Mushtaque B Barq

Love, the gate way to Higher Self

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The foundation of religion is essentially the love of God

Zindagi Ra shra o Aaien Ast Ishq

Asal Tehzeb Ast Deen, Deen Ast Ishq (129 Javid Nama)

(Love is the code and principle of Life-The spirit of civilization is ‘faith’ and ‘faith’ is (nothing but) Love.)

Love is a wave of energy with great impact on those areas of life that have the least clarity and harmony.  It adds light to life, but one can hold it only if he understands the purpose of harmony. The alignment with this wave of light can assist humanity and the earth in making a calm, peaceful transition. The way one embraces the changes and seeks out growth, it transits one into the higher realms. The Spiritual growth is a journey as vast as consciousness. It means growing through connecting with your Higher Self and to a Higher Power—The God. This  higher power—your Higher Self and God works with one’s personality, assisting it to develop self- confidence, self-love and other good qualities.

Allah has said: And we had forbidden foster-mother for him before then ( 28:12) Do not lie; you do not have two hearts but it is a single heart that once filled with something there will be no room for another.  Allah has said: “ Allah has not made for any man two hearts within his body( 33:4) a heart that loves the Creator and a heart that loves creatures. There can be no heart in which both this world and the hereafter co-exist

Love is not limited to giving in a material sense. The most important aspect of giving is that we give of ourselves, of that which is alive in us, of our joy and our sorrow, our interest and our knowledge, our understanding and our concern. Then, secondly, giving ourselves in love does not, as some people fear, mean sacrificing our freedom as an individual. This is expressed in the paradoxical Christian, and the Buddhist, concept that we must lose our self, in order to gain our self. What we must lose is our selfishness, our self-centeredness. We must lose the ego, in order gain the soul. And for those who are worried about freedom, Enrich Fromm emphasizes that to give ourselves in love proves that we are free to give. Loving is giving that enriches the giver because it heightens his sense of being a free and active individual who has something of value to give to another person. Love is active, love is giving, and love produces union which strengthens our true individuality.

Rumi pleads to follow religion in spirit. This is a religion in its advanced form; and not elementary form which is restricted only to conventional aspects. The foundation of higher religion is essentially  love of God according to Rumi. He believes that love of God is the basis of religion.

Milat Ishq Az huma Dina Juda Ast

Asiqan Ra Milat-o- Mahzab Khuda Ast

(The religion of love is apart from all religions; for Lovers, the (only) religion and faith is God).

To Iqbal religion is neither dogmas, not priesthood, nor ritual. It is not a departmental affair. It is the expression of the entire man. He believes that love is the true religion and is above religious forms.

Ishq Hum Khakister o Hum Akhgar Ast

Kar Ao Az Deen o Danish bar tar Ast.

(Love is straw as well as burning ember; it is far above conventional religion and reason).

It is significant to note that Iqbal in his imaginary flight with Rumi makes the latter say: Religion is the root of education and religion is love. Both Rumi and Iqbal attach much importance to Love of God than mere worship and theological argumentation.

Another important type of love is self-love. It may seem strange to talk about self-love, since it appears to contradict much of what has been said about love being open and all inclusive. Fromm points out, however, that this is not the case. This is because first of all, we must distinguish between self-love, and selfishness. Selfishness is a form of egotism which has nothing to do with love. In fact, Fromm feels that the selfish person doesn’t even really love himself because his selfishness cuts him off from others and makes him suffer aloneness. On the other hand, a loving person who loves all people also loves himself. If it is a good thing to love my neighbor, then it must also be good to love myself. This idea as it is expressed in the Bible, .Love thy neighbor as thyself; implies that love for one’s self cannot be separated from love for another person.

Professor Whitehead says that religion is “a system of general truths which have the effect of transforming character when they are sincerely held and vividly apprehended”. Personal character, thus transformed by the religion, affects us the whole society because religion is not restricted only to the individual development. It moves from individual to society. The message of higher religion is for all. It promotes respect for the entire mankind. It promotes tolerance and regard for all religions. To Rumi man is the root of creation. The soul is divine, it originates from God. He believes in the unity of equality of all human beings.

Darmuani Qismat o Aidad Neist

Darmuani Tajziah o Afrad Neist.

(In things spiritual there is no division and no number, in things spiritual there is no partition and no individuals).

Dr. Iqbal in Javid Nama mentions:

Isq Shabkhani Za Dan Bar Lamakan

Goor Ranadedah Raftan Az Jahaun.

(Love conquers the spaceless infinite; it is passing out this world without being hampered by death).

Ruel L Howe in his book, “The Creative year’s’ writes: “ And so we believe that our love, when we offer it to God, to be the instrument of His love, in spite of every indication to the contrary, will be victorious. Sometimes we will have to accept the possibility that we may not see the evidence of the victory in the lives of those we love or in the desire changes in our relationship, although a part of the work of our love will be to keep us open to the possibilities of change in others.  Ruel L Howe advocates that victory of love can always be seen in the life of the one who is faithful in the work of love. He quotes ( I Corinthian 13:13) to reveal “ So faith, hope, abide, these three, but the greatest of these is Love”.

Shaikh Muhammad al- Casnazani al- Husseini writes in his book ‘ Jaila’al- Khatir’ that Allah (Azza wa Jall) has said in one of His utterances: “ He is lying the person who claims to love Me yet goes to sleep once the night has set”. If you were one of the lovers of Allah (AWJ) you would not wake up from your sleep reluctantly. The lover is tired, while the Beloved is sought after. The Prophet (SAW) is reported to have said: AAllah(AWJ) says to Gabriel: O Gabriel, wake up so –and- so and put to sleep so-and-so. It is interpreted as: “wake up such-and-such a person who is a lover and put to sleep so-and-so who is beloved. The former has claimed that he loves Me, so make him get up and make him stand in his right position (of worshipping Me) so that the leaves of his existence with anyone other than Me fall. Wake him up in order for him to present evidence of his claim and in order for his love to be confirmed. And put to sleep so-and-so because he is a beloved. Nothing of himself has remained for other than Me. His love has become all for Me and has been confirmed.

The person whose heart becomes sound and attached to his Lord will see as equal: gold and clay, praise and blame, sickness and good health, affluence and poverty, good fortune and bad fortune in this world. When this has become true of someone, his lower self and passion will die, the fire of his natural inclinations will die out and his devil will be humiliated.

Lalla Ded says:

My mind boomed with the sound of Om,

my body was a burning coal.

Sin roads brought me to a seventh,

that’s how Lalla reached the Field of Light.

I locked the doors of my body

trapped the thief of life and held my breath

Chaining him in my heart’s dark cellar,

I stripped off his skin with the whip of Om.

The strongest element of love is faith. In order to give ourselves in love to another person, we must have faith in that person. To love means to open ourselves and to be open means to be vulnerable. Some of us hesitate to do this because in the past we have been hurt or disappointed in love. But without this sense of openness, which is based on faith, there can be no love. Love is therefore an act of faith, and whoever is of little faith is also of little love.

Faith (religion) does not achieve ripeness without schooling by love: You may acquire faith by associating yourself with the people of Love……Dr. Iqbal (Javid Nama 30)

The essence of the path of love is so simple and yet so easily overlooked. The heart wants to go Home, the heart cries for God. As Rumi says: “I will cry to Thee and cry to Thee and cry to Thee, until the milk of Thy kindness boils up.”

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