THE TANTALIZING TASTE of THE OCEANS OF LOVE A saying of the Prophet Muhammad, upon whom be peace, in which he prayed to God: “Oh Allah, I ask You to grant me the love of You and the love of those whom You love, and grant me, Oh my Lord,the love of those actions which lead me to the love of You”. Sheikh Nazim The Three Levels Of Love To ask our Lord to open up our hearts to His Divine Love is the most important request we can make of Him in our prayers, as nothing can take the place of love. The Holy Prophet, who is called the Beloved of Allah, whom Allah created with the yeast of love, and whom Allah loved so much that He dedicated the creation to him, even this beloved Prophet asked Allah for Divine Love – why? Because who tastes of that love ask for more. Whose heart is like a rock will not ask Allah for this love, but those who have had the slightest taste of that love know that it is the key to all spiritual progress, to mercy, beauty, wisdom, to all favours that Allah may bestow upon His servants. Therefore, the Holy Prophet taught all mankind what is precious in this life. And then his prayer continued: “And grant me the love of those who love you”. The first level, “Love of God”, is the Station of the Prophets, and you can’t step from the bottom of the stairway to the top in on step. Allah Almighty is the Transcendent Being – you can’t even begin to fathom anything about Him Almighty – but it is easy to love those who represent His Love among mankind, for it is much easier for us to begin to understand and love human beings like ourselves. You will find nothing in their hearts but the Love of Allah; therefore, loving them is a means to approach the Divine Love. Lastly, the Holy Prophet asks for the love of those actions which lead to the love of Allah, actions which carry blessings with them, which soften our hearts and weaken our greed and selfishness. These are the actions encouraged by our Lord through the example of His Prophets, actions ordered and recommended in His Holy Books. And, although in the beginning our inner state may not correspond to these saintly actions, by engaging our limbs in what pleases our Lord, He will strengthen our hearts thereby. These are the three levels of love for which the Holy Prophet prayed, and the wisdom reflected in this prayer is proof enough of the veracity of Muhammad, peace be upon him. While Believers must always ask for that love, Satan is ever at war with such a notion, for he knows that once love has entered the heart of one of his slaves, that slave is lost to him, for he will not be able to snare him anymore with this world’s pleasures. He who has tasted that love may not even notice those pleasures, or may regard them as only a drop in an ocean. Once, as Moses, upon whom be peace, was headed toward Mount Sinai, he passed the cave of a hermit. The hermit emerged and called after Moses; “Oh Moses, please ask our Lord to bestow upon me just an atom’s weight of His Divine Love”. Moses agreed to do this, and then continued on his way. Later, when Moses was addressing his Lord, he petitioned on behalf of that hermit. The Lord replied, “I will grant that servant of My Divine Love, but not in the amount he requested. I will only grant him the tiniest fraction of an atom’s weight of that love”. When Moses returned from the mountain, he quickly went to see what was happening to the hermit, to see what effect such a tiny dose of Divine Love might have had on him. When he arrived he was startled to see that where the cave had been a part of the mountain was blown away, and in place of that cave there was a deep chasm in the Earth. “Oh servant of my Lord”, he cried out, “what has happened, where are you?” Then Moses looked down the chasm and saw the hermit sitting down there as if in another world, completely overwhelmed by that love. Why did that hermit ask for a portion of Divine Love? Because he was worshipping but feeling nothing; he felt emptiness in his heart that could only be filled by that love. Without love, worship is tasteless and useless; therefore, we must be sure to build our worship upon a strong foundation of love and to bake love into the bricks of the building of our devotional practice. This is more than an analogy, for even physical buildings are either alive with the love of their builders, or dead from their hard – heartedness. Therefore, old buildings often emanate a good feeling because of the love and goodness of those who built them. This is especially true of old mosques and churches, for their original congregations built them for the sake of their Lord’s love and in an attitude of sincere piety. There is often a very strong feeling of the Divine Presence in old mosques, but have you ever felt such an atmosphere in the new showpiece of sterile architecture mosques? No, it is impossible; you may feel only an inner contraction inside of such concrete hills. They have left the love out of the mortar; the most important ingredient is missing. There is nothing in all creation that the Creator, Allah Almighty, hates. Indeed it is impossible to be hated by Allah and to be in existence: one absolutely precludes the other. All creation appeared through His Divine Love. He loved them and they appeared; therefore, everything in existence carries its share of Divine Love in it. When I say “everything”, I mean everything, from atoms and their parts – the very building blocks of the Universe – up to mankind. Yes, everything, even the smallest particles of matter, carries that Divine Gift. As you know, the electrons of atoms revolve around the nuclei, and at enormous velocity. Someone told me that the famous scientist Albert Einstein once declared: “I have come to understand so much, but what I have never been able to fathom is what power gives electrons the energy to orbit nucleii at such a speed. From where does such power come to them?” We believe, and furthermore, have been granted certainty in our belief, that everything in existence has life, is living. For the sake of everyday reckoning we classify certain things, such as rocks, as inanimate objects, and recognize life only in plants, animals and human beings. But we believe that beyond these outward distinctions everything has life. Therefore, atoms, and their electrons that turn around the nuclei with such speed as to baffle even the renowned Mr. Einstein, are, in reality, alive. They are alive with the Divine Love Power that their Lord has granted them. That’s what makes them spin at the speed of light. Science may make penetrating and wonderful discoveries. Scientists’ knowledge may advance and climb to unimagined heights in the realm of the observable and what may be proven through experiments. But even such a great realm, the realm of observation and experimentation, is finite, has its limits, and only within these limits can it draw authoritative conclusions. Therefore, scientists who recognize their limitations and are not blinded by pride may admit, that some occurrences are not explicable by science. The Divine Name Al Wadud It is for those who have access to a realm of knowledge beyond science to say with certainty, that it is Allah Almighty, the Lord of the Universe, who through His Holy Name “Al-Wadud” (The All-Loving) gives His Divine Love to everything in the Universe. Those electrons, drunken with Divine Love, spin at such velocity around the nuclei. That is how the influence of Divine Love is manifested by them. Science can neither proves nor denies this explanation, as this phenomenon is beyond their realm, and they cannot as much as offer a theory. But our hearts may be content with this explanation, as each and every one of us may try it himself within himself; for we all have the Power of that Divine Love in our hearts ready to be contacted. There is no one word in Western languages that gives the full meaning of “Al-wadud”, and even explanations don’t do it justice, even though the West claims its knowledge to be superior and looks down disdainfully on every