From tariqas-digest-approval@europe.std.com Sun Jul 21 14:52:23 1996 Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 09:52:46 -0400 (EDT) From: tariqas-digest-approval@europe.std.com Reply-To: tariqas-digest@world.std.com To: tariqas-digest@world.std.com Subject: tariqas-digest V1 #67 tariqas-digest Tuesday, 16 July 1996 Volume 01 : Number 067 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Lilyan Kay Date: Mon, 15 Jul 1996 20:37:36 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: the Shaykh (fwd) asalaam-u-aleikum What I understood was that we are each responsible for making this judgement in choosing whether or not to follow a sheikh. Lily On Mon, 15 Jul 1996, James McCaig wrote: > At 09:12 AM 7/15/96 -0400, you wrote: > >Date: Sun, 14 Jul 1996 11:42:21 -0500 > >To: tariqas@world.std.com > >From: gmtn@mail.comet.net (Green Mountain School) > >Subject: the Shaykh > >Message-Id: <19960714160201043.AAA176@[128.143.3.105]> > > > Dear Brother, > > Who will judge this sheikh candidate and determine if he meets the criteria. > This doesn't sound like a job for any human I know (being the Judge). > > Warm regards, > > >having read the more heterodox explanations of the criteria of a shaykh let > >me re-post a more traditional set of criteria which have been excepted for > >the most part over the past 1400 years. > > > > > > > Maharaj James McCaig | Sufi Center of Washington > Brotherhood/Sisterhood Representative | Keepers of Sufi Center Bookstore > United States | http://guess.worldweb.net/sufi > > jmccaig@worldweb.net > > ------------------------------ From: Jawad Qureshi Date: Mon, 15 Jul 1996 22:47:54 -0500 (CDT) Subject: Re: Bismillah On Mon, 15 Jul 1996, arsalaan fay wrote: > Friends > > I have recently been told that the Arabic terms Rahman and Rahim are less > related to compassion, mercy, or grace than to the relationship between > a mother and her unborn child. Can someome confirm and elaborate on this? > > A Fay > > For a good discussion on the meaning of Bismillah, please read the article at the following page: http://www.cae.wisc.edu/~kose/short_words.html#1stword entitled the First Word (on Bismillah) by Ustad Said Nursi - may Allah sanctify his soul. Wa salam, Jawad. ____________________ "The Enduring One! You are the Enduring One!" The most helpless slave of al-Rahman al-Ghufoor al-Wudood: Jawad Anwar ibn Muhammad Anwar al-Qureshi ------------------------------ From: Gale Date: Mon, 15 Jul 1996 21:10:19 -0700 Subject: Rahman A Fay, I have never heard this before (ie, Rahman-Rahim as relationship of mother to unborn), and looking at the pre-Islamic use of the name Rahman I would suspect this is not how the ancients regarded the relationship either. In early Syrian Christianity, Rahmanan was regarded as the 1st Person, or Father, in the context of the Trinity (Alaha referring to the One God). The name Rahmanan was also used in place of YHWH by the Jewish tribal king/leader Nuwas from Yemen before Muhammad's, saws, time. Ergo, Rahman, in earlier usage, already carries masculine connotations. >From who or what source did you hear this? Blessings, Nur ------------------------------ From: CWoodsong@aol.com Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 00:25:20 -0400 Subject: Re: Volume of mail Dear Ones! >>Of late, there has been a huge volume of mail on this list. Since >>Friday, I've received more than 150 messages and this has been the >>normal amount of late. Some have sent more than 20 messages in just >>three days. Sooorrrry!! I've done it again! ....and i apologize for not being more conscious of others' needs! Thank you for letting me see this.... and please forgive my insensitivity! I know that my over enthusiasm can be quite annoying sometimes... okay, lots of times! :) ... I am a slow learner... but i am learning... to listen. I am guilty of sloth! I reply, without thought of the effect... i will be more careful to make personal replies... personal. :) Thank you! thank you! :) one thing... about listening... i am learning to listen, really listen to Earth Mother... she teaches me humility... and patience, and love.... yes, She does. YES! She is! (if i can only listen!!!! :) <> blessed be! love, love, love.... you ALL! woodsong ------------------------------ From: Gale Date: Mon, 15 Jul 1996 22:14:53 -0700 Subject: Re: Verb: to be Hi Raqib, I've found three words in my present Sanskrit dictionary (unfortunately my good Williams Sanskrit dictionary is in storage in India) for the verb to be. "As" which is rather interesting because "asu" is another Sanskrit word meaning breath (singular) and life (plural). The root "bhu" (with a long u) is the proper word for "to be" as we would say I am this or that. It also has the connotation of "arising" or "becoming", and then "bhuta" would be best translated as "being". This same root structure "bhu" with a long u as a feminine noun means earth. Then the third root "vrt" (the r would have a dot under it and thus is treated as a vowel sound) is used in the context of something currently "existing" or "abiding". From what I can recall from my Sanskrit classes, I only