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From Dan Millman's Blog
Dream Small! Tuesday January 22nd 2008, 7:35 pm
Filed under: Dan's Posts Many young men and women in Generation Y were raised to believe that they can (and should) be able to do anything they wish, fulfill their dreams, and only accept the best that life has to offer. They are told that they can dare to be great, to shine their light, to aim for success and to DREAM BIG! Many of us baby boomers who are their parents may agree. After all, we want the best for them.
The problem is, not everyone becomes the team captain, valedictorian, science fair blue ribbon, or Most Popular. In the real world our gift may remain hidden for years, and even those with great strengths also have blind-spots and weaknesses. The problem with high expectations is that when those young people accustomed to instant (or at least prompt) support and satisfaction collide with job-seeking in a world of non-relatives, they may not find their dream-castle in the sky on their first outing.
My solution? Dream small! Those with small, modest dreams are more likely to achieve them. In the arena of romance, shift your vision from Prince Charming (or the head cheerleader) to a nice, caring person — and from a castle to an affordable apartment (and someday perhaps a home). You don’t need to become a Consultant and get rich right out of the gate. You just need enough to live on as you explore your talents and life’s options. Until you find a career, get a job. And with it, some breathing space. Starving artists may view themselves as tragic romantics, but they’re still starving. So get a day job while your creative aspirations continue to mature. And who knows — maybe those small dreams, more easily fulfilled, will lead, over time, to bigger dreams. Meantime, instead of striving for extraordinary, experience the joy of being ordinary. It’s okay to just fit in until you find out where you stand out. In the process, you may discover that what’s really important isn’t what you thought it might be. That the hopes and promises and big dreams and grandiose schemes to Arrive and to Make It and to be Somebody aren’t really what life’s about. Enjoy the small dreams, the simple pleasures, the everyday moments.
MEVLANA JELALUDDIN RUMI
He is one of the treasures of Islam/Humanity/Universe
Here is one way he described himself ;
My Mother is Love
My Father is Love
My Prophet is Love
My God is Love
I am a child of Love
I have come only to speak of Love
Here are some of his words ;
Drink all your passion,
and be a disgrace.
Close both eyes
to see with the other eye.
Open your hands,
if you want to be held.
Sit down in this circle.
***
Be empty of worrying.
Think of who created thought!
Why do you stay in prison
when the door is so wide open?
Move outside the tangle of fear-thinking.
Live in silence
***
The children follow,
not knowing the taste of wine, or how
his drunkness feels. All people on this planet
are children, except for a very few.
No one is grown up except those free of desire.
***
If you haven't left child's play,
how can you be an adult?
Without purity of spirit,
if you are still in the middle of lust and greed
and other wantings, you're like children
playing at sexual intercourse.
They wrestle
and rub together, but it's not sex!
The same with the fightings of mankind.
It's a squabble with play-swords.
No purpose, totally futile.
***
Your actions mean nothing, the sex and war that you do.
***
Experience that breathing.
From books and words come fantasy,
and sometimes, from fantasy comes union.
***
Gone, inner and outer,
no moon, no ground or sky.
***
The wine we really drink is our own blood.
Our bodies ferment in these barrels.
We give everything for a glass of this.
We give our minds for a sip.
***
There are thousands of wines
that can take over our minds.
Don't think all ecstasies
are the same!
***
Every object, every being,
is a jar full of delight.
Be a connoisseur,
and taste with caution.
Any wine will get you high.
Judge like a king, and choose the purest.
***
Thirst drove me down to the water
where I drank the moon's reflection.
***
First, when I was apart from you,
this world did not exist,
nor any other.
Second, whatever I was looking for
was always you.
Third, why did I ever learn to count to three?
***
This is the sema of slavery and mastery
dancing together. This is not being.
Neither words, nor any natural fact
can express this.
***
Sometimes organization
and computation become absurd.
***
Late, by myself, in the boat of myself,
no light and no land anywhere,
cloudcover thick. I try to stay
just above the surface, yet I'm already under
and living within the ocean.
***
Be melting snow.
Wash yourself of yourself.
***
The body is a device to calculate
the astronomy of the spirit.
Look through that astrolabe
and become oceanic.
***
You kiss a beautiful mouth, and a key
turns the lock of your fear.
***
The friend comes into my body
looking for the center, unable
to find it, draws a blade,
strikes anywhere.
***
Do you know what I'm doing?
That for one breath or half-breath I belong to myself?
As much as a pen knows what it's writing,
or the ball can guess where it's going next.
***
"Since I was cut from the reedbed,
I have made this crying sound.
Anyone apart from someone he loves
understands what I say.
Anyone pulled from a source
longs to go back.
At any gathering I am there,
mingling in the laughing and grieving,
a friend to each, but few
will hear the secrets hidden
within the notes. No ears for that.
Body flowing out of spirit,
spirit up from body: no concealing
that mixing. But it's not given us
to see the soul. The reed flute
is fire, not wind. Be that empty."
***
I have a thirsty fish in me
that can never find enough
of what it's thirsty for!
***
What hurts you, blesses you.
Darkness is your candle.
Your boundaries are your quest.
I can explain this, but it would break
the glass cover on your heart,
and there's no fixing that.
***
Are these enough words,
or shall I squeeze more juice from this?
Who am I, my friend?
***
For years I pulled my own existence out of emptiness.
Then one swoop, one swing of the arm,
that work is over.
Free of who I was, free of presence, free of
dangerous fear, hope,
free of mountainous wanting.
The here-and-now mountain is a tiny piece of a piece
of straw
blown off into emptiness.
***
The mother and father are your attachment
to beliefs and bloodties
and desires and comforting habits.
Don't listen to them!
They seem to protect,
but they imprison.
They are your worst enemies.
They make you afraid
of living in emptiness.
***
When you are with everyone but me,
you're with no one.
When you are with no one but me,
you're with everyone
Instead of being bound up with everyone,
be everyone.
When you become that many, you're nothing.
Empty.
***
A lover's food is the love of bread,
not the bread. No one who really loves,
loves existence.
***
To an Egyptian, the Nile looks bloody.
To an Israelite, clear.
What is a highway to one is a disaster to the other
***
Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not Hindu,
Buddhist, sufi, or zen. Not any religion
or cultural system. I am not from the East
or the West, not out of the ocean or up
from the ground, not natural or ethereal, not
composed of elements at all. I do not exist,
am not an entity in this world or the next,
did not descend from Adam and Eve or any
origin story. My place is placeless, a trace
of the traceless. Neither body or soul.
I belong to the beloved, have seen the two
worlds as one and that one call to and know,
first, last, outer, inner, only that
breath breathing human being.
***
Come to the orchid in Spring.
There is light and wine, and sweethearts
in the pomegranate flowers.
If you do not come, these do not matter.
If you do come, these do not matter.
***
Who comes to a spring thirsty
and sees the moon reflected in it?
***
The rest of this poem is too blurry
for them to read.
***
What is form in the presence of reality?
Very feeble. Reality keeps the sky turned over
like a cup above us, revolving. Who turns
the sky wheel? The universal intelligence.
***
Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy,
absentminded. Someone sober
will worry about things going badly.
Let the lover be.
***
A night full of talking that hurts,
my worst held-back secrets. Everything
has to do with loving and not loving.
This night will pass.
Then we have work to do.
***
Let yourself be silently drawn
by the stronger pull of what you really love.
***
How to cure bad water? Send it back to the river.
How to cure bad habits? Send me back to you.
***
Pale sunlight,
pale the wall.
Love moves away.
The light changes.
I need more grace
than I thought.
***
We must drown, away from heroism,
and descriptions of heroism.
***
The mystery does not get clearer by repeating the question,
nor is it bought with going to amazing places.
Until you've kept your eyes
and your wanting still for fifty years,
you don't begin to cross over from confusion.
***
What the sayer of praise is really praising is
himself, by saying implicitly,
"My eyes are clear."
Likewise, someone who criticizes is criticizing
himself, saying implicitly, "I can't see very well
with my eyes so inflamed."
