Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Gul Afroz Zaman, The Mystic Journey of the Soul, bahai-library.com.
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The Mystic Journey of the Soul
Gul Afroz Zaman
Abstract
This article briefly outlines the journey a soul is required to make if it
wants to attain a state of union with the Eternal from the confines of its
material life on earth. Some basic concepts of the Christian and Sufi
esoteric traditions as well as Baha'i mysticism are reviewed. The
ultimate goal of these spiritual teachings is the same; the need to come as
close to the Source or Creator as possible. The paths may differ slightly,
but the need to attain to the "Heavenly Homeland", is the central theme
that links them together.
Introduction
As there are many esoteric traditions within each religion, it is not
possible, in this short article, to describe them all so only some basic
concepts of the Christian, Sufic and Baha'i teachings are reviewed.
One overriding question which has always confronted man is how to
undertake this journey, so as to transcend human limitations and to
achieve enlightenment, or union with God. Most religions of the world
have an exoteric (outer) meaning and an esoteric (inner) meaning. We
start with the outer and gradually move to the inner world as and when
our spirit longs for a nearness to our creator. This is usually done with
short periods of meditation and prayer. The meditation can be based on a
word, a sentence, a short prayer or silence. This enables us to reduce and
ultimately stop the constant mental dialogue and chatter. This process
takes time and effort, and most of all, persistence. As we became more
and more proficient with our meditations, our contemplations, our
prayers, our solitude, we find our inner growth is accelerated and we get
closer and closer to our goal. This inner growth has a flavour and
90 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
momentum of its own and takes us into yet deeper levels of meditation
and quietude. As the soul moves into higher and more subtle regions it
experiences feelings of bliss and selflessness; at the same time one is
more aware of the pain and suffering of other human beings. The soul
has reached a point where it is less concerned with self and more
concerned with helping humanity. More effort and faith is required of
the seeker if he is to reach yet higher states. In the final state of growth,
self is finally forgotten or transcended. The self is thus consumed and
burnt to nothingness in the unity of love; life after this will be completely
God centered.
"My servant draws near to me through works of supererogation, until I
love him. And when I love him, I am his ear, so he hears by Me, and his
eye, so he sees by Me, and his tongue, so he speaks by me, and his hand,
so that he takes by Me." l
This passing away in God, then, is the goal of the mystic journey of the
soul. It is the moksha or liberation of Hinduism, the Nirvana of
Buddhism, the Fana of Sufis, the passing away from duality to oneness.
There is nothing better, nothing safer, nothing sweeter than this; this is
the kingdom of the soul. It has finally found its resting place and can
now rest peacefully and eternally in God.
As mentioned earlier, each religion has its esoteric side. The foundation
of this journey to God is faith and hope which makes us take the first
faltering steps and so the journey starts with courage, fortitude, intense
longing, determination and perhaps most important of all, love. As Julian
of Norwich a 14th century mystic beautifully and humbly prays:
" God, of your goodness, give me yourself, for you are enough for me
and I can ask for nothing else than full worship of you. And if I ask for
anything that is less, I shall always want; for only in you have I
everything".2
In the words of the early Church Father, St. Augustine,
Hadith quoted by A.J. Arberry in 'Sufism', p. 27
quoted by Ann Bancroft, The Luminous Vision, p 51
The Mystic Journey of the Soul 91
"Love and do what you will" Knowing full well that if you truly love
you will only do what is right."3
Let us start with the Christian mystical tradition. One of the central
themes of the Christian mystics is the tragedy and suffering of Jesus. The
other central theme is service to mankind in the name of God. Some of
the well known mystics were St John of the cross, St Teresa of Avila,
Julian of Norwich, St Bernard of Clairvaux, St Francis of Assisi, Richard
Rolle, Moister Eckhart and the anonymous author of the wonderfully
written, The Cloud of Unknowing. Most of the above mentioned mystics
were connected to the church in some way or the other and their practice
was coloured by the beliefs of their particular church. However, they all
agreed that any real practice demands the purification of oneself at the
beginning - and by purification is meant a heightened awareness of the
nature of one's own self and the results of one's thoughts and actions. As
the author of the Cloud of Unknowing says "When you go apart by
yourself in solitude, do not think about what you will be doing
afterwards, put away all good thoughts as well as evil ones; and do not
pray with words unless you feel you really must. Or if you do have
something to say, do not look at how much or how little it is, nor what it
means, whether it is orison or psalm, hymn, anthem or any other prayer,
general or special, silently formed within or spoken out loud. And look
that nothing remains in your conscious mind but a naked intent
stretching unto God - what he is like himself or in any of his works, -
but only that he is as he is. Let him be so, I pray you, and do not make
him other wise".4 Again he stresses, "Although I bid you plainly and
boldly to set out in this contemplative work, nevertheless I feel certain,
without error or doubt, that the grace of God is always the chief stirrer
and worker".5
As the grace of God descends upon the pilgrim he seeks solitude more
and more. His need now is to be in communion with God and he moves
further and further from the world of illusion and desire. As Evelyn
Underhill, a well known writer of Mysticism says, "It is the last painful
break with the life of illusion. The tearing away of the self from the
quoted by Ann Bancroft, The Luminous Vision, p. 56
quoted by Ann Bancroft, The Luminous Vision, p. 165-166
quoted by Ann Bancroft, The Luminous Vision p. 178
92 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
world of becoming, in which all its natural affections and desires are
rooted, and thrusting it into the world of being".6 We are responding to
the insistent dimension of God - ground within us and once the
awakening process has begun it is almost impossible to close one's eyes
again Master Eckhart a 13th century mystic said, "Begin with yourself
and abandon yourself! In truth if you do not flee from yourself, wherever
else you may flee you will find hindrance and trouble". 7
Again he says "God expects but one thing from you and that is that you
should come out of yourself in so far as you are a created being and let
God be God in you".8
The contemplation of these mystics revolved around intense prayer, vigil
and solitude. A favorite prayer was "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon
me"9. This or any other prayer was repeated over and over for hours on
end, sometimes long into the night, accompanied by fasting. This
continued for some months or perhaps years and then the grace of God
descended upon the seeker and with this grace came bliss and a need to
move closer and closer to the God-ground. The closer we get the surer
we are that we are on the right path and that God is our guide, our
protector and our preserver. So long as we keep travelling towards this
unlimited light we will not go astray and will ultimately be united with
the source of all light. There is much pleasure and satisfaction in this
journey, as St Teresa of Avila has so aptly put it "One feels a great
bodily comfort, a great satisfaction of soul: such is the happiness of the
soul in seeing herself close to the spring, that even without drinking of
the waters she feels herself refreshed".10
All this time we are or should be, seriously cleansing our bodies, minds
and thoughts. Much of spiritual spring cleaning consists of cutting or
pruning and discarding all that is unnecessary in our lives. We start by
limiting our involvement in activities which are wasteful and frivolous
quoted by Ann Bancroft, The Luminous Vision, p. 180
quoted by Ann Bancroft, The Luminous Vision, p. 159 *
•
quoted by Ann Bancroft, The Luminous Vision, p. 159
quoted by Ann Bancroft, The Luminous Vision, p. 171
St. Teresa Avila, quoted by Evelyn Underhill, Mysticism p 32. Unwin Brothers Ltd,
UK, 1960
The Mystic Journey of the Soul 93
and spend more time on things which are important and necessary for
our spiritual growth. As Master Ekhart says "God is not found in the soul
by adding anything but by a process of subtraction" This is also one of
the approaches t o God in Hinduism "Not this, not that" (Brhadaranyaka
Upanishad 4:5: 15) and in Buddhism's 'Neti Neti' and the "God who
hidest thyself of Judaism (Isaiah 45: 15).
Similarly according to Tao Te Ching:
To attain knowledge
Add things every day,
To attain wisdom
Remove things everyday.
