July 2019 Message

Beloved Family,

Just returned from a very sweet 45th Annual Mendocino Sufi Camp with some 160 folks of all ages. And before that I was in Russia for the 16th Annual Russian Ruhaniat Sufi Camp along with Murshid(a)s Halima and Abraham.

Being with our Russian family was very rich and I especially enjoyed being with the children, some of whom were regulars at my early morning Raga Class and played music with us in the Dance Circle.

Today’s “Bowl of Saki” is:

Our spirit is the real part of us, the body but its garment. One would not find peace at the tailor's because the coat comes from there; neither can the spirit obtain true happiness from the earth just because its body belongs to earth.

It is the same teaching which I emphasized at Mendocino, waking up to the REAL - Awakening Limitless Freedom - which is the Nature of our Essence and can be directly experienced. As Hazrat Inayat Khan teaches, “The Soul is an undivided portion of the All Pervading Consciousness.” "But when the same consciousness is caught in a limitation through being surrounded by elements, in that state of captivity it is called soul.” " This is our very Being, and all else is its cover, like a globe on the light. The soul's unfoldment comes from its own power, which ends in its breaking through the ties of the lower planes. We are free by nature, and search for freedom during our captivity.”

I also emphasized that today it is not enough for us to be Heart Stewards but we all need to make a living relationship with the living Planet Earth and become Earth Stewards. It is clear that all of our problems with our planet were caused by human foolishness; by greed, selfishness etc. So it makes sense that the solution is a change in our behavior to Loving Kindness and Compassion. All that under the umbrella of “This is how it is right now” - Making life your teacher!

I have a whirlwind of travel in the next few months. August takes me to France to Fazal Manzil, Hazrat Inayat Khan's home in Suresnes, a suburb of Paris. Then to Spain, for a Sufi and Dance retreat.

September down to Chile in South America and October to Florida.

When the weather gets cold you can join me on Maui in December.

Registration for the annual Sufi Sesshin is now open.

And lastly there are two wonderful pilgrimages you can join, February to India, to Hazrat Inayat Khan's URS and in March to sacred places in Northern Morocco, especially Fez, Meknes and Moulay Idries.

For our Wazifas this month I share a practice that Murshid Sam gave me which I have been doing everyday since 1969. You are all very familiar with these names, which aren’t part of the list of the 99 Names. Please feel free to add this to your daily practice for the rest of your lives.

Much love,

Shabda

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Wazifa Practice

The Three Wedding Gifts: 33x Subhanallah, 33x Alhamdulillah, 34x Allahu Akbar

The story is told of how Fatimah, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, came to him shortly after her marriage to Ali. She said that the marriage required continuous work at home, and she requested that her father give her the gift of a servant as her dowry. He declined but said he would offer her a much better wedding present. He then gave her the daily practice of repeating Subhanallah, Alhamdulillah, 33 times each and Allahu Akbar 33 (or 34) times.

A historical consequence of the Prophet’s generous action can readily be seen. His gift to her has been gratefully received and beneficially practiced by millions of people over the centuries. It caused the creation of the tashbeeh, or prayer beads. Subhanallah, Alhamdulillah, and Allahu Akbar are called the three wedding gifts, and they deserve prominent treatment in any chapter on divine gratitude and abundance.

Alhamdulillah

We have already briefly mentioned Alhamdulillah in the opening section since it comes from the same root as al-Hamid. The name of the Prophet himself, Muhammad, also comes from this root and means “the one who is the source of all praise.” Understanding this, we come to see that the word “Muhammad” implies all of the Names of God.

Taking the reciprocal side of this, in the Qur'an Allah applies two divine attributes—Ra'uf and Rahim—to Muhammad. Describing the Prophet as being graced by these qualities strongly suggests that these two kinds of love are the most necessary for a complete human being.

Alhamdulillah’s movement is continuous, as can be seen in the word al-Muhammad, which has a double m, an indication of continuous activity according to the sound code. This continuous activity refers to both inward penetration and outward manifestation. Inwardly it is al-Mahmud; the outward manifestation is al-Hamid. Seen together it is the unending activity of gratitude embodied in what is called the arc of ascent and descent.

One of the meanings of Alhamdulillah is directional—all praise goes to Allah, toward the One. The “il” indicates this. It goes from multiplicity back toward essence. There is a further clue here that the mystics take from a second meaning of this Name. Alhamdulillah doesn’t just indicate to go toward Allah; it means “owned by Allah.” There is no verb in Arabic that specifically means “to have,” and, as a result, possession is represented by a preposition. So all gratitude belongs to Allah even though there is no verb for “belongs to.”

