Candle Posts :: Motivational Gems for Higher Spiritual Enlightenment

:: Candle Post #37 :: How to Defeat The Ego (Nafs-i Amara)? ::

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

Ya Ali Madad. In the previous posting, we learned that our ego has to be conquered with the intellect so that we can perceive things in their true and actual form. William C. Chittick has articulated this problem as follows:

'Everything man can possibly wish to possess is contained within himself. Made in God's image, he embraces all of His Attributes. Man's perfected heart is God's Throne, but his ego is the veil which prevents him from seeing his true self. Until the veil is lifted, he will remain in ignorance and error.'

[Source: William C. Chittick. The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi. 1983. State University of New York Press, Albany. Page 148]

Now let us read Rumi's perspectives on this topic:

'The great (secular) scholars of the age split hairs in all sciences. They have gained total knowledge and complete mastery of things that have nothing to do with them (i.e., they have studied very many things of nature). But that which is important and closer to him than anything else, namely his own self, this your great (secular) scholar does not know.'
(Fihi Mâ fihi (Discourses of Rumi) 17/30)

'Wretched humanity! Not knowing his own self, and has come from a high estate and fallen into lowliness! He sold himself cheaply; he was satin, yet he has sewn himself onto a tattered cloak.'
(Mathnavi III 1000-01)

'A basket full of bread sits on your head, but you beg for crusts from door to door. Attend to your own head, leave aside dizzyness! Go, knock upon the heart's door! Why keep on knocking from door to door? Up to your knees in the stream's water, you are heedless of yourself and seek a drink from this person and that.'
(Mathnavi V 1073-75)

[Source: William C. Chittick. The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi. 1983. State University of New York Press, Albany. Pp. 148-149]

In Pir Pandiyat-i Jawanmardi, Imam NOOR Mowlana Shah Mustansir bi'l-laah II (a.s.) teaches us that our ego (nafs-i amara) makes us act in a way which brings darkness to our souls and has prescribed remedies to get us back into Light. Let us now study the details:

Cause:
'O, believers, hearts which are filled with malice, which are defiled by doubt are straying from the path into darkness, the hearts which contain vile fancies, such hearts are abode of Satan and of devils.'
(page 23)

Remedy:
'But pure, loving and clean hearts which contain no malice and enmity at any one, or lust for things of this world, those in which there is nothing except the thought of the Truth, — such hearts are the Throne of the Merciful, and the seat of angels. Therefore, O, believers, see God in your hearts, keeping hearts well-polished, removing rust, dust, doubt and hypocrisy from the mirror of your hearts by the brush of firm faith (yaqin), and wash it with the water of religious knowledge, so that you may see God in that mirror of your hearts. If you love God, turn away your hearts from evil-minded traitors, so that they do not make you similar to themselves. God has turned His face from traitors who do not recognize the Truth, and have lost touch with the Imam of the time.'
(Page 23)

Applications of the Above Knowledge

Hazrat Adam (a.s.) was the father of mankind, therefore, in his initial stages of spiritual journey, he had the lamp of human desires in him, a lamp whose light is little but the smoke plentiful. Then he went through transformation through intense dhikr, sincere repentance and absolute submission to the will of God. God extinguished the lamp of human desires (nafs-i amara) with the blows of His Mercy and instead lit the luminous lamp of angelicity in his consciousness.

Therefore, we all have to follow the example of Hazrat Adam (a.s.) and the teachings of Imam NOOR Mowlana Shah Mustansir bi'l-laah II (a.s.) so that our real hearts (consciousness) become the Throne of the Merciful. This is the best method to face any calamity that comes towards us!
Let us do our best and fully participate in the Jamati Evening Mushkil Aasaan satado for a period of seven days, and get the barakat of the 'Ya Ali tu Rahem Kar, Ya Mowla tu Fazal Kar' tasbi;
Let us pray for the blessings of the protection through the Light of NOOR Mowlana Hazir Imam in our foreheads; and
Let us remember Mowla's firman that "It (bandagi) will give you strength to face any worldly difficulty. It will give you humility to face success." Ameen.

May Mowla's Light be with all of us, always, in everything that we do!

Ardent Supplications:

Ya Ali, Ya NOOR Mowlana Shah Karim Al-Hussaini Hazar Imam, create Sunshine in our hearts, light in our foreheads, and bless us all with the inner vision of the Truth!

Ya Ali, Ya NOOR Mowlana Shah Karim Al-Hussaini Hazar Imam, grant the global Jamat luminous (noorani) and spiritual (ruhani) tayid (help) to advance materially, spiritually and intellectually. Ameen.

Haizinda — Qayampaya
(Our Present Imam is Living and His NOOR is Eternal)

Rakh Mowla je Noor te Yaqeen (Certainly, we trust in Mowla's Light only),
Noorallah Juma
SalmanSpiritual.com
Sunday, April 19, 2009

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