The Sufi Meditation of the Heart

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
True knowledge of God is gained when the lover comes in contact with the Beloved through secret communion with Him. - Traditional Sufi saying HISTORY Sufism is a path of love. The Sufi is a traveler on the path of love, a wayfarer journeying a!" to #od through the mysteries of the heart. $or the Sufi the relationship to #od is that of lover and %eloved, and Sufis are also "nown as lovers of #od. The journey to #od ta"es pla!e within the heart, and for !enturies Sufis have een traveling deep within themselves, into the se!ret !ham er of the heart where lover and %eloved share the e!stasy of union. Sufism is the an!ient wisdom of the heart. It is not limited y time or pla!e or form. It always was and it always will e. There have always een lovers of #od, long efore they were "nown as Sufis. There is a story a out a group of mysti!s, a and of lovers of #od, who were !alled the &amal 'osh. &amal 'osh means lan"et wearers, for their only possession was a lan"et whi!h they wore as a !overing during the day and used as a lan"et at night. (s the story goes they traveled throughout the an!ient world from prophet to prophet ut no one !ould satisfy them. )very prophet told them to do this or to do that, and this did not satisfy them. Then one day, at the time of *uhammad, the 'rophet was seated together with his !ompanions when he said that in a !ertain num er of days the men of the &amal 'osh would e !oming. So it happened that in that num er of days this group of &amal 'osh !ame to the prophet *uhammad. (nd when they were with him, he said nothing, ut the &amal 'osh were !ompletely satisfied. +hy were they satisfied, %e!ause he !reated love in their hearts, and when love is !reated, what dissatisfa!tion !an there e, The &amal 'osh re!ogni-ed that *uhammad "new the mysteries of the heart. They stayed with the 'rophet and were assimilated into Islam. (!!ording to this story the &amal 'osh e!ame the mysti!al element of Islam. (nd later these wayfarers e!ame "nown as Sufis, perhaps in referen!e to the white woolen lan"et, sf, whi!h they wore, or as an indi!ation of their purity of heart, saf, for they were also "nown as the pure of heart. Over the !enturies Sufism spread throughout the Islami! world and eyond, with most Sufis eing stri!t followers of Islam, though some were perse!uted y the Islami! orthodo.y. In the early days of Sufism very little was written down/ there were just luminaries, saints, friends of #od, wali, who lived their own spiritual passion, their deepest devotion. One su!h saint was R0 i1a, a woman who was orn in the eigth !entury into slavery, ut whose owner was so impressed y the intensity of her devotion that he gave her her freedom. She e!ame "nown for stressing the love that e.ists etween the mysti! and #od. (lways loo"ing towards #od, she !ared for nothing that might distra!t from or interfere with this relationship. She was on!e as"ed, 23o you love

#od,2 2Yes,2 she replied. 23o you hate the devil,2 24o, my love of #od gives me no time to hate the devil.2 5i"e many early Sufis, R0 i1a pra!ti!ed severe renun!iation and austerities. The great ninth-!entury saint %0ye-6d %ist0m6 also pra!ti!ed severe mortifi!ation, ut he stressed that the real renun!iation was of the lower self7 I shed my self 8nafs9 as a sna"e sheds its s"in, then I loo"ed at myself and ehold: I am He. Through the su jugation of the lower self, or ego, the lover reali-es his essential unity with the %eloved. %0ye-6d e.pressed his e.perien!e of unity with into.i!ated utteran!es that !ould e !onsidered hereti!al7 'raise e to *e, how great is *y majesty: %0ye-6d %ist0m6 was "nown as elonging to the s!hool of into.i!ation, as was the tenth-!entury mysti! al-Hall0j, who passionately e.!laimed the oneness of lover and %eloved7 I have e!ome the One I love, and the One I love has e!ome me: +e are two spirits infused in a 8single9 ody. (l-Hall0j1s seemingly lasphemous statements, in!luding the famous 2an'l-Haqq2 8I am the ( soluteTruth9, !ost him his life on the gallows of %aghdad. %ut through his death he e!ame immortali-ed as the prin!e of lovers, as the one who was prepared to pay the ultimate pri!e for love, his own lood. In !ontrast to these into.i!ated Sufis, al-;unayd of %aghdad advo!ated the state of so riety. ;unayd stressed the state of fan, the annihilation of the ego, and unli"e al-Hall0j, whom he supposedly reje!ted from his !ir!le as a madman, ;unayd felt that it was dangerous to spea" openly of mysti!al e.perien!es. The early Sufi mysti!s lived their mysti!al passion. Their tea!hing was their life and although their sayings were !olle!ted y their followers there was no mysti!al do!trine. %ut y the twelfth !entury Sufi tea!hings egan to e organi-ed into a mysti!al system. In <<=> one the greatest e.ponents of metaphysi!al do!trine, I n 1(ra 6, was orn in Spain. The !ore of I n 1(ra 61s mysti!al tea!hing is e.pressed y the term wahdat al-wujd, unity of eing. I n 1(ra 6 repla!ed the idea of a personal #od with a philosophi!al !on!ept of Oneness. Only #od e.ists. He is the One underlying the many and is also the many. He is the !ause of everything, the essen!e of everything, and the su stan!e of everything7 He is now as He was. He is the One without oneness and the Single without singleness.... He is the very e.isten!e of the $irst and the very e.isten!e of the 5ast, and the very e.isten!e of the Outward and the very e.isten!e of the Inward. So there is no first nor last, nor outward nor inward, e.!ept Him, without these e!oming Him or His e!oming them.... %y Himself He sees Himself, and y Himself He "nows Himself. 4one sees Him other than He, and none per!eives Him other than He. His

