International Journal of Naqshbandi Tariqat 0ct-Dec 2011

International journal OF

A Quarterly Journal Volume 1 Issue IV October—December 2011

TO RISE ABOVE NARROWNESS LEADS TO TRUTH

Truth is existential. Truth is beyond Time and space!

Know this as Spirituality!

A Production of

Naqshbandia – Mujaddadia – Mazaharia – Ramchandria Tariqat

Sufi Mystic Shakuntala Devi Rabia Al Basri

The International Journal of Naqshbandi Tariqat

Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page i

The International Journal

Of

Naqshbandi Tariqat

© The International Journal of Naqshbandi Tariqat

And Taoshobuddha Meditations

All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in

aretrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, mechanical,

photocopying, recording or otherwise, withoutprior written permission of the

original publisher TAOSHOBUDDHA MEDITATIONSTM and TAOSHOBUDDHA.

Printed and Published by TAOSHOBUDDHA MEDITATIONS

Cover design and graphics: Anand Neelambar

CHIEF EDITOR: ANAND NEELAMBAR, TRINIDAD

ASSISTANT EDITOR: LARS JENSEN, STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN

ADVISORY EDITOR: MAULWI JALALUDDIN AHMAD AR-ROWI, MALAYSIA

HONORARY EDITOR: SAHABZADA MOHAMMED ZUBAIR MUJADDADI,

ROZAI SHARIF

DARGAH-E-MUJADDADI, SIRHIND SHARIF, PUNJAB

INDIA


Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page ii

Editorial Staff Sheikh Taoshobuddha

Anand Neelambar

Lars Jensen, Stockholm, Sweden

Maulwi Jalaluddin Ahmad Ar-Rowi, Malaysia

Prof. Rattan LalHangloo, Bhatinda, Punjab, India

Sahabzada Mohammad Zubai Mujaddadi,

Rozai Sharif, Sirhind Punjab, India

Managing Editor Anand Neelambar

Assistant Managing Editor Lars Jensen

JNT EDITORIAL OFFICE: 66 College Street St Augustine Trinidad, W.I.

Phone: 1-954-381-1227

1-8680683-8587

Skype.Com: Taoshobuddha1

Website: http://dhyan-samadhi.webs.com/

Email: [email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

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[email protected]

http://dhyan-samadhi.webs.com/

mailto:[email protected]






Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page iii

Contents

1 Editorial 4

2 Sufism and Women 1

3 Rabia Al Basri and Shankuntal Devi 12

4 Sufi Shakuntala Devi 14

5 Choose to be Happy 27

6 Happiness – Door to the Ultimate 30

7 Dua-I-Sharif 33

8 Rabia Al Basri 39

9 Birth and Early Life 42

10 The Way of Rabia 45

11 Antedotes 45

12 Poems of Rabia Al Basri 50


Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page iv

Editorial

Welcome to our fourth issue. In this issue we introduce two stalwarts of Sufism. And also they

embody the feminine aspects on the path to life eternal. Very few masters have been female.

But certainly all masters transcend the male-female duality.

Rabia Al Adawiya is the embodiment of love eternal. In the early days of Sufism very little was

written down. There were luminaries, saints, friends of God, and wali, who lived their own

spiritual passion, and their deepest devotion. One such spiritual luminary was Rabia Al Basri.

I shall paraphrase one of her poems that is in synchronicity with my being.

Oh beloved, if I seek thee for fear of hell

Then verily cast me into the fires of hell.

Oh beloved,

if I seek thee for desire to attain jannat – heaven

Then verily bar me from entrance into your firdous – heavenly abode.

Oh beloved, but if I seek thee for thy own sake

Then certainly cast me a glance

with thy merciful eyes.

If thy favour be bestowed on me

Then grant thy compassion to thy seekers

Who are enraptured with your Name.

I would embrace the fires of hell

If thy grace be then bequeath to thy seekers.

Oh beloved, thy name is my jannat.

Thy merciful is my firdous.

Another stalwart on the Sufi path is Sheikh Shankuntala Devi. Taoshobuddha writes;

“Naqshbandiyah tariqat shall remain incomplete without her role. As a house wife she stood

shoulder to shoulder to sheikh Brij Mohan Lal RA. If Sheikh planted the garden with certain

beautiful plants it was she who nourished and nurtured the garden with her awareness,

tawwajzoh, understanding of the tariqat and compassion for each and every plant of this garden.

She understood that which was not communicated. Like a sheikh she added one kalmat to the

already existing kalamats of the Naqshbandiyah tariqat.”

Anand Neelambar

Vol: 1 Issue IV October - December 2011 Quarterly Publication Page 1

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NAQSHBANDI TARIQAT

OCTOBER – DECEMBER 2011

Medieval Sufi Mystic

Rabia Al Basri


Shrine Naqshbandi Sufi Brij Mohan Lal and Sufi Shakuntala Devi

ndeed women are more natural,

and in tune with existence than men. Civilizations down the ages

have falsified this. Civilization is

going astray from nature. The more

man becomes civilized, the more he is hung up in the head. He loses

contact with his heart. Spirituality

seeks to establish inner balance

between head and heart. When lower emotions or nafs is sanctified and the

energy field reaches the realms of

I


suluk or intellect that the salik or

seeker attains to the muqamats if Tasawwuf or realms of Tasawwuf. In

the absence the development remains lopsided.

The heart is still primitive. And it is

good that the universities have not yet found a way to teach the heart

and make it so called civilized. That is the only hope for humanity to

survive. The woman is the only hope for humanity to survive. Up to now,

man has been dominant, and man

has been dominant for a very strange reason. The reason is that

deep down man feels inferior. Out of inferiority, just to compensate for it,

he started dominating the woman. Only in muscular strength man is

stronger than the woman. In every other way the woman is far stronger

than the man. The woman lives five to seven years longer than the man.

The woman suffers less through diseases, illnesses, than the man.

To every one hundred and ten boys

are born hundred girls. However by

the time they reach sexual maturity the number is equaled. Nearly ten

boys die and thus disappear down the drain.

The woman has more resistance to

illnesses and diseases of all kinds than men. More men go mad, the

number is almost double. And similarly more men commit suicide

and again the number is double.

In every possible way except the muscular, the woman is far superior.

But to have muscular strength is not really something very superior.

Certainly muscular strength is animalistic. In that sense a wolf is far

superior, a tiger even more, and a

lion still more.

Man must have become aware of his inferiority millions of years ago. And

this is one of the psychological mechanisms: whenever you become

aware of certain inferiority, you have to compensate for it. The ugly

person tries to look beautiful, pretends to be beautiful in every

possible way. He will try with clothes, with cosmetics. He will go to

beauticians, to plastic surgeons. It is over-compensation; somehow he

knows that he is not beautiful and he

has to be beautiful. The inferior person tries to be superior. And

because of muscular strength, the man could prove to be the master,

and he has dominated the woman

down the ages.

But the time has come now for a great change. The future belongs to

women, not to men, because what man has done, down through these

ages, has been so ugly. Just wars and wars and that is his whole

history. The entire human history has created men like Genghis Khan,

Tamerlane, Nadirshah, Alexander, Napoleon, Adolf Hitler, and Mao

Zedong.

Yes, there have been a few men like

Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ, Ramakrishna, Raman, and Krishna

but have you noted one point? They all look feminine. Friedrich Nietzsche

criticized Buddha and Jesus Christ, because they look feminine. Buddha

certainly looks feminine. Whenever a man moves into the heart,

something in him goes feminine. He becomes more round, softer, and

more vulnerable.

Yes, there have been a few buddhas.

But if you look closely at them you will find they are more feminine than

masculine. Certainly there is a reason. After enlightenment one

attains to transcendence. All dualities


yin and yang; male and female

vanish and in place there is inner oneness. At ultimate flowering zazb

and suluk are not separate instead there is union. Whenever a male

attains to enlightenment he becomes feminine in his approach. Feminine

energy is the creative force of the existence. After enlightenment one

can use either aspects of energy that may be necessary.

And this is the reason that all the

great artists of the world slowly and

slowly start growing a quality of feminineness, grace, elegance, and

exquisiteness. A certain flavor of softness, relaxedness, calmness and

quietness surrounds them. They are no longer feverish. Without this

aspect there can be no creation. What I am teaching here is really to

turn the whole world feminine.

Hindus have experienced this aspect of existential energy as mother. You

will realize that you can very easily get the work done through softness

than the ruggedness.

I make no distinctions between men

and women. Both man and woman have suffered. In fact suffering

always comes like that, it is a

double-edged sword. If you make

somebody suffer, you have to suffer. If you make somebody a slave, you

have to become a slave too by someone else; it is mutual.

The day women are liberated will be

a great day of liberation for men too. But do not make the whole thing

ugly. Otherwise there is every possibility I fear that the possibility is

there, and it is a great possibility that in fighting with men, women

may lose something which is very

valuable intrinsically. Something which has not yet been crushed and

destroyed by men may be destroyed by women themselves in fighting

with men. If you fight ferociously you will lose the beauty of femininity;

you yourself will become as ugly as men.

It has not to be decided by fighting.

It has to be decided by understanding. Spread more and

more understanding. Drop these ideas of being men and women! We

are all human beings. To be a man

or a woman is just a very superficial thing. Do not make much fuss about

it, it is not anything very important and to be proud of. Do not make it a

big deal.

I am not talking about the biological

distinction between man and woman I am talking about the psychological

one. Yes, there are men who are far more feminine than any woman, and

there are women who are far more masculine than any man. But this is

not a beautiful state. Instead this is very ugly, because this is creating a

duality in you. If you have the body of a man and the mind of a woman,

there will be a conflict, a social struggle in you, and a civil war in

you. You will be continuously in a tug

of war, fighting, tense.

If you are a woman physiologically, and you have the mind of a man,

naturally your life will dissipate much energy in unnecessary conflict. It is

far better to be in tune. The Women‟s Lib movement is creating

unnecessary trouble. It is turning women into wolves it is teaching

them how to fight. Man is the enemy then how can you love the enemy?

How can you be in an intimate relationship with the enemy?

