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Why are instructions
important? Murshid is a God Realised Saint. The Murshid reflects
the Divine Light of God just as the moon reflects the light
of the Sun. The closest a disciple can get to God before Marifat
is the feet of the Murshid. Those who follow the instructions
of the Murshid surely attain Wehdat. (Final merger with the
Divine beloved).Baiyyat from the Murshid may be verbal or
for spiritually advanced disciples the medium of thought projection
is used. In verbal Baiyyat, the murid (disciple follows Eeman (faith)
in the All Pervading Divine and in the Murshid who have attained
the consciousness of the All Pervading Divine. Toba (repentance)
and Zuhud (austerity) enable the murid to purify the consciousness
from the dross of the physical body pleasures. Austerity is
practised and is also the effect of Zikr (remembrance of the
Divine). Tawakal (reunciation of physical wants and needs)
enable the disciple to wean away the consciousness from the
senses forever enticing the consciousness for seeking gratification.
Thereby creating in us the urge to compete rather than seek
perfection in our own efforts. Qannat (surrendering ones will
to the will of the All Pervading Divine). When by contemplation
on the Divine and by supplication we surrender our will to
the will of God (we breathe God, We live in God and we yearn
for the All Pervading). Izlat (to cultivate aloofness from
the people entangled in wordly desires) is undertaken so that
a disciple does not become a victim of the demonsteration
effect and that the disciple is able to set the goal of conscious
exit from the physical body at the time of death rather than
the unconscious exit as billions of us usally do. Tawaffah
is undertaken to understand the power of Zikr (remembrance
of the Divine). Sabr (to cultivate unruffled patience) is a
result of perfect contemplation on the Divine through perfect
remembrance of the Divine with observation of the instructions
of the Murshid. Sabr is developed through relentless practice.
Rare are few who have unruffled patience in the practice Ashgal,
for these disciples are sure to attain Marifat (para-normal
union with the Divine). The key to perfection for the sake
of freedom and surrender of ones will to the will of the All
Pervading requires practice coupled with reuniciation of the
mundane physical body pleasures for the attainment of the
spiritual ecstacy of the para-normal bliss also referred to
as the mystic's wine. Raza (acceptance of the will of God)
helps the disciple to regulate the peer pressure and the greed
for self enhancement at the cost of others. For no matter
what ever you may do you are still sure to perish in 125 years
so why not wake up from the delusion of this misery of unconscious
exit from the physical body at the time of death which we
condemn ourselves to. Tasleem (self surrender to the will of
God) and qannat are to be understood together for it is not
possible to attempt one without attempting the other. The
process of surrendering and to surrender compliment one another.
When the Murshid initiates a disciple into the order the Murshid
hums: God, All glory and praise belong to thee. Guide and
escort us on the right path and let our hearts may never be
away from thy love. A seeker of Truth has approached thy servant
for guidance. Grant thy servant the grace to lead thy child
from the valley of death to the sunshine of Immortality of
Wehdat. During the initiation ceremony the disciple sits on
the right hand side of the Murshid and repeats the following
pledge: In the name of God, the beneficient and merciful and
all God's messengers who have come to this world, I pledge
my life, my love and devotion in the pursuit of the beloved
God. Placing my trust in my beloved Murshid, I shall hold
fast his hand in all thy causes. I leave for all times to
come the 10 negative traits of greed, lust, anger, untruth,envy,hate
arrogance, revenge, miserliness,cunningness. In its place
I will espouse forbearence, generosity, contentment,abstinence,toleration
and love of humanity. I shall hold fast to my Murshid and
shall love him with my life's breath. The disciple now sits
in Dozano (facing the Murshid). As directed by the Murshid,
the disciple will now with closed eyes contemplate on the
face of the Murshid. During this period the disciple now places
both his palms upside down on the palms of the Murshid. The
Murshid then recites the Fatiah: My God, praise be to you,
the lord of the world, the beneficient, the merciful, the
master of the day of requital. Thee do we serve and thee do
we beseech for help. Guide us on the right path, the path
of those upon whom thou hast bestowed favours, Ameen. The
Murshid blows his breath on the water placed in the tumbler,
which the disciple drinks. While the disciple is drinking
the water, the Murshid says: In the name of God, the beneficient,
the merciful, I do accept you as my Murid (disciple) and permit
you to join the brotherhood. I do hereby purify you with this
cup of water. I pray to God to santify your body, consciousness
and soul and enlighten you with Tajalli (Divine illumination,Ameen).
Lastly the Murshid requests the disciple to close his eyes
and places his right hand upon the chest of the disciple and
recites the following mantra 3 times: O God, let this heart
be blessed by thine light. Now the Murshid blows his breath
towards the disciples heart. The Murshid now requests the
disciple to clasp Murshid's right hand with his hand, the
two thumbs facing each other. Then the disciple kisses the
hand of the Murshid and raises it to his eyes. The murid (disciple)
can now sit on the left side of the Murshid. The genuine alliance (Nisbat)
between the disciple and the spiritual mentor is now forged.
Once the genuine alliance has been forged, the disciple is
devoted to the Murshid.So great is the extent of the trust
of the disciple that nothing comes in between their trust
in each other.Hazrat Usman Harun had many disciples. One day
he said unto them that "I must go and break the traditional
law of religion". His disciples left him, all except one.
Hazrat Harun asked his disciple that when all had forsaken
him why did the disciple still follow him. The disciple replied
that the first principle of faith says "None exists save God
The rest is illusion" This disciple was none other than the
Hazrat Muienuddin Chisti known as Hazrat Garib Nawaz of Ajmer,
whose shrine to this day is thronged by millions of seekers.
Khwaja said that: "They who know God Know God None else knows"
The reunciation of lesser pleasures of the body for the greater
pleasures of the spiritual ecstasy of the consciousness reveal
the truth behind the savings of All the God Realised Saints.
When this physical universe dissolves in front of our own
very eyes during suspended animation, they the glory of the
Divine Light of God is revealed to us which permeates the
entire creation encompassing trillions of solar systems. Khwaja
says that we are as much in the presence of God today that
we would ever be, the difference being that today we have
not attained spiritual puberty but with the grace of the Murshid
when tomorrow dawns, we would have developed the required
urge within us to search for the Reality beyond the obvious
limitations of the parameters of the physical body.Khwaja
further says that it is easier to laugh at the sayings of
the Prophet when one has attained the physical puberty for
a child's consciousness is not able to atune to the wavelength
of the Murshid. Use of objects to assist in Fikr is acceptable
provided the disciple does not lose the focus on the All Pervading
aspect of the Divine.
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