Don't ever feel sorry for someone
who wants to be the sun, that other son,
the one that makes rotten things fresh.
And don't ever envy someone
who wants to be this world.
***
Just because you can't drink all that falls
doesn't mean you give up taking sips
of rainwater. If the nut
of the mystery can't be held,
at least let me touch the shell.
Dan Millman who is interviewed here has also wrote the book which "Peaceful Warrior" movie is based on.. i strongly suggest the movie too..
The interview is about his book called "everyday enlightment" When a review copy of Dan Millman's latest book, Everyday Enlightenment, showed up in my in-box last fall, my first thought was: "Not another book detailing the deep spiritual lessons to be learned from cooking, driving and pet ownership!" Already somewhat familiar with Millman's career as an eclectic and popular inspirational speaker and author of two successful Castanedaesque spiritual novels, a series of self-help books and a recent stint offering numerological personal destiny consultation by mail, I too quickly assumed that his views on "everyday" spirituality would follow the now well-worn groove of recent books championing the inherently spiritual nature of even the most mundane aspects of daily life. Upon taking a closer look at Millman's book, however, I soon found that his "everyday enlightenment" was not only a radical departure from conventional notions of everyday life as a spiritual practice, it also had intriguing implications for our exploration of the relationship between enlightenment and self-mastery. For in what may be a completely unique marriage of these two divergent approaches to transformation, Millman's book makes the claim that enlightenment, like any other pursuit, can be practiced—directly, consciously and methodically—through the exertion of will, self-discipline and a one-pointed focus on action.
In Millman's view, the "Eastern solution" has run up against some limits in the modern West. Aiming for the lofty heights of spiritual experience, he points out, many contemporary seekers have almost entirely neglected the practical dimension of life, the world of day-to-day activity in which who we are is always revealed by what we do. Equally problematic, he feels, is the popular psychotherapeutic paradigm now pervading many contemporary spiritual approaches, in which an overemphasis on feeling better and "fixing our insides" has given rise to a widespread victim mentality, with the result that almost no one takes seriously the possibility of radically transforming themselves through a conscious act of will. The antidote? "To change the course of your life," he writes, "choose one of two basic methods:
1. You can direct your energy and attention toward trying to fix your mind, find your focus, affirm your power, free your emotions, and visualize positive outcomes so that you can finally develop the confidence to display the courage to discover the determination to make the commitment to feel sufficiently motivated to do what it is you need to do.
2. Or you can just do it."
In the passionate argot of the Self Masters, this call to "just do it" seems to hold a central if not universally revered position. Indeed, during my brief survey of the often exhausting terrain of self-mastery, I had come to see this powerful exhortation to abandon all hesitation in the pursuit of one's goal as almost a kind of Self Master's credo. But what appeared to set Millman apart from his fellow titans of positivity was his attempt to bring this mantra of athletic shoe advertising to bear on the loftiest of spiritual pursuits. Drawing on principles he learned from an innovative Japanese psychiatric method known as "Morita Therapy," Millman has created what he calls "the practice of enlightenment," a radical new approach to spiritual life in which all of one's energy and attention are directed not toward trying to bring about any internal shift of consciousness, but toward doing whatever it takes to "act as if" one were enlightened. He writes: "For most people, enlightenment requires that you work from the inside out, first clearing your body and psyche, which then enables you to behave in an enlightened way. I propose that you can work from the outside in. Behavior can precede realization. You can fake it 'til you make it; just do it until more enlightened behavior becomes a habit." When confronted with any situation, Millman suggests repeatedly, simply ask your self, "What would an enlightened person do under these circumstances?"—and then do that. That's the practice.
Upon first encountering Millman's radical view, I was immediately struck by its clarity, simplicity and doubtless logic. Indeed, it was precisely this kind of straightforward, down-to-earth, results-oriented focus that had sparked our interest in self-mastery in the first place, and had caused us to wonder what the Self Masters might have to offer to seekers of enlightenment. In putting the entire focus of his teachings on the realm of action, Millman seemed to be effectively doing away with the entire domain of internal complexity—the tangled knot of mixed motivations, conditioned responses and rigidly held ideas that most seekers struggle for years if not lifetimes to unwind. If Millman's approach really worked, I mused, it would turn the conventional paradigm of spiritual practice and pursuit on its head.
Unique among the Self Masters we spoke with, Millman—a former champion gymnast—was at one time in his life also a serious spiritual seeker. Spurred onto the path by an overwhelming experience of transcendent unity in his twenties, he "tried meditation and visualization, seminars, soul-searching and self-analysis," eventually spending several years under the guidance of such powerful and controversial teachers as Da Free John and Oscar Ichazo "seeking to recapture that sense of unity and divine perfection." But while his far-ranging quest did bring him "insights and experiences," Millman never found his way back to the "simple illumination" that had inspired his search—choosing in the end to devote his life to "shar[ing] with others . . . what [he] had learned" during his years on the path.
I spoke with Dan Millman last fall at his bright blue suburban home—"the one with the painted rainbow over the garage"—in Marin County, California, spiritual mecca of the West Coast. Throughout our discussion, Millman was, as expected, articulate and insightful, bringing his unusually practical perspective to my questions on the relationship between self-mastery and enlightenment. It occurred to me in the course of our dialogue, that among the individuals we encountered in our inquiry into this dynamic subject, Millman seems to occupy a unique position. For while, unlike the other Self Masters we spoke with, he is clearly a champion of the spiritual dimension of life—writing books intended to uplift others to their own higher potentials, and speaking boldly about enlightenment before mass audiences around the world—at the same time, in his almost singular emphasis on will, self-discipline and the power of committed action, his work seems to be firmly anchored in the down-to-earth domain of self-mastery. In attempting to bring these two all-consuming, yet seemingly divergent approaches together under one roof, has Dan Millman created a teaching that risks losing the powerful transformative potential of both? Or has this champion-gymnast-turned-spiritual-teacher actually come up with, as he himself boldly declares, "the highest practice any human being can do"?
interview
WIE: What is your definition of "self-mastery"?
Dan Millman: Self-mastery involves recognizing what we are not responsible for—the thoughts that enter our mind and flow out, and the emotions that pass like the weather—and what we are responsible for, which is our behavior. My view of self-mastery focuses on acting with kindness whether or not we're in the mood, based on three principles: Accept your emotions; know your purpose; and then do what needs to be done—whether or not you happen to feel like it at the time.
You see, we humans are filled with tendencies. We tend to be lazy or to overwork. We tend to let our emotions drive our behavior. We tend to indulge or to deny ourselves. We tend to be passive or aggressive, lackadaisical or obsessive, to act without thinking or to think without acting. We tend to deny or avoid dealing with problems until the eleventh hour or a crisis. We tend to be self—centered, defensive and resentful.
Daily life—spiritual life—tests us, teaches us, challenges us to transcend our tendencies by observing the consequences of our actions; it's a natural, evolutionary process of living and learning. And self-mastery occurs in those moments when we subordinate our little will—our personal tendencies and preferences—to the dominion of our higher will, higher self, higher integrity or higher ideals. It's a conscious movement from "What's in it for me?" to "What will serve the highest good of all involved?" George Bernard Shaw put it well when he said, "Forget about likes and dislikes. They are of no consequence. Just do what must be done. This may not be happiness, but it is greatness."
WIE: And how would you define "enlightenment"?
DM: Arbitrarily we can say that there are two realities: a transcendent reality and a conventional reality. For example, the idea that "we are all One" is certainly not true from a conventional viewpoint. If I stub my toe, it doesn't hurt you. If I have a feeling or a thought, you may not have the same feeling or thought. So conventionally speaking, we're separate individuated beings, physically, emotionally and mentally. But transcendentally speaking, from the viewpoint of higher truth, we're one awareness shining through all these different gift wrappings, these different eyes. At that level, we're One. So there are different truths operating at these different levels.