veil, that is phenomenal e.isten!e, is a part of His oneness.... There is no other and there is no e.isten!e other than He. %e!ause there is no other than He, through "nowing ourself we !ome to "now #od. 2He who "nows himself "nows his 5ord.2 This is not a philosophi!al !on!ept ut a mysti!al e.perien!e7 2+hen the mystery-of reali-ing that the mysti! is one with the 3ivine-is revealed to you, you will understand that you are no other than #od and that you have !ontinued and will !ontinue.... +hen you "now yourself, your 2I-ness2 vanishes and you "now that you and #od are one and the same.2 an , the loss of one1s 2I-ness,2 is a state of reali-ing one1s essential oneness with #od. 4othing e!omes #od or even unites with #od e!ause everything is He. The greatness of I n 1(ra 6 is not in the originality of his ideas. The theory of wahdat al-wujd, unity of eing, was already part of Sufi metaphysi!s. %ut I n 1(ra 6 formally organi-ed ideas that until then had only een e.pressed orally. 5ater Sufis valued the wor" of 2the greatest sheikh2 for systemati-ing what they regarded as the real essen!e of Sufism. +hile I n 1(ra 6 e!ame "nown as 2the pole of "nowledge,2 ;al0ludd6n R?m6 !ame to e "nown for some of the world1s greatest writings on mysti!al love. $our years after I n 1(ra 61s death in <@AB, R?m6, a theology professor, was wal"ing home from s!hool when he met a ragged dervish, Shamsi Ta r6-. (!!ording to one story R?m6 fell at Shams1 feet and renoun!ed his religious tea!hing when the dervish re!ited these verses from San0161s 3iw0n7 If "nowledge does not li erate the self from the self then ignoran!e is etter than su!h "nowledge. Shamsi Ta r6- was the spar" that ignited the fire of divine love within R?m6, who summed up his life in the two lines7 (nd the result is not more than these three words7 I urnt, and urnt, and urnt. Shams had awa"ened in him a fire that !ould only e satisfied with union, with the e!stati! loss of the self in the presen!e of the %eloved. Shams was the divine sun that lighted R?m61s life. %ut one day Shams disappeared, possi ly murdered y one of R?m61s sons who was jealous of his father1s intense love for the wandering dervish. +ithout Shams, R?m6 was !onsumed with grief, lost alone in the o!ean of love. %ut from the terri le pain of outer separation and loss was orn an inner union as he found his eloved within his own heart. Inwardly united with Shams, the theology professor was transformed into love1s poet. R?m6 "new the pain of love and the deepest purpose of this fire within the heart, how it empties the human eing and fills him with the wine of love7 5ove is here li"e the lood in my veins and s"in He has annihilated me and filled me only with Him His fire has penetrated all the atoms of my ody Of 2me2 only my name remains/ the rest is Him.

R?m6 e!ame the poet of lovers, e.pressing the !ra-y passion of the soul1s desire for #od. R?m61s words, spo"en !enturies ago, ring in the soul of every lover, every wayfarer who see"s to follow this passion that is in the innermost !ore of our eing, the pathway in the soul that leads a!" to the %eloved. His major wor", the !athnawi, e!ame "nown as 2The Cur1an in 'ersian.2 (nd today he is the world1s most popular poet, whi!h spea"s of the need we have to hear these stories of divine love, to hear from a master of love how the heart !an sing, !ry, and urn with passion for #od. R?m6 is "nown not only as a poet ut also as the founder of the *evlev6 order. +hile the wor" of I n 1(ra 6, R?m6, and others esta lished a literature for Sufism, the founding of the different Sufi orders, or tar"qas, was an important development in the pra!ti!al appli!ation of Sufi tea!hings. %y the eleventh !entury the small groups that gathered around a parti!ular tea!her had egun to form into tar"qas, ea!h one earing the name of its initiator. The essen!e of ea!h order is the tradition transmitted from tea!her to dis!iple in an uninterrupted !hain of transmission. 3ifferent orders !an e distinguished y the asi! pra!ti!es and prin!iples whi!h they inherit from their founder. Sufism, whi!h has een defined as 2Truth without form,2 has at its !ore the mysti!al love of #od. %ut it also developed a!!ording to the need of the time and the pla!e and the people, and different tariqas refle!t different fa!ets of mysti!al love. $or e.ample, the first order to emerge was the C0diryyah, founded y 1( du1l-C0dir #6l0n6 8d. <<==9 in %aghdad. 1( du1l-C0dir was an as!eti!, missionary, and prea!her who e!ame one of the most popular saints in the Islami! world, and his tom in %aghdad is a pla!e of pilgrimage. The followers of this order elieved in oth the dhikr khaf", the silent repetition of the names of #od, and the dhikr jal", the vo!al repetition of His names, and emphasised the reali-ation of moral Dualities, li"e !harity. (t a out the same time, the Rif01iyya order was founded y (hmad ar-Rif016 8d. <<E@9 and spread from IraD through )gypt and Syria. Fntil the fifteenth !entury it was one of the most popular orders. The Rif01iyya dervishes were "nown as the Howling 3ervishes e!ause they pra!ti!ed a loud dhi"r. R?m61s *evlev6 order e!ame "nown as +hirling 3ervishes on a!!ount of their mysti!al dan!ing to the sound of the reed flute and drums. In !ontrast to the *evlevi are the silen!e and stillness asso!iated with the 4aDsh andiyya, named after %ah0 ad-d6n 4aDsh and 8d. <GHB9, ut started y 1( d1l&h0liD #hijduw0n6 8d. <@@B9. The 4aDsh andis are also "nown as the Silent Sufis e!ause they pra!ti!e a silent rather than vo!al dhikr. They do not engage in samac , sa!red musi! or dan!e. They value of psy!hologi!al wor" and dream interpretation along with their spiritual pra!ti!es, and emphasi-e the suh#at, the !lose relationship of master and dis!iple. The order was very su!!essful in Ientral (sia, and spread throughout India due to the wor" of (hmad Sirhind6 8d. <=@A9, who was also "nown as the !ujaddid 8the renewer9. The Indian ran!h of the 4aDsh andi order e!ame "nown as the 4aDsh andiyya*ujaddidiyya. This Sufi order was rought to the +est in <H=J y Irina Tweedie, author of $aughter of ire% $iar& of a '(iritual Training #& a 'ufi !aster. (fter the death of her hus and, when she was in her fifties, she had gone to India where she met a Sufi master, %hai Sahi . %hai Sahi means elder rother, e!ause traditionally

