FAITH

Faith is the first requirement in life.

I do not mean faith in a belief, a person, a religion but the divine reality of Faith that is full of complete certainty and free from all fear.

In life, Faith brings the strength and self-confidence to manifest and move forward within the current of challenges, trials and tribulations.  Sufi Amin used to say without faith we would not even drive through a green light.

The practice for the developing this essential quality is:
Ya Maumin

The Flow of Life

Life is flow, Death (Kemal) is the absence of Flow.

We are all on Earth with a purpose in Life and the Light of that purpose was kindled in our soul even before our birth.  It is that purpose moving in our life's breath that creates our flow.

When we feel emotions like despair, anger, depression, lack of joy, it is often because we are not flowing.  Sufi Amin used to tell me I was either blocked or out of touch with the expression of my life's purpose. 

So life flow is about expressing our purpose and that brings joy, harmony and fulfillment to ones heart and life.  Once you are flowing with the stream of life, you don't even have to row, just steer.   It also occurs to me that it is not only a matter of expressing our purpose but also committing to it at some level.

Blessings for flow:

• Alternate Breathing without breath retention
• Relaxation of body, breath and mind
• Circulating the Cosmic Current
• Ya Fatah (The Opener and remover of blockages)
• Ya Wahabo (The Divine Bestower)
• Ya Kazi Ah Hazad (To all allow a flow to our activities)
• Ya Muqaddim (The Divine Expediter and mover)

Note: Creating a divine flow in your life will bring forth your purpose for that is what flowing is. Also, your purpose is not one thing, it is an expression, an expression of the divine reality itself.

Life - Distraction or Expression

LIFE as a DISTRACTION
We have heard it said many times in many mystical paths, life is a distraction from the realization of God.  From a certain perspective this is true because it is easy for an individual to find life filled with many attachments and aversions: things we love and things we strongly dislike.  These things, according to the law of Pratyaya (the mirror nature of consciousness) absorb our attention and thereby distract us from the deeper perception of our unlimited being.  In Buddhism these are known as the 3 poisons: attachment, aversion and delusion.

But it is an unavoidable part of evolution to be deeply involved in life and at first this involvement naturally creates attachments and aversions.  Attachments and aversions are a part of motivated desire - without desire there would be no life, nor evolution of the divine expression through life.

 The hidden desire of the Creator is the secret of the whole creation.

-          Hazrat Inayat Khan


LIFE as an EXPRESSIONYet there is another more mature perspective where we see everything in life as a divine expression rather than as a distraction.  Seeing that behind everything, even attachment and aversion, there is a divine quality expressing itself as either a more limited or unlimited expression - but it is all the divine being working things out through its expression. 

Recognize the Divine desire, however constrained and distorted, in every act of every being.
-          Pir Zia, 7 Leading Names, Mureed

From this perspective we clearly see in every expression there is something to be learned.  It is not an intellectual exercise but a way of seeing. We do not have to "remember God' for we see God is before us every moment.  Everything is a dynamic, creative expression of Divine Consciousness and there is no distraction as we observe life from this perspective, just the divine dance of life unfolding all around us.

·         The whole of nature is a secret book, yet it is an open book to the seer.

·         There is always truth everywhere. The eye must look, and at whatever it looks, the seer will see.

           – Hazrat Inayat Khan

To make this perspective more and more concrete requires sight that is free from ego, subtle and comprehending of that which is seen.  Four blessings to help us attune to this perception are:

Ya Wajid – Ya Wahid:          To perceive the One Reality in the unity of manifestation.

Ya Batin – Ya Basir:             To see that which transpires behind that which appears.

 

Note: definitions for the individual divine qualities can be found on-line in many places using a search engine.

Trouble Sleeping - The Sleeping Aid Practice

Have you ever had trouble falling to sleep or waking up too early?

Over the past year, due to many changes in life, I have often woken up earlier than planned and had trouble falling back to sleep. I started using a practice that seems to work most every time to help me fall back to sleep no matter how much I have on my mind.

Here is the practice...

1. In bed, lay in Shivasana or Corps Pose (however I allow my palms to face downward), then relax your entire body, let your body relax and sink into the bed until your are very relaxed - take whatever time you need to do this.