The man is not the enemy. The woman, to be really a woman, has to

be more and more feminine. She has to touch the heights of softness

and vulnerability. And the man, to be


really a man, has to move into his

masculinity as deeply as possible. When a real man comes in contact

with a real woman, they are polar opposites, extremes. But only

extremes can fall in love, and only extremes can enjoy intimacy. Only

extremes attract each other.

What is happening now in the name of unisex movement: men becoming

more and more feminine outwardly, and women becoming more and

more masculine outwardly? Sooner

or later, all distinctions will be lost. It will be a very colorless society, it will

be boring. Psychologically Buddha is feminine but outwardly he is male.

I would like the woman to become as

feminine as possible, only then she can flower. And the man needs to be

as masculine as possible, only then he can flower. When they are polar

opposites, a great attraction, a great magnetism, arises between them.

And when they come close, when they meet in intimacy, they bring

two different worlds, two different

dimensions, and two different kinds of richness, and the meeting is a

tremendous blessing, and benediction.

In Sufism there is no room for

women mystics because of the Islamic influence and the general

role of women in the path and the male oriented society. Even to date

at Sufi Shrines women seekers are not allowed to sit with men folks in

the main pavilion during Fatah and Maraqba.

Tasawwuf is the very essence of

Sufism and that of man‟s existence. Evolving out of Islam it has now

become the part of the inner life of

every aspirant. Islam centers around four pillars namely Shariat, Hadith,

Tariqat, and Tasawwuf. Of these Shariat and Hadith form the part of

the outer body of the religion? And Tariqat and Tasawwuf form the inner

core of The Holy Prophet - Rasool.

Both Tariqat and Tasawwuf are connected to the nisbet of the Holy

Prophet. Tariqat teaches you the way to nisbet. And Tasawwuf prepares

you for inner serenity, and for the continuation of the way of nisbet. In

its essence tariqat and Tasawwuf are

part of each one of you. Tariqat prepares you along the way and

Tasawwuf preserves your awareness.

Sufism is connected with the inner

core or Nisbet of the Holy Prophet. This esoteric dimension is in all

religions and in Islam it originated with the tradition of Prophet

Muhammad. Mysticism in Islam is termed as Sufism. The mystic is a

Sufi.

Fatima Bint (608-633A.H) is one of

the first women Sufis we trace in Islamic mysticism. Fatima was the

first woman Sufi who brought faith on the Rasool. It was she who

infused courage and understanding the Rasool. Yet still women do not

find the equal status in the traditional Islamic society. There is

an interesting transition that you

notice in her personality. While mourning the Death of Prophet

Mohammad she said:

“It is not surprising that whoever catches the fragrance of

Muhammad‟s tomb will never know another perfume. Destiny injured me

with bereavement so sorrowful, and so dark, that if it had fallen on the

days they would have been turned into eternal nights.”

Her expression of this utterance is

Tasawwuf. Poetry and love (Ishq-i-


Haqiqi) are the important languages

of expression in Tasawwuf.

While traversing on the path for attaining the status of Sufi when the

self undergoes certain transitions it acquires an ecstasy and the

expression of that ecstasy is Tasawwuf.

It is strange that in the country,

Saudi Arabia, where Islam flourished, where holy cities like

Macca and Medina are; where the

holy shrine of Kaaba is; a place that saw the emergence of first woman

Sufi as Fatima Bint who brought faith on the Rasool in the same country

Saudi women folks are down trodden. Women are not allowed to

drive.

As a result there are countable few women mystics. Rabia Al Basri

stands tallest among Sufi mystics. Rabia is the only Sufi women mystic

in the male oriented Islamic world.

However when the Naqshbandi

Sheikh Amkanki told his Khulfa Hadhrath Baqi Billah RA:

„I am sending you to a distant land

whose very texture is soaked in

spirituality. It is the land sanctified,

nourished and nurtured by such forces from times immemorial. A

land which is ready to explode any path! A land whose very being is not

only ready but has the capability to infuse life even in a dead heart. I am

sending you to INDIA.‟

Muhammad Khwaja al Amkanaqi (q)

Naqshbandi path that evolved in the Middle East region travelled to Far

East Asian Sub-Continent. As the

noor was spreading other regions were also prepared. Islamic influence

was spreading in the sub-continent. It was for the preparation of the

advent of the new millennium that Hazradth Sheikh Mohammad Al Baqi

Billah was sent to India. This was the beginning of the tariqat in Indian

sub-continent. The land was already soaked in rich spiritual tradition. Just

a spark was necessary to set the flame ablaze.

Naqshbandiyah tariqat was the part

of the fundamentalist Islamic

tradition until it came to Indian sub-continent. It evolved, grew and

flourished as an oasis amidst the deserts of the Middle East. However,

it was entering a new climate of -

political, religious and social fabric.

Therefore it could not separate itself from the prevailing influences.

Politically Muslim invasions continued

from the North West part of the continent. After the invasion Mughal

rule of Babar was established because of political disunity and

fractions among the Hindu rulers. Because of atrocities of the Islamic

rulers there was social, cultural, and political unrest. In the name of

religion conversions were imposed.

All this was causing unrest.

On the other hand Bhakti movement was at its pinnacle. In north and

South many streams and tributaries were flourishing. A Sheikh of this

Golden chain Hadhrath Al Amkanaqi realizing it to be the will of Allah

Subhan wa Taala sent Hadhrath Al Baqui Billah to India. Before he

actually did he spoke of these words about the land and the climate where

this sacred chain was now being sent.

Hadhrath Amkanaqi said:

“I am sending you to a distant land whose very texture is soaked in

spirituality. It is the land sanctified,


nourished and nurtured by such

forces from times immemorial. A land which is ready to explode any

path! A land whose very being is not only ready but has the capability to

infuse life even in a dead heart. I am sending you to INDIA.‟

India has been the University of

Meditation and the BEACON LIGHT not only now but from TIMES

IMMEMORIAL. Truly its cultural heritage is older than any of the

oldest civilizations. Indus valley

civilization is even older than the Egyptian or Babylon civilization.

Scientific and astrological researches have proved the existence of

scriptures that mention of constellation of stars that happened

nearly 90,000 years ago. It has created many Buddhas, saints,

sages, incarnations and masters.

It has absorbed many religions and paths for spiritual development. And

in the process has lent its texture to all that once appeared to be alien.

Hadhrath Baqui Billah moved back to India and stayed in the city of Delhi,

which he filled with faith and knowledge and secrets and lights.

Through him the Naqshbandi Order

spread with great swiftness

throughout the Indian Subcontinent and millions of people were

connected to him through his various Khalifas.

All nations in the Subcontinent were

attracted to his knowledge and his ENERGY FIELD as tawwajzoh and to

the Prophetic Characteristics dressing him. It became known

throughout the Indian Subcontinent that anyone coming to him and

looking in his eyes, or sitting in his

proximity doing dhikr, would enter a state of Self-Effacement and

intoxication, through which he could reach a state of Annihilation, in a

single meeting.

By such miraculous energy-field he attracted millions of people, until this

Naqshbandi Order was on the tongue of everyone. And the tariqat blended

with the existing spiritual trends and textures.

His spiritual understanding and

awareness attracted people from all

reaches of the Subcontinent. In his presence, each seeker would find

what he needed, until through his blessing the Indian Subcontinent

became like a Kaaba encircled by

flocks of angelic beings.

The journey of the tariqat continued through various Sheikhs of the

Naqshbandiyah tariqat. Along with also developed other tariqats – like

Quadriyah, Chistiyah, and Sohrawadiyah. The Naqshbandiyah

path traversed through the Mujaddadi era for which Hadhrath

Baqui Billah was sent. The journey passed through Sheikh Ahmad

Farooqui Mujaddadi, Hadhrath

Mohammad Masoom, Hadhrath Sheikh Safuddin, Hadhrath Nur

Mohammd Badyuni and reached another juncture at Hadhrath Mirza

Mazhar Nir Jane Jana.

In the noble person of Hadhrath Mirza Mazhar Nir Jane Jana were

combined the energy of four tariqats. He was a master of the Naqshbandi,

Qadiri, Suhrawardi and Chishti Orders.

Hadhrath Mazhar Mir Jane Jana used

to say, “I received the secrets and

knowledge of these orders from my Sheikh, Sayyid Nur Muhammad

Badayuni, until I attained a very distinguished awareness in these

Orders. He lifted me from the


Ibrahamic Stage to the

Mohammaden Stage, which caused me to see the Prophet sitting in my

place, while I was sitting in his. Then I disappeared and I saw him sitting

in the two places. Then I saw him disappearing and I saw myself sitting

in both places.”

Although the tariqat was blending within the social and religious fabric

of the continent yet still the custodians of the various paths

maintained their separate identities

and rancor against one another. Religious narrowness continued

among the fundamentalists and those who considered themselves the

custodians of the path of inner transformation.

In the name of religion and

conversions many atrocities were inflicted upon the common masses.

As a result many revolted. On one hand these custodians (the

combination of the priestly communities and the polity) spoke of

religiousness, however their hearts

were all filled with ignorance and the lack of the understanding of the

message of Allah Subhan wa Taala and the masters. Religious

intolerance remained the order of the

day.

As the journey continued the Naqshbandiyah tariqat that once

wore a totally Islamic texture began to have other color and hue. Some

resented these while others welcomed this as the setting of a

new trend.

Constant atrocities by the Moughal emperors on the other religious

sections especially Hindus in the

name of religions saw the emergence of Sikh religion. The masters

maintained the spiritual values of both Hindu and Islam and

incorporated these as integral part of their religious teaching. Yet still their

survival made the Sikh Gurus follow the road to become militants. This

was once again the revival of the era of the Holy Prophet when for survival

he had to take the sword in his hand. Saints like Tulsidas, Mira, Muktabai,

Sahjobai, Tukaram, Kabir, Nanak, and all the remaining nine gurus

came on the spiritual horizon along

with Sufi Masters like Moin Uddin Chisti, NizamUdin Auliya, Amir

Khushroo, Raskhan etc rose to the occasion. All these different

traditions and faiths blended in the

main stream of Indian spirituality

that was at its pinnacle from times immemorial. Thus out of this evolved

new poetry, values, and many influences.

Naqshbandiyah tariqat could not

keep itself separate from these trends. Both Hindu and Muslim

followed the tariqat. Yet still religious narrowness continued. It was in such

an environment one of the Sheikhs of this Golden Chain of

Naqshbandiyah tariqat made

predictions for the setting of a new trends and influence in the tariqat.

