Ashodara

The Upanishad Diaries - I

2011-12-13T18:04:00.000-08:00

An artists impression of Ved Vyas

'Into a blind darkness they enter who follow after the ignorance, they as if into a greater darkness who devote themselves to the Knowledge alone.'

- Isha Upanishad

Some time around 2000 BC, or perhaps even earlier, when much of Europe was still perfecting the art of survival, sages and seers of India were contemplating on the very nature of Reality.

Meditating along river banks, on slopes of the mighty Himalayas and in remote forests, these wise men had realised that the human existence was a mere veil of something mightier and more profound than life itself. They had discovered that there was a more 'real' existence than the mental existence and a 'greater' Life than the physical life. For the awakened men the forms and enjoyments that ordinary men worship and pursue were not anymore the object of desire.

Thus rose the cry of the Upanishads - Rise and aspire beyond, free yourself from this illusory world of phenomenon and death and become your true immortal Self !!

The Upanishads also known as the Vedanta or the culmination of the Vedas, are actually the essence of all Vedas and from the Upanishads was born the Bhagavad Gita, the song celestial - which contains a philosophy so practical and yet so profound that no other philosophy of this world or the next has been able to surpass it.

The European powers were astounded when they were told by a German Indologist, Max Muller and later by another German philosopher, Schopenhauer that the earliest inhabitants of this primitive and savage land that they had set out to civilize and conquer had discovered the highest metaphysical truths when much of European civilization was still in its infancy.

Ironically it was the Persian translation of the Upanishad written by a Muslim prince - Dara Shikoh which was instrumental in taking the primeval Hindu wisdom to the West.

to be continued.......

SUFI POETRY AND MUSIC IN POPULAR CULTURE

2011-09-23T21:54:00.000-07:00

The Wadali Brothers

In recent times Sufi music and poetry have moved from the shrine to the stage. Some consider this trend to be undesirable. They believe that in the attempt to make it more appealing it is being diluted and corrupted for public consumption. However the fact remains that the increasing popularity of Sufi music and poetry, in whatever form, has in no small measure contributed in revealing the compassionate, tolerant and creative aspect of Islam to the non-Muslim audience.

Like its philosophy and beliefs, the Sufi poetry performances have, over the ages, adapted to the indigenous styles of the continent as well as added some of their own. Among the most popular are Sufiana Kalaams (sacred words or compositions), Kafis (folk music from the Punjab region), K’waali (a form of devotional singing normally performed at Sufi dargahs), and Na’at (poetry recitation in the praise of Prophet Mohammad).

Amir Khusrau’s Compositions in Bollywood Films

Hindi movies were among the first to introduce compostions by Sufis to the larger public. The most popular among movie makers were the lok geets and love songs of Amir Khusro. His compositions in Hindavi (a synthesis of Brijbhasha and Urdu) were among the first to find place in Hindi movies. Some of his mystical compositions in which Hindvi and Persian couplets were seamlessly woven appeared in the later period.The movie ‘Suhag Raat,’ under the direction of Kedar Nath Sharma, produced in 1948, had a bidai geet (song sung when the bride is finally sent away with her in-laws) penned by Amir Khusro and sung by Mukesh. The music director was Snehal Bhatkar. This composition was also sung by Lata Mangeshkar in the film Heer Ranjha (1948) with some modifications, and again in the 1954 film ‘Suhagan’, under the music direction of C.Ramchandra and Vasant Desai. In this song, the young bride is appealing to her father not to marry her and send her away to foreign shores:

KAHEKO BYAAHE BIDE

Skaahe ko byaahe bides, are lakhiyan baabul mohe

kaahe ko byaahe bides ...ham to baabul tore khunthe ki gayaa

jahan kaho tyon bandhehi jaye

are lakhiyan baabul mohe ...

kaahe ko byaahe bides ...

ham to baabul tore bele ki kaliyan

are ghar-ghar maange hain jaaye

are lakhiyan baabul mohe ...

kaahe ko byaahe bides ...

Hum To Baabul Tore,
Pinjarae Ki Chidiya
Are Kuhuk-Kuhuk RaatI Jaaye

mahalan tale se dola jo nikala

are beeran mein chhaaye pachhaad

are lakhiyan baabul mohe

kaahe ko byaahe bides ...

bhaiya ko diyo baabul mahalan do mahalan

are ham ko diyo pardesh

are lakhiyan baabul mohe

kaahe ko byaahe bides

are lakhiyan baabul mohe

However the best rendition of this song was by Jagjit Kaur, under the music direction of Khayyam in the 1981 film ‘Umrao Jaan’ produced and directed by Muzaffar Ali.

Amir Khusro q’waali style was introduced to the moive audience in the film ‘Barsat ki raat’ (1960), directed by P.L.Soni. The q’waali, ‘Ye Ishk Ishk Hai’ under the music direction of Roshan became an instant hit This movie was among the first bollywood movies to popularise the q’waali form of music, in which the legendary poet Sahir Ludhianvi took some liberties with the following composition of Amir Khusro:

Bahut Kathin hai dagar panghat ki,

Kaisay main bhar laaun madhva say matki?

Paniya bharan ko main jo gayi thi,

Daud jhapat mori matki patki.

Bahut kathin hai dagar panghat ki.

Khusrau Nijaam kay bal bal jayyiye

Laaj rakho moray ghoonghat pat ki.

Bahut kathin hai dagar panghat ki.

Later in 1962, Shevan Rizvi introduced Hindi film audience to another of Khusro’s compositions in the film ‘Ek Musafir Ek Hasina’ under the music direction of O.P.Nayyar. The film was directed by Sashadhar Mukherjee. The following lines were beautifully sung by Asha Bhonsle:

Zabaan-e yaar-e mun Turkie, wa mun Turkie nami daanum,
Che khush boodi agar boodi zabaanash dar dahanay mun.
(My beloved speaks Turkish, but I do not know Turkish;
How I wish that I could speak her/his language)

The first scene of Hindi film Junoon (1978), produced by Shashi Kapoor and directed by Shayam Benegal, opens with a beautiful composition by Amir Khusro, ‘ Chchap teelak sab chcheeni re’ combined with ‘Aaj rang hai’ set to music by Vanraj Bhatia and sung by Jamil Ahmed:

ख़ुसरौ रैन सुहाग की, जो मैं जागी पी के संग,
टन मोरा मान पिया का, जो दोनो एक ही रंग.

ख़ुसरौ दरिया प्रेम का, जो उल्टी वाह की धार,
जो उभरा, सो डूब गया, जो डूबा सो पार.

अपनी छाब बनाई के, जो मैं पी के पास गयी,
छाब देखी जब पिया की, मोहे अपनी भूल गयी.

छाप तिलक सब छीनी रे, मो से नैना मिलायके.

बल बल जाउन मैं, तोरे रंग रेजावा,
ऐसी रंग दो के रंग नाहीं छूटे, धोबिया धोए चाहे सारी उमारिया

बल बल जौन मैं, तोरे रंग रेजावा,
अपनी सी रंग दीनी रे, मो से नैना मिलायके.

प्रेम भाटी का माधवा पीलायके

मटवारी कर दीनी रे, मो से नैना मिलायके.

गोरी गोरी गोरी बैयाँ, हरी हरी चूड़ियाँ,
बहियाँ पकड़ हर लीनी रे, मो से नैना मिलायके.

ख़ुसरौ निज़ाम के बाल बाल जैय्हैन …

मोहे सुहागन कीनी रे, मो से नैना मिलायकेKhusrau rain suhaag ki, jo main jaagi pi ke sang,
Tan mora man piya ka, jo dono ek hi rang.
Khusrau dariya prem ka, jo ulti waah ki dhaar,
Jo ubhra, so doob gaya, jo dooba so paar.
Apni chab banaai ke, jo main pi ke paas gayi,
Chab dekhi jab piya ki, mohey apni bhool gayi.
Chaap Tilak sab cheeni re, moh se naina milayke.

Baat agham keh deeni re moh se naina milayke.
Bal bal jaaun main, tore rang rejava,

Aisi rang do ke rang naahin chhutey,
Dhobiya dhoye chaahe saari umariya
Bal bal jaaun main, tore rang rejava,
Apni si rang deeni re, moh se naina milayke.
Prem bhati ka madhva pilayke
Matwari kar deeni re, moh se naina milayke.
Gori gori gori baiyaan, hari hari chudiyaan,
Bahiyaan pakad har leeni re, moh se naina milayke

Khusro Nizam ke bal bal janiya

Mohe suhagan ki nee re moh se naina milayke.

Aaj Rang Hai

Aaj rung hai hey maan rung hai ri
Moray mehboob kay ghar rang hai ri
Sajan milaavra, sajan milaavra,
Sajan milaavra moray aangan ko
Aaj rung hai........
Mohay pir paayo Nijamudin aulia
Nijamudin aulia mohay pir payoo
Des bades mein dhoondh phiree hoon
Toraa rung man bhayo Nizamuddin.,
Jag ujiyaaro, jagat ujiyaaro,
Main to aiso rang aur nahin dekhi sakhi
Main to jab dekhun moray sung hai ri,

Mohay Apne He Rung Mein Rung Lay Khuwaja Ji

Mohay Rung Basanti Rung Day Khuwaja Ji
Jo Tu Maangay Rung Ki Rangai
Mora Joban Girwi Rakhlay Khuwaja Ji
Aaj rung hai hey maan rung hai ri.

(There is radiance everywhere mother.

The house of my Beloved is filled with radiance
At last I have found my Beloved in my own courtyard

I have found my pir Nizamuddin Aulia.
I have roamed far and wide in the world,
and I found You to my liking;

And lo behold my entire world is filled with radiance.

I have never seen such Devine radiance before
He is forever with me now,
Oh beloved, please colour me in your radiance;

There is radiance everywhere, Divine Radiance)

Note: Khusro sang these lines in ecstasy when he came back to his mother after meeting Nizamuddin Aulia for the first time, after a long search for an ideal Sufi master. Hence the above lines are addressed to his mother

Zehal-e miskin makun taghaful, duraye naina banaye batiyan;
ki taab-e hijran nadaram ay jaan, na leho kaahe lagaye chhatiyan.
Shaban-e hijran daraz chun zulf wa roz-e waslat cho umr kotah;
Sakhi piya ko jo main na dekhun to kaise kaatun andheri ratiyan.
Yakayak az dil do chashm-e jadoo basad farebam baburd taskin;
Kise pari hai jo jaa sunaave piyare pi ko hamaari batiyan.
Cho sham’a sozan cho zarra hairan hamesha giryan be ishq aan meh;
Na neend naina na ang chaina na aap aaven na bhejen patiyan.
Bahaqq-e roz-e wisal-e dilbar ki daad mara ghareeb Khusrau;
Sapet man ke waraaye raakhun jo jaaye paaon piya ke khatiyan.

Following is my interpretation which may not be a literal translation:

Do not ignore my grief with your seductive eyes,
and sweet talk ; Your separation is past endurance, why don’t you embrace me..

Like long dark lustrous curls is the night of separation,
and our union brief like the short -lived life ;

How will I endure the dark night without my Beloved?
With sudden charm your enchanting eyes have robbed my mind of peace

No one bothers to convey my agony to my Beloved
Tossed about in bewilderment, like a flickering candle,
I writhe in the fire of love;

I lie without the Beloved, sleepless and restless,
but the Beloved neither comes nor sends any message.

I shall wait for the day I meet my Beloved
who has seduced me for so long, O Khusro;
For I have saved my heart and my love for the Beloved....

Gulzar Sahab has been instrumental in popularising sufiana kalaam in Hindi film music. In 1980, the film ‘Ghulami’ directed by J.P.Dutta, had a song written by Gulzar under the music direction of Lakshmi Kant Pyarelal. This song was inspired by Amir Khusro’s composition ‘Zeehal- e Mishkeen’, which has alternate lines in Farsi and Hindavi:

Zehal-e miskin makun taghaful, duraye naina banaye batiyan;

ki taab-e hijran nadaram ay jaan, na leho kaahe lagaye chhatiyan.

Shaban-e hijran daraz chun zulf wa roz-e waslat cho umr kotah;

Sakhi piya ko jo main na dekhun to kaise kaatun andheri ratiyan.

Yakayak az dil do chashm-e jadoo basad farebam baburd taskin;

Kise pari hai jo jaa sunaave piyare pi ko hamaari batiyan.

Cho sham’a sozan cho zarra hairan hamesha giryan be ishq aan meh;

Na neend naina na ang chaina na aap aaven na bhejen patiyan.

Bahaqq-e roz-e wisal-e dilbar ki daad mara ghareeb Khusrau;

Sapet man ke waraaye raakhun jo jaaye paaon piya ke khatiyan.

Following is my interpretation which may not be a literal translation:

Do not ignore my grief by your seductive eyes,

and sweet talk ; Your separation is past endurance, why don’t you embrace me..

Like long dark lustrous curls is the night of separation,

and our union brief like the short -lived life ;

How will I endure the dark night without my Beloved?

With sudden charm your enchanting eyes have robbed my mind of peace

No one bothers to convey my agony to my Beloved

Tossed about in bewilderment, like a flickering candle,

I writhe in the fire of love;

I lie without the Beloved, sleepless and restless,

but the Beloved neither comes nor sends any message.

I shall wait for the day I meet my Beloved

who has seduced me for so long, O Khusro;

For I have saved my heart and my love for the Beloved....

In more recent times, the song ‘chhayya chhaya’ from ‘Dil Se’ (1998) under the music direction of the living legend A.R.Rahman, became an instant hit and heralded an entirely new genre of quasi-religious sufi poetry and music in Bollywood films. This song is originally based on ‘Tere ishq nachaya kar ke thaiyya thaiyya’ a Punjabi sufi Kalaam by Bulle Shah. It was rewritten by Gulzar. The film ‘Maqbool’ (2004) by Vishal Bhardwaj, who directed the music, Gulzar composed the song ‘Jhin mini jhini’ opening with the lines by Khusro – ‘Khusro rain suhag ki’. Of late Gulzar sahab has been using the Sufi style of repeating two-syllable Farsi words to give it a mystical dimension. The song 'Tere Bina' (Dum Dara Mast Mast), in the film Guru (2007), under the music direction of A.R.Rahman, is one such instance:dum dara dum dara mast mast dara – 2
dum dara dum dar chashma chashma nam.....

Here the world dum could mean many things: breath/ life/ prana; dara again could mean in/ inside/ door/ door to the soul or Being; mast means trance/ecstasy; chashma means eyes, could also mean vision; and nam means moist. The repetition of ‘dam dar’ could imply to the breath control that Sufis indulge in to get vision or to enter into a higher state of mind or ecstasy.

Filmi versions of Sufi songs are now a norm in Bollywood films and are a big hit with the audience.

