentment because He reigns within contentment, we should


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learn patience because He reigns within patience, His kingdom exists within these qualities. If we want to be in His kingdom we

have to live in these qualities or we are outside His realm. The one who locks us out is our own self, we put ourself in a place of

detention away from the truth, close the door behind us and discover we have left the key at home. We need to get back home to

unlock the detention center.

Go home, get back in, realize that to be with Him we need to be like Him. We are capable of being like Him, God created man in

His image, He wants us to be like Him, we exist to be like Him, yet we have created a list of other reasons for our existence.

These other reasons are different for each of us, but they have become the priority, the most important things in our life, the

things which motivate us. We should be motivated by Him and for Him, we should understand the qualities and levels of

patience. It is easy to be patient if we see that everything we can think of has been granted, it is much more difficult when we

cannot see this.

A wise man was once asked, When is patience most difficult, what is the most difficult time to be patient?

The answer was, The patience required to be without Him. Understand that most of us are in the place which is most difficult

for patience. Do we realize what we are being patient about? We cannot enter that realm of patience unless we realize we arewalking around without Him, not even contemplating what we do not have.

It is essential to enter that realm, to know how lost we are without Him. When we are overwhelmed by our animal side, by our

animal qualities, we should understand it, be conscious of it and change our state. If we do that it involves us in the mystery of

creation, the intention to change pulls us to the mystery of creation, it separates us from the ordinary, takes us to the state of a true

human being. We should make this intention grow, make the intention to exist with Him be a driving force in our life, the reason

we do things. We should be actively inclined to live closer to Him, do the things which are necessary to be closer to Him.

Some of us have been given a miracle in our lives, we have lived in the company of a saint, we have watched what a saint does,

what a true human being does. We have been blessed to see serenity in the presence of saintliness, when the interference of the

world is cut away. There is nothing more important than that saintliness, than the true humanity of a person who represents thequalities of God. Our own elevation in that presence is beyond anything we have experienced.

The mind is incapable of differentiating the past from the future, it sees what happens now as no different from its memory. If we

learn to use wisdom instead of the mind, use our inherent nature, we use a different part of our being. Intellect shuts down,

judgment and illuminated wisdom function, then the heart vibrates without thought, we become qualities without definition,

without the noise of the world. We become more like our true self, more like the eternal self existing within us. If we focus

exclusively on worldly things or the bodys aches and pains, on the remedies we need for it, we identify ourself with the body,

with images our mind creates. This pulls us away from the serenity and totality of being which comes in the presence of

saintliness. We are pulled away from becoming God-like in serenity, in tranquility or peace, in patience, gratitude, mercy and

compassion.

But that is the place we need to be. We must have a vehicle and a navigation system to help us find God. May He let each of us

understand the path, make it easy for us to find it, stay on it and go towards Him.


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Sleeping and Waking

In the morning when we wake up we take a shower because sleep is still with us. We need water to wake up, not cold water, just

water, a physical, elemental thing which changes us, changes our state, taking us from a sleeping state to a waking state,

relatively speaking. During the day there is a continuing obligation to wash, to use water for purification, for waking up because

we tend to go to sleep while we are awake.

Sleep does not come only when we lie down in bed, sleep comes whenever we are entranced, sleep is a trance. We are in the

sleeping state whenever we are hypnotized, when we are so attracted by something it overwhelms our senses, sleep comes when

we take certain drugs which overwhelm us. That dazed state of torpor is sleep, the loss of our perceiving faculties in their highest

forms means we are asleep. Now this implies we spend most of our life asleep; those of us who have traveled this path for a long

time are aware when these faculties are awake, and we are also aware how short that time is. We know also that we travel this

path to develop the ability which makes those faculties grow, which makes them more available, so that we deal with reality, we

learn how to be awake in reality, not the things that put us to sleep.

One reason we gather together in groups is to wake up that experience, that wakefulness which gives us a sense of being attuned

to reality. When we sit together, focusing pointedly without concern for the past, without concern for the future, without concern


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for anything in creation, focusing on the Creator, being in tune with the Creator, something astonishing happens, what we can call

the floating room syndrome. Suddenly the space we are in, the small rooms we gather in, are outside time and space, they take on

a different dimension, they take on the dimension of the absolute now, a dimension most of us have difficulty encountering and

living in.

When we enter that dimension of the absolute now we are transfixed in the moment, we are aligned with the moment, not in the

past or the future, but now, in this moment. It is rather like being with an excellent chiropractor when everything falls into place,

when everything is clicked out of us, it all falls away, all the worries, the troubles and burdens, the scheming and difficulties of

the world fall away. For that moment they have no impact and we have no need to react, we do not react, we just exist. We are in

a moment which is aligned with now.

