The Ego and the Heart

I struggled hard but did not reap the fruits of my labors. Then I gazed into myself and found that my ego and my heart were unified. When the ego and the heart are united, a portion of all that shines upon the heart is seized by the self. Thus I came to know the cause of my dilemma, that the light illuminating my heart was being seized by my ego. -Al-Nuri, in "Islamic Sufism"

Religion: What's Missing?

The true point of all religions is to provide a formula (teaching) and catalyst (teacher) for alchemy (the spiritual transformation of the student); the guided transformation of lead (the childish ego) into gold (the spiritually mature adult). So all teachings must have their outward formulas, but without the chemist, the alchemist, the transformed teacher to act as guide, these laws are without reality, meaningless and ineffective. Under mature guidance, the religion of Islam is a spiritually and socially transformative influence par excellence, and the Sufi way is widely known as an alchemy for spiritual evolution.
- Ali Ansari

On the Need for Self-Discipline

Gluttony feeds on itself. The more that the appetite is indulged, the stronger it becomes - and the harder it is to control. But if the appetite is restrained, then it soon grows weak and feeble, and finally disappears altogether.

-Razi, "Kitab al-Muluki"

The Spirituality of Sadness

Melancholy may enter your soul, and ambush your happiness; but it will prepare you for true joy. Melancholy drives out all other emotions and feelings, so the source of all goodness may occupy the whole house. It shakes the yellow leaves from the tree, allowing fresh leaves to grow. It pulls up old bodily pleasures by the roots, allowing divine spiritual pleasures to be planted. Melancholy takes many things from the soul, in order to bring better things in return.

-Rumi, "Mathnawi"

Always Follow Through....

"Initiating a good deed is a matter of choice, but seeing it through is obligatory."
- Imam Ali (a)

Time with Parents

"If you think you are so enlightened," Ram Dass said, "go and spend a week with your parents." That is good advice. The relationship with your parents is not only the primordial relationship that sets the tone for all subsequent relationships, it is also a good test for your degree of Presence. The more shared past there is in a relationship, the more present you need to be; otherwise, you will be forced to relive the past again and again. ~ Eckhart Tolle -- A New Earth

I am a Burning Candle

I am a burning candle;

You are the morning light,

If I do not see You, I burn;

if I see You, I vanish.

This is my condition in separation and closeness.

I can bear neither separation nor proximity.

-Author Unknown

What is True Enlightenment?

Enlightenment is the process of recognizing and releasing your self limitations.

It is the process of Life itself.

Life is Awareness Release Training -

the A.R.T. of Learning to Recognize, Accept, and Clearly Distinguish between -

Self, Soul, and God.

- Ali Ansari

Turning Tragedy into Triumph

"As this the 38th anniversary of my wounding in Vietnam approaches, in many ways I feel my injury in that war has been a blessing in disguise. I have been given the opportunity to move through that dark night of the soul to a new shore, to gain an understanding, a knowledge, an entirely different vision. I now believe that I have suffered for a reason and in many ways I have found that reason in my commitment to peace and nonviolence. We who have witnessed the obscenity of war and experienced its horror and terrible consequences have an obligation to rise above our pain and suffering and turn the tragedy of our lives into a triumph. I have come to believe that there is nothing in the lives of human beings more terrifying than war and nothing more important than for those of us who have experienced it to share its awful truth.
We must break this cycle of violence and begin to move in a different direction; war is not the answer, violence is not the solution. A more peaceful world is possible." ~ Ron Kovic

Trying To Become Good

A number of spiritual teachings tell us to let go of fear and desire. But those spiritual practices are usually unsuccessful. They haven't gone to the root of the dysfunction.

Fear, greed, and desire for power are not the ultimate causal factors. Trying to become a good or better human being sounds like a commendable and high-minded thing to do, yet it is an endeavor you cannot ultimately succeed in unless there is a shift in consciousness.

This is because it is still part of the same dysfunction, a more subtle and rarified form of self-enhancement, of desire for more and a strengthening of one's conceptual identity, one's self-image.

You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you, and allowing that goodness to emerge. But it can only emerge if something fundamental changes in your state of consciousness. ~ Eckhart Tolle

Wisdom

The practical application of wisdom is in understanding that all problems are wisdom problems and that in learning to apply wisdom to one problem you are actually learning the process of applying wisdom, not just solving the problem. Problems are there not just to be solved, as the linear, literal goal-oriented mind would assume. Problems are there to teach us the wisdom of solving problems, for as we have already discovered (no?) -- in Reality there is no problem to resolve! ~ Ali Ansari

The Path

The path is not 'to God' per se [for there is nowhere to go - God is not of or in any place], but, rather to the conscious recognition and realization that, in fact, nearness to God is the station of us all... "It was We Who created man, and We know what dark suggestions his soul makes to him: for We are nearer to him than (his) jugular vein" (Qur'an, 50:16). This is the Truth, to deny it is to simply deny reality itself. Embracing or entering Islam does not require doing anything other than realizing and accepting what already is. The path, therefore, is the path through the veils, the illusions, the misperceptions that God is somewhere 'out there' to go to. Islam is the path of realization, the path of Self-discovery; for it is through this process of uncovering our True Selves and negating all that stands in our way of achieving our highest potential that we achieve God-realization and become complete human beings.