Bullhe Shah in Popular Imagination

While folk singers, qawwali singers, maniar singers and popular singers like Runa Laila have been singing Sufi compostions for the general public, Sufi music has only recently captured popular imagination. We now have solo singers as well as self-styled bands from the Indian subcontinent captivating audiences from all over the world with their various adaptations of age old Sufi compositions. A cursory scan of U-tube will display numerous forms of Sufi compositions including the ‘rock’ and the ‘pop’ versions. However the Pakistani band ‘Junoon’ deserves credit forbeing instrumental in popularsing Sufi poetry with their hit song ‘ Sayyoni’, then came the living legend Abida Parveen who took the Sufi music world by storm with a voice that was both ethereal and filled with divine passion. At present there is no dirth of popular singers on both sides of the border who are playing a significant role in popularising Sufi compostions. Kailash Kher and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan are among the most popular.

SUFI POETRY BY POPULAR SINGERS AND BANDS

In 2004, Rabbi Shergill converted the abstract metaphysical compositon of Bullhe Shah, ‘Bullah ki Jaana’ into a popular song, which became a huge sucess in India and Pakistan. Bullhe Shah’s composition again appeared in the song ‘Bandeya Ho’ in the 2007 Pakistani movie ‘Khuda ke liye’. The 2008 Indian movie ‘A Wednesday’, written and directed by Neeraj Pandey, had a song, “Bulle Shah, O yaar mere” in its soundtrack. Bullhe Shah’s composition was rewritten in this film by Irshad Kamil The music director was Sanjoy Choudhury. In the movie Raavan (2010) Gulzar used Bullhe Shah’s ‘Ranjha Ranjha’ in one of the songs. In 2009, Episode One of Pakistan’s Coke Studio Season 2 featured collaboration between Sain Zahoor and Noori, and as a result, Bullhe Shah’s ‘Aik Alif’ became immensely popular.

(Note: All translations into English are by Rupa Abdi)

Amir Khusrau

2011-09-23T21:41:00.000-07:00

Amir Khusrau: The Sufi with a difference

Amir Khusrau teaching his disciples; miniature from a manuscript of Majlis Al-Usshak by Husyn Bayqarah. Courtsey: Wikipedia
Remembered more as a musician and a poet than a Sufi, this versatile genius, who is also considered to be among the first Muslim musicologist of India, was born in 1234, in Patiali near Etah district of north India. His original name was Yamin- ud-Din Muhammad Hasan but he is commonly known as Amir Khusrau (d.1325). He was of Turkish origin and a murid of the great Nizamuddin Awliya and his world vieiw, like his master’s, was humane, tolerant and intrinsically simple. He was not just a ‘Jack of all arts’ but master of all. A scholar, poet, musician, Sufi and and a skilled courtier who served the Slav, Khilji and Tuglaq kings of Delhi Sultanate. Music and poetry were his twin passions and he learnt Arabic, Persian and Indian music. According to him ‘Indian music is the fire that burns the heart and the soul and is superior to the music of any country’. He invented his own genre of music by adding Persian and Arabic elements to Indian music. He is also credited with the modification and improvement of the veena. He is also believed to have invented the tabla.

Khusrau not only helped in developing the ğazal, until then little used in India, but also in the historical epic as a new genre of poetry. He created new ragas such as Sarfarda and Zilaph. He also invented the Qawwali form of devotional singing and is the originator of the Taraana sytle of vocal music. In this style of singing, apparently meaningless syllables are used to create mystical ecstasy. The syllables when pieced together form Persian words that possess mystical symbolism.

After being initiated into Sufism by his master Nizammudin Awliya, Amir Khusrau is believed to have retired from worldly life. Hoevere he continued to write poetry and is known to have written over four lakh couplets . Of these over 300 consist of riddles, some using bilingual pun of Hindvi and Persian, word play and litrary tricks .

He lived up to the age of ninety and during his long life attained legendary fame. The historians of his time appear to have credited him with much more than he had actually done. However, his literary genius is without doubt unmatched in its ability to seamlessly weave two diverse cultures and faiths together. His compositions have now become of part of folk culture of north India, especially Uttar Pradesh. His geets and ghazals have inspired and continue to inspire generations of Hindi movie songs. It is noteworthy that Khusrau’s compostions have proved to be a gold mine for Bollywood music directore and lyric writers .
‘Khusrau darya prem ka, ulti wa ki dhaar,
Jo utra so doob gaya, jo dooba so paar’
(The river of love flows upsteam

Those who enter to swim will drown

Only those who enter to drown will cross it)

Note: For more compositions by Amir Khusrau see my post on “Sufi Poetry and Music in Popular Culture”.

SUFIS OF THE INDUS REGION - III

2011-09-23T21:26:00.000-07:00

BULLHE SHAH: The Rumi of Punjab

Artist's impression of Bulleh Shah. Courtsey: WikipediaAn artist’s impression of Bullhe Shah. Courtsey Wikipedia

बेक़ैद

मैं बेक़ैद, मैं बेक़ैद;
ना रोगी, ना वैद

ना मैं मोमन, ना मैं फाक़र,
ना सैयद, ना सैद

चौधीं तबक़ीं सैर असाडा,
किते ना हुंदा क़ैद

ख़राबात है जात असाडी,
ना सोमा, ना ऐब

बुल्ल्हेशाह दी ज़ात की पुच्छनै,
ना पैदा ना पैद

Beqaid

Main beqaid main beqaid

Na rogi na waid
Na main momin na main kafir
Na saidi na said
Chothin tabqeen sair asada
Kitte na hopnda qaid
Kharabat hai jaat asadi
Na soma na aib

Bullah shah di zaat keh puchna ain
Na paida na paid

(I am not caged

Not caged am I

Neither the sick nor the healer

Neither believer nor non-believer

I wander in the seven skies and lands

but none can grasp me in their hands

I am an intoxicated wanderer

beyond vice and virtue

Do not ask Bulle’s identity,

for he was never born, nor ever existed)

This Sufi from Punjab, whom the maulawis did not allow to be buried in the community graveyard because of his unorthodox beliefs, is today known globally as the greatest Sufi poet of Punjab; the rich and the influential, the very class which had rejected him once, today compete with each other to be buried near his grave at Qasur (near Lahore).

He was born in a Sayed family which had a long association with Sufis. His father, a noble soul with spiritual leanings and well respected was given the title of ‘Darvesh’ by the local people. But Bullhe Shah chose to follow the spiritual path shown by a humble ‘low caste’ Arai.

His original name was Abdullah Shah but the masses gave him the name Sain Bullhe Shah, Bullhe Shah or just Bulla out of affection. He is believed to have been born 1680 in the village of Uch Gilaniyan, in Bahawalpur region (in present day Pakistan). When Bulla was six months old, his father had to migrate to another village- Pando kee Bhattiyyan in Qasur district. He lived here for the rest of his life and died in 1758. His ancestors are believed to have come from Bukhara (in present day Uzbekistan) and were associated with the Sufi Hazarat Sheikh Ghaus Bahauddin Zakariyya of Multan. The tomb of Bullhe Shah’s father still stands at Pando kee Bhattiyyan where every year an urs is performed where the Kafis of Bulle Shah are sung by the locals. Bullhe Shah was well versed in Islamic theology, Arabic and Persian, however his most popular kafis are in the local language of his region: Punjabi. The simplicity of his mystical compositions made them very popular among the common people in the form of folk songs which continue to ring today in the fields and river valleys of Punjab on either side of the border.

The search for the mystical path drew Bullhe to Hazrat Inayat Shah of Lahore who belonged to the Qadiri-Shattari sisila. Hazrat Inayat Shah belonged to the Arai community who were traditionally farmers and gardeners. On being chided and persuaded by his sisters and sister- in- laws to leave the company of an Arai, Bullhe replied:

बुल्हे नूं समझावण आइयां

बुल्हे नूं समझावण आइयां,
भैणा ते भरजाइयां

"मन्न लै बुल्ल्हिआ साडा कहणा,
छड दे पल्ला राइयां,
आल नबी औलादि अली नूं,
तूं क्यों लीकां लाइयां?"

"जेह्ड़ा सानूं, सैयद आखे,
दोज़ख मिले सज़ाइयां,
जो कोई सानूं राईं आखे,
भिश्तीं पींघां पाइयां"

राईं साईं समनीं थाईं,
रब दियां बेपरवाहियां,
सोह्णियां परे हटाइयां,
ते कोझियां लै गल लाइयां

जे तूं लोड़े बाग़ बहारां,
चाकर हो जा राइयां,
बुल्ल्हे शाह दी ज़ात की पुछणैं,
शाकिर हो रज़ाइयां

Bullay Nu Samjhawan Aaian Bheynaan Tay Bharjaiyaan,
Man Lay Bulleya Sada Kena, Chad Day Palla Raaiyan

Aal Nabi Ullad Ali,
Nu Tu Kyun Lee-kaan Laiyaan.

Jeyra Saanoun Syed Saday Dozakh Milay Sazaiyaan.
Jo Koi Saanu Raie Aakhe, Bhisti Peenghaan Paian.

Jay To Lorain Baagh Baharaan ,Chaakar Ho Ja raiyaan.
Bulley Shah Dee Zaat Kee Puchni, Shaakar Ho Razayaan.

Interpretation: Bulle’s sisters and sister in-laws came to convince him of the folly of associating with a ‘low caste’ Arai since Bulle belonged to a superior ancestoly of Ali and the Prophet.

Bulle replies that those who associate him with high caste will go to hell and those who can perceive him humbelness will rejoice in heaven

If you desire nearness to God become a servant of the Arai

Don’t ask about my identity for my only identity is that I am a servant of my murshid, and have surrendered to God’s will.

Among the Sufis the divine bondage between the murshid and murid is legendary and can be equated to the Divine love between the devotee and God. Once when Bullhe Shah was separated from his murshid -Hazrat Inayat Shah, Bullhe spent days and nights in grief, his soul lost in darkness. When he was finally united with his master he said:

Ranjha Ranjha

Ranjha ranjha kardi hun main aape Ranjha hoyi
Saddo mainoon Dheedo Ranjha, Heer naa akho koyi
Ranjha main wich, main Ranjhe wich, ghair khayyal na koyi
Main naheen au aap hai, apni aap kare diljoyi
Jo kuch saade andar wasse, zaat assadi soyi
Jis de naal main neoonh lagaya oho jaisi hoyi
Chitti chaadar laa sut kuriye, pehan faqeeran loyi
Chitti chaadar daag lagesi, loyii daag na koyi
Taqt hazaare lai chal Bulleah, siyaaleen mile na dhoyi
Ranjha ranjha kardi hun main aape Ranjha hoyi

In my yearning for Ranjha (Beloved) I have become Him

Do not call me Heer anymore, call me Ranjha,

For, I have become the One that I seek

I have merged with Ranjha and Heer no longer exists

The individual soul has merged with the Universal and rejoices in this union

We are identified with what dwells inside us

Take off these clean clothes and don a Fakir’s garb

The clean dress can get soiled but a Fakir’s humble garb can never become impure

Take me to Takht Hajeera (Ranjha’s village)

For there is nothing left for me in Syali (Heer’s village)

In seeking Ranjha I have become Him

In his Kafis Bullhe called his master by many names: Shah, Sajan, Yaar, Sain, Aarif, Ranjha etc. He would sometimes see God in the form of his master and sometimes his master in the form of God. The spinning wheel was his favourite metaphor and the grieving Heer for her beloved Ranjha were his favourite characters.He had little faith in bulky books and theology of the ‘learned’ maulawis and pundits and he would say:

इक अलफ़ पढ़ो छुटकारा ए

इक अलफ़ पढ़ो छुटकारा ए

इक अलफ़ों दो तीन चार होए,
फिर लख करोड़ हज़ार होए,
फिर ओथों बाझ शुमार होए,
हिक अलफ़ दा नुक़ता न्यारा ए

क्यों पढ़ना एं गड्ड किताबां दी,
सिर चाना एं पंड अज़ाबां दी,
हुण होइउ शकल जलादां दी,
अग्गे पैंडा मुश्कल मारा ए

बण हाफ़िज़ हिफ़ज़ क़ुरान करें,
पढ़-पढ़ के साफ़ ज़बान करें,
फिर निअमत वल्ल ध्यान करें,
मन फिरदा ज्यों हलकारा ए

बुल्लाह बी बोहड़ या बोया सी,
ओह बिरछा वड्डा जां होया सी,
जद बिरछ ओह फ़ानी होया सी,
फिर रह गया बीज अकाश ए

इक अलफ़ पढ़ो छुटकारा ए

Ik Alif Padho Chhutkara Ai

Ik alifon do tan char hoye
Phir lakh karor hazar hoye
Phir othon bajh shumaar hoye
Hik alif da nukta niara he

Ik alif parho chutkara he

Kiun parhnain gadd kitabaan di
Sir chana en pind azabaan di
Kiun hoyian shakal jladaan di
Agge pinda mushkal bhara he

Ik alif parho chutkara he

Hun hafiz hifz quran karain
Parh parh ke saaf zubaan karain
Per nemat wich dhian karain
Mann phirda jion halkara he

Ik alif parho chutkara he

Bullah bhi borh da hoya si
Oh birach wada ja hoya si
Jad birach oh fani hoya si
Phir reh gaya beej akash e

Read the first alphabet and be free

From the One emerged two and four and then lakhs and crores

And the world was filled with infinite forms

this unique nukta(a single point) encompasses eternity within itself

Read the first alphabet and be free

Why do you carry this burden of books on your head

They spell nothing but despair

All that knowledge makes you look like a tyrant

The way ahead is long and difficult

Read the first alphabet and be free

You memorise the Quran

And purifiy only your tongue with it

Then you get lost in worldly matters

Your mind runs amok in all dirctions

Read the first alphabet and be free

This world was sown like a Banyan seed

It has grown with time and will die in time

All that is left will be the seed

Alone and One in the cosmos

Read the first alphabet and be free

In this compostion Bulle Shah by cautioning the disciple not to get lost in the maze of Maya appears to be referring to mystical beliefs that are similar to the Advaita and Nirguna concepts of Hindu philosophy,

Bulle Shah believed in Universal religion and considered himself neither a Hindu nor a Muslim:

बुल्ल्हिआ, की जाणां मैं कौन?

बुल्ल्हिआ, की जाणां मैं कौन?

ना मैं मोमिन विच्च मसीतां,
ना मैं विच्च कुफ़र दियां रीतां,
ना मैं पाक आं विच पलीतां,
ना मैं मूसा ना फिरऔन

ना मैं विच्च पलीती पाकी,
ना विच शादी, ना ग़मना की,
ना मैं आबी ना मैं ख़ाकी,
ना मैं आतिश ना मैं पौन

ना मैं भेत मज़ब दा पाया,
ना मैं आदम-हव्वा जाया,
ना कुछ अपणा नाम धराया,
ना विच बैठण ना विच भौण

अव्वल आख़र आप नूं जाणां,
ना कोई दूजा आप सिआणा,
बुल्ल्हिआ औह खड़ा है कोन?

Bulla Ki Jadan Main Kawn

Bullhe! ki jaana maen kaun

Na maen momin vich maseet aan
Na maen vich kufar diyan reet aan
Na maen paakaan vich paleet aan
Na maen moosa na pharaun.

