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Life as we know it, is comprised of
the soul and the body, and their awareness steers one to enlightenment. The
body can be thought of as an archetype of a residential building that contains
many units for dwelling within it. Each unit is inhabited by a different
occupant, and hence they live separately but still in unison overall. With a
body, you will not find eyes where a nose should be, or similarly a brain where
the heart should be. If one's hands and legs were to switch their positions,
the anatomy of the body would change. Thus, everything built in this 'house' is
according to a distinction.
Abdal-e-Haq Huzoor Qalandar Baba
Auliya (RA) says:
"Graph paper is used to teach
students how to draw in schools. The paper consists of small squares that serve
as a base for a picture. The teacher guides students on how coordinating a particular
number of blocks will draw the shape of a head, nose or mouth of a man. The
number of squares assist in determining the proportions of the object, making
illustration relatively easy. Hence, the graph is the basis of the drawing. In other
words, arranging the order of the graph results in the formation of images.
These lines (Nasma) work in as reality in all anatomies. The addition and
subtraction of these lines form mavaleed-e-salasa.”
- - -- -
Back to the building example,
construction takes place according to a plan. The walls and roof are a veil for
a room, and the building structure covers and sustains the many lives that live
within it, much like the skin of a physical body. The purpose of this 'skin' is
to keep the building intact, and the movement of its shell unified. This unison
refers to a centralisation of actions. Each organ is an entity or unit of a
building and functions as clothing for the mechanism operating beneath. This
integration of organs and body parts is deemed the Self. However, when this
unity is suspended, the body will disintegrate.
Example: The circulation of blood is
impeded through malfunctions of the heart. This impediment is for the heart,
but the energy or operating mechanism that feeds the heart and its circulation,
in fact prevails. The heart disintegrates into dust but movement remains.
Similarly, if there is an obstruction in the system, such as the malfunctioning
of a liver, it can lead to death. The liver, heart, and brain are all parts of
clothing we call the body. Therefore, death is not the end of life, but the
decomposition of the body or clothing. When the body is a combination of
various organs, then what is the body itself?
A teacher once asked a new student
what his name was.
He replied, "My parents call me
Sufi, and others call me Zaid, but there is no difference between them."
The teacher asked, "If Zaid is not a different being, then who is it that
acquires piety and attains cognition? Who is it that leads to destruction? What
is the reality of rightful and wrongful doing, and of retribution and
reward?" The teacher then named different parts of the body and asked,
"Can any of these parts be attributed as 'Zaid'?"
The student said, "No sir...
none of them are Zaid. They all combine together to form Zaid."
The teacher said, "Then I should
think that Zaid doesn't exist at all. It is merely a word with no meaning.
Nothing but a deception and an illusion."
The student didn't understand so the
teacher continued, "How did you get here from your city?" The student
replied, "In a vehicle." The teacher asked, "Can we call wheels,
a 'vehicle'? Can an engine, seat, steering wheel or car roof on their own
qualify to be called a car?" The student replied, "No!"
"If all of these things are not
a part of the overall car, then can it be deemed a vehicle?" The student
responded in negative.
The teacher then questioned, "If
those parts are then excluded from the mind, is there anything left that can be
described as a vehicle?" The student replied, "I have travelled via a
car - its roof, wheels and engine all combine to form it."
The master replied, "This is
exactly the case with man. The senses and body parts join together to make a
body, and this is why people call you Zaid. But to the question of who 'Zaid'
is, we have no idea!"
- - -- -
Generally, objects are identified by
their apparent features. However, features are only an outer layer or shell. We
only consider the shell of man - the clay from which his body is formed - and
don't see beyond it. Our attention is fixed on the taste and appearance of a
fruit, but not on the seed that is its base. Although all things are created
from water, this concept does not strike our imaginations. The apparent luster
of a diamond does not insinuate the presence of carbon within it. This is
because physical senses discern things in segments. Thus, the limited, initial
view is regarded as the full picture.
- - -- -
Every part of a body has a distinct
duty. The eye works as a camera does. In a camera, a film or sensor chip is
used to record an image; in an eye, images are contained on the retina. The
iris in eyes, and the aperture in cameras control the amount of light. A camera
lens zooms in and out depending on the distance from an object of focus.
