Contents

1. Introduction

2. Sacred Self-Disclosure

3. The Aramaic Lord’s Prayer: Issues in Meaning,

Practice and Experience among the Abrahamic

Traditions

4. The Language of the Sacred: Words, Symbols and

the Universal Grammar of the Quran

5. Sacred Messages: Allowances for Changes in

Language, Culture and Circumstances

6. Perennial Message of the Buddha

7. Quranic DNA and the Sufi Inheritance

8. Awakening: A Tao, Zen and Christian Practice

9. Hinduism and its Essential Truth

10. The Original Message of Islam and its Historical

Variations

11. Academy of Self Knowledge (ASK)

12. Photo Gallery

Iqbal Jhazbhay

Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri

Shaykh Saadi Douglas-Klotz

Dr. Ali Allawi

Prof. Bruce Lawrence

Prof. Kobus Kruger

Shaikh Kabir Helminski

Aliya B. Haeri

Dr. Pankaj Joshi

Shaykh Hosam Raouf

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

pg

pg

pg

pg

pg

pg

pg

pg

pg

pg

pg

pg

2

3

5

7

8

10

12

13

14

15

19

21

Introduction

This 12th annual Conference on The Original Meaning of the Sacred Messages was, once again, no ordinary gathering. Under the radiant caress of Shaykh Fadhalla Haeri, the conference programme was manifest with unveilings, clarities, inners and outer ascensions.

Drawing on the in-depth knowledge of a number of veteran scholars, the participants were transported into the world of Aramaic, Arabic, Sanskrit, Persian and Urdu, where our speakers explored those inter-connected threads of the scattered jewels of sacred meaning (al-Quddus).

It was heartening to note this annual conference continues to attract a number of participants from vari-ous parts of South Africa, as well as far-fledged corners of the world. This togetherness of hearts, minds and souls is surely an up-lifting and awe-inspiring moment of Grace. ‘’He made them inhale the per-fumed breezes of the rose of near encounters and the herbs of proximities and unions.’’ (Ruzbihan Baqli)

There is now little doubt that the annual Academy of Self Knowledge Conferences is now an institu-tion, as it were from a hidden world, which is worthy of emulation! May Allah, Glory be to him who is transcendent, anoint our eyes with further moments of delight from the angelic realm and, increase our insight into the subtleties of His Majestic Names (asma al-husna).

Prof. Iqbal Jhazbhay

2

Sacred Self-Disclosure Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri

3

1. Introduction: Creation is Sacred Expression

Every instant or event reveals itself and tells its story. Countless realities, evolving or devolving within veils or patterns that repeat, multiply or vanish in the mist of no-thingness with or without trace.

The intelligent voice asked about the meaning and purpose of human fears, struggles, desires, and hopes. Is it all futile absurdities and senseless illusions? What is the truth of the moment? What is really Real? Who are we? Where are we? Why can’t i play with angels? Why my curiosity has no end? Why can’t I enjoy durable rest? I want to know the truth, not elegant reasons and wisdom. Please tell me!

The Powerful Pleading reached my heart and soul and my voice tried to convey what I know as True and Real within existence, with or without trace. The Truth leads the senses to discern creational realities; all of what exists as relative and ever changing entities, measurable forms and energies - with or without trace, everywhere, at all times.

Whatever there is in the universe, celestial and terrestrial; stones, plants, animals and humans trans-mit and receive expressions and signals of their condition in time and place driven by souls or energies, which overflow by grace from the Universal Essence – Allah. There can be no existence without a sacred connection. Allah encompasses all.

2. The World Now and its Past

The ancient primal drive for survival is constantly modified by ideas, notions, and experiences of break-through in higher consciousness; spiritual arrival. Human consciousness some thousands years ago began as self awareness and the experience of needs; stability as well as excitement. The migrating nomadic clans roamed and multiplied. Languages transmitted along with skills of adaptation to the envi-ronment; always longing to belong and to be forever content and happy; seeking safety and ease and the comfort of traditions and cultures. The past and history give the illusion of continuity.

With agriculture, raids, defence and the relentless drive for acquisition increased to the point of self de-struction. Noah’s ark floated towards its uncertain destiny and landed precariously on a promised land. Thereafter, “a few”, were inspired with higher insights of truth which brought contentment and light to hearts. Love of power and fear of “the other” induced kings to evoke religion as a cover for greed, plun-der, and collective organised warfare.

The human gene is etched with traces of the past – millions of years. Our cells recall the nomads in-nocent laughter; living and dying as continuation of eternal life yet for the last 500 years the powerful forces driving our lives have been personal ambitions, individualism, specialism and acquisition of outer wealth to the detriment of the heart’s cry and return to the inner sanctum and contentment.