Na vich shaadi na ghamnaaki
Na maen vich paleeti paaki
Na maen aabi na maen khaki
Na maen aatish na maen paun

Na maen arabi na lahori
Na maen hindi shehar nagauri
Na hindu na turak peshawri
Na maen rehnda vich nadaun

Na maen bheth mazhab da paaya
Ne maen aadam havva jaaya
Na maen apna naam dharaaya
Na vich baitthan na vich bhaun

Avval aakhir aap nu jaana
Na koi dooja hor pehchaana
Maethon hor na koi siyaana
Bulla! ooh khadda hai kaun

(I know not who I am

I am neither a pious Muslim at the mosque

Nor a performer of blashphemous rites

Neither am I impure among the pure

Neither Moses nor Pharoh

Neither pure among the impure

Neither sad nor gay

I am neither water nor clay

I am neither fiery nor watery

Neither an Arab, nor Lahori

Neither Hindi, nor Nagauri

I am neither a Hindu, Turk (Muslim), nor Peshawari

Nor do I live in Nadaun

I am not identified by any faith

Nor am I from Adam and Eve’s lineage

I am not known by any name

I am neither changing nor same

In short I know no-one but myself

I know no one apart from myself

In my selflessness I am unique

Then who is this man who calls himself Bullhe?

Bullhe Shah was beyond all bondage and did not consider his compositions as his own. He did not write down any of his compositions but left them in the form of oral traditions to float in the common current of folk culture: to be modified, changed and adapted by the masses and to be claimed by them as their own.

All is in the Beloved and the Beloved is in All

The rest is irrelevant.....unnecessary burden

Says Bulla........

(Note: All English translations are by Rupa Abdi)

SUFIS OF THE INDUS REGION - II

2011-09-16T20:32:00.000-07:00

Sufis of the Punjab Doabs: Creaters of Folk Mysticism

The Doab regions of Punjab, Courtsey: Wikipedia

The Punjab Doabs (tracts of land lying between the confluent rivers of the Punjab region of Indo-Pakistan) have produced one of the greatest Sufi saints of this subcontinent. Most of their mystical compositions are now a part of folk culture and folk songs of this region. Sometime in 905 the great mystic like Hallaj, probably sat on the very banks of one of these doabs to discuss theological problems with the sages of this land. The people of this region were travellers and traders, farmers and shepherds. Punjabi is a strong expressive language, ideal for expressing mystical feelings. Like Kabir, the Sufi poets of the doab regions used the symbol of weaving cotton, the threads are our thoughts, words and deeds with which we weave a net around ourselves….. The Punjabi Sufis wove motifs from everyday life of ordinary people to portray the various shades and subtleties of passion of a lover separated from her Beloved – the individual soul, which is always depicted as a woman in Punjabi Sufi poetry, yearning for annihilation and unity with the Eternal: blending cultural traditions with Islamic mysticism, creating a completely a new genre of Folk mysticism. In a continent where people lived and died within the barriers of caste, community and religion, these Sufis rose above all barriers and opened their hearts and souls to all humanity, defying the orthodox pandits and narrow minded maulawis.

Hazrat Bābā Faridüddin Masud Gunj-i Shakar: The Lone Ascetic

(d. 1265)

‘Not every heart is capable of finding the secret of God’s love.

There are not pearls in every sea; there is not gold in every mine.’

Dargah of Baba Farid at Pakpattan, Pakistan

Shrine of Baba Farid at Pakpattan, Dera Pindi, Punjab (Pakistan) Courtsey: WikimapiaOn the far banks of the Sutlej, stands the lone figure of a Sufi who stands above and apart from those who were to follow his path but not till several hundred years had elapsed. His mystical penances were legendary and his verse excelled in simplicity and brevity. No other Sufi poet, before and after him, could convey so much in such simple a verse:

" Farid Kaaley maindey kaprey, kaala mainda wais,

Gunahan Bharehan main pheraan, Lok kahain dervish "

(Laden with sins I go around covering them with a black garb

People see me and mistake me for a Darvesh ) (Ashodara)

Baba Farid, also known as Farīduddīn Mas'ūd Ganjshakar was the first Sufi saint to compose mystical poetry in Punjabi, more precisely a local dialect Multani Punjabi (Lehendi) and thereby laid the foundation for the development of vernacular Punjabi literature. Guru Nanak Sahib is believed to have been inspired by Farids’s verses and the fifth Sikh Guru Shri Arjan Dev included some of Farid’s compositions in the Guru Granth Sahib. These came to be known as Farid bani and commentaries on Farid bani were later added by various Sikh Gurus. Baba Farid is revered by the Sikhs as one of the fifteen Sikh bhagats.

Bābā Farīd is believed to have been born in Kothewal village in Multan on the first day of Ramzan in 1173. The first spiritual influence on Farid was that of his mother who initiated him into a spiritual life. It is believed that in order to motivate him to perform the namaaz regularly; she would put some sugar crystals under his prayer mat. Once she forgot to do it, yet miraculously, after performing namaaz, Farid found some sugar under his prayer mat. That is one of the legends behind his title – Ganj-i shakar (sugar treasure). Baba Farid, completed his education by the age of sixteen, and went to Sistan and Kandhahar and later to Mecca for Hajj.

He received his early education at Multan, where he met his murshid (master) Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki (d.1235), a Sufi saint from Farghana (in present day Uzbekistan) who came to India along with his murshid, Khwaja Mu’inuddin Chishti (d.1236). Kaki was passing through Multan, from Baghdad on his way to Delhi.

Baba Farid later shifted to Delhi, to join his master there and to learn his doctrine. When Kaki died, Farid assumed the role of his spiritual successor. However due to political unrest in Delhi he soon moved to Ajodhan (present day Pakistan). On his way to Ajodhan and passing through Faridkot, he met the 20-year-old Nizamuddin Auliya, who later became his disciple, and successor.

The city of Faridkot is named after Baba Farid. It is believed that, Farīd stopped by the city, then named Mokhalpūr, and sat in seclusion for forty days near the fort of King Mokhal. The king was so impressed by his presence that he named the city after Bābā Farīd, which is today known as Tilla Bābā Farīd. The festival Bābā Sheikh Farid Āgman Purb Melā' (the coming of Baba Farid), is celebrated in September each year, marking his arrival in the city. Baba Farid spent the rest of his life at Ajodhan which had come to be known as 'Pāk Pattan' (the ferry of the pure); Here, at Dera Pindi, in the month of Mohorram his mortal remains were laid to rest.

Farid’s poetical compositions are mainly composed of ‘Dohras’: a rhymed couplet, in which each of the lines generally has a caesura (a pause or break in a line of poetry), whose significance varies according to the meaning. A Dohra is a complete self-sufficient couplet, unless when it is followed by a complimentary couplet. On most occasions the last lines of the Dohra bears the name of Farid. Farid’s Dohras are distinguished by their austerity of tone and rhythm:

"Galian chikkar door ghar, naal payarey neouney,

challaan tey bhijjay kambli, rahan ta jaaey neouney."

(Literal translation: The lanes are filled with mud but I have to keep my promise of meeting with the Beloved

If I walk on, I soil my clothes and if I stay back, I break my promise)

Interpretation: The path to the Beloved is difficult, yet I must overcome the worldly hurdles to keep my word to unite with the Beloved.

"Bhijoy sujhoy kambli Allah wirsay meen

Jai millaan tahaan sajnaa tate nahin neounay"

(Let my clothes be soiled and the Almighty make the rain pour

Go I will to meet the Beloved and keep my promise.)

Interpretation: I have no care or regard for worldly shame or name, may God (circumstances) make the path as difficult as He wants but I will overcome and meet the Beloved, reach my ultimate destination.

" Kook Farid Kook, Tu jivain Rakha Jawar

Jab lag tanda na, Giray tab lag Kook pukar."

(Shout, Farid, shout like the mindful watchman in the corn-field; shout till the crop is mature and falls with ripeness)

Interpretation: Stay awake and watchful; let not heedlessness creep in until you have attained spiritual ripeness .

SUFI SILSILAS IN INDIA - II

2011-09-13T07:56:00.000-07:00

THE NAQSHBANDIYAS AND THE QADIRIYYAS

NAQSHBANDIYYAS: People of the Silent Dhikr

"The lights of some people precede their dhikr, while the dhikr of some people precede their lights. There is the one who does (loud) dhikr so that his heart be illumined; and there is the one whose heart has been illumined and he does (silent) dhikr."

-Ibn Ata'Allah.( (d. 1309), the third sheikh of the Shadhili Sufi order)

They brought their caravans to the sanctuary through the hidden path. The Naqshabandi’s believed that their spiritual journey began where other’s ended. The centre of their beliefs was the silent dhikr and breath control. They also emphasised saubat - the intimate conversation between the master and the disciple. This spiritual bonding gave rise to various ‘paranormal phenomenon’ such as telepathy and faith healing. They believed in spiritual education and the purification of the heart. It was a sober and rather orthodox silsila which disapproved music and sama .

The founder of this silsila was Bahauddin Naqshband (d.1390) from Central Asia, who was a descendent of the great Imam Yusuf Hamadhani (d. 1140). Hamadhani was in turn spiritually affiliated to Abu-l-Hasan Ali al-Kharaqani (d. 1034) - an illiterate but distinguished mystic and an uwaysi (a Sufi who has been initiated not by a living master but the powerful spirit of a departed Sufi). Kharaqani was initiated into tassawuf by the spirit of Bayezid Bistami (d.874) who himself was a legendary Sufi from north west Iran.

One of Hamadhani’s eminent khalifa, Abdul – Khaliq Ghijduwani (d.1220) is best known for the eight founding principles that are still followed by all Naqshabandiyya schools. His set of teachings are known as tariqa-yi Khawajagan (the way of the teachers; singular Khoja) and are interpreted as follows (the literal translation of the Persian words are given in brackets):

1. hush dar dam (awareness in breath): One must safeguard his/her breath from mindlessness while breathing in and breathing out, thereby keeping her heart always in the Divine Presence. Every breath which is inhaled and exhaled with Presence is alive and connected with the Divine Presence. Every breath inhaled and exhaled with mindlessness is dead, disconnected from the Divine Presence.

2. nazar bar qadam(to watch every step): This implies watching over one’s steps and actions. The gaze precedes the step and the step follows the gaze. The Ascension to the higher state is first by the Vision, followed by the Step. One needs to understand the Sufi path in its myriad forms before one can actually comprehend and follow this principle.

3. safar dar watan (to journey towards one’s homeland): This refers to the internal mystical journey wherein the seeker travels from the world of desire to the world of Divine.

4. khalwat dar anjuman (solitude in the crowd): To be untouched by the vagaries of this world. To be steady in ones contemplation of the divine, to live in this world but not to be moved by it.

5. yad kard(to recollect): To remember, to recollect all the time the Divine name and one’s ultimate destination.

6. baz gard(to return,): To surrender, to return to God i.e. to submit to the will of God.

7. nigah dasht (to be aware of one’s sight):To be aware of one’s thoughts and emotions, to restrain the thoughts that take you away from God. To safeguard one’s heart from unholy inclinations.

8. yad dasht (to remember, recall): To return again and again to that state of mind which dwells in God. To keep one’s heart in Allah’s Divine Presence continuously. This allows one to realize and manifest the Light of the Unique Essence.

‘Although Adam had not got wings,

Yet he has reached a place that was not destined even for angels’

- Mir Dard

This silsila gained influence over the business class and royalty of Central Asia and as a result grew highly politicized. Under the leadership of Khwaja Ahrar (d.1490), an influential Naqshabandi saint, this silsila dominated the entire Central Asian region and even the Mongols, Timurs and Uzbegss came under its sway. Like the early Suhrawardis, the Khwaja believed that in order to serve the world they needed to exercise political power.

Dargah of Mazhar Janjanan at Delhi

The Naqshabandi silsila was founded in India by Khwaja Baqi billah(d.1785). His disciple Ahmad Faruqi Sirhindi (d. 1624) played an important role in Indian political and religious life. In India, most prominent Naqshabandi saints, such as Khwaja Mir Dard (d.1785), Shah Waliullah(d.1762), who was also initiated into the Qadiriyya silsila, and Mazhar Janjanan(d. 1782), were based in Delhi and besides politics made major contribution to Sufi poetry and theology in Urdu .

Dargah of Khawaja Baqi Billah at Delhi. Courtesy: Mayank Austen Soofi

Looming large over other Naqshabandi saints of the Indian subcontinent is Khawaja Mir Dard who was one of the four pillars of Urdu poetic tradition and is acknowledged as the greatest mystical poet of Urdu language.

‘Alas O ignorant one:

at the day of death this will be proved:

A dream was what we saw, what we heard, a tale’

- Mir Dard

QADIRIYYAS: The Miracle performers

Ucch Sharif at Multan. Courtesy:Gilbert (NFIE)

The most popular Qadri saints in India are Bulle Shah (d.1768) and Sultan Bahu (d. 1691) in the north, and Hazrat Shahul Hameed Qadir Wali of Nagore in the south. Several karaamaat (miracles) are attributed to the founder as well as the early saints of this silsila. This silsila was established by Abdul Qadir Jilani (d. 1166) from Baghdad. He is known as the master of the Jinn. His influence extended from Turkey, to Baghdad and across West Africa to the Indian subcontinent. There are Sindhi songs describing his glory and ancient trees named after him. It is believed that one of his descendents – Muhammad Ghaus (d. 1517) established this order in the Indian subcontinent. He along with the first missionaries of this silsila settled in Ucch, north east of Multan (Punjab-Pakistan) in the late fifteenth century. From here this silsila spread to the rest of the Indian subcontinent, and even as far as Indonesia and Malaysia. Eminent Sufis of this silsial were Mian Mir (d. 1635) whose ancestors came from Siwistan in Sindh, his sister Bibi Jamal (d.1647 ), Mir’s disciple Molla Shah Badakshi (d. 1661), who was a scholar and writer of Sufi literature. Molla Shah initiated the Mughal prince Dara Shikoh(d.1659) and his elder sister Jahanara (d.1681) into this silsila.

Hazrat Shahul Hameed Qadir Wali’s dargah at Nagore in Tamil Nadu

Abdul-Haqq Dihlawi (d.1642) was among the influential Qadiriyya saints of Delhi. According to him the Qadiri principle of perfect life in the world was to follow the sharia laws and the jurists teachings and then the Sufi path. However the mystical aspect into this silsila was introduced by Mian Mir .

SUFI SILSILAS IN INDIA - I

2011-09-08T00:02:00.000-07:00

THE CHISHTIIYYAS AND THE SUHRAWARDIYYAS

In India the four major silsilas to take root were Suhrawardiyya, Chishtiyya, Qadiriyya and Naqshabandiyya. From these major orders many suborders such as Shattariyya and the Kubrawiyya branched out.

Founders of the four great Sufi orders

THE CHISHTIYYAS: Founders of Indian Sufism

This was the silsila which with its spirit of equality and brotherhood won the hearts of the people of the subcontinent. The doors of the Chishtiyya khanqahs were open to all at all times. This silsila was instrumental in spreading Islam in central and southern Indian with its ocean like generosity, mildness of the evening sun and earth-like modesty. Sufism became a mass movement under the influence of Chishti saints who settled in the Indus region: Sind, Punjab and Multan. The contempt of the Chishti saints for the rulers was obvious from their refusal to accept any land or money from them. The early Chishti saints considered anything accepted from the rulers as unlawful. From the ‘low caste’ Hindus to the mighty Mogul kings, all bowed in reverence at the feet of the great Chishti saints.

