UNIVERSE INFINITY

22. Types of Knowledge Knowledge is of three types: 1. Material Knowledge (Bahaya Dnyan) of the external: comprises knowledge pertaining to worldly matters (affairs of the world), gained naturally or acquired through study. This knowing is ignorance of Ignorance. 2. Spiritual Knowledge (Antar Dnyan) of the internal: comprises the spiritual experiences of the Subtle Planes and of the Mental Planes. Experiencing the Subtle Planes is ignorance of Knowledge. Experiencing the Mental Planes is knowledge of Ignorance. The inner experiences of the Subtle Planes may be said to be divine hallucination; while the inner experiences of the Mental Planes may be said to be a spiritual nightmare of longing for Union with God. Inner experiences end in Divine Awakening.     3. Divine Knowledge (Brahma Dnyan) of Godhood: is God's own Infinite Knowledge. This is knowledge of the Knowledge. Bahaya Dnyan is mastered by a very few. Antar Dnyan is maste...

21. Imparting of Knowledge Knowledge is imparted in two ways—indirectly and directly. There are two steps in the imparting of indirect Knowledge and two different ways in imparting direct Knowledge. In order to make a clear picture let us liken gross-consciousness of the ordinary human-being to remote village-life, and God consciousness of the realized-being to life in New York, and the six states of involution of consciousness to six halts or ports of call between the two places. If you as a villager go to New York and remain there absorbed in the life of the city, you will not be able to tell those who have stayed in the village about your experience. But if you return to the village with your new knowledge, and, at the same time, remember the speech and ways of the villagers, you will be able to describe to them what you have seen and experienced, and so encourage some of them to make the journey also. But you cannot sustain their interest indefinitely by description alone, so, t...

20. A Plight The Soul's knowing that it knows everything is Dnyan (Knowledge). Dnyan is the All-knowing experience of the Soul. The Soul says, 'Now I know that I know everything.' The All knowing Soul's not knowing that it knows, was pure imagination. Oh! You ignorant, All-knowing Soul, what a plight you are in; Oh! You weak, All-powerful Soul, what a plight you are in; Oh! You miserable, All-happy Soul, what a plight you are in. What a plight! What a sight! What a delight! .

19. The Divine Pretence Jesus had Christ-consciousness. This means that Jesus was conscious of Himself as Christ. Jesus the Christ was in Judas; and as Jesus the Christ in Judas He knew that Judas would betray Him. Yet He remained as though He knew nothing. This divine Pretence of the All-knowing is the principle of His Leela—the Divine Sport of the eternal Christ.                                        

18.  The Unlimited One is the Sadguru Kabir said:                 Kan fooka Guru Had ka Behad ka Guru nahee.                Behad ka Sadguru hai soch samaj mana mahee. (The ear-whispering Guru is of the Limited; he is not of the Unlimited. Of the Unlimited is the Sadguru. Grasp this clearly in the mind.) Although by 'ear-whispering' Kabir speaks specifically of the 5th plane Gurus, Gurus of the 6th plane may also be included as both are within the domain of the Limited. We find three types of Gurus or Masters in the world at all times: The impostor;  The genuine but limited Guru—the Wali or Master of the 5th plane and the Pir or Master of the 6th plane; The perfect Guru or Sadguru who is God-realized. When a Wali is pleased with someone he whispers or breathes a divine Word in his ear, or he looks steadily into the eyes of the person ...

17. The Wine-seller Sufi poets use the figure of wine and its effects to describe the Way of Love and the condition of the lover. Saqi is the wine-seller,Rind is the customer and Maikhana is the wine-shop. Saqi-ul-Irshad is the vintner who makes and wholesales wine - the Wine seller to the wine-sellers. As in the world there are many wine-shops where new and unracked, and even adulterated, wine is sold for a small price,and which brings madness upon those who drink it and destroys their bodies and minds, so on the Spiritual Path there are saqis who have not let the wine of love they have got from the Saqi-ul-Irshad mature, but have used it straightway themselves to obtain the intoxication of cheap spiritual experiences, and even added pure spirits to it to increase its potency; and they sell it to anyone for the coins of small services. And again, as there are wine-shops where only good vintage-wine is stocked for connoisseurs, so there are Saqis who are saints and perfec...

16. The Four Journeys God is Infinite and His Shadow is also infinite. The Shadow of God is the Infinite Space that accommodates the infinite Gross Sphere which, with its occurrences of millions of universes, with in and without the ranges of men's knowledge, is the Creation that issued from the Point of Finiteness in the infinite Existence that is God. In these millions of universes are many systems with planets: some in gaseous states, some in states of solidification, some which are Stone and Metal, some which also have Vegetation, some which also have developed life forms such as Worms, some also Fish, some also Birds, some also Animals, and a few also have Human Beings. Thus it is that throughout the myriads of universes there are planets on which the "Seven Kingdoms" of Evolution are manifested; and the evolution of Consciousness and Forms is completed. But only on the planet Earth do human beings reincarnate and begin the Involutionary Path to Self Re...