remember vrt associated with the Divine. "As" is a prefix found in names of different types of beings, such as asuras or demons, etc. Again, I don't have my better reference materials on hand, so that's the best I can do. Blessings, Nur ------------------------------ From: maarof@pc.jaring.my Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 13:30:41 +0800 Subject: re: mantis and haqq Assalamualaikum What is important (to me) is in the end, the mantis will finally say: "All the children of earth sleep peacefully last night, no one sleep in fear, no one sleep hungry... and I finally have to stop peeking at others how they sleep every night." And there are certainly many men/women of God working in silent to keep this world a better place to live. That is (to me) the secret of "Ana al-Haqq". enough words from this psycho-babbler, maarof ------------------------------ From: frank gaude Date: Mon, 15 Jul 1996 23:10:25 -0700 Subject: Re: Bismillah arsalaan fay wrote: > > Friends > > I have recently been told that the Arabic terms Rahman and Rahim are less > related to compassion, mercy, or grace than to the relationship between > a mother and her unborn child. Can someome confirm and elaborate on this? > > A Fay Hello, Arsalaan! Well, both Arabic words "Rahman" and "Rahim" have as their primitive Semitic root RHM: meaning "womb", i.e., rahmat in Arabic. Rahman can be considered active, as the sun radiating on all, regardless of its reception. Rahim, passive, as the moon, the receptive, responding without limit to the needs expressed. Hope this is of some help, tanzen ------------------------------ From: frank gaude Date: Mon, 15 Jul 1996 23:15:01 -0700 Subject: Re: Verb: to be Gale wrote: [...] > As to comments on societies closer to the land, sky, etc. not having the > verb to be: poppycock! If by "poppycock" you mean "horsefeathers", you are so right. Just seeing if anyone is awake! Peace, tanzen ------------------------------ From: frank gaude Date: Mon, 15 Jul 1996 23:20:49 -0700 Subject: Re: Abrogating and abogated verses Lilyan Kay wrote: > > asalaam-u-aleikum > > That is a beautiful meditation on portions of Sura al-Fatiha. It seems to > me that he left a good bit of it out... The piece by Saadi is meant to cover only the first three words, "Bism-Allahi ar-Rahmani ar-Rahim" of al-Fatihah... sorry about misleading you. > This for me crystallizes (so to speak) a problem I have with what > little I know of latter day mysticism, New Age religion, etc. I guess the more we know about things the less we are likely to judge them. Peace and love, tanzen ------------------------------ From: frank gaude Date: Mon, 15 Jul 1996 23:25:36 -0700 Subject: Re: Rahman Gale wrote: [...] > Ergo, Rahman, in > earlier usage, already carries masculine connotations. Yes, but, but, what do you do with the primitive root, RHM? This is really womb, cosmic womb, much like our sun can be thought of as the source for biological life here on earth. Anyway, history should is a confusing thing... nothing but confusion when all sides are studied. Peace and love, tanzen ------------------------------ From: Lilyan Kay Date: Mon, 15 Jul 1996 23:32:12 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: Jafar al-Saddiq asalaam-u-aleikum This is very interesting stuff. Thanks, you two. Lily ------------------------------ From: Well333@turbonet.com (Jacquie Weller) Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 00:07:06 +0100 Subject: Re: Rahman Gale wrote: [...] > Ergo, Rahman, in > earlier usage, already carries masculine connotations. Yes, but, but, what do you do with the primitive root, RHM? This is really womb, cosmic womb, much like our sun can be thought of as the source for biological life here on earth. Anyway, history should is a confusing thing... nothing but confusion when all sides are studied. Peace and love, tanzen - ----- Dear Tanzen, I'm thinking of the mother of the baby in her womb. This is such a nurturing compassionate time. Everthing is provided for the baby, every comfort, and protection before it is born even into this world. Then while being born, the baby goes through the long dark tunnel, agony, but then this seems not to remembered by the conscious anyway, I can't remember the event. Good thing. Sort of like we go through this dark tunnel at times, but look at the light at the end, not only light, but color, sound, brillancy. K.l. ------------------------------ From: Thomas McElwain Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 10:09:01 +0300 (EET DST) Subject: bismillah On the semantic field of the words rahman and rahim, note that the cognate word in the sister language Hebrew means womb. Ali Haydar ------------------------------ From: Thomas McElwain Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 12:13:59 +0300 (EET DST) Subject: bismillah Ya Maarof Assalaamu 'Alaykum The dot under the ba is Imam Ali, peace be upon him. Ah, the dot under the ba is I myself. Ah, the dot under the ba is Allah singing the glorious Qur'an, the ocean of wisdom, the jewel of delight. Ah, Maarof, say, What is the dot under the ba? I am standing on the