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Obedience
Shams-e Tabriz -
3 States of Matter
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Obedience and the 3 States of Matter
From The Teachings of Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Qabbani
3 Levels of Obedience:
The Divine asks us to
“...enter houses through their
proper doors” (2:189).
For
every door there is a key, and the key for unlocking the door to the heart
is through obedience to the Divine will.
“Obey God, obey the Prophet (s) and obey those charged
with authority over you.” (4:59)
 We
are asking, and always Mawlana Shaykh is teaching us, to be under the shade
of these three trees of authority. They are
like mighty oaks which protect us from the storms and floods of this life.
In times of natural disasters, when floods and tsunamis are washing
everything away, what remains are the trees. And you see many times on the
news that people who are able to reach and hold on to the trunk of a tree
are able to survive the flood. Mawlana is teaching us that if we hold to
these three mighty trees we will quickly reach to our Lord’s satisfaction.
As Prophet Jesus [as] taught in the Lord’s prayer,
“Thy Kingdom come, Thy
will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”
For the gnostic and the knower of these Heavenly
realities, this supplication encompasses the entire spiritual path, which is
to surrender our will back to God. This comes through obedience to the
Divine, and obedience opens servant hood, because a servant must obey their
Master. But what is standing in our way is our ego. Therefore,
tariqat/Sufism teaches that the highest level to achieve is not a PhD
or a lawyer or an engineer. The highest level is to become a servant. It is
most difficult on the ego and it is most pleasing in Divine Presence. God is
saying, “I gave you free will. Now give it back to
me,” and that is the test of our life, to give back our free will
out of love for the Creator.
This concept, “obedience to God's will”, is the
religion that all Prophets brought to humanity. That is why all Prophets
were saying, “Samina wa atana” (2:285),
which means “we hear and we obey”.
Who do we obey?
“Obey God, obey the Prophet (s) and obey those
charged with authority over you.” (4:59)
These three levels of obedience teach us a great
deal about the Sufi path because God’s first command is to obey Him, and
Sufism comes and teaches us to step back and humble ourselves and realize
that we can never truly obey God. That is why Sufism is a way of humbleness.
It comes against pride and it comes against arrogance by pointing out to us
that we are in need of support, and by teaching us that there is an
etiquette in how we approach the Divine Presence.
We must “...enter houses
through their proper doors” (2:189). Don’t think that you can obey
God’s command so easily. That was a station for the Prophets, not for us.
They were hearing and speaking with the Divine, and we are not hearing and
speaking with the Divine. But the ego is so quick to say, “I don’t need to
listen to anyone. I don’t need anyone else’s advice. I
can connect directly to God.”
God knows that we are a weak creation, constantly sinning and making
mistakes. If we had to obey Him directly all of us would be in grave danger
because we are not obeying. Therefore, we must show some humbleness in our
approach. We are not Prophets, and we do not take our orders directly from
the Divine, therefore we must seek to obey those who do.
“O ye who believe! Do
your duty to God,
seek the means of
approach unto Him” (5:35).
Don't approach God directly saying “I am who I am!” Don’t overstep your
authority and ask to connect directly to God. That is ok in the beginning,
but not when you are seeking to advance. Satan also wanted a direct
connection and he was very advanced! He didn’t accept Adam’s authority and
so he refused to bow, and for that he was thrown out of Paradise even though
for 70,000 years he was in complete worship of the Divine.
The Divine is teaching you that there is an
etiquette involved in dealing with the King. You can’t just walk up and
start speaking. There is a particular way to approach the thrown. You must
keep your eyes down. You may have to drop to your knees, and if the King
appoints someone to represent him and vests authority in that person,
you
can’t say, “No, I don’t accept.” If that is the protocol for Kings in this
world, what about the owner of the throne in Paradise?
So Mawlana is saying, “lower yourself. Don’t place yourself on the level of
Prophets. That is very dangerous.” Then God gives us another way by asking
us to obey the Messenger (s), and He also says,
“He who obeys the Messenger obeys Me.” (4:80).