It seems that the alignment with now is a portal to another world, the world inspiration comes from, where words come which

have no base in our own understanding, where words come which create situations and feelings we are unaccustomed to, the

world which offers recognition of the soul, presenting everything we are unaccustomed to, everything different from our usual

habits, everything we have not learned to do. This is the place inspiration comes from, the place grace comes from, it comes from

being aligned with the truth and creating a space for it to come through. This is the place where angels can touch us. This place,

this astonishing moment can sometimes appear to last a long time, and within that moment all the tuning forks have to be aligned,

every vibration has to be consistent, and that is one reason why groups tend to whittle down in size. If one person has a sound

which does not resonate correctly it dissolves the moment, dissolves a very sensitive, profound situation.

Why do we talk about cleanliness, why do we talk aboutappropriate behavior? When we align ourself with reality we have to be

capable of acting as reality expects us to act, we have to interact with the truth and be confident of that interaction or the truth

will not linger. It is not enough to go into the moment, we also have to be acceptable to the moment. This is the work of our lives,

becoming acceptable to that moment when we find the truth. That moment might last a long time or only an instant, but that is all

we need, to find it for one instant and be acceptable.

This is what appropriate conduct is about, what purity is about, what wakefulness is about. Then when that moment opens for us

we can see it, we can be it, feel it, recognize it and surrender, we can give up our self, we can let the drop return to the ocean

where the great effulgence of His grace overwhelms us and we become one with it. It is all One. When that moment is correct we

are one, there is no separation, there is only the divine understanding of what is going on. There is no difference between I and

you, there is only we, ourself in conjunction with God, a conjunction which disappears, no longer necessary, there is only

God. At that point words are unnecessary. Understand what we are striving for, understand the greatness of His glory, the

immensity of His glory, and understand that He has made this glory accessible to us. It beckons us to come to Him, and so we

need to set our intention directly, with knowledge of that place.

Christ on the cross has many meanings. One of the meanings suggests we are nailed to one spot in a glorious way, not as a

sacrificial lamb but in a glorious way. We are nailed to that one spot now aligned with all the universes, there is no need for

movement. The body is a shell finally nailed down so that the inner resonance can be aligned, we have finally nailed the body

down, made it sit still, made it stand still, it can no longer interfere. We need to align ourself, we need to be very still.

There are many methods for learning to be still, but we also need to be pure because paradise is purityif we are not pure we do

not belong there. Can you imagine not belonging there? This is frightening, and it should be what frightens us, that we are not

pure enough, we are not clean enough, that we have not washed often enough, have not prayed and resonated enough. This purity

should be what we strive for so that when we come to those moments we are acceptable to reality.

We have to accept reality, we also have to be acceptable to reality. Striving for reality makes us acceptable to reality. We need to

surrender the will which resists movement towards reality, surrender it, surrender the will to exist in this world, surrender it,


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understand what it takes to give it up and give it up. We can only hint at what it takes, yet we each know when we are clean, we

know when we have no motives of self, when we are not driven by the things we think we want or need, we know when there is

purity in our intention.

When we sit together we are practicing for paradise; by being truly acceptable to each other we can become acceptable to reality.

We are given to each other to practice becoming acceptable to reality. All these things are gifts given by our Creator to be more

like Him, to be acceptable to Him.

Certain people want to be in the state of the melting heart, they want to be in that state yet they are fearful if they do not know

how the heart can melt. It is up to us to create an atmosphere where this process is easy, up to us to create places where people

are comfortable enough to move towards truth, where they no longer feel they have to hold back. We are all caught in the small

jails of our own making which we do not identify as jails, which we see as walls protecting us from each other and from the

world. We need to understand how to let go of these things, how to unlock the gates so that we can proceed into the open space of

reality. To do this requires tremendous love, and those who have had little love in their lives, those who have not been melted by

love sometimes have difficulty accepting it, they are afraid of what motivates an offer of love.

We need to be without motive. If we have motives, if we have needs, if we have desires or expectations when we offer love it is

not being given the right way, it is more like a carrot on a string. We need to give love without carrots, without strings, people

need to know when we offer something it is not going to be pulled back, it is given freely. We should learn how to give freely.

Charity is giving freely, giving our time, our warmth, our smile, giving our heart, our look, our kindness, our forgiveness, our

reconciliation, our melting. Never withhold any of these things we should give as charity to each other.

Most of these acts of love or charity begin with the family. We have to love our children in a way that makes them feel loved and

comfortable, that makes us feel loved and comfortable. We need to spread love which has no expectations, which lets others

grow. Some things need to be spread aroundwe cannot hoard love, it does no good if it is hoarded. If we think we can possess

this love, it will burn a hole in us.

By learning how to give and making this a big part of our life, we also allow ourself to receive. As we give from one side we are

being given from the other, and the source which supplies us is without end. Think of the cornucopia as a manifestation of Gods

abundance, we cannot take too much from it because it keeps giving. We need to be cornucopias, unafraid of giving, the more we

give the more is given to us, the source which supplies us is without end.