shore, fearing that you will laugh at me when I say Ana al-Haqq. Do not say it, it will say itself. I am laughing anyway, because it tickles as Maarof passes through my heart, Maarof, as close to me as my life vein. Ali Haydar ------------------------------ From: frank gaude Date: Mon, 15 Jul 1996 10:25:17 -0700 Subject: Ancient Ray of Creation (1 of 7)(long) Hello, everybody! "Ray of Creation" is a way to intellectually understand where humanity is. Some insight into life might be found therein. It seems clear the Ennead, or "nine points" contains the knowledge of the Ray of Creation, Laws of Three and Seven, along with the number sequence of 142857. It is left to the seeker to find significance relating to his search. The Ennead takes but little space to explore, the write-up here, contained in seven postings, is as short as I could make it. Now, with your permission... Enjoy! Bismillah al-Rahman al-Raheem! Laws of Three and Seven (1) - ----------------------- To what ultimate principles, to what basic laws, can the universe and its manifestations and processes be reduced? Behind all things two ultimate laws standout: Law of Three and Law of Seven (Octaves or Shock). Believe it or not, we live in an ordered universe. If the universe were chaos there would be no order and no laws. Cosmos means order as distinct from chaos. If the world were chaos, the study of laws of matter and finding of truths would be impossible. Science could not exist. Such simple understanding comes from intuition tempered by intellect and instinct (and has nothing to do with consciousness, only with being that is still). The Law of Three is the law of the three forces of transformation. But transformation is governed by another law, the Law of Seven, or law of order of manifestation. Creative forces, really nothing more than transformative forces, cannot work except under an order. Every manifestation is a result of a three-force combination. These are the active, passive and neutralizing forces. Active is the initiating force, passive is one of resisting, and neutralizing is point of contact, connecting or balancing force. These three forces must vector, point into each other for manifestation to occur. If they don't nothing happens, no manifestation or transformation occurs. Out of all the forces moving and acting in cosmos these three must come together to produce something new, a transformation, a change. Each force-triad can produce another triad, a whole series of triads may manifest under the conditions of conjunction. Always the third force, the neutralizing force, is necessary. Many, many positive and negative forces exist but not many new manifestations result because of the missing third force. (In popular Christianity this force has been labeled Holy Ghost; the force-triad, the Trinity.) In science the idea of third force is not yet distinct, is the missing link. (Will be identified soon, though.) The idea of transformation, i.e., creating by altering form, the fact that three forces are required, means that there are three wills that create, that are at work. Thus we have the first order of creation subject to three wills. And it follows that subsequent orders of creation proceeding from the first order are under more and more "laws". (1) The Absolute, having one will (uncreate) (3) 1st Order of Creation, three wills or laws (3 + 3) 2nd Order of Creation, six wills or laws (three of its own and three acting from the 1st Order) (3 + 6 + 3) 3rd Order of Creation, 12 wills or laws (3 + 6 + 12 +3) 4th Order of Creation, 24 wills (3 + 6 + 12 + 24 + 3) 5th Order, 48 wills | | etc. The three forces are said to proceed from Unity, the Absolute, unconditioned and unlimited, under no laws save its own will. The Absolute is beyond human thought. A human exists in infinity and cannot comprehend infinity while still human. It should be clear that Absolute gets to know self, Self, through us humans. Absolute IS infinity. Transformation, creation proceeds vertically downwards into increasing density of laws, moving away from the Absolute. Such is called Ray of Creation (or Transformation). Earth and biological life are way down the scale. More about this as we get into the Law of Seven or Law of Shock, as seen in our musical scales. Now, when life, i.e., world force is the third force in the triad, a human's personality is active and his essence is passive. But when work, i.e., conscious work (Holy Ghost for you Christians), is third force the position is reversed: essence, real you, becomes active, and personality becomes passive. Let us think of a "cross" of time. Along the horizontal line we have line-of-time; perpendicular to it we have vertical time (fifth dimension) in which we can change our being up and down the scale or Ray of Creation. When conscious work on ourselves enters along the vertical, the plane, things change. Changes made along the line of time change nothing in essence, only an illusion of change in what we call the physical. In other words, when a human identifies with the line of time, nothing changes, except he ages, as laws are obeyed; but when