religious experience. And this Holy Name, the meaning of which cannot even adequately be expressed in advanced western languages, is the most suitable “Dhikr,” the most suitable of all the Divine Names to repeat and meditate upon for people who see themselves as superior beings and as being above normal standards. “Love”, it is certainly not a concept that western culture is unfamiliar with, and undoubtedly most people lay claim to loving and being loved to knowing the meaning of love, and to it being an important aspect of their lives, indeed the most important. But the love we refer to in connection with the Divine Name “Al-Wadud” is not the physical transitory love that is rapidly becoming the only meaning of love applicable to modern man: the love that one may find in the zoo. If you can’t imagine a love other than what is on the level of animals, then you belong in the zoo. There is a real love, never changing, never dying love, and then there is temporary animal love. Both are in man through the wisdom of the Creator, but the permanent love is the love given to man through the Divine Name “Al-Wadud”. To realize that love is the challenge and fulfillment of human existence – to come in contact with those Love Oceans, for He has given His Divine Love most abundantly to His most honoured representatives in creation, mankind. You may love a young lady for her youth, and when that youth departs you love her no more. That is false love. Sometimes we may have both kinds of love simultaneously, but usually the physical overpowers the spiritual, so that it is never allowed to appear. But to reach the ultimate goal of human life we are in need of permanent love, and it is only the Lord of the Universe who can grant it. Therefore, when we say “Ya-Wadud” we are opening ourselves up to that Divine Love, asking our Lord to awaken that love that knows no limitation that is eternal and extends to all creation. I have been ordered to teach and advise people to call on our Lord, saying” “Ya-Wadud”, as this will enable the sincere to attain real love of their Lord Almighty and to love everything around themselves. We must learn to love everything for the sake of the love the Creator has for all His creation. And we are in utmost need to pray for such love, as although it is the essence of all success in the way of spiritual purification, it has become almost extinct in our times. Therefore, suffering, disturbances, struggle, crisis and chaos are continually on the rise. What passes for human love nowadays is in deed a very far cry from real human love. Mostly, people cling to it for two or three months then throw it away. You are saying: “Oh my goddess” and she is saying, “Oh my god,” but look in again on them two or three months later and see what is left of that “true devotion” and “deep emotion”. That is the greatest cause of wretchedness in our times. For this reason I don’t refer to this century as a civilized one. Rather, the twentieth century is witnessing the destruction of civilization, and every minute violence and misery are increasing. The Oceans Of Divine Love. The Lord – our Lord, your Lord, and their Lord – is One. He created us and planted His Divine Love in the very yeast of our being. You must know that, although that love may be temporarily covered, it is running through our hearts as a river runs to an ocean. Along the course of that river love may manifest only as temporary human love, and that love current may even seem to disappear completely, like a river that flows under a mountain, only to re-emerge on the other side. But there can be no doubt that our Lord has placed in every heart a current that flows irresistible to His Love Oceans in the Divine Presence. Therefore, don’t imagine them to be cut off from Divine Love – it must be with them, whether that is now apparent to you and to themselves, or not. As our heart-current flows toward that ocean, the main difference we notice is that our love is not tied to physical beauty. Everyone loves nature, greenery, rushing waters, youthful forms, beautiful people – but what about the others? The Lord gave of His Love to people in general, not only to the young and beautiful. And the One who implanted His Love in our hearts says: “Oh My servant, as I have given you from My Divine Love, so have I give it to all creation, so spread your love to everyone that you may be in harmony with My Will.” In reality, everything that contains His Love is green and beautiful, but to perceive the beauty in all creation you must transcend outward forms and penetrate to the realm of Spiritual Reality Oceans. First of all, it is important to pass from forms to meanings, from fleeting shapes to eternal spiritual realities, as forms are limited and limiting, whereas spiritual realities are Oceans, Endless Oceans of Contentment. To arrive at those Oceans will bring you inner peace. Therefore, I am trying to love everyone. It is easy to say to a person, “I love you” as long as that person has never harmed you, but according to our Grandsheikh such is not the measure of real love. He used to quote a famous Daghistani Sufi poet who said: “I don’t accept the love that you claim to hold for me to be real until I have tested you. What is my test? If I put you through a meat grinder and you came out the other end as minced meat - but were still alive - and if then I returned you to your original form, would you still love me?” What this poet meant was “If I cause you so much suffering, and harm you as no one has ever harmed you before, will you still love me despite all that I have done? That is true love. But if I am with you for forty years, and because of one hurtful word I may utter towards you in a moment of stress, you leave me and declare me to be your enemy, denying the love of forty years and saying, “ I don’t love you anymore”, that is not the love we are referring to. Therefore, as I have said, there are levels of love along the way, differing in quality according to their nearness to the goal, the Absolute Love Oceans of our Lord. When one has reached that goal he may take any amount of harm from others and still love. He may say: “I love you for the sake of my Lord, not for any other reason. That love will never change or diminish, as no matter what you do your Lord’s love is with you. You may behave like a wild animal, you may wound me, but yet, for you to even exist, my Lord’s love must be with you, and therefore I am loving you, too.” Only the highest and most select of mankind are ever on such a level, and we are trying to reach that point – but it is so difficult. You must know that this is a test for you and an opportunity to gain spiritual ranks. Now you are in a situation where you must be patient with people who may not be upholding the same level of decorum that you are accustomed to. Here is an opportunity for you to advance, as Holy people have advised us: rather than avoiding all ill-mannered and badly educated people, we should mingle with them and establish contact with them, that they may benefit and that you may test yourself and gain thereby. They are servants of the Almighty’s Will, and we are His servants too. Our Lord is their Lord and their Lord is our Lord. We must be patient and we will gain, little by little. Cherry trees first yield bitter fruit, but you must wait – little by little, little by little, the tree starts to yield sweet and tasteful cherries. The Promise of The Holy Masters The Holy Masters have promised me that whoever sits with us and listens with his heart full of love must come to the same level: their hearts must open to Divine Love. The Masters are not going to abandon us, and we are not going to turn from them, as our hearts have been bound with the strongest of bonds; the bond of Divine Love, that strongest of relationships of love that exists between the Creator and His creatures. That relationship is the ultimate goal of existence, and we pray that we may grow stronger always. Those with whom we sit and whose