Sages and saints are examples of this, they never hold onto anything, they just keep giving like a river with an endless source.

Fear makes us think the source will be depleted, we are always reminded of the limits of our own resources, reminded we should

be careful. There are no limits for Gods love, no limits for Gods grace, no limits for His glory. We must become conduits of

that love, that grace and glory, let them flow through us without limit. If God wills, we will understand and become part of this

great wealth which has no end. We can dispense this wealth with no limit, we can have the eyes to see that true wealth and then

open the eyes of others. May we travel this road, this path, may we increase in purity and lose the motivations of self which

separate us from each other.


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The Profit Motive

There is competition in this world as we work to earn a living, competition for money, competition in business and among those

who are trying to sustain their material existence. This is the way of the world, a state of continuing competition. Little fish eat

smaller fish and then they are eaten by bigger fish; everything is in competition with everything else for sustenance in the world.

Capitalism includes the profit motive, we go out there for gain, and that gain, that monetary gain which sustains ourself and our

family is permissible.

There is competition and the permissible within competition; in other words, as long as we function with integrity, we are

encouraged to play the game of the world. Certain things are forbidden, high interest for instance, high interest which can destroy

someone is not permitted. In capitalist competition usury is forbidden, although both competition and gain are permissible.

There is the path of the world and the path to God, the path of real human beings, true human beings who are not in competition

with each other. The rules of capitalism do not apply to our dealings with each other. When we are competitive with each other,

when our mind and our attitude insist we must prevail, difficulties arise. Some people not only need to do what they do, but they

also need others to accept what they do and think. If this is a driving force in their life they can go astray on this great path.


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We are here to love each other, not to force each other. Tolerance is an astonishing quality which we find in all the great teachers.

We need to understand this quality in our dealings with each other, we need to understand the rules of the straight, true path

because the rules of this path are different from the rules of the world. Even if the rules of the world, for the world, are

permissible, they are not permissible in our dealings with friends and companions. We cannot be demanding of them, we cannot

have separations among us, we cannot have competition among us. We need to be joyous in the joy of our friends and sad in their

sorrow, we need to be deeply sympathetic to the lives of others.

We should practice the act of having no act, and that means we come without motive, without agenda, we come to serve others

because we are without needs. God has provided for us, we are fortunate, we have seen His grace and know that everything we

need has already been given to us. We are without needs because God has given us all that we need. Shouldnt we help those who

still have needs, shouldnt we set the table for those who have needs? They have not understood that their needs are only products

of their imagination, an imagination which requires feeding until they recognize they can be self-sustaining.

Let us understand what self-sustaining means: to be self-sustaining in truth means we are sustained by our true self. What is our

true self? Our true self is our connection to God which alone sustains us, we need nothing else to sustain us. We have problems

when we compete with friends and associates. If they say something we think is not quite right, if we feel we deserve praise

which they do not give, if they blame us when we think they have no right to do so, all this causes trouble. We need to be

impervious to praise and impervious to blame.

We do not take sustenance from the world nor do we take sadness from the world, happiness and sadness are not what the world

has for us. We have decided to leave the way of the world and go a different way, a way which means that our sustenance comes

from God, not from the world. Those who look for sustenance from the world need manifest indications of success, they need

signs to persuade themselves they are happy, they need proof that what they are doing is correct if their faith is weak, if their

belief is weak, they need proof that the world supports them. Looking for this proof, looking to the world for sustenance and

indications of worthiness means we need the qualities of the world. What are the qualities of the world? They start with a deep

sense of differences, the root of the problems as we look for success in the world.

If we look for success in the world, if we see differences, we create our own image of the way things ought to be; as soon as we

take that and our own image seriously, we are in a forbidden realm. Now we have jealousy and resentment. If things are not the

way we think they ought to be, we resent the people who are not the way we want them to be, we become jealous of their success

which should be ours. Now we have engaged the things of the world, the things which make competition what it is, we add

winning and losing to the equation of brotherhood and friendship where they do not belong. We have to bring a different

understanding to brotherhood, keep score in an entirely different way. We are not in the business of competition, we are in the

business of surrender, the opposite of competition. Competition means we win by overcoming someone else, surrender means we

win by overcoming ourself, the self disappears and God wins.

We need to understand this game of surrender, this act which must become the act of our lives. We are all actors and actresses,

each of us has an act, and we do have to be careful about the one we choose. We are idol worshipers until we come to that point

which is reality. We should be careful about what we worship, choose idols which come as close to reality as possible, and ask

God to remove everything separating us from reality until we do, in fact, worship reality. Even though we might be aware of the

separation between what we worship and reality, we have to pray for the separation to disappear.

