LECTURE – 15 : PERSONA MAJOR

Correlation of any type establishes between two human beings only because of the mental attachment and harmony of thoughts. Aayan of the Companions were toned because of the radiant effect of the prophetic approach, which they assimilated because of their love for the holy Prophet (PBUH). The more did they love the Holy Prophet (PBUH), the more they were charged with the radiance of the Prophet (PBUH).

It has been explained in detail that toning of subtleties means getting away from one’s personal approaches and leaving aside the self adopted viewpoints in order to have another approach of thinking. Normally a person spends his life according to the standards adopted due to his mental inclinations and the breeding set up available to him. And, for entering into a new set up of thinking, one has to leave the former approach, that is, one has to negate the one’s own thinking pattern and, not only that he has to negate his thinking approach but also lets an other approach dominate him. The more other person’s approach dominates, the more quickly change takes effect in the one who allows to be dominated. And, gradually, two persons start having similar approach of thinking, that is, the person that dominates the ego of the other, becomes his mind as well.

An incident of Khwaja Baqi Billah is narrated to illustrate the extent and the effects of the dominance.

A baker befriended with Baqi Billah. Once Baqi Billah, in his good humor, told his friend that he might ask for anything from him. The baker, taking the liberty, said, “I always wanted to be like you, so make me like yourself.”

Baqi Billah tried to avoid but the baker was determined, so he made the baker to sit opposite to him and spread his cloth over both of them and started influencing the baker. It is a historical fact that when Baqi Billah removed the cloth, after conducting his influence upon the baker, two identical persons were sitting there. The identity of Baqi Billah was infused in the baker in such a way that he was transformed into an altogether a new person. The baker could not bear the spiritual pressure of Baqi Billah’s influence and lived only for few days and expired.

When personality of the mentor encompasses the spiritual associate, his thinking approach also changes according to the hold exerted by the spiritual mentor. Finally a time comes when the thinking approach of the associate becomes just like that of his mentor. In short, correlation is the name of transference of the thinking pattern of the spiritual mentor to his disciple or the associate. The mental endurance and other spiritual abilities of the associate also develop with the change in his thinking approach i.e., if the speed of the mentor’s flight is sixty thousand times then, gradually, the disciple’s speed also increases to become equal to that of the speed of his mentor.

Once the Holy Prophet (PBUH) asked Gabriel, “Do you see Him when the message to be delivered to me, is given to you?”

Gabriel submitted, “I just hear a voice, I can’t dare to fly beyond the limits of Baitul mamoor. It is not possible for me.”

The Holy Prophet (PBUH) said, “This time fly with my rapport.”

This proves that the transmission of correlation helps in increasing the abilities and endurance.

Correlations, as mentioned by Auliya, are of many types and then each one has many stages but this all means only one thing that how much one is in love with his mentor and that how much he cares for his association with him.

Knowledge keeps on accumulating gradually, in an associate because of his correlation with his mentor and finally there comes a time when the associate is overpowered by the correlation of his mentor. After this stage, the correlation of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) encompasses the associate in such a manner that he remains engrossed in thoughts of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) for the most of his time. His attention remains focused in the teachings, manners and the qualities of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and when his subtleties are toned up with the correlation of the Prophet, a state of compassion is produced in him. He finds himself melting in the love of Holy Prophet (PBUH). Tears fill up his eyes whenever he happens to hear anything in praise of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). He feels like dedicating every moment of his life to the Holy Prophet (PBUH).

This stage is followed by the third stage of obscure light. His thinking approach starts reflecting the approach of the prophet and he considers everything for the sake and care of God, that is, whenever he has to attend to anything, first of all his attention is directed towards God and in this way he establishes his rapport with God. It becomes his second nature to associate everything with God, recites Istegfar and reflects upon the attributes of God. He remains in the remembrance of God, ponders upon the signs of God and feels delighted that man reflects attributes of God.

For instance, everybody sees flowers and passes by either after appreciating the color and the fragrance of the flower or without paying any attention to them. But, the person whose subtleties are toned up with the unification of thoughts would associate the color, the delicacy, the beauty and the fragrance of the flower with God thinking that how perfect is the creation of God. How wonderful is this creation; the earth that produces flowers of every kind and genre, al in one place. When he sees a child, he feels a wave of delight running through him. He appreciates very beautiful thing that he sees; he sees beauty even in apparently bad looking things.

