=kitc18.txt

[ CAVEAT (sa):  In this KIT, quotes are not italicized, nor set
off in any other distinguishing font nor color.  Now in most
previous KITs, PVK often includes quotes from HIK with neither a
notation that it from HIK, nor a notation of the book and/or
subsection from which it was taken.
So in this KIT, and henceforth , I will not put in quotes anything
which has neither notation. ]

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CURRICULUM OF THE SUFI ORDER

The teaching of Hazrat Inayat Khan
Presented and paraphrased by Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan
Including parallels with the ancient Sufis

LESSON 18
IN SEARCH OF THE DIMENSIONS OF OUR IDENTITY
Part 1: Turning Within

"Man, with the maturity of his soul, desires to probe the depths
of life. He desires to discover the power latent within him, he
longs to know the source and goal of his life, he yearns to
understand the aim and meaning of life, he wishes to understand
the inner significance of things, and he wants to uncover all that
is covered by form and name; he seeks for insight into cause and
effect, he wants to touch the mystery of Time and Space, and he
wishes to find the missing link between God and man--where man
ends, where God begins." 
HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN, UNITY OF RELIGIOUS IDEALS

[ N.B. (sa):  Looks like in this_here KIT, leastways in the Kaivan
re_package of it , and mayxbe henceforth in this Kaifan set for
all I know now, quotes ain't put in italics, nor in any other
distinguishing font. ]  


N.B.  [ Note by PVK ] 
a) Some of the quotes may have appeared in earlier installments;
but since they are so very enriching to our thinking, it is good
that they become imprinted in our unconscious memory through
repetition.
b) Unless the name of the author quoted is mentioned, we are
quoting a saying of Hazrat Inayat Khan.
c) These quotes have sometimes been over-edited, besides in some
cases I have taken the liberty to paraphrase them where
appropriate.

We are exploring here meditation practices which we hope will
prove effective. These are based upon the teachings of different
traditional esoteric schools of different religions. Many are from
Sufism because of its search for awakening in life, and are
particularly based upon the bold insights of that pioneer of the
spirituality of the future, Hazrat Inayat Khan.

I) THE MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS OF OUR BEING.

Our ability to achieve what we so wish to accomplish is poised
precariously upon our self-esteem, and our self-esteem is
constrained by our self-image which is a sliver of who we are.
Consequently the unfurling of the bounty of who we are potentially
is blocked by our refusal to recognize all the dimensions of our
being.

JANE GOODALL:
"The unitive world-view emerges when we shift our identity from
our personal dimension to its cosmic and transcendent dimension."

We are so preoccupied grappling with the interaction between our
narrow self-image and our unreliable assessment of our immediate
psychological and physical environment, that we fail to grasp our
connection with the vast outreach of the cosmos of which we are a
spin-off (though only relatively autonomous - irretrievably
interconnected with the whole) and consequently fail to muster the
whole bounty of resourcefulness latent in our personality.

What stands in the way of our perspicacity is our commonplace way
of thinking. Ordinarily our thinking is based upon our assumption
that we are the spectator perceiving and cognizing the
environment, events, circumstances, reality, the cosmos, the
universe - God as 'other' than ourselves, as the object. Martin
Buber calls this sense of 'otherness' the 'I-It relationship.' The
difficulty of determining to what extent we enjoy free-will and to
what extent we are embedded in and conditioned by the totality of
which we are a part (wholistically) reflects both the commonplace
views about God as 'other' ('up there') and the views of the
Sufis. It challenges our commonplace logic which attempts to
reconcile the irreconciliable.

IBN 'ARABI (in a high state):
"Thou art not thou, thou art He without thou...Not He entering
into thee nor thou entering Him, nor thou proceeding from Him, nor
Him proceeding from thee."

IBN 'ARABI (in the consciousness awake in life):
"Understand whereby you are He and whereby you are other than He."

In a flash of insight, HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN bridges the horns of the
dilemma:
"We are a condition of God as a wave is a condition of the sea."

OBJECTIVE

Our objective is to explore experientially, rather than
theoretically, the practical steps to become cognizant of the (i)
subliminal, (ii) cosmic and (iii) transpersonal dimensions of our
identity. Then we seek to actualize those potentialities and
resources lying in wait in our being, to work creatively with our
being, by awakening dormant faculties in the mind/body
relationship. To achieve this we need to converge the totality of
the universe in our personality as a unique actuation of all that
is invested in it, as a variation on a theme that, while latent in
the theme, nevertheless enriches the theme. This, then, is (iv)
self-transcendence.