Shah Bahauddin Naqshband is the

17th Sheikh of the Golden Chain. Therefore I have given the chain in

that order. This does not mean there has been no one else who carried on

the tariqat. Each sheikh had many khalifas. However the chief among

them was handed over the golden chain of the tariqat while others

worked in harmony with the main stream. Yet still there were a

significant numbers who cut off the

links for various reasons and started their own work under the false

banner of truth. These I will not mention as this is not the work of the

one who seeks light or Noor. And


since this is happening it must have

the sanction of Allah Subhan wa

Taala. Nothing ever happens without

the Supreme will. May the masters

guide those who have deviated along

the path?

here has been many other khalifas who have done tremendous work in the process of transformation as part of the main stream. Still they are not the part of the golden chain. Following is the actual chain from Shah Bahauddin

Naqshband.

1. Kwajah Bahauddin Naqshband r.a. (d. 2 Rajab al-Murajjab, 791AH) - Qasr-e-Aarifan (Bukhara) 2. Hadhrath Alaa'uddin Attaar r.a. (d. 20 Rajab 802AH) - Jafaaniyan (Mawralnahar)

3. Hadhrath Ya'qoob Charkhi r.a. (d. 5 Safar, 851AH) - Charkh (Bukhara) 4. Hadhrath Ubaidullah Ahraar r.a. (d. 20/29 Rabi al-Awwal, 895AH) - Samarqand (Mawralnahar)

5. Hadhrath Muhammad Zaahid r.a. (d. 1 Rabi al-Awwal, 936AH) - Wakhsh (Malk Hasaar) 6. Hadhrath Darwesh Muhammad r.a. (d. 19 Muharram, 970AH) - Samarqand (Mawralnahar)

7. Hadhrath Muhammad Waaqif Amkanki r.a. (d. 21/22 Sha'baan, 1008AH) - Akang (Bukhara)

From here the tariqat came to India and became the part of Indian Sub-continent. There has to be a reason for this. And

when it came to Indian Subcontinent that was predominantly A Hindu community how could it keep itself separate. Such is the will of Allah Subhan wa Taala. Yet still fundamentalists maintain the Islamic texture and negate the will of Allah

Subhan wa Taala, and go on calling themselves to be on the path. It is time to rise beyond narrowness of all kinds. Only then you will seek the realm of spiritualism.

8. Hadhrath Khwaja Baqui Billaah r.a. (d. 25 Jumaad al-Aakhar, 1012AH) - Delhi (India)

9. Hadhrath Imam Rabbani, Mujaddid Alif Thani, Hadhrat Sheikh Ahmad Farooqui Sirhindi r.a. (d. 28 Safar, 1034AH) - Sirhind (India)

10. Hadhrat Muhammad Ma'soom Farooqui r.a. (d. 9 Rabi al- Awwal, 1079AH) - Sirhind (India) 11. Hadhrat Sheikh Sayfuddeen Bin Ma'soom Farooqui r.a. (d. 19 Jumad al-Oola, 1095-1096AH) - Sirhind (India)

12. Hadhrat Nur Muhammad Badyooni r.a. (d. 11 Dhul Qa'dah, 1135AH) - Dehli (India) 13. Hadhrat Mirza Mazhar Jaan-I-Jaanan r.a. (d. 10 Muharram, 1195AH) - Khanqah Mazharia Turk Man gate

Delhi(India)

14. Hadhrat Abdullah Shah Naimullah r.a. (d. 22 Safar, 1240AH) - Behraich U.P.(India) 15. Hadhrat Mawla‟na Muradullah r.a. (d. Dhul Qa'dah, 1248AH) - Lucknow U.P.(India)

16. Hadhrat Sayyed Abul Hasan Sa'eed r.a. (d. Sha'ba'n, 1272) - Rai Bareli U.P.(India) 17. Hadhrat Mawla‟na Khalifa Ahmad Ali Khan r.a. left on 04.11.1904(AD) Kaimganj, Distt. Farrukhabad (Uttar

Pradesh)

T


18. Hadhrat Mawla‟na Shah Fazl Ahmad Khan r.a. (1857-1907 A D) Qusba- Raipur Distt. Farrukhabad (Uttar Pradesh)

19. Hadhrat Mawla‟na Abdul Ghani Khan r.a.(1867-1952 AD) Qusba- Bhogaon, Distt. Mainpuri (Uttar Pradesh) 20. Hadhrath Sheikh Ramchandra (Lalaji) Ji Maharaj (1873-1931 AD) r.a. Fatehgarh (Uttar Pradesh) India

21. Hadhrath Sheikh Raghubar Dayal (Chachaji) Ji Maharaj (1875-1947 AD) r.a. Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh India 22. Hadhrath Sheikh Brij Mohan Lal (1898-1955 AD) r.a. Lucknow Uttar Pradesh, India

23. Hadhrath Sheikh Onkar Nath (1935-2008 AD) r.a. Lucknow Uttar Pradesh, India

As I have mentioned earlier it was from Sheikh Baqui Billah that the

tariqat came to Indian Sub-Continent. With Imam Rabbani

Sheikh Ahmad Mujaddadi a new era was ushered in the tariqat. And then

with the advent of Hadhrath Mazhar

Mir Jane Jana the existing tariqat entered a new phase.

And once again after the advent of

Mazaharia Nisbet the path underwent another major influence. It was the

advent of the Naqshbandiyah Sheikh beyond the Islamic religion, instead

from Hindu religion. About this advent a prediction was made by one

of the Sheikhs nearly 100 years before the actual happening of the

event.

It was the 33rd Sheikh Hadhrat

Sayadina Hazarat Kutub-i-alam Abul Hasan Naseerabadi who

made the following prediction to his Khalifa. And in the process each

sheikh waited and then passed on the

forecast to the next Sheikh. It was Hadhrath Abul Hasan Naseerabadi

who mentioned of this forecast to his khalifa – the next Sheikh Hadhrat

Mawla’na Khalifa Ahmad Ali Khan Kaimganji, who left the body on

04.11.1904(AD). The forecast

meant, ‘I am witnessing the lack of interest among the Muslim

community towards this Naqshbandiyah tariqat. I am

seeing two persons from Hindu religion will come to you. They

are the true inheritor of this Nisbet. Do not hesitate in

transferring the secrets of this tariqat and the Golden Chain to

these two persons.’

This was the time of „tassubi‟ or spiritual narrowness, division on the

basis of religious beliefs and many

atrocities in the name of religion. There was division and ignorance as

far as spirituality or „roohaniyat‟ was concerned.

However with this Nisbet came to Hindu Sheikhs beyond the

narrowness of religions and religious belief. Spirituality is beyond religions

and narrowness of any kind.

Almost one hundred years ago a

forecast was made by Sayadina Hazarat Kutub-i-alam Abul Hasan

Naseerabadi. Who in turn mentioned of this to his khalifa Sufi Ahmad Ali

Khan (Khalifa Sahib) Kayamganji.

Sufi Ahmad Ali Khan too waited lifelong for these two people. No one

came. So when it was the time for Sufi Ahmad Ali Khan to leave the

finite realm he spoke to his chief khalifa, Sufi Maulana Fazl Ahmad

Khan, who became the next Naqshbandi master:

„Maybe my master had seen your reflection through me. And this

forecast is for you. Take care and be ever aware about this forecast.

Maybe these people will come to you.


All along Sufi Fazl Ahmad Khan

waited. The destined time of the meeting was coming closer. It was

rainy night! Thunder and lightning! Amidst such an atmosphere when

serenity prevailed amidst turmoil indicating that at the center of

cyclone there always exists tremendous serenity. The destined

meeting happened! A person named Ramchandra came to the company of

the master wading through the external turmoil.

This was followed by his younger brother Raghuber Dayal. These were

the two destined ones about whom

the forecast was made nearly one

hundred years ago. Ramchandra and Raghuber Dayal later came to be

known as Naqshbandi Sufi Ramchandra or Lala ji, and

Naqshbandi Sufi Raghuber Dayal or Chacha ji.

The entire system of roohaniyat is

based on such forecasts or wisharads. Thus came the dawn of a

new era in Naqshbandi order of Sufis. This was the beginning of the Hindu

influence into tariqat.

Although the outer appearance may

differ, beliefs too may differ but the

inner state of awareness or truth or

Nisbet never changes. And if there is any change in that state then it is not

truth. Truth is sublime and most auspicious. Truth is ALHAM DIL

ALLAH, SUBHAN ALLAH. OR what Hindus say it SATYAM, SHIVAM,

SUNDRAM. Let us dwell in the realm of truth or haquiqat beyond

narrowness of all kinds. Remember the words of a Sheikh of this tariqat:

„BETASSUBI SADAKAT KI JAAN HAI!‟

„TO RISE ABOVE NARROWNESS IS SPIRITUALITY!‟

Naqshbandia Tariqat saw the emergence of women Sufi mystics who contributed side by side with their consorts. They

remained in the background supporting the Sheikh but their contribution has been immense.

Out of the three women mystics who ably nourished and nurtured the spiritual garden of the master it was Naqshbandi Sufi Shakuntala Devi – wife of Naqshbandi Sufi Brij Mohan Lal RA who stand tallest among women mystics and in times

she has become the pole star guiding weary traveller along the path.

From here the tariqat came to India and became the part of Indian Sub continent. There has to be a reason for this. And when it came to Indian Subcontinent that was predominantly A Hindu community how could it keep

itself separate. Such is the will of Allah Subhan wa Taala. Yet still fundamentalists maintain the Islamic texture

and negate the will of Allah Subhan wa Taala, and go on calling themselves to be on the path. It is time to rise

beyond narrowness of all kinds. Only then you will seek the realm of spiritualism.


Rabia says, „Never tell anybody what you have seen and experienced here. Allow the people to come to me. This beauty is nothing but a trap set for them. I use it as a door for them to enter God. Please, promise me that you will never tell

others what you have experienced here tonight. Let them come to a whore and a brothel, because otherwise they will never come to me.‟

his issue celebrates the life and

works of these two Sufi Mystic

women.

A parable: Shakuntala Devi always used to tell the seekers to be

always happy as her blessings.