God is saying “look to the Messenger (s). I have
sent him to you to teach you how to obey Me.” Prophet (s) is in complete
submission to the Divine – he has no will of his own.
Therefore, he acts as a mirror reflecting the
Divine Presence towards creation. However, Prophet (s) is not with us, so
how can we imitate his perfection? By obeying those charged with authority
over us. That means spiritual and temporal authority. You must obey the
police, the Mayor, the Governor, the Prime Minister and anyone who has been
placed in a position of authority because who gave them that authority? The
Divine! If it was not written and destined for that person to have that job,
how could it happen?
Tariqa comes to perfect our faith and learn to
accept God’s will.
That opens the spiritual reality, because there is a spiritual government
just like there is a government in this material world. So if you must obey
material authority, it means you must also obey spiritual authority, and
there are Saints with different ranks and stations in that spiritual
government who are inheriting from the Prophets. If you find them and follow
them you will be in safety because they are on authority and that authority
is coming directly from Divine presence.
As Imam Ahmad ibn
Hanbal said,
“O my son, you have to sit with the Sufis because they
are like a fountain of knowledge. They recite the remembrance of God in
their hearts. They are the ascetics, and they have the most spiritual power.
I do not know any people better than them.”
Saints are inheriting from the perfection of Prophet (s). Through spiritual
training and constant remembrance of God, they have purified their hearts of
all imperfections in character and in worship. It means that their hearts
have become like mirrors.
“Hold tight to the rope
of God and do not separate.” (3:103)
Whereas Prophet (s) is a mirror reflecting the
Divine Light towards the Saints, the Saints
in-turn are receiving the light of Prophet (s) and reflecting it towards
humanity in our time. The Saints of the Naqshbandi Golden Chain are
inheriting that light from Prophet (s) through the lineage of 40
Grandshaykhs, beginning with Sayedena Abu Bakr (r) and reaching us today
with Mawlana Shaykh Nazim and His Deputies Shaykh Hisham and Shaykh Adnan.
That lineage is like a rope reaching seekers in the 21st century and guiding
them on their journey towards the Divine.
Are You Chasing After The Material World
Who's Riding Hu
Unfortunately, people
today are no longer following Saints - they are only following their egos
, Instead of riding your ego it is
riding you. It is a strange phenomenon because in every aspect of
our material lives we seek out experts. If we want to become a doctor, we go
to medical school. If we want to become a lawyer we go to law school. In
everything we do in life, we must learn from a teacher. You cannot open a
practice without that stamp of approval on your wall that says you have been
tested and verified as a real doctor by this school – it is not allowed. But
you ask people today what school are you taking your spirituality from, they
say “there is no need for that. I can read the Holy Books myself and come to
my own conclusions.” For some reason, when it comes to spirituality many
people reject the concept of learning from a master and follow their ego
instead. But the Saints are teaching us that in dealing with life's
difficulties and trials, it is important to constantly be guided and
inspired by people more pious than ourselves.
“O ye who believe, fear God
and keep the company
with those who are truthful.” (9:119)
3 States of Matter and
the Shams al-Tabriz
“Obey God, obey the Prophet (s) and obey those in authority.” (4:59)
These three levels of obedience are also symbolic of the 3 states of matter:
solid, liquid and gas.
The Divine is like the
gaseous state: we can't see it, we can't taste it and we can't
smell it. In our physical, solid form it is impossible for us to interact
with gas, and that is why God is saying “obey Prophet (s)”.
Prophet (s) is symbolic
of the liquid state which, like the gaseous state, is impossible
to follow because it has no form. Obedience to Prophet (s) is like trying to
hold liquid in our hand. Since we are solid we must find those with form to
guide us. It means we must seek out a spiritual guide that we can learn
from, one who is inheriting from the spirituality of the Prophet (s).
We are Solid Ignorance, We are
in need of Solid Faith / Qutub
These are the Saints who are dressed with the
perfection of Prophet (s) because they are reflecting his light. Therefore,
when we look to them we see the reality of Prophet (s), just as the essence
of liquid remains in its solid form. Through the Saints we begin to be
dressed with the attributes of servant hood that Prophet (s) exemplified,
and through servant hood we may enter the Divine Presence. To be a servant
means to be nothing, to be gaseous.