The birth place of the Chishti order is believed to be in Chisht, a village, sixty miles east of Herat in present day Afghanistan. However in the Indian subcontinent Hazrat Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti (d.1236) was instrumental in laying the foundations of Sufism especially the Chishtiyya silsila. He was born in Sistan (a province bordering Iran and Afghanistan) and in his early years was inspired by Abu Najib Surhawardi. Muinuddin who was also known as Khwaja Garib Nawaaz (benefactor of the poor), reached Delhi in 1193 but later shifted to Ajmer when it was conquered by the Delhi Sultanate.

Dargah of Khwaja Garib Nawaaz at Ajmer

Among the most important disciples of Muinuddin was Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki (d.1235) who carried out the Chishtiyya work in Delhi. His successor was Shaykh Fariduddin or Baba Farid (d.1265), the legendary sufi poet of Punjab, whose disciple was another great saint – Nizamuddin Auliya (d.1325), whose disciple was the popular poet and muscian Amir Khosrau (d.1325). Other prominent Chishti saints and poets were Shaykh Hamiduddin Nagori (d.1274) who was based in Nagaur (Rajasthan) and was known for his vegetarianism and frugal life style; Hasan Sijzi Dihlawi (d.1328); Bu Ali Qalandar Panipati (d. 1323); Hazrat Nasiruddin Roshan Chiragh-i Dehli (d.1356); Muhammad Bandanawaz Gisudara (d.1422) who spread the Chishtiyya silsila in southern India with the patronage of Bahmani Sultans of Deccan. He was the first Indian Sufi to write in Dakhani (the southern branch of Urdu); Shaykh Salim Chishti (d. 1572) and Warith Shah (d.1798) .

THE SUHRAWARDIYYAS: Political Diplomats

The sufis of this order were known for their close ties with the rulers and played a key role in making war and peace. They acted as political emissaries and ambassadors and held important posts as advisers in the royal court and excepted jagirs and gifts as royal patronage. The early Suhrawardiyya saints believed that it was their duty to guide the rulers. It was from this silsila that Muinuddin Chishti drew his first inspiration. However the Chishtiyya silsila stood in stark contrast to the Surhawaddiyyas in their contempt for rulers and governments.

This silsila was founded in north west Iran by Abdul Qahir Abu Najib as-Suhrawardi (d. 1168). He was a disciple of the well known Imam Ghazzali’s youngr brother – Ahmad Ghazzali. However, more influential than Abdul Qahir Abu Najib as-Suhrawardi was his nephew – Shihabuddin Abu Hafs Umar as-Suhrawardi (d.1234), whose treatise – Awarif al-Maarif became an essential part of the courses on Sufism taught in Indian madarsas. In the Indian subcontinent, this silsila was introduced by Bahauddin Zakariya Multani (d. 1262) who was a contemporary of Baba Farid.The two Sufis not only lived miles apart from each other but were also miles apart in their attitude towards material wealth and rulers. Bhahauddin was a prosperous landlord whereas Baba Farid was a fakir in the true sense of the word.

Some of the eminent Suhraawardi saints were Sayyid Jalaluddin Surkhpush (the red dressed one, d.1292) who was a disciple of Zakariya. He came from Bukhara and settled in Ucch (north east of Multan in present day Punjab-Pakistan). Fakhruddin Iraqi (d. 1289), a was a well known Persian poet and a disciple of Bahauddin Zakariya whose tender and intoxicatiing love songs continue to be sung at his master’s tomb in Multan. Ucch became a centre of Suhrawarddiyya silsila under the tireless efforts of Jalaluddin Makhdum-i Jahaniyan, (the one whom all the people of the world serve), (d.1383). Jalaluddin Tabrizi (d.1244) who was a disciple of Abu Hafs Umar Suhrawardi, played a key role in spreading the Suhraawardi message in Bengal.

Dargah of Gisudaraz at Gulbarga, Karnataka.

Sufism and Indian Sufism

2011-08-06T02:29:00.000-07:00

Artisit's impression of Baba Farid

Kaagaa sab tan khaiyo, chun chun khaiyo maans,

Do nenan mat khaiyo, mohe piyaa milan ki aas

(O crow eat my body and every morsel of my flesh

But pray eat not my eyes for they wait for the sight of the Beloved)

- Hazrat Baba Farid

The above composition by Hazrat Fariduddin Ganj-i Shakar fondly called Baba Farid, a sufi from Punjab and a disciple of Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki, captures in one couplet the soul of Sufism. Once Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki, asked Baba Farid, to go into 40 day seclusion while hanging upside down in a well. Baba Farid hung motionless in meditation, mistaking him for a corpse the crows began to gather around him, that was when he composed the above lines.

Sufism or tassawuf can be simply defined as the mystical dimension of Islam. It is one of the greatest schools of mysticism which has not only survived the test and tribulation of time but continues to flourish today in all its infinite shades. Sufism, like a flowing river, defies description. To know it, one must experience it: drink its waters, swim in it and drown in it to eventually merge with the Ocean.

Sufism has emerged out of the esoteric significance attached by an important section of Muslims to the words of the Quran. The elevated feeling of Divine apprehension of which the Prophet often spoke, the depth and passion of his ecstatic rapture which characterised his devotions constitute the foundations of Sufism. The Islamic doctrine of ’inward light’ inspired the early Muslim ascetics to lead a contemplative life, devoted to a higher yearning after the Infinite. Sufism is based on the idea among nobler Muslim minds that there is a deeper and more inward sense in the verses of the Quran. This belief did not arise from the wish to escape from the rigour of ‘texts and dogmas’ but from a deep conviction that the words of the Quran mean more, not less, than the popular expounders supposed them to convey. The word Sufism originally called Tasawuff in Arabic and Urdu, is derived from the word ‘suf’ which means ‘wool’ in Arabic, alluding to the coarse woollen garment worn by the first generation of Muslim ascetics .

Sufis believe that they live in this world but are not of it: they posses nothing and are possessed by nothing. However following the basic tenets of the Quran and the service of fellow humans are an integral part of Sufism .The Path to God, according to the Prophet, is threefold: the sharia (the words of the Prophet), the tariqa (his actions), and haqiqa (his interior states. According to the Sufis the seeker of Truth by intensive inwardness and communion with God can rise by successive stages of adoration to a state of consciousness when she can actually have a vision of the divine essence. The various steps or stages along the path are known as maqam (pl .maqamat). The first step along the Path is for the adept to form the niyat (the resolve or intention); followed by tauba (repentance and renunciation). She is now on the firmly on the Path, this stage is called mujahadah (striving and struggle with the carnal self). After a prolonged mujahadah the ecstatic soul appears in the Presence still veiled, this stage is called muhazara. The next maqam is the lifting of the veil of ignorance (mukashafa) and finally when God becomes revealed to the devotee’s heart and she begets divine Vision this stage is called mushahada .

SUFI ORDERS (SILSILAS)

In the later years, brotherly love began to be emphasised in the social discourse of the Sufis reflecting the Prophetic tradition of ‘Al-mu’min mir’at al-mu’min’ (the faithful is the mirror of the faithful). When a Sufi notices a weakness in his neighbour he is supposed to correct this very weakness in himself. Brotherly love was to be extended not just to other Sufis but to whole of humanity. Since service of humanity also included aiding in their spiritual upliftment Sufis started expanding their groups and spreading their spiritual message to all levels of population and by early 12th century Sufi fraternities or orders (silsilas) began to emerge each with a distinct tariqa (set of practices and beliefs) that each founder had evolved to attain the Infinite. By the 14th century fourteen Sufi orders had crystallised. The Suhrawardiyya, the Qadariyya, the Kubrawiyya, the Shadhiliyya and the Badawiyya were some of them. Sufi masters (called sheikh, pir, or murshid) began to send their disciples (murids) to distant lands to spread their teachings. Many prominent Sufis travelled to India.

INDIAN SUFISM

Several hundred years before any Muslim invader set foot on the Indian subcontinent, Muslim traders had been coming to the western ports of India extending from Gujarat to Kerala. The first Muslim army to reach India was led by an Arab conqueror – Muhammad bin Qasim in 711 who occupied the regions from Sind to Multan. The first Sufi to come to India was Husayn ibn Mansur al-Hallaj (d.222). He travelled in the lands conquered by the Arabs and discussed theology with the saints of this region. The second wave of Muslim conquest was in the year 1000 and was led by the Gaznawids, and it was Mahmud Ghazni’s conquest of Punjab that is believed to have led a number of prominent Sufis to settle in this region. Lahore became the first centre of Persian inspired Muslim culture and it was in this city that Abu’l-Hasan’Ali bin ‘Usman al-Hujwiri(d.ca.1071), known as Data Ganj Bakhsh (~Distributor of Unlimited Treasure) composed his famous Kashfu’l-mahjub, in Persian. This treatise gives the biographies, thought and practices of Sufis from the time of the Prophet to his own time. However Sufism’s full impact began to be felt in the late 12th and early 13th century after the formation of main Sufi orders in the Muslim countries and the most outstanding contributor to this movement was Hazrat Mu’inuddin Chishti (d.1236). Islam in most parts of India spread not at the point of sword of the Muslim invaders but by the power of the Sufi saints like Mu’inuddin Chishti and his disciples whose simple preaching and practise of love of God and one’s neighbour impressed many Hindus, especially those belonging to the so called ‘lower castes’.

Data Ganj Baksh's durgah at Lahore, courtsey Abdul Nishapuri

While the Sufis of Middle East and North African countries flourished in lands that had already been Islamised, the Sufis in the Indian subcontinent were faced with the challenge of spreading their message among people belonging to an ‘alien’ faith. This was their biggest challenge and this was their biggest triumph and in this respect they stand above their brethren who served in other parts of the world.

Indian Sufism owes it uniqueness to its great power of selective assimilation of local culture, folk tales and symbology. While it protected itself from any considerable or overwhelming external influence, it included whatever struck and impressed it and in the act of inclusion transformed it in harmony with its own Essence. In this process Sufism in the Indian subcontinent has developed its own flavours and shades. Apart from contributing to the spiritual upliftment of rulers and ruled alike, two of the greatest contributions of the Indian Sufism have been: the creation of syncretic traditions in the Indian subcontinent thereby creating communal harmony among followers of diverse faith; and the creation of exquisite and divine music, prose and poetry that further enriched the astonishingly diverse culture of this subcontinent.

SUFIS OF THE INDUS REGION

2011-04-24T04:23:00.000-07:00

He is Abu Hanifa and He is Hanuman,
He is the Koran and H e is the Vedas,
He is this and He is that,
He is Moses, and He is Pharaoh
- Sachal Sarmast

Tombs at Makli Hill, Thatta, Sind(Pakistan)

The regions of Sind and Punjab, nurtured by the waters of Indus, have produced one of the the greatest sufi saints of this subcontinent. Some time in 905 the great mystic like Halaj, probably sat on the very banks of this river to discuss theological problems witht the sages of Sind. The people of this region were travellers and traders, farmers and shepherds. Apart from Sindhi, many Sindhi sufi poets used Siraiki, a northern dialect of Sindhi which transits into Punjabi. Sindhi and Punjabi are both strong expressive languages, ideal for expressing mystical feelings. Like Kabir the sufi poets of the Indus regions used the symbol of weaving cotton, the threads are our thoughts, words and deeds with which we weave a net around ourselves..... The Sindhi and Punjabi sufis wove motifs from everyday life of these simple folk to portray the various shades and subtleties of passion of a lover separated from her beloved - the individual soul yearning for annihilation and unity with the Eternal: blending cultural traditions with Islamic mysticism.

THE SUFIS OF SIND, PAKISTAN:

THE SUFI WHO ROAMED WITH THE YOGIS

Among the wilderness heights,
where not a bird can perch
burns the dhuni of yogis........

- Shah Latif

In the 18th century the mighty Indus river chartered a different course; it carried more water and its banks and valleys were a lot greener than they are today. In the region of Sindh or Mehwar, as it was called then, the river was, and still is, flanked by the hills of Gorakh, Ganjo, and Kinjher, and by Hinglaj in Baluchistan. Among the pristine slopes of these hills roamed one of the greatest sufis of Sindh: Shah Abdul Latif.
Through, valleys, hills and along rivers he wandered... seeking the company of Nath Yogis, following their dhunis (ritual fires) which they would set alight among the highest and remote peaks of these hills.
Though born into a family of sufis, it was in the company of these yogis that Shah Latif grasped the mysteries of life and reality. He would also live among farmers and shepherds, weaving great mystical truths into their folklore and ballads. Shah Latif was an uwaisi mystic i.e. he had no predecessor or master and therefore did not belong to any of the formal sufi orders or tariquaas.

'Hal qurban, mal qurban'

According to Shah Latif, on the Path, both bliss of the mystical states and worldly possessions have to be sacrificed. The Path is difficult and the mountains too steep to weigh down your mind with any burdens or attachments.

Shah Abdul Latif was born in 1689 in Hala, near present day Hyderabad (Sind, Pakistan). He is believed to have roamed in the company of yogis for three years and travelled as far as Baluchistan, Rajasthan, Kutch and Kathiawar. The collection of his mystical poems titled, 'Shah jo Risalo' (The book of Shah). It comprises of more than 1200 pages and contains 30 surs based on different ragas. Some of these ragas are from Indian classical music and some were originally composed by Shah Latif himself. The Risalo begins with Sur Kalyan: it describes the One God and its various manifestations and the suffering that the Seeker has to endure on the path of devotion. This is followed by Sur Yaman Kalyan and Sur Khanbhat....Sur Sarirag and Sur Samundi, the latter describes the trials and tribulations of a seafarer on his final Journey. In some of his surs, Shah Latif has dealt exclusively with the traits/signs of the true men of God: Sufis and Yogis. Above all, Shah Latif emphasises the importance of Ikhlas:sincerity and adab: right behaviour or conduct for the tavellers of the Path.The Risalo uses a combinations of metaphors, symbols and folk tales to reveal the secrets of the Path. Among the most popular of his poems, which were composed in the form of Kafis or Ways and Bayts, are those based on the folktales of legendary lovers like Sohni-Mehanwal, Sassai-Punhun and Nuri-Tamachi.

'Surrender all actions to the Glorious whom you seek'

Without grief or thought and His grace will bring to you

what you need.....'

Shah advises the estranged lovers to forsake greed and become humble, tauba or repentance is essential on the path to the Beloved, taming of the nafs (the lower soul or the ego)symbolised by the camel and constant wakefulness, tawakkul:trust in God and complete surrender to the will of God, sabr: patience and rida: contentment advised for the lovers, travellers and seafarers.

'Nothing that comes from the beloved is bitter

all is sweet if you taste it with faith'

Sassui, a washer man's daughter, separated from her lover Prince-Tamachi, wandering alone in the desert, lonely and hopeless - symbolic of the various stages of the separated soul before it can be one with God: hope, longing, fear and annihilation...She finally realizes that Tamachi is no longer apart from her, but within her own heart and the outward journey is transformed into a journey within...... and finally the destination, the state fana: annihilation in God is realised. But this Path , according to Shah Latiff, is treacherous:

'the company of the Yogis is not for the weak....only those who are predestined to wear the cap of the Sufis can walk this Path.....'