3. Nature of Creation and Human Condition

Whatever exists signals its presence and is linked with the rest of creation in subtle or obvious ways with or without noticeable traces. The original sacred oneness appears in balanced dualities of attraction and repulsion with every message, by which we witness the dynamics of life’s theatre. A scientist may see much of nature through chemistry and physics, but Rumi calls it, divine love; the power that unites and holds the Universe. The man of faith simply names it, Allah!

The most crucial paradox is the self/soul dynamic where the Soul or spirit is veiled by the biographical veils of ever-changing self or ego. The miracle is how matter and energy are inseparable and are in essence One and reflect the origin of all of Creation- the one Essence whose traces are in the Universe but itself remains – The ONE without definition or boundaries.

Natural evolution pursues a path towards higher consciousness and closeness to the ever-present sacred Essence. Human beings have the additional ability to recognise the lower self as a shadow of the inner light and then by ‘will’ turn to the Soul and sacred presence for reference.

4. Self Realisation

The Soul knows all and the self has the potential to know what is within reason and causality. Creativity or great insight and breakthrough are due to the light of the Soul beaming through an open Heart.

The Soul is the transmitter of life, knowledge, ability, will and all modes of subtle or discernible connec-tions and communications - the self desires all of these qualities which become fully available through Unison between head and heart, or self and soul. This soul unison is named as ‘self realisation’.

The Soul is “truth’s presence“ and confirms that all worldly experiences are passing shadows and illu-sions emanating from its ever-present perfect conclusion. Truth and Reality is One - ever permanent, eternal and perfect. Life’s journey is an exercise to realise that outer desires never end nor lead to last-ing contentment. Whatever is needed for inner joy and happiness is already here – ever present. Yet we struggle, fight, deny, lie and become habituated with self delusions and personal veils. The Grace of the soul is here within time but its nature is timeless nor confined to space. It is sacred presence and ever-perfect. Self declaring - a reflection of the One.

‘Self knowledge’ begins by responding to the call of the lower self, then evolves by turning away from all outer manifestations or justified distractions to the original attraction of the Soul. Divine Love and sacred passion will burn all remaining traces of earthly shadows. The baby becomes an adult to realise that all previous phases were rites of passage to be transformed by the original light’s call to itself. The human being carries the sacred message which simply declares:

“La illaha Ilallah Muhammadan Rasulullah”.

4

The Aramaic Lord’s Prayer: Issues in Meaning, Practice and Experience among the Abrahamic Traditions

This talk arises from the Sufi ethic of sister/brotherhood, which asks that we offer spiritual food to the world, to help deepen the faith of all believers in the One Being. The Aramaic-speaking prophet Yeshua holds a special place in the Holy Quran as well as in Sufi literature. Yet the actual wisdom of this prophet is often overlooked, as many assume it is buried under centuries of acculturation and the editing of the Christian scriptures themselves.

This talk offers perspectives on how to recover some of the original message of Jesus, alluded to in Quran and Hadith, using methods of Semitic language interpretation common to both Sufism and Jewish mysticism. It applies these methods to the words of what was later called the Lord’s Prayer, in Jesus na-tive language Aramaic, as testified in the Peshitta version of the Gospels, used by Eastern Christians. The talk further demonstrates why Jesus holds such a special place in the Quran, as well as to offer a way for Christians and Muslims to enter a deeper dialogue around their common roots. The talk also features a brief offering of public spiritual practice, in the nature of sister/brotherhood, to deepen the actual experi-ence of Jesus native wisdom.

Shaykh Saadi Douglas-Klotz

5

The Aramiac Prayer of Jesus (“The Lord’s Prayer”)(Transliteration and interpretive translation from the Peshitta (Syriad-Aramaic)

version of Matthew 6:9-13 & Luke 11:2-4 by Neil Douglas-Klotz)

1. Abwoon d’bwashmaya O Birther! Father-Mother of the Cosmos / you create all that moves in the light.

2. Nethqadash shmakh Focus your light within us – make it useful: as the rays of a beacon how the way.

3. Teytey malkuthakh Create your reign of unity now – through our fiery hearts and willing hands.

4. Nehwey sebyanach aykanna d’bwashmaya aph b`ar`ah Your one desire then acts with ours, as in all light, so in all forms.

5. Habwlan lachma d’sunqanan yaomana Grant what we need each day in bread and insight: subsistence for the call of growing life.

Shaykh Saadi Douglas-Klotz Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri

6

6. Washboqlan khaubayn (wakhtahayn) aykana daph khnan shbwoqan l’khayyabayn. Loose the cords of mistakes binding us, as we release the strands we hold of others’ guilt.