We have been given examples of the truth, reality and the right way to live; we should model ourself on that reality. We have the

example of the prophets, the example of enlightened teachers, of all the friends of God. We know what they went through, the

suffering they endured on behalf of others. The profit motive must disappear in our interaction with each other, we do not acquire

profit from each other. If God permits it we acquire God from each other, God is our profit, God is beyond profit, a treasure


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which cannot be described. This is available if we leave the world to its own rules and establish new rules for ourself. With Gods

help we will be allowed this, in our struggle with ourself we will begin to understand the new way, the path of surrender which is

the only way to approach Him, the only way to cleanse ourself, be worthy of approaching Him.

This path begins very simply, it starts in our home, it starts in our relationship with our husband or wife, it expands to the

relationship with our children, then to the relationship with our companions in fellowship. That relationship of love, of kindness,

that happiness in others, striving for the sake of others, doing things for others, this is the path we have chosen, the path our great

teachers chose. Think about their profit motive, think how they kept score, what they intended and wanted.

They never took anything for themselves, their intention was always to give, to elevate others. We should help others, be the best

parents to our children, help ourself and everyone we know, all our friends and companions. We have to be the best friend we can

be, the best example of sharing, of giving. We do not rush to talk about ourself, we are happy to listen to someone else, we learn

to have sympathy. We cannot help someone else unless we become who they are, we have to be there, share everything with

them and let them in, then we can react on their behalf.

A sage dealt with a certain situation in an interesting way. It seems a mother came to him asking for help with her childshewanted him to stop eating sugar. The wise man told the woman in question to come back in two or three weeks. When the woman

returned with her child, he told the child to stop eating sugar. The mother asked, Why did you make us wait until you said that?

The answer was, First, I had to stop eating sugar, I had to understand what the child would experience and know how it felt.

We need to understand what other people are experiencing, walk in their shoes, take ours off. We cannot be so attached to our

own shoes we have no time to step into someone elses.

If we believe everything needs to proceed as we think it should, we have taken a step which is impermissible, we are creating the

world as we think it should be, and we do not have that right. We have the right to help, the right to assist, the right to use good

qualities, we have the right to disappear, but we do not have the right to judge or insist. This path is difficult because it runs

against the self-preservation everyone assures us is a driving force. What good does it do to preserve the body if we lose the soul?This is not new, we have heard this before, but now we need to understand the truth of it.

These old maxims embody the reality of our lives; we need to cling to the reality of our lives, tune into things which keep us

right, make us clear, united with others. We should share ourself freely and easily, not only our goods but ourself as well. We

have to make ourself available to all those who want something from us, and we should not see it as a burden, we should see it as

an opportunity to do His will. Our purpose is to help, the hand which helps is the path we have been taught. It must be the path

we choose.

Choosing this path means we have to understand its rules, its requirements, we have to understand the inner cleansing process of

the path. Every motive except for His qualities must disappear. Any other motive means we need to keep washing ourself again

and again, like Lady Macbeth who tried to remove the stain of her inhumanity by washing her hands obsessively. We need toremove the stain of the world, a stain which has a vile smell.

We do have to be careful on this path because there are people who cannot be helped, people we should not try to help. We must

not impose ourself, imposing ourself on those who are obsessed with their own needs, their own way, will cause problems. If we

throw a knife at stone it bounces off, there is no receptivity. We should keep to people who are receptive, who want to be

receptive. Those who do not understand can be taught if they choose, although those who do not understand but do not want to


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learn present a different situation. We have to distinguish among them without being nave. We need to be brave, we need to be

warriors, we need to be clear and act with wisdom.

Wisdom differentiates what we can and cannot do, what is available and what is not. Wisdom opens the path showing us how to

extend ourself, how to fulfill our responsibility to God. We still have this body, we still have old age, all the problems that come

with being human, and we must be merciful, have the mercy which understands the limits of our own abilities while still doing all

we can. We cannot accept the competitive path the world offers, we cannot have resentment, jealousy and anger, we cannot

because that would be surrendering to the world.

Everybody serves someone. People who think they are in a competition have actually surrendered to darkness and evil. All the

options have been laid out for people who have thought it through, they know where they are going; but so many have not

thought it through, perhaps because they are frightened when they look at themselves too closely. We have to pass through this

frightening stage when we see ourself and feel ashamed of what we have done, what we have experienced, ashamed of what we

did and who we are. Yet we must also remember that God re-creates us with every breath, that the universe is not only created by

God, it is also sustained by Him, sustained with every breath.

Opportunities come with every breath, opportunities continue as long as we breathe, each breath is a new opportunity to walk the

path in the right way. We should feel it, know this as reality, pray for that understanding as we pray. If we do our prayers with

this intention, each moment of intention takes us away from the self and closer to Him. God help us understand this path, this

way, help us grow and be satisfied. May He grant our sustenance so that His love will fill us without needing anything from the

world, may we not look for satisfaction from the world. We take our satisfaction from Him, we are sustained by Him alone.


