From tariqas-digest-approval@europe.std.com Fri Aug 9 06:20:45 1996 Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 10:17:40 -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 #88 tariqas-digest Tuesday, 30 July 1996 Volume 01 : Number 088 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Michael J. Moore" Date: Mon, 29 Jul 1996 14:08:32 -0700 Subject: Re: Woman Salikun@vnet.net wrote: > > Assalaamu alaikum Sisters & Brothers, > > >Iblis asked Allah what that weakness his. Allah said , "woman". > > Just one short comment and then a little personal history: > > Note that Allah is commenting on Man's weakness. The topic of this sentence > is me and my gender, not females. And for me, I accept full responsibility There is what is meant and what is said. If allah's answer was the single word "woman" then "woman" is the subject of the sentence and the implied verb and object are "is" and "the weakness of man" respectively (if I recall my English grammar correctly). The complete sentence would be "Woman is the weakness of man." Notice it is not "Lust (for women) is the weakness of man". Now this may be what it means, but that is not what it says. It is stories such as this, casting women in the role of demonic temptress, that is one of the reasons why my wife won't touch Islam. Even Rumi, or was it Ibn Aribi who said that there are 1,000 negative attributes, 1 is mans and 999 are womens. I'll find the exact quote if anybody is interested. Where did that story come from? C. Jung defines three archetypes that women seem to be cast into. 1)Hecate, the Hag or slutty temptress who lures and controls men by using his desire to entrap him. 2)Diana (i think) who is the godess, pure and loving, an epiphanic vision of gods grace. 3)The mother. earthly nurtering, mom. I don't think real women fall neatly into any of these categories. Real women are just people. They are diverse in character so any generalization is almost useless. They have good days and bad days just like men. > [Please excuse the following personal disclosures - I am not able to talk > about love or women without talking about the love and woman I know.] > > Janan, my lover, partner, friend, wife... Has taught me more about Love and > Heart than any book or teacher. Some say she is "My" wife, I would say, she > is my Shaikha - A living book of love. > > > To lust women is man's weakness. > To know a woman is to know Love. > > Ya Allah! Thank you for your blessings of love. > > Muhsin I can appreciate your love for your wife and the following comments are not directed at you, because I really don't know enough about your relationship to comment on it. The point I am trying to make (and rather poorly) is that there is a danger in putting any woman on a pedistal. That is, that men often become disappointed when the woman of their admiration slips off that pedistal and reveals her human foibles. It can be a terrible strain on a woman to try to live up to the 'my perfect wife' role that is sometimes foisted upon her. Some women stoically bare this cross but inside they are hating their lives and feeling trapped. They cannot complain because it would not be 'perfect' and besides, how silly it would sound to complain about being held in such high esteem! But this is a very lonely life. More often that not, a woman wants a husband that is a good friend, someone she can just be herself with, warts and all. IMHO - -- Michael Moore home page --> http://home.aol.com/michaeljm8 ------------------------------ From: Lilyan Kay Date: Mon, 29 Jul 1996 14:10:59 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: Kahlil Gibran Amin! May we all be granted space away from unclean eyes both within and without, until that blessed day when they are no more. wasalaam Lily On Mon, 29 Jul 1996, Carol Woodsong wrote: > >From /The Prophet/: > > And the weaver said, Speak to us of Clothes. > And he answered: > Your clothes conceal much of your beauty, yet they hide not the > unbeautiful. > And though you seek in garments the freedom of privacy you may find in > them a harness and chain. > Would that you could meet the sun and the wind with more of your skin and > less of your raiment, > For the breath of life is in sunlight and the hand of life is in the > wind. > > Some of you say, "It is the north wind who has woven the clothes we > wear." > And I say, Ay, it was the north wind, > But shame was his loom, and the softening of the sinews was his thread. > And when his work was done he laughed in the forest. > Forget not that modesty is for a shield against the eye of the unclean. > And when the unclean shall be no more, what were modesty but a fetter and > fouling of the mind? > And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the > winds long to play with your hair. > > --Kahlil Gibran > > > > ------------------------------ From: barzakh@idola.net.id Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 09:32:20 +0700 Subject: Re: Rumi picture Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. Assalamu'alaykum, Dear Hafizullah, At 09:56 AM 7/29/96 -0400, you wrote: >In a message dated 96-07-27 14:49:54 EDT, you write: > > > (All pictures of Rumi are only artists' imagination) > >Au contraire. At least two portraits of Mevlana