7. Wela tahlan l’nesyuna Don’t let us enter forgetfulness

8. Ela patzan min bisha. But free us from unripeness

9. Metol dilakhie malkutha wahayla wateshbukhta l’ahlam almin. From you are born all ruling will, the power and the life to do, the song that beautifies all, from age to age it renews.

10. Ameyn Truly – power to the statements - may they be the source from which all my actions grow. Sealed in truth and faith. Ameen.

The Language of the Sacred: Words, Symbols and the Universal Grammar of the Quran

•The Language of the Sacred – a track whose roots are from a zone beyond time and space. It is not just the vocabulary in which it is transmitted but it is expressed in a form of outward grammar, however, to be sacred the text be it the Quran or anything else must have another aspect to it, an attribute that is so divinely related to the Divine;

•This sacred text is the link between ultimate reality and all existent entities alike;•Every alphabet and grammar in the sacred text is a reflection of the Divine as the connection with

the Divine must have its own grammar;•Sublime beauty is found in the sacred text but once it is subject to logic and ration we do not see

this sublime beauty and the access to Haq (Truth) is lost;•Haq and Barzakh go hand in hand, Haq means Allah (God) and must be another interspace where

Barzakh is. The Quran is the interspace between Allah (God) and Human Beings;•The Quran is a tool to the unseen and also recognizes its origin with other texts that have been

revealed before;•Belief in the Quran in its unfolded form means belief in the previous texts; Surahs such as Suratul

Mayada clearly speak of the Prophet Isa and the last supper and the revelation of the Gospel as well as confirm the revelation of the Taura before the Gospel;

•The process of transmission is a given reality through sacred texts and is proven by looking at the history of human beings;

•The way sentences are constructed in the sacred text have their parallel in the cosmic reality which assist in bringing creation into being;

•This bringing of creation into being has its own grammar however it is Divine reality that expresses itself void of sound and the principles of created reality are found void of sound;

•Divine letters of the alphabet used in sacred texts have a hierarchy related to various realms of crea-tion and being, examples of such are Ha which has the highest ranking of the Divine alphabet, Hu brings creation into being and it is the absolute form in which tawheed is expressed, Ha points to the ultimate essence and Hu points to the realized attribute;

•Each word in the sacred text has its reflection in the world of the unseen, if looked at vertically and it is essential to read the text in this way causing the vague ambiguities to disappear;

•For a person trying to evolve their spiritual function the sacred text can bring them to tears espe-cially if they are open to what the sacred text is saying;

•Other words from the Quran that are related to the language of the Divine are Kun and Bah, the vowel in Kun even though not written connects creation and its coming into being, it is said that all of existence is in the Ba of Bismillah and all the essence is captured in the dot;

• It is often mentioned that sacred texts are very complicated but if you reduce everything to the dot it is in fact very simple;

•One problem with sacred texts is that the ability to reach the absolute is lost when translated due to the evolution of language as time changes, Surah Rhum gives great keys to understand the macro aspects of being especially when bringing in the sense of the vertical (The Divine) and finding the meaning to the text.

Dr. Ali Allawi

7

8

What is the Transcendent Power of the Noble Qur’an, the Book of Signs? We have heard that it must be relevant in every age. What does that mean? To be expansive, opening new vistas of possibility, hope and self-discernment? Yes, but also something else: to be playful, exposing the direst human circum-stances to Divine Humor. Divine Humor? Yes, it is the doppelganger, the exact twin of Divine Wisdom. If we humans have difficulty grasping Divine Wisdom, we also struggle mightily to absorb, and are more often confounded by, Divine Humor. Why should God – Allah taalah – not laugh? He created man in His own image, and that allows us to laugh, even frolick, with the shadow of the Divine within us. The examples of Divine Humor come from the Noble Qur’an:

a) consider the isolated letters (muqatta’at) at the beginning of several chapters. They are not wasted Divine breath – projected through the Angel Jabril to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). They have multiple roles, some of which Dr. Ali Allawi alluded to in his morning talk, but surely one of these roles is to dumbfound us human beings, to remind us perpetually that we can know all of Divine Wis-dom, etc.

b) consider also the feeble human effort to name, and therefore to know the meaning of the book ends in the Noble Book, the opening prayer, and the paean to absolute Oneness. (The last two surahs are apo-tropaic, and need not concern us in this reckoning.) No one has exhausted names for the first and final chapters of the Book of Signs. It multiplies beyond our human knowing, even as it requires, invites and supports us to strive continuously to engage its palimpset of meanings, values and lessons for our lives.