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The Limits of Intellect

This culture encourages strong intellectsit offers respect to powerful intellects by conferring degrees or titles, by calling them

experts. If we discourse at length about certain themes, use historical references, build logical arguments, we are considered to be

people of substantial intellect. This is the way i t appears outwardly, but we need to understand what things are like inwardly.

Since the goal is to understand our relationship to God we need to ask ourselves, what is the importance of a strong intellect for

someone who does not have one, what is its importance for someone who has?

When the intellect pushes and pulls us through certain situations, certain difficulties, we can become arrogant, the arrogance of

ability, the arrogance of knowledge, the arrogance which says I can do this. Only if we lose this arrogance can we begin to

understand that someone else is the doer. If we see that we are not doing the pulling and pushing, that the truth, if we are in touch

with it, did not come from the study of history or logic, it did not come from the books we have read, it came because something

let us bypass that arrogance of the intellect, bypass that part of ourself which insists on being the doer.

An insistence on our own capacity creates veils for us, it subverts the belief that all responsibility for action belongs to God,

creating a sense that I am the actor, I am the one doing things. To break with that way of seeing things, to break from the


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addiction of I can, I do, this is a lifetime of work, especially for those who have had success, much more difficult for them than

for those who have not been successful. Worldly success strengthens arrogance, it creates thicker veils which stop us from seeing

the reality of God, it makes us see ourself as the doers, the movers and shakers.

This is one reason why God said it is very difficult for a rich man to reach heaven, why Jesus said it is easier for a camel to go

through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven. Wealth creates the impression for people that they can

accomplish things, they can do things. On a worldly level money means they point their finger and things happen, or at least they

appear to happen. For the person pointing it creates the illusion of power, he believes he is doing the moving, the pushing and

pulling.

A strong intellect can be a blessing because it gives us the ability to do certain things in the world, but we have to consider how

we use that ability, consider the consequences for our state of being. That blessing can be a curse if this tool given to us by God

creates a separation between ourself and our Lord, then it is no longer a tool, it is a veil. We should understand how this can

happen, how our own ability can overwhelm us.

In moments when we are without the ability to do things, we draw on something we did not know we had, at such momentsmiracles occur, moments of reality occur, we are more capable of existing here and now. Suppose we have to provide a solution

for a specific situation; if we are educated, studious, we go to our reserves of intellectual capacity, our computer banks, and pull

out the appropriate response for that situation. We have used our mind to solve a problem, we have gone into the storage banks of

what we know to deal with a difficulty, but when we deal with new situations which have no storage banks to refer to, we have to

be in the moment, there is no past to turn to, we have no previous reference.

At that point of no reference, where there is no past to pull something from, we can pull from the source. This source can only be

accessed from the place where we are, in that moment. The intellect does not live in the moment, it is an accumulation of things

we have gathered, like a storehouse of food, a storehouse of gold. When we travel away from our storehouse we are in a different

situation, we cannot use these things, we cannot use them because they are not available. When we are in a totally new situation

we cannot use anything we have relied on because none of that is with us. It is not here because we are in a situation which is

entirely new, something we have never experienced before, we have not made provision for, we have not made the necessary

changes to deal with what lies before us.

This brings us to living in the moment. Curiously, here we might find a reason why travel is important. At home we have local

arrangements, we have provided ourself with storehouses in different areas which are never too far away. As we travel we keep

finding ourself in unfamiliar situations. If we are close to home we are not lost, but if we are far away we might be lost. When we

are lost we behave differently, aspects of our character are revealed. We can see ourself, see what we are like without the help of

the world we are accustomed to, an entirely different situation.

When we are lost we call for help on something else, we have new experiences if we are no longer surrounded by the comfort of

the familiar. To take ourself from the comfort of the familiar, of being in control, we need to be in situations beyond our

controlnot that we are in control in the familiar, but we believe strongly that we are. As long as we think we are in control we

will never realize we are not. The fainthearted of this world will never know how lost they are because they stay close to home,

close to what they know, they stay with what they think is safe.

We cannot stay forever with the things we consider safe, we have to travel to the edge of our understanding, to the edge of our

existence, of our knowledge, to the edge of our intellect. We have to go to the edge, the precipice, we have to look at the

precipice and jump. In that jump, that leap, we find out who we really are. If we do not do it we do not find out, we do not find


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out because we do not allow ourself to find out. By defining our life and living within that unqualified definition we cannot find

the truth. Every definition we accept is a veil separating us from reality, everything we define in this world, everything we give

definition to is a veil separating us from reality. We define things and build our world with these definitions. Universities define

things, professors define things, legal systems define things, everyone defines things.

There are things which have no definition, things which cannot be defined. Do we have the courage to step into the undefinable, a

place where we deal with things we do not understand and do not know? Can we face situations without knowing what will

happen, are we willing to step into places we have never been before, enter a world where we have never been before? The usual

reaction is to back out, go back to what we know. But it is only by shedding the familiar that we can go to other places, yet we

not only fear leaving what we know, we also seem to be addicted to all that, addicted to the definitions we have made of our

world.

