LECTURE - 24 : RECORD OF ACTS

When the urges that are responsible for the functioning of the life are analyzed, it is observed that there does not exist even a single urge that could be fulfilled without having a thought about it. Every thought is information that is being received from somewhere. Information coming from somewhere is felt by the mind. Mind ascribes meanings to the received information and the fulfillment of the information emerges in the form of an urge.

We have to acknowledge this fact that life is coming from somewhere and is going somewhere. The life is continuing in such a fashion that the same one urges is being repeated again and again. After its fulfillment it disappears, reappears again and after it is fulfilled, it disappears leaving its record behind.

Information travels in two ways; in a confined manner and in free manner. It must be remembered that whether the information is free or confined, it is being recorded after it is transmitted.

There are four aspects of life that need a very careful comprehension.

1. Life is information.

2. Information descends and in its descent it encounters with the Spatio-temporal restraints.

3. Information travels remaining free from the Spatio-temporal restraints.

4. There is a source of information.

These four aspects could also be presented in this way as well.

1. The source of Information.

2. The information by itself.

3. The information having the restraints of movement.

4. The information without involving any restraints of movement.

After acknowledging that there is source of information we have to see for the origin of the source, because every source also has to have an origin upon which founded. The radio or T.V. is a source that relays the news but from where this news is being originating, what is the origin of the news? Thus this makes five aspects of life in total.

By now, the friends present here know that nothing in this universe exists without having a typical form and features. Everything has a form and shape and a body. All the things and the realities exist in their original forms in the world unseen just as these are found in the material realm. The sight that could witness the unseen tells us that every fashioned form of this universe has three existences, one in the Beatific Vision of the Supreme Being, second, in the Beatific Vision of the Attributes and lastly, in the Created Realm.

Every existence is based upon the two ascending and descending aspects, thus it makes them six existences in total.

God says, “ Nay! Surely the Record of the wicked is preserved in the Prison. And, what will explain to thee what this Prison is? There is a Register fully inscribed.” (Quran, V: 7&8, Surah: 83)

If a person does not receive information and he is not familiar with the concept of good or evil, then he cannot be rewarded or punished. In fact, the reward and punishment are related to with the information received after ascribing meanings to them. Every sane person with consciousness ascribes meanings to the information that he receives. This act of ascribing meanings to the information received, in fact, is the recording of the information and the rewards or punishments are awarded on the basis of this very record.

God says, “ Woe to those who deny that Day...When Our signs are rehearsed to them, they say, these are the same things that has already been said by many and they do not accept it because on their hearts is the stain of ill they do. They know that there were people sent down from God who warned people of their times and they rejected them, they still reject although it is recorded in their knowledge that the people before them had also rejected what was conveyed to the from God.”

It is the law that the information is recorded as it is accepted or rejected by the person.

When a person performs an action, it is recorded in the way it is accepted by the conscience of that person. And, the person in the life hereafter or in the ascending movement of the life peruses this record, which becomes the life of that person after his death till the Day of Judgment. The conscience of pious and chaste people is at peace and they are satisfied of their acts and deeds. God bestows bounties upon them, which are source of eternal peace for them. This all is the Book Written (kitab-ul-murqoom), which is also a record.

When we do something, we do it because information is given to us that whether it is good or evil. When we accept it as good it is recorded as a virtuous act and when it is accepted as an evil it is recorded as an evil deed. One’s conscience is satisfied after performing an act and is dissatisfied after the performance of another one.

A person after stealing something says that he is satisfied of his act because he did it to fulfill his needs but when something is stolen from him he does not gives the same margin to that thief.

What does this means? It means that he is deceiving himself. A person abuses another one in anger and justifies himself saying that he was in the right but when some one else abuses him he cannot tolerate it and feel very bad about it. This also is a form of self-deception. A satisfied conscience is that which wants the same thing for the others that he wants to have for himself. The things that perturb him are avoided for others. The ascending and descending movements are directly related with the Conscience of a person and the conscience knows the good and the evil very well.

My dear children! I have explained this law many a time that all that exists in the universe is based upon the forms and features and that the universe is sighted in two ways. One that the things existing in the universe are seen in a solid material form and the other way to see them is that there are not look like the things of physical world though they have forms, shapes and features and these are solid as well.

When a spiritual student manages to peep into the Nucleus of his heart, after getting away from the physical world, it reveals upon him that everything in the universe has three existences. One of these existences is directly related with the Beatific Vision. The second existence is associated with the Attributes and the third existence is linked with the Created Realm.

Creation has two sides. One is the Light and Noor and the other is the movement.