Now if we're talking about enlightenment, traditionally speaking, it's a transcendent matter that has nothing to do with fixing one's personality, making things work, succeeding, reaching worldly goals, or even with achieving self-mastery. It's realizing who we are, and it's been described in many different ways, such as seeing life from the bigger picture, from a viewpoint at the ends of the universe, through the eyes of God—or as a sense of communion, unity and freedom. But really it's beyond words, which is why it's been described in so many different ways. Lao Tzu said, "He who knows does not speak. He who speaks does not know," because we can only point to it. And I've had glimpses of that transcendent state.
But I would add to that cosmic or transcendent view of enlightenment beyond the mind, the body and the world—which has been described by too many people with great credibility to be denied—that I see life as a series of moments, and I often say I've never met an intelligent or neurotic or enlightened being; I've only met people who have more intelligent, neurotic or enlightened moments. I've also studied with different masters who were acknowledged by many to be enlightened—or who had declared themselves so and seemed to manifest many capacities that might be equated with that state. And having seen them in what struck me personally as some pretty unenlightened moments, I think it's more realistic to say that we have a responsibility to realize and live that state from moment to moment rather than thinking that we'll just have an experience and say, "From now on, that's it. I'm enlightened."
WIE: You seem to be suggesting that while enlightenment is in one sense beyond this world, it also must be lived in this world in a very practical way. From that perspective, what do you see as the relationship between enlightenment and self-mastery?
DM: The Indian saint Ramakrishna once said: "If you try to open a walnut when the shell is green, it's almost impossible, but if you wait until the walnut is ripe, it opens with just a tap." I see the quest for self-mastery as more of a conventional thing we can do. It occurs in the context of everyday life and involves our functional human capacities—our will—and can lead toward the realization of our human potential. I see it as a stage of preparation or ripening. But self-mastery in itself has nothing to do with enlightenment if by "enlightenment" we mean the transcendent state, because I believe that comes by grace. At some point somebody or something, or God working through somebody or something, provides the tap and takes all the credit, but I think life has been the ripening process, perhaps to help prepare us, to open us. There's a proverb that goes, "There's God, and then there's not paying attention." And what I often mention in my seminars is something Rabbi Hillel once said: "There are three mysteries in this world—air to the birds, water to the fish, and humanity to itself." We're immersed in spirit all the time, whether we call it "God" or "spirit" or "beauty" or "inspiration." It's not like the weatherperson says, "Twenty percent chance of rain, forty percent chance of spirit today." It's always here but we don't notice it. We don't commune with it because our attention is trapped in, "How am I going to pay for the car repair, get to the appointment on time? How am I going to deal with my relationships and emotional issues, my physical issues, my body?" and so on. Our attention is trapped in those areas, and I do think that through mastery of self, our attention becomes more free to notice God or spirit or beauty, and in that sense, it's a ripening process. But I don't say it happens step by step, as in, "Go through this ripening and then you will be guaranteed at the end that, bingo, you will have enlightenment."
There are people in the traditions who have apparently been very ordinary people—and then something happens, as with the Indian sage Ramana Maharshi, for example. And there have been others like him in the various traditions. So I don't think self-mastery necessarily leads to enlightenment. But there are laws of reality I've learned from my athletic training, and one is that if you prepare well, you're more likely to open up to something more. But there are no guarantees. Michael Jordan cannot control whether he makes a basket; he's missed shots. But he can control whether he takes a shot. And that's the best we can do—is to take the shot. And doing so greatly increases the likelihood of making the basket. So life involves work; it's difficult. St. Augustine once said, "Lord, I pray not for a lighter load but for stronger shoulders." I think daily life can give us stronger shoulders.
WIE: Your new book is called Everyday Enlightenment. Is the "everyday enlightenment" that you've written about the same as or different from the ultimate spiritual realization described by the world's wisdom traditions?
DM: Different from—I would not claim it's the same. There are two great schools of thought operating in our world, it seems to me. And they've been operating since the time of the ancient Greeks and even long before. There's the idealist school and the realist school. The churches, for example, tend to be more idealist. The Catholic Church isn't wrong in its dictums, it's just idealistic. To tell young people, "Just abstain from sex, just don't do it until you're married," is probably best—at least until they're in a committed relationship. But are they going to do it? No. So at the same time as you're telling them that, I would say, "Here are some condoms in case you're going to engage." So it's "Trust in God but tie your camel."
Similarly, some people gravitate to the idealist view that we should wait for genuine enlightenment, for the transcendent, cosmic realization of God, of unity with all things. That's fine, but people can go lifetimes waiting for that and not pay a great deal of attention to what they're doing in the meantime. When I refer to practicing "everyday enlightenment," I'm speaking about actually consciously asking, "How would an enlightened being act in this moment?"—and then acting that way. Some people say, "You mean pretend? Pretend I'm enlightened?" And I say, "Yes. It's like pretending." I give the example of a shy, young boy pretending he's confident and asking a young lady to dance, or a soldier who's terrified, yet pretends he's courageous in saving a comrade under fire. Those are pretending, too. And I think that in that way we can pretend to be an enlightened being, and find our breath relaxing and our body relaxing and opening, and find ourselves smiling, even though our internal reality is that we might be bummed out about something. We might have depressed emotions and still smile at somebody and do a kind deed because that is what an enlightened being might do in that situation. Of course, we can be wrong. We could end up as a caricature like Kwai Chang Caine on the Kung Fu TV series, thinking that enlightenment means always acting blissful and talking in a certain way. There is that danger. There is that risk.
So I don't believe "everyday enlightenment" is the same as enlightenment in the ultimate sense. But everyday enlightenment is a good practice to adapt our bodies and minds, to prepare them, to make them more transparent, to become a servant, while we're waiting for our insides to be filled with light. That's what I'm saying. And neither am I giving some cheap pop psychology definition of enlightenment for my own convenience. I think the view that we can play the role of an enlightened being is a very meaningful one. It's not a matter of going around saying to people, "I'm enlightened." As I wrote in my book, saying "I'm enlightened" doesn't make one enlightened any more than saying "I'm a pineapple" makes one a pineapple.
So to me this is a very realistic practice of enlightenment rather than an idealistic waiting for that state. Meanwhile, we can talk about that state, work toward it, think about it, dream about it, do exercises we believe will help open us to that state—and there are lots of those, mostly Eastern, but a few Western. But in fact, I've been so presumptuous as to state that the highest practice any human being can do is the practice of everyday enlightenment I've just been describing. And the reason I say that is that it incorporates any other practice one might do. If one's meditating, one can say, "How would an enlightened being meditate?"—and meditate that way. It's based on the fundamental presumption that we have control over and responsibility for our behaviors. One question I ask people is: "Would you prefer to live with someone who's enlightened who behaves in a crazy manner, or someone who is crazy who behaves in an enlightened manner?" I don't have an answer to that but it's an interesting question.
WIE: One of the things we've observed in the course of our exploration for this issue is that individuals who have attained either self-mastery or enlightenment always seem to emanate an extraordinary degree of confidence, a sense of being unbound by limitation. In those who have "mastered themselves," that confidence seems to arise from the discovery that they have the power to break through seeming limitations and do things they never imagined they could, the discovery of an overwhelming sense of "I Can." In enlightened individuals, on the other hand, that confidence seems to arise not from the discovery of their own personal power but from the deep, mysterious and life-changing realization of their essential unity with the very ground and source of all existence—a realization not of "I Can" but of "I Am." What do you see as the difference between the confidence of the Self Master and the confidence of the enlightened person?
DM: Well, I think one kind of confidence is conditional and the other is unconditional. One is confidence in self, small "s." The other is confidence in Reality or God, or spirit working in, as and through the "self," which is a very different kind of confidence. I'm not a big fan of self-confidence courses. Enlightened confidence is not based on a great self-image or confidence in one's capacities, but in an ultimate trust in whatever happens, and a complete unconcern over whether one is liked, because one rests in the knowledge that one is loved, and that in fact, one is Love. Most of us, though, just want to feel good about ourselves, want to feel self-esteem and like ourselves and feel confident. And as I've emphasized in Everyday Enlightenment, for most people, even their "search for enlightenment" is motivated by the desire to feel good: "When I'm enlightened, I'll feel happy and I'll feel good."
