=kit089.txt

KIT 89 - MALAKUT - THE CELESTIAL LEVEL

             Truly enough, we need to be alert on the physical
plane in order to deal with our problems and achieve our goals.
Yet to be creative, in particular in ourselves, we need to marshal
all the resources of our being. For this we need to take stock of
our whole being - wholistically (also holistically) - rather than
suffice with our commonplace self-image which is a mere cross-
section of the bounty of our many-tiered being.

            "In the complete unfoldment of human nature is the
fulfillment of life's purpose."
(HIK)

            "If unaware of the immensity of the environmental
space, one is not aware of being enclosed in a prison. The moment
a person feels that he will no longer remain in prison, the prison
bars must break instantly of themselves."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            Hence the reason for drawing our attention to the
importance of awakening to vaster and loftier dimensions of our
own being.

"We occupy only as much horizon as we are conscious of. The next
world is the same as this; and this world is the same as the next.
Only that which is veiled from our eyes, we call the unseen world.
We live in the world to which we are awakened, and to the world to
which we are not awakened, we are asleep."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            Consider two steps: 1) alternately switching the focus
of your consciousness from one perspective to another; for
example, from reading a book to embracing a panorama, or being
highly body-conscious as in the case of an athlete or mind-
conscious as in the case of a philosopher, or soul-conscious as in
the case of a mystic. 2)) extrapolating between several settings
of consciousness simultaneously; for example, being aware of your
divine inheritance and at the same time of your humanness, or of
your perennity together with your transience, or of your celestial
identity versus your incarnate status. The first step is easier,
and is a good preparation for the more difficult second step;
towards which we are aiming. In this KIT, we will be exploring the
first step, while anticipating the second step which will be the
subject-matter of a future KIT on awakening in life - "TAWHID".

            How do we gain awareness of the loftier counterparts
of our being? In the previous two KITs on Arwah, we have learned
to sense our etheric double and identify with it. It is fluid,
almost volatile, fine-textured like gossamer, highly malleable as
its configuration responds to our emotional attunements and
imaginings. In the KIT on Mithal, attention was drawn to the way
our thinking operates when identifying with our etheric
counterpart: instead of interpreting impressions imputed from
outside, our thinking is self-generated in a creative way.

            At this stage we wish to explore how we can gain a
sense of our celestial counterpart. No doubt it is elusive;
therefore it will require an enhanced sensitivity to discover it.

            "One's grade of evolution depends upon the pitch one
has attained; it is a certain pitch that makes one conscious of a
certain phase of life."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            Curiously enough, by foraging in pre-conceptual, peri-
natal memory stored in the deep unconscious in an effort to
retrieve random clues, we may muster some sense of the nature of
our celestial counterpart such as it is now.

            "The soul in its manifestation on earth is not at all
disconnected from the higher spheres. It lives in all spheres,
though it is generally conscious only on one plane."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            Although it may be defiled by some of the more
obnoxious impressions accruing from our society or our own guilt,
you will find that it remains in its essence unscathed (as the
voice of Caruso within the bad recordings of the time) and can be
retrieved in its pristine glory. Yet it is different now to what
it was (hence caution regarding resorting to memory, since it
turns backwards in time). It has gained wisdom through existential
experience without losing its innocence and by continually
exulting in glorification. In fact innocence, effulgence, and
glorification are the keys to the heavenly spheres.

            "Innocence is a natural condition of the soul and the
lack of innocence is a foreign element which the soul acquires
after coming on earth... The light which comes from the soul rises
through the heart and manifests in ones smile... That which we see
of our Beloved is the beauty displayed before our eyes; whereas
that aspect of our Beloved which is not manifest to our eyes is
the inner model of that beauty of which our Beloved speaks to us."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            That our celestial effigy should be now both as it was
before our birth yet matured is paradoxical. It is difficult for
our finite minds to reconcile change with the prevalence of
perennity. Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan distinguishes between the
angels who have not yet incarnated and those who return enriched
by the experience on the physical plane. These are conditions of
the same person; for example, the child that has become a master
still has the child present in him/her although latent, as a
warrantee of his/her candidness and enhances authenticity..

            What are then the methods to clinch our heavenly
image?

            We discover ourselves by spotting outside ourselves
that which matches what was always latent unknowingly within
ourselves. Earmark in the physical or social environment
impressions that spark in you a sense of deja-vu featuring your
most idyllic values, even if you fear that they may well be
utopic. Be awed by the beauty of a multi-hued dawn, by the
geometry of crystals and snowflakes, by acts of heroism, of
compassion, of love, of dedicated service, by the light in the
eyes of a baby; also by the masterpieces of the cultures of our
great civilizations, temples, cathedrals, art, music. You will
find solace in observing that the great accomplishments of humans
were sparked by their belief and adherence to their ideal.

"There comes a time in one's evolution when every touch of beauty
moves the heart to tears; it is a this time that the Beloved of
heavens is brought to earth."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            If you fail to challenge your records, you will be
sclerosed and close the door to the future. It is our idealism
that frees us from the prison of our trite realism. We must
succeed in discovering a richer realism than that of the
unimaginative as the practical underpinning of our idealism..
Hence the signpost points to investing your faith in the values
that give you a feeling of uplift, of splendor, of heroism, of
love and compassion, of the sacred.

