=kit095.sxt

KIT 95 - THE INNER JOURNEY PART I

"We are all on a journey; life is a journey."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            The Sufis have consistently attempted to earmark the
steps by which one progresses on the inner journey in what is
called the Maqamat. From the discrepancies between the various
systems, it avers itself that these steps differ from one
individual to another. However, it is useful to cull a modicum of
information in this regard.

            Abu Nassar al-Sarraj enumerated seven stages:  1)
Tawba: owning one's guilt instead of trying to justify it - then
repenting;  2) Wara: an untiring alertness with regard to one's
conscience;  3) Zuhd: detachment and independence  with regard to
worldly conditions (the two wings that enable the soul to fly
according to Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan). This includes an
impervious attitude towards people's judgment;  4) Fakr: poverty
(Murshid points out the difference between want and need);  5)
Sabr: patience. nature has a way of self-organizing or righting
itself if we accede to forego our will to compulsively interfere.
(This is true in some cases; notwithstanding, in my opinion, that
using one's incentive may  be called for at some point. It is
difficult  to determine when.) The shadow of this quality
(patience) is obviously fatalism: a spiritual bypass;  6)
Tawwakul: ordinarily interpreted as trust in God. It is the
attitude that ensues from a supernal realization, acquired by the
initiate at this stage, of a level of action that beside which our
human strivings pale - a level that bypasses causal laws. Mystics
prize the divine power that emerges in them through God
realization and that makes things happen unaccountably;  7) Rida:
a serene peaceful state in which one has overcome grudges,
resentment, frustrations, and disenchantment.

            In his elaboration of Sarraj's sketch into 100
thresholds, Sheikh Abdullah Ansari, the Afghan Pir, unveils clue
after clue, stage after stage for the assiduous searcher after
awakening, stressing the need to make amends for guilt, whether
the truth comes to you, or through you, making up for time lost ,
having the foresight to forsake attachment , observe honesty,
overcome grief , fear, worry, hypocrisy, even to overlook habitual
faults through dignity, scorning whatever is renounced, heeding
one's conscience, devotion, hope, yearning, etc...

            SHEIKH JABBAR NIFFARI points out that one cannot make
the next step until one is ready for it:

"As the mystic in his journey is transferred from one station in
which he has experienced confirmation and presence, to another, he
pauses between the two stations)."
(NIFARI)

            Actually, we are venturing on two parallel, though not
unrelated, journeys: 1) Our involvements, our know-hows, our
accomplishments, mortgaged by the accumulated ballast that bogs us
down and hampers our freedom, and 2) our inner journey which, if
we do advance, manifests as insight, as an upgraded sense of
values: a high attunement, as our dedication to our ideal, our
quest for excellence and beauty, together with detachment and
independence regarding worldly values. Note that we do not
necessarily progress in either our inner or outer journey
(sometimes the same patterns repeat themselves or even people
regress instead of progressing). We will not progress unless we do
something about it.

            The antinomy between our inner being and our
personality was aptly portrayed as Janus, the twin faced Roman
God. This disparity may be seen in, on one hand, the  influence
accruing from both our ancestry and our environment and, on the
other hand, our real countenance - hidden, yet transpiring from
behind the mask: our face. The tell-tale of what our motivations
are in life leaves a hallmark on our psychological and physical
configuration as illustrated fictionally in The Picture of Dorian
Gray.

            Both journeys are interrelated. 

"The inner life is not necessarily in an opposite direction to the
worldly life."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            If we have a strong enough commitment to the values we
recognize in our inner perception, they will affect the way we
handle situations in our lives. Counterwise, the means we use to
pursue our objectives in our outer journey could impair our inner
journey. (The means do not justify the end). While it seems
obvious that the situations in our lives in which we involved
ourselves at an earlier immature stage in our inner journey may
obstruct our fulfilling the purpose we now wish to pursue in view
of our present realization, it is in the way we handle these
endemic situations that our spiritual ideals are tested and
critically actualized. Pir-o-Murshid says that, one one hand we
are tested in our love, but on the other hand, we are tested in
our indifference. Contradiction? Or complementarity?

            We may gain a clearer sense of what the stages of the
journey are in Pir-o-Murshid's teaching, if we look through the
disparate testimonies of his own realization transpiring through
his words. We may assess the stages of inner progress that we are
going through. Actually, they correspond to the levels of our
being, or spheres of reality, according to Sufism.

            What are the realizations corresponding to each level
both in our outer journey and our inner journey?

1) Concern for an efficient support system:

            In the course of the outer journey, we are concerned
with the well being of our physical bodies and commonplace minds,
with  building a convenient, perhaps comfortable, certainly a more
efficient support system for our lives; with living in
"lifestyles"  instead of in caves, with the momentous progress in
technologies, in transport, in communication, information,
security measures, in psychotherapy, and in management. This stage
corresponds to the levels described by the Sufis as Nazut.

2) We still assess things in our common mode of thinking:

            At this level, regarding the inner journey, we still
see things from the point of view of ourselves envisioned as
"discrete entities". We are concerned with the control of body
functions (as in Hatha Yoga) and mental control (as in Raja Yoga).
We assume that our individual consciousness is the spectator, not
only of the physical world, including our own bodies, but of the
psychological and social systems in which we are enmeshed,
including our own psyches. This mode of thinking is at the level
of Khayal. At this level, one may look for a role-model to help
one discover one's self.

3) Discovering our interrelationship with the universe and with
all beings:

            This is the level we reach by turning within and
identifying with our subtle body. It is a feature of this step
that people in our societies are more open to para-physical
phenomena, and therefore promote well-being by the therapy of the
subtle body (as in acupuncture or homeopathy).