When the person whose subtleties are toned up with the color of unification and the thinking approach of Holy Prophet(PBUH) has transferred to him, sees a child, he looks at every part of the child as a sign of God and thinks that what a magnificent work that a complete person is hiding in this small kid, which is being displayed gradually.

Technically, this transference of the thinking approach is called ‘Descent’. There are three types of descents. In these descents on one hand, the waves are vivid and on the other these descend are in latent form, that is, these descents at one side are prominent and on the other they remain obscure. The First vivid descent is called Sirr-e-akbar (the Great Secret), the second is the Rooh-e-akbar (the Great Spirit) and the third one is Shakhs-e-akbar (Persona Major), which keep on pouring into mind ceaselessly.

According to the spiritual masters the Shakhs-e-akbar; Persona Major, is the Universe.

Time and Space

Students of Qalander Shaoor Academy must have developed this understanding by now that Nisbat; the Correlation, means transference of the thinking approach. The more a correlation is deeply rooted in the mind of the spiritual associate, the more knowledge transfers to him because of his rapport with his mentor. It is one of the characteristics of the adaptation of the mentor’s thinking pattern by the spiritual associate that the stocks of knowledge stored in the mind of the mentor, descend into the sabita, aayan and jowiya of the associate in the form of waves.

The basis of the universe that is sighted by our physical eyes is the light. It is such a light, which has fluidity in it. This very light and its fluidity have been termed as maa (water) by the holy Quran and gases by the modern sciences. Fluidity, in spiritual terms, is the property of formation of shapes because of combination and concentration of hundreds of gases.

Let us take a glass of water. Throw this water on a wall. The water after hitting the wall would spread over the wall. If this water were observed intently, different shapes and forms would be seen in it. Just as the water makes various shapes after colliding and spreading over a wall, similarly, when the descending lights strike against the screen of the universe, they form themselves into the shapes of countless creatures and the existents of the universe.

The basic ingredient of the formed shapes, after striking of water (maa) against the screen, resembles the mercury. The bodies formed from the flow and intermingling of lights with one another are known as animals, vegetables and inanimate things.

His Divine Grace Qalander Baba Auliya has named the primary form of gases made from the light waves as Nasma (aura), that is, the Nasma is the name those basic waves and rays that initiate an existent. The waves of these lights in their flowing state can be taken as lines drawn upon the canvas of the universe. These lines, unlike the lines we are familiar with, are scattered in such a way that neither there is any distance between them nor these are infused into one another.

A movie film displayed in a cinema house can be taken as an example for understanding this thing. The light waves flow from an opening towards a screen for their display in the form of different forms and shapes. The lights rays emitting from the projector do not have any distance between them nor they are infused into one another and every line is carrying one or the other feature of a picture. Just as the lights after discharging from the projector turn into pictures after striking against the screen, similarly the nasma lines after passing through the space take the form of material bodies.

These nasmic lines are the basic component of the material bodies but unlike the rays emitted from the projector the physical eyes cannot sight these lines, these can only be witnessed by the inner or the spiritual sight. These cannot be seen even using the material gadgets although their effects have been notices by means of laboratory 

equipments. Reflection of the nasma has been seen and is named as aura but seeing the nasma using material equipments is still to be made possible.

Nasma are the waves responsible for the formation of the physical features of the creatures. These are of two types, simple and compound. The waves of simple and compound nasma are permeating the space and both contain forms and features. These not only transform into forms and features but also reflect these features for others.

Senses are produced from the effects of the waves of nasma. When these waves descend in the human mind, very mild pressure is produced, which remains imperceptible for the senses. This mild pressure, known as fantasy, can be related to with any activity of past, future or the present life. When this pressure increases, senses feel a vibration, which forms an out line or a sketch of a picture upon the screen of mind. This state, according to the Sufis, is known as thought.

When these waves sink deeper in their descent, the outline becomes more vivid. This is the state of imagination. Then the imagination gives rise to the feeling and when the feelings gain depth, the latent colors in the waves of nasma become evident, or to say, feelings become colorful. At this stage, the fantasy-cum-thought-cum-imagination-cum feeling takes the form of a manifestation displaying all the features in detail.

