Very often the word initiation is misunderstood. Many think it is initiation in a secret society, or that it is an experimental trial, or some phenomena. As there is no other expression, I have for the sake of convenience, used the word initiation. Initiation in Sufism is called Bayat. No doubt the word initiation also explains some of the mystery, for the meaning of the word suggests the sense of taking initiative, advancing, or going forward.
Many ask if it is desirable for every soul to take initiation. As the word initiation means “to go forward” the answer is that progress is life, and stillness is death. Whatever be our grade of evolution, it is always advisable to try to go forward, even in business or a profession, in society or in political life, in religion or in spiritual advancement. No doubt there is a danger of being too enthusiastic. When a person’s nature is too enthusiastic, instead of benefiting them, it may harm them in whatever line, worldly or spiritual, they are trying to move forward. For everything there is a time, and patience is necessary. A cook may burn food by giving more fire to it, in an effort to cook it quicker. In all things this rule applies. With little children, the parents are often anxious and enthusiastic; they think their children may learn and understand every good and interesting thing on earth. Too much enthusiasm is not right. We must give time to all things. The first and most important lesson in life is patience. We must begin all things with patience.
The Sufi Order is mainly the esoteric school. There are three esoteric schools most known in the East, the Buddhist School, the Vedantic School and the Sufi School. Two of the schools, the Buddhist and the Vedantic schools, use asceticism as the principle means for spiritual advancement. The peculiarity of the Sufi School is that it uses humanity as the main path for spiritual advancement. In the realization of Truth, the Sufi School is not different from the Vedantic or even from the Buddhist, but the Sufi presents Truth in a different manner. It is the same form in which Jesus Christ has given his teaching, and the same form that was adopted by the prophets of Israel. No doubt the way of spiritual development with the help of contemplation and meditation is used in all three schools. The science of breath is the foundation of each of these schools. However, the Sufi thinks that a human being was not created to live the life of an angel, nor was a person created to live the life of an animal. For the life of an angel, angels are created, and for the life of an animal, animals are created. The Sufi thinks the first thing necessary in life is for a human being to prove to their own conscience the extent to which they can be human. It is not only spiritual development, but it is also cultural development that defines our humanity. This includes a person’s standing in relationship to their neighbors or friends, to those who depend upon them, and to those who look to them for guidance or support. It includes a person’s relationship to those strangers who are not known to them. It depends on how a person relates to those younger and older than themselves; how they relate to those who like them, who dislike them, and who criticize them. The cultural development of our humanity also includes how a person should feel and think and act through life, while continuing to progress toward the goal that is the goal for every soul in the world. It is not necessary that the Sufi must seek the wilderness for meditation, for a part of the work can be performed in the midst of worldly life. The Sufi need not prove themself a Sufi by extraordinary power, by wonder-working, or by an exceptional spiritual show or claim. A Sufi can prove to their own conscience that they are a Sufi by watching their own life amidst the strife of this worldly life.
There are some who are content with the beliefs taught to them at home or in their church. They are contented. They can just as well rest in that place of realization until another impulse is born in their heart to go on higher. The Sufi does not force upon such souls Sufi beliefs or Sufi thoughts. In the East, there is a custom of saying that it is a great sin to wake anyone who is fast asleep. This saying can be symbolically understood to mean that there are many in this world who work and do things and yet they are asleep. They seem awake externally, but inwardly they are asleep. The Sufi considers it a crime to waken them. For some, sleep is good for their health. The work of the Sufi is to give a helping hand to those who have had sufficient sleep and who now begin to stir in their sleep, to change sides. It is giving this help that is the real initiation.
No doubt there are things that pass ordinary human comprehension. There are things a person can teach only by speaking or by acting, but there is a way of teaching called Tawajjeh that is teaching without words. It is not external teaching; it is a teaching in silence. Consider this: how does a person explain the spirit of sincerity, or the spirit of gratefulness, how does someone explain the ultimate Truth, the idea of God? Whenever it has been attempted it has failed; it has made some confused, and has made others give up their belief. It is not that the person who explains has not understood, but the words they use are inadequate to explain the idea of God.
In the East the great sages and Saints sit quite still, with lips closed, for years. We call them Munni, which means “the person who takes the vow of silence.” The person of today may think, what a life, to be silent and do nothing! This person does not know that some by their silence can accomplish more than another can by talking for ten years. A person may argue for months about a problem and not be able to explain it; another person with inner radiance may be able to answer the same thing in one moment. So, the answer that comes without words explains still more. That is initiation, as we call it.