Eckhart also says "That man is free who clings to nothing and to whom
nothing clings".11
Knowing or sensing what to remove - this is courage, knowing when to
remove - this is wisdom; gradually, we must make use of wisdom, faith
and courage to clarify our minds and simplify our lives. Our goal is God
and how soon we reach our goal depends on whether we take a short cut
or whether we take a long lingering scenic route.
The Christian mystic's code also demanded utmost sacrifice in serving
mankind as his saviour Jesus Christ had done. Service had to be rendered
with utmost humility and life had to be lived in utter simplicity; giving
ungrudgingly of one's time and of one's possessions was of supreme
importance. True kindness is rooted in a deep sense of abundance out of
which flows the conviction that even as we give, it is being given back to
us. As we give — so shall we receive; we will always be given enough
and we will always have enough to give. We must give with a conviction
that there is enough for all and more. This need to give becomes more
and more profound until we sense the need to give ourselves up totally to
God. This journey which starts with an outer giving to God of our
energy, our attention, our time, our effort and of our possessions, ends
with our final offering to God; an offering of ourselves - to be burnt in
the fire of love and to rejoice in this burning; for when all traces of our
quoted by Ann Bancroft, The Luminous Vision, p. 149
94 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
self-ness and our ego are finally stripped away from us, then and only
then - we step into the state of unity and into the bliss beyond
description - The source of all, as Evelyn Underhill puts it, "That
immaterial and final Being, which some philosophers call the Absolute,
and most theologians call God". 12
Finally the stage is reached when, according to Eckhart,
"The eye by which I see God is the same eye by which he sees me. My
eye and the eye of God are one eye, one vision, one knowledge and one
love" 13
Let us now turn to the mystical traditions of the Sufis. One of the best
descriptions of Sufism is,
"Be in the world, but not of it"14
This would describe the Sufi way of life and teachings perfectly. Why
were they called Sufis? It seems that at some point the early Muslim
seekers of God had taken a liking to wearing an outer garment or cloak
of wool. The Arabic name for wool is 'Suf and so it was only a matter
of time before they came to be known as Sufis i.e. 'the wearers of woof.
There is, however, another school of thought. They hold the belief that
the word Sufi was derived from 'tassuwuf which means meditation or
contemplation.
The goal of the Sufi is to attain to the presence of God through
meditation and prayer. He must follow a regimen of strict discipline and
watch his every thought and action with vigilance. The journey generally
starts when all the outer requirements of religion have been completed.
Then and only then does he embark on the inner journey to meet the
Supreme Reality.
The doctrine that the Sufis practice and preach is of evolution; however,
it is not Darwinian evolution. This evolution is from the materially
Evelyn Underhill, Mysticism, p. 4
quoted by Ann Bancroft, The Luminous Vision, p. 159
Stuart Litvak, Sufism, p. 59
The Mystic Journey of the Soul 95
inclined man to a spiritually refined one and then on and on until finally
he can be called 'the man of God'. A seeker must crawl before he can
walk, and walk, before he can run, and later, much, much later, he may
be able to fly. Five centuries before Darwin, the Sufi Saint Jalaludin
Rumi wrote:
I have again and again grown like grass; I have experienced seven
hundred and seventy moulds. I died from minerality and became
vegetable; And from vegetativeness I died and became animal. I died
from animality and became man. Then why fear disappearance through
death? Next time I shall die bringing forth wings and feathers like
angels; After that, soaring higher than angels-what you cannot imagine, I
shall be that. 15
Stuart Litvak also states
"So evolution was known to Sufis centuries ago, and the transformative
process was familiar to them because of direct experience, not
speculative theory".16
Again he emphasizes,
"Sufis contend that evolution continues in infinite stages after clinical
death and that it is a universal phenomena".17
The Sufi seeker is therefore taught only when he is ready to imbibe
spiritual teachings and is taught in several stages. After he has mastered
a particular teaching he is taught what comes next and so on and so forth.
The appropriate growth must be one that matches the current stage of
development. According to Sufis, only a teacher can achieve this because
he has traversed this path himself and so is in a position to guide the
seeker in his quest for truth. A great deal of importance is attached to the
teacher in the Sufic tradition and, once accepted into pupilship, the
aspirant comes into the spiritual guardianship of his Pir. Sufic knowledge
quoted by Idries Shah, The way of the Sufi, p. 107
Stuart Litvak, Sufism, p. 88
Stuart Litvak, Sufism, p. 61
96 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
is non-verbal and is essentially intuitive or innate wisdom which can be
released by certain practices.
"The premises that one can directly experience God while alive on this
earth and can survive one's bodily death are central if not over-
verbalized".18
One of the ways of coming closer to God and creating a state of ecstasy
is the practice of Ziker. "Remember God often" is a phrase, which
constantly recurs in the Koran: The Sufis interpret this in a special way,
and the word 'remembrance' (Ziker) has acquired in time a very
particular connotation.19
"Everything on earth passeth away, save His face" (Koran 55: 26). This
is taken by the Sufis as the peg upon which to hang their characterstic
doctrine of the passing away (Fana) of human attributes through union
with God, whereby the mystic achieves the eternal continuance (Baqa) of
spiritual life in Him.20
The goal of these mystics is the same as the Christian mystics and union
with God is of paramount importance. It is the reason d'etre for which
the seeker of any mystic tradition enters the path. It is the 'Pearl of all
wisdom' for which he is willing to sacrifice all, including his life, if need
be.
The search for God is his passion and he sees his life as a vehicle only
for this purpose, this search for him is his sole reason for living: As
Rabia Basri, an outstanding woman Sufi saint has so eloquently put it "O
God, if I worship Thee in fear of Hell, burn me in Hell; and if I worship
Thee in hope of Paradise, exclude me from Paradise; but if I worship
Thee for Thine own sake, withhold not Thine everlasting Beauty".21
Such was the zeal of the seeker of God, and in many of the Sufic
writings examples of this are given in allegoric form; the moth that
Stuart Litvak, Sufism, p. 63
A.J. Arberry, Sufism, p. 22
A.J. Arberry, Sufism, p. 22
A.J. Arberry, Sufism, p. 42
The Mystic Journey of the Soul 97
immolates itself joyously in the flame, the shining dew drop that slides
silently into the sea; the river that in ecstasy joins with and merges with
the oceans. As we can see, love of the Divine or 'mahabba' is the driving
force and great emphasis is placed on this love "He loveth them and they
love him". (Koran 2:152). An aspect of great importance in the Sufi
tradition is the nearness of God. You do not have to search anywhere
outside of yourself- God resides in your heart. The seeker has to cleanse
his heart and mind, his body and soul and then he will discover his
Beloved in the deepest recesses of his being. 'He is nearer to him than
his own jugular vein (Koran 50:16) and again 'wither so ever ye turn,
there is the Face of God' (Koran 2:115).
What the Sufi is trying to achieve is to leave this dimension of the
physical world and its imperfections, its sorrows, its trials and
tribulations, and reach a spiritual dimension. The Sufis claim that reality
as we know it is shaped by our expectations, coloured by our culture and
designed to keep us earth-bound and barely aware of our spiritual
heritage.
Rumi says in his short poem, called "Another Dimension"
The hidden world has its clouds and rain,
But of a different kind
Its sky and sunshine are of a different kind,
This is made apparent to the refined ones-
Those not deceived by the seeming completeness of the ordinary world.22
The Sufi then, is searching precisely for this dimension; to escape from
the boundaries of this earth-plane and to free ourselves once and for all
from the shackles that bind us to this world of space time.
How we long to somehow transcend this limited existence and live in the
freedom of an unlimited and unfettered existence, 'Love becomes perfect
only when it transcends itself, becomes one with its object; producing
Unity of Being'.23
quoted by Idries Shah, The way of the Sufi, p. 104
Stuart Litvak, Sufism, p. 45
98 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
The perfected man or woman is capable of functioning at several levels
simultaneously, and is in direct contact with Cosmic Reality.