2. Now simply FEEL that you are breathing in and out through the soles of your relaxed feet, slowly, gently. Use moderately full relaxed breaths but not strained in anyway.  Feel the breath gently flowing in through the soles of your feet and up to your solar plexus, then feel the breath gently flowing out from the soles of your relaxed feet. 


Note: if your mind wanders off the practice this often means you are ready to roll over and go to sleep. Otherwise gently bring your attention back to gently breathing in and out through the soles of the feet until you feel like going to sleep.

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This practice can be extended by adding the following.


3. After the feet, add the hands. Feel the breath gently flowing in through the relaxed palms of your hands and up the arms into the heart center and then back out through the arms and palms of the hands.


4. After the hands, gently breathe in through the top of the head to the 3rd eye center and out through he top of the head.


5. Finally, see if you can simultaneously breathe in and out through the soles of the feet, palms of the hands and top of head this time allowing the breath to come join and return from the heart center. 


The feeling I get from this practice is something like when I've been walking out in fresh country air and now I am ready to come in and go to sleep.  Enjoy!

The Elemental Breath Practice

As Given by Hazrat Pir-O-Murshid Inayat Khan.

Practices With Breath

by Hazrat Inayat Khan

 The breath is the source which keeps body and mind alive, and body and mind connected. Impurity of breath turns body and mind impure, and purity of breath gives purity to body and mind.  The question of how we should purify the breath may be answered this way: that breath is constituted of the five elements of which both the body and the mind are composed, and it is the same elements that are used by the mystics to purify the breath. After a person has made their breath rhythmic and has acquired strength in the breath, then they may purify the breath with different elements.

By breathing on earth, they will give all impurities to earth, and will attract purity from earth. By breathing before water, they will purify the breath and will give out impurities to water. By breathing before fire, the Sufi purifies breath by that element. Therefore, incense is burnt in religious places, and the adepts in India keep fire before them when practicing meditation. One must purify one's breath by breathing in the open air, which is the air of purification. And life in the open space enables one to purify one's breath by the ether, which pervades the whole of space. Purification of the breath not only gives sound health of mind and body, but it gives perpetual youth and long life, until one has attained the life eternal.

The general practice consists of four sets of five exhalations and inhalations, followed  by the prayer Nayaz:

1^st Set 5: In by nose Out by nose      Earth

2^nd Set 5: In by nose Out by mouth     Water

3^rd Set 5: In by mouth Out by nose     Fire

4^th Set 5: In by mouth Out by mouth    Air

Nayaz:
Beloved Lord, Almighty God!

Through the rays of the sun,

Through the waves of the air,

Through the All-pervading Life in space,

Purify and revivify me, and I pray,

Heal my body, heart, and soul. Amen.

These breaths are done before breakfast, hands hanging down by the side, if possible before an open window or out of doors. Inhalations and exhalations are done slowly, easily, and quietly. While inhaling think that you receive; while exhaling think that you radiate. What does one exhale and spread? The divine power which purifies and revivifies one’s life, which inspires one and enables the soul to unfold. This thought must constantly be kept in mind uring the exercise. There are many other forms of this experience, but this is the general description.

Getting Hammered by Life

Getting Hammered by Life

What do u do when life just takes your let's out from under you and the knocks you flat with a hard blow to the heart or ego?

This really hurts; sometimes the pain causes me to react in anger or to revert to old coping mechanisms like staying in bed or drinking more wine than I should.  I’m not criticizing these things, but they don't generally take away the pain, at the most they just temporarily hide it.

Admittedly, during these times, there is very little in the way of spiritual practice I feel like doing because I am so lost in my feelings of pain and out of balance.

Yet, it may be useful to note that there are a few things I find I can do (maybe must do) to help me regain my balance again... I may do only one of these for a prolonged period of time but I practice it often:

·        I find I can usually just sit down and breathe, in and out, in and out - letting the breath carry away everything else but the breathing. Just sitting and breatheing and letting go of all thoughts as they arise, allowing my breath to breathe me, to cradle me, to rock me in its rhythm.

·        I always can do the elemental breath practice and with it I inhale Ya Shaffee, Ya Kaffee.  Also I always can do alternate breathing, called Do Kasab by the Sufi and Pranayama by the Yogi. (I will post the elemental breath practice on this blog).