            With regard to the inner journey, typically in this
stage one acknowledges a wider outreach than our skin-bound
representation of ourselves, portrayed as our self-image. This
manifests as our trying to enhance the effulgence of our aura in
meditation, for example. We also become sensitive to the effect of
our inner attunement, and of our inner insight upon the
configuration of our aura.

"It is the exaltation of the spirit which is productive of all
beauty."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            One begins to give credence to our inter-relatedness
with all beings, we learn to shunt our consciousness into that of
another.

"One is in at-one-ment with all living beings and it gives one as
much insight into another as the other person has of himself...not
only the thoughts of that person, but his whole spirit is
reflected in your spirit. In this consciousness, distance is no
longer distance."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            This affects our outer journey because we become aware
of the effect of our concupiscence, of our desire for material
possessions or our ambition, and particularly of the unkindness
towards others that may foster these gains.

            A further sign is in the domain of our thinking: we
begin to think holistically. Instead of conceptualizing in
categories of thoughts, we are able to reconcile the
irreconcilables.

"You realize that you are connected with all beings, that there is
nothing and no one who is divided or separated from you."
(HIK)

 "Man occupies a certain horizon, as far as he can expand."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            At this stage, one finds inspiration in communing with
the attunement (tawajeh) of the beings towards whom one looks for
guidance. This stage corresponds to the level called Arwah.

4) The need to be creative:

            Creativity surfaces by reaching out from inside. Our
subtle body now acts as a feedback system that helps us be
creative with our personality, which is actually a non space-like
form. Now we gain further insight about ourselves by discovering
ourselves in the way that the different pictures of ourselves are
superimposed, and at the same time integrated in our
personalities. As in a holograph, we can shift from one picture to
another by modulating our focus. Thus, according to our
attunement, we may recognize the innocent child in us within its
distortion, intermeshed with the wisdom we may have acquired. Our
progress in the inner journey is indicated here by our ability to
extrapolate between these realities.

            Looking outside from inside, we learn to translate our
attunement and insight into external forms - art, the environment
- with which we surround ourselves - inventions, our handling of
situations, etc.

At this level instead of idolizing a teacher, picturing his/her
form or personality which one admires, one resonates with his/her
attunement.

            Consequently we could define this stage in our inner
journey as one in which we are gaining insight into the cosmic
matrix of our being without losing its individual core. The
journey avers itself to progress from our individuality to our
cosmic dimension, instead of envisioning ourselves as discrete
entities as we had done previously.

[ The following quotations are apparently all from HIK, and maybe
all from the section of his works titled 'Akibat' -- sa ]

"The process of going from limitation to perfection is called
mysticism. ... Just as one's own sub-consciousness would awaken
one at a certain time, if previously warned, in the same way the
consciousness of God is the agency for awakening His
manifestation. Yet man in this life of illusion has the same
intelligence, the perfection of which he can realize in that state
of consciousness where he is aware of his own perfection."
(HIK)

"To become an illuminated soul is only a difference of
consciousness."
(HIK)                    

"When one is conscious of limitation, one is limited, when one is
conscious of perfection, one is perfect."
(HIK)         

"Therefore, our greatness or our smallness depends upon our
consciousness. It is through consciousness that we become small or
great, and through consciousness we either rise or fall, and
through consciousness we become narrow or we expand."
(HIK)           

"If consciousness of wealth makes one feel rich, and if
consciousness of strength makes one feel strong, how much stronger
and richer should he feel who is really God-conscious!"
(HIK)                          

"In the physical existence each individual is distinct and
separate, but behind this physical existence all are one, the
consciousness is one."
(HIK), AKIBAT

"By making many sacrifices, and practicing renunciation, he will
attain that consciousness which is God-consciousness, in which
resides all perfection."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

            At this stage, instead of looking outside for
guidance, one's guide is "whom one could be if one would be what
one might be" - that is, the way God is in the process of becoming
as oneself. The Sufis call this level Mithal.

5) We discover our celestial dimension:

            What are the clues to making the next step in the
inner journey?

"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

            There is an enticing longing to touch upon that
intangible splendor of which we can only gather a clue at the
existential level wherever beauty or majesty or excellence
transpire - the sacred, perfection. This lies beyond not only our
perception, but also beyond the grasp of our minds, and therefore
is unattainable. This longing lures us further and further into a
transcendental dimension, therefore our minds represent levels or
spheres of reality beyond the existential.

"In this experience the consciousness touches a sphere from whence
it cannot get an impression of any name or form. The impression it
gets is a feeling, a feeling of illumination, of life, of joy."
(HIK)

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

            It would evidence our simplistic way of thinking that
it is to be found in the heavens (up there).

"There is a place that you cannot reach by going anywhere."
BUDDHA

"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."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

This aspiration does inevitably have an effect upon our sense of
values by making us weary of platitudes, of the commonplace, the
trite motivations we see being pursued around us - which we
ourselves had pursued.

"There are strivings which pull one down in the eyes of others and
in one's own consciousness, and there are strivings which raise
one in the eyes of others and in one's own consciousness."
(HIK, apparently)

"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

This will alter dramatically one's pursuits in the world.

"As man evolves, he 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."
(HIK)

"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... The Soul's unfoldment
comes from its power which ends in its loosening 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

            However, Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan warns us against
the sanctimonious disregard for what is important to others:

"When he cannot put up with conditions around him, he may think
that he is a superior person, but in reality the conditions are
stronger than him."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

This longing will hoist one's consciousness into sublime spheres.

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