A parable: Rabia Al Basri - Rabia Al Basri, was immensely beautiful.

Her beauty was not of this world. Once a rich young man from Iran

come to Basra and enquired the people, „Is there anything that is out

of the way, something special here?‟ „Yes,‟ they all told him in one voice.

„Yes, indeed We have the most

beautiful woman of the world!‟

The young man naturally became even more interested and he asked,

„Where can I find her?‟

And they all laugh and said, „Well,

where else in a brothel!‟

That repulsed the rich young man, but finally he decides to go. And

when he gets there, the matron asks for an exorbitant fee. He pays

the fee and is ushered in. There, in a silent and simple room, a figure is

praying. What beauty she has! He has never seen such beauty and

grace, not even in his dreams. Just to be there is a benediction, and the

prayerful atmosphere starts affecting him. He forgets about his

passion. He is entering into another

kind of space. He is drugged. He is turned on to God.

An hour passes and he intensely

feels he is in a temple! Oh, such joy and such purity! He goes on feasting

on her beauty. But it is no more the

beauty of a human being it is God's

beauty. It no more has anything to do with the body it is utterly other-

worldly.

And then Rabia opens her eyes, those lotus eyes, and he looks into

them, and there is no woman in front of him he is facing God. And

this way the whole night passes, as if it were only a moment.

The sun is rising and its rays are

coming through the windows, and he feels it is time to go. He says to

Rabia, „I am your slave. Tell me

anything, anything in the world that I can do for you.‟

She says, „I have only one little

request.‟

T


He asks, „What is it?‟

Rabia says, „Never tell anybody

what you have seen and experienced here. Allow the people

to come to me. This beauty is nothing but a trap set for them. I

use it as a door for them to enter God. Please, promise me that you

will never tell others what you have experienced here tonight. Let them

come to a whore and a brothel, because otherwise they will never

come to me.‟

„Oh!‟ he says, „So this is the secret

of this city. The whole city clamors after your beauty, yet nobody tells

me about his experience.‟

Rabia laughs and says, „Yes, I extract the promise, this promise,

from all of them.‟

Rabia used her beauty as a trap. Buddha used his words as a trap.

Krishna used his flute as a trap. Mira

used her dance as a trap. You have

to be trapped. And you can only be trapped in ways that you can

understand. You have to be taken from the known into the unknown,

but the beginning has to be in the known.

You understand passion. The young

man was not in search of God, but he became interested in a beautiful

woman and was trapped. He had gone there because of his passion.

Once he was there in the presence

of Rabia, the passion started changing it became prayer.

You can understand words alone

therefore, all the Buddhas have used words, knowing perfectly well,

saying again and again, that the truth cannot be expressed in words.

But you understand words and the truth cannot be expressed in words,

then how to communicate? The journey has to start from where you

are. The Buddhas have to speak

words. Words will bring you closer

to the Buddhas. However words will not give you truth, but they will

bring you closer to the Buddhas. Once you are close to them, you will

start forgetting the words; you will start falling into silence.

The words cannot express truth, but

they can bring you close to a Buddha. And that is more than you

can expect of poor words! That is why Buddhas go on saying on the

one hand words are meaningless on

the other hand they go on using words.

They are meaningful for you

because you do not know the language of silence, you don't know

the language of being. You know only your mind and the rest you

have forgotten. Therefore starting from the mind, I will have to take

your mind in confidence so that your pilgrimage towards no-mind....


‘If Naqshbandi tariqat is the holy sacrificial fire then the life of sheikh Brij Mohan Lal is like the ghee

(offering of clarified butter to the fire) and the life of Sheikh Shakuntala Devi is the havan samigri

(the combined mixture of many sacred ingredients) offered to the holy sacrificial fire of the tariqat.

Together they complete the way of Naqshbandia tariqat.

Human consciousness transcends only when the opposites meet and

merge as complimentary. If I have to put this tariqat according to Hindu

explanation using Hindu terminology

then I have to say, ‘If Naqshbandi tariqat is the holy sacrificial fire then

the life of sheikh Brij Mohan Lal is like the ghee (offering of clarified

butter to the fire) and the life of Sheikh Shakuntala Devi is the havan

samigri (the combined mixture of many sacred ingredients) offered to

the holy sacrificial fire of the tariqat. Togather they complete the way of

naqshbandiyah tariqat.’

Naqshbandiyah tariqat shall remain

incomplete without her role. As house wife she stood shoulder to shoulder

to sheikh Brij Mohan Lal RA. If Sheikh

planted the garden with certain beautiful plants it was she who

nourished and nurtured the garden with her awareness, tawwajzoh,

understanding of the tariqat and

compassion for each and every plant of this garden.

She understood that which was not communicated. Like a sheikh she

added one kalmat to the already

existing kalamats of the Naqshbndiyah tariqat.

It was Naqshbandi sheikh Ibd Khaliq Gijadwani who coined the following

phrases which are now considered

the principles of the Naqshbandi Sufi Order as spiritual commandments.

Over the period of time certain principles are added to it. Bahauddin

Naqshband added three. Another one

‘Always choose to be Happy’ was introduced in this category as the

works of Naqshbandi sheikh Shakuntala Devi. Thus there are

twelve such commandments. These

form the basis of meditation techniques. I mention these here as

under: [REFER TO: CH. SPIRITUAL COMMANDMENTS IN

LEAVES FROM A SUFI HEART VOL 1 BY

TAOSHOBUDDHA]

1. CONSCIOUS BREATHING (Hosh

dar dam) 2. YOUR STEP (Nazar bar qadam)

3. JOURNEY HOMEWARD (Safar

dar watan) 4. SOLITUDE IN THE CROWD

(khalwat dar anjuman) 5. ESSENTIAL REMEMBRANCE

(yad kard)


6. RETURNING (baz gasht)

7. RECOLLECTION (yada dasht) 8. NIGAH DASHT

9. WUQUF-E-ZAMANI 10. WUQUF-E-ADABI

11. WUQUF-E-QULBI 12. ALWAYS CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY

Birth and early life

There is almost nothing available about the birth and early life of

Sheikh Shakuntala Devi. All that is known is through intuition and the

narrations of the sheikh, her daughter Gyatri Devi, Sheikh Onkar

Nath and the second son Sheikh Devendra Nath.

She mentioned that she has no

records of her birth. All she recollected was that she lived in the

same city where Sheikh Lala Ji lived.

Her father from the first marriage had a son who was older to her. Then

through the second marriage of her father two daughters and two sons

were born. The elder of the two boys was only 3 years old when her

mother passed away. Her younger brother was quite young when her

mother too passed away. Thereafter her father never remarried.

She and her brothers were brought up by her grandparents from her

mother’s side. She lived with her grandparents until she was 12 years

old. Her grandparents lived in a small town named Kampil not too far from

the city of Fatehgarh, UP where Sheikh Lala Ji lived. Now and then

she will to the town to live with her father and her big uncle during

holidays and then would go back to her grandparent’s home.

Meeting with Lala Ji Naqshbandi Sufi Ramchandra RA

Her big uncle and Sheikh Lala Ji were

friends. Together they would go for a walk. Also during summer they used

to go for morning walk at dawn and

bath in holy Ganges. Quite often little Shakuntala used to accompany her

uncle and the sheikh. From early child hood Sheikh Lala Ji had

developed fondness for little Shakuntala as she was effable. On

one such occasion when the three were accompanying and Shakuntala

was a child of 4-5 years the sheikh enquired from her what she was

going to do. Innocently the little child

Shakuntala responded, ‘she is going

to feed ants!’ She stayed with her grandparents

until she became a teenage girl. There was no talk of education

except the primary one that too at home. She could read and write Hindi

language very well. She was well versed in maintaining her daily

accounts later on and this practice remained with her until the last. I

had the occasion to maintain her accounts as I was very close to her

during my growing up days.

At another occasion, she mentioned,

the cook at her home did not turn up. She along with her sister and the

cousin (daughter of her uncle) were cooking food, and she was baking the

rotis (Indian Bread) that Sheikh Lala Ji happened to pass by. It was lunch

or dinner time. Sheikh’s friend (her uncle) asked the sheikh to have

meals as the daughter was cooking.

At this Lala Ji made a remark which showed his fondness of teenage

Shakuntala, and his intuitive vision to

discern things beyond time and space. He said, ‘He will eat only when

she cooks food at his home.’ Time went by. Others’ may have forgotten

this but teenage Shakuntala did not


forget. And even when she narrated

this to me her eyes used to gleam. In such a loving environment under

the mystical care of Sheikh Lala Ji she grew into a young girl of

marriageable age.

On the other hand Sheikh Lala Ji’s nephew Sheikh Brij Mohan Lal was

growing in spiritual stature. The state of master hood was already conferred

on him. He was married. However his first wife did not survive. So he

became widowed. He had developed

aversion towards world, its relations, and life as well. He grew bearded. He

used to work in another job which Sheikh Lala Ji did not approve for

him. However the job as Head Clerk in Police Office Lala Ji approved for

him. As a result he joined the job. This was transferrable one.

Union of two

complimentary ones

Lala Ji decided to get Brij Mohan Lal

married. He had already chosen young effable and dearest to him

Shakuntala. Now it was to be

arranged. There was another proposal for the marriage. But Lala Ji

had already chosen Shakuntala as

the bride for his nephew, who had a

special role to perform in the process of transformation of human

consciousness. It was difficult to refuse either of the two proposals.

Therefore it was decided whosoever

comes early next morning and fulfils the formality of engagements will be

the proposal accepted. The same day Lala Ji went to her home and asked

her brother to come before sunrise to fulfil the formality of the

engagement. Accordingly the choice

of a sheikh became the bride of another sheikh through whose life

thousands have to reach the inward journey.

Intuitively Lala Ji knew the

significance of his choice in Shakuntala. This was proved by later

events and her life alongside her husband Sheikh Brij Mohan Lal and

after his Samadhi in 1955. When the sole aim of her life was to nourish

and nurture each and every seed sown be the Sheikh Brij Mohan. This

she exhibited by her final visit to the

shrine of the sheikh when during her prayer she said, ‘The works you have

left incomplete are over and so is my role. Now is the time to go back

home.’

