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.

            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. ...The soul's unfoldment comes from its power which ends in its 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.