However, I have learned from sports that if there's something you don't believe you can do, about which you're filled with self-doubt, and then you find out you can do it, it may generalize out to other things and you'll say, "You know, I didn't think I could do that last thing but I just accomplished it. Maybe I can meet this next challenge, too."
WIE: How does this distinction between the realization of "I Can" and the realization of "I Am" accord with your own experience?
DM: Well, first of all, although I have had some profound experiences and realizations, and have seen the bigger picture of life, I do not describe myself as an enlightened being. I can't talk about my enlightened perspective in terms of identifying myself with one of those transcendent realizations, or being able to live that realization from moment to moment—although I am practicing enlightenment.
But regarding the idea of self-confidence—this "I Can"—there's something about it that I think is certainly nice enough from a conventional viewpoint. I think it's healthier for people to be able to say "I can," and to go for things, than to say "I can't," and not. I think it was Henry Ford who said, "Those who believe they can and those who believe they can't are both right." I think it's probably a positive thing in daily life to tackle things. But that's just not in the same ballpark as having a deep confidence based on the essential sense that our souls rest safe and secure in the arms of Spirit. But at the same time, I don't necessarily want to use the words "I Am." I don't relate to it that way. To me, what matters about human life on every level but that transcendent moment of realization is what we do. There's a lot of New Age talk about beingness. Being. Don't do. Just be. And I say, "What is be? What does that mean?" Everything that has been accomplished by human beings involves human doings. So while a lot of people relate to that "I Am," I don't. I just don't know how to respond to those words. Still, I do believe that the cosmic, transcendent state of enlightenment is the ultimate goal and endpoint of human life and human existence.
WIE: You do?
DM: Yes. And that may be what differentiates us from the animals—that we have the consciousness to realize that state. But I know people who are seriously, earnestly working on the Eastern solution, which is going inside, meditating, doing spiritual practices. Their brows are knitted, they're working, so one day, maybe in this lifetime or another lifetime, they might achieve that state. Meanwhile, they're not paying attention to their kids, their finances are down the toilet and they're not functioning very well in life. I think enlightenment is on God's timetable, so while we're waiting for that cosmic state, we might as well spend our time well and live as kindly as we can and live as many enlightened moments as we can, even if we know it's pretending. To me the question is: What do we do in the meantime, while we're aspiring? Do we live well? Are we kind to other people? Do we pick up litter on the street?—which I do, and I don't know how my words impact people, but when I leave a city it's a little cleaner. Little things like that matter.
WIE: Another observation we've made about the attainment of self-mastery is that it seems to always include a movement from a negative, limited sense of self to a deeply positive sense of self. Traditional teachings of enlightenment, on the other hand, tell us that the ultimate human attainment is the discovery of "no-self," the realization that our true nature, who we really are, is beyond any notion of self, positive or negative, and that it is in fact the very idea that we exist as a separate individual at all that inhibits us from discovering true freedom. Would you agree that ultimately any fixed notion of self, even one that is extremely positive, has to be given up if we are to become truly free?
DM: Yes, except I'd change the words. Rather than "given up"—because I don't know that we "give up"—I'd say "seen through." And I think insight and humor are the two best tools for doing that. I think the bigger the sense of humor one has about oneself as a character, the more one sees through, and in a sense transcends, the ego. I don't think it's a matter of getting rid of the ego. I use my ego to learn, to teach and to serve. It's just my personality level. But I don't take it too seriously. I don't take this "Dan Millman" character terribly seriously, as if that's really all I am.
WIE: When you use the word "ego" here, are you referring to the separate sense of self?
DM: What we call "ego" is just our conscious self, our sense of identity. As a baby, I'm an amorphous soup; I'm my mother, I'm everybody. And then I grow up seeing people point to me and I go, "Oh, this is me." And so to me, it's a functional thing.
In India, there are these people called "masts." They just sit there. We call them "catatonic," but in India they're considered to be enlightened beings who have no ego. But they're pretty boring, actually. They don't function. They sit there. People have to feed them. But they are considered to be spiritual beings because they have no ego, no sense of a self that needs to do, achieve or even survive. That's one kind of "egolessness." Neither newborn infants nor certain Zen masters have much of an ego. The difference is that in the infant the ego is undeveloped, and in the Zen master the ego is presumably transcended. Now motivational speakers and gung—ho people who help others to develop a positive sense of self—to find out that they "can"—are helping the ego get what it thinks it needs to be happy. This approach may be popular and attractive to many people, but I think it is a limited practice, at best perhaps a stepping-stone along the way.
WIE: Both in the quest for self-mastery and in the quest for enlightenment, it seems that one almost inevitably encounters many internal obstacles, the foremost of which is probably fear. In fact, you devoted a chapter of your book to this. In the pursuit of self-mastery, it manifests most often as, say, fear of challenge or fear of change. And descriptions of the quest for enlightenment often include an encounter with the existential fear of leaving behind all familiar reference points, of leaping into the unknown. In Everyday Enlightenment you state that while we cannot control fear and can't make it go away, "we can overcome any fear." What, in your view, is the key to overcoming fear?
DM: Simply put, doing it anyway. Doing what it is you need to do. It has nothing to do with making the fear go away. Sometimes fear goes away. If I dive off a ten-meter tower, I'm going to be afraid the first number of times I do it, but eventually I won't be afraid anymore—until I try a new dive that I haven't done before. Fear comes and goes and, as an emotion, we don't have any direct control over it. It's quite natural to feel fear in many situations. When the fear is objective—that is, fear for our physical safety, when we might die or be injured—we need to listen, let fear be our guide and tell us, "Prepare well, be patient, stay alert, take precautions or avoid the situation." But if a fear is subjective—fear of embarrassment, looking foolish, being rejected, or fear of the unknown—to me it's very clear at that point that we need to honor it, see it, and do it anyway. When someone says, "I can't do something because I'm too afraid," they're lying to themselves.
I can't levitate—that's my experience. I can't walk through walls. But if I say, "I can't speak in public because I'm too afraid," or, "I can't do this or that because it's just too hard," what I'm really saying is, "I choose not to do it because it makes me feel too uncomfortable." And that's fine. If people recognize, "I'm choosing not to do this. I'm limiting my life because I don't want to go through this discomfort," then that's their choice, consciously. But they shouldn't fool themselves by saying, "I can't do it." When people say, "I'm a phobic, I've been diagnosed," all they're really saying is, "I'm really uncomfortable." But it's just bad flu symptoms. They can still do it. Their heart may palpitate, they may feel nauseous, they may get pale, they may hyperventilate, their knees may shake. But they can control their breathing because that's a physical manifestation. They can take a deep, slow breath. They can relax the body. That is in our control. And they can do it anyway. It won't feel very nice but if it's their goal to do it, they'll do it. And that includes anything.
WIE: In your work, you seem to place a great deal of emphasis on the power of self-discipline, on how conscious, directed action can transform our lives. In Everyday Enlightenment, you state: "No matter what you might learn in this or any similar book, living effectively comes down to applying your will to control your behavior." This seems to be a perfect summation of the essence of self-mastery. In traditional enlightenment teachings, there is also an emphasis on the need for self-discipline or self-control, yet in those traditions, that need for self-control is always secondary to and in the service of the ultimate demand for profound surrender, for a complete relinquishing of control in order to allow a force greater than oneself to move one's life. In the end, which do you feel is more important for the individual who wants to be free—surrender or self-control?
DM: That's a good question and there's a certain paradoxical nature to it. It has to do, again, with the difference between the transcendent and conventional realities. Because when I surrender, how do I know whether I'm surrendering to God or surrendering to my internal impulses? Does surrender have anything to do with doing what I think is best in the moment? If somebody is yelling at me, and my impulse is to not be kind but I am kind, did I just surrender to God or did I apply my will? Free will is a God-given ability, and I believe that it is important that we apply our will—to use our intelligence and our awareness in doing what seems best in each moment. But doing what is best may in a sense also be surrendering to our higher will or to a higher will. So do we call it "self-control" with a small "s" or a large "S"? I think it sounds good, it sounds true to say that there is surrender to a higher will on one hand and self-mastery and self-discipline on the other. But I think in reality the distinction may be hazy. One may fade into the other. There are people who will tell you spirit is controlling everything they do. There are some masters who I studied with a long time and—
WIE: A lot of what they did raised some questions?