With this objective in view, we treat each dimension in turn while
bearing in mind the levels of thinking of the developmental stages
in our evolutionary progress.

They are: (i) Nazut, the physical state, (ii) Arwah, the subtle
body (the magnetic field or, more generally, the life-field
including the light aura), (iii) Mithal, the realm of metaphor
(form regardless of whether actuated in matter; creative
imagination), (iv) Malakut, the celestial attunement (rather than
an actual sphere - beyond existence), (v) Jabarut, the mode of
thinking beyond the act of consciousness (inherent, revealed
knowledge rather than acquired knowledge, the reason behind
reason), (vi) Lahut, the grasp of the cosmic code and the way we
customize it (including the feedback of existential experience in
the planning of the universe - everlastingness, immortality,
resurrection), (vii) Hahut, awakening beyond life (seeing the
unity behind multiplicity; reality beyond manifestation), (viii)
Tawhid, awakening in life (grasping the way that the divine
intention is actualized; seeing meaningfulness masked by
incongruity; reconnoitering splendor transpiring through beauty;
love rather than aloofness, indifference).

I suggest being very clear from the start as to the difference
between looking at and assessing situations from our personal
vantage point - that could be illustrated by the effect of a
convex lens upon our sight which occurs when we identify (as is
the usual way) with our personal self-image, and, alternately,
looking at and assessing situations from an all-encompassing
vantage point - which emerges when we identify with, in addition
to our perfunctory self-image:
(i) our subliminal (that is not yet actuated potentials below the
threshold of our ordinary consciousness); (ii) our life-field
(magnetism, light aura); and, ultimately, (iii) the transpersonal
dimension of our entire self.

For the Sufis, the personal assessment is not to be discarded. It
has a relative validity. The great art of meditation is to
extrapolate between the peri-personal and transpersonal vantage
point's assessment, and the personal one.

(N.B.[N.B. by PVK] The term 'peri-personal,' in contrast with
transpersonal, is offered by DR. STANISLAV GROF to distinguish
between on the one hand the cosmic and also the subliminal
dimensions of our being, and on the other that dimension which
transcends our individuality - now called transpersonal.)

[ N.B. (sa) -- The term 'peri_personal' occurs in a previous
'Curriculum' KIT, but I don't recollect which.  But this_here's
the first time it's like defined, best's I recollect. ]

Furthermore, to discover how things look as one turns within, one
does not only need to change one's vantage point, but one needs to
clearly identify with the subliminal dimension of one's being,
that is the bounty latent in the seed bed of one's being.

Revelation is the disclosing of the inner self. The consciousness
throughout manifestation facing toward the surface turns its back
to the world within, the sight of which is therefore lost to it.
But when it begins to look within, the world unseen is disclosed.

How do we proceed to become aware of dimensions of our being of
which we are not normally aware? How can we really manage to
identify with these cryptic components of our being that in our
day to day consciousness elude our grasp? I propose to start first
by learning to turn within before reaching out or hoisting our
consciousness into lofty heights. Let us start from scratch.

PRACTICE:

When you wish to call a halt to the disarray, the rat race, and
you feel overstressed by vying with the Jones and protecting
yourself from the ego trips of others, seek a peaceful break from
continuous activity, solace from pent-up emotions, freedom from
the prison you may have built for yourself and sit in as quiet a
place as you can find.

Unless you are an experienced meditator, you will find that your
mind is assailed by a surge of random thoughts. Unless you have
practiced mastery at different levels of your being, you cannot
expect to control them with your will.

Normally our thoughts are monitored by the need to take action. No
sooner we suspend activity, our mind has difficulty organizing
itself. This is precisely what we learn in meditation.

II) HOW DOES ONE TURN WITHIN?

In order to attain to inner knowledge the Sufi covers the other
side of the soul, so that its mirror part may face the spirit
instead of the outer world. Spiritual Liberty.

Place a blind in front of the mirror; consciousness will turn
within....Close the door through which your soul is accustomed to
look out, and as you find the doors of its experience closed, a
time comes when your soul turns its back to the external world on
finding the doors closed for its experience. It is just like
changing place for the soul. It sees before it a different sphere
altogether, a sphere that has been within it.

" The Yogi says, "In order to see what is before you, you must see
within yourself." And that means that within yourself there is a
mirror and it is that mirror which may be called the inner world,
the inner life. It is in this mirror that all that is before you
is reflected. When the eyes are looking outside, then one has
turned one's back to the mirror which is inside, but when the eyes
are turned inside, then one sees in this mirror all that is
outside reflected." 
(HIK), SOCIAL GATHEKAS

[ Editorial Note (sa) kitc17_1 ]


No sooner do you turn within, you will find that the physical
environment seems remote - your consciousness is offset. To
perceive it again, you will need to get your consciousness back
into focus.