And with this advance notice about Translation –its needs and dangers, Repetition – its benefit and insistence, and Transcendence – its remoteness from us and its place at the heart, and the core, of each of us, the first and most significant lesson of Divine Humor, let us turn to two of the greatest poets of Islamic lore, and find their lessons for us today.

Jalal ad-din Rumi: Drunken Poet, Timeless Twirler

Timeframe: 1270

Rumi and Ibn Arabi lived in the same century. They were both devout Muslims. They were both learned in a range of sciences, from grammar and rhetoric to logic and law to philosophy and theology. They were also steeped in knowledge of the Qur’an and the spectrum of Traditions or Reports linked to the Prophet Muhammad. And they were motivated to seek Truth beyond the external form of ritual and rules. They were multidimensional travelers on the Path to the Unseen, the One beyond human knowing and experience yet part of all that is, has been or ever will be.

Despite their historical and spiritual convergence, they were also very, very different seekers. The quest defined them as fellow travelers but not close companions. While Ibn Arabi sought the inner meaning

Prof. Bruce Lawrence

Sacred Messages: Allowances for Changes in Language, Culture and Circumstances

9

of the Quran, Rumi sought its display in the wonders of creation. In the verse of Rumi tailors and shoe-makers, cooks and gardeners become the subjects as readily as philosophers or theologians or poets! Inanimate as well as animate beings find ways to praise God

Jump from 13th cent. Konya to 20th cent. Lahore

Muhammad Iqbal - Indo-Pakistani visionary poet/applied philosopher

Time Frame: 1935

Who is the Poet of the East? For many Muslims, especially those of India and Pakistan, there is only one, obvious answer: Muhammad Iqbal (1873-1938). A Kashmiri, a Punjabi, an Indian, a Pakistani, Iqbal was above all a modern day visionary poet, and it was the Qur’an that framed his vision.

In 1873 Iqbal was born into a devout Muslim family. His ancestors had been Hindus, even Brahmins, from Kashmir, but during the high Mughal rule of Shah Jahan they had converted to Islam. They had also moved from the Kashmir valley to the plains of the Punjab, and it was there that Iqbal received both a religious and secular education. He loved Arabic, above all for the resonance of the Qur’an but also for the great works of literature and philosophy that it opened to him. He wrote poetry from an early age. It took him into another realm, the imagination, and dimmed the reality of what now confronted him and his fellow Muslims. By the turn of the new century the worldly fates of Muslims had become very sad. Mughal glory had been superseded by British raj, and in 1905 Iqbal went to England to learn from the new Mughals, the Raj. There he studied law and earned his law degree, but he continued to study literature and it was at the behest of one of his English professors specializing in Persian literature that he also went to Germany. He earned his doctorate in Munich before returning to India at the age of 35. Though he had to practice law to make a living, it was poetry that animated him. It gave meaning to his life, and earned him high renown.

While Iqbal tried to weave together philosophy and poetry, he made the latter the medium of the former, and the former the servant yet substance of the latter. If he was a poet philosopher, as some declared him to be , then his goal was to marry dialogue to dialectics in a way that neither the Greeks nor their modern successors had done. His beacon was Muhammad not Aristotle, and it was the Book of Gabriel entrusted to Muhammad that revealed for Iqbal a true dialogue between God and man. It was not one way but two way. It was continuous and freighted. It began with man’s complaint

And so to reconstruct religious life in Islam is to relocate, to find, and to celebrate the life from within. One still must use sources from the Islamic past - from scripture (the Qur’an) to poetry (above all, Rumi) - but one does so differently now in the 20th century. Because European political structures and technical achievements have benefited all humankind, one must apply a pragmatic test even to divine revelation. It is in the scientific precision of the Qur’an – a sign book that is also a rule book, mingling magic with logic - that one confirms for modern man the eternal value of Gabriel’s message to the Prophet Muhammad.

Iqbal seemed to recognize, even as he was delivering these lectures in 1926, that he had let the jinn (that is, the genie) out of the bottle. The trust of God to humankind was no longer a book apart from other books; it was a book that stood tested, and confirmed, on the anvil of modern science, with its rules of evidence, its guidelines and its protocols. But how could it be otherwise? Did not science have

to be the handmaid of God, and if His handmaid, then were not its rules His rules? For the modern Mus-lim, as for our ancestors on the path of faith, the challenge was the same: never cease dialoguing with God. The question raised by modern science was the same question raised in every age: whose author-ity is it that makes and shapes and confounds the world?

