Inter- Faiths Dialogue

Spiritual Practice > Dhikr, Nembutsu, Mantra & Jesus Prayer

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T he reality of the invocation is when the Invoked takes possession of the heart, and He is One. Separation and multiplicity exist before that for as long as the invoker is in the station of invoking with the tongue or with the heart.

mosque

quote 3285 | Ibn' Ata' Allah
The Key To Salvation: A Sufi Manual of Invocation. Trans. Mary Ann Koury Danner. Cambridge: The Islamic Texts Society, 1996, p. 117

I nvoking the letters of God's Name without presence of mind is invocation of the tongue; invoking with presence of mind is invocation of the heart; and invoking with an absence of self-awareness because of absorption in the Invoked is the invocation of the Self -- this is the hidden invocation!

mosque

quote 3284 | Ibn' Ata' Allah
The Key To Salvation: A Sufi Manual of Invocation. Trans. Mary Ann Koury Danner. Cambridge: The Islamic Texts Society, 1996, p 51

T he sign of the invocation's reaching the innermost Self is the absence of the invoker from both the invocation and the Invoked. The invocation of the Self is ecstacy and drowning in it. Amongst its signs is that when you quit the invocation, it does not quit you. That is the exaltation of the invocation in you that rouses you from absence of mind to presence of mind. It's spiritual lights never disappear…

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quote 3283 | Ibn' Ata' Allah
The Key To Salvation: A Sufi Manual of Invocation. Trans. Mary Ann Koury Danner. Cambridge: The Islamic Texts Society, 1996, pp. 47-48, 50

W hen delusions are absent, the mind is the land of buddhas. When delusions are present, the mind is hell. Mortals create delusions. And by using the mind to give birth to mind they always find themselves in hell. Bodhisattvas see through delusions. And by not using the mind to give birth to mind they always find themselves in the land of buddhas. If you don't use your mind to create mind, every state of mind is empty and every thought is still. You go from one buddha-land to another. If you use your mind to create mind, every state of mind is disturbed and every thought is in motion. You go from one hell to the next.

temple_buddhist

quote 3251 | Bodhidharma
The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma. Trans. Red Pine. New York: North Point Press, 1987. The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma. Trans. Red Pine. New York: North Point Press, 1987, p. 61

W hen the whole mantram … goes on reverberating in the mind, One is freed from fear, awake or asleep… Established in this cosmic vibration, the sage goes beyond fear, decay, and death to enter into infinite peace.

temple_hindu

quote 3221 | The Upanishads
Prashna Up. Question 5, 6-7, p. 166 in The Upanishads. Trans. Eknath Easwaran. Tomales, CA.: Nilgiri Press, 1987

D evotee:
How can I develop love for God"
Ramakrishna:
Repeat His name, and sins will disappear. Thus you will destroy lust, anger, the desire for creature comforts, and so on.
Devotee:
How can I take delight in God's name?
Ramakrishna:
Pray to God with a yearning heart that you may take delight in His name. He will certainly fulfil your heart's desire.

temple_hindu

quote 3190 | Ramakrishna
Mahendranath Gupta. The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. Trans. Swami Nikhilananda. New York: Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center, 1942, 1948, 1958, p. 246

T o control the mind the best and easiest method is to repeat constantly God's Name. Concentration is attained by fixing the attention on the sound of the Name. As the mind is concentrated, there must follow meditation upon the glorious attributes of God. Continuous practice of utterance of the Name and meditation stops the restlessness of the mind and merges it into the blissful, eternal and universal Self. God remembrance is not possible unless you have an intense longing to realize Him. This intense desire is called bbakti [devotion]. This longing must so seize your mind that you should feel a sensation of acute pain when you forget God on account of selfish desires. Your actions should also go to purify your mind, I.e., they should be done in a spirit of nisbkama [desirelessness]. Purity of mind means freedom from lust, wrath and greed. For a pure mind alone can see God. Concentration itself is purity. Forget not that the God that you seek is within yourself.

temple_hindu

quote 3161 | Ramdas
In the Vision of God, Volume 1, by Swami Ramdas, pp 209-210

T he only way to control the mind and free it from the evils you mention is always to take the Name of God, meditate upon His great attributes and surrender all your actions to Him

temple_hindu

quote 3157 | Ramdas
In the Vision of God, Volume 1, by Swami Ramdas, pp 171-172

H e who utters the Name of God while walking gets the merit of a sacrifice at every step.
His body becomes a place of pilgrimage.
He who repeats God's Name while working always finds perfect peace.
He who utters the Name of God while eating gets the merit of a fast even though he has taken his meals.

Even if one were to give in charity the whole earth encircled by the seas it would not equal the merit of repeating the Name.
By the power of the Name one will know what cannot be known,
One will see what cannot be seen,
One will speak what cannot be spoken,
One will meet what cannot be met.
Tuka says, Incalculable is the gain that conies from repeating the Name of God.

temple_hindu

quote 3108 | Tukaram
Ranade, R. D. Mysticism in India. Albany, NY. SUMY Press, 1983, pp. 303, 312, 320, 339, 349.

W ho is free from sin?
One who chants the name of God.

temple_hindu

quote 3103 | (Adi Shankaracharya) Shankara
Prabhavananda, Swami, and isherwood, Christopher, trans. Shankara's Crest-Jewel of Discrimination. New York: New American Library, 194 7, pp. 119-127.