"This space of three dimensions is reflected in the space that is
in the inner dimension. The inner dimension is different, it does
not belong to the objective world, but what exists in the inner
dimension is also reflected in the three dimensional space."
(HIK),  PHILOSOPHY, PSYCHOLOGY AND MYSTICISM.

For the mystic everything is connected. There is no condition that
is detached from another condition. A mechanism is always running
in relation to another mechanism, however different and
disconnected they may seem. To gain insight the mystic enters into
the depth of the whole mechanism of the universe.

All things and beings on the surface seem separate from another,
beneath the surface they approach nearer to each other and in the
innermost plane they all become one.

The one who tunes himself toward inside is able to enjoy in the
seed that fragrance and beauty that delights one in the rose.
Likewise, he so to speak touches the soul of a thought. Thus
things unknown and unseen are known and seen by the mystic. This
is called revelation.

This process takes place in two directions: outwardly by being one
with all we see and inwardly by being in touch with that one Life
which is everlasting - by dissolving into it and by being
conscious of that one Spirit being the existence, the only
existence.

III) WATCH YOUR THOUGHTS.

PRACTICE:

Watch your thoughts.

These thoughts may be so jumbled, shifting from one to another
unaccountably (sometimes by a sheer process of association) that
they appear helter-skelter, rather like some dreams.

As soon as a thought comes from within, the activity of the mind
makes it go to another thought, and thus the mind believes it has
thought of one idea while in reality it has gone on to another
idea.

Notwithstanding, your mind is idling, apparently randomly, even
turbulently, agitated by undisclosed emotions that evade scrutiny.

PRACTICE, continued:

Notice that your thinking meanders in subliminal, imponderable and
unsounded recesses called the unconscious, only to surface
sometimes by erupting into assessments of your problems that prove
in the end unreliable.

Observe that the, albeit unwieldy, outreach of our unconscious is
awkwardly squeezed into the narrow purview of our personal bias.

It is not surprising that Yoga devalidates that mode of thinking
as deceptive, misleading (maya). These constructs of our
commonplace mind cannot make sense of the wide context of what is
implied behind what we try to explain to ourselves. If we watch
our thoughts carefully, we will realize that they are ambiguous.
They do not fit into a coherent pattern. Consequently our mind
toggles between one way of looking at a problem, then another,
then perhaps still another. Hence, the aimless erring of our
apparently random, though self-exploratory, thoughts.

This is where the art of meditation aims at training the mind in
an orderly and meaningful way.

After contemplation a person is able to realize a certain idea
more clearly than if that idea had only passed through his mind.
One sees the whole trend of mind. How the mind began, how the mind
went through a certain track, how it moved and how it came back.

(IV) IMPRESSIONS FROM OUTSIDE.

You will notice that the first thing that happens when you try to
meditate is that impressions from the physical and psychological
environment continue to live inside in your memory, inset in your
psyche, and crowd into your mind beyond control. What we had
experienced outside is now inside, but jumbled.

In the physical world, you are here, and everything is without
you, you are contained in space; in the dream everything is
contained within you.

This could be illustrated by the way that wave-interference
patterns of radio-waves are simplified by our radios so that we
can make sense of them. Likewise, our minds simplify the complex
bounty of reality to fit into our mind's limited capacity to
extrapolate between a plethora of perspectives.

According to DR. DAVID BOHM what we ordinarily experience in what
he calls the EXPLICATE STATE is only the way we can make sense of
the implied reality which he calls the IMPLICATE STATE. When we
turn within, in our meditations, we are plunging into the
implicate state which challenges our logic and consequently our
assessment of our problems.

PRACTICE:

Recollect the more significant events in your life.

Try to earmark the impact of situations upon your personality; how
they have aroused a quality that was not actuated up to that time
in your personality - how you have progressed thanks to what you
have learned when dealing with situations.

For example, after an accident you became more cautious. After
being deceived you have developed more character recognition of
people and only trust a person if he or she has proven
trustworthy. Having been inspired by something beautiful your
ideal has proven real - you are now on the lookout for what you
value in life.

Try to earmark the impact of your being upon situations and
ascertain how, as you evolved, you called the situations in which
you found yourself by your own initiative and acted upon your
situations increasingly instead of reacting to your situations.

For example, if you had been then what you are now, a situation
might not have arisen which now you cannot change anymore.

Now try to reconnoiter what were the motivations behind your
decisions and actions in the past.

