If a Sufi is asked what
was the purpose of this creation he will say that the Knower, the only
Knower, wanted to know Himself. There was only one condition of knowing
Himself and that was to make Himself intelligible to His own being; for
Intelligence in itself is a being, but Intelligence is not known to
itself. Intelligence becomes known to itself when there is something
intelligible. Therefore, the Knower had to manifest Himself, thus
becoming an object to be known, and by this knowledge the Knower arrives
at perfection. It does not mean that the Knower lacked perfection, for
all perfection belonged to the Knower; only He became conscious of His
perfection. Therefore, it is in the consciousness of perfection that
lies the purpose of the whole manifestation.
The Sufis say, "God is Love". That is true, but the love was not
sufficient. The love had to make an object to love in order to see its
own nature, to experience its own character, to fathom its own mystery,
to find its own joy. For instance, the seed has in it the leaf and the
flower and the fruit, but the fulfillment of the purpose of that seed is
that it is put in the ground, that it is watered, that a seedling has
sprung and has been reared by the sun, that it has brought forth its
flowers and fruits: there is the fulfillment of that seed which already
contained in itself the fruit and the flower. A person who does not see
the reason of this all is in that seed state. His mind is in the state
of a seed which has not yet germinated, which has not yet had its
seedling, which has not experienced the springing of the plant.
No sooner does the soul begin to unfold and experience in life the
purpose which is hidden within itself, than it begins to feel the joy of
it. It begins to value the privilege of living, it begins to appreciate
everything, it begins to marvel at everything, for in every experience,
good or bad, it finds a certain joy, and that joy is in the fulfillment
of life's purpose. That joy is not only experienced in pleasure but even
in pain, not only in success but also in failure. Not only in the
cheerfulness of the heart, but even in the breaking of the heart there
is a certain joy hidden, for there is no experience which is worthless.
And especially for that soul who is beginning to realize this purpose,
there is no moment wasted in life, for under all circumstances and in
all experiences that soul is experiencing the purpose of life.
Now coming to the first question: the Knower manifesting as man in order
that He might become known to Himself. On the part of man what may be
done to help the Knower to fulfill this purpose ? To seek continually an
answer to every question that arises in one's heart. Of course, there
are different types of mind. There is one mind who will puzzle and
puzzle over a question and trouble himself for something which is
nothing, and will go out by the same door by which he has come in. That
person will trouble himself and will wreck his spirit and will never
find satisfaction. There is no question which has not its answer
somewhere. The answer is nothing but a re-echo of the question, a
re-echo in fulness. Therefore, one must rise above this confusing state
of mind which keeps one back from getting the answer from within or from
without to every question that arises in one's heart. In order to become
spiritual one need not perform miracles. The moment one's heart is able
to answer every question that rises in one's heart, one is already on
the path. Besides, the thing that must be first known one puts away to
the last, and that which must be known at the last moment, that a person
wants to know first. It is this which causes confusion in the lives of
many souls.
The words of Christ "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these
things will be added unto you", stand in support of this argument. This
is the very thing one does not want to seek; one wishes to find anything
else but this. And where is it to be found ? Not in the knowledge of
another person. In the knowing of self. If a person goes on his whole
life most cleverly judging others, he may go on but he will find himself
to be more foolish at every step he takes forward; at the end he reaches
the fulness of stupidity. But the one who tries, tests, studies and
observes himself, his own attitude in life, his own outlook on life, his
thought, speech and action, who weighs it and measures it, controls it,
and teaches himself that self-discipline - it is that person who is able
to understand another better. How rarely one sees a soul who concerns
himself with himself through life in order to know. Mostly every soul
seems to be busily occupied with the lives of others. And what do they
know in the end ? Nothing. If there is anywhere a kingdom of God to be
found, it is within oneself.
It is therefore in the knowledge of self that there is the fulfillment
of life. The knowledge of self means the knowledge of one's body, the
knowledge of one's mind, the knowledge of one's spirit, the knowledge of
the spirit's relation to the body and the relation of the body to the
spirit, the knowledge of one's wants and needs, the knowledge of one's
virtues and faults, knowing what we desire and how to attain it, what to
pursue and what to renounce. And when one dives deep into this
knowledge, a person finds before himself a world of knowledge which
never ends. It is that knowledge which gives one insight into human
nature and brings to one the knowledge of the whole creation. One
arrives in the end at attaining to the knowledge of the divine Being.
And then there comes the question of God being love. If God is love,
love is too sacred, and to utter this word without meaning is a 'vain
repetition'. A person to whom it means something, his lips close, he can
say little, for love is a revelation in itself. No study is necessary,
no meditation is needed, no piety is required. If love is pure, if the
spark of love has begun to twinkle, then the person need not go
somewhere to gain spirituality. Then spirituality is within himself.
But what happens is this, that now love has become a word from the
dictionary, a word which has been used a thousand times in the day,
which means nothing. To the one who knows what love means, love means
everything. Love means patience, love means endurance, love means
tolerance, love means forgiveness, love means sacrifice, love means
service. Things such as gentleness, humility, modesty, graciousness,
kindness, all are the different manifestations of love. It is the same
to say "God is all and all is God", and to say "Love is all and all is
love". And it is to find it, to feel it, to experience its warmth and to
see the world in the light of love, to keep its glow lively and to hold
love's flame high as a sacred torch to guide one in one's life's journey
- it is in this that the purpose of life is fulfilled.
According to the common standard of life a man with common sense is
counted to be the right person, a fit person, but from a mystical
standard that person alone can begin to be the right person who is
beginning to feel sympathy with his fellow-man. For by the study of
philosophy and mysticism, by the practices of concentration and
meditation, what do we attain ? To a capacity that would enable us to
serve our fellow-men better.