the Sufi shei"h is 2without a fa!e, without a name.2 Sufis do not elieve in personality worship, or in ideali-ing the tea!her. The tea!her is just a guide, a stepping stone from the world of illusion to the world of reality. %hai Sahi trained her a!!ording to his system, and she was the first +estern woman to e given this an!ient spiritual training of the 4aDsh andis. She stayed with him for a num er of years, undergoing an intense spiritual training, whi!h she re!orded as a diary. +hen she met him he told her to "eep a diary of her e.perien!es, and to "eep a re!ord of her dreams. 5ater he said, 2I am not going to tea!h you anything. If I tea!h you things you will forget them. Instead I will give you e.perien!es.2 Sufism is a path of e.perien!es, in whi!h the very inner su stan!e of the individual is totally !hanged. 5ater, her diaries e!ame a oo", $aughter of ire 8)hasm of ire in its a ridged version9, the first written re!ord of this spiritual training. It tells of how love is !reated within the heart, how this divine love is e.perien!ed as urning longing, and of the slow and painful pro!ess of purifi!ation that grinds down the ego until the dis!iple surrenders totally to the %eloved, to the !urrents of love that ta"e her Home.

TH) *)3IT(TIO4 O$ TH) H)(RT The two !entral pra!ti!es of the 4aDsh andi path are the silent dhikr and the silent meditation of the heart. Repeating His name, we ring the remem ran!e of the heart into !ons!iousness and !onne!t our everyday life with the eternal moment of the soul. +hatever our outer situation, the heart !an hear the name of its %eloved and our whole eing e!omes attuned to love. %ut in our everyday life we are still !onfronted y the veils of illusion, y the maya of His eautiful world. Only when we !lose our outer eyes !an we turn our whole attention to the %eloved. There is a story a out R0 i1a, sitting in a dar"ened room in meditation on a eautiful spring day. Her servant !alled to her to !ome out and see what the Ireator had made. $rom within her room R0 i1a replied, 2+hy not !ome in and see the Ireator, Iontemplation of the Ireator so preo!!upies me that I do not !are to loo" upon His !reation.2 In meditation we learn to still the mind and the senses so that we !an dire!tly e.perien!e the inner reality of the heart. One friend had a dream that gave her a glimpse of the sweetness eyond the mind7 I am sitting with the group and the tea!her silently spea"s to me, saying, 2I will show you what this meditation !an offer you.2 The group egins to meditate and when I fall into meditation I hear the sound of the most eautiful !hord of musi! whose notes e!ome louder and whose vi ration fills my whole eing until its essen!e a sor s me in an intense sweetness and liss whi!h I !an only des!ri e as a glimpse of heaven. The notes !ease as the meditation ends. Su!h liss is the su stan!e of the Self whi!h !annot e e.perien!ed on the level of the mind. The mind is "nown as the 2slayer of the Real,2 for it separates us from spiritual Truth whi!h is found within the heart. +hile the mind understands through duality, the differentiation of su je!t and o je!t, Truth is always a state of oneness7 the "nower and the "nowledge are one, the lover and %eloved are united. *editation is a

te!hniDue to ta"e us from the world of duality to the oneness within the heart. *uh0si 6, a ninth- !entury Sufi from %aghdad, stresses its importan!e7 *editation is the !hief possession of the mysti!, that where y the sin!ere and the #od-fearing ma"e progress on the journey to #od. 3ifferent Sufi paths use different meditation te!hniDues. One prati!e developed y the 4aDsh andi order uses the energy of love to go eyond the mind. 5ove, 2the essen!e of the divine essen!e,2 is the most powerful for!e in !reation. Ioming from the dimension of the Self, love has a faster vi ration than the mind and it has the a ility to over!ome the mind. +e taste this in the e.perien!e of 2falling in love2 when we find that we !annot thin" !learly or rationally. +hen we give ourself in love to the %eloved this e.perien!e is amplified many times, whi!h is why Sufis are often referred to as 2idiots of #od.2 In the words of 1(tt0r, 2+hen love !omes reason disappears. Reason !annot live with the folly of love/ love has nothing to do with human reason.2 Rather than attempting to still one1s thoughts y fo!using on the mind, through fo!using on the heart and the feeling of love within the heart one leaves the mind ehind. Thought-forms slowly die and our emotions are also stilled. The 2meditation of the heart2 is a pra!ti!e that drowns the mind and the emotions in love1s o!ean. $or the heart meditation, as long as the ody is rela.ed the physi!al position does not matter7 one !an sit or even lie down. The first stage in this meditation is to evo"e the feeling of love, whi!h a!tivates the heart !ha"ra. This !an e done in a num er of ways, the simplest of whi!h is to thin" of someone whom we love. This !an e #od, the great %eloved. %ut often at the eginning #od is an idea rather than a living reality within the heart, and it is easier to thin" of a person whom we love, a lover, a friend. 5ove has many different Dualities. $or some the feeling of love is a warmth, or a sweetness, a softness or tenderness, while for others it has a feeling of pea!e, tranDuillity or silen!e. 5ove !an also !ome as a pain, a hearta!he, a sense of loss. However love !omes to us we immerse ourself in this feeling/ we pla!e all of ourself in the love within the heart. +hen we have evo"ed this feeling of love, thoughts will !ome, intrude into our mindwhat we did the day efore, what we have to do tomorrow. *emories float y, images appear efore the mind1s eye. +e have to imagine that we are getting hold of every thought, every image and feeling, and drowning it, merging it into the feeling of love. )very feeling, espe!ially the feeling of love, is mu!h more dynami! than the thin"ing pro!ess, so if one does this pra!ti!e well, with the utmost !on!entration, all thoughts will disappear. 4othing will remain. The mind will e empty. This meditation is pra!ti!ed oth individually and at group meetings. In a group meeting the energy of love is in!reased y all those parti!ipating, the stronger inwardly helping those less e.perien!ed. ( few hearts longing for #od magnifies the power of love present at the meeting many times.