hearts are receptive to Divine Love will attain that love. This is a promise from the Masters, and therefore our meeting indicates that your time is approaching, the time when you will be able to break the bonds that make you slaves to your egos. Soon you will be free to approach your spiritual goals, and that is why everyone here feels himself affected and moved to tears. If the love that was with me were only transitory love you wouldn’t even bother sitting with me for a moment. But the love that is with me is real, permanent and Divine, and I have extended a ray of it to your hearts to awaken permanent love in you. My daughters and sons in attendance here today have never met me before, but our first meeting has been enough to establish real love from my heat to theirs. This is a love they will never forget, a love that is blossoming in their hearts. I ask my Lord for permission to spread His permanent love to the hearts of all people – and the time is approaching when we hope that permission will be granted. Love is eternal, and the transitory nature of all things pertaining to this world is a sign of truth, a sign that shows s by means of contrast. Real spiritual love: love of Allah and love of mankind for the sake of Allah is the only truth, the only thing in this world that is permanently and constantly sweet. Physical separation from someone you love, in accordance with the rule that pertains to the physical, may create a longing that will cause love to increase, may augment the bliss of reunion. But on the spiritual level that love is constant, is never interrupted by distance or by time. Your beloved may be on the moon and you may be in bliss at the thought of reunion, but if love is unrequited, that is not sweet separation but a bitter pill. The extinction of love is pitch darkness. You may regard the sunset as beautiful, but how would you feel if it were setting forever? Love is the water of life. Allah created Adam from clay and water. If it were not for water the clay would hold no shape. Divine Love is what binds our souls together. That is why people become so miserable when they feel unloved. It is a feeling that something essential is missing from one’s life, that life itself is incomplete, and in the face of this ache people set out in search of love with the desperation of a man dying of thirst. Love is an attribute of God Almighty which binds His servants to Him eternally. If Allah were to hate mankind it would be so easy for Him to bring about an abrupt and terrible end to our follies – but He loves us and therefore shows us so much tolerance. If you are a parent, consider your love for your children. If your son grew up to be a criminal, would you not love him still? Would you not maintain that despite his bad actions (which you would perhaps readily condemn) he was still basically at heart a good boy? Would you not find excuses for his bad behavior and have faith that he would turn away again from those bad actions? Ask For Divine Love Love is lovely to the Lord and to His servants. If you do anything with love it should be accepted by your Lord, and He should make it tasteful for you. If you love your work it will be easy for you to do, if not, it will only be a burden. The Lord says: “I am not in need of your worship; I am only seeking the love with which it is offered. “Oh servants of the Lord, Oh believers, you must not overlook this point. Don’t be like slaves rowing in the galley of a ship – if you pray, you must pray with love not by force, as if a slave driver were standing over you with a whip! Allah never appreciates such forced devotions. Now we are trying to perform all the practices but forgetting to ask for Divine Love, so we are becoming like mechanical robots, or like people performing gymnastics. Allah has asked us to engage our bodies in His worship and in service to His creation through charity and good deeds, but what must be the fruit of those actions? If the fruit is not love it is bitter fruit and is rejected. If our worship causes Love of Allah to grow in our hearts, then we must keep to that practice and continue on our way: and if we are keeping the company of a spiritual teacher, and find that through keeping his company love of Allah is awakening in our hearts, then we must follow him closely. The Love of Allah is not easy to attain, for we cannot imagine Him; therefore, He Almighty has made the Prophets apostles of His Love. Allah’s Beloved, the Seal of Prophets, Muhammad, upon whom be peace, was such a pure medium for the transmission of that love that the hearts of his companions were overwhelmed with his love, and were transported to the love of Allah. He was the representative of Allah, who is the Absolute Truth; therefore, the Prophet declared: “Who has seen me has seen the Absolute Truth”. When a delegation of non-Muslims came to visit Medina, they were amazed at the love and respect shown to the Prophet by his companions. When they returned home they said to their leaders: “We have met many emperors, kings and tribal chiefs, but never have we seen one whose subjects or courtiers treat him with such sincere love and devotion. How can this be?” They were not able to comprehend the secret of this love, as their egos caused them to deny Mohammed’s prophet hood. The love of the companions towards the Prophet was such that they used to say to him: “I am ready to sacrifice for you even my mother and father”, which, for the Arabs, is much stronger than saying: “I would sacrifice myself for you”. And in reality many of them underwent nearly unbearable hardships for the sake of their belief in the mission of the Holy Prophet: exile, disinheritance, boycott, torture and death. Who represented the Holy Prophet after his life on Earth? They are those who evoked such love. The Prophet himself described them: “Those who see them are reminded of Allah”. He who thirsts for Divine Love must seek out such people, but in our time they are mostly hidden, and Islam has come to mean for many people only a set of rules of conduct and forms of worship – an empty shell. Who can derive taste from such a thing? Shall mosques be only gymnasiums? And now the “gym teachers” are opposing Sufi Paths, which are the ways of the heart, ways that lead to the Love of God. Our Lord has given us an instrument that measures not your blood pressure but our “love pressure” and our goal is to make it high! Yes, seek to improve with every new day, for the Holy Prophet said: Whoever does not improve with each day is losing ground. “What does this mean? It doesn’t mean that if we pray forty rakats of prayer today, we should pray forty-one tomorrow and forty-two the next day. No, that is not required, what is intended is that you fill your worship with ever more love of your Lord, so that He will observe: “My servant has sent Me more love today than yesterday. “One of our Grandsheikhs summarized perfectly what I am trying to say: “An atom’s weight of love is worth more than seventy years’ worship without love”. Today we speak about love for Allah and His Prophet. Our Grandsheikh was telling this hadith, that one day the Prophet was giving a sermon when one Bedouin came to the door of the mosque and shouted: “Oh Prophet, when is the Last Day coming?” There was no answer, so he called out again and still again. The Prophet was waiting for Allah to provide him with an answer, as only He knows when the Last Day is. Then the Angel Jibril came to him saying: “Ask him what he did in preparation for the Last day”. The man replied: “Muhammed, I love you and I love your Lord, nothing else, only this”. Then Jibril told Muhammed: “Answer him that he will be with you and your Lord like two fingers together. Everyone who loves another must be with him on the Last day.” On hearing this, Abu Bakr asked: “Oh Prophet, is not action a necessary condition, is only love enough?” He answered: “No, Ya Aba Bakr, actions are not a condition, what is important is love. Everyone will be with his beloved friend.”