15. The Pearl Diver When I became a lover I thought I had gained the Pearl of the Goal; foolish I did not know that this Pearl lies on the floor of an ocean which has innumerable waves to be encountered and great depths to be sounded.  In the beginning the seeker of truth is like a man who, having heard that a priceless pearl is to be got from the depths of the ocean, goes down to the seashore and first admires the vastness of the ocean and then paddles and splashes about in the shallows and, intoxicated with this new excitement, forgets about the pearl. Out of many who do this, one after a while, remembers his quest and learns to swim and starts to swim out. Out of many who do this, one masters swimming and reaches the open sea; the others perish in the waves. Out of many who master swimming, one begins to dive; the others in their enjoyment of mastery, again forget about the pearl. Out of many who practise diving, one reaches the ocean bed an...

14. God Seeks The humour of the divine love-game is that the One who is sought is Himself the seeker. It is the Sought who prompts the seeker to ask, Where can I find Him whom I seek? The seeker asking, Where is God? Is really God saying, Where indeed is the seeker!                                      

13. Do Not Seek and You Will Find 'Seek and you shall find' has become such a commonplace that spiritual aspirants have begun to wonder what it means. To them I say, Do not seek and you will find. Do not seek material pleasure and you will find the spiritual treasure.This means, seek only God by not seeking material pleasures, and you will find God. You can only seek God through self-denial. The spiritual treasure cannot be obtained by merely stretching out your hand for it. Only in the completeness of self-denial can the spiritual treasure become self-evident. There are three ways of obtaining the spiritual treasure: To earn it yourself by self-denial; To receive it as a spontaneous gift from God given to His lover whose self has become effaced in the intensity of his longing for his Beloved; To inherit it directly from the Perfect Master who bequeaths it to those who remain completely resigned to His will. Therefore if you wish ...

12. Three Types of . . . DISCIPLES: Those who do not give but ask. Those who give but also ask. Those who give and never ask. SEEKERS: The intellectual seeker. The inspired seeker who is an intellectual. The inspired seeker. YOGIS: Those who master Yogic exercises merely for occult powers. Those who long for the Goal and also for occult powers. Those who long for the Goal and give no thought to occult powers. LOVERS: The mast* who loves and knows only God. He loses all consciousness of his body and surroundings, and is dead to himself and the world. For him only God exists. The one who lives in the world, carries out his worldly duties and responsibilities a hundred percent, but is all the time conscious that everything is passing and only God exists. He loves God without others being aware of it. The one who completely surrenders to the God-Man *mast: One who is intoxicated with love for God. (the  Avatar). He no longer ...

11. Three Sorts of Cheap Experiences On a certain stage of the spiritual journey there is an experience in which all things to the aspirant's physical eyes gradually fade away leaving a void, facing which he feels fright or panic. But the next moment a lotus appears within the void. This experience is not enduring, the lotus disappears and all things begin to reappear. There is another sort of experience which completely dazes the aspirant, so that all else is obliterated from his consciousness. It is a state of conscious coma. Even physically there is an abrupt halt, and whatever the posture of the body at the moment this experience begins, it is maintained until the experience wears off. For instance, if at the moment the hand is in a raised position, it will remain raised until the end of the coma which may be of a short duration or may last for years at a stretch. There is yet another sort of experience. It is the experience of the fourth pl...

10. The Inquisitive and Doubting Man Once an inquisitive and doubting man went to  Bayazid the Perfect Master and said, 'You, being  Perfect, ought to know the thoughts of others.  What am I thinking of just now?' Bayazid  replied, 'You are thinking that which you ought  not to have thought of, and asking that which  you ought not to have asked. Had you come with  an open mind and curbed tongue you would  have received that which you ought to have  received, instead of this well deserved rebuke.'    

9. A Journey Without Journeying The succession of experiences that one goes through in the process of involution is called the Spiritual Path, and the going through them is likened to a journey. On one stage you hear melodious sounds and music that enchant and overwhelm you. On another stage you see wonderful visions in which most often you get lost. Such experiences are part and parcel of the Great Dream in Illusion, though together they may be called a real or super Dream compared with day to day experiences of the gross sphere. The experiences are so innumerable and varied, that the journey appears to be interminable and the Destination is ever out of sight. But the wonder of it is, when at last you reach your Destination you find that you had never travelled at all! It was a journey from here to Here. As one Sufi expressed it, When I plucked the date (Fruit of Realization) I found the fruit was within me. The journey seems infinitel...

8. Become Footless and Headless There are two kinds of experience: real and imitation. Just as it is difficult to distinguish an imitation from a real pearl, so it is difficult to distinguish between an imitation and a real spiritual experience. When finally the Real Experience is gained, worldly things and circumstances cannot affect you. Once gained, the Real Experience is never lost; it is permanent. To get this Experience , Become footless and headless. What is meant by becoming footless and headless? It mean simplicity obeying the Perfect Master: following His orders literally and not using your head to analyse their significance; doing only what He wants you to do—your feet moving at His command and your life being lived in the way of His love.                                                               ...