DM: Yes. But they were always claiming that it was all for the highest good of their devotees. Well, I don't know about that. I feel surrender is very, very powerful and very important, but how to do that is an artful process, I think. Just like it's easy to say, "Be kind," but how do you "be kind"? How do you "act kindly"? Do you help an old lady across the street only to have her beat you with her umbrella because she didn't want to go across the street? Or if your spouse is upset with you, do you remain calm and smile at them? That may not be too kind. It may be kinder to yell back if they want to engage you. It's an artful process to know how to surrender or how to be kind.
WIE: In your chapter "Reclaim Your Will," you make an interesting distinction. You state that if we want to change the course of our lives, there are two routes we can take. One, "you can direct your energy and attention toward trying to fix your mind, find your focus, affirm your power, free your emotions, and visualize positive outcomes so that you can finally develop the confidence to display the courage to discover the determination, to make the commitment, to feel sufficiently motivated to do what it is you need to do." Or, two, "you can just do it." Now, the first approach appears to be much more popular, yet the second option obviously sounds more effective. What is it that changes within the individual who makes that decision to "just do it"?
DM: Most of us learn to "just do it" after exhausting all the other shortcuts and easy ways and psychological tricks and motivational techniques that don't work. After we've used up our subliminal tapes, self—hypnosis, affirmations, visualizations, inspirational speakers, encouraging words, positive self-talk, we are left with the existential question, "Will I do it, or not?" We finally confront reality. Ultimately, we don't have to "reclaim our will" or "find our confidence" or "develop our discipline." We don't even have to believe we can do it or say we can do it. We just have to do it. Doing what needs doing doesn't require any internal state or feeling. You just have to do it. But we have this persistent hope, this stubborn wish, that we will find a shortcut, an easier way. We'd rather work on our insides for a few days or years or lifetimes—something in the meantime, like sharpening pencils before writing a book. But what does life come down to? How do we turn what we know into what we actually do?
One reviewer of my book said, "Millman's much too simplistic. For addicts, he recommends they just stop rather than find a treatment program." In reality, I do recommend treatment programs for some people. But whether they do a 12-step program or NA or AA or get the help of friends and family or hit bottom or get frightened enough or inspired enough to finally do it, everyone stops an addictive behavior the same way: They just stop. They finally have to come to that point. And for some people it takes all these other intermediate steps. But I suggest it saves people a lot of time and pain in the long run to recognize that they can just control their behavior, and as much as they won't feel like doing it, do it anyway. As far as what magical point brings people to that—when they're ready to hear it, they'll do it. Otherwise they'll spend endless hours working on the internal solutions, the psychological New Age solution.
WIE: This willingness to "just do it" seems to be an important dimension of self-mastery according to nearly everyone we've spoken with for this issue. Do you think the "just do it" approach is also an ingredient of enlightenment?
DM: Nike never knew what they were coming up with, did they?
Well, I think "just do it" is certainly an ingredient of the "practice of enlightenment" as I teach it. The "just do it" idea is the recognition that we can control our behavior under the dominion of our will or a higher will working through us. I see surrendering to God as a metaphor for bringing out the best and the highest ideals or archetypes within us—for connecting up to that God, that force, that intelligence or love inside of us, and letting it come out. So rather than seeing it as a waiting for something cosmic or mystical from above to enter us, to possess us, I see it as a beautiful metaphor for drawing out the best within us and then acting on that. So "just do it," yes, I think that is an ingredient—and certainly an important one—and a key to what I call the "practice of everyday enlightenment."
WIE: For this issue of our magazine, we also spoke with one of the most prominent exponents of the human potential movement, Michael Murphy, the founder of Esalen Institute, who believes that contemporary advances in our understanding of the workings of the human mind and body, and of how mastery is achieved, should be seen in the context of the evolution of the human race as a whole. He suggests that the pioneering efforts of extraordinary people in many fields reflect the possibility of a transformation over time of our entire species. Do you see your own work in such an evolutionary context?
DM: I personally am fascinated with the lineages of different teachers, writers and communicators because the lineage says something about what they teach and it gives us more clarity. Anthony Robbins studied many different personal growth arenas and worked with businesses and sales and studied NLP [Neuro-Linguistic Programming]—which is part of his lineage—and Michael Murphy was influenced greatly and positively by Sri Aurobindo, and what you've just described is very Aurobindian. I always come back to the metaphor of "one light, many lamps," because we're all describing different approaches to life, or are all tuned in to different radio stations. And those who tune in to Michael's station are a little more interested than I am in powers, in siddhis [supernormal abilities], in sports and in other realms.
We may indeed evolve into greater abilities of various kinds, which would be interesting. But personally, I think that has very little to do with enlightenment. It might be a manifestation of certain breakthroughs, siddhis and psychic abilities. It might. But I don't think that's a stepping-stone toward enlightenment. I think people can be enlightened and can have no powers or abilities whatsoever. We may stay exactly as we are. I love to tell the story of Aldous Huxley, who studied many spiritual traditions and teachings. Just before he died, someone said, "Aldous, after all this time, what have you learned?" He said, "I'm a little embarrassed to say. I can summarize it all with the words, 'Just try to be a little kinder.' "To me, that's greater than any powers and abilities. Maybe I feel this way because I was a gymnast and I exhibited certain "powers" by doing things that other people couldn't do and they were very impressed by them. But they didn't make me happy. They didn't make me more enlightened. They were just practical skills. So if on a practical level we can learn to throw footballs twice as far or jump higher or run faster, if our brains get more powerful—or even if we learn how to move things with our minds—I think that's all functionally very nice. And maybe these new powers would even help us to create a more enlightened society. Maybe. But I don't personally equate powers with, or regard them as necessary precursors to, realizing the punch line to the cosmic joke.
WIE: What do you see as the highest expression of human potential?
DM: It has to do with everything we've been talking about in terms of kindness, in terms of realizing our unity with God, our unity with one another—and not just realizing it, but living it. We tend to realize things long before we can live them. We've all had realizations and understandings and insights, but it can take ten years to actually bring even a simple insight into our life and live it. So living it, not just realizing it, I would say, would be the highest potential.
WIE: Are you still striving for enlightenment?
DM: No. At some point in time, I don't know when it was, I became more interested in bringing smiles to other people's faces, and now I have no motive or goal. I'm okay with the present moment. I mean that quite sincerely.
What do you think Hazrat Mohammed (peace be upon him) has granted on us as the most outstanding “BRAIN” to ever come on to the earth and the greatest ”SPIRIT” to reach out to eternity?
How much of the facts that he had explained through the grasp of the people of his time, do you think are being perceived and evaluated by people of our day who were brought up within the present conditions?
To what extend the Holy Koran, which encloses the offers to be dependable till our doomsday, the clues about the system that are valid for ever, and the information which provides the eternal happiness in the afterlife for those who can evaluate it, do you think are being appreciated by the people of our day?
It has become crucial to briefly represent my conception of “Islam” in a nutshell again that I have been trying to explain in various chapters in my books, because some groups of people dare to deviate my words!
Let us know this...
In the world today, there are two different understandings of the Religion of Islam and Hazrat Mohammed in mainly two different frameworks.
According to the first and the most common one:
There is a “GOD” somewhere up in the sky! The Muslims call that god as “Allah”! That god who sits in the sky has created two places for people called “heaven” and “hell” at some invisible and unknown distance.