THE PRICE OF BEING WITH ALLAH

---

Allah, Allah, Allah, Allah, subhan Allah... Our Zikr reaches from here up to the Divine Throne even though we are so small. Beside the greatness of this universe you are less than an atom, but Allah Almighty has given you the understanding to be able to know Allah. You are so small, but when you say, "Allah, Allah..." the greatest name, it reaches the Throne.

What is the benefit of being in an association with a sheik? The heart of the sheik is with his grandsheik. The heart of the grandsheik is with the heart of the Prophet. And the heart of the Prophet must be with Allah. That is how you can reach Allah. Our meeting takes us to His Divine Presence and blessings come on you.

Shah ul Naqshband is giving us from his lights. He was the main pillar of the most distinguished Naqshbandi Order. If a tent doesn't have a pillar in the centre, it will fall down. In the same way the main pillar of the Tariqat holds it up. And that is Shah ul Naqshband. People like him, who were very great, were also very anxious to be simple, or even unknown. They did not want to be famous. They only wanted to be in the Divine Presence of the Lord.

Whoever wants to be with Allah must pay. The price you pay when you come to this Priory is your ego. Your ego fights you. You have to push it and pull it to bring it here. Your ego would never come by himself. Wherever you go, you have to pay. You will not find the same price everywhere. Some places are very cheap and some very expensive. Whoever wants to be with Allah must pay. He doesn't ask for money or gold or jewels. He wants a sacrifice. Make a sacrifice and come! What kind of sacrifice? A camel? Or a sheep or a cow? Or a goat or a cock? He doesn't need sacrifices like that. No! He wants your ego to be sacrificed.

When you have given your sacrifice, you may be with Allah. As long as you are with your ego, you cannot be with Allah. The Holy Quran gives everything, you can find everything in it, but we are speaking on our level, according to our understanding. The Holy Quran gives the Seal of Prophet something and it gives something else to another prophet. But other prophets cannot reach the oceans which the Seal of Prophet was granted with the Quran by Allah Almighty. A small vessel can pass through the Baltic, but it cannot move into the Atlantic. For that you need a transatlantic boat. In the same way, where the Seal of Prophets enter, the other prophets cannot enter. Where the prophets are entering, the companions cannot enter. Where they enter other holy people cannot. Scholars have another ocean of the Holy Quran which no others can swim in. We are the lowest level people for the understanding of the Quran.

That is why I am being asked to speak in a most simple way, so that people will understand easily. Sometimes people can come with another level and I can speak to them too, up to the level of Archangel Gabriel. Grandsheik can speak on all those levels, I am only translating his words to you. Even this what I am saying now is being given to me, I do not know in advance. They give me what you need.

Everything is in the Holy Quran. Allah has no partner. That means, there is no-one else in existence, except Him. He is the only Real-one existing. Our egos claim that they are also in existence. Allah doesn't accept to have a partner, so the ego has to go. Sacrifice your, and then go to Allah. That is a command from Allah Almighty.

It is wellknown that when the children of Israel were worshipping the golden calf, Allah Almighty was very angry with them. He ordered for them to be killed. They understood the meaning of it. But the way Holy-people understand this additionally, it is a command for all nations to sacrifice their ego to their Lord. But we are all full of ego. Everyone represents their ego instead of representing Allah Almighty.

Allah Almighty made the children of Adam his Calipha. That means you must represent the Lord of Heavens. You must be on behalf of the Lord of Heavens. You must be his representative. But no-one is representing Allah, everyone wants to represent his ego! Shah ul Naqshband is bombarding our ego! In a million you cannot find one person who is representing the Lord. They are the Holy-ones and Allah Almighty is with them. That is the whole story. The Naqshbandis are calling all people to represent Allah Almighty. It is so simple, but so difficult.

May Allah forgive us and bless us. In the Greatness of Allah how can we claim to be anything? But if you sacrifice you will be something, you will be with Allah. When you represent Allah, Allah will represent you.

London - 01.03.1994

Theistic non-duality.

A You / me / it situation ..

You are both me and it .. so it’s You/me and You/it .. but if I leave You out of the picture I get first me and then it .. =  duality and suffering ..

If I recognise You/me .. and You/it ..(i.e. God as me and God as it) .. that’s a start ..

If I am not other than You and it is not other than You ..

that doesn’t make me You or it You .. though both are not other than You ..

You are everything and everywhere .. but through Your creative and maintaining power You cause separate objects and their maintainance ..

In my consciousness I am aware of myself and other and in my consciousness of consciousness I begin to know You (as) the uniting factor of self and other subject and object ..

The more I remember You .. the more I forget the separate me and the more I experience unity with everything and everyone ..

treating others well in my interactions with them is a measure and a test of this and the reality of this in myself ..

I love to sit and think & write about this which is my way to find the truth and then relate to others through the writing and speaking that gets produced   ..

some kind of conscience says I should worship You ..and this thinking and writing which comes from the longing of my heart is a kind of worship ..

I do feel thankful for the amazing trip of being a conscious human being ..and I do feel a bit guilty about not doing anything more apparently useful than sitting here working all this out ..

but it is what I do .. my nature and probably my God-given nature ..

So I say Thank You to You and sorry to You and please make my thinking capacity for these things useful in some way in serving You and my fellow human beings ..

This is just a reminder of the Oneness of all but also a reminder that it can be regarded as ridiculous to say that it all happens by itself, just because we don’t know how it happens .. and possibly a lot more ridiculous than it is to say that there is an unkowable God Who caused it all to happen ..is causing it all to happen and is maintaining it right now in and as Himself ..

.. so God is a causeless cause but the universe is not a causeless or self-caused universe ..

Therefore the universe & life (especially human life) are not meaningless because God did not create it all in jest .. but in order that He should be known .. through His works and through human being’s recognition of them and also of  Him as themselves appearing in this amazing thing called existence .. while being conscious of it .. so that in fact they are set apart from the rest of creation as special beings with a special capacity not given to any others ..

wow ! (surely only God could do that ?) ..

-----

In this understanding all humans are united .. in the materialist understanding all human beings are divided .. not only between themselves but within themselves ..
The division within themselves is the cause of the modern malady of existential angst and lack of meaning ..

The outer manifestation of this is the division between themselves and the necessity to try to unite the group through the competition for material superiority .. backed by military force .. The most unloving and meaningless system ever seen on the face of the earth ..

Can a new universal non-dual consciousness beyond even a theistic / non-theistic divide save the world now before the dualistic  materialist / financial / military system splits in two in a fight to the death of the human race as we know it ?
If it splits it will ultimately be ‘believers’ (the West) against ‘non-believers’ (ex-communist states) ..
 Which side will you be on ?

Whoso knoweth himself…

A paper of uncertain origin; probably by Awhad al-din Balyani, although often attributed to Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi; translated from the Arabic by Cecilia Twinch. This work is known by many titles, most often as The Treatise on Being or The Treatise on Unity. A different translation, entitled "Whoso knoweth himself…" is published by Beshara Publications.

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

Praise be to God, Lord of the universes!

On the meaning of the saying of the Prophet, may God bless him and give him peace, “He who knows himself, knows his Lord.”

Praise belongs to God, before whose Oneness there is no before, unless the before is He and after whose Singularity there is no after, unless the after is He!

He was, and there was not with Him any before, nor after, nor above, nor below, nor closeness, nor distance, nor how, nor where, nor when, nor time, nor moment, nor period, nor duration, nor manifested existence, nor place. “And He is now as He was”. He is the One without oneness, the Singular without singularity. He is not composed of name and named: for His Name is He and His named is He and there is no name or named other than Him. He is the First without firstness and the Last without lastness. He is the Apparent without appearance and the Hidden without hiddenness. I mean that He is the very being of the letters of the Name ‘the First’ and the Name ‘the Last’, of the Name ‘the Hidden’ and the Name ‘the Apparent’. There is no First nor Last, Apparent nor Hidden except Him, without the letters (which form these names) becoming Him or His becoming these letters.

