Taffakur. (Reflection).
Bismi'llah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim...for the sake of Prophet Muhammad saws and Sheikh Nazim may Allah protect his secret.
I have been looking at "Journeywoman", a blog by Katherine Randall (who I discovered lives near me in the Alpujarras) .. here and her pieces on Taffakur inspired me to write the following.
"No act of worship is as meritorious as reflection. So reflect on the God's bounties and the works of His Power, but do not try to reflect on His Essence, for you will never be able to do that." Hadith.
The essence is not something that one can think upon.It is precisely that which requires no thinking or non-thought.Perhaps the continual process of taffakur ..leads eventually to the constant awareness or remembrance of Allah to such an extent that one realises that there is nothing but Allah
and eventually to live that reality in the sense of complete dissolution in Him, including all thought and action and in fact consciousness. This would be (one assumes) like living in the heart of awareness as described by the Ashtavakra Gita and all the masters of non duality in the Advaita Vedanta tradition.When eventually the small self or ego or nafs is not in control cheating us with its illusion of separate existence, and one becomes "dissolved" in consciousness of Allah (Allah Himself ?) like the drop which falls into the ocean.Then, where is the drop and where is the ocean ?
Oh for that glorious state! I would say, Oh to achieve that glorious state, but despite all our hard work and reflection, it must be a state which is a gift from Allah.He and He alone is our goal ... but only He can lift the veil and surely we must be extremely pure and sincere and give our hearts totally 1000% before there is any chance of that!
Still, we can hope and try, struggle, fail and return .. because, in the end ... what else is there?
Oh Allah, my petition is, that You help me to drop all my petty goals and desires and cravings connected to this dunya and make my heart and body and soul only for You.
Help me to realise that I will never solve anything through my own petty worldly goals and help me to do the job I was created for,to worship You.
Help me to leave the foolish and low distractions of my ego and the fear that keeps me running from pillar to post looking for peace and security and pleasure apart from You.Make me realise and remember that,in reality all fear is fear of You ..and may I have taqwa sufficiently to keep within the confines and the safety of the shariat and follow the sunna of Your blessed and beloved Prophet Muhammad Habibu'llah saws.
I know that there is nothing better than this for any human being but I am weak. Give me strength and love and sincerity and protect me from my four enemies, Nafs,Dunya,Hawa and Shaytan.
May I and all my brothers and sisters in Naqshbandi tariqat reach the goal while still in this life ... to die before we die,and may You bring all Muslims and all the sons and daughters of Adam back to You with the least suffering possible. Amin. (Fatiha)
Oh Allah protect us and keep us in these hard and difficult times and especially in the terrible times ahead for the sake of Your beloved prophet Muhammad saws and for the sake of all the saints of Naqshbandi tariqat and especially Abu Bakr and Shah Naqshband and Sheikh Abdullah ad Daghestani and our living representative, Sheikh Nazim Adil al Qubrusi al Haqqani.
Amin, Fatiha.
I have been looking at "Journeywoman", a blog by Katherine Randall (who I discovered lives near me in the Alpujarras) .. here and her pieces on Taffakur inspired me to write the following.
"No act of worship is as meritorious as reflection. So reflect on the God's bounties and the works of His Power, but do not try to reflect on His Essence, for you will never be able to do that." Hadith.
The essence is not something that one can think upon.It is precisely that which requires no thinking or non-thought.Perhaps the continual process of taffakur ..leads eventually to the constant awareness or remembrance of Allah to such an extent that one realises that there is nothing but Allah
and eventually to live that reality in the sense of complete dissolution in Him, including all thought and action and in fact consciousness. This would be (one assumes) like living in the heart of awareness as described by the Ashtavakra Gita and all the masters of non duality in the Advaita Vedanta tradition.When eventually the small self or ego or nafs is not in control cheating us with its illusion of separate existence, and one becomes "dissolved" in consciousness of Allah (Allah Himself ?) like the drop which falls into the ocean.Then, where is the drop and where is the ocean ?
Oh for that glorious state! I would say, Oh to achieve that glorious state, but despite all our hard work and reflection, it must be a state which is a gift from Allah.He and He alone is our goal ... but only He can lift the veil and surely we must be extremely pure and sincere and give our hearts totally 1000% before there is any chance of that!
Still, we can hope and try, struggle, fail and return .. because, in the end ... what else is there?
Oh Allah, my petition is, that You help me to drop all my petty goals and desires and cravings connected to this dunya and make my heart and body and soul only for You.
Help me to realise that I will never solve anything through my own petty worldly goals and help me to do the job I was created for,to worship You.
Help me to leave the foolish and low distractions of my ego and the fear that keeps me running from pillar to post looking for peace and security and pleasure apart from You.Make me realise and remember that,in reality all fear is fear of You ..and may I have taqwa sufficiently to keep within the confines and the safety of the shariat and follow the sunna of Your blessed and beloved Prophet Muhammad Habibu'llah saws.
I know that there is nothing better than this for any human being but I am weak. Give me strength and love and sincerity and protect me from my four enemies, Nafs,Dunya,Hawa and Shaytan.
May I and all my brothers and sisters in Naqshbandi tariqat reach the goal while still in this life ... to die before we die,and may You bring all Muslims and all the sons and daughters of Adam back to You with the least suffering possible. Amin. (Fatiha)
Oh Allah protect us and keep us in these hard and difficult times and especially in the terrible times ahead for the sake of Your beloved prophet Muhammad saws and for the sake of all the saints of Naqshbandi tariqat and especially Abu Bakr and Shah Naqshband and Sheikh Abdullah ad Daghestani and our living representative, Sheikh Nazim Adil al Qubrusi al Haqqani.
Amin, Fatiha.
posted by longgone1 at 1/25/2006 07:06:00 AM
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