Individuals of every species sleep and awake alternatively. Sleep brings a person closer to his Self and the awakening takes him away from the Self. Sleep is a form of ascending movement and in order to have acquaintance of the ascending state, muraqba is considered very important.

In the physical world the movements of the physical limbs and extremities are considered to the means of locomotion. Scholars of physical sciences seldom bother to consider that from where these movements of the limbs are originating, whereas the spiritual people, contrary to the materialistic people, emphasize that the movements of the limbs in the material world are the result of the movements taking place in the incorporeal world.

The program that God has given to the mankind, invites us to deliberate upon both the Ascending (dreaming) and the Descending (wakefulness) movements.

Program of Salat and Zakat

Ladies and gentlemen! You must have understood clearly by now that every movement is displayed upon the surface of mind. Decent is the movement that travels down from the nucleus of the Self and ascension is the movement that travels towards the nucleus of the Self and both these movements are controlled by the nature. Every existent of the universe is bound to act in accordance with these movements.

The ascending movement brings closer to the Self and, the descending one takes away from the Self. Intuition is the Ascending movement and the intellect is the descending movement. It is such a system that is continuing ceaselessly. The most cardinal child of nature; man, is duty bound to develop understanding of the laws governing the ascent and descent and get them activated in him.

The Quranic program of Salat and Zakat provides the basis for this understanding and insight. The Prayer and Charity are the functions of both the body and soul. Prayer is the activity of the soul and the charity is the activity of the body. Salat is overall such a program in which all the movements of life, like standing, sitting, raising of hands, reading, reciting, sighting, bowing, folding of hands, prostration and looking around etc., have been included. When the movements made during Salat are taken into consideration, it is observed that all the possible activities of life have been included in it and all these movements are performed only for the sake of God. If this program is carried out successfully it associates the mind of a person with God in such a manner that he witnesses that he is being watched by God or that he is witnessing the Exalted Presence of God Almighty.

This training program commences at the age of ten to twelve and matures in the eighteenth to twentieth year of a Muslim’s age. When this program is practiced concentratively for fifteen to twenty years he succeeds in having a mental association with God. And, it becomes a routine for him to easily perform all the activities of life without taking off his attention from God. When a person establishes salat successfully, he becomes equally familiar with both the states of dreaming and awakening. Association of a person with God in ascent and descent, sleep and awakening and intuition and intellect is the completion of life. Salat plays an important role in perfecting the life.

The other program is that of Zakat. Zakat; giving charity, is such an act, which is aimed at sincere and selfless service of the fellow being. Zakat, in fact, is the deportment of God. When a person starts serving the creatures of God sincerely, it means that he is doing the same that God does. We all know that God is serving His creatures without expecting any reward from them. Having mental association with God and rendering selfless service to the creatures, in terms of Sufism, is called Jammaa; Collaboration, that is, a person having the passion of serving the creatures of God develops mental association with God and His creatures. A person cannot enter the paths of Cognition of God unless he experiences the state of Jammaa practically. For enjoying the Cognition of God, it is essential to develop the habit of sincerely serving the creatures having mental association with God all the time.

Holy Prophet of Islam (PBUH) gave the program of Salat to his followers. Salat is a complete program that can enable a person to explore the hidden knowledge in his inner self. A person performs muraqba to get into the inner recesses of his self; similarly, salat is such a program, if it is performed and practiced correctly, it automatically enables a person to behold Lord Creator. And, when a person accomplishes the program of zakat (Serving the creatures), he becomes an important unit of the cosmos. When a person develops this divine habit in him, as a token of His Pleasure, God opens the doors of Cognition upon him.

The whole universe is enclosed in one central point of unity. Provenance of the sources of lights is hidden in the depths of this Central Point of Unity. Churning lights gush and spurt out from this very Point of Unity, the lights that are ceaselessly constructing countless systems of stars and planets in the universe every moment and almost equal number of system die and become extinct every moment. The collapsing systems become storehouses for the existing systems. The stable stars and planets are fed upon the energy discharged from disintegration of unstable stars and planets. These lights are causing expansion in the universe every moment continually and the universe is taking ever-new shapes and forms.

Concentration and accumulation of these lights in the depths are the Negative Movements and the dispersal and spreading out of these lights is called Positive Movements. These very two states are the attraction and the aversion that constitute millions and billions of interacting circles of attraction and aversion or centripetal and centrifugal forces.

Point of Unity

Universe is such a light that is founded upon the movement of ascending and descending waves. The central point is such a point that is overflowing with lights. Universe is another name of dispersal of these gushing and spurting lights. Countless systems come into being from the dispersal of these lights every moment. This thing can be understood from the following example.