That God first created human being by giving the mud the shape of human by his own hands and “BREATHING” into him with His own spirit in the place known as Heaven and then descended him from there onto the earth. As time went by and as this human race flourished on earth, that God chose messenger prophets to act like the kind of a envoy or postman between Him and people, and then He sent books to those of his messengers by an angel called Gabriel. These prophets, based on the books that God sent to them by means of the angel and the divine inspiration, warned humankind saying “there is Allah up in the sky and He will awake you by restoring to life on the day of Resurrection all after you die and later He will appear and question you for your deeds in the world”, and in sequence they communicated people the orders of God as to what he requested from mankind. Those who did not commit sins but acquire merits at God’s sight by good deeds in the way as the messenger prophets told them will eventually go to Heaven, whereas those who did not listen to these prophets and rejected God’s commandments will be sent to hell.
Yes, a considerable majority in the world who say “there is Allah up in the sky and Hadrath Mohammed is His prophet”, lead their lives with an understanding outlined as above, of which the details differ from one community to the other. People with this understanding, generally do not question a word in the subject of religion and do not make research but accept the words literally as is. They say, “We believe what are told to believe and do not investigate what is behind; we do what is told to do and we are not concerned with further.”
However, on the contrary, a “DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF ISLAM” that was developed by such people of profound comprehension like Hazrat ALI and Hazrat Abu Bakr at that time by way of trying to understand Hazrat Mohammed and the Holy Koran he informed by decoding the metaphors and parables in it, is carried to this day with the name of Islamic “SUFISM” by seekers and masters of truth as outlined as follows:
The understanding of “ISLAM” by this truth seeking people has such an explanation:
The One informed as “ALLAH” can only be referred to as “HU” beyond any humane understanding and inclusive concept (that domain is defined as “alam al-lahut”).
“HU” created the universe in universes from a single “point” with his knowledge and from within his knowledge!
That “point” is a conscious nucleus (hayyula) which subsists by the existence of qualities that originate from the knowledge of the One who is signed by the pronoun as “HU”; and is known as the “Truth of Mohammed” (alem al-jabarrut –the world of all powerful).
Everything that can be perceived or not, that can be known or not, are in fact “spiritual forms of knowledge” existed in the being of this conscious “point” as a result of the qualities expressed by the Names in its existence.
The Angelic Universe (malakut) has been made up at the spiritual station of knowledge by the unfoldment of knowledge of that “point”, and it is the “the pure energy ocean” in which the universes are created within universes. Multiplicity (Manyness), the numerication derived from manyness, or individuality can not be mentioned at that dimensional realm.
What is explained up to that point is the “point” included in Hazrat Ali’s sign that “this Moment is that Moment” and this is the state how it has been and will be and will never change!
So, the appearance of the Beautiful Names of Allah in various compositions from within this “point” and their perceptions as a result of their formations has created the conceptions of “RELATIVITY” and manyness (alam al-nasut).
In order to understand the subject well here, the essential point to be paid attention is this:
“Manyness” that appear based on perceptions must rather be considered originating, opening up and developing from a single oneness within, not from up the sky down to the earth.
Every entity has come into existence from the same “ONE” (al-malakut)! Al-Malakut does not mean a spiritual domain coming from outside of the entity, but appearing in entity’s consciousness by emerging from its origin which holds the existence of that entity! The secret of “B” in the Koran indicates that state in the reality of a person!
“Al-Malakut” is the appearance of the attribute of conscious energy and power that creates the existence of universe inside universes!
Since every structure and entity in the universe inside universes is originated from the universal power and consciousness, there is in fact nothing inanimate and unconscious in the universe! Maybe some beings could be characterized as inanimate and unconscious by the ones who reject what lies beyond the limits of perception.
The universe and all beings inside it, which are completely alive and conscious, were created in a “universal system and order” named as “SunnatAllah”. And again in this system, they will eternally continue their lives by renewing every minute, due to the will of the Creator.
As for Rasuls and Nabis that emerge in humanity…
Without being messengers or prophets assigned to a duty of mediation after being chosen by a god image that is said to be up in the sky and labeled as “ALLAH”, these persons are the translators of and voices of the universal Truth (Haqiqah) owing to the unfoldment of knowledge arising from the Names in their origins, within their consciousness that reach out (inzal) from their Real Truth! “Irsal” means “to unfold, to let come out”… “Rasul” however means “absolute (yaqin) source of knowledge that is unfolded”.
The word “sama” in the Koran does not only mean levels of heavens, but it also means the spiritual stations (martaba) of consciousness (nafs)!
“Nuzul” in the same way does not mean “to descend, come down or to be descended” that denotes locality (al-makan)! No “book” has ever come down from “heavens”!
The meaning of the word “book” in the Koran is in fact “knowledge” and “information”!
Since many words like these are mistranslated into other languages, a distorted and twisted understanding of “RELIGION” appeared and because of this a lot of people of sanity stayed away from these explanations!
It is time to reconsider all these wrong interpretations!.
The angel of divine inspiration did not come down to Rasul or Nabi from the highest heaven where god sits locally! Divine inspiration is the actualization of angelic properties (that is knowledge) found as potential power in their existence. However, the perceptive mechanism in the brain interprets the transformation of that “potential power” into “action” (an actual fact) as if an event taking place outside (in horizons)!
For this reason Rasuls and Nabis experienced the Creator of the universe inside universes deep within their origins in truth by way of the Divine Inspiration called as wahi (by way of coming from their essence and appearing in their consciousness). As a result of this, they have “READ” (iqra) the “SunnatAllah” and communicated what they “READ” to the people.
According to the data “READ” that was told us by them…
The man, living on earth today, is an entity that exists for eternity and will never cease by “death” but will continue living his life for eternity without turning back to the past and always in a forward way. “Death” is a name given to the end of a person’s life with this known biological body and the beginning of a life with a body called “spiritual body”.
The superiority of that most amazing brain ever lived on earth and the most amazing SOUL of eternity to all brains is this before anything else:
He both explained the One named as “ALLAH” in the most perfect and comprehensive way and disclosed the “SunnatAllah” with all its details in the revealed Koran!
Nobody could even come close to what he had explained, let alone doing anything similar except for Him!.
The Koran that he informed and explained completely emphasizes the absolute truth!
According to this truth, humanity will take place in another dimension after this life; everyone will see in that environment what they gained and what they lost as an outcome of what they let come out of them in the world and will live their consequences. Their living place will either be an environment of agony and disturbance or peace and happiness.
In view of the aspect of “SunnatAllah” that relates to persons, everyone will definitely live the consequence of what they carry out either in this world or in the following realm of life.
The system and the order called as “SunnatAllah” that is created by Allah exists with a new formation and the universe is being renewed every minute according to the Names that form its existence. The act of creating changes every minute and continues being renewed till forever.
In my opinion, of the One introduced as “ALLAH”, the “brain” is the greatest of miracles in this dimension that we perceive. Mankind is yet a lot far from evaluating this miracle! Unfortunately, there is no possibility of writing our many determinations about this subject. Since what we wrote twenty-thirty years ago are newly being talked.
In fact, time and place exist in the perceptive system of the human brain! Humans consist of only mere thought! Man is a servant who lives the outcome of what has been let come out of him from within the database created by “Allah” every moment!
Everyone will definitely live in the life after death the consequences of what they lived out! Because of this very important truth, everyone should learn the constant, unchangeable system and order known as “SunnatAllah” and described as “RELIGION” very well, for their own future’s sake.
Let us conclude our explanations with this sentence:
Those who do not appreciate the most amazing “BRAIN” and the most amazing “SPIRIT” reaching out to eternity who informed us the one named as “ALLAH” as well as the universal truths, no matter for whatever reason, will be suffering its disturbance and pain forever.
AHMED HULUSI
April 25, 2006
Raleigh, NC
“DUA(PRAYing) IS THE WEAPON OF THE BELIEVER (mumin),” says RasulAllah! Are we really aware why it is so important to practice “DUA (To PRAY ) ?”
What is “DUA” and what is it for? As there is no god-out-there, beyond yourself, then to whom do you pray (practice dua)? Let us try to answer those questions now...
“Dua” is an action of directing brain waves!
Let us recall some of the information we had given earlier in our previous pages ...