Marriage

Union of two energies

Sheikh was the male aspect of the

cosmic energy. And Shakuntala Devi represented the feminine aspect of

totality. As per the will of the divine and Lala Ji the two were married on

the full moon day on May 10th. Only this much is known. And thus the

union created an invincible energy field for the continuation of the

tariqat.

Out of this conjugal relationship were

born a daughter Gyatri Devi whose husband Naqshbandi Lakshmi Sahai

is the co-author with Sheikh Taoshobuddha in the book –

‘Tasuwware Sheikh – Life and Works of Naqshbandi Sheikh Brij

Mohan Lal RA.

The next was a male child Onkar Nath, who carried the golden chain of

the tariqat after Sheikh Brij Mohan Lal entered Samadhi. And Sheikh

Onkar Nath carried it with dexterity until May 21 2008 when he too

entered Samadhi.

The third child was a male boy

Devendra Nath who was taken care


and brought up by his sister Gyatri as

the mother suffered from severe headache.

Still there was another male boy

Kailash Nath who was the second boy. He was sickly and did not

survive after the age of twelve. Out of the three children the daughter

Gyatri and youngest son Sheikh Devendra Nath are still alive and

carrying on the flame in their way.

At the time of the marriage Sheikh

Brij Mohan Lal had long beard. This became the topic of talk among the

bride’s family. When Lala Ji came to know of this he immediately called a

barber and just before getting the beard shaved whispered the following

words in his ears, ‘For sometimes I am taking your beard away from

you.’ Thus the ceremony completed.

Life after Marriage

Immediately after the marriage

Shakuntala Devi became an integral part of the sheikh and the tariqat

which she maintained until she breathed last.

On one hand Sheikh carried the

intricate works of transformation she

nourished and nurtured the hearts of

the aspirants. Out of her loving gestures she instilled the seed of

devotion deep within anyone who came in contact. She took care of the

kitchen. And whenever the murids entered the house all were greeted

with pleasant smile and loving food. She taught the significance of

cooking food meditatively out of love and care.

From her childhood she followed the

ways of rituals and fasting etc. And

persons of such inclination resist from leaving all these for journey

inwards. She instead obtaining the proximity of Lala Ji as the fruits of

her austerities allowed her life to flow into the stream of this tariqat. As per

the instructions of Lala Ji she annihilated her being totally into the

physical and spiritual life of her husband Sheikh Brij Mohan Lal.

Two – three months after the

marriage unlike other married girls of her age she was initiated into tariqat

by Sheikh Abdul Ghani Khan who was

the sheikh of Sheikh Brij Mohan Lal and the uncle master of Lala Ji. Once

Sheikh Onkar Nath enquired from her, ‘the feelings you have for the

Sheikh Maulvi Sahib now (as Sheikh

Abdul Ghani Khan was lovingly called

by all), were the same when you were first initiated by him into

Tariqat.’

At this in a loving gesture she told Sheikh Onkar Nath, ‘Do not talk like a

child. The impact of the magnanimity of Lala Ji and your father was so

immense that even before initiated I had requested your father for

initiation several times.’ However each time he brushed the talk

laughingly until one day when the

telegraphic message came from the place where Maulvi Sahib lived that

he is visiting the family. Everyone at home got astonished at this as he

was visiting the place simply to initiate me.

She also narrated an anecdote. From

childhood she loved the Hindu scripture Ram Charit Manas and this

she recited as part of her daily prayer. In the scripture she loved the

episode of the birth of Sri Ram. And that part was an integral part of her

worship. This I as a growing child had

memorized. Once she was reciting the episode of the sage Vashistha to

her father-in-law Sheikh Chacha Ji as she continued the sheikh depicted

the image of the sage that never


erased from her memory. She used

to say whenever she looked at Sheikh Maulvi Sahib the image of

sage Vashistha always fit into him.

Sheikh Shakuntala Devi integral part

She became an integral part of the tariqat and the works of her husband

immediately after marriage. From the time of Lala Ji she began being part

of each spiritual function at the place. This she continued even after Lala Ji

entered Samadhi. At the time Lala Ji

entered Samadhi she along with Sheikh Brij Mohan Lal, witnessed the

dissolution of Lala Ji into the infinite. Once on enquiring she narrated the

whole incident very emotionally how Lala Ji was totally aware when the life

force or soul was leaving the finiteness of body a rare narration

and experience only a lucky one can have.

She said each time the soul would

leave one realm Lala Ji will inform every one. And all present there

witnessed step by step a conscious

dissolution of finite and infinite.

And now came the final moment of

dissolution. This he mentioned that he cannot describe and the life force

has left the vocal cord. And in the final moment as the life force left the

body the entire room was filled with tremendous light as a ball of light

emerged from his mouth and merged in the cosmos. For a moment it

blinded everyone but tremendous bliss into our beings. I could see glow

in her eyes as she narrated this anecdote. She did this only once to

me. The description was so alive that

it is part of my being and continues to linger in my being like the

dissolving notes of an enchanting melody.

If you are aware at the moment

when life force dissolves into its totality you can be enlightened that

very moment. It is indeed a moment of benediction. Lucky are those who

are given such an experience.

She continued to accompany her husband to all such retreats. And the

process that started in Lala Ji’s life

continued even after he entered Samadhi. Her respect for Lala Ji’

consort remained the same. The spiritual retreat at the Shrine of Lala

Ji she never missed. One year before

she entered Samadhi in 1973 it so

happened that for certain reasons it was decided by his grandson to

celebrate ‘Centenary’ the 100th birth anniversary of Lala Ji’ in the springs

of 1973 against her wishes and the wishes of Sheikh Onkar Nath who

was the current sheikh of the golden Chain. The grandson Sri Akhilesh

Kumar felt that centenary was more important as against the annual

function that was started by Lala Ji during Easter holidays. For whatever

reasons Sri Akhilesh Kumar felt the

centenary is not significant at this moment. For me what is more

important is the insight of Sheikh Shakuntala Devi.

When it came the Easter holidays she

decided to visit the shrine as she had started from the time of Lala Ji while

Sheikh Onkar Nath and others were relatively neutral to visit. What she

said is a great teaching of a sheikh who sacrificed all her wishes for the

will of the sheikhs of tariqat. She said, ‘To serve ones beloved

throughout life with devotion is the

only worship.’

This she exhibited throughout her life. In spite of cold and her health

during Christmas holidays she never


missed visiting the shrine of her

sheikh and that of her husband Sheikh Maulvi sahib. And when it was

the occasion of the death of Janab Abdul Jaleel Khan the grandson of

the Sheikh Maulvi Sahib she made sure to participate of the 40th day

ceremony and she also did not forget consoling the bereaved family. She

said something very significant. Only intelligence can really comb out the

seeds of wisdom from her life to travel along this path. She

mentioned: ‘As far as possible never

allow laziness or indolence when it comes to the works of the sheikh or

tariqat.’

Teachings of Sheikh Shakuntala Devi

Through practical examples and her life she continued to set the

examples as guiding force for aspirants.

Compassion, lovingness, care, and

intelligence were all blended in her day to day life. She suffered from

asthma. As a result to ease the

situation she will take hot beverage – tea each morning. One day I

enquired how she got this attack of

asthma. What she explained as the

cause explains the loving care of a sheikh for the aspirants and also the

methodology for those who are given the opportunity to carry on the flame

of this tariqat alight.

She became a conciliatory force into human life from the time she entered

the fold of the tariqat. People come from far and wide with their problems

and found solace in her company. All the murids considered her as mother

and were very open to her than the

sheikh.

From my birth I had developed extraordinary affinity to her. My

growing years I spent in her company. My role was to prepare the

place for regular morning and evening meditations and other works

that apparently seemed insignificant. One day I complained to her that no

one tells me any ritual, dhikr, pooja etc. She did not say anything then.

Later that night when I went to squeeze her feet before she retires

she raised the issue of my complaint.

What she said is the methodology of a sheikh. To my complaint she said:

‘You were complaining that no one told you anything to do. Your Nana or

grandfather has already given you

everything and when the time comes

it will reveal itself.’

Also when I first began reading she instilled the teaching that, ‘You have

to develop your habit like that of your grandfather.’

At another occasion when I was only

10 one day I asked her, ‘What is my religion?’

She could have condition me by

saying something. But what she said

reveals the methodology of a sheikh. She replied, ‘Your religion is the

same as that of God.’

She had replied. But it was beyond human comprehension. So I

acknowledged with another question, ‘What is, then the religion of

God?’

At this with a smiling gesture she replied yet still she did not. Instead

she revealed the entire methodology. She continued, ‘You ask too many

questions? What is the religion of

God – this you will have to enquire?’

She could have given me a

readymade answer. But such is not


the tariqat. She prepared nourished

and nurtured each seed that was planted in the garden by her sheikh

husband.

It was she who prepared her eldest son who was in his mid-teens when

Sheikh Brij Mohan Lal entered Samadhi. She brought up her second

son Devendra Nath into a flower of consciousness that he is now and

sacrificed his entire life for the tariqat and in harmony with her elder

brother sheikh Onkar Nath.

Not only, had she nourished her

biological family she took care of her spiritual family in the same way.

Life is full of such unending

anecdotes. However I have to contain the matter within a certain

frameworks. Also it is for the first time that the life of a female sheikh

is being presented in such a way. Pausing for now I will take you

through the final journey as this is full of the teaching and tariqat.

Journey of final ascendance

Life and death are two sides of the same coin. One that comes into life

has to exit as well. In case of the

man of awareness body comes into

existence. Body is short lived. It must decompose into its components.

However that which enters the body is immortal and is never born or

attains to death.

It was the occasion of the birth anniversary of her husband sheikh

Brij Mohan Lal she has to visit the shrine in another city (Lucknow).

Early that morning she returned after visiting another aspirant whose

daughter- in- law had a complicated

child birth. She visited that city along with her send son Sheikh Devendra

Nath. There was a question of life and death for the mother and doctors

predicted only one can be saved. In spite of her ailing health she visited

the family. She was suffering from intense stomach pain as she returned

early that morning for the celebration of the birth anniversary of Sheikh Brij

Mohan Lal.

The next day pain became unbearable she was brought by car

from Lucknow to Kanpur where the

entire family lived. On the way she did not forget to visit another

aspirant. And on reaching Kanpur she straight away went to visit her doctor

son like devotee. Along the way she

mentioned, ‘This time when she

visited the shrine she requested to be relieved from her responsibilities.’