In his later years, Shah Latif settled at Bhit, not far from Hala, and spent the rest of his life in the company of his disciples. His beautiful shrine at Bhit Shah is as exquisite as his poetry.

The land of Sind also harboured other sufi saints like Lal Shahbaz Kalandar who lived on the west bank of lower Indus besides a Shiva lingam, this lingam still stands besides his tomb today at Sehwan;
Sachal Sarmast also known as the 'Attar of Sind' who was a companion of Shah Latif and a sufi poet who wrote in Sindhi, Sairaki, Urdu and Persian. At Makli Hill near Thatta are buried 125,000 saints of Sind. Even the Hindus of Sind came under the influence of these great sufis. Hindu writers used Mulim imagery in thier mystical poems and in the Ta'ziya during the Muharram mourning of the Shia community of Sind.

TO BE CONTINUED

The Fakir from Punjab

2010-01-14T08:29:00.000-08:00

ੴ ਸਤਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਕਰਤਾ ਪੁਰਖੁ ਨਿਰਭਉ ਨਿਰਵੈਰੁ ਅਕਾਲ ਮੂਰਤਿ ਅਜੂਨੀ ਸੈਭੰ ਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥

(Ik ōaṅkār sat nām kartā purkh nirbha'u nirvair akāl mūrat ajūnī saibhaṃ gur prasād )

One creator, one supreme reality,
His formless unity manifests itself in limitless forms
His name represents one cosmic Truth, one without a second, without fear or limitation
He is the creator, the timeless form, self-created, self manifesting……
May the Guru’s grace be with us……

These were the first words, (mool mantra -the basic holy chant) uttered by Guru Nanak upon his spiritual awakening. This formed the basis of Sikhism, the spiritual path shown by Guru Nanak. Guru Granth Sahib - the holy book of the Sikhs also begins with this mantra, and the rest of the book merely elaborates on the multiple dimensions of the this universal mantra.

Very little is known about the identity of this saint who was born in the 15th century in Punjab, a region in north India. His birth place was the village of Talwandi which falls in present day Pakistan.

Guru Nanank got married and had a family, he believed in living in this world, but not being swayed by it. He performed his duties as a family man but his heart was always submerged in the love and yearning for his God, whose praise he would sing night and day. The Gurudwaras of the Sikhs still ring with the melodius Guru Banis - the songs of the Gurus.

While Hindu and Muslim bigots fight over whether Guru Nanak was a Hindu or Muslim reformist, his true disciples, the Sikhs, are only concerned with following their Guru’s teachings. Guru Nanak was against divisive religions, outward ritualism and running away from worldly responsibilities. He asked his disciples to follow three simple teachings:

Naam Japan:: Chanting the Holy Name , ceaseless devotion to one God
Kirat Karo: Making an honest living
Vand Chakkho: : Sharing and caring for others

Some believe that the Sikh religion consists of the higher ideals of Bhakti Yoga and Sufism. Very few people are aware of the fact that the foundation stone of the Golden Temple at Amritsar, also known as Harminder Sahib, was laid by a sufi - Hazrat Miyan Mir, who was especially invited by the fifth Sikh Guru, Guru Arjan Dev for this purpose.

Guru Nanak was greatly influenced by Kabir and Shaikh Ibrahim Farid (1450 - 1535) a descendent of the famous Sufi saint Shaikh Fariduddin Shakarganj of Pak Pattan whose works, along with Hazarat Mian Meer and Waris Shah., were incorporated in the Guru Garanth Sahib. Their work makes up 33 percent of the book.Guru Nanak undertook a deep study of Hindu and Muslim faiths, traveled to Mecca, Medina, Israel, Palestine, Syria, and Turkey and Baghadad with his childhood Muslim companion - Bhai Mardana, and subsequently came up with his own simple teachings bereft of any outward rituals or symbols. Guru Nanak’s main objective was to bring together Hindus and Muslims of India in common worship of one God, overcoming all caste and social distinctions.

The Guru told his followers that they were to be householders and could not live apart from the world -- there were to be no ascetic or hermits. He introduced the practice of langar -the communal meal, where the rich and poor, Hindu and Muslim, high caste and low caste, would sit together to eat.

Like all the other faiths present day Siikhism has developed into an organised religion with political overtones.

Raman Maharishi: The Silent Seer of Arunachala

2009-02-26T03:28:00.000-08:00

Like his beloved hill – Arunachala, this sage raised his head in solitary grace above the rest of humanity, humble in his spiritual grandeur. He advocated no religious method, tradition or ritual. He was above them and espoused the spirit of Self inquiry. ‘Know thyself and you shall know the Truth’ was his response to Paul Brunton – a western seeker of Indian spirituality, who was to later introduce this, one of India’s greatest sages, to the Western world. After meeting the Maharishi, Ralph Wardo Emersen, the great American philosopher said, ‘The words of this sage still flame out in my memory like beacons of lights…..Our best philosophers of Europe could not hold a candle to him…..'

Born in 1879 on the auspicious occasion of Arudra Darshan – the sight of Shiva, which marks the day Lord Shiva manifested himself to his devotees, the Maharishi spent twenty years of his adult life on the slopes of his beloved hill Arunchala – the Hill of Sacred Beacon. Among all those who visited him, none was untouched by his lustrous eyes, his compassionate smile and a sense of beautiful peace that seemed to pervade the very air around him.

While his teachings were simple and direct, there was something mysteriously aloof about this seer, perhaps his consciousness lay immersed in a plane beyond the reach of ordinary mortals. Paul Burton would describe one of his experiences that he felt in the presence of the Maharish: ‘What is this man’s gaze but a thaumaturgic wand, which evokes a hidden world of unexpected splendour before my profane eyes?’

He was not a Yogi in the orthodox sense and had no guru in the conventional sense. He had sought, found and followed an inner path leading to Self – Knowledge, he was, he believed, guided by an inner divine monitor. He would tell his disciples that if they searched deeply and sincerely for anything, they would eventually be led to the object of their quest. The Maharishi’s method of helping others was a subtle, silent and steady outpouring of healing vibrations into troubled souls. This mysterious phenomenon is perhaps what is known as ‘Grace’. His silences were more significant than his utterances.

It was perfectly clear to all who were fortunate enough to be in his presence, that he had no wish to convert anyone to his own ideas, whatever they may be, and no desire to add anyone to his following. Paul Brunton called him ‘one of the last of Inida’s spiritual supermen’. Simple and modest, he made no claims to siddhis or occult powers. Totally without any traces of pretensions he strongly resisted any attempts to cannonise him during his life time.

The path shown by the Maharishi demands no blind religious faith. He simply put forward a way of self-analyses, which can be practiced irrespective of any ancient or modern theories and beliefs which one may have. Verbal injunctions were not necessary, with the power of the Maharishi’s grace; each sadhak (disciple) was helped according to his nature, in proportion to his devotion and understanding.

To read more about the Maharishi's teachings, please check out my other blog at :

http://upadesha.wordpress.com/

Haven on Earth

2009-01-18T04:46:00.000-08:00

In the year 1592, when men in power were still God fearing and honored their word, a sacred covenant between the Lepchas - the indigenous people of Sikkim and the Tibetan Bhutias was solemnized. This historical event took place near Gangtok, the present capital of Sikkim. A bull was sacrificed to the Gods and an oath was sworn over its blood that the Lepchas and Bhutias would never fight and live as blood brothers in peace and harmony. Whoever broke the sacred oath would be cursed along with his descendents. From then on, on the 15th of every ninth month of the Tibetan calendar, the people of this region would make an offering of food and drink to their God to celebrate this sacred covenant. However the Tibetan rulers of the Sikkim could not keep their word for long and broke the sacred oath, inviting the wrath of the curse on themselves. The Namgyal dynasty that ruled over Sikkim from 1642-1975, came to an end on 16th May 1975 and Sikkim became the 22nd State of India. However during my recent trip to the eastern Himalays I realized that while the rulers of this region broke the sacred oath of peace, the people of this region continue to follow the sacred covenant.

Kalimpong was my first experience of the eastern Himalayas. We arrived by road from Bagdogra at night, occasionally stopping on the way for tea at some roadside dhaba. It was a different world – the silence, the hills and the trees breathing refreshingly moist cold air, the narrow winding roads fading into a foggy corners, the simple rural folk. The place seemed so romantically remote and far away from the everyday absurdities of city life.

The next day, a local Bhutia driver took us around Kalimpong, telling us a little bit about all the major land marks. He was a gentle and friendly man and would greet every third person on the road as we drove around the town. When I commented on his popularity among the locals, his response was simple – “Since we do not know how long we are going to live, we might as well live with friendship and love while we are still alive !”

Kalimpong, as well as the rest of the region of eastern Himalayas, is home to people of different tribes and faiths. There are Nepali Hindus, Lepchas and Bhutias who are mostly Buddhist and a small Christian and a Tibetan Muslim population. The Lepchas, meaning ‘ravine folk’ are believed to be the original inhabitants of Sikkim. They are the people who lived with and worshipped nature – they venerated the spirits of rivers and mountains before adopting Buddhism or Christianity. Their closeness to nature is reflected in their language, which though not well developed, is rich in vocabulary related to the plants and animals of this region. The Bhutias are of Tibetan origin who migrated from Tibet to Sikkim, Himalayan West Bengal and Bhutan after the 15th century. They follow Nyingmapa and Kagyupa school of Tibetan Buddhism. Majority of Nepalis here are Hindus, except the Sherpas and Tamangs, who are Buddhist.

Few outsiders are aware of the fact Tibet had, and perhaps still has pockets of Muslims entrenched within its borders. Tibetan Muslims trace their origin to immigrants from China, Kashmir, Ladakh and Nepal. Islamic influence in Tibet also came from Persia and Turkestan.
After 1959, during the Chinese aggression, quite a few Tibetan Muslims managed to escape from Tibet into the border towns of Gangtok, Kalimpong and Darjeeling. A large number of them moved to Kashmir. However, according to one report, about 50 Tibetan Muslim families still reside in the Kalimpong-Darjeeling region. Tibetan Muslims in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Nepal have a joint Tibetan Muslim Welfare Association based in Kalimpong. I met some of them outside the Jame Masjid in Kalimpong. When I asked one of them if there was any friction among the different communities, he seemed to be taken by surprise, ‘What is there to fight about?’ he wondered. ‘We are simple folks, and our only concern is to earn a living and save for our children’s future’ he added. At that moment, all the petty politics of hate and communalization over the Jamia Nagar encounter and Malegaon blast came to my mind and I felt a bit ashamed of myself. The rest of India has long broken its sacred covenant of brotherhood, and God knows how many of our future generations will face the wrath of the curse.

It was in Kalimpong where a Buddhist taxi driver and a pious namaazi taught me the refreshingly simple philosophy of peaceful co-existence. It was in Kalimpong too, that I got my first glimpse of eastern Himalayas and Kanchendzonga, the highest mountain peak of India. The serene landscape of hills rolling into the far horizon with the mighty Kanchendzonga rising far above the clouds reminded me of what Pir Inayat Khan, the great musician and sufi, once wrote - the spiritual centre of a region lies at its highest point.

The Kingdom Within

2008-12-31T22:57:00.000-08:00

There is a kingdom of the spirit’s ease.
It is not in this helpless swirl of thought,
Foam from the world-sea or spray-whisper caught,
With which we build mind’s shifting symmetries,
Nor in life’s stuff of passionate unease,
Nor the heart’s unsure emotions frailty wrought
Nor trivial clipped sense-joys soon brought to nought
Nor in this body’s solid transiences.
Wider behind than the vast universe
Our spirit scans the drama and the stir,
A peace, a light, an ecstasy, a power
Waiting at the end of blindness and the curse
That veils it from its ignorant minister,
The grandeur of its free eternal hour.

- Sri Aurobindo

When the Believers faced Jerusalem

2008-09-21T09:01:00.000-07:00

At first, Ghogha looks like any small-time coastal settlement of Gujarat – not entirely a village nor a town, as if a village, bored by its own half hearted attempts at urbanization had fallen back into its old slumber. Clusters of mud houses interspersed with cement and brick structures – looking garishly out of place among mud and slate surroundings - dusty roads and by lanes, with puddles of stagnant water and stray dogs lingering at corners.

Closer to the sea stands a forlorn looking government rest house with an old tamarind tree standing in its large courtyard. From the stone wall skirting the courtyard you can see the rocky beach below. Waves loaded with mud and sand constantly lash the rocks. Riding these very waves, sailing in their sturdy ships, the first Arab traders landed at Ghogha around the early seventh century and built a masjid here. This was the time when Qibla (direction to be faced while offering namaaz,) of the Muslims was Jerusalem instead of Mecca. For a brief period of 16 to 17 months, between 622 and 624 A.D., after Hijra (migration) to Medina, the Prophet (s.a.v.) and his believers faced Jerusalem while offering namaaz. This ancient masjid, locally known as the Baarwaada Masjid or Jami Masjid, was built during this period and is one of the oldest if not the oldest masjid in India. Later the Prophet (s.a.v.) received Wahi (Revelation) commanding him to change the orientation point from Jerusalem in the north to Mecca in the south. This masjid, therefore, predates all the other masjids in India whose mehrab face Mecca. This ancient masjid also bears the oldest Arabic inscriptions in India. The masjid falls under the care of Barwaada jammat but in spite of its historical significance, it lies in ruins needing urgent repair.

This small town has over eleven masjids and dargahs, which were built later during the Sultatnate period in Gujarat (1401- 1572), including the old mazaar of Ashraf Shah Baba who made Ghogha his home. A copy of the Holy Quran hand written by him can also be seen here. There is a tunnel under his mazaar which is believed to go as far as Mecca!! A few adventurous youths did make an attempt to verify this belief but had to turn back after a few kilometers due to lack of oxygen !!
In its heydays Ghogha was the center for Islamic learning and a flourishing port which had trade links with Shri Lanka, Africa and Middle East and was appropriately called, Sher-e-abaad , the prosperous city. During the Moghul period, its yearly income was believed to be 1666 pounds. Later it became a major cotton exporting port. However with the passage of time, a decline in cotton prices and the development of railways brought about a decline in the commercial importance of ports along the Gulf of Cambay (Khambat). With the development of the nearby Bhavnagar port, the significance of Ghogha as a port diminished further.
Today this coastal town lies half-forgotten along with its inhabitants, the majority of whom are Muslims and identify themselves as Ghoghari Arabs. However their love for the sea continues with every Ghoghari family having at least one male working on a ship somewhere. Due to lack of local employment opportunities, most of the men folk have left their homes for work in places like Mumbai and Middle East. The locals believe that this is due to the curse of Ashraf Shah Baba. According to local folk lore the Baba cursed the men of Ghogha for casting an evil eye on his beautiful daughter. He cursed the men folk of Ghogha that they would never be able to live with their family and will have to wander away from home in search of livelihood.
A boat making unit started some years ago closed down due to some internal problems. A salt works trade started some time back, met with the same fate. The Ghogha – Dahej ferry boat service started by the State Government with much ballyhoo ended in a whimper. Only a few bentonite processing factories offer limited employment to the locals.
Today Ghogha and its ancient masjid bear a look of decadence. Perhaps the development planners can cast off the Baba’s curse and it would be a great loss to our cultural heritage if this ancient masjid is allowed to crumple to dust.