Individually this meditation should initially e pra!ti!ed for at least half an hour a day. )arly morning is usually the est time as there are fewer thought-forms in the air and we are not saturated y the a!tivities of the day. *editating efore falling asleep is also a good pra!ti!e. %ut this meditation is not a rigidly pres!ri ed dis!ipline-it should not e for!ed. (s in all Sufi pra!ti!es if there is too mu!h effort it is not spiritual. (nd sometimes one is une.pe!tedly drawn into meditation. The heart, awa"ened from within, !alls one. Then if possi le one turns away from outer a!tivities and sits in silen!e for a few minutes or even hours, !alled y love into the innermost !ham er of the heart. In time we ma"e the meditation our own/ we find the time that suits our s!hedule and inner nature. There are also different ways to initially evo"e love and still the mind. +hile some pra!titioners just instin!tively awa"en the love within their heart, others may egin y thin"ing of their tea!her, or pla!ing themselves in his presen!e. Others egin y saying the dhikr, repeating *llh a few times, in order to inwardly align themselves with the !urrents of love. Fsually we just let the thoughts !ome and go as we fo!us on the love. $ighting or arguing with the mind just gives it more energy7 the mind enjoys a good argument. %ut there are also times when we need to use our will power to stop the mind, to !ut its in!essant !hatter and never-ending dis!ussions. However, the mind does not li"e to e !ontrolled, to lose its power and autonomy, and will often fight a!", !reating the thoughts that it "nows will most fully engage us, trying to distra!t us from our fo!us on love. It is est to just let love do its wor", to allow its power to !onDuer the mind. Surrendering the mind in the heart, we offer to the %eloved our own individual !ons!iousness, that spar" of His 3ivine Ions!iousness whi!h is His gift to humanity. So many wonders and so many evils have een ena!ted with His gift of !ons!iousness. %ut to ma"e the journey a!" to #od we need to return this gift, this sour!e of our illusion of of self-autonomy. )a!h time we go into meditation we sa!rifi!e our individual !ons!iousness on the altar of love. In so doing we give spa!e for Him to reveal Himself7 #o you, sweep out the dwelling-room of your heart, prepare it to e the a ode and home of the %eloved7 when you go out He will !ome in. +ithin you, when you are free from self, He will show His %eauty. )mptying the mind, we !reate an inner spa!e where we !an e!ome aware of the presen!e of the %eloved. He is always here ut the mind, the emotions, and the outer world veil us from Him. He is the silent emptiness, and in order to e.perien!e Him we need to e!ome silent. In meditation we give ourself a!" to Him, returning from the world of forms to the limitless o!ean of love within the heart.

%(SII )K')RI)4I)S7 I44)R SI5)4I) (43 I(TIHI4# TH) HI4T The lover longs to to go far eyond the mind and the ego, to e a sor ed in love1s limitless o!ean. 3rowning the mind within the heart, we wait to e ta"en, to e a sor ed in love1s emptiness. However, this !omplete giving of oneself ta"es time,