Just as any addict must go through withdrawal, we must also go through a period of withdrawal, pulling away from what we are

used to. It may be painful or difficult, when we are in an unfamiliar place it can be uncomfortable, however we have to learn to

be comfortable with the unknown, on a new step or a new stage. Enlightened teachers lead us through new and uncomfortable

situations, changing our way to approach things, introducing subtle layers of change. Our reaction to change is often no, why

should I change, I like things the way they are now, I do not want to change. These are common responses, usual attitudes. If my

mattress is comfortable why do I need a new one? Why should I sleep on the floor when a mattress is available, why should I

sleep on a rock if there is a mattress? Why should I put myself in new situations so different from the patterns or routines I have

established for myself?

The intellect deals with patterns, the stronger the intellect the sooner it sees the pattern and adjusts to it. Intellect does not like

things without a pattern, it likes to say, a, b, c, d, it likes predictability. We need to walk into an unfamiliar place where there is

no predictability, where we have no habits and cannot see, where we do not know how to function. Until we develop the courage

to go there we have placed limits on how far we will take this path, until we are willing to take uncomfortable risks we have

limited how far we will take the journey to reality.

There is a decision to make, an analysis of the self is required: what comfort level do we need, what comfort level are we willing

to let go? What level of discomfort are we willing to endure to move forward on the path? Which is more important, our level of

comfort or moving towards understanding? These are basic decisions, basic questions we have to put to ourself.

Once we start asking such questions we notice that the things the world considers uncomfortable, the things the world tries to

push away are the very places where individual progress on the path can take place, a reason why some say that God gives those

He loves difficulties. He is pulling us away from the known, pulling us into the unknown where we can rely only on Him. Only

when we rely on Him alone can we be in touch with Him; as long as we rely on anything else we cannot, as long as we have an

easy answer, an easy solution, one that we can pick from our intellect, that is as far as we will go.

When we do not have an easy answer, when there is no solution we are thrust into reliance on Him. Then we beg Him for help,

we have lost the ability to help ourself, to find help in the known and familiar. In this place the veils are lifted, in this place we

are changed, changed because we have no choice. When we think about it, about being pushed into a situation where our options

are so limited we have to beg, we do not think this is what we want, but such moments exalt us. If we can live through such

moments they change who we are, they make us new beings. These moments alter our essential Bible, how we see things, how

we look at things, they can alter our world for the rest of our life. These moments can take us from the mundane to the holy.

During these moments of not knowing we come in contact with the holy, we touch it because we have nothing else to touch.

We should think about this because it has a lot to do with the way we live our day to day life, going from one safe place to the

next. Now long ago we had both agrarian and nomadic societies. Think about the difference between nomadic life and agrarian


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life. A nomad might not know where his next meal is coming from, he has to keep moving, driven by the need for food. He is

driven in his search, there is no sitting still, a hard life. In an agrarian life we learn to depend on the sun, the rain and the

temperature to make the crops grow, things we know are not in our hands.

We need to know what is not in our hands, respecting the One in whose hands things are. There is a difference, a reason why we

need to pray and be obedient to our Lord. We need to know what He wants us to do and then do it, we need to stop thinking about

ourself as we used to. We are all lost and the only one who can find us is our Lord.

Our Lord is looking for us. As long as we say here I am, here I am Lord, at your service, He will find us. We need to understand

the state we are in to change ourself. May we be granted this understanding. May the veils be lifted so that we can know our Lord

and know reality.


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The Arrogance of Gossip

May the peace and blessings of God be with you, now and always. Satan was an angel who thought he knew better than God.

When God indicated He was going to create man as His ultimate creation, Satan disagreed, then when God said all the angels

should bow before man, Satan disagreed again. This was the root of arrogance, where arrogance began, it began when Satan

assumed he knew better than God.

Arrogance moved into our humanity where it sits as a separation between God and ourself. Arrogance, the first quality of

separation, initiates a chain of reactions, acquiring other qualities to enforce itself. Arrogance insists on having its own way,

believing in its own correctness and its right to control. When arrogance cannot control by merely issuing a command it becomes

anger, then anger engages energy which can be applied in many different ways, on the individual level, on the national level, on

the international level. What happens when arrogance and the army of its comrades rise up in people, what is the danger in this?

Arrogance begins with a need to establish a certain position, the refusal to step away from that position, to surrender it to

someone else or to some other prevailing situation, the insistence on a specific situation. Arrogance in an individual is based on a

self-righteous understanding that he or she is completely correct, and everyone else is wrong. People might even think, in their


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arrogance, that they are protecting the word of God, that they are the treasurer of truth, that their assumptions protect the truth.

