World Philosophical Heritage

Wisdom and teachings of
Sufism

295 quote(s) | Page 2 / 12

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T here is no existence save His existence. ... This means that the existence of the beggar is His existence and the existence of the sick is His existence. Now, when this is admitted, it is acknowledged that all existence is His existence; and that the existence of all created things, both accidents and substances, is His existence; and when the secret of one particle of the atoms is clear, the secret of all created things, both outward and inward, is clear; and you do not see in this world or the next, anything except God.

quote 3779 | Ibn 'Arabi
in Landau, 1959; pp. 83-84

W hen the mystery of the oneness of the soul and the Divine is revealed to you, you will understand that you are no other than God. ... Then you will see all your actions to be His actions and all your attributes to be His attributes and your essence to be His essence.

... Thus, instead of [your own] essence, there is the essence of God and in place of [your own] attributes, there are the attributes of God. He who knows himself sees his whole existence to be the Divine existence, but does not experience that any change has taken place in his own nature or qualities. For when you know yourself, your sense of a limited identity vanishes, and you know that you and God are one and the same.

quote 3778 | Ibn 'Arabi
in Landau, 1959; pp. 83-84

K now Him as both particularized and unparticularized, and be established in Truth. Be in a state of unity if you wish, or be in a state of separation if you wish; if the Totality reveals Itself to you, you will attain the crown of victory.

quote 3777 | Ibn 'Arabi
in Austin, 1980; p. 125

C hoose less over more in it. Be satisfied with what you have, even if it is less than what others have. In fact, prefer to have less.

quote 3542 | Ibn 'Arabi
Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.56

W hat you plant here, you will reap there.

quote 3541 | Ibn 'Arabi
Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.56

S piritual practice without knowledge is like a wide open garden. It may yield fruit and flowers, but nothing will stop the animals from devouring the fruit and trampling the flowers. Unless they are surrounded by a wall of knowledge, devotion and inspiration are easily lost, or can even turn into hypocrisy, spiritual pride or arrogance. In a sense the religious law and the mystical Sufi path are like a pair of wings. One alone can accomplish nothing. You need both. You must cleanse yourself of outward material impurities and also purify your inner being of impurities like pride, hypocrisy, dishonesty, anger, greed and love of fame and status.

quote 3495 | Sheikh Muzaffer
Love is the Wine edited by Dr. Robert Frager.

T here is the essence of God and there are the attributes of God. The essence is impossible for us to understand. We can begin to understand the attributes. In fact, part of a Sufi education is to understand those attributes in yourself. God has said, "My servants will find Me as they see Me." This does not mean if you think of God as a tree or as a mountain that God will be that tree or mountain. If you think of God as merciful, or loving, or as angry or vengeful, that is how you will find God.

quote 3494 | Sheikh Muzaffer
Love is the Wine edited by Dr. Robert Frager.

T here is a famous saying, "He who knows himself [literally, "He who knows his nafs"] knows his Lord." There are two meanings to this. The first is that we can come to know our needs, desires and weaknesses, and also come to realize the existence of a majestic power. Then we know that we need a protector -- someone who feeds us, clothes us and shelters us in this world. The second is a mystical explanation. God said, "I am closer to you than your own jugular vein." In knowing ourselves we will discover this deep connection with our Lord. By following this cord we can reach God.

quote 3493 | Sheikh Muzaffer
Love is the Wine edited by Dr. Robert Frager.

I do not cease swimming in the seas of love, rising with the wave, then descending; now the wave sustains me, and then I sink beneath it; love bears me away where there is no longer any shore.

quote 3439 | Hallaj
Diwan al-Hallaj, M. 34

I have seen my Lord with the eye of my heart, and I said: "Who are You?" He said:"You."

quote 3438 | Hallaj
Diwan al-Hallaj, M. 10

E xperience shows that the spirit is nothing but awareness. Whoever has greater awareness has greater spirit… When the spirit becomes greater and passes beyond all bounds, the spirits of all things become obedient to it.

quote 3336 | Jalâl ud Dîn Rumi
The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi, pp. 31-32, Trans. William C. Chittick. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1983

K now that the World of Unity lies in the other direction from the senses. If you want Oneness, go in that direction!

quote 3335 | Jalâl ud Dîn Rumi
The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi, p. 251, Trans. William C. Chittick. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1983