There is a water pool having a fountain in it. When the fountain flows, its water falls in the pool. This results in the formation of countless rings upon the surface of the pool water. These rings and circles can be taken as the stars, planets and galaxies of the universe, which coming into being every moment. We also notice that these rings remain within the limits of the pool and annihilate after traveling up to a certain distance. As many circles vanish from the surface as many new circles are formed. It means hat the annihilation of the circles is an indication of the fact that new circles are in the offing.

We also note, when we look into the pool, that some circles are small and some are large, likewise, in the universe, too, some systems are small and some are big. The aim of stating this law is to establish that the universe is being constructed every moment and at the same it is annihilating as well like the circles formed upon the surface of a pool from the falling drops of water from the fountain located in its center.

This fountain is the Central Point of Unity and the pool is the universe. The coming into being and vanishing of the circles are the ascending and descending movements. The lights that are being used in the creation of the universe are bi-faceted. On the one hand, these lights are constrained to concentrate and accumulate in the depth and on the other these have to spread and disperse. The concentration and accumulation in the depth are the Negative movements and their dispersal and spreading are the positive movements.

Keeping the given example of the pool it could be said that there are countless circles formed from the forces of attraction and aversion and that every circle has its own centrality and then all the circles are associated with the fountain like co-centric circles. Every movement whether it is ascending or descending is moving towards the Central Point of Unity.

The circles (Individuals of the universe) coming into being from the Point of Unity are tied to it because of those invisible rays of light that are termed as noor. This chain of creation and annihilation is continuing eternally.

When a spiritual associate fully grasps the Negative and Positive Movements, he comes to know of the six consciouses and after that the seventh consciouses is also revealed upon him. Or to say, for having the cognition of the Attribute of the Lordship, all the seven conscious are required to be activated.

God has stated, “Verily God is your Lord who created the earth and the heavens in six days and then established Himself upon the Throne.”

God has provided man with such a faculty that he can make use of the six consciouses simultaneously.

This also is the holy statement of God; “He draws the night as a veil over the day in such a manner that the day is caught rapidly.” It clarifies that the Day and the Night are two types of senses and both function with the only difference of the speed, that is faster in the nocturnal senses than the diurnal ones.

Obviously, at a slower pace of senses one would travel less and at a faster speed one would cover more distance in the consciousness. Since the speed of the diurnal senses is slower, these are dominated by the Space and, in the nocturnal senses with the increase in the speed the grip of spatial bondage eases up. But, in spite of freedom from the spatial ties one remains within the confines of space. This can be easily understood that the space under goes a change.

A person, for instance, walks around in this world in his awakening but when goes to sleep and he is free from the bondages of space, he walks around on some other planet. This walking around indicates that the earth like space is there on every planet. Space is one and the times are many. God says, “He created the sun, the moon and all the stars in such a fashion that they all obey Him.”

Here, it has been stated here that the whole universe is a single point of unity and as is the decree enforced in the point of unity as it is  Decreed and the whole universe is constrained to obey this decree. God is the Creator who has transferred His Attributes to His creatures. God, in His capacity of the Creator is the Lord of the worlds and it is His Attribute of Lordship that the creatures stay alive. Holy Prophet (PBUH) has stated; “One who recognizes his Self, Cognizes his Lord.”

When the human Self is mentioned, in fact, reference is made to all those qualities and faculties that are the base of life and when a person to know of the faculties transferred to him from God, he manages to know the Lord because of his knowledge about the cherishing Lordship of God.

God has also stated, “I am God thy Lord, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds.”

Here God is proclaiming Himself as God and His Attributes as the Lord and when a person is acquainted with the Attribute of lordship in his inner self, he is acquainted with the Lordship of God. Since this attribute is operating in every individual of the universe, therefore, a person acquainted with this attribute knows all the existents. And, this knowledge brings all the existent closer to him.

The Creative Formula

Whatsoever is there in the universe is nothing but light. Every species is a different combination of lights and specific quantities of light are operative in them. And, every quantity is a color. Arrangement of certain colors is responsible for the formation of different forms and shapes. Every shape is uniformed and made orderly. Every goat of the goat species have certain traits in common with the other goats.

The earth is inhabited with six billion people. And, more than any possible estimation of numbers human beings inhabit the other planets. Every man whether he inhabits on this planet earth or lives on some other planet, all have similarity and commonness of their form and features. The quantity of lights for every species is specific and these quantities do not alter or change because every lights has its centrality in the Point of Unity and every light ascends towards its Central Point after completing its descent.