patien!e, and pra!ti!e. The initial stages of meditation are often the wor" of stilling the mind and the emotions, !reating an empty spa!e where we !an e attentive to love and listen to the voi!e of our %eloved. He reveals Himself to those who love Him, and it is always an a!t of gra!e. The wor" of the lover is to e waiting, always listening for His !all. 2Iat!hing the divine hint2 is an important Sufi pra!ti!e in whi!h we learn to e !ontinually attentive to our %eloved in order to serve Him. %ut only too easily does the !lamor of the world deafen us and the noise of our own mind distra!t us. In order to hear the guidan!e that !omes from within, we need to attune ourself to the freDuen!y of the heart and e sensitive to the still, small voi!e of the Self. +e need to learn to fo!us our attention on the inner world and !ultivate stillness. Shi l6 tells a story of going to see the Sufi master, 4?r6, and seeing him sitting in meditation so motionless that not even one hair moved. He as"ed 4?r6, 2$rom whom did you learn su!h deep meditation,2 4?r6 replied, 2I learned it from a !at waiting y a mouse hole. The !at was mu!h stiller than I.2 +ithin the silen!e of the heart, the attention of the lover is re!eptive, waiting for the %eloved. *editation is a state of re!eptivity whi!h is a !ontainer of !ommunion with #od. 5ater the lover learns to !arry this state of inner attention at all times, always "eeping an inner ear attentive to the voi!e of the %eloved, always re!eptive to His hint. %ut in the early stages of the path it !an e diffi!ult to hear His voi!e when we are engaged in the a!tivities of our outer life. +e need the sa!red spa!e of meditation to withdraw into silen!e and "eep our attention fo!used on the heart. *editation also attunes us to the higher freDuen!y of the divine hint, for the hint from #od is 2faster than lightening.2 Through the !ontinual pra!ti!e of meditation, the mind is purified and dis!iplined, made more a!!essi le to the voi!e of the %eloved. (t the eginning we have to learn the art of listening, the art of eing inwardly present, attentive and empty. +e have to learn to e silent, e!ause listening is orn from silen!e, and only in silen!e !an we !at!h the voi!e of our %eloved. +e !an also learn to as", to see" guidan!e for ourself or others. Immersed in the silen!e of the heart we !an spea" more dire!tly to the sour!e, as" without the distortions and distur an!es of everyday !ons!iousness. (nd in this silen!e, surrendered to the emptiness, we are re!eptive to any answer that may e given. Often we sit in meditation and even when we as" there is neither guidan!e nor hint/ we remain alone in the empty spa!e of our listening. %ut the listening of the heart is always an a!t of love, a !oming together, even when nothing is heard. 5istening is a wisdom so easily overloo"ed, e!ause it is feminine, re!eptive, hidden, and our !ulture values only what is visi le. %ut R?m6 "new how !entral a part it plays in our loving, in our wordless relationship with our %eloved7 *a"e everything in you an ear, ea!h atom of your eing, and you will hear at every moment what the Sour!e is whispering to you, just to you and for you, without any need for my words or anyone else1s. You are-we all are-the eloved of the %eloved, and in every moment, in every event of your life, the %eloved is whispering to you e.a!tly what you need to hear and "now. +ho !an ever e.plain this mira!le, It simply is. 5isten and you will dis!over it every passing moment. 5isten, and your whole life will e!ome a !onversation in thought and a!t etween you and Him, dire!tly, wordlessly, now and always.

Through our meditation we learn the art of eing silent, re!eptive, empty, and attentive. +e learn to listen with the inner ear of the heart whi!h is attuned to the voi!e of our %eloved. Surrendering the mind in meditation, we also learn to give ourself to a reality that is not limited y reason, and this helps us to un!onditionally follow the divine hint. Immersed in love, the mind e!omes more mallea le, less !rystalli-ed, and learns to a!!ept a higher authority that does not follow its laws of logi!. *editation floods the mind with light and love, !hanging its te.ture, ma"ing it more a!!essi le to the wisdom and guidan!e that !ome from a dimension of oneness. The lover is the servant of the %eloved, and it is within the heart that He ma"es "nown His needs. +hen the ego and mind have e!ome su servient to love, we are a le to e attentive to Him whom we love. In eing attentive to the heart we are a le to fulfill the deepest purpose of our eing, to 2 e here for Him.2 There was a ruler who had a servant for whom he !ared more than his other servants/ none of them was more valua le or more handsome than this one. The ruler was as"ed a out this, so he wanted to ma"e !lear to them the superiority of this servant over others in servi!e. One day he was riding with his entourage. In the distan!e was a snow-!apped mountain. The ruler loo"ed at that snow and owed his head. The servant galloped off on his horse. The people did not "now why he galloped off. In a short time he !ame a!" with some snow, and the ruler as"ed him, 2How did you "now I wanted snow,2 The servant replied, 2%e!ause you loo"ed at it, and the loo" of the sultan !omes only with firm intention.2 So the ruler said, 2I a!!ord him spe!ial favor and honor, e!ause for every person there is an o!!upation, and his o!!upation is o serving my glan!es and wat!hing my states of eing attentively.2 *editation prepares us for the wor" of servanthood. It attunes us to the higher freDuen!y of His hint, and ta"es us into the inner !ham er of the heart where lover and %eloved !ommune. *editation helps us to live in His presen!e and follow His will.

$FRTH)R ST(T)S7 $H+*,* (43 '*!*$HThe regular pra!ti!e of meditation prepares a pla!e for the lover and %eloved to meet. +ithin the heart the lover and %eloved are always united, ut in order to reali-e this the ego and mind have to e drowned in love. The ego1s world of separation is dissolved in the !urrents of love that are a!tivated through the meditation of the heart. Te!hni!ally the a!t of fo!using on the feeling of love within the heart a!tivates the heart !ha"ra, the psy!hi! !enter whi!h e.perien!es and generates love. The heart !ha"ra egins to spin, whi!h generates more love, whi!h further helps to still the mind. (s the mind e!omes more still the heart spins faster, whi!h, li"e a !hain rea!tion, further stills the mind. )ventually love !ompletely overwhelms the mind. This is the first stage of dh&ana, the !omplete a stra!tion of the senses.