What this nice ambiguity, or quirkiness from the point of view of English grammar, describes is that Allah is both praising the many, and the many is praising Allah. In the famous Sufi text by 'ibn 'Ata'llah, the Kitab-al-Hikam (known in English as The Book of Wisdom), it is affirmed that when we say Alhamdulillah, it is Allah praising Allah through us.

It calls to mind Mevlana Rumi’s saying, “The Beloved is all in all, the Lover but a veil.” In our language we have the concepts of love, lover, and beloved, and that is certainly one way of thinking about the nature of love. However, when we deeply contemplate Alhamdulillah these veils may be lifted, and our entire way of conceptualizing love, gratitude, blessing, and abundance may be unified.

The Qur'an says that in rows upon rows of birds, each one knows its own mode of hamd, its own mode of gratitude or praise. Each bird that sings shows the diversity of hamd. This phenomenon is described in diverse ways, such as the way trees cast shadows into water. In truth, every single atom of the universe says Alhamdulillah in its own way.

Subhanallah

To get deeply into the meaning of Subhanallah, it may serve best to begin by studying a form of the word, subbuh (sub-BOOḤ). This word appears in the chapter of the Qur'an describing the 'arsh Allah, which is also called the essence of God or the Heart Throne. Subbuh means to swim. The description of this encircling of the divine center can be found in the Qur’an.

In this verse we read that the angelic realm is always revolving (subbuha) around the center, around the throne of God, which is the pure essence. It is an activity of continually encircling, continually swimming. This activity is mirrored in the physical world by the planets encircling the sun, and the sun with the whole solar system encircling the center of the Milky Way, and so on. As they continuously spiral around this center, the angels are saying “Subhanallah,” whose meaning expresses their loving devotion to God and their surrender to the divine essence.

Another verse uses the words nu-sabbihu and nu-qaddisu (a form of al-Quddus). The root of the Name al-Quddus has the meaning “to return to one’s true home.” So the continual activity described here is a classical spiral that involves both a circling motion and a movement back toward the center. The concluding syllable of subbuh, with its emphasize “oo” sound (sub-BOOḤ), means that its activity is ever penetrating into the deepest center. Subhanallah is both a return to the source as well as an infinite or continuous circumambulation of the center. And it also carries the meaning of a deeper and deeper penetration to the source of all, which is called dhat Allah. Such an image of the heavens is
very like what you find in Dante’s Paradiso.

Subbuh and quddus mirror each other, as they are intensified in the same way by the sound code. The doubled middle consonants imply continuous movement, and the final “oo” sound implies penetration to the depth of the heart.

We read, Tusabbihu lahu-s samaatu-s-sab'u wa-l-'ardu wa man feehinn. Wa 'in min shay('in) 'illaa yusabbihu bi-hamdih. This is saying that the seven heavens and the seven earths, and everything in them, do this Subhanallah. The number seven is a symbol for the infinite.

Everything is revolving in love around God. There is not a thing in all the universes, heavens, and earths that doesn’t say Subhanallah. That is what is meant by “Everything in the seven heavens and the seven earths do this Subhanallah.” Even inanimate objects do this. There is a famous story where the Prophet Muhammad picked up pebbles and heard them saying “Subhanallah” in their own language. He was attuned to the sacred manuscript of nature.

Subhanallah often is paired with Alhamdulillah. The phrase is subhanallah wa bi-hamdih, which appears in the Qur'an in several places.81 Allah is Subhanallah, which means it is totally above or beyond, any conception, attribute, form, or qualification. But by adding wa bi-hamdih to Subhanallah, what is expressed is that, notwithstanding being beyond all form, Allah is in all forms as well. God is both transcendent and immanent. Al-hamd invokes this relationship between essence and attribute.

Subhanallah can be compared with al-'Aliyy in that it is infinitely above. And there are two more Names that are associated with Subhanallah. They are al-Halim and al-Ghafur. These Names Chapter 16 The Names of Gratitude and The Gifts of God are discussed in Chapter 6, Love’s Mysteries, and Chapter 8, Divine Forgiveness. The great Sufi saint Abdul Qadir Jilani recommended pairing Subhanallah with 'Azim. Al-'Azim is the name of divine omnipresence that includes in its meaning not only all the circles around the 'arsh, but also the 'arsh itself.

Let’s look into the question of how the invocation of Subhanallah might be used by a physician of the heart to promote inner healing. We see that its recitation applies directly to the condition of splitting yourself off from the source because of the pulls of daily life. There is too much focus on the immanence, so to speak.