“Whose world is this, yours or mine?” - that was question Iqbal addressed in a poem published in 1935, but three years before his death. The Wing of Gabriel compressed meaning into sound, and made of the sound an echo that lingers. It was as though Iqbal the philosopher could only come to terms with the tragic separation of humanity from its source in God in verse.

The key word of this poem is loss. The loss is occasioned by Adam’s fall, so graphically told in the Qur’an (Q 2:30-39) But how does his moral loss on earth compare to his primordial ejection from heaven? After all, was not the fall of Adam from heaven also an epic moment of loss for the angelic realm? Did not paradise become less energized, its spectrum of creaturely response reduced, when man, Adam, ceased to be part of the chorus echoing God’s eternal praise? It is a question as bold as it is rare. It is perhaps the major bequest of Muhammad Iqbal, the poet philosopher to his own generation, and to future generations, of believers. After all, what is the final worth of a poet philosopher if not to broach questions which, in the clunky prose of a religious specialist, would be denounced as utter heresy? Thanks be to God for the Book of Signs, the Noble Qur’an, as also its lyrical interpreters and steadfast frolickers, Mawlana Jalal ad-din Rumi and then in our time Allama Muhammad Iqbal.

10

Prof. Kobus Kruger Prof. Bruce Lawrence

11

Perennial Message of the Buddha

The paper hinges on two distinctions: (a) the distinction between conscious intentionality and implied tendentionality, and (b) the distinction between historical origin and metaphysical Origin. As far as historical origin is concerned, it argues that Buddhism did not start with scriptural revelation, but as oral tradition, which allowed it considerable hermeneutical freedom. Its founder, Siddharta Gautama, also cautioned against traditionalism and authoritarianism, and placed the emphasis on personal discovery. His own biography illustrates this: his ultimate discovery was presented as the outcome of the search of a human being, endowed with a extraordinary intelligence, integrity, honesty, courage, love, and spir-itual insight, and ultimately revered as the Buddha. As far as metaphysical Origin is concerned, original Buddhism did not set out from theistic presuppositions, but from the notion of absolute Emptiness/Absoluteness, stripped of the very notion of eternal Being. In later Buddhism (Yogacara) precisely that Absoluteness is also the Origin of all. The paper is led by the notion that ultimately, tendentionally, all religious and mystical systems should be seen ‘totalistically’ , in their togetherness.

Prof. Kobus Kruger

Dr. Ali AllawiAliya B. Haeri

12

Quranic DNA and the Sufi Inheritance

Information intelligently ordered directs energy which creates physical manifestation. The greatest evi-dence of this in the physical world is DNA, which is literally a language of life.

The Arabic Qur’an is also a language of life and it’s DNA is the consonantal root system of the language which employs a structure similar to DNA, which is composed of four letters in different positions.The Qur’an is a communication from the Creative Power that brought us into existence, informing and educating us about the purpose of our existence. It is a user’s manual for our humanness from the crea-tor of humanness. It expresses the axiomatic principles, the science of the soul.People in the West often ask the question: What is the relation between Islam and Sufism? The source code of the Qur’an became the fundamental language and operating system that Sufis unfolded and con-tinued to creatively express the original creative act. It is as if the Qur’an is the DNA that transmitted the finest qualities of spirituality and humanness. However, this is not a material transmission as much as it is a transmission in the realm of meaning, for human beings are in the end meaning-seeking beings. The realization of the highest truth and meaning is our greatest pleasure and highest purpose.

Shaikh Kabir Helminski

Advice of Mevlana Rumi:

1. In generosity and helping others, be like a river2. In compassion and grace, be like the sun3. In concealing other’s faults, be like the night4. In anger and fury, be as if you have died5. In modesty and humility, be like the earth6. In tolerance, be like the sea7. And either appear as you are, or be as you appear.

Dr. Ali Allawi

13

Awakening: A Tao, Zen and Christian Practice

A magical childhood, growing up in the Hawaian Islands, in the Pacific Ocean, was imbued with a seamless connectedness with all nature, and the world around me was vibrant and alive. I later went off to New York City to pursue higher education, and that world disappeared as I became involved in University Studies and the urban cultural attractions of this Metropolis. In my quest for meaning and to re-discover that lost sense of unity, I embraced Islam with its path of Sufism. I never saw Islam as a religion, perhaps more as a message? Was it a way of life? Islam was a tool, a practice for transformation by observing its daily and regular practice. A spiritual technology to lessen the dominance of the self so that the sacred light of the soul, that was already there could radiate. In this way Islam is a living thing. Living for a few years in a Sufi community revealed vital teachings: we all are souls of the same One source, that I am just like you in that way which unites us all, one and inseparably. During an inten-sive spiritual retreat, a single meal of brown rice, carrot sticks and lightly sautéed onion crescents with sprinkled roasted sesame seeds, was the tastiest and the best meal I have ever had. I also saw that it is by labeling and judging people and experiences that we remain in duality and trapped in our conditioned mind. By relinquishing our judgment and attachments, we then can see things clearly, just as they are, without being defensive. The Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “O Lord, let me see things as they are”.