Understand this so as not to fall into the error of those who believe in incarnation: because He is not in anything and no thing is in Him whether entering in or coming out. It is in this way that you should know Him and not through (theoretical) knowledge, reason, understanding or conjecture, nor with the eye nor the external senses, nor even with interior sight or perception. No one sees Him, except Himself; no one reaches Him, except Himself; and no one knows Him except Himself. He knows Himself through Himself and He sees Himself by means of Himself. No one but He sees Him. His very Oneness is His veil since nothing veils Him other than He; His own Being veils Him. His Oneness is concealed by His Oneness without any condition.

No one other than He sees Him. No sent prophet, nor perfect saint nor angel brought close knows Him. His prophet is He; His Messenger is He; His message is He and His word is He. He sent Himself, through Himself, from Himself to Himself; there is no intermediary or means other than He. There is no difference between the Sender, that which is sent and the one to whom it is sent. The very existence of the letters of the prophetic message is His existence. There is no other who could cease to be, or have a name or be named.

Because of this, the Prophet (may God bless him and give him peace) said, “He who knows himself, knows his Lord”. He also said, “I knew my Lord through my Lord”. What the Prophet meant by this, is that you are not you but you are He and there is no you; and it is not that He enters into you or comes out of you, or that you enter into Him or come out of Him. He did not mean that you have being and you are qualified by this or that attribute. What he meant was that you never were and that you never will be, whether through yourself, or through Him, or in Him or with Him. You have neither ceased to be nor are you existent. You are Him and He is you, without any of these imperfections. If you know your existence in this way, then you know God; and if not, then not!

Most of those who claim to be knowers (of God) make the knowledge of God dependent on the cessation of being and on the cessation of that cessation. That is an error and a clear oversight; the knowledge of God does not require either the cessation of being nor the cessation of that cessation, because things have no being and whatever has no being cannot cease to be, since cessation implies the prior existence of the thing that ceases to be. If you know yourself as not having being and (consequently) not ceasing to be, then you know God; and if not, then not!

By making the knowledge of God dependent on the cessation of being and the cessation of this cessation, there is an affirmation of polytheism. The Prophet said, “He who knows himself, knows his Lord”. He did not say, “He who ceases to be, knows his Lord”. The assertion of something other than God is incompatible with its cessation; or else this assertion is impossible, and it follows that its cessation is also impossible.

Your being is nothing and whatever is nothing cannot be placed in relationship to anything else, whether it is capable of cessation or not and whether it is existent or non-existent. The Prophet alluded to the fact that you are non-existent now as you were non-existent before creation, because now is Eternity-without-beginning and now is Eternity-without-end and now is Timelessness. God is the very being of Eternity-without-beginning, Eternity-without-end and Timelessness even though (in reality) there is no Eternity-without-beginning, Eternity-without-end nor Timelessness. If it were otherwise, He would not be alone, without anything being associated with Him, and it is necessary for Him to be alone without any associate. His associate would have being through its own essence, and not through the being of God. Then that associate would not need God and would therefore be a second Lord, which is impossible: God has no associate, nor equal, nor like.

Whoever sees anything whatsoever with God, coming out of Him, or within Him, but nevertheless dependent on Him by virtue of His Lordship, has also made that thing an associate even though this associate depends on Him by virtue of His Lordship: whoever accepts that there could be anything whatsoever with God – whether subsisting by itself or through Him, whether it is in a state of cessation of being or cessation of cessation – is far from breathing the scent of self-knowledge. Because whoever accepts that there could be another being than His, yet subsisting through Him and in Him, then ceasing to be in successive stages of cessation, and cessation of cessation – which is polytheism upon polytheism and not knowledge of the self at all – is a polytheist and he does not know God, nor himself.

If someone asks, “What is the way to knowledge of the self and knowledge of God?” the answer is that it consists in knowing and verifying that “God was, and nothing was with Him; and He is now as He was”.

If someone then says, “I see myself as other than God and I do not see God as myself”, the answer is as follows:

The Prophet meant, by the word ‘self’, your being and your essential reality and not the self which is called the ‘blaming self’ nor the ‘commanding self’ nor the self which is called the ‘confident or peaceful self’; by the self, he was alluding to everything that is other than God, like when he said, “O God, show me things as they are!” He meant by things whatever is other than God; so that this prayer means, “Make me know what is other than You so that I may know what things are – whether they are You or other than You, whether they are eternal and subsistent, or newly happening and temporal”. Then God showed him what is other than Him as Himself, without the existence of what is other than Him. So he saw things as they are, that is, he saw them as the essence of God – may He be exalted! – without how or where. The word ‘things’ may equally well be applied to the self or to other things, the existence of the self being similarly in the category of things. When one knows the things, one knows oneself and when one knows oneself, one knows the Lord: because what you think is other than God is not other than God but you do not know it. You see Him and you do not know that you see Him.

When this secret is revealed to you, you will know that you are not other than God but that you yourself are the object of your quest. You do not need to cease to be – you have not ceased and never will cease to be, without time and without moments, as we have already mentioned. You will see His attributes as your attributes, your exterior as His exterior, your interior as His interior, your first as His first and your last as His Last, without any doubt or uncertainty. You will see your attributes to be His attributes and your essence to be His essence, without your having to become Him and without His having to become you in the least degree.

“Everything passes away except His Face” both in the exterior and the interior, which means: there is no existent but Him; nothing other than Him has being and therefore has to pass away so that His Face remains. There is nothing except His Face.

It is like when someone who previously did not know something, knows it: the (unknowing) being does not vanish to be replaced by another; nor is there a mixing or interpenetration of the being of the ignorant person and the one who knows: ignorance has simply disappeared.

Do not think therefore that it is necessary to cease to be: because if cessation of being were necessary, that would mean that you veil Him. He would therefore be veiled by another than Himself, which would necessarily imply that another than Him can have power over Him and prevent Him from being seen. That is an error and oversight: as we have already said, His veil is His Oneness and His Singularity is not other than it. That is why the person who has reached the essential Truth is permitted to say: “I am the Truth” or “Glory to me!” No one has truly reached Him unless he sees his attributes to be the attributes of God and his essence to be the essence of God; without his essence or his attributes ever entering into God or coming out of Him and without his passing away from God or remaining in Him. He sees that his self has never been his own and not that it was, then ceased to be. Because there is no self except for the Self, and there is no being except His Being. This is what the Prophet was alluding to when he said, “Do not revile the Era, because God is the Era”, and God, may He be blessed and exalted, is unblemished by any associate, or equal or like.