Human, in respect to its “reality,” (haqiqat) is a content composed of Names that belonged to ALLAH... That is, human is like a formula composed of meanings that the Beautiful Names of ALLAH carry. To express it in a different way, ALLAH has rendered human as a kaliph of Himself on earth by means of making him exist via the meanings of Hu's Beautiful Names.
After various transformations, those meanings of Names have been unfolded in the human brain in a form as it was ordained.
According to the statement (hukm) that “You cannot will except by the will of ALLAH,” your DUA (prayer) in reality is nothing but a wish belonging to ALLAH.
However, there is a SYSTEM and ORDER by ALLAH, known as “sunnatAllah.” Here, such a wish originated from the Beautiful Names of ALLAH is sometimes revealed as a “DUA” from within yourself.
Although it is commonly believed under the influence materialistic view that people could communicate with each other only by the agency of their lips and ears, communication is, in fact, a interaction between brains. There are so many times that we sense, perceive such a relation but cannot explain it logically due to lack of knowledge. Your “intuition” is a result of your early perception of incoming waves...
“DUA” arises from the Names of ALLAH (asma-uAllah) that is within your own essence and reveals as a wave directed for a purpose and reaches the aim. So, “DUA” is not a demand from a god outside yourself, but rather is a wish originated by “ALLAH” in your essence.
In another way of looking, “DUA” is the most powerful weapon for achieving your expectations. It is an appreciation of the power and potency belonging to “ALLAH” within your own essence.
You will pray, practice “dua,” so then you will direct the course of events, if that resided in your destiny. In fact, it is Hu's self who directs, not you!
The same way as the parasite signals are reduced when the earth's semi-sphere turned back on the sun and short wave reception becomes powerful, human brain also becomes more sensitive and most powerful especially during midnight at late hours. This is the case both for reception (inspiration) and transmission (dua- praying). The importance of night time is particularly due to this fact in the “Deen-i Islam.”
People lacking the practice dua, will suffer the detriment of both the appreciation and the potencies within their own essence and also the benefits resulting from praying. DUA is an exercise of the power belonged to “ALLAH” within your own essence.
The fact that RasulAllah has prayed so often does not mean that he has asked for things from a god outside himself, but instead it shows that he has channeled the power and potency within himself that belongs to ALLAH, in the direction of his wishes.
The more a person's brain capability is powerful, the more one's prayers (dua) and brain transmission are effective... You broadcast all your thoughts over the earth to the degree that your brain power allows, not only at times when you are communicating, but while you are thinking as well. And those frequencies are received by other corresponding receptive brains and are assessed as intuition or inspiration. It is in that respect that some of the effectual (authoritative) “spiritual people,” known as “irshad qutubs” in Sufism exercise power of disposal. What is known as reaching “enlightenment” (al fayz) is nothing other than a brain's assisted revelation after another powerful brain's transmission of directed waves. We have given detailed information about that in our book “DUA and ZHIKR” which I strongly recommend you to read!..
In this chapter, we have tried to make you realize that “DUA” is one of the most effective tools in human's life. Let us know that “ALLAH” will respond you from within yourself. Hu's being aware of everything in your mind, is a result of your being brought into existence through Hu's own being and of Hu's revealing those that income from Hu through yourself.
Every person must continuously keep practicing “DUA,” and prayers at whatever spiritual state or level of awareness one is at, as RasulAllah did. It will be known more clearly in the life beyond death that nothing would have brought better income than one's “DUA” and prayers.
AHMED HULUSİ
FIRST MEETING
Please answer the door, Jamm! Im taking off my clothes!
Jamm left his table he worked and walked toward the door. Looked at his watch: twenty past eleven! Who could it be at this time?, he thought, walking along the hall.
Jamm is a philosophy teacher. His wife, Gonul works for a bank, a chief in its international trade department. She is four years younger than Jamm.
Jamm is known rather as a mysterious and hard-to-understand person in his surroundings.
It wasnt easy for the others to reach his original ideas. Sometimes he would seem to go for an idea, sometimes for another. Literally, neither he, himself was firm upon an exact view yet!
Though a graduate in philosophical sciences and a philosophy lecturer, still he was not in definite agreement with one view thoroughly, at all.
No matter whichever view he took up, he would still be left with a pile of questions without answer.
At that evening, he was reading about Indian philosophy.
As leafing through the book in his hand, he was startled by the sound of the doorbell.
He left the table and walked to the front door. On reaching, he had a lookout through the doors eye. It was dark, so he turned the light on; outside brightened up.
There it was a young man standing; tall, slim, looking rather smart.
Half opening the door, Jamm asked:
What can I do for you?
Excuse me, I would like to see Jamm! he asked.
Yes, it is me...! What is the matter?
Many strange events could happen at that time of the nights in Jamms country! Because of public disorder, you could come across with any kind of actions there, from the widespread rubbery to a confidential operation of secret service, or to an act of terrorism by outrageous groups of various political movements.
I would like to discuss about some points of philosophy with you, said the man outside.
...at this time of the night? asked Jamm, in doubt.
Oh, I come from a rather far place, and I know how consistently you have been working on philosophical matters. For instance, I can tell you now how intensively you have been involved in Indian philosophy in these days in particular. Most possibly you were currently studying hard about it indoor, werent you!
Jamm was puzzled by that prediction and did not know what to say for a while!
The man out there was somehow telling him, in a simple manner of making a guess, what he had been doing inside before he opened the door.
Funny, there is more to this than meets the eye, he thought, and he stepped back spontaneously.
Come in, please!
The man did not hesitate to get in.
No sooner Jamm had reached the door to the sitting room, then the foreigners asking confused him once again:
What about sitting in your working room, instead?...
Did he really know that it wasnt the door to his working room? Or maybe it was just his estimation that guests would be led to the sitting room first:
My working room is a bit messy. But if you wouldnt mind it... replied Jamm.
But how could he ever know that he had a working room, at all?
He opened the door to a hall opening to the other rooms.
Having noticed the sound of the back door open, Gonul called from bedroom:
What is up Jamm? Who is it?
We have a guest, dear. We are in my room now!
Jamm deliberately stressed on the word we to inform Gonul that his guest was indoors with him. She grasped and didnt repeat to confirm.
With the foreigner in his room, Jamm closed the door.
Have a seat, please, Jamm asked, inviting to a chair on the left side of his table. The foreigner sat there; Jamm, too, took his seat at his table.
Books, on his table, opened. It wasnt a proper writing table indeed; more likely a wide bookshelf mounting a big bookcase by smart and firm chains on both edges, so it was all right as a table to work on it.
Jamm started talking directly:
You said, you come from afar, if Im not wrong. Can I ask, where indeed?
The foreigner first stared at Jamm in the eyes with an intimate, sweet smile on his face, along with a hint to put Jamms heart at ease, as though whispering sit back and relax, dont worry about me, everything is all right!
It worked, his smile, and really relieved Jamm.
He settled himself in his chair and gazed at his guest with a look now reassured and questioning.
Though the foreigner could speak Jamms language clearly, his pronunciation gave an impression that he was yet new at practicing it and was careful not to make a mistake.
Now, will you please listen to me seriously!
I know you will be much upset, you may not even believe me in the beginning; but I am sure you will be convinced soon. Just keep calm and dont get confused when you are upset.
Dont worry! said Jamm, realizing his guest was about to tell him something remarkable. But what, he wondered:
Yes, come on, Im listening to you!
My name is ELF, I come from the outer space, from IDEPIA in the CONSTELLATION KURGAS that is afar in the universe!
Jamm stood still as he felt suspicious about taking these words seriously! The man might be a mad talking to him? He could also be a nutty, maniac!
The foreigner had gotten what is in Jamms mind and he immediately replied Jamm:
No, no, I am not a mad; shouldnt think that, at all. You are not facing a case of schizophrenia, either. I know how hard it is for you to believe me, yet, you don not have any other chance.
Jamm smartened himself up.
Excuse me, but this is impossible! How can you say that, at all?
Yes, I see, I should prove myself. Ill do it! But before, I will ask you something:
Please do not scare of me when I prove it, as you are going to see something extremely unusual for you. I dont have any intention of scaring you or bringing something about by force.