We who want to actualize our true nature must bring out the divine qualities (as ma al husna) within that are latent in ourselves. Hence, the goal of our path is not to acquire divine qualities, for we are already enlightened. Rather, the goal is to relinquish our human qualities of ego and self-concern and the light that is already there will radiate. This, in essence, is ‘surrender’, or aligning your will to God’s will.It is revealed that God said,” I was a hidden treasure and I loved to be known, therefore I created, so that I can be known.”

From the great unknown, came the word, “Kun (be!)” and into the universe came millions of things of creation. And everything radiates its meaning. We are the meaning of the sacred message. We manifest the message, the qualities of the Divine (love, compassion, power, truth, beauty and majesty) into this world and the lives of people around us. How we live our meaning will decide the kind of world our chil-dren and their children will live in.

“The remedy is within you, but you do not know it. The illness is from you, but you do not see it. You think you are an insignificant entity yet within you is enfolded the entire universe. You are the effulgent book. By your signs, what becomes hidden becomes manifest. So you need not look beyond yourself, what you seek is within you, if only you would reflect!” Iman Ali ibn Abi Taleb

Aliya B. Haeri

14

Hinduism and its Essential Truth

From the ancient mists of time, man has sought the metaphysical significance of the conception of Self-Consciousness. The whole field of philosophic thought has been torn by the conflicts of the metaphysi-cians, some regarding the Self as entirely distinct from the Absolute, others regarding it as a part of the Absolute, and yet others regarding the Self and the Absolute as entirely identical.

These constitute respectively the fundamental positions of the three great metaphysical schools of Vedanta – the dualistic (Dvaita), the qualified Monistic (Vishista-advaita) and the Monistic (Advaita). Never has any land possibly experienced such vigorous and prolonged argumentative debates as have been witnessed in India throughout the history of its thought.

The questions arise: Is there any way out of the difficulty? How is it that each of these different meta-physical schools of thought comes to interpret the same Upanishadic passages as confirming its own different metaphysical doctrines? Is there not a common body of metaphysical doctrine in the Upani-shads which each of the metaphysical schools has only partially envisaged? Is the utterance of the great-est of Indian Philosophers not a pointer to the truth when they said that the Schools may battle among themselves, but yet that Philosophy is above the Schools?

May we not find a supreme clue to the reconciliation of these different battling doctrines? I think we have to go back to the Upanishads themselves, with our mind entirely purged of all scholastic interpre-tation and personal prejudice.

Dr. Pankaj Joshi

Dr. Pankaj Joshi

It is true that reconciliation of different schools must come, initially through understanding and ultimately by personal verification through mystical experience. We can look at the problem philosophi-cally, and go back to the texts of the Upanishads themselves, to arrange them in serial order of devel-oping philosophical propositions, and comprehend the fact that there are a series of relative truths that we experience before we arrive at the Absolute Truth. Then we will finally go to a vista of supreme reconciliation spreading out before us among the opposing viewpoints.

When we are able to grasp the evolving relative truths by progressive development through spiritual unfoldment, we will, finally, arrive at the unitary experience of the One. Whether this state of Abso-lute Monism is to be arrived at by mere intellectual apprehension, or mystically realised, depends upon whether we are by nature destined to be merely torch-bearers, or mystics on the spiritual journey.

15

The Original Message of Islam and its His-torical VariationsPractice

In the Glorious Quran, the Sabians are mentioned in three different Suras. In Surat Al-Maida 5/69, Allah The Exalted says “Surely, those who believe, and those who are Jews, the Sabians and the Christians -- whosoever believe in Allah , the Last Day, and make righteous deeds, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.”

The following are some extracts from the book Genza, the Sabians Holy book , where the Sabians declare their Tawheed:

The Lord is glorified, His essence is pure. He is The Lord of all the worlds, He is Exalted, Most Dignified, Self Subsistent.

The Mighty, The Wise, The All-Knowing, The All-Seeing.Commander of all things. Can not be seen or confined to a place.Has no equal to His Greatness, Has no partner to his authority andHis Sovereignty. He is the ancient voice which He gave to Adam, the father ofhumanity. Adam prostrated and glorified the King of all lights, themost high, Allah our Lord the King of all the lights.