When enquired by Sheikh Onkar Nath she immediately diverted the

attention saying that things never happened her way.

She reached 1st April in the year

1974 to Kanpur. These ten days from 1st to 10th saw many ups and downs

in her condition. I was all along with her. It came the 10th April 1974. I

was sitting by her side. She asked if I

do not have to go to work (I was lecturer in Kanpur University). At this

I responded that, ‘I do not have too many classes today, and I better stay

home.’ At this she insisted that I go to work. These were the last words

that she spoke to me.

She went into coma. And, remained in that state as if waiting for the right

moment to enter the existence! She regained partial consciousness one

morning. Then I and Sheikh Onkar Nath were by her side. Addressing

Sheikh she enquired the day sheikh

Chacha Ji took Samadhi. At this Sheikh hesitated somewhat.

Immediately in her pleasant yet nonchalant ways looked at him with

an unasked question, ‘is this the way


you are going to carry the work.

‘Then in her own way she responded that Sheikh Chacha Ji took Samadhi

on Friday.’ She had chosen Friday as the day for her Samadhi.

On Wednesday around dawn I

envisioned that Sheikh Shakuntala Devi is sitting in her usual spot in the

house and at the threshold stood Sheikh Brij Mohan Lal. Addressing

her sheikh told all the time you want to accompany me, now I have come

to take you along with me. This

vision was another confirmation that her time for Samadhi is near. She is

waiting for the precise moment to enter the existence.

Now came Friday 12th April 1974

early 6 in the morning another

disciple just happened to come by.

Aspirants and family had started pouring in as messages were sent

intuitively and otherwise as well.

The name of this aspirant is Pt Srinarian. When Sheikh Brij Mohan

Lal took Samadhi he could not reach for the final rites. For this he was felt

responsible. When he mentioned of this to the holy mother, she

responded by saying Pundit I will never do that to you. For my last

time I will call you. This she said 19

years ago. And the aspirant felt very strongly that the holy mother is

calling her as she had promised.

Whenever a man of awareness says something or promises out of love

the entire existence takes care that

these words never fail. Such are the

ways of existence.

On Friday 12th April 1974 little after midday at half past one Sheikh

Shakuntala Devi entered Samadhi fully conscious.

The finite form is no more. The body

and its various components merged into whole. Another form – the

cosmic appeared. She became one with the whole and part of the whole.

From the whole one she came into

existence and this very moment she once again dissolved into the

vastness of the WHOLE. A Hindu heart enchants:

pU[Rmd> pU[Rimd< pU[Rat pU[R mudCyte ,

pU[RSy pU[Rmaday pU[R meva v iz:yte .

Totality alone is. Feel it within. Feel its harmony! And its rhythm as well!

jIvn sumn cFa kr hm terI AcRna kre<ge<

jnm jnm hm terI v<dna kre<ge<.

EMBELLISHING LIFE TO BE A FLOWER FOR THY ALTER I SHALL ERELONG SING THY GLORIES!!!


This is an excerpt from Tasuwware Sheikh

Books of Taoshobuddha Available on Amazon.com

TAOSHOBUDDHA'S PAGE LINK FOR BOOKS:

http://www.amazon.com/TAOSHOBUDDHA/e/B004W4BA22/ref=sr_tc_ep?qid=1311674968

From her childhood she followed the ways of rituals and fasting etc. And persons of such inclination resist from leaving all these for journey inwards. She instead obtaining the proximity of Lala Ji as the

fruits of her austerities allowed her life to flow into the stream of this tariqat. As per the instructions of Lala Ji she annihilated her being totally into the physical and spiritual life of her husband Sheikh Brij

Mohan Lal. She became an integral part of the tariqat and the works of her husband immediately after marriage. From the time of Lala Ji she began being part of each spiritual function at the place. This she

continued even after Lala Ji entered Samadhi.

http://www.amazon.com/TAOSHOBUDDHA/e/B004W4BA22/ref=sr_tc_ep?qid=1311674968






Choose to be happy!

The Spiritual Commandment

Each moment life presents different situations, circumstances and

conditions. Certain are acceptable to human understanding while others

are not. In all circumstances you choose to be unhappy. And to human

understanding this is normal while to a meditator it is not. In all

circumstances you choose to be unhappy. And slowly and slowly this

becomes your musculature. And your entire life centres on this

unhappiness.

ALWAYS CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY‟ is

the very essence of finite existence that overflows the being of

Naqshbandi Sheikh Shakuntala Devi.

Each moment life presents different situations, circumstances and

conditions. Certain are acceptable to

human understanding while others are not.

In all circumstances that life presents

you choose to be unhappy. And to human understanding this is normal

while to a meditator it is not. In all circumstances you choose to be

unhappy. This is not your essential nature. And slowly and slowly this

becomes your musculature. And your entire life centres and moves around

this unhappiness.

Be aware of this situation. Awake and

arise! Therefore o Friend this is your right to „Choose to be happy!‟

I teach you to be happy under all

circumstances. Be it sorrow or pain or anything else always „Choose to be

happy‟! Life will begin to move in a new dimension.

You will find this difficult in the

beginning. I am here to bring an energy field that will help you make

this beginning. And once you have consciously decided for this journey

will begin.

How long will you continue the saga of misery and unhappiness? Now is

the time!

To be happy is your choice and right.

To be happy is a conscious choice only you can make. But in all

situations you choose to be unhappy.

Remember a happy heart is the door to the beyond, or door to the inner,

or door to the being. You tend to be

To be happy is a conscious choice only you can make. But in all situations you choose to be unhappy. Remember a happy heart is the door to the beyond, or door to the inner, or door to the being. You tend to be happy or

unhappy because of the other or the circumstances. No one chooses to be happy for no reason. To be happy is the greatest blessing. It unfolds a totally new unknown and unknowable realm.


happy or unhappy because of the

other or the circumstances.

No one chooses to be happy for no reason. A happy heart is filled with

gratitude towards the WHOLE. To be happy is the greatest blessing. It

unfolds a totally new unknown and unknowable realm.

One Sufi Naqshbandi master

Shakuntala Devi, always used to bless any one bowing to her by

saying “BE ALWAYS HAPPY”. If you

really decipher these simple words, these will manifest a totally new

realm.

When a master says something, the seeker needs to introspect on these

words. The master can never be wrong or unconscious. The very fact

that he or she is a master implies

now something has changed within. A master may look like you, but in

reality he differs in his understanding of the cosmic phenomena and

awareness. None of his actions are ever guided by unconscious. Even

when he moves his hands he is totally aware of this.

Let this be your meditation each

moment. A new meaning will unfold in life. Serenity, blessedness will

engulf you. Only then it can be said

that you are living in the image of a master. Then something of the

master, his awareness, his understanding, will be part of you as

blessing.

Awake and arise O mortal being! Immortality pulsates within you.

Allow it to overflow. The overflow

needs the door. A „Happy Heart‟, a

„Heart full of Gratitude‟ is the door. And „Choose to be happy‟ is the

window. Through this window look at the existence each finite moment!

A new meaning will arise.

To be happy is your choice and right.

To be happy is a conscious choice only you can make. But in all

situations you choose to be unhappy. Remember a happy heart is the door

to the beyond, or door to the inner,

or door to the being. You tend to be happy or unhappy because of the

other or the circumstances. No one chooses to be happy for no reason. A

happy heart is filled with gratitude towards the WHOLE. To be happy is

the greatest blessing. It unfolds a totally new unknown and unknowable

realm.

[I have used this commandment and gave you all a guided meditation:

see www.youtube.com/TAOSHOBUDDHA01‘MEDITATION CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY PART 1 & 2]

One Sufi Naqshbandi Sheikh Shakuntala Devi, always used to bless any one bowing to her by saying “BE ALWAYS

HAPPY”. If you really decipher these simple words, these will manifest a totally new realm. When a master says something, the seeker needs to introspect on these words. The master can never be wrong or unconscious. The

very fact that he or she is a master implies now something has changed within.

„Chose to be happy‟ is a spiritual commandment given by Sheikh Shakuntala Devi.

http://www.youtube.com/TAOSHOBUDDHA01


MEDITATION CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY

CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW FOR THE VIDEO MEDITATION ON YOU TUBE.COM

http://youtu.be/dtznprRZmm8

**********************************************************************


HAPPINESS

DOOR TO THE ULTIMATE

appiness is divine. Happiness is bliss. Happiness is

godliness. Happiness leads to inner flowering. Happiness is the

door to the ultimate. Therefore attain to happiness. Make happiness

the way of your life. It may seem difficult. But this is the way in.

Earlier I had emphasized ‘Always

choose to be happy’ as part of the guided meditation. Thus for the

transformation of human consciousness and your inward

journey to begin I had given you this meditation as part of

Naqshbandiyya tariqat and the

methodology of Sheikh Shakuntala Devi.

Today I take you into another

dimension of this meditation and inward journey. Earlier when I

asked you ‘Always choose to be happy’ this was a choice at the

level of the mind. Mind divides. Happiness or unhappiness – always

a choice in needed. At this level the pair of opposites continues.

However happiness in its ultimate sense is beyond dualities. It is the

quality of the being. Then happiness is transformed as BLISS.

In the beginning happiness is an approach to life and living. One has

to make conscious effort to be happy under all circumstances and

situations. Many a times along the journey unconsciousness griped and

you forget altogether that you were choosing to be happy consciously.

This is normal. And yet still you have to remain more and more

conscious and alert so that at no time the unhappiness could grip

you.

As the process continues with an unwavering consciousness

happiness becomes the quality of your being. In the beginning

H

Today I take you into another dimension of this meditation and inward journey. Earlier when I asked you ‘Always choose to be happy’ this was a choice at the level of the mind. Mind divides. Happiness or unhappiness – always a

choice in needed. At this level the pair of opposites continues. However happiness in its ultimate sense is beyond dualities. It is the quality of the being. Then happiness is transformed as BLISS or SUROOR!


happiness is a conscious effort.

However it has to be effortless. Then happiness becomes natural

and spontaneous. A spontaneous and natural happiness is the quality

of your being. And when happiness becomes the quality of your being

the ultimate has happened. You have arrived home.