The e.perien!e of dh&ana rarely happens during the first pra!ti!e of meditation. It may ta"e months, even a few years to rea!h this stage. Then when we initially e.perien!e dh&ana it is usually for a split se!ond, and the mind does not even "now it was a sent. $or an instant the mind dips into the infinite and there is little or no !ons!ious awareness of what has happened. ;ust for a moment we were not present. #radually the mind goes for longer periods, whi!h !an seem li"e sleep, e!ause this is the nearest eDuivalent we have ever "nown to this mindless state. %ut it is not sleep, and if one is o servant one sees that !oming out of dh&ana has a different Duality from awa"ing from sleep. There !an e a sense of eing, or a !larity different from the 2fu--iness2 of sleep. Or we emerge with a sweetness within the heart, a softness, a tenderness, or deepened feeling of longing. Sometimes it !an seem that one is gradually returning as if from a great distan!e. In fa!t during the state of dh&ana the individual mind is thrown into the universal mind. One is merged into the sour!e. %ut the mind does not ta"e easily to this loss of !ontrol. Often it fights a!", generating all manner of thoughts. It also !an also evo"e fear, patterns of an.iety, even pani!. $or most of our life the mind has een dominant, and now it is losing its !ontrol. Sometimes, just efore it is a out to dip into the state of dh&ana, the mind, !onfronted y an e.perien!e in whi!h it does not e.ist, e!omes frightened. It may pull us a!" from the rin", !at!h us again in the grip of its self-generating thoughts. %ut through perseveran!e the energy of love triumphs, and gradually the mind e!omes used to this transition, and surrenders to its own non-e.isten!e. $h&ana is the first stage in the meditation of the heart. There are different levels of dh&ana as the lover is immersed deeper and deeper into a reality eyond the mind. *ore and more one feels the pea!e, stillness, and deep sense of well- eing that !ome from eing immersed somewhere where there are not the diffi!ulties of duality, the limitations of the world of the mind and the senses. $or a few minutes, may e an hour ea!h day, one is allowed to merge into a vaster reality, where the pro lems that surround us so mu!h of the time do not e.ist. The states of dh&ana gradually lead to the states of samadhi, where a higher level of !ons!iousness is awa"ened. $h&ana is the first stage after trans!ending the thin"ing fa!ulty of the mind, and from the point of view of the intelle!t it must e !onsidered as an un!ons!ious state. It is the first step eyond !ons!iousness as we "now it, whi!h will lead eventually, y easy degrees, into the state of samadhi, the super-!ons!ious state. The highest stages of dh&ana are gradually transformed into the lower stage of samadhi, whi!h is still not !ompletely !ons!ious. The higher state of samadhi represents a full awa"ening of one1s own divinity. The states of meditation slowly !hange. The heart is a!tivated and the energy of love slows down the mind. The mind loses its power of !ontrol and individual !ons!iousness is lost, at first for an instant and then gradually for longer periods of time. The lover e!omes a sor ed, drowned in the o!ean of love. Then in this state of un!ons!iousness a higher level of !ons!iousness egins to awa"en. (t first there may e a sense of eing-not an ego-identity, e!ause this 2 eing2 is not separate, ut !ontains everything within it. It is our true, uniDue self that is not separate from the whole. This awa"ening sense of eing may e a!!ompanied

y pea!e or liss. This is the pea!e that elongs to the ( solute, the liss that is the sheath of the soul 8ananda ma&a kosha9. The diffi!ulty of des!ri ing the e.perien!es of samadhi is that they elong to a different level of reality, eyond the mind and its Duality of distin!tion. This is a dimension of unity in whi!h different states interpenetrate. In samadhi we egin to e.perien!e our true nature whi!h is a state of oneness7 we are what we e.perien!e. #radually we glimpse, are infused with, the all-en!ompassing unity and energy of love that elong to the Self and underlie all life. (nd this oneness is not a stati! state, ut a highly dynami! state of eing that is !onstantly !hanging. (lso our e.perien!e of it !hanges7 no two meditations are the same and our e.perien!e e!omes deeper and ri!her, more and more !omplete. On this plane of unity everything has its own pla!e and fulfills its real purpose. Here the true nature of everything that is !reated is present as an e.pression of divine oneness and divine glory. In the outer world we e.perien!e only a fragmented sense of our self and our life. Here everything is !omplete and we !ome to "now that everything is just as it should e. )a!h wayfarer will have her own e.perien!es as she glimpses the oneness and the true nature of her divinty. There are also different levels of reality eyond the ego. In different states of meditation one !an e ta"en to these different levels. There is the plane of pure !ons!iousness, #uddhi, 8or the 2higher mind29 whi!h fun!tions without the limitations of duality. This !lear light of !ons!iousness, undistorted y ego or desires, sees things in their real nature, in whi!h their true purpose is revealed. Here the "nower and the "nowledge are one, in a "nowing that elongs to our inner nature and its inter!onne!tedness with all of life. Here the "nowledge that we need is instantaneously a!!essi le. 8$or most people this Duality of 2"nowing2 is e.perien!ed as intuition, in whi!h we suddenly "now something without any pro!ess of thought.9 'ure !ons!iousness is also a state of eing in whi!h awareness is present in its essential nature-the individual is a state of awareness. (nd then the wayfarer !an travel deeper, dissolve into the limitless o!ean of love, whi!h !an seem li"e nothingness to the mind, ut a nothingness that loves and !ares for you with infinite tenderness. The love that is e.perien!ed eyond the mind is total and into.i!ating/ here there are no orders or limitations. The love that elongs to the outer world e!omes just a pale, distorted refle!tion of this real love on the level of the soul. One is loved so !ompletely and one reali-es it was always li"e this only one did not "now it/ and this love and liss e!ome deeper and ri!her. The oneness of lover and %eloved, the meeting, merging, dissolving in love 2li"e sugar in water,2 !an only e hinted at. (s &a ir says, 2It !annot e told y the words of the mouth. It !annot e written on paper. It is li"e a dum person who tastes a sweet thing. It !annot e e.plained.2 (wa"ening from these states, da-ed and ewildered, one would gladly give everything for just another sip of this into.i!ating wine. (nd then further, eyond the orders of the "nown, is the realm of non- eing, the frontier from whi!h no news returns. Here all tra!es of the lover are a sor ed, and one returns from these states "nowing nothing e.!ept that one was ta"en. This is the true resting pla!e of the mysti!. In the words of 1( du1l-C0dir #6l0n6, Then the pilgrim returns home, to the home of his origin...that is the world of (ll0h1s pro.imity, that is where the home of the inner pilgrim is, and that is where he returns.