Waiting for the Saviour

2008-08-18T03:02:00.000-07:00

Know that al-Mehdi (A.S.) must come, but he will not come until the earth is filled with injustice and oppression. He will fill it with justice and equity…..

- Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, Vol. 1, P. 99

When rigthteousness is weak and unrighteousness exults in pride, then my Spirit arises on earth for the salvation of the good and destruction of evil in men….

- Shri Krishna in the Geeta (4: 7-8)

Yesterday was Shab-e-Baraat and by a strange coincidence there was power cut in our locality. As dusk and darkness approached and the time for the ceremonial nazr drew close, numerous candles were lit. The soft glow of the candles and the fragrance from the incense sticks filled all corners of our house which had been immersed in darkness. Perhaps this was symbolic of what the Shia Muslims of the world expect once their ‘Mehdi’ (a.s.), their savior - their twelfth Imam reappears.

Nazr, in form of halwa, made from chana dal, was offered and Sur-e- Fahteha and Sur-e- Qul were recited, first, in the honor of Amir Hamzaa (the uncle of Prophet Mohammad s.a.v.), followed by all our ancestors and departed relatives. We prayed to God asking for forgiveness for the sins of our departed relatives and prayed for the safe journey of their souls to the here-after. It reminded me of ‘Pind Daan’ or ‘Shraadh,’ performed by many Hindus believing this will relieve their ancestors of all sins and help their souls attain salvation.

Later in the night, as there was a fire-work display to celebrate the birth anniversary of the twelfth Imam - Muhammad al-Mehdi (a.s). The halwa was then distributed among our neighbors and the poor.

Shab-e-Baraat also known as Lailatul Bara’at, falls on the 14th/15th of Shaban, the eighth month of Muslim calendar. It is variously known to mean, ‘the night of commission’, or ‘the night of emancipation, forgiveness or atonement’. There are various beliefs and traditions regarding this night among Muslims. Many Muslims believe that on this night God writes the destinies of all humans for the coming year by taking into account the deeds committed by them in the past year. People pray to God both in preparation for Ramazaan and for the forgiveness of the sins committed by them. Some believe this night to be the night of good fortune and a popular legend says that on this night the Prophet (s.a.v.) visits each house and relieves the pain of suffering humanity. Shia Muslims believe that the souls of their ancestors and deceased relatives visit them on this night.

While there is no mention of Shab-e-Baraat in the holy Quran, Sura Dukhan does mention about Laila Mubaraka, which, according to some Islamic scholars is Shab-e-Baraat. It is believed that, on this day, the Prophet (s.a.v.) paid a visit to the Jannatul Bak’i graveyard to pray for the salvation of the souls of the departed including his martyred uncle – Amir Hamza, who had embraced Islam and had become one of its bravest champions. Many observe fasting during the day and perform nafal (optional) namaz at night.
The Shia Muslims associate this night with the birth of their last Imam – Mohammad al-Mehdi and pray for his reappearance. In the Indian subcontinent, candles and fire-work displays light up Shia neighborhoods. The parallels between the Hindu festival of Diwali and Shab-e-Baraat are apparent. Diwali commemorates the home coming of Lord Ram after 15 years of vanvaasa, on Shab-e-Baraat the Shias pray for the home coming of their Mehdi (a.s) since he disappeared or went into vanvaasa several hundred years ago. Diwali symbolizes the victory of Good over Evil. The Mehdi (a.s.) is expected to do the same –vanquish evil and oppression from this world.

Shias consider Hazrat Ali (a.s), who was indicated by Prophet (s.a.v.) as his successor, as the first rightful Caliph and Imam of the Muslims, and that after his assassination the spiritual headship descended in succession to his and Fatima’s posterity in ‘the direct male line’ until it came to Imam Hassan al’Askari (a.s.), eleventh in descent from Ali, who died in 874 A.C. or 260 Hegira. Upon his death the Imamat passed on to his son Mohammad al-Mehdi – ‘the Guide’, the last and twelfth Imam. The story of the Imam’s of the house of the Prophet(s.a.v.) are rather tragic. The father of Hassan al’Askari (a.s.) was deported from Medina to Samarra by the tyrant Mutawakkil and detained there until his death. Similarly Hasan (a.s.) was kept a prisoner by the jealousy of Mutawakkil’s successors. His infant son, Mohammad al-Mehdi (a.s.), barely five years of age, pining for his father, wandered about in his search and entered a cave from which he is believed to have disappeared. This tragic story ends with hope and expectation in the hearts of the Shias that the child will return to relieve a sorrowful and sinful world of its burden of sin and oppression. This Imam bears, among the Shias, titles of the Muntazar- the Expected, the Hujja – the Proof (of the Truth), the Kaim – the Living. Great sufi’s and Islamic theologists like Attar, Rumi, Jami and ibn-Arabi have referred variously to the twelfth Imam as the ‘Seal of Sainthood, ‘the Hidden Imam’, or the ‘Imam of the Time’.

The belief in the appearance of a savior or avataar in not too distant future is common to almost all religious traditions and cultures. There are over 700 prophecies from around the world which promise the advent of a world savior pledging spiritual revolution and redemption. The Hindus await the incarnation of Vishnu in the avatar of Kalki, the Buddhists wait for the reincarnation of Lord Buddha as Lord Maitreya, the Zoroastrians foretell the second coming of Zoroaster as Saoshynt, the Jews wait for their Immanuel, and the Christians wait for the return of Christ. However the interpretation of all the prophecies suffers from ‘religious myopia’. All religious follower believe that there can be only one savior – theirs. The savior from their particular faith is the only true redeemer. But perhaps the hallowed concepts of organized religions and messianic traditions themselves need to undergo death and resurrection before this world can be saved from itself.

Quotes: Stillness, silence and the present moment

2008-08-07T06:53:00.000-07:00

Be quiet. Quietness is the surest sign
that you've died.
Your old life was a frantic running
from silence.
The speechless full moon
comes out now.
- Rumi

" The discovery of the truth is the discernment of the false. You can know what is not. What is - you can only be. Do you understand that the mind has its limits? To go beyond, you must consent to silence."
- Nisargadatta

We can't listen and receive if we're constantly creating and projecting. We can't observe or be aware of what's behind us: Unconscious motivations, habits, energy blocks, knots, drains, etc., if we are busily creating more of the same. We need to learn and value the art of listening and observing. We find this place of Silence through surrender, after perhaps years of struggle to dis-cover the false self.
- Bob Fergeson

" There is a way between voice and presence where information flows. In disciplined silence it opens. With wandering talk it closes.
- Rumi

"It is, moreover, only in the state of complete abandonment and loneliness that we experience the helpful powers of our own natures."
- C.G. Jung

By learning to observe our thoughts rather than mechanically react on them only, can lead to a new level of being, one in which everything is possible, even our own becoming.
- Bob Fergeson

Only through staying in the present, and Being, can we be free of our mind and its misery, and access the power of Now.
Now - that intensely alive state that is free of time, free of problems, free of thinking, free of the burden of the personality.

" The whole essence of Zen consists in walking along the razor's edge of Now - to be so utterly, so completely present that no problem, no suffering, nothing that is not who you are in your essence, can survive in you. In the Now, in the absence of time, all your problems dissolve. Suffering needs time; it cannot survive in the Now."
- Ekhart Tolle

Free thinkers are generally those who never think at all.''
- Laurence Sterne

A listening which is attentive yet not reactive, and unaffected by circumstance and the constant changes of thought and mind.
- Bob Fergeson

Knowing that all thought is reactive and one step behind the present moment, we may begin to just listen, to observe without reaction. In this quiet, listening mind, something Real has the possibility of entering.
-Bob Fergeson

" The mind won't allow you to be in the moment...ever."
- Vicki Woodyard

"Any life, no matter how long and complex it may be, is made up of a single moment - the moment in which a man finds out, once and for all, who he is."
-Jorge Luis Borges

Flight of the Soul-Bird

2008-07-11T03:36:00.000-07:00

Equating the human soul with a bird is found in myth and mystical literature all over the world. From Hallaj to Sanai and Rumi, Persian mystical poetry has used the symbol of Bird, beautifully. The human soul, like a bird can choose to remain caged in this perishable world or fly towards Liberation. Ibn Sinna (Avicenna) used this motif and Ghazali wrote the Risalat at-tayr, “Treatise on the Birds”. The nightingale of Sufi poetry, yearning for the rose, singing night and day of its unfulfilled longing and union, suffering without complain the sting of its thorns - is the soul longing for eternal beauty. It is this longing that inspires the soul bird to sing. Longing is the most creative state that the soul can reach.

Rumi often spoke of the soul as a white falcon, exiled amidst the black crows, or a nightingale in the company of ravens. Rumi’s pun on the word falcon or baz, which in Persian also means “again or return”, refers to the baz’s desire to come back to its Lord and Master.

However the symbol of the soul bird’s jouney to is final abode is ingenuously developed by Attar – the master story teller of Iran, in his epic poem, Mantiq u-tayr, “The Birds’ Conversation”, also known as “The Conference of the Birds”. Fariduddin “Attar” (= seller of essence and scents), a druggist by profession, is considered by many as the greatest of the Mathnavi writers of Persian mystical poetry after Rumi. He was born in Nishapur (north-eastern Iran) and died there most likely in 1221 C.E. The idea of traveling and ascension towards the spiritual home, so dear to the mystics of Islam, found its most poetic expression in Attar’s poetry. The Mantiq u-tayr was modeled on the, Risalat ut-Tayr, Treatise on the Birds composed half a century earlier by another Sufi master, Ahmad Ghazali (d. 1126 CE).

The “The Conference of the Birds” revolves around the decision of the birds of the world to embark on a journey to seek out their king, the Simurgh - their debilitating doubts and fears, and the knowing counsel of their leader Hoopoe. Each bird falters in turn, whereupon their leader urges them on with parables and exemplary stories, including numerous references to some of the early Muslim mystics such as Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya, Abu Sa'id ibn Abi'l-Khair, Mansur al-Hallaj and Shibli. The different birds represent the different personality types among humans as well as the complex characteristics that make up the human individual.

In these 4500 couplets, Attar speaks to all of us – to our inner being. We are all born with wings, but few of us discover them in our lifetime. Wings to fly back to our home – the abode of the mystical Simurgh – the Lord of all Birds, who lives on the world encircling mountain of Kaf. This journey ultimately is the soul’s progression towards inner perfection.

The different stages along this spiritual journey, which may take a different sequence in different individuals, are symbolized by Attar as seven valleys. Perhaps the series of valleys are used to denote that this journey is not that of a single ascension. It occurs in stages, and once you crossed one valley, you find yourself at the bottom of another. Valleys can be both enchanting and entrapping and the wayfarer may be tempted to linger on or get trapped in one of them. These seven valleys may be interpreted as follows:

The valley of Longing and Searching: This stage represents the longing and searching of all creatures, who unknown to themselves, long for their original home. It is the strange yearning that overcomes some of us when we listen to beautiful music or behold Natures’ beauty – its mountains and valleys, oceans and springs…… It is this longing that drives us from one desire to another. Not knowing what it is that will quench our thirst once and for all - it is the Trishna of the Advaita yogi.

The valley of Love: This refers to the all consuming Love which purifies and the lover is regenerated and altered by it to such an extent that his very being undergoes a change – his every fiber raised to a higher state, resonating to a higher tune. True loving surrender, irrespective of religious tradition, reputation, name or fame, like the Love of Majnu for Laila; like the Love of Sheikh Sanan for a Christian maiden for whom he gave up the rosary for the ‘infidel’s’ girdle, like the Love of Mirabai for her Giridhar Gopal - the Bhakti and Samarpan of Bhakti yoga.

The valley of intuitive Knowledge: Also known as the wisdom of the heart, marifa or gnosis, this is direct revelation of the truth as apposed to ‘ilm’ or discursive knowledge. This is the Atmagyana or Atmabodh mentioned in Advaita. This revelation leads to detachment from all things perishable (valley of Detachment) and the realization of the unity of all existence (valley of Unity) – of both the phenomenal and the causative world. All opposites melt, everything is renounced and everything is unified. All forms merge into one singular Essence.
According to Jami, ‘ Unification consist in unifying the heart, that is, purifying it and denuding it of all attachment to all things other then “The Truth”, including not only desire and will but also knowledge and intelligence’. These valleys or states lead to the valley of Bewilderment, this is the long dark night of the soul, referred to by many Christian Gnostics - a state of perpetual sadness, and consuming desire – the agony of being in Love but not knowing with whom.

Finally in the valley of Poverty and Annihilation, the thirty birds who undertook the painful journey in the search of Simurgh realize that they themselves - si murgh (=thirty birds in Persian) are the Simurgh. The story thus ends with one of the most inventive puns in Persian mystical poetry. This is the ultimate sought after state of fana - the nullification of the mystic in the divine presence, when the seeker finds his way into the ocean of his own soul, all longing ends. However, this is not the end. When the soul has finished its journey to God, the journey in God begins – the state that the Sufis call baqa i.e. the absorption and abiding life in God, the Sat -Chit- Ananda of Advaita. Here the soul traverses ever new depths of the fathomless, divine being - which no tongue can describe. Referring to this state Ghazali says ‘When I saw the rays of that sun, I was swept out of existence. Water flowed back to water’. The water drop finally falls back into the ocean, and the mortal form of the moth is reduced to smoke and ash in his Beloved flame’s embrace. It is the Nirvana and the moksha of the soul-bird which has finally returned Home.

The Baha'i Faith and Sufism

2008-06-13T05:34:00.000-07:00

One look at the belief system and cosmology of the Bahai faith and one is struck by its simplicity and the willingness to accommodate all the religions of the world. The Baha’i faith appears to embrace the fundamental beliefs of all world religions without their excessive rituals and rites. The emphasis is on compassion, brother hood and universal unity. It preaches respect and acceptance of all faiths and makes no claim to exclusiveness. Just as you do not have to be a Muslim to follow the path of the great Sufi pirs, the follower of any faith could become a Baha’i without forsaking their original faith and members of many Sufi orders were Baha’is. However in the 1920s and ‘30s Shoghi Effendi (the appointed head of this faith from 1921 to 1957) attempted to wean Baha'is away from dual membership in other religious bodies, this led to the end of any membership by Baha'is in Sufi orders. Though individuals within the Baha'i community, with a strong orientation toward `Attar, Rumi, and Baha'u'llah's ‘Seven Valleys’ and other mystical works continue to exist.