were painted of him during >his lifetime, and these have survived. > > Well, that surprises me very much. I went to Mevlana museum and tomb at Konya last year, but there were only portraits of him painted long after he died. Maybe you could inform me where I can see those two portraits. Does any book ever printed them? Thanks for your info. :-) Wassalamu'alaykum, your brother, Michael Roland ------------------------------ From: Well333@turbonet.com (Jacquie Weller) Date: Mon, 29 Jul 1996 19:41:45 +0100 Subject: Re: Freedom ,a poem There is no shell, cocoon, or prison wall That can hold the love that flows in Waves of freedom, and trumpets in the Sacred Arches of our sky... And The Author of our soul Is Hu...the sound of the heart breaking through to be alive in God. Kaffea lalla ------------------------------ From: Steve H Rose Date: Mon, 29 Jul 1996 23:19:53 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: The Will of Allah Assalamu alaikum. It seems to me that the will of Allah is to have things eventually turn out a certain way. If we go along with that will, things work out that certain way more quickly and are easier. If we don't go along with that will, things still end up working out that certain way, but are a lot slower and a WHOLE LOT more difficult. Either way, Allah's will is done -- and by Allah's timeframe it doesn't matter a whole lot (the quality on our level is patience). But, from our timeframe (perspective), if we don't "get it" we can end up "wasting" a whole lot of the precious moments of our lives. Yours, Habib ------------------------------ From: Well333@turbonet.com (Jacquie Weller) Date: Mon, 29 Jul 1996 20:18:42 +0100 Subject: A sticky net, Poem The heat spell broke today with cool wind The nafs caught me in the sticky net I sweat and fret Then let go... How many names for snares and traps It certainly is so much crap! So climb out of this hole ... What is it that I hang so tight clenching nothing with my teeth Just laugh ...and LET GO It is only difficult When it is not simple Pure honey drips of gold... Kaffea Lalla ------------------------------ From: Steve H Rose Date: Mon, 29 Jul 1996 23:40:51 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: The Will of Allah On Fri, 26 Jul 1996 Salikun@vnet.net wrote: > As I look out this window, > I see: soy bean, tobacco, trees, lawn, humming bird. > I hear: a truck, birds, cricket-like things. > And, during most of my ordinary moments, I experience these things as a > multitude. The tree seems different than the bird. It's distinct. > And, I seem to exist as well. Most often, I experience my self as separate > from other things. "I" see. This is more than a vocabulary choice for me. > I actually experience a Perceiver and a Perceived. I and Thou. I believe it's all a matter of perspective. It is my guess that you believe that when you refer to "I" above, you are thinking of yourself as being a single entity. However, "in reality," your body is composed of great numbers of largely independent cells -- and your mind may also be composed of many parts (which I believe is explained in Dr. Robert Ornstein's book MultiMind). Yet, you have the perception that you are one entity, and, perhaps you are. It is my current understanding that we are all "cells" in a much greater reality called God. If we see things from God's perspective, we see the whole (or just AM the whole), if we see things from our individual perspective, we may see the cells around us, or perhaps be able to conceptualize the idea of "cellness." I'm blabbing. I'm gonna stop. Much love, Habib ------------------------------ From: Steve H Rose Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 00:21:30 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: Naqshis and shaykhs Assalamu alaikum. Thank you for explaining the wide range of Naqshbandi orders in Turkey. It was extremely interesting! There are at least three very different Naqshbandi orders in the U.S./Western Europe: followers of Shaykh Idries Shah (and/or his brother, who I believe is named Omar), followers of Shaykh Nazim and Shaykh Hisham (the Naqshbandi Haqqani order), and the much smaller Golden Sufi Center, which springs from an Indian Naqshbandi teacher. I would be very interested in hearing about other Naqshbandi orders and teachers -- particularly in the United States and Canada. Thanks! Habib ------------------------------ From: Steve H Rose Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 00:23:09 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (fwd) - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sat, 27 Jul 96 18:12:35 -0700 From: Gary Ames To: habib@world.std.com Subject: Bawa Muhaiyaddeen The Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship now has a web site. http://www.bmf.org E-mail info@bmf.org M.R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen spoke the Wisdom of God's Truth from the Source. The Fellowship is a reservoir of those revelations. Any sincere seeker is welcome. The divine qualities in the heart open the wisdom for realization of the unity of Man and God. The major sections have: Words of Wisdom (such as a discourse on The True Meaning of Sufism") from our publications, information about the Fellowship (history, founder, invitation, mosque, mazar) and our catalog of videos, audios, books and posters. Not I Oh Lord, Only You exist Not I Oh Lord, Only You exist La Illaha Il Allahu La Illaha Il Allahu. To strive for this awakening we must love one another, our hearts must melt with kindness and our prayers must be pure and sincere. I met one whose every gesture became a remembrance of the reality of Il Allahu -- Only You Oh God Exist. Oh Lord You Are God, You Are One. We called him Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, Sheikh, Guide, Meignana Guru, Qutb; yet he referred to himself as an ant man, the smallest of the small. I can say that when a man gets that small the Divine radiance and the power of unconditional love so flows through him that infinity can be seen and known. In that vision we know there is no death. As Bawa Muhaiyaddeen says: "With every breath our heart should glorify God. At all times, we must allow the rain of God's grace to fall. Every minute, every second with every breath, we must glorify Him. In every second, we must have the intention of worshipping Him. Every word that we speak must be His word. Every thought must be His thought. This must be our state. In our thoughts, in our breath, in our speech, and in our intentions, we should be communicating with God. We should live His intention. Whatever duty we may do, He must always be our intention... Whenever we do anything, our breath always flows continuously. Our chest moves in and out, every piece of flesh twitches, every hair follicle rises up, and all pores of skin remain open all the time. If these things can always perform their function, then can we not always have our intention on God? ...Those thoughts, that intention of God, that breath, that speech, that look and that sound should operate continuously as do the automatic functions of the body. That is what is called Zikr, the remembrance of God. If you always intend God just as the functions always work inside your body, then that is what is called worship or prayer." May Allah grant us the wisdom to remember Him with every moment, every breath and to live with good qualities. His intention is contained within Bismillahirahmaniraheem. May we intend That mercy and compassion in fullness. That is plenitude. That is freedom. Oh God no one can find Your beginning or end. No one can measure the soul You give man and no one can measure our bliss. You are the One without comparison and only You know our true state. Oh endless One, please help us to reach the shore of your grace where our hearts can melt and love can flow. Please give us the clear map of wisdom and the vision beyond the veil without the veil. We cannot see You but your grace fills us with gratitude. Thank You. Oh Allah, Oh my God, Unspeakable Wonder of Light. May Peace be upon us all. Ameen. All Praises are Yours alone. Ameen. The Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship 5820 Overbrook Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19131 USA http://www.bmf.org E-mail info@bmf.org Toll free 1-888-786-1786 ------------------------------ From: Steve H Rose Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 00:29:01 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: Qawwali; Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan to perform in Seattle Assalamu alaykum. On Sun, 28 Jul 1996, Erik S. Ohlander wrote: > As salamu 'alaykum- > > Has any one out there ever seen the qawwal Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan perform; > or know something about him? I just bought a cache of his Pakistani and > Brittish recordings, and have very much fallen in love with his unique > brand of Qawwali music. If anyone cares to share some info..... Absolutely incredible -- one of the best experiences of my life. He is returning to perform again in Seattle in a couple of weeks. As soon as I have more info, Insh'Allah, I'll share it with the group. Well worth a visit to our fair city! Yours, Habib ------------------------------ From: ASHA101@aol.com Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 00:48:34 -0400 Subject: Re: The Will of Allah >>>It seems to me that the will of Allah is to have things eventually turn out a certain way.<<< Many sufis have said that Allah created the universe in order that He (probably ment He/She) might discover Himself. This leads me to think that god is something like me, in that in my living i learn to discover myself. But something curious happens in that discovering, i become more than i was and it surprises me quite a lot. When I give up trying to have things turn out a certain way but do not give up my desire then something comes through (grows) that was more than ever could have been imagined. Sometimes it is completley new, never before having existed. Maybe god is not so stuck as me, and He already has given himself up ... maybe god has let go of Himself and it is As Me that god discovers Himself. The sufis have a curious language. They don't tend to say I am God, even though Mansure said I am the Truth and Jesus said I am the Light .... generally the sufis say that Allah discovers Himself through my discovering of Him when I am not I but him. Now this would turn around an English professor much