Happiness does not remain

anything from outside instead it becomes light from within.

Happiness is bliss of the being. Happiness manifesting from within

is the light of the being. Beyond all religions, and all other narrow

boundaries:

Happiness is the LIGHT OF THE BEING. The very essence of

human existence! ‘Happiness’ is the beginning and ‘Light’ is the

ultimate. Together Happiness and Light form the two wings

for inward journey.

Just as light has no religion so too happiness has no religion. It is the

quality of the being. Of which bliss is the light.

When your inward journey begins it

becomes difficult to choose to be happy under all circumstances and

situations. By nature mind

complains and finds faults. Mind can never be happy. Because the

moment mind learns to be happy it can no more remain as mind!

Human mind represents ego. Ego is against happiness, light and bliss.

Ego prefers darkness, and ignorance. The moment you are

gripped by ego ignorance becomes your ornament. Carrying the tool of

ignorance as an embodiment of ego you continue the life of duality,

conflict and despair.

Ego, unhappiness, mind, ignorance etc are all like hard crust on the

surface of the being difficult to penetrate. Let me take an example.

You have to dig a deep hole

somewhere. You need tools like pick axe and many other tools. Some of

these tools are hand held while other tools are powered. The

process is difficult and labor intensive when you use hand held

tools. However with powered tools the process is accentuated.

So too when you have to journey on

your own it is difficult and takes time. Also it may not be possible to

journey on once own. Only once in a while someone attains of one’s

own. The assistance and support of

someone who has journeyed through the dark caves of the being

the journey not only becomes easy but faster as well.

This is like using the powered tools.

The energy field of the master comes like a power-tool. The energy

field of the master clears many such impediments effortless. For the

energy of the master the disciple has to be a conductor of energy to

channel through. The moment the disciple has attained to such a state

inward journey attains impetus. That which once appeared to be

impossibility has now become within the sight of the aspirant.

Back to the physical example - The

place where you have to dig a hole has many layers. The outermost

layer is the hardest and therefore most difficult to penetrate. As you

go deeper and deeper under the

outer crust it becomes easier and easier to penetrate. And deeper you

go you find softness of the soil. For agriculture it is this soil that is

considered suitable. Something like this happens in inward journey.

To break the outmost layer one has

to be cautious so that no damage is


caused and at the same time the

outer crust is broken. When I gave you the first meditation ‘Choose to

be happy’ as a device enunciated by female Naqshbandi Sufi Sheikh

Shakuntala Devi it was for the purpose of breaking the outer crust

of ego. Also ego has various layers. However just ‘choosing to be happy’

consciously all the layers of ego or ‘Nafs’ dissolve.

In the process first there comes a

crack and then the outer layer begins to crumble. Ego starts

dissolving. One gets the first glimpse of light as emanating from

deep within. This is like the light in

the faraway lands. When this

happens for the first time one cannot believe.

You consider this light as alien to

you. Remember this is light now shining from you hidden core.

Something of which you have become oblivious long ago!

Therefore it will take some time for you to recognize your own being

and thus the light emanating.

Remember this is the Ultimate reality as lurking as light from the

faraway lands. But this is the beginning of a new life. Continue

the inward journey on the self

chosen wings of happiness. Bliss is

the Ultimate along this journey.

Allow happiness to reflect through

countenance, actions and thinking

under all circumstances. Let happiness be your vey texture.

Happiness is the Door to Ultimate. Happiness is bliss. Happiness is

light. Happiness is your being.

Happiness is beyond all religions. Happiness is unfathomable ocean.

Happiness is vast infinite sky.

Happiness is the essence of Sheikh Shakuntala Devi.

Happiness is the LIGHT OF THE BEING. Happiness is the light of Allah Subhan wa Taala. The very essence of human existence! ‘Happiness’ is the beginning and ‘Light’ is the ultimate. Together Happiness and Light

form the two wings for inward journey.



ya oudaya ya ALlah mere rb mere mailk

krtI hU< Agr daejk ke fr se #badt mE terI

tae bezk tU muHe daejk kI Aaitz me< )e<k

krtI hU< #badt terI mE Agr

jNnt kI ouznuma cah me<

ya Agr #badt hE merI

jNnt ke sr sBj vagae< kI oaitr


tae bezk jNnt se mhêm kr muHe

AaEr ykInn hram kr jNnt ke dr

AaEr drvaje merI oaitr

Agr merI #badt AaEr priStz

is)R AaEr is)R terI muhBbt kI oaitr hE

Taea ya oudaya mhêm n kr muHe ApnI muhBbt se

AaEr Ata kr muHe Apne nUranI

AaEr munBbr cehre ke dIdar se sda ke il@

ApnI inSbt AaEr tjiLlyae se ya oudaya

ya ALlah iloa hE #badt ka jae isla

nsIbae< me< mere %se bOz de duZmnae kae tU

AaEr jae kuD -I dena Agr tU cahe

Aaiort me< tU Ata kr %se hbIbae kae Apne

jha< tk hE mera Apna taLluk

mere il@ tae bs ka)I hE

terI muhBbt ik tU phcanta hE muHe

tera dIdar AaEr terI tjiLlya< hI


Ya Allah Ya Khudaya Mere Rab!

If I worship you because of fear of hell

Certainly throw me in the eternal fire of hell

If I worship you for the desire of heaven

Or because of the walled garden of heaven

Certainly deprive me of the heavenly realm

Also close the doors of heaven too for me

If my prayer or worship is for thy love

Deprive me not from thy love and grace

Grant me the boon of the light of thy presence

Serenity, ecstasy and grace for ever

Whatever be the rewards of thy worship

Verily grant to thy enemies and ignorant ones

Who fail to recognize thy presence solemn?

Still if you want to give me anything

Give it certainly to thy messengers

For me thy love eternal incessant alone

And thy recognition is enough and comforting!!!


له له ب تاد Khudaya خدا ب س من ا

ر ه من اگ شما ب بادت ه ع رس خاطر ب نم از ت جه

عا ط ش در من ق دی آت نم اب اب جه رت پ

ر شما اگ رای بادت من ب یل ع شت از م ه ب

ا و ه ی یل ب واره دل اغ دی سمان ب آ

عا ط لمرو از من ق ی ق سمان محروم آ

ین ن ک همچ زدی سمان درهای ن رای آ یش من ب حد از ب

ر ا دعا اگ بادت ی ست من ع رای ا شق ب و ع ت

ردن محروم شق از من ک طف و ع و ل ست ت ی ن

ه من ت ب رک ور ب ضور ن و ح ت ت ران گ

طف و وجد آرامش، رای ل شه ب ی هم

شد چه هر ا اداش ، ب بادت پ و ع ت

ا اعطای ه همان نان ب شم و د ی و ت های ه آن ادان ک ن

سی چه ادر ک ه ق یص ب شخ ضور ت و ح سمی؟ ت ر

ا ن ب ر حال ای شما اگ ید می ه خواه یزی هر من ب را چ

عا ط ه را آن ق ن ب سوال و ر ت

رای شق من ب و ع ی ت ی در پ ه پ ی ب نهای دی ت اب

ه و یت ب سم تن ر ناخ ش و ست ت ه ا دازه ب ی ان اف !آرامش و ک


azrat Rabia Al Adawiya is the embodiment of love eternal. Love flows through her veins. Love for Allah Subhan Wa

Taala is her solace and her heart beat. Myriad salutations to Rabia – the embodiment of love eternal!!!

In the early days of Sufism very little was written down. There were just luminaries, saints, friends of God, and wali, who lived their own spiritual passion, and their deepest devotion. One such saint was Rabia Al Basri, a woman who was

born in the eighth century into slavery. However her owner was so impressed by the intensity of her devotion that he gave her freedom.

She became known for stressing the love that exists between the mystic and God. Always looking towards God, she

cared for nothing that might distract from or interfere with this relationship. She was once asked,

‘Do you love God?’ ‘Yes,’ Rabia replied.

‘Do you hate the devil?’

‘No, my love of God gives me no time to hate the devil’ Subhan Allah!

was the tranquil reply of Rabia.

H


Like many early Sufis Râbi’a

practiced severe renunciation and austerities.

I have heard once Rabia was sitting

in a darkened room in meditation on a beautiful spring day. Her

servant called to her to come out and see what the Creator had

made. From within her room Rabia replied:

‘Why not come in and see the

Creator? Contemplation of the

Creator so much preoccupies me that I do not care to look upon His

creation.’

In meditation we learn to feel the stillness of the mind and the senses

too. Thus we can directly

experience the inner reality of the

heart.

At another occasion one friend had a dream that gave her a glimpse of

the sweetness beyond the mind.

I am sitting in a congregation and the teacher silently speaks to me,

saying, ‘I will show you what this

meditation can offer you.’

The congregation begins to

meditate and when I fall into meditation I hear the sound of the

most beautiful chord of music whose notes become louder and

whose vibration fills my whole being until its essence absorbs me in an

intense sweetness and bliss which I

can only describe as a glimpse of

heaven. The notes cease as the meditation ends.

Such bliss is the substance of the

Self which cannot be experienced at the level of the mind. The mind is

known as the ‘slayer of the Real’. Mind separates us from spiritual

Truth which is found within the heart. The mind understands

through duality, - the differentiation of subject and object. Truth is

always a state of oneness: the

knower and the knowledge are one, and the lover and Beloved are

united. Meditation is the technique to take us from the world of duality

to the oneness within the heart.

Not much is known about Rabia al

Basri, except that she lived in Basra in Iraq, in the second half of the 8th

century AD. She was born into material poverty. However she had

infinite reservoir of love. She is the

embodiment of Ishk-I-Haquiqui.

Rabia gave a new meaning to Love. Rabia freed love from the quicksand

of personal love. Her love for Allah

Subhan Wa Taala was indeed a

transcendence from worldly to love divine or love eternal. From Ishk-I-

Mazazi to Ishk-I-Haquiqi was the way of Rabia.


Rabia’s love for Haq or Allah was

the outcome of understanding her austere life. But many spiritual

stories are associated with her and what we can glean about her is

reality merged with legend. These traditions come from Farid ud din

Attar a later Sufi saint and poet, who used earlier sources. Rabia

herself though has not left any written works.