Likewise, the cornea in an eye adjusts its focal length to view objects. It is
to be noted that an image is not formed unless light enters an eye or camera -
so then what is light?
- - -- -
Researchers say that the body is
controlled by a central nervous system with the brain and spinal cord as its
two integral units. The spinal cord is a tail like entity, close to neck and
linked to the brain. The brain's nerves control the workings of the head, face,
ears and neck, while the rest of the body is controlled by the nerves of the
spinal cord. Nerves are part of an electrical wiring system that accepts and
disseminates messages through impulse. An organ will shrivel if the nerves
concerned are disconnected from it, regardless of whether the organ still
receives a supply of blood and other necessities for it to function. It
determines that the mind does not work unless it receives electrical impulses -
so then what is an electrical impulse?
- - -- -
The heart is considered as a pump that
expands and contracts until death. Expansion and contraction are phases of
life. Blood passes to the heart through veins containing large amounts of
carbon dioxide and waste matter. It carries fresh oxygen from the lungs to the tissues,
and takes the body waste and carbon dioxide away. After the blood is purified,
it travels back to the heart and distributes the oxygenated blood to the rest
of the body through the arteries. The body's system is dependent on a
functioning heart, and that heart is controlled by the circulation of blood. So
then once again, a question arises - what is this circulation of blood?
- - -- -
A study indicates that the human body
consists of 37 trillion cells, out of which five and two billion are reserved
for the heart and brain respectively. If the cells scatter, one cannot
differentiate between the cells of the brain or the heart
An adult heart weighs 300 grams, a
brain 1400 grams, and an eye is estimated to be around 7.5 grams. The mass of
the matter vanishes when an object decomposes. What is 'mass' and where does it
disappear to? Sperm holds the record of an individual; a granule containing the
record of 37 trillion cells. Nothing remains after the dispersion of cells, so
then where does the individual disappear to?
- - -- -
A granule is a unit of clothing and
the change in its proportions affects its anatomy. A disease does not
differentiate; it afflicts king and commoner alike. Both will writhe in pain
and experience other emotions in the same way. None are exempt from death.
Though their anatomy is similar, one is a king and the other is his subject.
Law: When a shell diffuses, it embraces infinity, where
no division lies.
- - - ·- -
A master asked a student to bring an
apple to him and cut it open. The student complied.
He then asked his student, "What
do you see in it?"
The student humbly said, "There
are some tiny seeds inside."
The teacher directed him to cut the
seeds apart. When the student did so, the teacher told him to further divide
them into even smaller bits. Once the student had completed the task, the
master asked him, "What do you see now?"
The student replied, "Nothing at
all."
The master said, "Son, you have
defied the existence of the seed so casually. This very 'Nothingness' you speak
of, unfolds everything within the universe. This 'Nothingness', is in fact the
true universe."
- - - ·- -
Light, electrical impulse, and the
circulation of blood are motions subservient to Noor (a stage of divine light).
So then what is Noor?
Allah, the Almighty says,
"Allah is the light of the
heavens and earth. The example of His light is that of niche, in which there is
a lamp; the lamp is in a glass -the glass looks like a brilliant star - it is
lit by (the oil of) a blessed tree, the olive, which is neither eastern nor
western. Its oil is about to emit light even though the fire has not touched it
- Light upon light. Allah guides to His light whomsoever He wills; Allah
describes examples for the people and Allah knows everything well."
(Quran, 24:35)
The batin (hidden facet) of the earth
and the sky rests on Noor and it is dimensionless. Self-insight is vital for
the cognition of Noor and other creations. It is not awareness if one simply
describes apparent features such as, "that is a pigeon" or, "this
is a man." True awareness is to know what lies beneath the shell. The
Creator of the universe says, "Allah is the light of the heavens and
earth." Spirituality or Tasawwuf can be summarised as, Allah is the
Creator; and the Zahir (Apparent or Unhidden), Batin (Hidden), Awwal (the
First) and Aakhir (the Last), are His attributes.
The beloved of Allah, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) says, "The one who knows himself, knows the Lord."
Allah Hafiz
NOV 2018-QSM
