SUFI LOVE PATH
The SUFI QUEST
WHAT IS LOVE?
ENEMIES of LOVE
Materialism
The Ego
Gusting Passions
Satan
PATHS TO LOVE
Take a Guide
Love in  your Life
Spiritual Practices
THE JOURNEY
Supplication
Love of ALLAH
LINKS
SUFI UPDATE
Site guide
Archive
e-mail me


 

 

 

The Absolute love oceans of our Lord

 

[Sheikh Nazim visited a centre dedicated to spiritual endeavour.  Two groups there were at odds, one claiming that the other was not behaving in a manner befitting a holy place.]

 

*                              *                              *

The Sheikh said:

          The Lord  - our Lord, your Lord, their Lord - is One.  He created them and planted His Divine Love in the very yeast of their being. You must know that, although that love may be temporarily covered, it is running through their hearts as a river runs to an ocean.  Along the course of that river, love may manifest only as temporary, human love;  and that love current may even seem to disappear completely, like a river that flows under a mountain only to re-emerge on the other side.   But there can be no doubt that our Lord has placed in every heart a current that flows irresistibly to His Love Oceans in the Divine Presence.  So, don’t imagine others to be cut off from Divine Love – it must be with them, whether that is now apparent to you and  themselves, or not.

 

            As our heart current flows toward that ocean the main difference we notice is that our love is not tied to physical beauty.  Everyone love nature, greenery, rushing waters, youthful forms, beautiful people – but what about others?  The Lord gave of His Love to people in general, not just to the young and beautiful.   The One who implanted His Love in our hearts says; "Oh My servant, as I have given you from My Divine Love, so have I given it to all creation;   so, spread your love to everyone, that you may be in harmony with My will,"

In reality everything that contains His Love is green and beautiful, but to perceive the beauty in all creation you must transcend outward forms and penetrate to the realm of Spiritual Reality Oceans.   It is important to pass from forms to meanings, from fleeting shapes to eternal spiritual realities, because forms are limited and limiting, but spiritual realities are Oceans, Endless Oceans of Contentment.    Arriving at those Oceans will bring you inner peace.

 

             I am trying to love everyone.  It is easy to say to a person, ‘I love you’ as long as that person has never harmed you; but according to our Grandsheikh this is not the measure of real love.  He used to quote a famous Daghistani Sufi poet who said;  “ I don’t accept that love that you claim to hold for me to be real until I have tested you.  What is my test?  If I put you through a meat grinder and you came out the other end as minced meat –   and if then I returned you to your original form, would you still love me?”

            What the poet meant was: if I  cause you so much suffering and harm you as no one has ever harmed you before, will you still love me despite all that I have done?  That is true love.  But, if I  am with you for forty years and then because of one hurtful word I utter  in a moment of stress, you leave me and declare me your enemy, saying  “ I don’t love you any more,” that is not the love we are referring to.

 There are levels of love along the way, differing in quality according to their nearness to the goal,whihc is the Absolute Love Oceans of our Lord.  When you have reached that goal you may take any amount of harm from others and still love.  You will say: "I love you for the sake of my Lord, not for any other reason. That love will never change or diminish, as no matter what you do, your Lord's love is with you.  You may behave like a wild animal, you may wound me, but yet, for you even to exist, my Lord’s love must be with you, and therefore I am loving you, too."

Only the highest and most select of mankind are ever on such a level.  We are trying to reach that point, - but it is so difficult.   This is a test for you and an opportunity to gain spiritual ranks.   You are in a situation where you must be patient with people who may not be upholding the same level of decorum that you are used to.  This is an opportunity to you to advance.  Holy people have advised us that  rather than avoiding all ill-mannered and badly educated people, we should mingle with them and establish contact with them that they may benefit, and that you may test yourself and gain thereby. They are servants of the Almighty’s Will, and we too are His servants.   Our Lord is their Lord and their Lord is ours.  We must be patient and we will gain little by little.  Cherry trees first yield bitter fruit, but you must wait – little by little the tree starts to yield sweet and tasteful cherries.

The Holy Masters have promised me that whoever sits with me and listens with a heart full of love, must come to the same level: their hearts must open to Divine Love. The Masters are not going to abandon us, and we are not going to turn from them, because our hearts have been bound with the strongest bond: the bond of Divine Love, that strongest of relationships of love which exists between the Creator and His creatures.  That relationship is the ultimate goal of existence, and we pray that it may grow stronger always.

Those with whom we sit and whose hearts are receptive to Divine Love will attain that love.   This is a promise from the Masters. So, our meeting indicates that your time is approaching, the time when you will be able to break the bond that make you slaves to your egos.  Soon you will be free to approach your spiritual goals.  That is why everyone here feels themself affected and moved to tears.

            If the love that is with me was just transitory love, you wouldn't even bother sitting with me for a moment.  But the love that is with me is real, permanent and Divine; and I have extended a ray of it to your hearts to awaken permanent love in you.

            My daughters and sons in attendance here today have never met me before, but our first meeting has been enough to establish real love from my heart to theirs.  It is a love they will never forget, a love that is blossoming in their hearts.

 I am asking my Lord permission to spread His permanent Divine Love to the hearts of all people – and the time if approaching when we hope that permission will be granted.

 

“wa min Allah atTaufiq

(slight editing from original)