It is also reported that the Prophet said, “God – may He be exalted! – said: ‘O son of Adam! I was sick and you did not visit Me. I was hungry and you did not feed Me. I asked of you and you did not give to Me…’.” This alludes to the fact that the being of the one who asks is His Being. When that is admissible, it is also admissible that your being is His Being and the being of all created things – whether substances or accidents – are His Being.

When the secret of an atom is discovered, the secret of all created things is discovered, whether they are apparent or hidden, and you stop seeing the two worlds as other than God – although the two worlds, their names and what they name do not exist, or rather, their names and what they designate, and their very existence are Him, without any doubt. You do not see God as having ever created anything but as being “every day in a different configuration”, which sometimes reveals Him and sometimes conceals Him, without any condition: since “He is the First and the Last, the Apparent and the Hidden and He has Knowledge of everything”. He manifests Himself by His Oneness and hides Himself by His Singularity. He is the First in His Essence and His Self-subsistence and the Last in His Everlastingness. He is the very being of the Name ‘the First’ and the Name ‘the Last’, of the Name ‘'the Apparent’ and the Name ‘'the Hidden’. He is His own Name and (what is) named. Just as His existence is necessary, the non-existence of what is other than Him is necessary. In fact, what you think is other than Him is not other than Him. Other than Him is Him; His transcendence does not permit that other than Him is really other than Him: other than Him is Him without there being any otherness, whether this is with Him, or in Him, in the interior or the exterior.

Whoever is qualified in this way has innumerable attributes without limit or end. Just as the person whose physical form passes away is deprived of all their attributes, whether they are praiseworthy or blameworthy, so the person who dies a symbolic death has all his attributes, whether praiseworthy or blameworthy, taken away from him and God comes into his place in all his states. The Essence of God comes into the place of his essence and the attributes of God come into the place of his attributes. Because of this, the Prophet said, “Die before you die”, that is, “Know yourself before you die”. He also said, “God said, ‘My servant does not stop approaching Me with free acts until I love him. And when I love him, I am his hearing, his sight, his hand…’ ”, which refers to the fact that whoever knows himself sees his whole being as the very Being of God, without any change in his essence or attributes. There is no need for any change since he was not the existence of his essence but was simply ignorant of the knowledge of himself.

When you know yourself, your I-ness disappears and you know that you are no other than God. If you had an autonomous being, you would have no need of cessation of being, nor of self-knowledge; you would therefore be a lord besides Him. However, it is inadmissible that another lord should exist besides God – may He be blessed and exalted!

The benefit of the knowledge of the self is to know for certain that you are neither existent nor non-existent, that you are not, never have been and never will be. In this way the meaning of “There is no divinity but God” will become clear: there is not any god other than Him, being belongs to no one but Him, there is no other besides Him, there is no god but He!

If someone objects, “You make His Lordship superfluous”, the reply is:

I do not make His Lordship superfluous, because He has not ceased to be both Lord and the lorded over, just as He has never ceased to be both Creator and what is created; “and He is now as He was”. His Creativity and His Lordship do not need what is created or subject to Him. When He brought the creatures into existence, He was already endowed with all His attributes. “And He is now as He was”. There is no difference in His Oneness between the external aspect and the eternal: the external aspect requires His manifestation and the eternal requires His Hiddenness. His exterior is identical to His interior and His interior to His exterior; His beginning is the same as His end and His end is the same as His beginning and all is One and the One is all. He was described as ‘every day in a different configuration’, when there was no ‘thing’ other than Him. “And He is now as He was”, and there is no being to what is other than Him in reality. Just as in Eternity-without-beginning and Timelessness, He was “every day in a different configuration” when no thing existed, so He is now as He was, although there is no thing, nor day, just as there was, from all eternity, neither thing nor day. The existence of the creatures and their non-existence are the same. If it were not so, it would require the origination of  something which was not (already) in His Oneness, and that would imply imperfection – and His Oneness is far more exalted than that!

When you know yourself in this way, without attributing any opposite, like, equal or associate to God, then you really know yourself. That is why the Prophet said: “He who knows himself, knows his Lord” and not “he who ceases to be, knows his Lord”;  because he knew and saw that there is nothing beside Him. Then he pointed out that the knowledge of the self is the knowledge of God. In other words, “Know yourself”, or “know your being, because you are not you but you do not know it”. That is, “know that your being is not your being nor other than your being. You are not existent and you are not non-existent; nor are you other than existent or other than non-existent. Your being and your not-being are His being, without any being or absence of being because your being and your not-being are the same as His Being and His Being is the same as your being and not-being.”

So if you see things without seeing anything else with God or in God, but see things as Him, then you know yourself and such a knowledge of the self is knowledge of God, without doubt or uncertainty, without mixing anything temporary with the eternal, whether in Him, or through Him.

If someone now asks you: “What is the way to union? You assert that there is no other than Him; but one thing cannot be united to itself!” then this is the reply:

Actually, in reality there is no union, nor separation, nor distance, nor closeness; because union is only possible between two things and if there is only one there can be no union nor separation. Union requires two things which are either similar, in which case they are equal, or dissimilar, in which case they are opposites, and He, may He be exalted, is far above having any opposite or equal: therefore union lies in something other than union, closeness in something other than closeness and distance is something other than distance. There is union without union, closeness without closeness and distance without distance!

If someone says to us: “We understand union without union. But what does closeness without closeness and distance without distance mean?” – the reply is:

I mean that in those times of closeness and distance, you were not other than God – but not being at that time a knower of yourself, you were unaware that you are Him, without there being a you. When you reach God, that is, when you know yourself in a way that is beyond all condition, you know that you are Him, and you did not know before whether you were Him or other than Him. When knowledge comes upon you, you know that it is through God that you know God and not through yourself.

Suppose, for example, that you do not know that your name is Mahmud, or that what your name designates (your named) is Mahmud – for the name and the named are in fact one and the same thing – and that you think that your name is Muhammad. If you then learn that you are really Mahmud, you do not cease to be what you were; the name Muhammad is simply taken away from you because of your knowledge of yourself – that you are Mahmud and you were only Muhammad by ceasing to be yourself; because ceasing to be presupposes the affirmation of the existence of what is other than Him and whoever affirms the existence of what is other than Him has attributed an associate to Him. Nothing has been taken away from Mahmud; Muhammad did not pass away into Mahmud; nor did Mahmud enter into Muhammad nor come out of him; and Mahmud did not become incarnated in Muhammad. When Mahmud knew himself, that he was Mahmud and not Muhammad, he knew himself through himself and not through Muhammad; because Muhammad never was, so how could anything be known through him?

Therefore the knower and the known are one; so are the one who arrives and what he arrives at, and the seer and the seen. ‘The knower’ is His attribute and ‘the known’ is His essence; ‘the one who arrives’ is His attribute, and ‘what he arrives at’ is His essence. In fact, the attribute and that to which it is attributed are one. That is the explanation of the saying, “He who knows himself, knows his Lord”.