When we are trying to enter as something and
someone it means that we are still in a solid state, but you can’t have form
in Divine Presence.
To be in the presence of God, Almighty and Exalted, you must lose your form
like binary code.
Binary code is made-up
of a series of 1’s and 0’s.
1 means you are “on” and symbolizes your form.
0 means you are off; you are in
non-manifest-existence; you are in a gaseous state. You must annihilate and
efface your physicality if you are to reach the presence of the 1, which is
the oneness of the Divine. It means you must become like a gaseous state,
like a 0, complete effacement in the Divine reality.
For matter to change states there must be a catalyst which creates a change
within that existing state. For example, for a solid to become liquid
requires tremendous heat.
In Sufism that catalyst
is the spiritual Mentor, the Shams al-Tabriz.
According to a verbal tradition, once while Rumi
was reading next to a large stack of some books, Shams Tabriz, passing by,
asked Rumi, "What are you doing?" Rumi scoffingly replied, "Something you
cannot understand." On hearing this, Shams threw the stack of books into a
nearby pool of water. Rumi hastily took the books out of the water, but to
his surprise they were all dry. Rumi then asked Shams, "What is this?" To
which Shams replied, "Mowlana, this is what you cannot understand."
Shams al-Tabriz was the name of Jalaludin Rumi's
(q) teacher and his name refers to the highest point of energy. “Shams”
means sun in Arabic, referring to the fact that the heart of Shams al-Tabriz
was like the sun - lit with the light of guidance. Tab-Riz means Highest
point of Heat.
When Mawlana Rumi met Shams he was very firm and
very scholarly. It means he was in a solid state, and he needed Shams
al-Tabriz to melt him into a liquid state because to understand the
knowledge of Saints requires a transformation. We cannot understand with
book knowledge only. Like the letter of the law without knowing the Spirit
of the Law – it is like trying to fit a square-block through a round hole.
there is an important hadith of Prophet
(S):
Allah’s Messenger (S) said, “When Allah (SWT) created the Earth it began to
oscillate, so He created the Mountains, ordered
them onto it, and it became steady. The angels marveled at the strength of
the Mountains and asked their Lord whether there was anything in His
creation stronger than the Mountains, to which he
replied that Iron was stronger. They asked if anything in His
creation was stronger than Iron, and He replied that
Fire was. They asked if anything in His creation was stronger than
Fire, and He replied that Water was. They asked
if anything in His creation was stronger than Water, and He replied that
Wind was.” {States of Matter Solid Liquid
Gas}
As an aside, this Hadith specifies the stages of personal progress and
spiritual achievement.
78:7 And the mountains as pegs
The Mountains refer to the Awliya, the Saints of God, who through great
firmness of faith reach a station that corresponds with that which
stabilizes the Earth, i.e. they balance the universe with their positive
light and energy. The Mountain is unshakeable, solid and stable, and
perfectly describes the rank of the Friends of God and of Prophet (S).
Through their further development and evolution, and the application of
spiritual power, Awliya then become Iron – absolutely firm and unbreakable.
Iron not from the Earth but Heavenly sent.
The next stage is Fire, wherein the Saint’s essence burns and is ignited
with the flame of Divine Power from the Presence of God, a state that may
melt even Iron. Afterwards, the Saint’s being and container becomes Water, a
fluid mountain which responds automatically and instantaneously to the will
of the Divine, and which may douse even Fire.
This corresponds to a state wherein one is completely melted and annihilated
in Bahr ul-Qudra, the Ocean of Power wherein all creation swims.
Lastly, Awliya may reach the station of Wind, pure Prophetic Essence,
subtle, ethereal, completely without mass – pure Divine Will.
55-29 In Every Moment in (new)
Splendor doth He (shine)!
The Shams al-Tabriz exists in every time,
symbolizing the Saints who can melt our ego through the power of their
heart.
