10 - What is Spirituality?

As I try to explore new horizons in what has been called 'spirituality,' I am led to determine as clearly as possible what 'awakening in life' would really mean in practice.  One might question the validity of practicing away from the scene where things actually happen:  the value of learning to pilot a plane on a simulator, the effectiveness of meditating on divine qualities (wazaif) in a meditation cell isolated from the real life situations in which one is being challenged in affirming these qualities in one's actual handling of problems.

Granted, in a first step, one may auto-suggest a built-in programming, bearing in mind, as Murshid says, that one is just earmarking in oneself a quality that is already latent in oneself and actually effective in the entire universe.  The neo-Platonic philosopher, Plotinus, once said:  that which one fails to intuit in contemplation, one seeks to experience in the environment.  In one's ivory tower, in splendid isolation, one may well glean something of the universe within oneself.  Being conscious of the bounty, splendor and grandeur of the qualities inherited, converged, confluent, from the entire universe at all levels, one's divine inheritance, one would walk the streets with the majesty of a king or queen.

But I would advocate as a second step:  while meditating, when one is still protected from the actual stress of impinging situations, to clearly envision those circumstances in one's daily life calling for the particular quality one is meditating upon.  Clearly imagine yourself as you would be if you were faced with this very situation and were able than to manifest this quality more intensely than before, thanks to the emphasis laid on it by concentrating upon it.

But it is in the third step that one actually gets down to doing it.  This is where things are really at.  Presently, one finds oneself launched into real life.  In a battle of wills, people are trying to blackmail one into submitting to their will.  One did not quite realize it except that one felt frustrated.  One resented the people for being bullies.  Yet maybe one thought they knew more and had more experience.  One is hoodwinked by their self-confidence.  Anyway, one feels one does not have what it takes to bend their wills.

Besides, it is all too much of a hassle, and so tiring to keep on fighting.  So one demurs, resenting them, resenting oneself for copping out, resenting fate for having placed one in this insidious situation.  Half the battle consisted in realizing the situation, clearly seeing what people are doing to one.

What is the second half?   Remembering one's wazifa, the mantram for power:  discovering in oneself the self same power that moves the stars and the planets, the atoms, the sea, and propulses the sap in the trees and breaks through as the power of a kingly personality.  One has it, too, in oneself.  Maybe it is difficult to believe.  Abraham believed in it; that is why he became a patriarch.  If one were Abraham, these people would not be trying to undermine one's will.  People have a sure sense of how far they can try it on a person.  But one has the same latencies within as Abraham.  Why is it they are doing this to one?   Because one does not believe one has the same power as Abraham.

While one was meditating, maybe one could actually see it theoretically. "Pir Vilayat keeps on referring to the DNA in each cell that carries the same programming as the whole body." Each fraction of the totality carries the bounty of the whole potentially (albeit less effectively the smaller the fraction).  But when on the battlefield of life, the theory seems far-fetched, star-flung, just a mind trip when faced with the stark reality.  This is where awakening in life proves more effective than awakening beyond life; the knowledge gained by experience more effective than our intuitive preknowledge.

Yet involvement in life tends to draw one into one's personal vantage point and self-image.  The chances are that in like manner, one also has allowed oneself to sink into that lowest denominator.  Awakening in life does not mean being caught in the constraint of the personal perspective.  It means being aware of it while reconciling it to a cosmic and transcendental perspective.  Both together.  Now you pull yourself together and awaken!   Immediately, one is aware of an overwhelming cosmic force in one - this is in the nature of one's real being.  Presumably one did not have the trust or courage to call upon one's real being faced with the aggressive ego impacting one.  Now one has clinched it, thanks to having learned to avoid slipping into one's personal vantage point.

The question now arises whether this of itself will enable one to surmount the challenge.  The answer is no.  First, one's inborn courtesy and politeness and also compassion and generosity of heart will certainly stay one's hand in bringing to bear all the power on tap.  Secondly, how does one allay megalomania?   Remember, pride in the divine inheritance, together with humility for how one limits this bounty by one's own concept of oneself - both together - the reconciliation of the irreconcilables.

One tends to palliate by thinking, "I wish to be the instrument of the divine will",  evidencing once more one's built-in conditioning of thinking in terms of categories.  No!    One's will is the divine will, funneled down, limited, distorted, but still the divine will.

But will that do it?   Or was there a hitch?   Was it really power that one needed?   Or was it mastery?   Why is it that, having inherited divine power, one cannot muster enough of it in real life?   Is one's self standing in the way of manifesting one's innate power?   Could it be that one is currently unwillingly giving in to impulses leading to a sense of failure or inadequacy or helplessness?   Undoubtedly, a sense of self-denigration would pull one further in one's self-image and stand in the way of one's confidence in one's divine inheritance.  "If one cannot control one's horse, the reason may be because one is not master of oneself, of one's own fingers", says Murshid.

Shall we take up courage and be even more drastic with ourselves?   Could it be that one is ashamed about something one is doing, that one has a guilty conscience about being dishonest, deceiving people?   This would make it difficult to have self-confidence, except by putting on a show of force that could crack up if the truth should explode.  Maybe here is the crux of the cause.  Of what use is working with trying to draw power from one's hidden resources if one is blocking it oneself?   You do not expect people to respect you unless you respect yourself!

The clue to the whole hang-up has now been unmasked.  The answer now is in making a decision to change an action in life.  Immediately, but immediately, one is able to walk down the street conscious of one's divine inheritance, with the majesty of a king or queen, while being aware of one's personality identity.  Both together, this time in perfect sync and furthermore, one is aware of filtering one's real being into one's personality to extend its boundaries and become more and more cosmic.  There was no point in repeating the wazifa unless it were consistent with one's action.

The above would be a practical way of enacting one's practices in real life situations.  We have built a bridge between what we imagine the divine nature to be and our personality because we cannot know these archetypes except by exemplifying them in our own personality.  The new knowledge is built on a preknowledge, but substantiated and 'customized' by personal experience.  "By discovering Him in my being, I confer upon Him a mode of reality", says Ibn 'Arabi.  Yet to actuate latencies is not enough; the divine archetypes are enriched when we mutate them in our personalities.  Therefore, Ibn 'Arabi adds, "By actuating Him in my being, I confer upon Him a mode of knowledge."

New perspectives in spirituality!   Exploring the new spirituality.  More realistic.  More honest!
