Spiritual Empowerment

SJ78-SpiritualEmpowermentby Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

All Human beings carry within themselves a light that belongs to God. This light is our most precious substance. It is our divine essence, our true nature. It is also potentially the most powerful force in the universe, as it contains the power of the divine, the Source of all that is created.

Knowing that we are one reconnects us with the whole life in every moment, and in this reconnection we both empower and are empowered.  Our spiritual light is the light of the whole, and our light is also in service to the whole.

It is time for humanity to reclaim the knowledge of how the divine works within creation.  It is time for us to step into spiritual adulthood and realize the true meaning of co-creationism:  our divine light working with the divine light within creation.  It is up to us: if we do not take this step, a door will remain closed, and the soul of the world will know the despair of a lost opportunity.  If we respond to the call of the times, we will play our part in the miracle of life being reborn.

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The Meaning of Surrender

SJ78Discourseby Alireza Nurbakhsh

The first step on the path of Sufism is to surrender oneself to God.

The essence of surrender to God is our acceptance of the world as it is.  There is a story in the Bhagavad Gita illustrating this point about acceptance in a profound way.  There was a sage who repeatedly pulled a drowning scorpion out of the Ganges and who was repeatedly stung for his efforts.  Asked why he kept rescuing the venomous creature, the sage replied that it was the nature of a scorpion to sting but that the nature of a human being is to save.

… in a fundamental sense, spiritual surrender does not have to be in conflict with the effort to better ourselves and our surroundings.  Accepting the world as it is does not mean that we should not or cannot contribute to its harmony and beauty.  One of the hallmarks of those who have surrendered to God is that such people are no longer motivated and driven by self-interest since it is this quality that brings them into conflict with others, thereby terminating the path of their surrender.  It goes without saying that it is only when we are not at war with ourselves and others that we become creative and sympathetic to others.  After all, it is our essence to save.

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Archives Issue #78

SJ78-CoverTHE MEANING OF SURRENDER  by Alireza Nurbakhsh

SPIRITUAL EMPOWERMENT by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

HAST O NIST  by Dani Kopoulos

ON THE “PATH OF LOVE” TOWARDS THE DIVINE: A JOURNEY WITH MUSLIM MYSTICS by Omid Safi

FLY FIRST CLASS  by Anonymous

POETRY from Ralph Earle, Robert Sternau, Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh, Hafiz translated by Jawid Mojaddedi, John Slater and Jeffrey Einboden, Elizabeth Peacock, Annouchka Bayley

ARTWORK Featured cover photograph of a painting by Nouriman Manouchehri from the Paradise Series 2006-2007

BOOK REVIEWS Tales of God’s Friends: Islamic Hagiography in Translation, edited by John Renard, Rumi’s Sun:  The Teachings of Shams of Tabriz, translated by Refik Algan and Camille Adams Helminski, The Quatrains of Rumi:  Ruba’iyat-e Jalaluddin Muhammad Balkhi-Rumi, translated by Ibrahim Gamard and Rawan Farhadi

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Hast O Nist

SJ78-HastONistby Dani Kopoulos

Although we may question the spiritual usefulness of hope, hopes still rise up within us all day long.  They can’t be seen, only the most pressing are shared.  Physical hopes of convenience.  Hope the L-train will wait until I get down the stairs.  Hope this pay phone works. Hope my transfer is still good.  Hope the rain lets up.  Hope I have enough cash on me for a coffee.  Hope he calls.  Psychological hopes of approval:  Hope this paper is good enough.  Hope I say something smart.  Hope my face looks good.  Hope she looks up at me.  Hope he doesn’t think I’m desperate.  Emotional hopes that bubble up and make you teeter throughout the day.  Hope the chemotherapy works on him.  Hope she can handle his absence.  Hope he’s not late again tonight.  Then, the moral hopes, the only point of all hopes, the over-arching hopes in the background of every moment, a low tension hum:  Hope I don’t get old.  Hope I’m good enough.  Hope I don’t feel pain.  Leading to the only real motivating force, the hope against hopes:  Hope I don’t die.

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