OriginThe name Subba (singular subbi) is a colloquialism that the people accept as referring to their principal cult, immersion in water, but the more formal name for their race and religion is Mendi or Mandaeans, and this is what they call themselves. They are monotheistic people who lived and still live in Iraq and the Ahwaz, the south of Iran and read Az-Zabur (the Psalms of the Sabiun) and were neither Jews nor Christians. Manda means the helper, the interceder, the savior. It also means knowledge, or gnosis. The Aramaic (also Arabic) root Seba means immerse, baptize, wash.

One of the theories about their origin is that they were the remnants of the Jewish tribes who remained in Babylonia when the other tribes left for Jerusalem in the days of Cyrus.

ReligionMandaeism, the religion of the Mandaean people, is based more on a common heritage than on any set of religious creeds and doctrines. They believe in the hereafter, also in the immortality of the soul, and its close relationship with the souls of its ancestors.

They believe that when a person dies, his soul travels to the other world after three days. During these three days his soul oscillates between his home and the grave. Afterwards the soul will be judged, and if his good deeds are many it will travel to the world of lights. If not, it will go through seven stages of

Shaykh Hosam Raouf

16

torture. This is a clear indication that they believe in the Hereafter.

A major characteristic of the Mandaeans is the frequent ritual use of running water, for baptism and ritual purification. They regard water as sacred. They use it frequently to clean every thing including the places of worship.

The Mandaean religion has five fundamental pillars:

The First is the oneness of the Glorious Ever Living Deity (i.e.Tawheed). They believe that every thing returns back to its origin.(like when Muslims say Inna Lilah wa Inna Ilahi Rajioon). Their Tawheed goes back 3,000 to 4,000 years before Christianity.

The Second is Baptism. (especially on Sundays, the weekly holy day) This a form of Wudhu as in Islam and Baptisim in Christianity..

The Third is Prayers, three times daily; at sunrise, noon and sunset. Their prayers are proceeded by purification and washing.

The Fourth is fasting. They have a Long Fasting period and a short fasting one. The long is for anything that angers the Lord (such as not following His commandments and obeying His prophets). The small fast is for not abstaining from slaughtering and eating animals.

The Fifth is Benevolence i.e. doing charitable and humanitarian deeds, like caring for the orphans, the old, the sick, and the ones in need. (This is the third condition as required by the Quran for them not to have fear, or grief).

The Mandaeans do not accept converts, and they have no objections if somebody leaves the faith. They do not recognize Jesus, Abraham, Moses, and Muhammad as prophets.

Scripture / The BookThe Mandaeans have a large body of religious scriptures, that have never been printed, such as the Genza, the Dashad Yahya and Diwan Abathur. The most important of them is the Genza Rabba or Ginza.

The Ginza Rabba is divided into two halves – The Ginza Yamina or the Right Ginza and Ginza Samala or Left Ginza. The first half contains Genesis, the second contains the book of souls and deals exclusively with the dead. It is written upside down.

A quotation from the Genza:“Small I am among the spirits, a child among the people of light, but I will grow up, and grow because I drank water from the mouth (source) of the Euphrates. (They regard the Euphrates as sacred). LanguageTheir language, known as “Mendaic”, is a Semitic one with 24 letters. It was the original language that prophet Jesus (AS) spoke i.e. Aramaic, but with an eastern accent. This language is used for their reli-gious literature. Being a Semitic language it has many similarities and common roots with Arabic and Hebrew.

17

MarriageMandaeans believe in marriage and procreation, and in the importance of leading an ethical and moral life while in this world, placing a high priority upon family life. Consequently, Mandaeans do not practice celibacy or asceticism they regard them as sins.

They are polygamists, but it is rarely practiced. If a man has no wife, there will be no Paradise for him in the hereafter and no Paradise on earth.

Although their women are not in hijab, most of their regulations about women and their penal law are similar to the Islamic practice, while pollution caused by touching the dead bodies are similar to those of the Torah.

People And PopulationThey are a shy and secretive people and do not readily disclose their beliefs or explain their cult. They are totally different from the Haranian Sabians of Syria who worship the planets.

They are not a large community (60-80,000 scattered all over the world, but mainly in the south of Iraq and Iran). Peace-loving and with no political aspiration, they have not been much mentioned in history.

SkillsThe skills of the Subba as craftsmen are evident in silver and gold jewelry making. They have a special technique for making black etching on silver, a process they keep secret. Their beautiful handicraft are seen in many shops in Baghdad, Beirut, Damascus and Alexandria.