The Sufi idea of evolution is on two levels, one at a subconscious level,
which is a natural process involving all forms of life - the other is a
conscious level which is dependent on one's own efforts. The first thing
a would-be murid (aspirant) is advised to do is look for a Pir (Teacher)
who will initiate him into the order that the Pir belongs to. There are
many orders i.e. Chistia, Nakshbandi, Shadilia, Suhrawardia, Qadirya
etc. Different schools have their own rules and rituals - some schools are
quite secretive and will not divulge any information unless you are
initiated into their order. "The essence of Sufism is the Teacher, the
teaching and the Taught"25
An interesting facet of Sufism is the concept of Nafs or ego. This
egoistic state has to be transcended or negated at some stage along the
way if the aspirant is to reach the goal he desires. Another interesting
aspect to Sufism is the concept of 'Baráka' or grace; this is a quality
which probably is not present in the aspirant until he is well into the
path. It is a giffand is given when the aspirant is deemed ready to receive
it. However, there are recorded instances where this 'grace' is bestowed
freely to a person who has not yet embarked on this journey. Once this
grace is received the person is so enamoured by the sense of the new
dimension which is presented to his senses that it is only a matter of time
before he starts his search to look for the Higher Reality, and begins to
look for a Teacher to guide him towards the correct path to salvation.
"Every part of your development as a human being needs correct time,
right place, a suitable company. Without these you will be as complete as
anything else which lacks three desirable elements in due concert, like a
plant, say, without water, sun and earth.26
Here Idries Shah again stresses the need for a Pir. The need for a
spiritual guide is stressed again and again in almost all Sufi literature as
being of primary importance. Without a guide the seeker is always
warned of losing his way and going astray.
Stuart Litvak, Sufism, p. 88
Stuart Litvak, Sufism, p. 24.
Idries Shah, Caravan of Dreams, p. 201.
The Mystic Journey of the Soul 99
Once a Pir is found and the murid has been initiated he is required to
prepare himself to receive the Sufic teachings. Each order has its
different exercises. The following are the Sufic preparatory exercises
(Adab) according to the Naqshbandi Order.27
1. Ritual Purification
2. Prayer
3. Face Qibla (Mecca) in a deserted place .
4. Squat with folded legs, as at prayer
5. Ask forgiveness for all sins
6. Recite the Fatiha (Dedication) and offer them to Prophet
Mohammad P.B.U.H. and the spirits of the Nakshbandi Shaikhs.
7. Close eyes and keep lips sealed tightly. Press tongue against the
roof of your mouth.
8. Perform grave exercise i.e. imagine you are dead, washed and
wrapped in white and laid in your tomb and all the mourners
have departed, leaving you alone to face the judgement.
9. Perform guide exercise i.e. seeker's heart confronts the heart of
the sheikh and seeks the sheikh's blessings.
10. Concentrate all your bodily senses, expel all preoccupations and
wayward impulses of the heart, and direct all your perception
towards God. Then say " O God, Thou art my Quest, and Thy
pleasure is my desire". Then commemorate the name of the
Essence within the heart, recalling that God is present, watching
and encompassing you.
11. Await the "Visitation" (Warid) i.e. spiritual epiphenomenon .
These were the recommended exercises for the benefit of the aspirant to
prepare him for the next stage of development. Let us now look at the
qualities needed for salvation according to Al-Ghazali28
1. Tauba - Repentance or forgiveness
2. Sabr - Fortitude
3. Shukr - Gratitude
4. Khauf - Fear
5. Raja - Hope
A.J. Arberry, Sufism, p. 130
A.J. Arberry, Sufism, p. 130
100 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
6. Faqr - Poverty
7. Zuhd - Self denial
8. Tauhid - Belief
9. Tawakkul - Trust in God
10. Mahabba - Love
11. Shauk - Yearning
12. Uns - Intimacy
13. Rida - Satisfaction
14. Niya - Resolve
15. Sidq - Truthfulness
16. Ikhlas - Sincerity
17. Muraqaba - Contemplation
18. Muhasaba - Self Examination
19. Tafakkhur - Meditation
20. The recollection of Death
These are some of the stages that a murid must traverse before he passes
on to higher and higher realms until finally he reaches the stages offana
and baqa which defy description as they belong to a dimension beyond
time and space.
"To summarize, the way of the Sufi is a direct path to illumination and
intuitive knowledge; it is a path that is hidden from view of the
conventional eye. In order to see the path, we must be willing to break
with conventionality, that is, our conditioning, our familiar pattern of
thinking and open our minds to the unfamiliar, the unexpected and the
unknown".29
Let us now turn to the Baha'i teachings. Baha'u'llah the founder of the
Baha'i Faith, has presented this teaching in a beautifully written book
called, "The Seven Valleys", which may be regarded as a very important
writing in the realm of mystical composition. This was written in
response to the question of Shaykh Muhyi'd-Din, by profession a judge
and a keen student of Sufi philosophy. Baha'u'llah used a pattern similar
to, though not identical, to the one previously used by Faridu'd-Din Attar
in his most famous work 'Language of the Birds'.
Stuart Litvak, Suflsm, p. 65
The Mystic Journey of the Soul 101
The theme followed is of Progressive revelation, the doctrine that
Prophets reveal teachings according to the needs and capacity of the
people'.30
Before the seeker starts on this mystical quest he is expected to follow
very strictly the Baha'i virtues of spotless cleanliness, chastity,
trustworthiness, hospitality, courtesy and justice. Once he has mastered
these he may then proceed on his journey to God, who is "the First and
the Last, the Seen and the Hidden, and He knoweth all things" (Koran
57: 3).
The seeker must pass through various states or levels; each level
prepares him and fortifies his faith to step into the next level.
"The stages that mark the way-farer's journey from the abode of dust to
the heavenly homeland are said to be seven. Some have called these
seven valleys, and others, Seven Cities. And they say that until the way-
farer taketh leave of self, and traverseth these stages, he shall never reach
to the ocean of nearness and union, nor drink of the peerless wine".31
The first stage is,
The Valley of Search
In this valley, the aspirant is advised to cleanse the heart from all forms
of imitation, which is following the traces of their forefathers. He must
further cleanse his heart from enmity against all people of the earth. He
must also have patience and not be downhearted if the journey seems
tedious and long. He must remember, "whoso seeketh out a thing with
zeal shall find it"32
"The true seeker hunteth naught but the object of his quest, and the lover
hath no desire save union with the Beloved. Nor shall the seeker reach
his goal unless he sacrifice all things. That is, whatever he hath seen, and
heard, and understood, all must be set at naught, that he may enter the
Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys, p. x
Baha'u'llah. The Seven Valleys, p. 4
Arabian proverb, quoted in The Seven Valleys, p. 7
^
102 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
realm of the spirit, which is the City of God. Labor is needed, if we are
to seek Him; order is needed, if we are to drink of the honey of reunion
with Him; and if we taste of this cup, we shall cast away the world".33
The seeker then asks for the grace and guidance of God to step into
The Valley of Love
In this valley he is dissolved in the fire of love. Here he seeks neither
ignorance, nor knowledge, neither doubt nor certitude. He flees from
both unbelief and faith. He searches only for his Beloved for whom at
every moment he is ready to offer a hundred lives. Here all the traces of
ego and self must "Be burned away at the fire of love, that the spirit may
be purified and cleansed and thus may know the station of the Lord of
the Worlds".34
Kindle the fire of love and burn away all things,
Then set thy foot into the land of the lovers.35
The seeker must now enter into
The Valley of Knowledge
"And come out of doubt into certitude, and from the darkness of illusion
to the guiding light of the fear of God. His inner eyes will open and he
will privily converse with his Beloved".36
In this valley he is content to be with God and delight in the nearness of
his Beloved. He witnesses the mysteries of life, death and resurrection;
he sees the realms of creation^nd with a pure heart is able to look into
the souls of man and sees the divine wisdom in the endless
Manifestations of God.
Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys, p. 7
Baha'u'llah The Seven Valleys, p. 11
An ode by Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys, p. 11
Baha'u'llah The Seven Valleys, p. 11
The Mystic Journey of the Soul 103
"In the ocean he fmdeth a drop in a drop he beholdeth the secrets of the
sea"37
In this valley he meets injustice with patience and anger with love; his
only concern is with the ripening of his heart which is heavy with the
repeated remembering of the Lord.
'He breaks the cage of the body and the passions and consorts with the
people of the immortal realm. He climbs on the ladders of inner truth and
hastens to the heaven of inner significance'.38
After passing through this valley, which is the last plane of limitation,
the wayfarer has passed beyond the worlds of names, of forms and the
worlds of attributes.
There is a saying attributed to Ali
"Absolute Unity excludeth all attributes"39
He now steps into
The Valley of Unity
Here, he "Drinketh from the cup of the Absolute, and gazeth on the
Manifestations of Oneness. In this station he pierceth the veils of
plurality, fleeth from the worlds of the flesh, and asendeth into the
heaven of singleness. With the ear of God he heareth, with the eye of
God he beholdeth the mysteries of divine creation. He steppeth into the
sanctuary of the Friend and shareth as an intimate the pavilion of the
Loved One."40
At this stage the seeker has lost all sense of 'me' and T and seeks for
himself neither name nor fame nor rank. He sees everything as God 'Say,
all is from God'. (Koran 4:80.)
Baha'u'llah The Seven Valleys, p. 12
Baha'u'llah The Seven Valleys, p. 12
quoted in The Seven Valleys, p. 15
Baha'u'llah The Seven Valleys, p. 17
104 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
And again,
"There is no power or might other than God". (Koran 18:37.)41
Certain souls have strayed far from God and clouded themselves with
ignorance and blindness and confined themselves in walls of self and
passion. They dwell in the realm of limitation and so are completely
veiled and have no portion of the Divine Beauty. But some advanced
souls have drunk of the wine of oneness and so see nothing but the glory
and splendour of the One and dwell on the plane of Oneness. Those souls
who have passed the relative and the limited spheres and dwell on the
plane of the Absolute, have burned away all relativities.
"In thy soul of love build then a fire. And burn all thoughts and words
entire."42
The seeker is now ready to enter
The Valley of Contentment
Here he feels the gentle breeze of divine contentment. His sadness and
grief is turned into delight and rapture.
"This is the realm of full awareness, of utter self-effacement. Even love
is no pathway to this region, and longing hath no dwelling here;
wherefore it is said, 'Love is a veil betwixt the lover and the beloved.'
Here love becometh an obstruction and a barrier and all else save Him is
but a curtain."43
Here the mystic dwells in inner peace and drinks the delicate wines of
the spirit. Here one sees only the Divine.
"There was God and there was naught beside Him". 44
quoted in The Seven Valleys, p. 18
Jalal'u'din Rumi's Masnavi, quoted by Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys, p. 28
Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys, p. 60
Hadith quoted in The Seven Valleys, p. 31
The Mystic Journey of the Soul 105
In this valley the traveller will witness the beauty of the Friend in
everything. After journeying through the planes of pure contentment the
traveller comes to
The Valley of Wonderment
Here he is stunned by the beauty of the All-glorious. Every moment his
wonder grows and every moment he witnesses a new creation and is lost
in awe at the works of the Lord, "O friend, the heart is the dwelling of
eternal mysteries, make it not the home of fleeting fancies; waste not the
treasure of thy precious life in employment with this swiftly passing
world. Thou comest from the world of holiness - bind not thine heart to
the earth; thou art a dweller in the court of nearness - choose not the
homeland of the dust."45
No words can accurately describe this state - As Jalal'u'din Rumi says in
his Masnavi,
"If I speak forth many a mind will shatter;
And if I write many a pen will break."46
Also Hafiz of Shiraz, one of the greatest of Persian poets, writes
"Only heart to heart can speak the bliss of mystic knowers
No messenger can tell it and no missive bear it."47
In this valley words cannot convey the majesty and the magnitude and
poet after poet and mystic after mystic have fallen silent. Jalal'u'din
Rumi in his Masnavi says
"The tale is still unfinished and I have no heart for it - then pray forgive
rv,o " 4 8
me.
Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys, p. 35
quoted in The Seven Valleys, p. 29
quoted in The Seven Valleys, p. 30
quoted in The Seven Valleys, p. 35
106 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
The greatest of Persian Sufi poets fell silent as he could not find words to
describe the magnificence and the grandeur of this awesome dimension.
The wayfarer now reaches, the valley of
True Poverty and Absolute Nothingness
Here is experienced the dying from self and the living in God. Here all
worldly attachments are burned away and nothing whatsoever remains of
the limited things of this perishable world. More than this cannot be
revealed as there are no adequate words to describe this state. The ardent
seeker is urged to reach this stage and not let opportunities go to waste.
He must make haste to attain this station no matter what the personal
cost may be,
"Radiant as the sun, bright hath He shined,
But Alas, He hath come to the town of the blind."49
So be not like the blind but open your eyes and see the splendour which
is your birthright. Make this light and this knowledge your goal and your
destiny.
As Sa'adi says,
"I seek thy nearness,
Dearer then sweet heaven
I see thy visage,
Fairer than Paradise bowers."50
Ecstasy alone can encompass this theme, not utterance nor argument;
only those who have reached this stage know, and when this highest
plane is reached, then shall you gaze on the Beloved, and forget all else -
for you have reached the court of the Life-Bestower. This is the realm of
Absolute Command - it is beyond what any tongue can utter and any
mind comprehend.
The Koran says,
Jalal'u'din Rumi's Masnavi quoted in The Seven Valleys, p. 39
Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys, p. 64
The Mystic Journey of the Soul 107
"Far be the glory of thy lord, the Lord of all greatness, from what they
affirm of Him". (Koran 37: 180 quoted in The Seven Valleys, p. 65)
Finally, the stage is reached when God promises the seeker who has
given up everything for him "O my servant, Obey me and I will make
thee like unto myself. I say 'BE' and it is and thou shalt say 'Be' and it
shall be"51.
This, then is the fruit, the goal, of this wondrous mystical journey of the
soul - a journey which began from the abode of dust to the heavenly
homeland; a journey where self is transcended and only the Omniscient
One remains.
Conclusion
In summation, love of God, love of human-kind and love of nature is
taught by all mystics and these are the universal threads that link the
mystics of the world together in a web. At the centre is the Divine
Reality and the different religions have woven a beautiful tapestry of
poetry, prose and love around it. All ardent seekers have arrived at the
centre of this divine mystery, no matter from which point they started
and all have poured out their very best; all the praise they were capable
of, with words and feelings that at times reached sublime heights of
beauty and tenderness for this unfathomable source of love so gently and
silently hidden in the deepest recesses of one's heart.
Hadith quoted by Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys, p. 63
108 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
Works Cited
Arberry, A. J.
Sufism, G. Allen and Unwin, London, 1956.
BaháVUáh
The Seven Valleys, Baha'i Publishing Trust, Wilmette, Illinois, 1991.
Bancroft, Anne
The Luminous Vision, G. Allen and Unwin, London, 1982.
Litvak, Stuart
Sufism, Jaico, Bombay, India, 1984.
Shah Idries
Caravan of Dreams, Octogon, London, 1968.
- The Way of the Sufi, Dutton, New York, 1969.