Of course, no one can give spiritual knowledge to another person, because it is something every heart has within it. By initiation, what the teacher can do is to light, with their own light, the light hidden in the heart of their disciple. If the light is not there, it is not the fault of the teacher. There is a Persian verse by Hafiz where he says, “However great be the teacher, before the one whose heart is closed, the teacher is helpless.” Therefore, initiation means initiation on the part of the disciple and on the part of the teacher, a step forward on the path for both. On the part of the teacher, a step forward with the disciple that the pupil may be trusted and raised from their present condition; a step forward for the pupil occurs when they open their heart, having no barrier, nothing to hinder the teaching in whatever form it comes, in silence, or in words, or in seeing some deed or action on the part of their teacher.
In ancient times, the disciples of the great teachers learned by quite a different method, not an academic method or way of study. The way was that with an open heart, perfect confidence, and trust, they watched every movement the teacher made toward friends and toward people who looked at the teacher with contempt. The disciple watched how their teacher, in times of trouble and pain, withstood it all, how patient they had been when those who did not understand were arguing, how wise they had been to answer every one gently in their own language. The disciple witnessed their teacher’s Mother spirit, Father spirit, Brother-Sister spirit, Child spirit, Friend spirit. They watched their teacher’s forgiving kindness, their ever-tolerant nature, respect for the aged, compassion for all, and thorough understanding of human nature. This also the disciple learned: that all disputes and books on metaphysics can never teach all the thoughts and philosophy that come up in the human heart. A person may either study for a thousand years or they may get to the source to see if they can touch the root of all wisdom and knowledge. In the emblem of the Order there is the heart in the center, the sign for the Sufi that from the heart the stream rises, the stream of divine knowledge, the stream of inspiration.
On the path of initiation two things are necessary, contemplation, and living a life as the Sufi ought to live. Both depend upon each other. Contemplation helps a person to live the life of a Sufi, and the life of a Sufi helps contemplation. The question arises, especially in the West where life is so busy and where there is no end to the responsibilities at every moment: is it not too much, when we are tired, to engage in contemplation, even if only for ten minutes in the evening?
The answer is, it must not be too much, for the very reason that in the West contemplation is required even more than in the East, where everything, even the surroundings, are helpful to contemplation. Besides, a beginning must be made on the path. If contemplation does not develop in such a form that everything one does in life becomes a contemplation, then the contemplation does not do that person any good. It would be like going to church once a week and forgetting all about religion the other days. For a person who is giving ten or twenty minutes every evening to contemplation and all day forgets it, the contemplation will do no good. We take our food at certain times every day, yet all the time, even when we are sleeping, the food nourishes our body. It is not the Sufi’s idea to retire in seclusion or to sit silent all day; the idea is that by contemplation a person must be so inspired that in study, in every aspiration, progress is attained in every aspect of life. In that way, a person proves their contemplation to be a force helping them to withstand all difficulties that come to them.
The life a Sufi ought to live may be explained in a few words. There are many things in the life of a Sufi, but the greatest is to have a tendency to friendship. This is expressed in the form of tolerance and forgiveness, in the form of service and trust. In all expressions of a Sufi’s life, the central theme is a constant desire to prove their love to humanity, to be the friend of all.
Now that I have explained in a few words the subject of initiation, I will explain the Sufi Movement. The Sufi Movement consists of three sections. The central Section is the Esoteric School. In this school, those who are seekers after Truth and wish to follow the path with faith and confidence and trust, are welcome. Then there are two side sections.
One is the section of Brotherhood-Sisterhood. Its objective is to unite humankind, separated now by boundaries of castes and creeds, of nations and races, to unite humankind in the understanding of wisdom, in awakening the conscience in humanity by which people may be able to see that the happiness of each depends upon the happiness of all. In this section, everyone is admitted and welcome. We can never have enough workers in this time of great need of human brotherhood-sisterhood. The Sufi Movement is a nucleus of human brotherhood-sisterhood. This part represents the nucleus formed not with the view that all should become members of the Sufi Movement, but that we all may become members of the human brotherhood-sisterhood, as children of God.
The third section is the devotional part of the Order. This is for people who have, perhaps, some belief, but are not satisfied with that belief; or others who do not go to any particular church, but at the same time have a side to their nature that needs religion and prayer. There are some who will not believe unless they are intellectually satisfied; for them this section works. It gives them the elements of all religions; it gives them tolerance for different religions and faiths, so that they may learn to respect the religions of others, religions which have perhaps inspired numberless souls but are not known to the followers of other religions. This unity of religion in prayer and thought is the real brotherhood-sisterhood in religion, nature’s religion. It is taught in this section in the religious line.
The central path is the path of initiation. To those entering this central path the other sections become open.
Undated
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