Extreme immersion in anything leads to a kind of automatic conditioning. It often comes up in therapy. People feel that to focus on some new issue that is arising they have to leave behind the whole field of their being, even though this field includes great gifts and blessings. They should be encouraged to continually remember that, regardless of whatever issue is coming up, it is also true that they intrinsically and constantly have the relationship of orbiting around the essence, around the true source of all.

Repetition of Subhanallah can be helpful in dealing with schizoidal defense. This is where a person feels alone and, as a result, splits off from everything and everyone. They can learn that it is possible to constantly orbit around source, connect to source, and still be able to deal with the relative realm at the same time. The Qur'an says, “No matter where you turn there is the face (essence) of Allah.” Our discussion of Subhanallah begins to suggest the grandeur that is offered by this, the first of the wedding gifts. It also clearly demonstrates how Subhanallah is intrinsically linked with the second gift, Alhamdulillah. The transcendent reality of Subhanallah is balanced by Alhamdulillah, which is fully immanent.

The opening of the Qur'an, Al-hamdu li-llahi rabb-il-'aalameen dramatically demonstrates God’s immanence. Rabb-il-'aalameen means, “Sustainer or Cherisher of all the worlds.” So what is being affirmed is that all possible manifestation is included in the divine hamd.

Allahu Akbar

The third wedding gift is Allahu Akbar. Allahu Akbar and the sacred Names al-Kabir and al-Mutakabbir share the same root. Al-Kabir is the static state of being infinitely large. Al-Mutakabbir is the process of becoming ever larger, which we compared to an infinite approach to the state of al-Kabir. Both al-Kabir and al-Mutakabbir refer to the manifestation. Al-Akbar is beyond the greatest state, and it is beyond the infinite progression of ever-greater spheres.

There is some confusion about the translation of Allahu Akbar because akbar is what is called an elative, which has no equivalent in English grammar. In English grammar it must be translated as either comparative or superlative. But neither the translation “God is great” nor “God is the greatest” quite works. What is said about it in theology is that Akbar is not comparative, because what can God’s greatness be compared with? It is incomparable.

Akbar is beyond the infinite approach to infinite greatness of mutakabbir. Allah is both the infinite static state (al-Kabir) and beyond the infinite static state (Akbar). Allahu Akbar means God is incomparably great. When we observe any instance of a particular manifestation of greatness, Allahu Akbar reminds us that God is incomparably greater than that. But this quality of being ever greater also means it is ever smaller. Thus, it can be said that al-Akbar infinitely approaches the center state, called the 'arsh. How do we know that Allahu Akbar has the meaning of incomparably smaller as well as incomparably greater? The proof has to do with the word fawq, which appears in a Qur'anic verse that says Allah
isn’t ashamed to use the similitude of a gnat or something smaller. A group of people had been making fun of the various similes in the Qur'an. The word fawq means both greater and smaller.

In the Qur'an there is mention of all the spheres of manifestation in the heavens and the earth. These can be seen through the qualities of al-Mutakabbir, al-Kabir, and Allahu Akbar. All the spheres of manifestation are called the domain of the kursiyy. They are all included in the embrace of al-Wasi', which is called the infinite container of all those realms.

Now al-Wasi' in that sense still doesn’t include the Heart Throne: the 'arsh, that center dot. Al-'Azim does. It is the largest inclusive omnipresence, as it includes 'arsh and kursiyy. Al-'Azim is a word that includes not just the state of the center, the 'arsh, but also how the essence manifests. To understand al-'Azim is closely related to understanding Allahu Akbar.

Kubraa is the feminine form of akbar. Ayat-ul-kubraa is called the greatest sign of the presence of God. It is the one seen by Moses. From the standpoint of the 99 Names, the greatest sign is the greatest Name, which would be the elative of al-'Azim. One reference for all this is in the Qur'an. The words Allahu Akbar and al-'Azim appear in the same verse.

Briefly summarizing, Alhamdulillah can be seen in the phenomenon of the arc of ascent and descent, how everything returns to the source, and how boundless gratitude from the source flows into all of creation. Subhanallah offers us the image of swimming around the central still point in spiraling circles of light. All beings and all realms of being constantly circumambulate and interpenetrate that heart center. Allahu Akbar appears to be even greater than the other two because it leads our process to go beyond concepts. The mind falls away and is led into essence. There is not a trace left of the conceptual.

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TEXT and COMMENTARY to STUDY

This month we begin working with the text: Gatha-Pasi Anfas: Breath Series II with Commentary by Murshid Samuel L. Lewis (Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti). Read Number 3 pages 11-15

Click here to download the document.

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1TeachingRussia Teaching with Murshid(a)s Abraham, Halima, and Ilona, who is our only initiator in Russia.