Soul searching, try to ascertain what are the values you hold in
esteem.

Now, armed with bona fide sincerity ask yourself:

Are you upholding these values in your motivations that trigger
off actions? Or are these values simply utopic representations
that make you feel good?

Are they imaginary ideals that one does not have the courage to
actuate in one's life? Or are there obstacles in one's life that
make it impossible to actuate them?

Try to acknowledge, to 'own,' your mistakes, and give yourself
credit for any excellent decisions that have proven helpful and
meaningful.

Check yourself from slipping into justifications to protect your
self image, thereby deceiving yourself and others.

One needs to distinguish between mistakes committed from:
inadvertently having failed to take precautions,
mis-assessing a situation,
making a decision to foster what one believes is in one's interest
at the cost of another regardless of the distress it can inflict,
willfully harming another or putting spanners in his or her wheels
out of resentment, revenge, jealously, or hatred,
deceiving another and even oneself by justifying acts of bad faith
on false pretences.

APPLYING MEDITATION TECHNIQUES TO SEE CLEARLY.

Now we wish to apply the techniques of meditation to ascertain how
well-grounded our assessment of these impressions is. Instead of
considering things from the outside as they look from our personal
vantage point, we turn within.

As you turn within, while being unaware of the surroundings,
remember the physical world; likewise your assessment of your
situations and problems.

"Remember personal perspective as you awaken from it, but see its
illusion." 
BIKHU GESHE GYATZU, THE CLEAR LIGHT OF BLISS.

Yogis caution that if (or since) situations are not what we think
they are, their hallmark in our psyche will distort our psyche.
The distortion is due to the bias of our personal vantage point
and self-image.

As you meditate your vantage point is offset and your self-image
includes the sub-liminal, peri-personal and transpersonal
dimensions of your being. You will assess things differently. In
this perspective, you can correct your assessments in your memory,
which will clear your psyche of those distortions

Each atom of this universe, conscious of its sickness, procures
for itself from within or without a means for its restoration.
Sangatha

"We blame others for our sorrows and misfortunes, not perceiving
that we ourselves are the creators of our world; that our world
has an influence upon our life within as well as upon our life
without."
(HIK),  EASTERN ROSE GARDEN

One's past decisions, values and actions have a way of catching up
on us often obstructing our freedom.

That which strikes first is an emotion of frustration. Of course,
blessedly, it might be satisfaction (but probably more rarely than
frustration).

The possibility lies ahead that you may discover drawbacks, even
insurmountable hurdles, blocking the way to your resolve to take
action. You may have to admit to yourself that your plans are
unrealistic, built like castles in Spain upon injudicious wishful
thinking.

Alternately you may entertain an 'aha' hunch: why did I not think
of this option before? It may occur to you that while the
situation is blocked, you need not be stymied, because you have
the possibility of changing yourself by enhancing qualities that
were not yet up to the challenge. The impact of your qualities
upon the situation has dawned upon you rather than the impact of
the situation upon your psyche; lamenting the blockage in the
situation has proven counterproductive.

Instead of discarding the impressions from outside and rather than
destroying these features of our being, Hazrat Inayat Khan
advocates harnessing them and using them as catalysts to awaken
the dormant qualities in our personality, just as a yachtsperson
harnesses the prevailing wind but directs its thrust where
desired.

"...the ego (Nafs) is not destroyed, but harnessed." 
(HIK), GITHA II

================================================================
================================================================

COMMENTS FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY: 


[ Editorial Note (sa) kitc17_1 ]
[ EDITORIAL NOTE (sa).  OK, we got us here a problem just now,
inasmuch as quotes in this KIT ain't in italics, which means I
gotta read the darned things to figure out which is quotes and
which ain't, like from context.  And if, as hiterhto in these_here
KIT's, PVK sometimes quotes HIK without mentioning neither his
name nor the book from whence it was excerpted -- pronounce that
p, buddy, makes it sound like a car going over a bump in the dirt
road -- like the one leading into Taos Pueblo, I miss it -- then I
may miss some HIK quotes, because leastways herein PVK's style
often comes darned close to that of HIK.
Jakob's Coffee ain't half bad, even though everyone in Ticion
drinks Chico d'Oro .  Looks like an overcaset day today.  Might
snow, might not. 
Like I say, "Natue may kill you, but it will never mock you."
"Get back, Honky_cat; living in the city ain't where it's at."
(USA Negro song, Otis Redding maybe, ca. 1980's )
(And Ciel said, I do not imagine that if ever I land on the shore
of Africa, they will meet me on the beach saying 'Welcome,
American Sister.' ) ]