Underbill, Evelyn, Mysticism, Unwin Brothers Ltd, UK, 1960.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
The Mystic Journey of the Soul
Gul Afroz Zaman
Abstract
This article briefly outlines the journey a soul is required to make if it
wants to attain a state of union with the Eternal from the confines of its
material life on earth. Some basic concepts of the Christian and Sufi
esoteric traditions as well as Baha'i mysticism are reviewed. The
ultimate goal of these spiritual teachings is the same; the need to come as
close to the Source or Creator as possible. The paths may differ slightly,
but the need to attain to the "Heavenly Homeland", is the central theme
that links them together.
Introduction
As there are many esoteric traditions within each religion, it is not
possible, in this short article, to describe them all so only some basic
concepts of the Christian, Sufic and Baha'i teachings are reviewed.
One overriding question which has always confronted man is how to
undertake this journey, so as to transcend human limitations and to
achieve enlightenment, or union with God. Most religions of the world
have an exoteric (outer) meaning and an esoteric (inner) meaning. We
start with the outer and gradually move to the inner world as and when
our spirit longs for a nearness to our creator. This is usually done with
short periods of meditation and prayer. The meditation can be based on a
word, a sentence, a short prayer or silence. This enables us to reduce and
ultimately stop the constant mental dialogue and chatter. This process
takes time and effort, and most of all, persistence. As we became more
and more proficient with our meditations, our contemplations, our
prayers, our solitude, we find our inner growth is accelerated and we get
closer and closer to our goal. This inner growth has a flavour and
90 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
momentum of its own and takes us into yet deeper levels of meditation
and quietude. As the soul moves into higher and more subtle regions it
experiences feelings of bliss and selflessness; at the same time one is
more aware of the pain and suffering of other human beings. The soul
has reached a point where it is less concerned with self and more
concerned with helping humanity. More effort and faith is required of
the seeker if he is to reach yet higher states. In the final state of growth,
self is finally forgotten or transcended. The self is thus consumed and
burnt to nothingness in the unity of love; life after this will be completely
God centered.
"My servant draws near to me through works of supererogation, until I
love him. And when I love him, I am his ear, so he hears by Me, and his
eye, so he sees by Me, and his tongue, so he speaks by me, and his hand,
so that he takes by Me." l
This passing away in God, then, is the goal of the mystic journey of the
soul. It is the moksha or liberation of Hinduism, the Nirvana of
Buddhism, the Fana of Sufis, the passing away from duality to oneness.
There is nothing better, nothing safer, nothing sweeter than this; this is
the kingdom of the soul. It has finally found its resting place and can
now rest peacefully and eternally in God.
As mentioned earlier, each religion has its esoteric side. The foundation
of this journey to God is faith and hope which makes us take the first
faltering steps and so the journey starts with courage, fortitude, intense
longing, determination and perhaps most important of all, love. As Julian
of Norwich a 14th century mystic beautifully and humbly prays:
" God, of your goodness, give me yourself, for you are enough for me
and I can ask for nothing else than full worship of you. And if I ask for
anything that is less, I shall always want; for only in you have I
everything".2
In the words of the early Church Father, St. Augustine,
Hadith quoted by A.J. Arberry in 'Sufism', p. 27
quoted by Ann Bancroft, The Luminous Vision, p 51
The Mystic Journey of the Soul 91
"Love and do what you will" Knowing full well that if you truly love
you will only do what is right."3
Let us start with the Christian mystical tradition. One of the central
themes of the Christian mystics is the tragedy and suffering of Jesus. The
other central theme is service to mankind in the name of God. Some of
the well known mystics were St John of the cross, St Teresa of Avila,
Julian of Norwich, St Bernard of Clairvaux, St Francis of Assisi, Richard
Rolle, Moister Eckhart and the anonymous author of the wonderfully
written, The Cloud of Unknowing. Most of the above mentioned mystics
were connected to the church in some way or the other and their practice
was coloured by the beliefs of their particular church. However, they all
agreed that any real practice demands the purification of oneself at the
beginning - and by purification is meant a heightened awareness of the
nature of one's own self and the results of one's thoughts and actions. As
the author of the Cloud of Unknowing says "When you go apart by
yourself in solitude, do not think about what you will be doing
afterwards, put away all good thoughts as well as evil ones; and do not
pray with words unless you feel you really must. Or if you do have
something to say, do not look at how much or how little it is, nor what it
means, whether it is orison or psalm, hymn, anthem or any other prayer,
general or special, silently formed within or spoken out loud. And look
that nothing remains in your conscious mind but a naked intent
stretching unto God - what he is like himself or in any of his works, -
but only that he is as he is. Let him be so, I pray you, and do not make
him other wise".4 Again he stresses, "Although I bid you plainly and
boldly to set out in this contemplative work, nevertheless I feel certain,
without error or doubt, that the grace of God is always the chief stirrer
and worker".5
As the grace of God descends upon the pilgrim he seeks solitude more
and more. His need now is to be in communion with God and he moves
further and further from the world of illusion and desire. As Evelyn
Underhill, a well known writer of Mysticism says, "It is the last painful
break with the life of illusion. The tearing away of the self from the
quoted by Ann Bancroft, The Luminous Vision, p. 56
quoted by Ann Bancroft, The Luminous Vision, p. 165-166
quoted by Ann Bancroft, The Luminous Vision p. 178
92 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
world of becoming, in which all its natural affections and desires are
rooted, and thrusting it into the world of being".6 We are responding to
the insistent dimension of God - ground within us and once the
awakening process has begun it is almost impossible to close one's eyes
again Master Eckhart a 13th century mystic said, "Begin with yourself
and abandon yourself! In truth if you do not flee from yourself, wherever
else you may flee you will find hindrance and trouble". 7
Again he says "God expects but one thing from you and that is that you
should come out of yourself in so far as you are a created being and let
God be God in you".8
The contemplation of these mystics revolved around intense prayer, vigil
and solitude. A favorite prayer was "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon
me"9. This or any other prayer was repeated over and over for hours on
end, sometimes long into the night, accompanied by fasting. This
continued for some months or perhaps years and then the grace of God
descended upon the seeker and with this grace came bliss and a need to
move closer and closer to the God-ground. The closer we get the surer
we are that we are on the right path and that God is our guide, our
protector and our preserver. So long as we keep travelling towards this
unlimited light we will not go astray and will ultimately be united with
the source of all light. There is much pleasure and satisfaction in this
journey, as St Teresa of Avila has so aptly put it "One feels a great
bodily comfort, a great satisfaction of soul: such is the happiness of the
soul in seeing herself close to the spring, that even without drinking of
the waters she feels herself refreshed".10
All this time we are or should be, seriously cleansing our bodies, minds
and thoughts. Much of spiritual spring cleaning consists of cutting or
pruning and discarding all that is unnecessary in our lives. We start by
limiting our involvement in activities which are wasteful and frivolous
quoted by Ann Bancroft, The Luminous Vision, p. 180
quoted by Ann Bancroft, The Luminous Vision, p. 159 *
•
quoted by Ann Bancroft, The Luminous Vision, p. 159
quoted by Ann Bancroft, The Luminous Vision, p. 171
St. Teresa Avila, quoted by Evelyn Underhill, Mysticism p 32. Unwin Brothers Ltd,
UK, 1960
The Mystic Journey of the Soul 93
and spend more time on things which are important and necessary for
our spiritual growth. As Master Ekhart says "God is not found in the soul
by adding anything but by a process of subtraction" This is also one of
the approaches t o God in Hinduism "Not this, not that" (Brhadaranyaka
Upanishad 4:5: 15) and in Buddhism's 'Neti Neti' and the "God who
hidest thyself of Judaism (Isaiah 45: 15).
Similarly according to Tao Te Ching:
To attain knowledge
Add things every day,
To attain wisdom
Remove things everyday.