The Baha’i faith was founded by Mirza Husayn Ali, in the nineteenth century Persia, who was later given the title of Baha’u’llah – meaning the Glory of God. His compatriot, Sayyed Ali Muhammad Sayyed, who later was given the title of ‘Bab’ or ‘the Gate’ prepared the way for the coming of Baha’u’llah – the Promised One. Baha’u’llah called upon his followers to be standard- bearers of unity based on love for their fellow men. He affirmed the belief in only one God whose essence is beyond the understanding of His creatures. The qualities of God such as His love, knowledge and power however are reflected in the Founders or Messengers of world’s great religions, each of whom established a religion that was suited to the needs of the time. The Baha’i faith considers Abraham, Moses, Krishna, Zoroaster, Buddha, Jesus, Mohammad, and Baha’u’llah himself as among the Messengers of God. This particular claim appears to be the strongest point of contention between Bahai’s and the followers of other faiths.
Much of the early works of the Baha’i faith were in the form of letters to individuals or communities, mostly written by the ‘Bab’ or Baha’u’llah. These are termed tablets. Baha’u’llah’s Kitab-i-Aqdas or the Most Holy Book and Kitab-i-Iqan or The Book of Certitude are among his major writings or ‘revelations’.
The similarities between mystical aspects of the Bahai faith and Sufism is striking, which makes one wonder if the Bahai faith evolved from Sufism or is perhaps a consolidated form of Sufism without it’s numerous ‘tariqas’ and excesses which crept into its various orders with the passage of time. While Sufism focuses on individual spiritual growth, the Baha’i faith strives at spiritual unity of the entire humankind.
Baha’u’ullah interacted with many Sufis during his lifetime and also had Sufi followers who were called Baha'i darvishs or urafa, including the well known Darvish Sidq-`Ali, the Baha'i Sufi and companion of Baha'u'llah, Ahmad Yazdi, and Mishkin-Qalam (a member of the Ni`matu'llahi Sufi order). The Baha’i Sufis had community gatherings on the evening of May 22 to celebrate the declaration of the Bab, this involved prayers specifically revealed for this occasion and staying up most of the night, praying and chanting remembrances (dhikr) of God. In fact according to Baha’i sources certain teachings of Baha’u’llah called "Tablets of the Sacred Night (Alwah Laylat al-Quds)" were revealed by Baha'u'llah with the intention that Baha'i Sufis should treat that night as a festival and read these Tablets. The contents of this short Tablet, which is an extended prayer to God, has many parallels with Sufi thought and practice. However these customs, ordained by Baha'u'llah, were discontinued in the twentieth century Iranian Baha’i community, the reasons for which are unclear.

The mystical path in Sufism is characterized by a strong emotional component in worship. Baha'u'llah evokes this aspect of that path when he calls upon God to "fill their yearning with ardent passion." Another goal of Sufism is to attain a mystical knowledge (`irfan) of God. In the beginning of the Most Holy Book, Baha'u'llah makes attainment of such mystical knowledge of God one of two prerequisites for salvation.
Sufis emphasize achieving a powerful understanding of God's Unity (tawhid), which too is mentioned in the Tablets of the sacred Night. Moreover, Sufis often use ‘scandalous’ metaphors for the spiritual drunkenness they seek, and Baha'u'llah also evokes these literary themes in the Tablet when he says, "Yes, my Beloved: give them to drink of the cup of life from the hand of this Youth in this garden," representing himself as the wine-server or "saqi." He speaks of the worship of the Sufis, that they "may make mention of Thee at eventide and sunrise," and such practices are also expected of all Baha'is in the Most Holy Book.
Sufis tended to seek to focus all their concentration upon God, finding Him in all things and using breathing and other meditation techniques to heighten their awareness of the divine. These practices are mentioned by Baha’u’llah in his writings. Continual awareness of God, in every spoken word, in every breath, and in every sight one sees, is an aspiration of mystics in many religious traditions apart from Sufism and Baha’i mysticism.
However there came a time in the history of Sufism when its forms were used and the contents forgotten. This led, for example, to "dervishes begging and expecting to be cared for because they were the holders of special, spiritual knowledge. Another problem was a feeling of superiority to recognized laws and codes of behavior which came about because they felt they had discovered the "real" truth of life. One of the beliefs that had crept in was that it was possible to experience God (the Divine Essense) yourself without a Mediator.
In his treatise called the Seven Valleys, Bahá’u’lláh talks to the Sufis of his day in their own symbols and forms. He uses the oldest form of the Sufi literature, the Seven Valleys (or Cities, as it is also known), of the Sufi poet Attar, to present his vision to the Sufis. His also quotes copiously from the great Maulana Rumi. In this mystical treatise Baha’u’llah sifts the wheat of Sufi teaching from the chaff that had crept in over the years. He says that mankind can have an experience of the Divine (Valley of Love), can grow in understanding (Valley of Knowledge), can experience the unity of all things (Valley of Unity), be content (Valley of Contentment), and experience amazement (Valley of Wonderment), but there is a veil between the Creator and the created which can only be penetrated by a Being of another quality than man. In other words a seeker of the Divine Essence can develop his consciousness considerably in this world, true contact with the Essence is impossible. Full development can only come through recognition of the Messenger and obedience to His Laws.
In recent years, the spread of Baha’i faith to various countries has led to increased organization within the international Baha’i community and ironically, a faith whose founder strived to do away with the ills of organized religions of the world, is itself facing similar problems. There are allegations, especially within the Baha’i community in the U.S. that the followers of this faith have become more fundamentalist in the last four decades. There seems to be an increased emphasis on doctrinal and behavioral conformity as a result, what was initially intended to be a liberal and universalistic tradition is shifting towards exclusivism and sectarianism. There are allegations of key sectors of Baha’i administration being run by Baha’i fundamentalists who misuse their authority to exclude Baha’i liberals in key posts.
There was a time when the Baha’i faith came to the aid of Sufism, perhaps it is time now for Sufism to come to the rescue of the Baha’is.

(photo credits: RonAlmog, Eviljohnius and Diabolic preacher)

Bhakti Saint Poets of India

2008-06-06T05:17:00.000-07:00

They belonged to various castes and communities, spoke a varied language and dialiects and came from different professions. We had Kabir the weaver, Namdev the tailor, Akho the goldsmith, Goro the potter and Chokhmela the mahar who rebelled against the exploitative caste system and exclusiveness of organised religion. While Eknath and Gyandev, the Brahmins from Maharashtra, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu from Bengal, and Shankardev from Assam strived for bringing about reform and transformation of religion. Namdev, Tukaram and Chokhamela from Maharashtra, the Lingayat Basavanna, Akka Mahadevi and Allamaprabhu from Karnataka spoke of a novel tradition based on equality of all mankind. Then there was Mirabai and Narasinh Mehta - who, intoxicated with the love of God, faced pain and suffering by singing and dancing to thier beloved Lord. They belong to no one religion or tradition. They belong to this country and its people. They did not write high philosophies in Sanskrit, but preached and sang in the common dialect and their poetry survived hundreds of years of oral tradition. The Santvani (song of the saints) of this land still vibrates in its air and ether, if we could only tune in.....

Bhakti poets - Premanand, the Manbhatt of Gujarat

2008-04-08T05:17:00.000-07:00

The tradtion of Brahmins (Bhatt) drumming on earthen or copper pots (mann) with their ringed fingers while narrating akhayans - melodious poetical compositions describing in detail, episodes from epics like Ramayana and Mahabharat is unique to Gujarat.

Born in Vadodara, Gujarat in the 17th century, Kavi Premanand was one such Manbhatt who raised the standard of Gujarati bhakti poetry with his akhayans to new heights. His simple yet vivid compositions reflected the life and culture of common people of Gujarat during the Mughal period. He travelled around Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh with his akhayans, narrating, with unique vivdness, episodes from Mahabharat and Ramayan.

to be continued......

Derasar and Dargah

2008-03-26T05:30:00.001-07:00

To the uninitiated, no two religions could be as far apart as Jainism and Islam. The former, carries the principals of non-violence to the extreme, wherein even the lowest life forms such as insects are not to be harmed; while in the latter consumption of certain birds and animals for food is a part of everyday life. But life style and diet do not make up a religion. Nor do rites and rituals. These are mere symbols to remind us of a higher Reality and tools to make us more receptive to this Reality. One has to rise above them in order to discern the common threads that run through all religions.

Perhaps Angar Pir, a sufi saint knew this when he protected these Derasars from the attack of Allauddin Khilji ; and so did Akbar when he granted the sacred Shetrunjaya Hill, in Palitana Gujarat, to the Jain muni Hiravijaya Suri to continue the construction of what was to become one of the largest complex of Jain temples (Derasar).

According to Shvetambara canonical books, Shetrunjaya was already a famous tirtha by the fifth century. Today, the entire summit of majestic mount Shatrunjaya is crowned with about 900 temples and shrines. The peak is a little over 3 km climb of about 3500 steps from the base. The Jains put all their devotional passion and considerable wealth into the creation of the most ornate marble temples; with exquisitely detailed relief carvings covering every inch of this temple complex. The entire complex was built and rebuilt over a span of 900 years. The act of ascending a path to reach a place of pilgrimage is a part of the Hindu and Jain consciousness, this is the reason why many of their holiest temples are located along hills and mountain ranges.

The Jains have five separate hill locations for their holiest clusters of temples and Shetrunjaya Hill in Palitana is considered the most important among them. Every devout Jain aspires to climb atop Shetrunjaya at least once in a lifetime, akin to the Haj of the Muslims, and as he makes this pilgrim bare footed, the Jain devout with a white coloured seamless cotton cloth wrapped around his body could be easily mistaken for a Haj pilgrim in an irham!!

Next to the Derasars, lies the Dargah of sufi saint Angaar Pir. Lured by the great wealth of the temple complex, Allauddin Khilji attacked these temples around 14th century and according to legend, Angaar Pir rose to the protection of these temples, and with the power of his prayer he hurled heavenly fire on Khilji’s army. Today, childless women visit the Pir’s Dargah to be blessed with a child. They offer miniature cradles to the Pir.

It is noteworthy that both Islam and certain sects among the Jains are against idol worship. The Jains are divided into two major sects, the Svetambar and the Digambar. Some sub sects among the Svetambar are apposed to idol worship and believe in internalization of the faith. Shri Mahavir, who was the twenty fourth and last Tirthankara (one who has attained enlightenment and shows the way to others) of the Jains, was himself against idol worship.

Both Jainism and Islam came in close contact with each other during historic times and influenced each others architecture and painting. This is apparent in a number of Masjids in Gujarat such as the Jami Masjid in Champaner.
During Akbar’s reign many Jain munis were invited to his court. Apart from Padmasundar, who is believed to be the first Jain monk to meet Akbar, we have a continuous flow of distinguished Jain saints to the court of Akbar and his successor Jahangir. The most famous Jain visitor to Akbar was Hiravijaya Suri who met him in 1582 C E.
Akbar was so impressed by Hiravijaya Suri that he conferred upon him the title of "Jagad Guru" or "the preceptor of the world." The faith of the Jain community in Akbar and the Mughal polity was strengthened when the ruler issued orders prohibiting the killing of animals on certain days sacred to the Jains. When Hiravijaya Suri left the court, he asked Bhanuchandra and his disciple Siddhichandra to stay back. They lived under the patronage of the royal court even after Akbar’s death, and Siddhichandra who had also learnt Persian, wrote "Bhanuchandra Gani Charit" a biography of his master.
There is yet another instance in Indian history when these two faiths came even closer. The Navayath community of coastal Karnataka are believed to be the descendents of Arab men and Jain women. Visiting Arab traders would marry the daughters of local Jain traders. Many of the Arabs would then continue on with their maritime trade travels living the women and children behind. As a result, the children grew up under a strong Jain influence of the mother, and the community today has retained many Jain customs like eating before sunset, dominance of vegetarian food and the dress and jewellery of the women of this community are similar to the Hindu-Jain traditions. This community has a unique language called Navayathi which is basically Konkani with a preponderance of Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, and Marathi words and the script used is Urdu. The Navayaths claim that their Arab ancestors were of the Shaafi sects who were traditionally a trading sect like the Jains, and were peace loving, diplomatic and friendly. According to some scholars the abundance of Persian words in Navayathi indicates that some of their ancestors may be from Iran while some historians trace their origin to South Yemen.
The rest of Gujarat and India could learn a lesson or two from the Jains, for when flames of hatred were unleashed in Gujarat after the Godhra carnage, the Angar Pir Dargah at Palitana remained untouched and the credit for this goes to the Jain community of Gujarat.

Imam Hussain: The Spiritual Warrior

2008-01-02T20:37:00.000-08:00

Black was the colour of pathos, and I was submerged in it. Women dressed in black sarees and salwar kameez were beating their chests to the chant of ‘Ya Hussain’. The chorus rose to a fevered pitch followed by a sudden silence. In that momentary silence was crystallized generations of mourning. The place – a Shia Muslim neighbourhood in Lucknow; the time – the tenth of Mohorrum. If grief has different shades, one can see it during Mohorrum.

While the rest of the world greets its ‘New Year’ with celebrations, the Muslims, especially Shia Muslims, begin Mohorrum, the first month of the Islamic calendar of Hijri, with mourning to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussain – son of Hazrat Ali and grandson of Prophet Mohammad. Over 1200 years ago, in the desert of Karbala, in present day Iraq, Imam Hussain and his small band of relatives and supporters sacrificed their lives for Islam.

From the first to tenth of Mohorrum, and sometimes for a longer periods, majlises (the Mulsim counterpart of Satsang) are held day and night in Muslim neighborhoods and Imambadaas where zakirs and zakiras (male and female religious orators) give sermons which climax with the heart wrenching tale of Karbala.

History has seen numerous massacres of innocent people, but the tragedy of Karbala is one of the few where men, women and children voluntarily allowed themselves to be subjected to hunger, thirst, humiliation and death on the burning sands of Karbala because they believed that Imam Hussain stood for righteousness. Little wonder that for over 1200 years Muslims, have been nurturing the tale of Karbala in their hearts like an open wound, lest they should forget the supreme sacrifice of Imam Hussain and his followers.

Great spiritual leaders are known to make great sacrifices, but at Karbala, common men and women with infants at their bosom, their hearts and souls aflame with righteousness, chose death rather than evil and weakness. Such was the greatness of Imam Hussain, such was his spiritual power, which could uplift common mortals to heights of supreme courage and sacrifice.

The writings etched on the durgah of sufi saint, Khwaja Garib Nawaz, proclaims in Persian:

Shah ast Hussain, badshah ast Hussain
Deen ast Hussain, deen panaah ast Hussain
Sar daad, na daad dast dar dast-e-yazeed
Haqu-e-binney la ilaahaa ast Hussain

Which loosely transliterates as :

Hussain is the king, the king of kings,
He is righteousness; the guardian of righteousness is he.
Gave his head to Yazid, but his support gave he not,
For Hussain is the witness to the truth of God.