They can melt us into a liquid state because
they have the ability to intensify energy. In Classical Islam there are many
examples of how the Grandshaykhs would melt ice or heat water just from
their body heat. For example, during his seclusions Grandshaykh Abdullah al-Fa’iz
ad-Daghestani used to use his spiritual power to melt a bucket of snow so
that he could make ablution. This shows us that Saints are able to create a
tremendous amount of spiritual heat, and through that secret they are also melting
their followers to take them towards liquid and gaseous states.
The Saints teach us how to become servants, and that process begins to melt
the ego. In that process of melting we scream and struggle because our ego,
our identity and who we think we are, begins to burn in that fire. It wants
us to escape the fire. It doesn’t accept to be nothing and to be burned
away, but spiritual Masters are teaching us to jump into the fire like the
story of Prophet Abraham (as) who jumped into the fire of Nimrod.
(The Prophets 21:69)
 All of the
Prophets have something to teach us. The story of Prophet Abraham (as) is
teaching us that when you are lost in that love, throw yourself into the
fire. Fear of that fire symbolizes fear of faith, but it is all an illusion.
That fear is making us run away from faith and from spiritual practices. It
makes you think that if you become spiritual you are going to be burned, but
the reality is the opposite. When you move towards faith, what appeared to
you as a fire is actually cool and peaceful once you are inside it. The
Divine is showing you that instead of running away, you should move into the
fire. That fire will burn our bad character, but once the bad character goes
that fire becomes a fire of love and it is all-consuming.
Then when the Saints have melted us, we enter a
liquid state and we become like water.
Water symbolizes submission Having a flowing quality without harshness or
abrupt breaks.
Whether you are poured into a bottle or into a cup, it no longer matters.
How do we reach to that liquid state? Submit! Submit to everything by seeing
every event in your life as coming directly from God, because every event
and every test in our life is like a fire. Every time your boss yells at
you, it represents that fire. The question is, do you fight fire with fire?
Or do you throw water on the fire? It
means, do you show no ego by saying “thank you”? Answer back with love, not
anger, and throw water on the fire. The more we can put down our ego and
respond with love, means the faster Saints can melt us into that liquid
state. That is why, in the meditation you may feel your entire body heating
up.
Saints are releasing that energy and literally melting you into that liquid
state. That liquid state occurs through love, as only love can melt the
heart.
When
you are in a liquid state, it means you are submitting your will to the
Divine will. Once you are in that state you will be quickly ascending
because you are no longer fighting the Divine will. But in your physical
form, the ego is struggle against Heavenly orders, making it incredibly
difficult to accomplish one command from the Divine. If you are told to
pray, your ego makes you to skip it. If you are supposed to meditate, your
ego tells you to watch television instead, and this becomes the biggest
delay to our progress. But as we move into a liquid state under the training
of our spiritual Mentor, the process begins to speed up because the ego is
submitting.
Water flows in whatever direction the earth takes it. It doesn’t decide
where it wants to go. The student in that liquid state must be the same,
flowing in whatever direction the Divine is sending them. In that state of
submission and obedience to the Divine will, Saints are able to quickly take
us to the Divine Presence because to move from liquid to a gaseous state is
faster.
The
most difficult part is to melt the physicality because it burns the ego, but
once we are in submission the Saints can increase their energy and boil us
into that gaseous state very quickly. Only in that gaseous state can we
understand and truly experience Divine Love. We must be careful, however,
because without spiritual practices we will not be able to withstand the
heat. Those practices and disciplines are not empty or without purpose. They
provide protection for us in our ascension to the Divine Presence, and it is
extremely important that we do them.
To
enter into a gaseous state means that you have reached annihilation and
completely effaced yourself in the light of your Mentor, in the light of the
Prophet (s) and in the light of the Divine Presence. In that state of
non-Manifestation the soul has the most power. It becomes free to travel and
move anywhere at the speed of light, because gas is the most diffuse of all
the states of matter. In the solid form, the physicality puts roots into the
soul. The liquid and gaseous states, however, symbolize the increasing
control of the soul over the physicality and its ability to move
independently of the physical form. This is one of the secrets of the Shams
al-Tabriz, which is currently manifesting through the Saints of the Most
Distinguished Naqshbandi Order.
Fatiha.
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