Whoever understands this example knows that there is no union, nor separation; the knower is He and the known is He; the one who sees is He and what is seen is He; the one who arrives is He and what he arrives at is He. No other than He reaches union, no other than He separates from Him. Whoever understands that is free of the polytheism of polytheism; whoever has not understood it has not breathed the scent of this freedom from polytheism.

Most ‘knowers’, who think that they know themselves and their Lord and think they are free of the bonds of existence, declare that the way can only be traversed by ceasing to be, then by the cessation of cessation. That is because they do not understand the saying of the Prophet and, believing themselves to be free of polytheism, they allude sometimes to the ‘negation of existence’', that is, to the obliteration of existence, sometimes to cessation or the cessation of cessation; and sometimes to effacement or annihilation. All these expressions are unadulterated polytheism because whoever accepts that there could be something beside Him which is subsequently capable of cessation, then of cessation of cessation, affirms that there is something other than Him: and whoever affirms that is a polytheist. May God guide them and us to the right Path!

Poem

You thought that you were you,

But you are not you and never were!

For if you were you, you would be a Lord

And the second of two! Stop what you were thinking

Between His Being and your being, there is no difference.

He is not distinct from you, nor you from Him.

If, out of ignorance, you declare that you are other than Him, your obstinacy is obvious

But if your ignorance ceases, then you become yielding.

Because your union is separation, your separation union

And your distance is closeness: through that you will become suitable.

Abandon the intellect and understand by the light of unveiling.

So that what is from Him by way of attribute is not superior to you.

Do not associate anything with God

So that you are not debased, because polytheism debases.

If someone says, “You show that your knowledge of yourself is the Knowledge of God. But he who knows himself is other than God. So how can that which is other than God know God? How can it reach (union with) Him?” the answer is:

Whoever knows himself knows that his being is not his being, nor other than his being, but that he is the very Being of God, without his being becoming the Being of God, or entering into God or coming out of Him, and without his being existing with Him or in Him. He sees his being as it was before coming into being, without the need for cessation, effacement or cessation of cessation; because the cessation of something implies that previously it was, and that implies in turn that it exists by itself and not by the power of God: which is evidently a pure impossibility. It is clear that the knowledge that the knower has of himself is the knowledge that God has of Himself, because his self is no other than He.

By the word ‘self’, the Prophet meant ‘being’. For whoever reaches this spiritual station, his being is no longer his being, neither inwardly nor outwardly, but it is the very Being of God: his speech is His Speech, his actions are God’s actions. His claim to the knowledge of God is his claim to the knowledge God has of Himself through Himself. But you hear this claim as though it came from him, you see his actions as though coming from him, you see him to be other than God, just as you see yourself as other than God, because of your ignorance of your real being.

If “the faithful one is the mirror of the Faithful One”, then he is He in His eye, that is through His sight for if his eye is God's eye and his sight is God's sight, without any condition, he is not He through your eye or your knowledge, your understanding, your imagination, your thought or your vision: but he is He in His eye, His knowledge and His vision.

If [this knower] says, “I am God!” listen to him, because it is God who is saying “I am God!” not him, but you have not reached the point that he has reached, since if you had arrived at it, you would understand what he says and you would say what he says and you would see what he sees.

In short, the existence of things is His existence, without their existing. But do not fall into confusion and do not let these allusions lead you to imagine that God is created! One of those who know has said: “The Sufi is uncreated” and it is like that after the complete unveiling and dissipation of doubts and conjecturing. But this spiritual nourishment is only for the one whose nature is more vast than the two worlds; and as for the one who is like the two worlds, it does not agree with him, for it is even more immense than them!

Know, in short, that the seer and the seen, the one who finds and what is found, the knower and the known, the One who existentiates and what is existentiated, the perceiver and the perceived are one. He sees, knows and perceives His Being by means of His Being, beyond any manner of sight, knowledge and perception and without the existence of (the letters of) the form of sight, knowledge and perception. Just as His Being is beyond all condition, so the vision, knowledge and perception which He has of Himself are without condition.

If someone asks, “In what way do you see all the distasteful and agreeable things? When we see, for example, dung or carrion, do we say it is God?” Then the reply is:

God forbid that God, may He be exalted and sanctified, should be any such thing! Our converse is with him who does not see dung as dung, nor carrion as carrion. We are only speaking to him who is endowed with inward vision and not with the one who is born blind. Whoever does not know himself is blind and does not see. Until his blindness and lack of vision disappears, he will not grasp these meanings. Our converse is with God: not with other than God, and not with the blind. Whoever reaches this spiritual station knows that he is no other than God. We are speaking with the one who has resolution and energy in seeking to know himself in order to know God, and who keeps fresh in his heart the image of his seeking and longing for union with God; and not with him who has neither aim nor end.

If someone objects, “God has declared ‘'Eyes do not perceive Him but He perceives the eyes. And He is the Subtle One, the Well-informed!” but you maintain the contrary, so what you are saying is not true”, the response is:

Everything that we are saying is the very meaning of His Word: “Eyes do not perceive Him, but He perceives the eyes”, that is, there is no one else in existence, so no one has sight which can perceive Him. If it were conceivable for there to be someone other than Him, then it would follow that this other could perceive Him. But God has informed us in His saying, “Eyes do not perceive Him” that there is no other besides Him, which means that no other than He perceives Him, rather He who perceives Him is Himself. There is no other than He. He is the one who perceives His essence, not another. Eyes do not perceive Him because they are nothing but His Being.  Whoever maintains that eyes do not perceive Him because they are transient and what is transient cannot grasp what is eternal and everlasting, still does not know himself. For there is nothing, and there are no eyes which are not Him. He perceives His own being without the existence of perception, without condition and without other.

Poem

I knew the Lord through the Lord

without doubt or hesitation.

My essence is really His essence

without fault or imperfection.

There is, between us, no becoming

And my self is the place where the Hidden appears.

Since I have known Him, my self is

without mixture or blemish.

I reached union with my Beloved,

without distance or closeness.

I obtained from the Munificent One a gift,

without giving and without depriving.

My self did not vanish in Him

Nor does vanishing remain in Him.

If someone asks, “You affirm God and you deny the existence of everything else; so what are these things that you see?” the answer is this:

These words are for him who sees nothing apart from God. We have no questions and answers with him who sees something beside God, for he only sees what he sees. He who knows himself does not see other than God, but he who does not know himself, does not see God. Each receptacle only exudes what it contains. We have already explained a great deal and if we explained more, whoever does not see will still not see, nor understand, nor comprehend; but whoever sees, sees, understands and comprehends already. A hint is enough for the one who has arrived (at union). As for him who has not arrived, he will not arrive by theoretical teaching, nor by instruction, nor by repetition, nor by reason, nor by learning, but only by placing himself in the service of an eminent master and a wise teacher, following the spiritual path, in order to be guided by his light and to progress by means of his spiritual will, so reaching thereby what he is seeking, if God wills.