I only want to know you in person and communicate some unknown facts to you by way of changing ideas.
Yes, will you prove it first, please!
With my pleasure!
The foreigner stood up and held his arm toward Jamm:
Come on and hold my hand now!
Jamm stood up, walked toward him, extended his arm to hold the foreigners hand.
He did this, yet, to his surprise, his hand touched to nothing! He tried over to catch the hand before his eyes: Still nothing, his hand waft through the air!
Lost in astonishment, he went attacking the foreigner, this time, to seize him by arms. Touching nothing, still, of the foreigner, at all, his arms hugged the air again.
He was so much upset that his mind got almost absent He could clearly see the foreigner from head to foot with his eyes, yet he was left empty-handed each time he attempted to touch him.
Am I dreaming? he suspected!
The foreigner got his mind once again.
No, you are not dreaming. You are awake and alive. Yet, I dont have a solid material body like yours and thats why you cannot touch me.
I told you, I come from the outer space...
It proves me right that I do not carry a touchable body of solid matter.
Do you believe me, now?
Almost convinced by him to be from space, Jamm remembered Gonul suddenly, to call and see if she would witness all he went through.
The foreigner spoke before him:
It is a good idea. Call her! Each of you might be of a help to the other!
This thoroughly convinced Jamm. Sure enough, the foreigner could get all he had in his mind.
All right, said he, and walked absent-mindedly to the bedroom.
He pushed the door as Gonul was at her dressing table with her nightdress on, cleaning her make up. With a quick turn, suddenly noticing on the mirror him stand at the door, she went:
What is wrong Jamm?.. What happened? Are you all right?
Jamm spoke fumbling for words:
...wrong with me?..
How are you, dear? Your face is pale and empty. You look like having met a bugaboo..?
I mean You know the foreigner inside!
Yes, what is wrong with it?
Jamm spoke out breathless:
He comes from space!
Oh God, said Gonul, leaving herself back into her seat with a relief.
Seeing you, I thought something serious happened to you!
She too it as a joke.
But Jamm insisted on:
Im serious Gonul! Believe me!
You are serious, Jamm, about what you say? You tell me inside is someone from space!
Thats right Gonul! I know what I say! And I want you come and see!
Jumping out of her seat, she began pacing fast toward the door, anxiously, but stood all of a sudden, pausing:
With these clothes on me?
She was wearing a short nightdress.
Seizing her by hand, Jamm begun to pull:
He has nothing to do with your body, he hasnt got one, no physical body!
Gonul replied crossly and resisted:
Stop Jamm! Dont be crazy! I need to put something on me!
She went for the blue kimono lying on a chair, got it and put on.
She was still trying to button her dress up as Jamm pulled her along the way to his working room.
Soon as they reached the door, Jamm stopped and turned to her:
Please, keep calm! Do not panic! He is safe and is not a dangerous person at all!
And they got in. The foreigner kept standing at the same place as Jamm left him, only his face toward the door this time. He still had the same look and smile, sweet and intimate.
Excuse me for my interruption at this time of the night, he said, with a voice soft enough to set hearts at ease.
Gonul was unable to swallow the likeliness that a man standing before her could be an alien from space.
Jamm introduced ELF to her:
This is our friend coming from space!
Such an introduction made Gonul change her mind a bit that it might be for real.
And yet, she was unable to grasp the situation completely!
Excuse me! Do you really mean, you are from space?
The foreigner spoke in his usual intimate, soft manner:
Yes. Im from IDEPIA of the KURGAS STARS!
Gonul softly smiled with an inner impulsion that it could be a joke! Could this young man be Jamms friend or sort of somebody she didnt know before?
The foreigner went on:
No, no! This is definitely not a joke, at all, and Im none of Jamms friends that you dont know. Please, try to understand me!
His knowing her mind surprised Gonul and got her to believe a little.
You mean, you are not an Earth person, but you come from space?
Yes! And but, we do not have solid physical bodies like yours. Try to touch me if you are not convinced of it!
Gonul acted spontaneously and attempted to hold the mans hand he offered. But she failed. Her hand wafted through the foreigner and held the air. Tried it over. No way!
Turning to Jamm, she asked in amazement:
Is this an illusion?
The foreigner spoke before Jamm:
Please, calm yourself down first, so that you could understand what is going on!
Jamm had nothing to speak, and Gonul was truly puzzled and was at a loss as to what to say.
After a while Jamm broke the silence by offering them to sit down.
The foreigner stepped back to the armchair he had sat before; Jamm, to his table, Gonul, to a chair next to his, attached herself.
The foreigner was sitting calmly and much in comfort in his armchair, and gave them an appraising glance with his usual smile. He was expecting them to recover (pull themselves together).
Jamm was aware that they were having an experience of something miraculous, not a dream, at all. But he had no words to explain the situation.
Openmouthed with astonishment, Gonul was staring oddly at the foreigner from the other side.
In appearance, there was nothing different with the foreigner from a usual human being, his face, hands, foot; all his body from head to foot seemed a usual person. He had nothing unusual except from that they had not been able to touch him when they tried! That was all!
Long hair combed sideways, he had hazel eyes, ellipse face and broad shoulders. He was slim and some 1,80 meter tall, looking not over the age of thirty-five or forty.
Jamm had just pulled himself together when he asked his first question:
Now that you dont have a physical body, how come that you can be visible to us?
It will be quite difficult to explain this to you, but Ill try!
In point of fact, this body has nothing to do with myself, at all. I have only provided it to make communication with you and to make it easy for you to accept me. If at all I desired it, you would be able to touch this body, as well. But I preferred not to, so that it would be easier for me to convince you.
The foreigner stood up and extended his hand.
Now try to hold my hand once again!
In an excitement, Jamm rushed out and hold his hand at once. Sure enough, this time he could touch it. He wondered if he was played a trick before?
The foreigner kept speaking:
You should not think so! Last time you were unable to touch me, as I desired not to be touched. If I desire it again, you cannot touch now, either! You see, thats it!
Jamm hadnt yet left the foreigners hand but it was lost from his hand all of a sudden.
Bewildered, Jamm looked at the foreigner in the eyes again and stepping back he let himself down onto his chair.
How can this ever happen, do you explain it, please?
Let me try to explain! You should interrupt me when you do not understand something and ask me to elaborate the related point So that we may not leave any blank space behind!
Gonul entered the conversation suddenly:
Are you an illusion or for real?
The foreigner replied:
Yes, we can start with this
I might be considered as an illusion in terms of my visual aspect. But concerning my being, I am definitely real.
Jamm couldnt get it all at once, and asked:
Do you mean that we are having an illusion, now?
ELF tried to explain:
I am that you are speaking to now, is definitely an original being without being illusion! However, likewise your essential [inner] being, my being has also a makeup without being created from any materials. We may call it a being beyond-material.
Gonul asked:
What about this body we can observe now?
ELF talked to become decisive:
What you see now is an illusion!
Jamm asked for more elaboration:
Now we are not seeing real you in true sense, are we?
No, you are not! I have become visible to you within a similar physical appearance to yours just for the purpose that you may not find it difficult to encounter with an alien. To tell the truth, I do not have a body like that Furthermore, I can make this body disappear on purpose! Even right now!.. See!
On saying that, the armchair had been left empty all of a sudden!
For a while, Jamm and Gonul stayed in astonishment looking at each other! No words were spoken. They were, once, inclined to speak all together at a time, but gave up, to listen to the other; this made them both reduce back to silence.
After a short while, the foreigner who introduced himself as ELF came up back onto his armchair all at once again.
Here it is! As I have already said, I am a being beyond the physical!
Besides, when I want to communicate with you, I am sending some signals to the visual sections of your brains and make this appearance visible!
Thus, by relating to the other things youve already observed, you come to take my existence for granted!
Jamm interrupted him, asking:
How about the time when I touched you?
That time I influenced your brains center of touch, and caused a perception of touching for you! And that made you believe that you had been holding a physical being!
Well, if so, where are you truly, now?
Let me try to answer your question with an analogy
If you had a radio re |
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