Pilgrimage to Ajmer / Spatial Transcendence

Question: I respectfully submit a query for your esteemed response. A well-known miracle of the revered saint, Baba Tajuddin Nagpuri, is recorded as follows: A man once presented himself before Baba and requested permission to travel to Ajmer Sharif. Baba placed his hand upon the man’s hand and said, “Why go to Ajmer? It is right here.” At that very moment, the man perceived himself to be in Ajmer and witnessed its sights. Kindly illuminate how such an event was possible.

Answer: To comprehend the principle underlying this miracle, it is necessary to briefly reflect on the human essence and its relationship with time and space. The human self comprises two aspects: the internal and the external. The internal self is a realm of unity (waḥdat) where neither temporality (zamāniyyat) nor spatiality (makāniyyat) exists. In this realm, only three elements of perception exist: the perceiver, the perceived, and the act of perception.

In the external self, the same perception becomes manifest in a concrete form by encompassing both space and time. The inner aspect of a person—which constitutes their essential self—is referred to as the Divine Command (amr-e-rabbī) or the soul (rūḥ). Within this soul, the entire universe and all its movements are inscribed and present.

This can be understood through an analogy. When we stand on one side of a building, we can view only one angle of it. To observe another angle, we must walk a few steps to a different position. In this movement, both spatiality and temporality come into play. Similarly, to view the London Tower, a person in Karachi must travel to London—traversing thousands of miles and taking several days. The purpose of such a journey is merely to attain a particular visual perspective.

This is the perspective attained through the external self. However, through the internal perspective, one can sit in place and visualize the London Tower. Though weakened by inner limitations, this imaginative sight produces a hazy outline. Nonetheless, it constructs the same angle of vision achieved after a long journey. If the weakness of this inner sight were removed, the dim impression would transform into a clear, radiant vision, fulfilling the same objective as a physical journey.

The essential element is the acquisition of a visual angle—by whatever means possible. Baba Tajuddin Nagpuri, through his spiritual mastery (quwwat-e-taṣarruf), awakened in the seeker a specific internal perspective and infused the imagined vision with luminous clarity. Consequently, the seeker witnessed Ajmer with the same vividness and completeness as one would after a physical journey to its sacred sites.