            "There comes a time in one's evolution when a passion
is awakened in the soul that gives the soul a longing for the
unattainable".
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            We indeed come across clues to what we ascribe to the
heavens by scanning the earth, if we look out for them. Yet it is
by matching these with our aspiration to the celestial dimensions
of our own being that bespeak of the celestial spheres that may
attune us to these spheres which we are seeking to explore. It is
a matter of what we value most.

            "As one evolves, one ceases to look down on earth, but
looks to the heavens. If one wants to seek the heavens, one must
change the direction of looking... Souls who have become conscious
of the angelic spheres hear the calling of that sphere."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            While confirming that our aim is extrapolating between
the heavenly and earthly perspectives, we need to free ourselves
from the compulsive impact upon our consciousness of the
impressions hailing from the earth fostered by our attachment to
material satisfaction. If we wish to access the heavens, we will
have to, as a first step, highlight the heavenly perspective by
downplaying the earthly one.

            "The more closely a person is drawn to heaven, the
more the things of the earth lose their color and taste. ...
Verily who pursueth the world will inherit the world, but the soul
that pursueth God will attain in the end to the presence of God.
breaking through the ties of the lower planes. ... If you do not
rise above the things of this world, they will rise above you."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            It will require of us to assess honestly in self-
confrontation the value scale determining our motivations. Where
in our life's activities do we invest our enthusiasm, our
interest? And where does our detachment give us a leeway of
freedom from dependence upon circumstances - service versus greed!

            "All that produces longing in the heart deprives it of
its freedom... The real proof of one's progress in the spiritual
path can be realized by testing in every situation in life how
indifferent one is. .. Indifference and independence are the two
wings that enable the soul to fly."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            These then are the indispensable premises, but what
are the methods?

            We've already learned to shift our identity from
material bodiness to our etheric counterpart. Now we work with
light. The practices with visualizations of light (see previous
KIT) starting with the physical aura, then light beyond the
purview of our senses or instruments, if followed systematically
lead to the state of illumination. Identify with being a being of
nonphysical light - recollect having always been a being of light
prior to incarnation on Planet Earth.

            "As the sunshine from without lightens the whole
world, so the sunshine from within, if it were raised up would
illuminate the whole life."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            If you tune up your concentration to the point of
identifying solely with being a being of nonphysical light, having
lost any vestige of your physical body identity, suddenly you
realize that you have an existence independent of the body, that
you can think without the encumbrance of the mind.

            "The Sufi practices that process whereby he is able to
touch that part of life in himself that is not subject to
death...Once a person realizes that one can exist without the
physical body, one gains a conviction that frees one from earthly
conditions."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            If you succeed in visualizing what it would be like
to:

            "See without eyes, hear without ears, walk without
feet and fly without wings."
RUMI

            Your prenatal memory will surface and will spark
flashes of insight into your present celestial state; even beyond
in uncharted zones of your being.

            "Let your state be similar to that of the
dematerialized spirits of the sublime celestial Assembly... Then
God acquaints them with what corresponds to them in each world by
passing through the different worlds..."
IBN 'ARABI

            But the clue - the condition - is that you let go of
your human identity - physical, etheric, and psychic.

            "Then the spiritual traveler leaves behind in each
world that part of himself that corresponds to it."
IBN 'ARABI

            A further clue is letting go of your identification
with your physical form, rather than simply physical bodiness,
particularly your face. If you achieve this, you are creating
conditions favorable to discovering your celestial countenance
which will overwhelm you with consternation.

"Amongst these forms, you will recognize your own likeness."
IBN 'ARABI

            At first it seems confusing, not only because,
although it does not have a profile, it still sports an
expression, and further because it flickers continually according
to your attunement (even more rapidly than your etheric body or
physical aura). More paradoxically it seems to be featured by
several superimposed images, like a hologram highlighted by the
focus of your consciousness. By modulating the setting of your
consciousness by dint of your attunement you could highlight the
innocence of your early childhood or shift to the tarnishing
effect of the darker side of the word. If you found fulfillment in
achievement through mastery you would notice the impression of
maturity imprinted upon your celestial countenance carried upwards
at that lofty level evidencing the wisdom you gained due to your
experience of life on the Planet.

            You will encounter an amazing discovery: the very
sacred and immaculate nature of your celestial counterpart which
you have now become aware of will lead you inevitably into
exulting and glorifying the divine splendor now unveiled -
actually revealed At this point a breakthrough of insight will
make you realize that your very act of glorification creates in
you the very likeness of the way your glorification translates
itself into form (like the music of some composers).

 "'"Allah al makhluk fi'l 'itiqadat" 
   God creates Himself (as you) through your prayers."
HADITH

            "For prayer is a means of causing God who reveals
Himself to appear in the form which precisely He reveals by
revealing Himself by and to your form... Through the prayer of
man, the form of God becomes visible to the active imagination
which projects before it the image, whose receptacle is the
worshiper's being in the measure of his capacity."
HENRI CORBIN

            "Our soul is blessed with the impression of the glory
of God whenever our lips praise Him."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            Here we have the clue to acceding to the celestial
sphere: not through meditation, but through religious worship,
mystical ecstasy.

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