T he prayer of my heart gave me such consolation that I felt there was no happier person on earth than I, and I doubted if there could be greater and fuller happiness in the kingdom of Heaven. Not only did I feel this in my own soul, but the whole outside world also seemed to me full of charm and delight. Everything drew me to love and thank God: people, trees, plants, animals. I saw them all as my kinsfolk, I found in all of them the magic of the Name of Jesus.

church

quote 3090 | Unknown
Russian Monk, R. M., trans. The Way of a Pilgrim. New York: The Seabury Press, 1965, pp. 1, 7, 31, 4 1, 105.

S ometimes by calling upon the name of Jesus I was overwhelmed with bliss, and now I knew the meaning of the words "The kingdom of God is within you."

church

quote 3089 | Unknown
Russian Monk, R. M., trans. The Way of a Pilgrim. New York: The Seabury Press, 1965, pp. 1, 7, 31, 4 1, 105.

A Christian is bound to perform many good works, but before all else what he ought to do is pray, for without prayer no other good work whatever can be accomplished. Without prayer he cannot find the way to the Lord, he cannot understand the truth, he cannot crucify the flesh with its passions and lusts, his heart cannot be enlightened with the light of Christ, he cannot be savingly united to God. None of those things can be effected unless they are preceded by constant prayer.

church

quote 3088 | Unknown
Russian Monk, R. M., trans. The Way of a Pilgrim. New York: The Seabury Press, 1965, pp. 1, 7, 31, 4 1, 105.

T hough I am small and of little account,
I always repeat your Name,
I always remember your Truth,
I always fill myself with your eternal love.
0 Lord, what else can you give?
You have given me the truth of the universe, you have given me my very breath.

synagogue

quote 3028 | The Psalm
119

O Lord, I know that every hardship along the way allows me to grow in your love.
May I find delight in all you offer.
May I comfort all those who turn in my direction.
May my joy be complete and your Name forever on my lips.

synagogue

quote 3026 | The Psalm
119

T he breath that does not repeat the name of God is a wasted breath.

candle

quote 2993 | Kabir
Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.213

T ruth has been planted in the center of your heart, entrusted to you by God for safekeeping. It becomes manifest with true repentance and with true effort. Its beauty shines on the surface when you remember God and do the dhikr [recitation of Divine Names]. At the first stage you recite the name of God with your tongue; then, when your heart becomes alive, you recite inwardly with the heart.

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quote 2982 | Others Sufis Teaching
Abdul Qadir al-Jilani, Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.103

L et your heart be in such a state that the existence or nonexistence of anything is the same. Then sit alone in a quiet place, free of any preoccupation, even the reciting of the Koran or thinking about its meaning. Let nothing besides God enter you mind. Once you are seated in this manner, say, "Allah, Allah," keeping your thought on these words.

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quote 2967 | Ghazzali
Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.155

C ontinuous attention to God [remembrance] produces the gradual transmutation of the attributes of the lower self into the Attributes of God.

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quote 2891 | Others Sufis Teaching
Nurbakhsh, Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.71

W hen I prayed with my heart, everything around me seemed delightful and marvelous. The trees, the grass, the birds, the earth, the air, the light seemed to be telling me that they existed for man's sake, that they witnessed to the love of God for man, that everything proved the love of God for man, that all things prayed to God and sang his praise.
Sometimes my understanding, which had been so stupid before, was given so much light that I could easily grasp and dwell upon matters of which up to now I had not been able even to think at all. Sometimes that sense of a warm gladness in my heart spread throughout my whole being and I was deeply moved as the fact of the presence of God everywhere was brought home to me. Sometimes by calling upon the name of Jesus I was overwhelmed with bliss, and now I knew the meaning of the words "The kingdom of God is within you.'
The Prayer of my heart gave me such consolation that I felt there was no happier person on earth than I, and I doubted if there could be greater and fuller happiness in the kingdom of Heaven. Not only did I feel this in my own soul, but the whole outside world also seemed to me full of charm and delight. Everything drew me to love and thank God: people, trees, plants, animals. I saw them all as my kinsfolk, I found in all of them the magic of the Name of Jesus.

church

quote 2852 | Unknown
Unknown, from The Way of a Pilgrim, translated by R. M. French (New York: Seabury Press, 1965)

T ruly blessed is he who cleaves with his thought to the Prayer of Jesus, constantly calling to him in his heart, just as air cleaves to our bodies or the flame to the candle. The sun, passing over the earth, produces daylight; the holy and worshipful Name of Lord Jesus, constantly shining in the mind, produces a measureless number of sun-like thoughts. When the clouds disperse, the air appears pure. When passionate fantasies are dispersed by the Sun of Truth, Jesus Christ, radiant and star-like thoughts are naturally born in the heart, for Jesus illumines the air of the heart with his light. The wise Solomon says: "They that put their trust in him shall understand the truth; and such as be faithful in love shall abide with him" (Wisdom of Solomon 3:9).

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quote 2813 | Hesychius of Jerusalem
Hesychius of Jerusalem, adapted from Writings from the Philokalia on the Prayer of the Heart, translated by E. Kadloubosky and G. E. H. Palmer (London: Faber & Faber, 1990).

W hen you thus enter into the place of the heart, as I have shown you, give thanks to God and, praising his mercy, keep always to this doing, and it will teach you things that in no other way you will ever learn. Moreover you should know that when your mind becomes firmly established in the heart, it must not remain there silent and idle, but it should constantly repeat the Jesus prayer: "Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me!" and never cease. For this practice, keeping the mind from dreams, renders it elusive and impenetrable to enemy suggestions and every day leads it more and more to love and longing for God.

church

quote 2812 | Nicephorus the Solitary
Nicephorus the Solitary, adapted from Writings from the Philokalia on the Prayer of the Heart, translated by E. Kadloubosky and G. E. H. Palmer (London: Faber & Faber, 1990).

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