In terms of the worldly sciences we can define nasma as the lines drawn to make a drawing. If a drawing is made in such a way that only the vertical lines are used to depict a picture or a design then this is the state of simple nasma. In another case, a graph paper having vertical and horizontal lines is used for drawing pictures. The small squares of the graph paper are used as a unit of measurement for drawing the outlines and features in a sketch. Similarly the waves of compound nasma provide a base for the material bodies. Species and their specific features are formed from these very waves or lines of nasma.

According to the laws of the Preserved Scripturum, the colors transform into manifestation after filling the perception with colors, which happens only when the depth is produced in the feelings and until then these waves cannot be given the name of a color and for this reason the physical eyes cannot see them. In fact the colorless waves or the lines of nasma are the six main movements of the universe and the individuals of the universe. These waves, lines or the colorless rays multiply and divide according to their concentration at any one point. The gravity is result of the descent and dispersal of these very waves and the rotations and revolution of the very waves produce periods of time.

The concentration of these waves, on one hand, introduces us with spatiality and, on the other, with time, which is another name of the dispersal of these waves upon the mind. The descent, dispersal, rotation or circulation and their multiplication and division are known as absorption of nasma that is, the nasma takes the form and figure of a feasible object according to its requirements and physical demands. Feasible, in terms of Sufism is such a thing, which in its last stage or after its completion, can be sighted by the physical eyes. As long as an object does not start existing in the form of solid materiality, it is known as Reality (tahaqaq) or Illustrative Form (tamasl).

The spiritual sight witnesses the initial stages and the physical eyes see the creation in its final stages. Nasma, in fact, is that hidden light which can be seen with the help of the lights of Noor.

Light and Noor

The movement of the five senses is of two types, in one type the physical eyes see and in the other the spiritual sight witnesses but the object remain obscure from the physical eyes. The form and shape that is sighted by the physical eyes is known by the Sufis as Embodiment or simply Body and the form, which is seen by the spiritual sight, is called Reality or the Illustrative Form.

Important thing about the sighting, whether it is carried out by the physical organs or by the soul, in both the cases, light is the basis and the light can be seen in the light of Noor. And, Noor is that hidden light, which not only is sighted but also helps in seeing the other hidden lights. God has elaborated this thing in the holy Quran saying, “God is the Light of the earth and the heavens.”

That which we call sense, it might be any one of the five senses, has two components or sides. One is the side that has features, is solid and can be witnessed by the physical eyes. Other one is made of lights but has all the features and the senses. In simple words, everything existing in the universe is either corporeal or incorporeal. The corporeal body is solid matter and is made of flesh and bones. The incorporeal body is just like the physical body but is made of lights. Pictures appearing on the screen of a television set could be taken as example in this regard.

Man & the World of Man

Compound Nasma Or The Compound Movement

Jinn or World of Jinns

Simple Nasma Or The Simple Movement

The body of lights is incorporeal and the physical body of flesh and bones is corporeal. The corporeal body also has two sides. One is body of those lights, which are visible, and the other is the body of those lights, which are invisible.

The incorporeal body, too, like the corporeal body has two sides. One is the light and the other is the noor. Noor is such a hidden light that causes sighting of the incorporeal body. Every creation existing in this universe has two aspects or sides and nothing completes without having these two sides.

According to the laws of Preserved Scripturum, everything in the universe, whether it is corporeal or incorporeal, cannot be without features and a typical form, whether the physical eyes can see it or not but the sight of the soul beholds just as the physical eyes see the material objects.

The fact is that an incorporeal thing also has form and features just like the corporeal body. The incorporeal body of an object or the halo graphic existence of a body is called Hiola or the astral body. Existence of a body starts in an illustrative form or hiola and is then, manifested in the physical form. As long as the form and features are in the hiola, it is the simple nasma but when the simple nasma, or the incorporeal body exhibits itself in a physical form, it is known as the compound nasma. Compound nasma also purports to gravity and no matter how temporary and short-lived it is, it is inertia. The name of this inertia is the solid sense. The corporeal body is the Compound Nasma. The incorporeal body is the simple Nasma. Whether it is simple or compound nasma both are motions. Simple nasma is the singular movement, which flows from one direction into the other. The compound nasma is the result of such a movement that flows in the opposite direction of the singular movement in such a way that it infuses in it. This dual motion is the Compound Nasma. The features and impression formed in the singular movement or the Simple Nasma are jinns and the world of jinns. And, the features and impressions formed from the dual motion are man and the world of man.

As long as the motion is imperceptible it is Illustrative form and when it becomes perceptible it is called matter.