Daily Reminder to Myself: Understanding Hardship

"Personal Security is only real if it abides during and withstands the testing of outward hardship. It's easy to feel secure if and when your circumstances are secure, but it's only superficial if it holds up only under secure outward circumstances. For this reason hardships exist and are expected, even desired portions of life. For they test and build the mettle of our interior strength and security, and force us to find it when it's missing. And all this is so that our transition, which is an inevitable reality of life and a common goal for us all, may be handled with the reality for the realization of which life itself was created." - Ali Ansari

Where is Love?

"Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all of the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. It is not necessary to seek for what is true but it is necessary to seek for what is false. Every illusion is one of fear, whatever form it takes. And the attempt to escape from one illusion into another must fail. If you seek love outside yourself you can be certain that you perceive hatred within, and are afraid of it. Yet peace will never come from the illusion of love, but only from its reality." - A Course in Miracles

The Problem with Young People....

In my job interview today I was asked by one of the panelists what I thought was wrong with the youth of Malaysia. I responded that I thought we (i.e. the adults) were actually the problem with youth. I added that young people are merely responding to the world we have created for them. If you look at what we have built, how we conduct ourselves, the example we set (collectively), is it any wonder that youth are acting (and reacting) the way they are? Simply put, children and youth are our mirrors -- they reflect our hypocrisy and show it to us through their words and actions. So you wanna change young people? Then change yourself first.... "...Allah does not change a people's lot unless they change what is in their hearts..." (Qur'an, 13:11).

Daily Reminder to Myself

Whoever sets himself up as a leader of other people should start educating himself before educating others, and let him teach by his conduct before teaching by his tongue. And the education and refinement of one's self is more worthy of respect than the education and culture of other people.

~ Hadrat 'Ali (translated Cleary)

We Belong to God

I belong to God, as has often been shown; yet I also belong to myself. He becomes Himself through me. I live in Him, and I live in myself. I have two aspects, He and I, divine and human. But He is not I, and I am not He. My actions are the theatre in which He expresses Himself; to Him I am a vessel.

-Ibn Arabi, “Fusus al-hikam”

What Brings About Love for Allah

What Brings About the Love for Allah

By: Imaam Ibn Rajab Al-Hanbali

http://www.sunnipath.com/resources/...qa00000841.aspx
[Instinshaq Naseemul-Uns min Nafahaati Riyaadil-Qudus, pp. 22-30]

1: Recognizing the bounties Allah has bestowed upon His slaves. These bounties [are so many that they] cannot be counted or enumerated. [Allah says:] "If you count the blessings of Allah, never will you be able to count them." [Quran 14:34]Hearts naturally have love for those who do good to them. Love for a blessing is from the general aspects of thanking the one who has bestowed a bounty. It is said that thanks is with the heart, tongue and limbs.

2: Another cause is to have knowledge of Allah by His Names, Attributes and Actions. The one who knows Allah, loves Him. Whoever loves Him, obeys Him. Whoever obeys Allah is honored by Him. Whoever Allah honors, He will have him live close to Him. Whoever lives close to Him, has attained the glad tidings.

3: One of the great causes [that leads to having love of Allah] is the specific knowledge that comes about through pondering over the creation of the heavens and the earth and what Allah has created. In the Quran, there is much mention of the signs of Allah that indicate His Greatness, Power, Majesty, Perfection, Eminence, Compassion, Mercy, Strength, Subjugation and other of His beautiful Names and exalted Attributes. Whenever one's knowledge of Allah is strengthened, one's love for Him is also strengthened and one's love for obeying Him is also strengthened. He will then experience the pleasure of worship, whether it be in prayer, remembrance or other forms of worship.

4: Another cause that will bring about love for Allah is to act towards Allah with sincerity and purity while going against one's desires. This is a cause for Allah to bless a slave and when He blesses the slave, the slave loves Him.

5: One of the greatest causes that bring about one's love for Allah is increasing one's remembrance of Allah. Whenever a person loves something, he remembers it more often. And it is through the remembrance of Allah that the hearts find tranquility. In fact, one of the signs of having love for Allah is the constant remembrance of Allah by one's heart and tongue.

6: One of the causes that brings about Allah's love for His slave is reciting the Quran often and pondering over its meaning, in particular those verses that contain Allah's Names, Attributes and Actions. Having fondness for that action will lead the slave to love Allah and Allah to love Him.

7: Another of the causes of love for Allah is remembering what has been mentioned in the Quran and Sunnah concerning the believers seeing their Lord in the Hereafter and visiting them and gathering together on the Day of Abundance. That will definitely bring about in a person love for Allah.

The Divine Love

Al-Qurtubi said in his explanation of the words of the Sufi Sahl B. Abdullah on the love of Allah, "The sign of loving Allah is loving the Quran. The sign of loving the Quran is loving the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation. The sign of loving the Prophet is loving the hereafter. And the sign of loving the hereafter is loving oneself. The sign of loving oneself is leaving the outer world. And the sign of leaving the outer world is taking from it only what is needed for survival."

http://www.sufimaster.org/teachings/dlove.htm