Eckhart also says "That man is free who clings to nothing and to whom
nothing clings".11
Knowing or sensing what to remove - this is courage, knowing when to
remove - this is wisdom; gradually, we must make use of wisdom, faith
and courage to clarify our minds and simplify our lives. Our goal is God
and how soon we reach our goal depends on whether we take a short cut
or whether we take a long lingering scenic route.
The Christian mystic's code also demanded utmost sacrifice in serving
mankind as his saviour Jesus Christ had done. Service had to be rendered
with utmost humility and life had to be lived in utter simplicity; giving
ungrudgingly of one's time and of one's possessions was of supreme
importance. True kindness is rooted in a deep sense of abundance out of
which flows the conviction that even as we give, it is being given back to
us. As we give — so shall we receive; we will always be given enough
and we will always have enough to give. We must give with a conviction
that there is enough for all and more. This need to give becomes more
and more profound until we sense the need to give ourselves up totally to
God. This journey which starts with an outer giving to God of our
energy, our attention, our time, our effort and of our possessions, ends
with our final offering to God; an offering of ourselves - to be burnt in
the fire of love and to rejoice in this burning; for when all traces of our
quoted by Ann Bancroft, The Luminous Vision, p. 149
94 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
self-ness and our ego are finally stripped away from us, then and only
then - we step into the state of unity and into the bliss beyond
description - The source of all, as Evelyn Underhill puts it, "That
immaterial and final Being, which some philosophers call the Absolute,
and most theologians call God". 12
Finally the stage is reached when, according to Eckhart,
"The eye by which I see God is the same eye by which he sees me. My
eye and the eye of God are one eye, one vision, one knowledge and one
love" 13
Let us now turn to the mystical traditions of the Sufis. One of the best
descriptions of Sufism is,
"Be in the world, but not of it"14
This would describe the Sufi way of life and teachings perfectly. Why
were they called Sufis? It seems that at some point the early Muslim
seekers of God had taken a liking to wearing an outer garment or cloak
of wool. The Arabic name for wool is 'Suf and so it was only a matter
of time before they came to be known as Sufis i.e. 'the wearers of woof.
There is, however, another school of thought. They hold the belief that
the word Sufi was derived from 'tassuwuf which means meditation or
contemplation.
The goal of the Sufi is to attain to the presence of God through
meditation and prayer. He must follow a regimen of strict discipline and
watch his every thought and action with vigilance. The journey generally
starts when all the outer requirements of religion have been completed.
Then and only then does he embark on the inner journey to meet the
Supreme Reality.
The doctrine that the Sufis practice and preach is of evolution; however,
it is not Darwinian evolution. This evolution is from the materially
Evelyn Underhill, Mysticism, p. 4
quoted by Ann Bancroft, The Luminous Vision, p. 159
Stuart Litvak, Sufism, p. 59
The Mystic Journey of the Soul 95
inclined man to a spiritually refined one and then on and on until finally
he can be called 'the man of God'. A seeker must crawl before he can
walk, and walk, before he can run, and later, much, much later, he may
be able to fly. Five centuries before Darwin, the Sufi Saint Jalaludin
Rumi wrote:
I have again and again grown like grass; I have experienced seven
hundred and seventy moulds. I died from minerality and became
vegetable; And from vegetativeness I died and became animal. I died
from animality and became man. Then why fear disappearance through
death? Next time I shall die bringing forth wings and feathers like
angels; After that, soaring higher than angels-what you cannot imagine, I
shall be that. 15
Stuart Litvak also states
"So evolution was known to Sufis centuries ago, and the transformative
process was familiar to them because of direct experience, not
speculative theory".16
Again he emphasizes,
"Sufis contend that evolution continues in infinite stages after clinical
death and that it is a universal phenomena".17
The Sufi seeker is therefore taught only when he is ready to imbibe
spiritual teachings and is taught in several stages. After he has mastered
a particular teaching he is taught what comes next and so on and so forth.
The appropriate growth must be one that matches the current stage of
development. According to Sufis, only a teacher can achieve this because
he has traversed this path himself and so is in a position to guide the
seeker in his quest for truth. A great deal of importance is attached to the
teacher in the Sufic tradition and, once accepted into pupilship, the
aspirant comes into the spiritual guardianship of his Pir. Sufic knowledge
quoted by Idries Shah, The way of the Sufi, p. 107
Stuart Litvak, Sufism, p. 88
Stuart Litvak, Sufism, p. 61
96 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
is non-verbal and is essentially intuitive or innate wisdom which can be
released by certain practices.
"The premises that one can directly experience God while alive on this
earth and can survive one's bodily death are central if not over-
verbalized".18
One of the ways of coming closer to God and creating a state of ecstasy
is the practice of Ziker. "Remember God often" is a phrase, which
constantly recurs in the Koran: The Sufis interpret this in a special way,
and the word 'remembrance' (Ziker) has acquired in time a very
particular connotation.19
"Everything on earth passeth away, save His face" (Koran 55: 26). This
is taken by the Sufis as the peg upon which to hang their characterstic
doctrine of the passing away (Fana) of human attributes through union
with God, whereby the mystic achieves the eternal continuance (Baqa) of
spiritual life in Him.20
The goal of these mystics is the same as the Christian mystics and union
with God is of paramount importance. It is the reason d'etre for which
the seeker of any mystic tradition enters the path. It is the 'Pearl of all
wisdom' for which he is willing to sacrifice all, including his life, if need
be.
The search for God is his passion and he sees his life as a vehicle only
for this purpose, this search for him is his sole reason for living: As
Rabia Basri, an outstanding woman Sufi saint has so eloquently put it "O
God, if I worship Thee in fear of Hell, burn me in Hell; and if I worship
Thee in hope of Paradise, exclude me from Paradise; but if I worship
Thee for Thine own sake, withhold not Thine everlasting Beauty".21
Such was the zeal of the seeker of God, and in many of the Sufic
writings examples of this are given in allegoric form; the moth that
Stuart Litvak, Sufism, p. 63
A.J. Arberry, Sufism, p. 22
A.J. Arberry, Sufism, p. 22
A.J. Arberry, Sufism, p. 42
The Mystic Journey of the Soul 97
immolates itself joyously in the flame, the shining dew drop that slides
silently into the sea; the river that in ecstasy joins with and merges with
the oceans. As we can see, love of the Divine or 'mahabba' is the driving
force and great emphasis is placed on this love "He loveth them and they
love him". (Koran 2:152). An aspect of great importance in the Sufi
tradition is the nearness of God. You do not have to search anywhere
outside of yourself- God resides in your heart. The seeker has to cleanse
his heart and mind, his body and soul and then he will discover his
Beloved in the deepest recesses of his being. 'He is nearer to him than
his own jugular vein (Koran 50:16) and again 'wither so ever ye turn,
there is the Face of God' (Koran 2:115).
What the Sufi is trying to achieve is to leave this dimension of the
physical world and its imperfections, its sorrows, its trials and
tribulations, and reach a spiritual dimension. The Sufis claim that reality
as we know it is shaped by our expectations, coloured by our culture and
designed to keep us earth-bound and barely aware of our spiritual
heritage.
Rumi says in his short poem, called "Another Dimension"
The hidden world has its clouds and rain,
But of a different kind
Its sky and sunshine are of a different kind,
This is made apparent to the refined ones-
Those not deceived by the seeming completeness of the ordinary world.22
The Sufi then, is searching precisely for this dimension; to escape from
the boundaries of this earth-plane and to free ourselves once and for all
from the shackles that bind us to this world of space time.
How we long to somehow transcend this limited existence and live in the
freedom of an unlimited and unfettered existence, 'Love becomes perfect
only when it transcends itself, becomes one with its object; producing
Unity of Being'.23
quoted by Idries Shah, The way of the Sufi, p. 104
Stuart Litvak, Sufism, p. 45
98 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
The perfected man or woman is capable of functioning at several levels
simultaneously, and is in direct contact with Cosmic Reality.