May God grant us success in what He loves and in what satisfies Him in words and deeds, knowledge and practice, light and guidance. He is powerful over everything and is capable of responding to every demand. There is no power nor strength save in God, the Sublime, the Magnificent!

May peace and blessings be upon the Prophet, his family and friends!

Short biography of the author: Ibn ‘Arabi

More information: www.ibnarabisociety.org

Even 'Beyondness' is a human point of view.

"That everyone has different experiences and perspectives is not a problem; rather, the problem is that when we interpret an experience outside its own paradigm, context, and stated definitions, that experience becomes lost altogether. It becomes lost because we have redefined the terms according to a totally different paradigm or perspective and thereby made it over into an experience it never was in the first place. When we force an experience into an alien paradigm, that experience becomes subsumed, interpreted away, unrecognizable, confused, or made totally indistinguishable. Thus when we impose alien definitions on the original terms of an experience, that experience becomes lost to the journey, and eventually it becomes lost to the literature as well. To keep this from happening it is necessary to draw clear lines and to make sharp, exacting distinctions. The purpose of doing so is not to criticize other paradigms, but to allow a different paradigm or perspective to stand in its own right, to have its own space in order to contribute what it can to our knowledge of man and his journey to the divine.

Distinguishing what is true or false, essential or superficial in our experience is not a matter to be taken lightly. We cannot simply define our terms and then sit back and expect perfect agreement across the board. Our spiritual-psychological journey does not work this way. We are not uniform robots with the same experiences, same definitions, same perspectives, or same anything."
Bernadette Roberts.

That seems pretty useful to me in the wake of all the endless discussions and endless terminology of levels and personally percieved definitions of that terminology which have spewed out recently (especially with reference to or in reaction against Benthino's latest thing) ...

Ultimately, on a pragamatic level it means that whatever our own experience is and whatever our own interpretation of that experience is, is real for us personally. One almost might say that whatever works for each individual is cool for them.

 After that it is interesting to listen to the other guy and see where he's at and if it looks interesting or better see if we can find something similar in and through ourselves ..

However to constantly be looking at the other guy and criticising him if it doesn't 'measure up' to our own concepts or experience is to deny the possibility of further openings .. and the beauty of the reality that nobody can ever have the full Truth or the Absolute picture .. that is for The Truth or The Absolute itself .. always always beyond .. always always greater than .. and never never communicable in words ..

No human can deny their humanity and the 'point of view' that this implies while alive in a human body ..

Friday, 15th June 2012

08:26:Hrs;

Analysis shows there is no-thing .. nothing .. at the sub-atomic level .. and there was no-thing before the universe at a cosmic level .. Self analysis shows there is no self at a personal level ..

and yet .. Here it all is and here we all are .. How does that happen ?

No-thing being every-thing.

Individually .. subjectively this is experienced as no-thing being some-thing. Us as a subject and other as object.

In the ‘Being’ .. we meet .. we recognise that other people are, in one sense, objects .. i.e. bodies .. but they are animated bodies with characters and personalities .. we recognise the life in them and that that life is similar to our own .. essentially the same ..

The sameness .. the ‘being’ is what we love and long to know and to be and to share ..

the differences .. the ‘thingness’ .. is what separates us .. causes misunderstandings and even wars ..

What I am saying is that in a world of ‘things’ we are alienated .. as a subject surrounded by and percieving objects .. Nobody really knows how it is that apparent objects upon analysis turn out to not exist .. and yet they are there .. This is due to a being (as a verb not a noun) which is not understood and cannot be described because it is no thing and yet it is what all things exist in .. maybe the essence of what all things actually are .. therefore it is living .. alive .. Being .. No thing .. being everything .. experienced as some things ..

To find that Being which is no thing and yet the essence of all things we must look into ourselves .. It is the only way to find that Being and when it is found in and as the real self (not the body and not the mind) .. then it is recognised that one’s real self is the same One that is all other selves and the essential nature of all that exists ..

That I believe is the work that the human being really was designed to do .. the work of self-knowledge .. It is also what religions were ultimately meant to guide to .. self knowledge being knowledge of God or the Divine or The Absolute .. the No-thing .. which is continually Being Every-thing ...

When one knows oneself as no-thing being something then one knows that all things are no-thing being everything ..

It is the living Being which unites all things and all apparently separate beings .. wether human beings or animal-beings or plants-beings or (apparently)inanimate-beings.

We are all one in Being. All is One in Being.

Someone says .. God is Emptiness Emptiness is God .. ..yeah kinda like that ..
Emptiness is so full of God that it overflows into form ! : )
& form is so empty of reality that it flows back into God ..

Either way everything is pregnant with God both form and emptiness .. which are signs of that ..
...
And of course He / It are so much more than that (always) ..

Abandoning the opposites in Unity & then abandoning Unity in Suchness & then abandoning Suchness in Emptiness .. diving into the void .. to find .... that which is beyond finding .. no finder no finding no found .. only that which is ..

& it’s just here .. now .. naked awareness .. and all that is in consciousness .. forms & self .. self and forms co-appearing (interbeing as Tich nat Hahn says) .. in something which is nothing .. Presence .. nothing hiding itself by being everything ..

and expressing itself here now in these words on this lappie .. out to FB and whoever reads it .. ultimately the same one reading it as wrote it .. everywhere God knowing Himself / Itself .. through us .. as us ..
The “meaning” of life ? Just that .. God knowing Himself through His creation which is none other than He ..
Only one thing which is no thing .. everywhere and everywhen at all times and places without time or place ..
The place of the placeless the space of the spaceless .. in the timeless eternal moment of now ..

“Allah was a hidden treasure and He wanted to be known .. so He produced the creation that He might be known.” (hadith qudsi)

But of course all that is knowing and known is none other than He ..
As Ibn Arabi said ...

“Allah was and there was nothing with Him .. and He is now as He was.”

Only the words God and Allah get in the way .. partly because they represent something which is an unknowable Reality and then they get turned into concepts attached to the word .. and more especially because of all the connotations implied by the connection of those concepts with religions and their misapprehensions and consequent contradictory terrible deeds.

Shame about that because I love God .. (none other than He loving Himself as & through me) ..

a hadith in Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti's collection-
which is a Hadith Qudsi which states ...

I was a hidden treasure and I loved that I be known ...
[That is Allah loved that He be known.]
Therefore, I created creation and made by Myself known to them ...
So through Me they knew Me.

(repeat) ..

So through Me they knew Me.