less, those who are not primarilay English speakers. But maybe those non-Englis speakers have a way of putting it ... is not at all simple to convey the depth of the sentiment and breadth of understanding that the sufis bring to thier relationship with thier own will and the will of God. In fact, as Ibn Arabi called humans, they are the created creator. Suggesting that in our very being we add to the being of God, but not from the point of view of our lower (I hate the word lower since that implies so much that just isn't so) nufs. And to one of the really great sufis who asked that god just reveal himself a little bit to him, god said, you would be too afraid ... and since there are still things in this world that terrify me, especially my own self, i suppose that god would say the same thing to me ... so maybe a little psychotherapy first :-) love Asha Will, you say! on a starry night the moon asks "What will? I am only responding!" and we all swoon ... ------------------------------ From: Steve H Rose Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 00:48:27 -0400 (EDT) Subject: "Creator" and "created" (fwd) Date: Mon, 29 Jul 1996 09:55:52 -0400 Message-Id: <199607291355.JAA03309@freenet2.carleton.ca> From: al738@freenet.carleton.ca (Sayeed Siddiqui) To: tariqas@world.std.com Reply-To: al738@freenet.carleton.ca Assalama Alaikum; I would like to ask Thomas McElwain whether he knows the distinction between "The Creator" and "the created". It is nothing more than illusions of grandeur to equate the two and countless civilizations have been destroyed for such deviance from the path. The Creator may have allowed certain additional faculties to the human over other forms of life but All are still insignificant in the greater scheme and would remain so, our most humbling truth is that we are mortal and no human being including the prophets were given everlasting lives nor were they free from needs like food, sleep etc. A righteous person cannot be anything but humble and I hope Thomas does not think that it is "cool" to run around drunk in a mosque disturbing prayers of others or tearing down of veils in the street, I do not think that it is realizing Al-Haqq, far from it. Delta, Theta, beta waves are ok till they are within limits. Fi Aman Illah Sayeed ------------------------------ From: Gale Date: Mon, 29 Jul 1996 22:12:32 -0700 Subject: Re: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan As brother Habib posted, if you have a chance to see Ali Khan, please treat yourself to the occasion. He'll be performing at the Greek Theater on the University of California campus at Berkeley on Sun. Aug. 11, I think at 4 pm. Blessings to all, Nur Jemal ------------------------------ From: "Ivan J. Rumi" Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 12:29:26 +0600 (GMT+0600) Subject: Re: Rumi picture > << But I think his picture is not too important. > (All pictures of Rumi are only artists' imagination) >> > > Au contraire. At least two portraits of Mevlana were painted of him during > his lifetime, and these have survived. Hello All Friends !!! I'm sorry for asking this ..but would you please send me his picture..One brother gave me addresses But I couldnot get his picture because I can't use Netscape..and I can't view it..Can anybody send it to me by email ?? Thank you very much and Sorry for asking for this :) Ivan .................................................... "The way of love is not a subtle argument. The door there is devastation. Birds make great sky-circles of their freedom. How did they learn it? They fall, and falling, they're given wings." ............... Jelaluddin Rumi, mystic and poet ------------------------------ From: frank gaude Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 06:24:24 -0700 Subject: Re: The Will of Allah Steve H Rose wrote: > > Assalamu alaikum. > > It seems to me that the will of Allah is to have things eventually turn > out a certain way. Yes, that could be but we have no knowledge of Will of Allah, do we? Laws of create, laws of manifestation have been laid down, and many of these have been made known to various levels of humanity, but the purpose or will by which they were first established is quite a mystery. THAT mystery is called "Level of Absolute". > If we go along with that will, things work out that > certain way more quickly and are easier. Another way to express this is "align your will with your fate". Just what is your fate? What is your will? > If we don't go along with that > will, things still end up working out that certain way, but are a lot > slower and a WHOLE LOT more difficult. If you don't follow laws you get into much trouble. Take the law of gravity. If you ignore it (it cannot be broken like a traffic law) and jump off a high cliff, you end up with broken bones, pain... now consider: love is to gravity as heaven is to earth. If you don't love then you pay big price! Each moment of hate in your being is like jumping off a cliff and breaking a bone... after awhile, you have a body much messed-up. Such is the general condition of humanity, war and rumors of war! > Either way, Allah's will is done -- Really, Allah's laws are never broken, level by level all is fulfilled. God is not mocked. > and by Allah's