W hat can I say about the stations of those who have attained union except that they are infinite, while the stations of the travelers have a limit? The limit of the travelers is union. But what could be the limit of those in union? -- that is, that union which cannot be marred by separation. No ripe grape ever again becomes green, and no mature fruit ever again becomes raw.

quote 3334 | Jalâl ud Dîn Rumi
The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi, p. 247, Trans. William C. Chittick. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1983

H ow could the rays of God's light fit into the heart? Yet when you search you will find it there, not from the point of view of containment such that it could be said that the light is in that place. You will find it through that place …

quote 3333 | Jalâl ud Dîn Rumi
Signs of the Unseen: The Discourses of Jalaluddin Rumi, p. 173, Trans. W.M. Thackston, Jr. Putney, Vermont: Threshold Books, 1994

H is ego falls like a battered wall. He unites with God, alive, but emptied of Nasuh (i.e. himself).

quote 3332 | Jalâl ud Dîn Rumi
The Essential Rumi, p. 163, Trans. Coleman Barks with John Moyne. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1995

O h, there is many a trusty, martyred ego that has died in this world but walks about like the living. The brigand spirit has died, but its sword remains in the hand of the warrior. The sword is the same sword, but the man is not the same man -- the form confuses you. Once the ego has been transformed, the sword -- the body -- is held in the hand of the Bountiful Lord's craftsmanship.

quote 3331 | Jalâl ud Dîn Rumi
The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi, pp. 185-186, Trans. William C. Chittick. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1983

W hat is it to know something of God? Burn inside that presence. Burn up.

quote 3330 | Jalâl ud Dîn Rumi
The Essential Rumi, p. 62, Trans. Coleman Barks with John Moyne. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1995

L ove is for vanishing into the sky.

quote 3329 | Jalâl ud Dîn Rumi
The Essential Rumi, p. 107, Trans. Coleman Barks with John Moyne. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1995

T o deem oneself exalted is to claim copartnership with God. As long as you have not died and become living through Him, you are a rebel seeking a realm for your copartnership. When you have become living through Him, you are indeed He. That is utter Oneness, how could that be copartnership?

quote 3328 | Jalâl ud Dîn Rumi
The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi, pp. 183-184, Trans. William C. Chittick. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1983

W ith God, two I's cannot find room. You say I and He says I. Either you die before Him, or let Him die before you; then duality will not remain. But it is impossible for Him to die, either subjectively or objectively, since He is the Living God, the Undying (Koran 25:58). He possesses such Gentleness that were it possible, He would die for you so that duality might vanish. But since it is impossible for Him to die, you die, so that He may manifest Himself to you and duality may vanish.

quote 3327 | Jalâl ud Dîn Rumi
The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi, p. 191, Trans. William C. Chittick. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1983

G od calls, … "Come out of your selves quickly, or else every instant will be a shackle, every two paces snares and traps." Come out of ourselves? But to where? To selflessness! Selflessness is meaning, meaning! Self-consciousness is names, names!

quote 3326 | Jalâl ud Dîn Rumi
The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi, p. 174, Trans. William C. Chittick. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1983

I have been so naughted in Thy Love's existence that my nonexistence is a thousand times sweeter than my existence.

quote 3325 | Jalâl ud Dîn Rumi
The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi, p. 298, Trans. William C. Chittick. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1983

G od does not speak to everyone, just as the kings of this world do not speak to every weaver. They appoint ministers and representatives so that through them people may find the way to them. In the same way God has singled out certain servants so that everyone who seeks Him may find Him within them. All the prophets have come for this reason. Only they are the Way.

quote 3324 | Jalâl ud Dîn Rumi
The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi, p. 122, Trans. William C. Chittick. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1983

D o not break with the prophet of your time! Do not rely on your own skills and footsteps! Though you be a lion, if you travel the Path without a guide, you will be a self-seer, astray and contemptible.

quote 3323 | Jalâl ud Dîn Rumi
The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi, p. 139, Trans. William C. Chittick. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1983

I f you want dervishhood, spiritual poverty, and emptiness, you must be friends with a sheikh. Talking about it, reading books, and doing practices don't help. Soul receives from soul that knowing.

quote 3322 | Jalâl ud Dîn Rumi
The Essential Rumi, p.255, Trans. Coleman Barks with John Moyne. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1995

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