The Sufi idea of evolution is on two levels, one at a subconscious level,
which is a natural process involving all forms of life - the other is a
conscious level which is dependent on one's own efforts. The first thing
a would-be murid (aspirant) is advised to do is look for a Pir (Teacher)
who will initiate him into the order that the Pir belongs to. There are
many orders i.e. Chistia, Nakshbandi, Shadilia, Suhrawardia, Qadirya
etc. Different schools have their own rules and rituals - some schools are
quite secretive and will not divulge any information unless you are
initiated into their order. "The essence of Sufism is the Teacher, the
teaching and the Taught"25
An interesting facet of Sufism is the concept of Nafs or ego. This
egoistic state has to be transcended or negated at some stage along the
way if the aspirant is to reach the goal he desires. Another interesting
aspect to Sufism is the concept of 'Baráka' or grace; this is a quality
which probably is not present in the aspirant until he is well into the
path. It is a giffand is given when the aspirant is deemed ready to receive
it. However, there are recorded instances where this 'grace' is bestowed
freely to a person who has not yet embarked on this journey. Once this
grace is received the person is so enamoured by the sense of the new
dimension which is presented to his senses that it is only a matter of time
before he starts his search to look for the Higher Reality, and begins to
look for a Teacher to guide him towards the correct path to salvation.
"Every part of your development as a human being needs correct time,
right place, a suitable company. Without these you will be as complete as
anything else which lacks three desirable elements in due concert, like a
plant, say, without water, sun and earth.26
Here Idries Shah again stresses the need for a Pir. The need for a
spiritual guide is stressed again and again in almost all Sufi literature as
being of primary importance. Without a guide the seeker is always
warned of losing his way and going astray.
Stuart Litvak, Sufism, p. 88
Stuart Litvak, Sufism, p. 24.
Idries Shah, Caravan of Dreams, p. 201.
The Mystic Journey of the Soul 99
Once a Pir is found and the murid has been initiated he is required to
prepare himself to receive the Sufic teachings. Each order has its
different exercises. The following are the Sufic preparatory exercises
(Adab) according to the Naqshbandi Order.27
1. Ritual Purification
2. Prayer
3. Face Qibla (Mecca) in a deserted place .
4. Squat with folded legs, as at prayer
5. Ask forgiveness for all sins
6. Recite the Fatiha (Dedication) and offer them to Prophet
Mohammad P.B.U.H. and the spirits of the Nakshbandi Shaikhs.
7. Close eyes and keep lips sealed tightly. Press tongue against the
roof of your mouth.
8. Perform grave exercise i.e. imagine you are dead, washed and
wrapped in white and laid in your tomb and all the mourners
have departed, leaving you alone to face the judgement.
9. Perform guide exercise i.e. seeker's heart confronts the heart of
the sheikh and seeks the sheikh's blessings.
10. Concentrate all your bodily senses, expel all preoccupations and
wayward impulses of the heart, and direct all your perception
towards God. Then say " O God, Thou art my Quest, and Thy
pleasure is my desire". Then commemorate the name of the
Essence within the heart, recalling that God is present, watching
and encompassing you.
11. Await the "Visitation" (Warid) i.e. spiritual epiphenomenon .
These were the recommended exercises for the benefit of the aspirant to
prepare him for the next stage of development. Let us now look at the
qualities needed for salvation according to Al-Ghazali28
1. Tauba - Repentance or forgiveness
2. Sabr - Fortitude
3. Shukr - Gratitude
4. Khauf - Fear
5. Raja - Hope
A.J. Arberry, Sufism, p. 130
A.J. Arberry, Sufism, p. 130
100 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
6. Faqr - Poverty
7. Zuhd - Self denial
8. Tauhid - Belief
9. Tawakkul - Trust in God
10. Mahabba - Love
11. Shauk - Yearning
12. Uns - Intimacy
13. Rida - Satisfaction
14. Niya - Resolve
15. Sidq - Truthfulness
16. Ikhlas - Sincerity
17. Muraqaba - Contemplation
18. Muhasaba - Self Examination
19. Tafakkhur - Meditation
20. The recollection of Death
These are some of the stages that a murid must traverse before he passes
on to higher and higher realms until finally he reaches the stages offana
and baqa which defy description as they belong to a dimension beyond
time and space.
"To summarize, the way of the Sufi is a direct path to illumination and
intuitive knowledge; it is a path that is hidden from view of the
conventional eye. In order to see the path, we must be willing to break
with conventionality, that is, our conditioning, our familiar pattern of
thinking and open our minds to the unfamiliar, the unexpected and the
unknown".29
Let us now turn to the Baha'i teachings. Baha'u'llah the founder of the
Baha'i Faith, has presented this teaching in a beautifully written book
called, "The Seven Valleys", which may be regarded as a very important
writing in the realm of mystical composition. This was written in
response to the question of Shaykh Muhyi'd-Din, by profession a judge
and a keen student of Sufi philosophy. Baha'u'llah used a pattern similar
to, though not identical, to the one previously used by Faridu'd-Din Attar
in his most famous work 'Language of the Birds'.
Stuart Litvak, Suflsm, p. 65
The Mystic Journey of the Soul 101
The theme followed is of Progressive revelation, the doctrine that
Prophets reveal teachings according to the needs and capacity of the
people'.30
Before the seeker starts on this mystical quest he is expected to follow
very strictly the Baha'i virtues of spotless cleanliness, chastity,
trustworthiness, hospitality, courtesy and justice. Once he has mastered
these he may then proceed on his journey to God, who is "the First and
the Last, the Seen and the Hidden, and He knoweth all things" (Koran
57: 3).
The seeker must pass through various states or levels; each level
prepares him and fortifies his faith to step into the next level.
"The stages that mark the way-farer's journey from the abode of dust to
the heavenly homeland are said to be seven. Some have called these
seven valleys, and others, Seven Cities. And they say that until the way-
farer taketh leave of self, and traverseth these stages, he shall never reach
to the ocean of nearness and union, nor drink of the peerless wine".31
The first stage is,
The Valley of Search
In this valley, the aspirant is advised to cleanse the heart from all forms
of imitation, which is following the traces of their forefathers. He must
further cleanse his heart from enmity against all people of the earth. He
must also have patience and not be downhearted if the journey seems
tedious and long. He must remember, "whoso seeketh out a thing with
zeal shall find it"32
"The true seeker hunteth naught but the object of his quest, and the lover
hath no desire save union with the Beloved. Nor shall the seeker reach
his goal unless he sacrifice all things. That is, whatever he hath seen, and
heard, and understood, all must be set at naught, that he may enter the
Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys, p. x
Baha'u'llah. The Seven Valleys, p. 4
Arabian proverb, quoted in The Seven Valleys, p. 7
^
102 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
realm of the spirit, which is the City of God. Labor is needed, if we are
to seek Him; order is needed, if we are to drink of the honey of reunion
with Him; and if we taste of this cup, we shall cast away the world".33
The seeker then asks for the grace and guidance of God to step into
The Valley of Love
In this valley he is dissolved in the fire of love. Here he seeks neither
ignorance, nor knowledge, neither doubt nor certitude. He flees from
both unbelief and faith. He searches only for his Beloved for whom at
every moment he is ready to offer a hundred lives. Here all the traces of
ego and self must "Be burned away at the fire of love, that the spirit may
be purified and cleansed and thus may know the station of the Lord of
the Worlds".34
Kindle the fire of love and burn away all things,
Then set thy foot into the land of the lovers.35
The seeker must now enter into
The Valley of Knowledge
"And come out of doubt into certitude, and from the darkness of illusion
to the guiding light of the fear of God. His inner eyes will open and he
will privily converse with his Beloved".36
In this valley he is content to be with God and delight in the nearness of
his Beloved. He witnesses the mysteries of life, death and resurrection;
he sees the realms of creation^nd with a pure heart is able to look into
the souls of man and sees the divine wisdom in the endless
Manifestations of God.
Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys, p. 7
Baha'u'llah The Seven Valleys, p. 11
An ode by Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys, p. 11
Baha'u'llah The Seven Valleys, p. 11
The Mystic Journey of the Soul 103
"In the ocean he fmdeth a drop in a drop he beholdeth the secrets of the
sea"37
In this valley he meets injustice with patience and anger with love; his
only concern is with the ripening of his heart which is heavy with the
repeated remembering of the Lord.
'He breaks the cage of the body and the passions and consorts with the
people of the immortal realm. He climbs on the ladders of inner truth and
hastens to the heaven of inner significance'.38
After passing through this valley, which is the last plane of limitation,
the wayfarer has passed beyond the worlds of names, of forms and the
worlds of attributes.
There is a saying attributed to Ali
"Absolute Unity excludeth all attributes"39
He now steps into
The Valley of Unity
Here, he "Drinketh from the cup of the Absolute, and gazeth on the
Manifestations of Oneness. In this station he pierceth the veils of
plurality, fleeth from the worlds of the flesh, and asendeth into the
heaven of singleness. With the ear of God he heareth, with the eye of
God he beholdeth the mysteries of divine creation. He steppeth into the
sanctuary of the Friend and shareth as an intimate the pavilion of the
Loved One."40
At this stage the seeker has lost all sense of 'me' and T and seeks for
himself neither name nor fame nor rank. He sees everything as God 'Say,
all is from God'. (Koran 4:80.)
Baha'u'llah The Seven Valleys, p. 12
Baha'u'llah The Seven Valleys, p. 12
quoted in The Seven Valleys, p. 15
Baha'u'llah The Seven Valleys, p. 17
104 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
And again,
"There is no power or might other than God". (Koran 18:37.)41
Certain souls have strayed far from God and clouded themselves with
ignorance and blindness and confined themselves in walls of self and
passion. They dwell in the realm of limitation and so are completely
veiled and have no portion of the Divine Beauty. But some advanced
souls have drunk of the wine of oneness and so see nothing but the glory
and splendour of the One and dwell on the plane of Oneness. Those souls
who have passed the relative and the limited spheres and dwell on the
plane of the Absolute, have burned away all relativities.
"In thy soul of love build then a fire. And burn all thoughts and words
entire."42
The seeker is now ready to enter
The Valley of Contentment
Here he feels the gentle breeze of divine contentment. His sadness and
grief is turned into delight and rapture.
"This is the realm of full awareness, of utter self-effacement. Even love
is no pathway to this region, and longing hath no dwelling here;
wherefore it is said, 'Love is a veil betwixt the lover and the beloved.'
Here love becometh an obstruction and a barrier and all else save Him is
but a curtain."43
Here the mystic dwells in inner peace and drinks the delicate wines of
the spirit. Here one sees only the Divine.
"There was God and there was naught beside Him". 44
quoted in The Seven Valleys, p. 18
Jalal'u'din Rumi's Masnavi, quoted by Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys, p. 28
Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys, p. 60
Hadith quoted in The Seven Valleys, p. 31
The Mystic Journey of the Soul 105
In this valley the traveller will witness the beauty of the Friend in
everything. After journeying through the planes of pure contentment the
traveller comes to
The Valley of Wonderment
Here he is stunned by the beauty of the All-glorious. Every moment his
wonder grows and every moment he witnesses a new creation and is lost
in awe at the works of the Lord, "O friend, the heart is the dwelling of
eternal mysteries, make it not the home of fleeting fancies; waste not the
treasure of thy precious life in employment with this swiftly passing
world. Thou comest from the world of holiness - bind not thine heart to
the earth; thou art a dweller in the court of nearness - choose not the
homeland of the dust."45
No words can accurately describe this state - As Jalal'u'din Rumi says in
his Masnavi,
"If I speak forth many a mind will shatter;
And if I write many a pen will break."46
Also Hafiz of Shiraz, one of the greatest of Persian poets, writes
"Only heart to heart can speak the bliss of mystic knowers
No messenger can tell it and no missive bear it."47
In this valley words cannot convey the majesty and the magnitude and
poet after poet and mystic after mystic have fallen silent. Jalal'u'din
Rumi in his Masnavi says
"The tale is still unfinished and I have no heart for it - then pray forgive
rv,o " 4 8
me.
Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys, p. 35
quoted in The Seven Valleys, p. 29
quoted in The Seven Valleys, p. 30
quoted in The Seven Valleys, p. 35
106 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
The greatest of Persian Sufi poets fell silent as he could not find words to
describe the magnificence and the grandeur of this awesome dimension.
The wayfarer now reaches, the valley of
True Poverty and Absolute Nothingness
Here is experienced the dying from self and the living in God. Here all
worldly attachments are burned away and nothing whatsoever remains of
the limited things of this perishable world. More than this cannot be
revealed as there are no adequate words to describe this state. The ardent
seeker is urged to reach this stage and not let opportunities go to waste.
He must make haste to attain this station no matter what the personal
cost may be,
"Radiant as the sun, bright hath He shined,
But Alas, He hath come to the town of the blind."49
So be not like the blind but open your eyes and see the splendour which
is your birthright. Make this light and this knowledge your goal and your
destiny.
As Sa'adi says,
"I seek thy nearness,
Dearer then sweet heaven
I see thy visage,
Fairer than Paradise bowers."50
Ecstasy alone can encompass this theme, not utterance nor argument;
only those who have reached this stage know, and when this highest
plane is reached, then shall you gaze on the Beloved, and forget all else -
for you have reached the court of the Life-Bestower. This is the realm of
Absolute Command - it is beyond what any tongue can utter and any
mind comprehend.
The Koran says,
Jalal'u'din Rumi's Masnavi quoted in The Seven Valleys, p. 39
Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys, p. 64
The Mystic Journey of the Soul 107
"Far be the glory of thy lord, the Lord of all greatness, from what they
affirm of Him". (Koran 37: 180 quoted in The Seven Valleys, p. 65)
Finally, the stage is reached when God promises the seeker who has
given up everything for him "O my servant, Obey me and I will make
thee like unto myself. I say 'BE' and it is and thou shalt say 'Be' and it
shall be"51.
This, then is the fruit, the goal, of this wondrous mystical journey of the
soul - a journey which began from the abode of dust to the heavenly
homeland; a journey where self is transcended and only the Omniscient
One remains.
Conclusion
In summation, love of God, love of human-kind and love of nature is
taught by all mystics and these are the universal threads that link the
mystics of the world together in a web. At the centre is the Divine
Reality and the different religions have woven a beautiful tapestry of
poetry, prose and love around it. All ardent seekers have arrived at the
centre of this divine mystery, no matter from which point they started
and all have poured out their very best; all the praise they were capable
of, with words and feelings that at times reached sublime heights of
beauty and tenderness for this unfathomable source of love so gently and
silently hidden in the deepest recesses of one's heart.
Hadith quoted by Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys, p. 63
108 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
Works Cited
Arberry, A. J.
Sufism, G. Allen and Unwin, London, 1956.
BaháVUáh
The Seven Valleys, Baha'i Publishing Trust, Wilmette, Illinois, 1991.
Bancroft, Anne
The Luminous Vision, G. Allen and Unwin, London, 1982.
Litvak, Stuart
Sufism, Jaico, Bombay, India, 1984.
Shah Idries
Caravan of Dreams, Octogon, London, 1968.
- The Way of the Sufi, Dutton, New York, 1969.
Underbill, Evelyn, Mysticism, Unwin Brothers Ltd, UK, 1960.
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