While the arrogance of this kind of thinking is evident to some, it is not apparent to those who believe their arrogance protects the

truth.

In a small community when people have diverging views of the truth, when they have a need to force their view of the truth on

the others, certain things happen. First there is gossip, and what is this kind of gossip? It is finding fault with those who do not

agree with us, finding fault for some reason, judging and condemning a certain persons actions, reporting on those actions in a

judgmental frame of reference. Yet judgment belongs to God, and so when we step into the arena of this type of judgment, we are

denying Gods role.

Gossip has arrogance at its root, gossip suggests that we know better, and not only do we know better, but we can also judge

other peoples lives, we can instruct them by talking about them. There is not even a face-to-face confrontation, and this implies a

certain cowardice, an inability to talk directly to the individual we are discussing. But we have been told if we have a problem

with someone, we need to resolve it. Gossip is the refusal to resolve a problem, it makes the problem fester, like picking a sore.

When we gossip it means no one wants the problem solved, we want the problem to continue because then we can rank each

other, we can differentiate higher and lower. The people we gossip about are lower, we are higher, gratification for the arrogance

which requires this.

Two people are involved in the gossiping process, the one who talks and the one who listens. Both are wrong, both are involved

in a process which veils us from God. When we engage qualities which do not belong to God we separate ourself from Him. We

have two obligations in this, first, not to talk about others, and second, not to listen to talk about others. We have to change the

conversation or walk away.

Understanding what is forbidden, what is permitted, and binding ourself to the permitted, keeping away from what is not

permitted, both are essential on this path. We cannot swim in filth without smelling like it. If we have that stench there is a good

chance we are swimming in it, we need to extricate ourself, we need to wash. This means we need to examine our own state

severely, we need to purify ourself. Ablution is something we are supposed to do before prayer, a ritual cleansing, yet we also

need to cleanse ourself in ways we have not even thought about. We have to cleanse our words, cleanse our thinking, our actions,

we have to make our actions pure, make them actions which are without malice, without improper motive. Unless we can bring

ourself to that place which has no improper motive we are not clean.

We need to examine our motive in every situation, examine our cleanliness in every situation. Just as we look at our fingernails to

see if they are clean, we have to examine our motives. If they are self-serving in any way we have to make a change, and we need

to know how to do that. We have to examine ourself this way on a regular basis, especially when we consider the fascinations,

the illusions and hypnotism of our society, all the lies society perpetuates by proclaiming what is good for us, what is bad for us.

Look at the standards of right and wrong in the popular press: being famous is positive, being promiscuous is positive, exposing

yourself is positive, total abandon is praised, flouting morality is praised, a contemptuous attitude for society is praiseworthy.

These are the things popular culture recognizes and admires.

If we do not examine ourself with guidelines of a more enduring nature we are susceptible to everything around us. We have to

learn how to avoid this susceptibility, learn how to walk away from it, and the only thing which will make us walk away is the

understanding that there is something greater than the world, there is a reward, a treasure greater than anything the world has to

offer, something of immense worth, well beyond what the world has to offer. We find this treasure by being immersed in Gods

qualities instead of the worlds.


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We need to search for examples of these qualities, we need to remember examples of these qualities and keep them at the front of

our consciousness. They have to become our touchstones, our constant reminders of what is true and what is a lie. We need to see

through things to their reality. As long as we listen to the world, let ourself be pushed by the world, let ourself react to it, there is

little hope for our purity because we are too busy wrestling with the world, reaching for the world and swallowing it.

There is a story about two bullfrogs who were fighting. One of them was trying to swallow the other, it kept opening its mouth

wider and wider while the other, to stop this, kept puffing itself up, expanding itself, becoming larger and larger. They kept doing

this until they were stuck together in a way which meant death for them both. We are trying to swallow the world, but in the end

we are going to die. Is our focus on the mortal or the immortal, is our focus on what is sustained forever or what is temporary?

Why do we believe in the temporary, what is it that believes the temporary? It is the gratification arising from the small pleasures

of worldly status, worldly understanding.

There are two kinds of pleasure, one entails desire and the other entails grace, two kinds of pleasure, the small and the large, the

small defined as desire, the large as grace. We have a certain desire, a lust for the world, a sexual energy which can be focused on

many different things. We lust for power, we lust for control, there are things we lust after. Have you ever seen an elephant in

that critical sexual frenzy, have you ever seen a huge animal in heat? Nothing stops them, their arrogance and their will to satisfy

that lust are so overpowering they trample everything in their way. Human beings can also be like that, and for what, for

temporary satisfaction.

Most people who chase some worldly thing realize once they have it, they are still dissatisfied. This is something like a dog

chasing a car, what is a dog going to do with the car when he catches it? We chase because this is what we do. We need to

become something else, we have to stop chasing and find the stillness of existence, integrate ourself in the stillness of existence.