he remembers himself everything can change, since he is working in the vertical plane along the all-time axis into the sixth dimension of eternity. Let us study the Law of Three in ourselves; it exists in nature as well, but it is much easier to identify the three forces within than without. We live within ourselves; the outside world is far more alien and unknown to us, usually. Active force is what we want, our desire; passive force is that which prevents or resists us getting what we want. We must "see" these forces at work before we can see the third force. The forces of resistance exist in everything and are everywhere. To have a little will, i.e. an aim in life, second force, the passive, must be taken into consideration. The nature of second force will always be determined by the nature of your aim, the first, active force. An example to try: say you aim to go through the day without sitting down. Observe what things come into play that make it nearly impossible for you to fulfill your aim, to have your way, to have will in this instance. Clearly as you observe yourself and your aims you will begin to appreciate what is going on, what movements occur between the active and passive forces at play. See active force and you will, in time, see passive force. Active makes passive appear! But as you observe you will see that you and others don't know what you want, what your aim in life is. If a person pretends to want something and really doesn't, active force is really what is wanted. Lying to self occurs. Humans can be nothing more than tools of nature under such common circumstances. We are thus "fodder for the moon instead of food for the sun." And as you get near the level of moon, you will observe there is little third force active, little Holy Ghost as neutralizer present. >From the above we can get a feel for life, mechanical life, and why changes occur but nothing changes. We are in one big habit pattern. Understanding third force can bring about real change in you. Changes in nature occur only to the extent that nature is conscious and has will. As an aside, some of nature is as conscious as some human beings. "Three cannot pass into One save by the Will of The Absolute."--an indrawing of all creation, THE singularity of the modern-day physicist? A Breathing-in of Brahman? More in (2) tanzen ------------------------------ From: frank gaude Date: Mon, 15 Jul 1996 10:14:29 -0700 Subject: The Ennead and Gurdjieff Hello, folks! Thought some of you might find this piece interesting before posting Ray of Creation: Shaykh Abd Allah ad-Daghestani and George Gurdjieff excerpted from, "The Naqshbandi Sufi Way: History and Guidebook of the Saints of the Golden Chain", by Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, KAZI, 1995. Grandshaykh Abd Allah used to serve in his master's khaniqah. Every day hundreds of visitors arrived to visit the shaykh, most of them coming from Daghestan. Among the many visitors to the shaykh was the Russian teacher George Gurdjieff. Having recently arrived in Turkey, after a long and arduous escape from Russia at the time of the Communist revolution, Gurdjieff came to visit Shaykh Sharafuddin. He had had many contacts with Sufis of various orders and had been raised in, and had traveled extensively throughout, the long region of the Caucasus. He was pleased to find the inheritors of the distinguished Daghestani Naqshbandi lineage. Shaykh Sharafuddin asked Shaykh Abd Allah to host their guest. Shaykh Abd Allah recounted the events of the meeting to several of his disciples many years later. As soon as they met, Shaykh Abd Allah said, "You are interested in the knowledge of the nine points. We can speak on it in the morning after the dawn prayer. Now you eat something and rest." At the time of the dawn prayer, Shaykh Abd Allah called Gurdjieff to come and pray with him. As soon as the prayer finished, the shaykh began to recite Surah Ya Sin from the Holy Quran. As he finished reading, Gurdjieff approached him and asked if he could speak of what he had just experienced. Gurdjieff said, "As soon as you finished the prayer and began to recite, I saw you come to me and take my hand. We were transported to a beautiful rose garden. You told me that this garden is your garden and these roses are your disciples, each with his own color and perfume. You directed me to one particular red rose and said, 'That one is yours. Go smell it.' As I did, I saw the rose open and I disappeared within it. I entered its roots and they led me to your presence. I found myself entering into your heart and becoming a part of you. Through your spiritual power I was able to ascend to the knowledge of the power of the nine points. Then a voice, addressing me as Abd an-Nur, said, 'This light and knowledge have been granted to you from the Divine Presence of God to bring peace to your heart. However, you must not use the power of this knowledge.' The voice bid me farewell with the salutation of peace and the vision ended as you were finishing the recitation from the Quran." Shaykh Abd Allah replied, "Surah Ya Sin was called 'the Heart of the