7. Absolute Honesty   Absolute honesty is essential in one's search for God (Truth). The subtleties of the Path are finer than a hair. The least hypocrisy becomes a wave that washes one off the Path. It is your false self that keeps you away from your true Self by every trick it knows. In the guise of honesty this self even deceives itself. For instance your self claims, I love Baba. The fact is, if you really loved Baba you would not be your false self making the self-asserting statement! The self, instead of being effaced in love, believes and asserts, I love Baba. Isn't that selfdeception? How will you get rid of this false self? How will you give up this shadowy I-am-ness and get established in the I-Alone-Am or God- Alone-Is state? Hafiz* has given the answer: Firaq-o-Wasl che khahi, reza-e-doost talab. (O Lover! Separation and Union are none of your business. Seek only to resign yourself to the Will of the Beloved.) the craving for union with the Beloved cr...

6. God is Shy of Strangers   God exists. If you are convinced of God's  existence then it rests with you to seek Him, to  see Him and to realize Him.   Do not search for God outside of you. God can  only be found within you, for His only abode is  the heart. But you have filled His abode with millions of  strangers and He cannot enter, for He is shy of  strangers. Unless you empty His abode of these  millions of strangers you have filled it with, you  will never find God. These strangers are your age-old desires—your  millions of wants.   They are strangers to God because want is an  expression of incompleteness and is  fundamentally foreign to Him who is All  sufficient and wanting in nothing. Honesty in  your dealings with others will clear the strangers  out of your heart.Then you will find Him, see  Him and realize Him.         ...

5.Love of Woman and God A man loves a woman who is living in a distant place. His love causes him to be thinking of her all the time; and he cannot eat and he cannot sleep. His thoughts are only on his separation  from her and he continually longs for her. When this longing  becomes too great, he either goes to her or he compels her to   come to him. This is called  physical love. To love God one should think of God, long for God and suffer  the fire of separation until one's longing reaches its utmost  limits, and God the Beloved comes to the lover and his thirst is  quenched in union with God. This love is called Ishk-e-Haqqiqi, and is a gift from God. But one who obeys the Master who is One with God, need not  suffer these things, for in obedience is the Grace of the Master.                             

4. Gifts of Love Love is a gift from God to man. Obedience is a gift from Master to man. Surrender is a gift from man to Master. One who loves desires the will of the Beloved. One who obeys does the will of the Beloved. One who surrenders knows nothing but the will of the Beloved. Love seeks union with the Beloved. Obedience seeks the pleasure of the Beloved. Surrender seeks nothing. One who loves is the lover of the Beloved. One who obeys is the beloved of the Beloved. One who surrenders has no existence other than the Beloved. Greater than love is obedience. Greater than obedience is surrender. All three arise out of, and remain contained in, the Ocean of divine Love.                                                                     

3. Stages of Love When lust goes love appears; and out of love comes longing. In love there can never be satisfaction, for longing increases till it becomes an agony which ceases only in union. Nothing but union with the Beloved can satisfy the lover. The way of love is a continual sacrifice; and what gets sacrificed are the lover’s thoughts of ‘I’, until at last comes the time when the lover says, ‘O Beloved! Will I ever become one with you and so lose myself forever? But let this be only if it is your will.’ This is the stage of love enlightened by obedience. Now the lover continuously witnesses the glory of the Beloved’s will; and in the witnessing does not even think of union. He willingly surrenders his entire being to the Beloved, and has no thought of self left. This is the stage when love is illumined by surrender. Out of millions, only one loves God; and out of millions of lovers, only one succeeds in obeying, and, finally, in surrendering his whole being to God ...

2. Wine and Love The Sufi Master-poets often compare love with wine. Wine is the most fitting figure for love because both intoxicate. But while wine causes self-forgetfulness, love leads to Self-realization. The behaviour of the drunkard and the lover are similar; each disregards the world's standards of conduct and each is indifferent to the opinion of the world. But there are worlds of difference between the course and the goal of the two: the one leads to subterranean darkness and denial; the other gives wings to the soul for its flight to freedom. The drunkenness of the drunkard begins with a glass of wine which elates his spirit and loosens his affections and gives him a new view of life that promises a forgetfulness from his daily worries. He goes on from a glass to two glasses, to a bottle; from companionship to isolation, from forgetfulness to oblivion— oblivion, which in Reality, is the Original State of God, but which, with the drunkard, is an empty stupor—a...

1. The Lover and the Beloved God is Love. And Love must love. And to love there must be a Beloved. But since God is Existence infinite and eternal there is no one for Him to love but Himself. And in order to love Himself He must imagine Himself as the Beloved whom He as the Lover imagines He loves. Beloved and Lover implies separation. And separation creates longing; and longing causes search. And the wider and the more intense the search the greater the separation and the more terrible the longing. When longing is most intense separation is complete, and the purpose of separation, which was that Love might experience itself as Lover and Beloved, is fulfilled; and union follows. And when union is attained, the Lover knows that he himself was all along the Beloved whom he loved and desired union with; and that all the impossible situations that he overcame were obstacles which he himself had placed in the path to himself. To attain union is so impossibly difficult because it...