The purpose of human life can be stated as: to attain the knowledge of Reality. Everything that is given to human beings through revelation is to guide us to knowing our true selves and through our selves to attain the knowledge of all the dimensions of reality. We are in the process of becoming the non-judging, objective witness, al Shahid. . .
ONE DAY as I was having a cup of tea outside a small hotel in Istanbul, I noticed that the street was named Dervishlersokak, which means “alley of the dervishes.” At that very moment, a man pulling a cart stacked high with sacks of chickpeas passed by, a single man carrying the kind of burden [...]
I was talking with a friend here in Kauai who is doing some important research in what I call the “matrix”. He said, “The work I want to do now for society can best be described as de-programming.” It struck a chord in my own heart as I realized that on the Sufi Path we [...]
Reflection on September’s theme: The false self (nafs) will never be satisfied; so strive with God to be near to Him. For most of our lives we live with our self (nafs) in charge, calling out to God whenever the nafs gets a bit shaken. It is when we fall and get broken that we [...]
Reflection on August’s theme: The more the mind and heart become still, the more we can trust in God. The state of my mind has always been quite frenetic. Over the years I have struggled with presence and meditation. It always seems that the quieter I try to become, the more active my mind becomes. [...]
Reflection on May’s theme: Leave opinions and blame; be an objective witness, and serve in love. Initially this made me reflect on our outer world which is beset with apparent conflict and untruths, and the question of how to meet these without being drawn into judgement and blame. I don't believe we are being asked [...]
Reflection on April’s theme: The natural state of the human being is worship. The human needs God as the garden needs spring. Whilst growing up I was told: ‘Worship Allah, for if you worship you will be rewarded entry into the gardens of heaven.’ So I worshipped for an end result and for a better [...]
Reflection on March’s theme: This is the work of the heart, not the work of the head. ~Shams What is the work of the heart? Wouldn’t I know, if I knew myself better? So I wrote down some of my qualities. As I wrote I saw so many positive things! I was filling pages with [...]
Reflection on February’s theme: Character is the spiritually infused balance of Love and Intelligence. A thing’s character is its essence, its true nature. Yet we talk about building human character, as if character were something that could develop over time. If our character is our true nature, isn’t it something we were born with? Why [...]
Reflection on January’s theme: Awakened Being is attention guided by the Heart in everyday life. Surely we are immersed in everyday life for a reason? But reason often appears when we stop searching for it. Rumi says, ‘If you are too careful, Love will not find you.’ Looking aside from the bright star we see [...]