We have to know that the value, the true worth of our lives is not found in what we see with our physical eyes, this worth is not

found in what we touch with our hands, not in what we wear on our backs, not in what we display to the world, not in the titles

after our names, not in the people we control or the things that move when we point to them. Real worth lies somewhere else,

somewhere else which must become the focus of our intention, our will and our lives.


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Hypocrisy

May the peace of God be with you, now and always. Sometimes as we develop from childhood to maturity we discover that

certain actions will or will not get us what we want, and we learn how to adapt ourself to situations so that we do get what we

want. We learn to say what needs to be said to achieve our goals, we learn to manipulate, to lie, to be two-faced, we learn to say

something other than what we actually think. Schizophrenics often have difficulty separating what they do from what the voices

in their heads tell them to do, they do what the voices say, causing terrible problems.

Some who are sane, some apparently normal people have learned that certain thoughts and feelings have to be suppressed, they

present what is socially or politically correct even if they disagree, then when they are alone or with a group of likeminded

people, they say what they really think. This is hypocrisy which has been described as Satans sin, a great sin. Hypocrisy means

thinking one thing and saying something else, making others think we believe something we do not in order to achieve our ends.

Those who think this kind of hypocrisy is legitimate, because it is useful for their own purposes, believe this is a way to acquire

what they want, things of value. In fact, it is not true, hypocrisy prevents something, it stops the growth of the individual. Even

when it is defined by a specific conflict, this hypocrisy supports duality, partnering the overriding sense of duality itself which

needs to be eliminated. Most people fail to realize what hypocrisy does on this path of self-discovery, this path requiring a deep

understanding of what goes on inside us. When we do what is right for appearances sake, without any attachment to what is

right, we have no love for it, we love only our desires.


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The first thing we have to recognize is the truth of right and wrong; if we do not love what is right we have to learn what it is and

learn to love it. In other words, we have to change who we are, a problem; changing who we are is not easy, becoming something

other than we are is not easy. To go on this path, to have what God has intended for us, to reach up to the truth, we have to

overcome this hurdleas long as there is no unity, no oneness within ourself, there cannot be unity among ourselves, among our

fellow human beings and with God.

If we conceal aspects of ourself from everyone else, sometimes we might be concealing these things from ourself too. Why

would we hide something from others that we expose to ourself, that we keep hidden to relish at certain times in dark, hidden

places? What is it that lets this happen, what is actually going on inside us to create dark corners, to be different privately from

the way we are openly, how do we change that? We have to recognize that we do this before we can correct it. Only when we are

so open that we look each other in the eye with nothing to hide, only then can we truly see ourself.

As long as we have things to hide from other people they cannot see into us, and the same things which keep others from seeing

into us blocks our ability to see, to see accurately. What we think we are hiding from others is what we are hiding from ourself;

what we hide from ourself, what we keep from ourself is the ability to see reality. The duality of hypocrisy contributes to this

inability. When we know we do not feel what we are supposed to feel, we know we must change.

This is the work of the path, getting rid of that part of us which is not the truth, getting rid of that part of us which is not right. We

need to straighten up, walk the right path and walk it easily, honestly, with good will, with positive intentions. This little bit of

work, this little bit of understanding can take us a long way. Understand we have to be at peace within ourself, and recognize that

this peace allows us to expose who we really are to others, without fear, without shame, without agenda, then we turn to God

without hyprocisy.

God is known in the Hebrew scriptures as I am that I am. He is only One. To know this One we must be merged in One. Our

hypocrisy must be eliminated, we cannot scheme or manipulate, we have to let go of thinking that way. There is a difference

between being pure and being nave; we have to understand the treachery of the world, see it and acknowledge it when we see it,

but we cannot let it be part of us, we do not have to believe that for success in this world we must use such techniques. We need a

group or community where people are not afraid, where they can be honest with each other, where they can let down their

defenses and be open, show their true selves. Only when the true self is displayed can we begin to know it. As we begin to know

the true self we begin to know the truth.

We have to be smaller individually, smaller as a community, so small we fit easily into each other. There is room for this if

everything we have hidden inside filling our cup, leaving no room for anyone else, making us too big, if all that is emptied. When

we are without motive, when we do not scheme we become small, we are empty, there is room for Him. This is a key unlocking

the doors of reality, one of the keys making Him available. When He is available we will be entirely empty, allowing Him to fill

that space, but if we hold onto hypocrisy we are holding the devils tail. As long as we hold onto evil, how can we possibly hold

onto God? We have to make the choice, the choice is clear.

The great teachers and sages often talk about this. They tell us not to untie every little knot, but to pull the whole thing out by the

roots and forget about it, pull each thing out by the roots. If our thought patterns are too complicated, give them up. We are not

complicated beings, not meant to be complicated

The Witness Within Insights on Sufism ( Essays) by E. L. Levi (Musa Muhaiyaddeen)

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