Monday, September 05, 2005

Touching the Beloved
“The need of the world today is not learning, but how to become considerate towards one another. To try and find out in what way happiness can be brought about, and in this way to realize that peace which is the longing of every soul; and to impart it to others, thereby attaining our life's goal, the sublimity of life.” Hazrat Inayat Khan
So often I hear expressed from people a sense that something is missing in their lives, some essential thing, an emptiness within that seems unfillable. So we look for something to guide us, some group or method or discipline which will aid us in informing our inner being that we are on a path or reconciliation with the deep desire of the Soul.
Here is a partial transcript of an IM conversation I recently had with a student of mine. I thought she was telling me that she was always trying to get people to see their light. So this was my response:
Musawwir: that way lies disappointment - I mean it seems to be blaming all the people you know who cannot do what you do
C: What do I do?
Musawwir: I used to do that too. watch people to see if they realized how cool I am
C: no you got it wrong. That is not what I meant.
Musawwir: Oh? Okay then tell me.
C: I want to be what people need me to be, and when they need it. I want to help people with whatever they need that I can help them with.
Musawwir: ah, Okay that’s different.
C: I want to shine my light on their path so they can use it to see. But I need a brighter light sometimes.
Musawwir: Good, so that is your work, constantly working on the self in order to be what others need you to be. We are talking about the same thing then
And we went on to complete our conversation.
We each express our longing slightly differently. For some it is pretty simple, “Let me embrace the Beloved.” For others, like my friend it is more complex since she is very aware of her impact on others and is striving to be as aware and as available as possible in order to be that which others need her to be. A very delicate place to be as it requires one to continually be aware of one’s own ego and it’s need for acknowledgement. As I said to her about myself, waiting for others to realize how cool I am.
If, as Pir O Murshid says above, the need of the world is consideration, how far does that go? Certainly in the past week we have had some extreme
examples of consideration and lack thereof. Not just from a bureaucracy that has trouble doing anything quickly but also from those who are afraid and need to control their environment with violence. Where does this leave the person who has this need to shine?
For just a moment allow yourself to feel the possibility of Peace. Not as an interval between conflicts, but as a Divine state of being that exists constantly but that we sometimes have difficulty of access. Peace as a constant, not a potential. See if you can experience this state even for just an instant. You can find it through the breath, focusing on the rhythm of the breath and then focusing the energy of the breath through the heart space.
Read the above again, see what you feel and tell others. And see if the Beloved, that constantly calls to you isn’t a bit closer.
Love & Blessings, Musawwir

2 comments:

Suriya said...

Your topic is one which I face daily in my work. It is to be what my client needs me to be. I do feel I sometimes live up to the role but there are times that I don 't.There are times when my client wants less of me than I am capable of and I fail because I get angry that they do not want to be helped. I had worked on this in my last retreat and I am now no longer angry and am succeeding for the most part in being what is expected of me. Of course not being a mind reader , this means I sometimes fail because sometimes people quietly expect me to pull them out of whatever problems they are having but do not tell me their expectations...Indeed being expected to work miracles like this is beyond me as well! Mostly , I see that what you wrote has to do with working on my own peace and then having done that being present and listening with presence as well as allowing not myself but the Divine working through me to manifest its works with whoever needs the manifestation. I do think this works out also, sometimes and perhaps straining to understand is not the way but finding my natural tone which is in connection with the divine is the way

Anonymous said...

About 20 years ago I wouldn't have thought about fate or destiny, because those words meant absolutely nothing to me. Then there was a time I didn't really know what my being on this earth ball was all about, but I wondered ... I still don't know, but I am convinced that all that a one experiences in a single lifetime is all one needs in a single lifetime, and that is quite a lot of funky stuff. It can be tricky, it can be fun, it can be sad but it's never wrong. I am amazed and in great delight about how upclose and personal life can get, about situations I end up in, about people I meet. So let's have it, what comes around goes around, there is no other way. Every single second only happens one time ... don't miss it.

And by the way, it is already 8 am way over here so I know what lies ahead ...

Els