SymbolismA darfash is “a cross with cloth hanging off it,” It is the symbol of their religion.This is a personal account of how I came to Islam at the end of a long search for Truth and about the

18

Shaykh Hosam Raouf Ibrahim abdul-Malik

Academy of Self Knowledge (ASK)

ASK is based on the teachings of its founder, Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri, a writer-philosopher who combinesknowledge and experience of the spiritual teachings of the East with a keen understanding of the West.He was raised in a family of several generations of Islamic spiritual leaders in the Holy City of Karbala.Educated in Europe and America, Shaykh Fadhlalla was active in the oil industry and internationalbusiness, which he later abandoned in pursuit of spiritual knowledge. His re-discovery of the universalityof the true Islamic heritage enables him to understand and relate to the spiritual quest wherever it mayarise, irrespective of culture or ethnic diversity. Shaykh Fadhlalla established a charitable trust withactivities in several countries, in education, health and publishing. One of his main aims is to makeaccessible to younger generations the Prophetic way of life, through the discovery of the root andfoundation of the Divinely revealed message and its ever present perfect Creator.

Courses Offered OutlineA traveler needs appropriate maps, the means for traveling, for example a vehicle, fuel, and provisions.He also needs a wider understanding of the terrain and environment of the journey. He must know hisself and the world outside, and read the environment appropriately before he embarks on the journey.Self-knowledge, divine knowledge and enlightenment, are indeed the purpose of this journey, from theCreator unto Him. This is the purpose of this course.

Course I : Cosmology of the SelfHuman beings are all travelers in time and space. We experience diverse situations, and whatever isattractive to us we wish to preserve and prolong, and whatever is not desirable we wish to repel. Yetwhat we desire in childhood may be most undesirable in adulthood. Thus, our mind changes constantly,as does the outer situation. Yet we wish to bring about constant harmony, balance and on-goingness.Life’s paradox is based on transient realities and permanent truth. We experience changing realities, andyet hanker after the absolute truth. The life we experience draws all its energies and patterns from theabsolute truth, manifesting in infinite ever-changing realities.

If we are to attain knowledge, we need to start by reading and following the map of existence. This mapgives you a broad scale, as well as minute details of the different cities. It relates to the oceans and spaceabove the earth. It encompasses forms, actions, meanings, and the energy source behind it all. You needto qualify to read the map, and highlight the appropriate parts that are relevant for your journey at anyparticular time. The outer map of existence can only be comprehended as a projection of the inner mapwithin the heart of man. That is the meaning that the human being is a microcosm, and within him liesthe entire pattern of the macrocosm. Self-knowledge is based on reading the map and applying it, bytraveling along the highways and bye ways, making mistakes and correcting them.

Course II : Prophetic PrescriptionsHaving studied the map, and gained the ability to read it appropriately, now you need to be kitted outto travel. It is like going to the driving school for life, and it is here that wisdom and religious training isrequired. It is here that you learn the highway code, traffic rules, basic understanding of the vehicle, itsfuel requirements, and other related necessities for a journey. It is also in this course that you see howmistakes and vices can lead you to virtues and correct actions. It is also here that you need role models,

19

20

and to learn from successful drivers, who avoided major disasters and steered an optimal course in theirlives.

In this course you learn how all religious practices transform the individual from an existential,functional entity, to an enlightened being. He then deals with the change of terrain, yet has his sight onthe ultimate horizon of the ever-present light. This course teaches the student to function within thelimitations of this world, and yet constantly refer to the limitless zone of absolute perfection thatproduced this world. It shows the seeker that no one can stop worshipping perfections, and yet no onecan attain them for any durable time.

Course III : The World as ISHaving got the map and its details, and the qualification to drive, you also need to have an idea aboutthe local conditions that relate to outside factors, such as weather, safety, security, and other relatedissues. You’ll be foolish to take your car out of the garage if it is likely to hail, or if you know there isa big forest fire a mile down the road, or there are land mines all around you. Besides the foundationsof self-knowledge, and self-grooming and accountability, you need a clear understanding of the worldyou are living in. You need to know how the present local as well as prevailing global cultures havecome about. Who are the role models, and what are considered as desirable and sought after activitiesamongst people? What is the trend in the changing value systems, whether to do with behaviour ormaterial goods? The Prophetic model relates to appropriateness and living the moment. How can you dothe right thing in the right way at the right time, if you don’t understand the different waves of culturesand civilizations prevalent at the time?

This third course gives you a foundation in history, geography, philosophy, and other aspects of humanlife, to equip you appropriately, at an age that is very different from previous times, and yet similar, inthat all of us seek happiness and contentment no matter who we are, or where we are.mistakes and vices can lead you to virtues and correct actions. It is also here that you need role models,and to learn from successful drivers, who avoided major disasters and steered an optimal course in theirlives.

Photo Gallery