This is all that !an e e.plained, as mu!h as the tongue !an say and the mind grasp. %eyond this no news !an e given, for eyond is the unper!eiva le, in!on!eiva le, indes!ri a le.

I4T)R'R)T(TIO4S (43 I*'5II(TIO4S The Sufi meditation of the heart is a simple pra!ti!e that uses the energy of love to ta"e the wayfarer Home. The lover gradually passes from the stage of fan, the annihilation of the self, to the stage of #aq, a iding in #od, or 2a iding after passing away.2 Through the power of His love for us, whi!h is hidden within the heart, we are awa"ened to love1s unity that underlies all of life. 5eaving ehind the mind and the ego, we are a le to enter the innermost !ham er of the heart where lover and %eloved are one. Surrendering our ego-!ons!iousness, we gradually e!ome a!!limati-ed to the inner dimensions of oneness, and at the same time !reate a vessel that !an !ontain this higher !ons!iousness. (t first we may e frightened of a reality eyond the mind and the ego. %ut as the states of meditation !hange we e!ome familiar with this state of a sorption, are no longer fearful of eing where the 2lover,2 annihilated in love, does not e.ist7 5ove has moved in and adorned the house, my self tied up its undle and left. You imagine that you see me, ut I no longer e.ist7 what remains is the %eloved. *editation oth ta"es us into the onenesss of love and prepares us for this e.perien!e. T.S. )liot wisely remar"ed, 2human "ind !an not ear very mu!h reality,2 and the tremendous e.perien!e of the eternal emptiness that lies eyond the mind and the ego !an e terrifying. +e are !onditioned y the asi! elief that we e.ist as an individual, separate entity. The ego is the !enter of our !ons!ious awareness. In meditation we egin to glimpse a deeper truth, that the ego is an illusion and the outer world as insu stantial as a dream. In Sha"espeare1s words, 2+e are su!h stuff as dreams are made on.2 Of !ourse many times when we meditate, even after years, the mind and its thoughts remain present. %ut then there are those times when we are ta"en, drawn y love into the vaster dimension of ourself. To awa"en in the emptiness of the ego1s annihilation is a liss so distur ing that when we return to ordinary !ons!iousness we !an e da-ed and !onfused, left ewildered at the roadside of life. +e do not "now what we have seen. The mind !annot !omprehend the Truth told y the heart. (nd reports of those who have traveled this path only emphasi-e that the mind and ego !annot grasp what is e.perien!ed. (l-;unayd des!ri es this state with parado.i!al !larity7 2%eing wholly present in #od, he is wholly lost to self. (nd thus he is present efore #od, a sent in himself/ a sent and present at the same time. He is where he is not and he is not where he is.2 +e have to learn to !ontain the dynami! e.perien!es of the inner worlds without eing overwhelmed. To reali-e that 2there is nothing ut nothingness,2 and at the same time to live one1s day-to-day life, !ope with the responsi ilities and pro lems of the world, ta"es years of preparation. *editation oth opens the inner eye and !reates a Duality of !ons!iousness that !an !ontain what we e.perien!e. Slowly the veils of

illusion that separate us from the da--ling dar"ness of the %eloved are lifted. ( friend on!e had a dream in whi!h she met her tea!her and he had !urtains falling from his hands. He said to her, 2There are su!h mysteries here that it would low away your mind if you were to glimpse them.2 Then he pointed out a path for her to follow that led into the distan!e. Spiritual Truth is !onfusing to the mind/ it vi rates at a higher freDuen!y. Spiritual life is a Duestion of speed. +e need to e a le to !ontain the dynami! vi rations of the Self/ otherwise we would e!ome dangerously un alan!ed. *editation !reates an inner stru!ture of !ons!iousness that ena les us to operate at a higher freDuen!y. Through years of dis!iplined meditation we attune our whole eing to the higher freDuen!ies of divine love so that this into.i!ating energy !an flow through us. $aster and faster flow the !urrents of love, faster and faster spins the heart. If we resist this energy we !ould e dangerously attered. If we were not !entered we would e thrown off alan!e. The ego !annot provide the sta ility and !enter we need. It must e surrendered so that we !an stand on the ro!" of the Self. Surrender allows us to spin with the dan!e of total devotion. (nd the totality of love that is given, in whi!h even every !ell of the ody "nows that it is loved, !reates a sense of se!urity that !annot e sha"en. (s we learn to lose our mind in the empty spa!es of the eyond, we long to e drawn deeper and deeper into this totality of loving, this liss of a andonment. %ut we also need to e a le to !ome a!" to our everyday world. The inner world with its intima!y and freedom from restraints is into.i!ating, and it !an ma"e the outer world seem a !old, alien prison, a pla!e where one !an e "nown and loved in only a fragmented sense. The veils of this world, full of distortions and half truths, !an e heavy and depressing after they have lifted even for just an instant. %ut one must not allow states of meditation to interfere with everyday life and wor". One needs to e a le to fo!us on the outer world and fun!tion on the level of the mind whenever ne!essary. Inwardly lost in love we always remain His servant, living in His world for His sa"e. There was a dis!iple who, sitting in the presen!e of his tea!her, slowly fell into meditation. ;ust as he was going into the state of dh&ana his tea!her suddenly as"ed, 2How is your mother,2 Ioming painfully a!" to his senses, the dis!iple answered, 2Than" you, *arahaj. She is very well.2 His head dropped a!" into the liss of meditation when again his tea!her as"ed, 2How is your aunt,2 (wa"ening again, he respe!tfully answered, 2Lery well, than" you.2 On!e again he fell a!" into meditation, only to e rought a!" y another Duestion from the tea!her. So it !ontinued until finally the shei"h allowed the man to meditate undistur ed. 5ater someone as"ed the shei"h why he interupted the man1s meditation. The shei"h replied, 2He has to e a le to !ome out of meditation at a moment1s noti!e. +e must not e atta!hed even to our meditation.2 Sufism is not a monasti! or as!eti! path. The Sufi wayfarer lives in the inner world of the heart as well as fun!tioning responsi ly in everyday life. Immersed in love1s unity, we !ome to "now our essential nature in whi!h is engraved the deeper purpose of our life. Returning from meditation we ring the fragran!e of this inner reality into our everyday life, and we are a le to live grounded in the deep root of our eing. Having