·        I say prayers, prayer is so powerful but they must be done without expectation.  Sometimes we feel bitter and that our faith is gone, then I know it is hard to pray but no matter, still say the prayer(s). There are many wonderful prayers... prayers of your own making to the One Reality; and other prayers such as the Prayer of St. Francis, or the Prayer for Peace or the powerful prayers of the confraternity given by Hazrat Inayat Khan (which can be found at http://www.risingtideinternational.org/prayers.htm.)

·        I center in light, let the all pervading light of the universe fill my aura. Sometimes I just imagine my body, emotions and mind being filled with light; sometimes I find and listen to a light meditation practice.

·        Sometimes I very much feel I must ask for forgiveness from God – God is instantly and all forgiving.  Sometimes it is for myself but sometimes it is for another. The Divine Blessing for this is Ya Gaffur - Ya Gaffar.

·        Often, especially when my faith is at a low I ask for strength to endure and to go on. The Divine Blessing for this is Ya Maumin.

·        Finally, I ask myself if I am ready to look into the face of the pain or anger I am feeling? Can I let my heart embrace it, accept it or allow it to just be with me, in my heart?  Eventually I must find a way to expand my heart enough to integrate the pain into my being.  Not easy by any means!

May God Bless us and favor us with awakening in Truth; let us be cooked but not burned, allow us to understand the way of life and our purpose in life. May we be shown how to effortlessly serve others in the ways we can, to keep our light burning bright and to bring light into the world.

Invoking the Divine: Using Spiritual Invocation

What is an invocation?
In short, a true spiritual invocation is a phrase charged with spiritual magnetism. It embodies, behind the words so to speak, a transcendental dimension of awareness.  Invocations instantiate Sacred Space.

One who repeats an invocation with feeling, sincerity and belief makes themselves a receptacle for the magnetism or truth which the invocation embodies.  The power of an invocation is "TO BE", in other words as you say it manifests.  Regular use of a spiritual invocation builds an atmosphere of emotion, thought, and spirit from the all-pervading life into your present life. The practice and use of spiritual invocation and affirmation utilizes the principle called: take one step toward God and God will take ten steps toward you.

Here are a few invocations you may enjoy using:

THE SUFI INVOCATION of Hazrat Inayat Khan

Toward the One

The Perfection of Love, Harmony and Beauty

The Only Being

United with all the illuminated souls who form the embodiment of the master

and the spirit of guidance.

THEOSOPHICAL INVOCATION

May the holy ones whose pupils we aspire to become show us the light we seek, give us the strong aid of their compassion and their wisdom.

There is a peace that passeth all understanding; it abides in the hearts of those who live in the eternal.

There is a power that maketh all things new; it lives and moves in those who know the self as One.

May that peace brood over us, that power uplift us, till we stand where the One Truth is invoked, till we realize our true self.

CHRIST INVOCATION

I Surrender to the pure white light of the Christ.

Nothing but good can come to me,

Nothing but good shall go from me.

I give thanks.

THE GREAT INVOCATION

From the point of Light within the Mind of God

Let light stream forth into the minds of humanity.

Let Light descend on Earth

From the point of Love within the Heart of God

Let love stream forth into the hearts of humanity.

May Christ return to Earth.

From the center where the Will of God is known

Let purpose guide the little wills of all people --

The purpose which the Masters know and serve.

From the center which we call the race of humans

Let the Plan of Love and Light work out

And may it seal the door where evil dwells.

Let Light and Love and Power restore the Divine Plan on Earth.

INVOCATION OF DIVINE PRESENCE

God of Light, fill my consciousness with a sublime realization of Thy exalted presence.

While I am attuned with Thy Divine Vibrations, touch me with Thy Spirit, that my thoughts may be quickened.

Keep me steadfast in my search for Thy Truths, and reveal to me the workings of Thy laws.

May Thy peace and consciousness descend upon me now and enfold me with Thy Love everlasting.

HINDU INVOCATION

From the unreal lead me to the real

From darkness lead me to light

From mortality lead me to immortality

OM Peace, Peace, Peace

DERVISH INVOCATION

Perfected One, Perfected One, in the name of the Friend

We say HU for the chain of transmission,

We say HU for the strugglers for truth,

We say HU for the dervishes present and absent.

We invoke the power and baraka of the community and the great ones upon our assembly.

We dedicate our activity this day to the deepest consciousness in all its forms of being.