timeframe it doesn't > matter a whole lot (the quality on our level is patience). But, from our > timeframe (perspective), if we don't "get it" we can end up "wasting" a > whole lot of the precious moments of our lives. Yes, let's "get it", let's catch it! It's not a disease but just the opposite, an ease, a way to "fly". Let's catch love. It's a simple path: truth -> tolerance -> wisdom -> justice -> faith -> unity -> LOVE. Get a little truth and that leads to tolerance... if it doesn't then it is not truth, and tolerance leads to wisdom, and so on... This is the Kahuna way practiced by sufis 50,000 years ago. Now, pray tell, just what is "love"? Alas, "I can't tell you, but I can show you!" Wonder who said that? Peace, tanzen ------------------------------ From: frank gaude Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 06:33:29 -0700 Subject: Re: The Will of Allah ASHA101@aol.com wrote: [...] > generally the sufis say that Allah discovers Himself through my discovering > of Him when I am not I but him. Now this would turn around an English > professor [and more so] those who are not primarily English. Asha, you, You have said it clearly from the heart... flesh and blood (earth) has not revealed such... God gets to know Self through self, gets to know self through Self. God is all, and we are IT. There is nothing more... nothing outside, as infinity covers, contains all... there is nothing but Allah, the creator and the created. We are here as agents of knowledge. But what do we know, being only those seeking God through God? Peace, love, harmony and beauty, down the lines, tanzen ------------------------------ From: frank gaude Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 06:39:16 -0700 Subject: Re: The Will of Allah Salikun@vnet.net wrote: [...] > SO...These moments of oneness, that I can only refer to, convince me: > Allah is the One, the Only, the Eternal, the Absolute, the Reality. > A Muhsin-line you could call it. > I embrace it because I'm left with nothing else to embrace. > I can't prove it. I don't know it. > I suspect it. I smell truth in those words. > Truth, to me, seems to be - this way. Sounds like the last words of a person and the first words of God... just my opinion. Thanks, Muhsin, for being (and for posting, for if you didn't we would know). > Huuuuu Ya'll, God with a south Georgia accent! Hu to you too, tanzen ------------------------------ From: an525@lafn.org (Ivan Ickovits) Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 07:17:11 -0700 Subject: Re: humor: dog And if you remember as Satchidanada used to point out, that dog is god spelled backwards, the humor takes on a whole different slant (Howling laughter!) Raqib > >Dear Tariqas: > >I also posted the chess-playing dog joke in a discussion group for >Princeton University alumni that I founded and still host. One woman, >who graduated a few years ago, came up with the only interesting >commentary that I have seen so far. I'm sharing it, with some remarks: > >"The Chess-Playing Dog" > >Ms. Wittke has not only explained the aspect that I first experienced >as a child hearing this joke, AND the Thai student's perception, but >also a THIRD viewpoint! > >She writes: >>Or perhaps, one just realizes what an idiot the man is, first to be >>beaten by a dog, and second not to appreciate the implications! > >My comment: >1. "The man is stupid because he was actually beaten once by a dog" was >the perception of my friends and I as kids growing up on Long Island, >in the shadow of cynical New York. >2. "The man is foolish because a miracle is occurring in front of his >eyes (the dog playing chess) and all he thinks about is keeping score" >was the perception of one of my Thai students. > I had presented this joke as an exam question, and gave the student >full credit for her answer because she opened my eyes. > >Now Ms. Wittke presents a third viewpoint: >>It's the fact that the man doesn't even think of the dog as a dog that's >>so funny to me--he gives exactly the kind of response one would expect if >>he were talking about a person, but it's so obviously out of whack. > >Additional note, and why this topic might be useful: > >Previous to the Thai exam, I had read in a book by Idries Shah that >westerners tend to perceive jokes as an opportunity to laugh at someone >else's foolishness, while easterners tend to recognize their own foolish >behavior and feel like they are laughing at themselves. (See pages 191-3 >of LEARNING HOW TO LEARN, which is not the exact reference I had in mind, >but comes close.) > >Those of us who have spent extensive time in southeast Asia can testify >to the frequent use of laughter in situations that would infuriate a >westerner. For example, I stumble on some steps, and a person laughs. >They are not laughing AT me, but trying to give me a perpspective that >life's errors can be funny -- "I do it, too. Let me help you remember >that we all do silly things like this." -- a supportive use of laughter. > >Best Wishes, >martin > > > >God Is Eternal, Is In All Of US, Is In Everything, Is One Without Second > > > - -- <<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>> ------------------------------ End of tariqas-digest V1 #88 ****************************