The tragedy of Karbala took place in 680 AD on the banks of the Euphrates in Iraq but Karbala has a universal appeal and in today’s climate of violence, it is more relevant than ever. The tragedy of Karbala and its spirit of non-violent resistance and supreme sacrifice has been a source of inspiration to the likes of Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Nehru. The former’s first Salt Satyagrah was inspired by Imam Hussain’s non violent resistance to the tyranny of Yazid. Gandhi is said to have studied the history of Islam and Imam Hussain, and was of the opinion that Islam represented not the legacy of a sword but of sacrifices of saints like Imam Hussain. Nehru considered Karbala to represent humanities strength and determination. According to the great poet Rabindranath Tagore, Hussain’s sacrifice indicates spiritual liberation. Munshi Premchand, one of India’s greatest Hindi/Urdu writers, a visionary and reformer, eugolised the tragedy of Karbala in his famour play ‘Karbala’. Premchand’s Karbala was published both in Hindi and Urdu in the 1920s. This was the time when Hindu-Muslim relations were strained and the battle between Hindi and Urdu was raging. Premchand’s Karbala was aimed at both the Hindu and Muslim audience. This play was not just Premchand’s tribute to the martyrs of Karbala but also an attempt at reconciliation of declining Hindu-Muslim relations. In his introduction, Premchand drew parallels between Karbala, Mahabharat and Ramayan.

In the words of a famous Urdu poet Josh Mahlihabaadi:

“Insaan ko bedaar to ho lene do,
har qaum pukaraygi hamare hain Hussain

(Let humanity awake and every tribe will claim Hussain as their own. )

Another poet, Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar says

Qatl-e-Hussain asl main murd-e-Yazid hai,
Islam zindaa hota hai har Karbala ke baad”

Which loosely transliterates as:

In the murder of Hussain, lies the death of Yazid,
For Islam resurrects after every Karbala

Kabir: the weaver of mystic

2007-10-15T22:37:00.000-07:00

Where do you seek me O devout?
I reside neither in the temple or in the mosque
neither Kashi or in Kaba
Neither in rites or in ceremonies
Neither in Yoga or in renunciation......
the true seeker shall find me in a moments realisation

for I reside in the very breath of your being....

(translated from the ‘Bijak’ collection of Kabir sayings)

Sometime in the 15th century lived a julaha – a ‘low caste’ muslim weaver, who preached the oneness of all men and all beliefs, the futility of all religions and rituals and the eventual passing away of all that is of flesh or of material in this phenomenal world. His name was Kabir.

He claimed no sainthood or a personal philosophy. He taught the religion of love, in a language that could be understood by all – the twilight language of the mystic poets, bhakti saints and sufi poets. Kabir was the first, the first to imbibe a pluralistic tradition in his teachings and poetry, the first to transcend both Hinduism and Islam. Many were to follow in his foot steps….Akbar, Dara Shikoh, Amir Khusro…., but Kabir was the first to win the hearts and souls of the people who mattered – the common people of this land.

An illiterate, he spoke of the highest esoteric truths in a simple language. A simplicity that the ‘learned’ pundits and maulvis are incapable of. One can see the synretistic reflections of Advaita theology and intense and personal passion of Islamic mysticism in his spontaneous compositions.Indian sufis in Delhi, Agra and Kashmir were reading his poetry during the rule of Jehangir and Shah Jahan. He was a predecessor of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikh religion and the sacred Guru Granth Sahib contains a substantial number of Kabir's verses.

Kabir is believed to have been born around 1398 and died around 1448. Most of his life was spent in the Banaras-Magahar region of present Uttar Pradesh . He was a family man and did not retire from the world to pursue a life of contemplation. He lived the simple life of a Julaha and died like one, earning his living at the loom and spurning the company of the 'learned' and royality alike. He beleived that the simple and hardworking life of an ordinary man was the world in which the quest for Higher Reality could be fullfilled.

According to Kabir, every individual has to find his own Path and seek liberation from this illusory world of Maya. This, he says, can be achieved through unwavering love for the Higher Reality or God and compassion for fellow humans. He compares the individual soul or atman to the Hansa or swan, who will leave the cage of this body and fly away into the vastness of the limitless sky:

Ud Jayega Huns Akela,

Jug Darshan Ka Mela

Jaise Paat Gire Taruvar Se,

Milna Bahut Duhela

Naa Jane Kidhar Girega,

Lageya Pawan Ka Rela

Jub Howe Umur Puri,

Jab Chute Ga Hukum Huzuri

Jum Ke Doot Bade Mazboot,

Jum Se Pada Jhamela

Das Kabir Har Ke Gun Gawe,

Wah Har Ko Paran Pawe

Guru Ki Karni Guru Jayega,

Chele Ki Karni Chela

this can be loosely translated as :

Alone you shall fly O Swan

This world is a brief fanfare

Like a leaf that falls from a tree

where to it will fall,

where to the wind will carry it

no one can tell

once your life is over

servitude and slavery is over

the omens of Yam (Death) are strong

it is Yam (Death)you will encounter

Kabir had immersed himself in the praise of God

and God he will attain

the Guru will reap his karmas

and the desciple his.

Kabir's another composition addresses the Swan thus :

O Swan let us talk of ancient tales

where from have you come

and what dark shores do you seek ?

wake ! arise!

the morning is upon us

follow me

and I will take you to a land

where there is no sorrow

no fear of death

where the wind blows

with the fragrance of

"I am thou''

in Whose nectar the bee of the heart

is deeply immersed

and yearns for no other joy...

Ironically, after his death, by building a Hindu samadhi and a Muslim shrine in his honour , his Hindu and Muslim followers re-created the very barriers that Kabir sought to destroy in his life time.

Fasting among various faiths

2007-10-07T07:53:00.000-07:00

There’s a hidden sweetness in the stomach’s emptiness.
We are lutes, no more, no less. If the sound box
is stuffed full of anything, no music.
If the brain and the belly are burning clean
with fasting, every moment a new song comes out of the fire.
The fog clears, and new energy makes you
run up the steps in front of you.
Be emptier and cry like reed instruments cry.
Emptier, write secrets with the reed pen…….

-Rumi (translated by Coleman Barks and John Moyne)

Fasting has been in practice for a long time in the religious and spiritual history of mankind. It finds mention in the Mahabharat, the Upanishads, the Old and New Testament, the Bible and the Quran and various other sacred texts. Among the Hindus fasting takes on many variations from complete abstinence from food and water to selective eating or partaking of just one meal a day. The objectives too are many and varied. Various fasts are observed the year round to appease various deities, some married women fast for the well being and prosperity of their husbands, while the unmarried fast to gain a worthy husband. At another level fasts are undertaken for the purification of body and control of the ego (mann) and desires (vaasanaa). This is a preparatory phase for contemplation and meditation. Among the yogis, fasting along with other austerities is observed to attain various siddhis (supernormal powers). In the Bhagavad Geeta, Krishna tells Arjun:

Who so shall offer Me in faith and love
A leaf, a flower, a fruit, water poured forth,
That offering I accept, lovingly made
With pious will. Whate’er thou doest, Prince!
Eating or sacrificing, giving gifts,
Praying or fasting, let it all be done
For Me, as Mine. So shalt thou free thyself
From Karmabandh, the chain which holdeth men
To good and evil issue, so shalt come
Safe unto Me—when thou art quit of flesh—
By faith and abdication joined to Me!

Many Buddhists eat just one meal a day in accordance with the account given in the Mahayana Sutras, which mentions that Buddha ate just one meal a day, before noon. Buddha had realized that desire had its root in the mind and could be transformed in the mind. Fasting could help in subduing the body’s coarse desires and converting them to wisdom. Fasting is regularly practiced among the Buddhists to aid meditation and healing. In Uttarpurna, on of the religious texts of the Jains, it is mentioned with reference to Lord Mahavir:

"After fasting for two and a half days, taking not even water, engaged in deep meditation, he (the Venerable One) reached the highest jnana (knowledge) and darsana (intuition), called kevala, which is infinite, supreme, unobstructed, unimpeded, complete and full."

Among the Jains, fasting is usually observed during Puryushana, which is the period when the Jain Sadhus take a temporary break from their wanderings. This period falls during the monsoon months. Fasting for the Jains is an opportunity to follow complete non-violence and to meditate and pray.

For the Jews the major fasting days fall on the Yom Kippur and Tisha B'Av. According to the well known Rabbi Zvi Ish-Shalom:
‘In the Book of Vayikrah (Leviticus 16), the Torah says with regard to Yom Kippur: shabbat shabbaton hi lachem v’initem et nafshoteichem - “a shabbat shabbaton shall be for you, and you shall afflict yourselves”. And so on Yom Kippur we attempt to activate – to draw out of ourselves in some way – that deathless state of being, that awareness of our eternality, that angelic dimension that is typically asleep within us. We do this by fasting, praying, meditating and studying. We do this not in a spirit of sadness or mourning, but in a spirit of celebration and in a celebration of spirit; with the joy that accompanies the realization of our soul’s innate and direct connection with the Divine.’
It is noteworthy that among the Jews and the Shia Muslims, fasting is also a form of collective mourning for a past tragedy. For the Jews it is the destruction of their Temple in Jerusalem and the assassination of Gedaliah Ben Achikam, the Governor of Israel during the days of Nebuchadnetzar King of Babylonia. For the Shia Muslims it is the martyrdom of Imam Hussain at Karbala, which falls on 10th of Mohorrum (Ashuraa). Moses is believed to have fasted for forty days and nights while he was on Mt. Sinai communing with God.

In Christianity, fasting metaphorically means refraining from satisfying hunger, thirst and other lustful desires. Fasting is believed to be a kind of self purgatory to drive away all the demons (negativities) from your body and soul. Certain Christian groups, such as the Anglicans observe a forty day partial fast in memory of Christ who fasted for 40 days in the wilderness before facing Satan (temptation).The Bible says:

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer kept returning to my bosom. (Psalm 35:13)

It further says:

"And whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance in order to be seen fasting by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. "But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face so that you may not be seen fasting by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you. (Matthew 6:16-18)

Prophet Mohammad is believed to have said something similar with regard to fasting:

"Every good deed is rewarded from ten to seven hundred times over, but God says fasting is the exception; it is for Me, and My servant forgoes his eating and drinking for my sake, so I Myself will reward My servant for it."

Among the Muslims, fasting during the holy month of Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam – mandatory for all adult and healthy Muslims.
The Quran says:

“O ye who believe fasting is prescribed for you...so that you will (learn how to attain) piety"

"Ramadan is the (month) in which Quran was sent down, as a guide to mankind, and a clear guidance and judgment (so that mankind will distinguish right from wrong). Whoever among you witnesses the month of Ramadan should fast through it..." (2:183)

In the month of Ramadan, forgetting their differences, Muslims all over the world, whether Shia or Sunni, Barelvi or Deobandi, Ishana’ashari or Agha Khani all observe this season of fasting and praying – together as one brotherhood.

Among the mystical dimensions of all major religions such as Advaita, Sufism, Cabbala, and Gnosticism, solitude along with fasting, not just of the body but of thought and speech are observed before and during prolonged phases of meditation to make one receptive to the higher Truths.

It is apparent that most religions share similar beliefs with regard to fasting. It is rather unfortunate that instead of cherishing the similarities among various faiths we continue to focus on the differences.

(This article has also been published by TwoCircles.net)

Sufism: Being in love with Love

2007-09-02T22:57:00.000-07:00

As I navigated my way through the maze of lanes in Nizammudin West (Delhi), that led to the durgah of Amir Khusro, I was appalled by the filth, and crass commercialization that seem to ooze from every corner of those lanes. ‘Could these lanes really lead me to the shrine of one of greatest Sufi poets of this continent …?’, I wondered to myself, struck by the irony of the fact that the final resting place of such divine a soul was now surrounded by the most base of human passions.
I began to reminiscent as I trudged along - ‘Who were these beings called ‘Sufis’ …?’. They were of flesh but without its weaknesses, ever lost in the love of the Divine. Yearning, seeking and then, rejoicing in the union with their Beloved. One cannot define Sufism, or for that matter mysticism, it would be like trying to hold water in a clenched fist. A true Sufi is in love with Love. Love that is all encompassing and infinite, for isn’t love another name for God? The great Sufi poet Rumi describes this Love as “drinking without quenching”. The essence of Sufism is to be in love with God with such intense passion that it leads to the dissolution of the Self (fana) and the lover becomes one with the Beloved.
It is in essence similar to the Bhakti Yoga of Hinduism. Complete love leads to complete surrender to the will of God. With the ego no longer an obstacle ‘illusion’ is replaced by ‘awareness’ of the divine nature of all things. However one cannot be initiated into Sufism by reading about it or practicing the various rituals associated with it or by contemplation. It is a spontaneous process like falling in love. It just happens to you by divine grace or not at all.
Historians describe Sufism as the mystical core of Islam, tracing its roots to Prophet Mohammad who is believed to have received two fold revelations – the one embodied in the holy Koran and the other in his heart. The former was meant for all and the latter was to be imparted to a selected few through a line of succession. However according to Sufis the essential truths of Sufism exists in all religions. Sufism is like river which has been flowing through many lands, imbibing the culture and religious beliefs of the region it flowed through.
As I reached the durgah, waving aside the various hawkers selling all kinds of ‘religious’ trinkets, I was in for a disappointment. The durgah itself seemed to have been robbed of its sublime aura by the decades of decadence that had befallen the people in charge of its upkeep. The so called ‘custodians’ of the durgah had become scavengers of faith. I returned home to my collection of Khusro’s soul stirring compositions, they were now his only incorruptible legacy.

Notes: Nizamuddin, is a south-Delhi locality named after the dargah of the Sufi Hazrat Nizamuddin Awliya. Next to his grave lies buried his greatest desciple: Amir Khusro who was a poet, philosopher, musician, and linguist. Amir Khusro Dehlavi (1253-1325) brought music to sufism and made it sing, blending folk and calssical music Amir Khusro was the genius who through his love for the Divine, music and poetry defined the pluralistic tradtions of the Indian subcontinent.

It is noteworty that both Nizamuddin Auliya and Amir Khusro were against organised religion as they believed that the clergy were more interested in power than in spreading the word of God.

The image at the top is an artist's impression of Amir Khusro

The Path

2007-08-31T23:48:00.000-07:00

This world they say is an illusion....a dream. Our thoughts and actions are like threads of a net that we weave around ourselves. A veil has been drawn over our mind's eye and we live out our lives bound and blind folded. Life, they say is a play of shadows through which most of us sleep walk.Few have awakened from this sleep and have tried to show light to the rest of humanity. They succeeded only partly, passing away, leaving behind empty forms to be distorted and misused by their followers.Holy books, sacred messages, rites and rituals, they say, are mere shells. The spirit within, having long departed, along with the Messenger. These shells and forms are mere signposts for those who seek the formless.....and only the true seeker, they say, will find the Path.

Buddha: the Awakened One

2007-08-31T23:39:00.000-07:00

It is said that soon after his enlightenment the Buddha passed a man on the road who was struck by the Buddha's extraordinary radiance and peaceful presence.

The man stopped and asked, "My friend, what are you? Are you a celestial being or a god?"

"No," said the Buddha.

"Well, then, are you some kind of magician or wizard?"

Again the Buddha answered, "No."

"Are you a man?"

"No."

"Well, my friend, then what are you?"

The Buddha replied, "I am awake."

Asho Dara

2007-08-30T22:16:00.000-07:00

The image at top is that of the Bilingual edict (Greek and Armaic) by king Ashoka, from Kandahar, Afghanistan. (this edict has now disappeared ). Below it is an image of Dara Shikoh.