a!!ess to the plane of unity allows us to parti!ipate in life in a new way. +e are a le to live from the !enter of ourself, and so reali-e our deepest potential as human eings. +e egin to see the way our life refle!ts the divine, how His name imprinted within our heart is refle!ted in our daily life. &nowing our own essential unity and how this unity is a part of the whole of life gives us a dynami! sense of purpose7 we are no longer an isolated individual ut an integral part of life1s unfolding. The journey of the Sufi is the journey of the lover returning to the arms of the %eloved, a journey of love in whi!h we die to the limited ego- ound perspe!tive of ourself. 3rowned in love, in the formless emptiness that is eyond the mind, we dis!over that within us whi!h is eternal, and awa"en to the life within the heart. In this dynami!ally unfolding oneness the path and the see"er are forgotten. Only His formless 'resen!e is real7 In #od there is no duality. In that 'resen!e 2I2 and 2we2 and 2you2 do not e.ist. 2I2 and 2you2 and 2we2 and 2He2 e!ome one.... Sin!e in the Fnity there is no distin!tion, the Cuest and the +ay and the See"er e!ome one. &nowing and living this unity, the lover refle!ts the light and love of the %eloved into his daily life. The se!ret of love1s oneness e!omes the ground upon whi!h we wal", the essen!e of the air we reathe. Inwardly merged in our %eloved, we impress the stamp of His reality into ea!h and every moment. Outwardly we see His oneness refle!ted in the world/ we !ome to "now the hidden fa!e of !reation, what the Sufis !all the se!ret of the word .un/ 8%e9. (ttentive to Him, we are here to serve Him. The lover who has given himself in love has em ra!ed the poverty of the heart, 2having nothing and wanting nothing.2 Surrendered to our %eloved, we want nothing for ourself, not even the states of meditation. %ut through the mer!y of His love for us He !omes to us and ta"es us to Him. +e e!ome nourished from within, from the love and guidan!e that flow into the heart. Through the pra!ti!e of meditation we are given a!!ess to the se!rets of love, and !an help to ring these se!rets into the world. M @BBB, The #olden Sufi Ienter.

NOTES <. Cuoted in Iarl )rnst, 0ords of 1cstas& in 'ufism 8(l any7 State Fniversity of 4ew Yor" 'ress, <HE>9, p. @B. 2,afs2 is a Sufi term for the lower nature, or ego. @. Cuoted y (nnemarie S!himmel, !&stical $imensions of -slam 8Ihapel Hill7 Fniversity of 4orth Iarolina 'ress, <HJ>9, p. AH. G. Cuoted y *assingnon, 5ouis, The 2assion of al-Hallaj 8'rin!eton7 'rin!eton Fniversity 'ress, <HE@9, p. A@. A. 2+hoso &noweth Himself,2 from the Treatise on %eing 83isale-t-ul-wujudi&&ah9 8( ingdon, O.on7 %eshara 'u li!ations, <HJ=9, pp. G-A.

>. Cuoted y %hatnagar, R.S. $imensions of )lassical 'ufi Thought 83ehli, India7 *oyilal %anarsidass, <HEA9, p. H@ =. Cuoted y )va de Litray-*eyerovit!h, 3m" and 'ufism 8Sausalito, Ialifornia7 The 'ost (pollo 'ress, <HEJ9, p. @A. J. Trans. (ndrew Harvey, 4ight u(on 4ight 8%er"eley7 4orth (tlanti! %oo"s, <HH=9 , p. <E<. E. *ahm?d Sha istar6, Duoted y %hatnagar, p. <<E. H. Trans. (ndrew Harvey, 4ight u(on 4ight, p. HH. <B. (l-Cushayr6, 2rinci(les of 'ufism, trans. %.%. Lon S!hlegell 8%er"eley7 *i-an 'ress, <HHB9, p. <>H. <<. $h&ana and 'amadhi are Sans"rit terms that !ome from the 4aDsh andiyya*ujaddidiyya1s development in India. <@. Irina Tweedie, unpu lished le!ture, 2The 'arado. of *ysti!ism,2 +re"in Trust, 2*ysti!s and S!ientists Ionferen!e,2 <HE>. <G. 2The 'ecret of 'ecrets2 trans. Tosun %ayra" 8Iam ridge7 The Islami! Te.ts So!iety, <HH@9, p. EJ. <A. 4i-ami, The 'tor& of 4a&la and !ajnun, trans. R. #elp"e 85ondon7 %runo Iassirer, <H==9, p. <H>. <>. 2%urnt 4orton2 ll. A@-G, our 5uartets 85ondon7 $a er and $a er, <HAA9. <=. The Tem(est, ed. $ran" &ermode, 85ondon7 *ethuen N Io. 5td., <H>A9, iv. i. <A=-J. <J. Cuoted y %hatnagar, p. <AJ. *ahm?d Sha istar6, Duoted y %hatnagar, p. <<E.