Quran' by the Holy Prophet (saws) and the knowledge of these nine points was opened to you through it. The vision was by the blessings of the verse, 'Peace! a Word (of salutation) from a Lord Most Merciful' [36:58]. Each of the nine points is represented by one of nine saints who are at the highest level in the Divine Presence. They are the keys to untold powers within the human being, but there is no permission to use these keys. This is a secret that in general will not be opened until the Last Days when the Mahdi appears and Jesus returns. This meeting of ours has been blessed. Keep it as a secret in your heart and do not speak of it in this life. Abd an-Nur, for that is your name with us, you are free to stay or go as your responsibilities allow. You are always welcome with us. You have attained safety in the Divine Presence. May God bless you and strengthen you in your work." tanzen ------------------------------ From: frank gaude Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 06:40:17 -0700 Subject: Ancient Ray of Creation (2 of 7) The Laws of Three and Seven (2) - --------------------------- The three primal forces unite to create the universe in successive stages. They do not unite to form the single will of the Absolute, which is uncreate; for, if their conjunction made a unity identical with the will of the Absolute, there would be no creative, transformative process. There would be Void, Stillness. The three forces coming from the Absolute in the first act of creation are already conditioned by the single will of the Absolute and by their mutual relation to one another as active, passive and neutralizing. They are all conscious, but already limited, and as their reduplication proceeds on down the ladder of creation, we have more limitations imposed. We have more mechanical activity as we move away from the Absolute. Now we can see our position, if we are but still. See the three forces within ourselves. We live very little in the external world. We are aware of it but can pass a house a 1000 times and not be able to describe its features. We learn of the three forces by studying ourselves. Remember such forces are invisible and the best way to make contact is through that which is inside of us. A desire is a force. A train of thought is a force, so is an idea. Try to separate the forces into three; most see only one as the whole process. The forces cannot be studied in theory. (What a terrible shock to science!) They must be observed in ourselves when we do something. As examples of acting in ourselves: struggle with ignorance, with habits, with suffering. Or in external events: struggle with expression of unpleasant emotions towards someone you mechanically dislike, struggle to carry out some difficult task. In this way we can begin to realize what second force is for us in each case, and from this can begin to catch a glimpse of third force. "Turn 'round and Lord of house may speak to you!" The Absolute is difficult to understand because it is first One, then Three, and then Seven. We move along... >From the above we can proclaim that nothing created, transformed from one character of energy to another, is free. All is under law, some under many laws or wills or influences. The closer to the Absolute a thing is, the fewer laws it has to deal with. Let's take a look at a table as illustration (nothing is to be taken as linear, literal; Big octave of Music Scale): Level Label Laws Note ====================== ==== ==== Level of the Absolute 1 Do ---------------------------------- shock Level of All Possible 3 Si System of Worlds Level of our Milky Way 6 La Level of our Sun 12 Sol Level of All Planets 24 Fa ---------------------------------- shock Level of our Earth 48 Mi Level of our Moon 96 Re We have a full octave here. It is called the big octave, as all else are octaves within this octave. Note the interval between Do and Si and between Fa and Mi. Passage between these is held up because of the Law of Seven and a shock is required. What could this mean? The Law of Seven (shock) makes things difficult to achieve, by its very nature. We will go deeply into this law a little latter in the postings. These two laws, Three and Seven, are fundamental; they cannot be reduced further, in terms of anything else. It is like saying there are positive and negative charges in the atom. It is not a question of why. It is so, and no more can be said. You should understand that something must be so, else nothing would exist. We cannot go further for we are dealing with the two forces belonging to the Law of Three forces; the next step is the one law dealing with the Absolute and humans have little to do with such. To reduce the universe to one law is the dream of science, which would be to understand the mind of the Absolute. Gnosis (marifah) reduces the universe to two laws, while at the same time indicating the existence of the one law. Do we need more? As humans likely not... we simply need to see, realize what we are. More to come in part (3) tanzen ------------------------------ End of tariqas-digest V1 #67 ****************************