Love for Rabia was the ultimate way

to relate to the Allah Subhan Wa

Taala. Love is the fragrance of Rabia’s

being. It is a way of communion with the unknown and unknowable.

Love is the Ultimate way to Relate for Rabia.

Rabia contended that Love is not a

relationship. You cannot give it a name, form, shape or anything

finite. Love is an unseen but realized truth. When it grips you are

overwhelmed. It comes from the unknown and unknowable – the

Allah Subhan Wa Taala. And then

gives you the taste of your being. And before you become aware you

dissolve into the vastness of love. You attain to Fana-Fi-Allah and

Baka-Bi-Allah as you subsist in Allah

Subhan Wa Taala.

Love relates. Indeed love is the only way to relate. Love is a way to

relate to sentient and insentient beings when you subsist in Allah.

Then Love is awareness. Also Love is a way of life. Love descends from

Allah as the understanding. And finally becomes your being. Love is

the way to manifest your being. Certainly love cannot be a

relationship.

A ‘relationship’ implies that

something is finished. A relationship is a noun. The full stop has come.

The honeymoon is over. Now there is no joy, no enthusiasm, now all is

finished.

Yet still you can carry it on like the dead corpse. Life moves on just to

keep your promises. You can carry it on because it is comfortable,

convenient, and cozy. You carry it on because there is nothing else to

do. You carry it on because if you

disrupt it, it is going to create much trouble for you.

Relationship means something

complete, finished, and closed. Love

is never a relationship. Love opens

its wings in the unknown and unknowable field.

And before it reaches the known

realm it disappears. This is what you need to meditate upon. If you

start seeking newness then you are moving to the realm of world of

conflicts, duality and misery.

Love is milestone. A little meditation on its nature changes the gestalt

and directs your energy towards the

inner realm.

Love is relating. It is always like a river, flowing, unending. Love

knows no full stop. Once your love for Allah Subhan Wa Taala beging it

never comes to end. It is not like waning for the moon. Instead it is

the Sun of the Noor-I-Illahi. Love’s honeymoon for haq begins but

never ends. It is not like a novel that starts at a certain point and

ends at a certain point.

Love is an ongoing phenomenon.

Lovers end, love continues. Like haq love is the beginning and the end

too. It is a continuum. It is a verb, not a noun. And why do you reduce

the beauty of relating to


relationship? Why are you in such a

hurry?

To relate is insecure, and relationship is a security.

Relationship has a certainty. Relating is just a meeting of two

strangers, maybe just an overnight stay and in the morning we say

goodbye. Quite contrary to this love for haq is bliss. It is beyond time

and space. Life may end but not the love.

Who knows what is going to happen tomorrow? And you are so afraid

that you want to make it certain. You want to make it predictable.

You would like tomorrow to be according to your ideas. Naturally

you do not allow it freedom to have its own way. So we immediately

reduce every verb to a noun.

In the world with more meditativeness around, with a little

more enlightenment spread over the earth, people will love, love

immensely, but their love will

remain a relating, not a

relationship. It will be love for haq –

truth. Certainly there will be something more of poetry and more

of God in it.

The flowers of love take years to come and sometimes many years.

The longer it takes, the deeper it goes. And longer these last.

But it has to be a commitment from

individual heart to the cosmic heart. It has not even to be verbalized,

because to verbalize it is to profane

it. Love expresses itself in verses, songs and dances. Rumi whirling or

Mira’s dance are all expression of immense love. When love for Allah

springs forth from within it can assume a song, a dance, a melody,

a painting. Indeed love expresses itself in myriad ways.

Love is a silent commitment; eye to

eye, heart to heart, and being to being. It has to be understood, not

said.

Love is the way to penetrate deeper

and deeper into his realm of inner

feelings, into the deep recesses of

his being.

Indeed you are trying to unravel a mystery which cannot be unraveled.

But the effort is always fulfilling. That is the joy of love. This is the

exploration of consciousness. And if you relate, and never reduce it to a

relationship, then the other will become a mirror to you.

Exploring Allah Subhan Wa Taala,

unaware you will be exploring

yourself too. Getting deeper into your being, knowing inner feelings,

thoughts, and deeper stirrings, you will be discovering your own inner

sanctum as well.

In Love you become mirror to life and living, and then love becomes a

meditation.

Such is the love of Rabia for her eternal beloved Allah Subhan Wa

taala whom she felt in her heart beat, experienced in deep recess or

her rooh.

Volume 1 Issue IV October – December 2011 Quarterly Publications Page 42

Rabia was born between 95 and 99 Hijri in Basra, Iraq. This

is 8th century AD. Much of her early life is narrated by Farid

al-Din Attar, a later Sufi Saint and poet, who used earlier

sources. Rabia herself did not leave any written works.

She was the fourth daughter of her family and therefore was

named Rabia, meaning ‘fourth’. Although not born into

slavery, her family was poor yet respected in the community.

According to Farid al-Din Attar, Rabia’s parents were so poor

that there was no oil in house to light a lamp, nor a cloth

even to wrap her with. Her mother asked her husband to

borrow some oil from a neighbour, but he had resolved in his

life never to ask for anything from anyone except the

Creator. He pretended to go to the neighbour’s door and

returned home empty-handed.

In the night Prophet Muhammad appeared to him in a dream

and told him, ‘Your newly born daughter is a favourite of the

Lord, and shall lead many Muslims to the right path. You

should approach the Amir of Basra and present him with a

letter in which should be written this message: ‘You offer

Durood to the Holy Prophet one hundred times every night

and four hundred times every Thursday night. However,

since you failed to observe the rule last Thursday, as a

penalty you must pay the bearer four hundred dinars’.

Rabia’s father got up and went straight to the Amir with tears

of joy rolling down his cheeks. The Amir was delighted on

receiving the message, knowing that he was in the eyes of

Prophet. He distributed 1000 dinars to the poor and joyously

paid 400 dinars to Rabia’s father. The Amir then asked

Rabia’s father to come to him whenever he required

anything, as the Amir would benefit very much by the visit of

such a soul dear to the Lord.

After the death of her father a famine overtook Basra and

Rabia separated from her sisters. Legend has it that she was

accompanying a caravan, which fell into the hands of

robbers. The chief of the robbers took Rabia captive, and sold

her in the market as a slave. The new master of Rabia used

to take hard service from her.

The legend also says she was sold to serve as prostitute.

When the people would be send to her Rabia would pass the

whole night in prayer and the men too as she could not be

the Imam. And with the dawn the man will walk away

quietly. The owner one day suspected something. So he

decided to peep into the room and he observed as the man


would enter she will encourage him into prayer. The man

remained in prayer whole night. And in the morning would

disappear never to come back again.

After she had finished her household jobs Rabia would spent

many of her days observing fast.Once the master of the

house got up in the middle of the night, and was attracted by

the voice in which Rabia was praying to her Lord. She was

entreating in these terms: ‘Lord! You know well that my keen

desire is to carry out Your commandments and to serve Thee

with all my heart, O light of my eyes. If I were free I would

pass the whole day and night in prayers. But what should I

do when you have made me a slave of a human being?’

At once the master felt that it was sacrilegious to keep such

a wali in his service as captive. He decided to serve her

instead. In the morning he called her and told her his

decision; he would serve her and she should dwell there as

the mistress of the house. If she insisted on leaving the

house he was willing to free her from bondage.

She told him that she was willing to leave the house to carry

on her worship in solitude. This the master granted and she

left the house.

Rabia went into the desert to pray and became an ascetic.

Her murshid was Hazrat Hassan Basri.

Throughout her life, her Love of God, poverty and self-denial

did not waver. They were her constant companions. She did

not possess much other than a broken jug, a rush mat and a

brick, which she used as a pillow. She spent all night in

prayer and contemplation, chiding herself if she slept

because it took her away from her active Love of God.

As her fame grew she had many disciples. She also had

discussions with many of the renowned religious people of

her time. Though she had many offers of marriage, and

(tradition has it) one even from the Amir of Basra, she

refused them as she had no time in her life for anything

other than God.

More interesting than her absolute asceticism, however, is

the actual concept of Divine Love that Rabia introduced. She

was the first to introduce the idea that God should be loved

for God’s own sake, not out of fear—as earlier Sufis had

done.

She taught that repentance was a gift from God because no

one could repent unless God had already accepted him and

given him this gift of repentance. She taught that sinners

must fear the punishment they deserved for their sins, but

she also offered such sinners far more hope of Paradise than

most other ascetics did. For herself, she held to a higher

ideal, worshipping God neither from fear of Hell nor from

hope of Paradise, for she saw such self-interest as unworthy

of God's servants; emotions like fear and hope were like

veils—i.e. hindrances to the vision of God Himself.


She prayed:

‘O God! If I worship You for fear of Hell,

burn me in Hell,

and if I worship You in hope of Paradise,

exclude me from Paradise.

But if I worship You for Your Own sake,

grudge me not Your everlasting Beauty.’

Rabia was in her early to mid-eighties when she dissolved in

Allah Subhan Wa Taala, having followed the mystic Way to

the end. She believed she was continually united with her

Beloved.

As she told her Sufi friends, ‘My Beloved is always with me’

Rabia’s final departure from this world is recorded in a

beautiful account by a Persian biographer. He says that

during her last moments, many of her followers surrounded

her but she bade them to leave, asking them to make way

for the arrival of Allah’s messengers.

When they had left her, they all heard her voice making the

profession of faith – La illaha ilallah.

And then a voice said “O’ soul at rest, return to thy Lord,

satisfied with Him, giving satisfaction to Him. So enter

among my servants and enter into my paradise.” [Al-Quran]

Rabia died in Jerusalem in 185 AH.


abia was the first who set forth the doctrine of Divine

Love and who is widely considered to be the most

important of the early Sufi poets.

Much of the poetry that is attributed to her is of unknown

origin. After a life of hardship, she spontaneously achieved a

state of self-realization. When asked by Sheikh Hasan al-

Basri how she discovered the secret, she responded by

stating:

‘You know of the how, but I know of the how-less.’

One of the many myths that surround her life is that she was

freed from slavery because her master saw her praying while

surrounded by light, realized that she was a saint and feared

for his life if he continued to keep her as a slave.

While she apparently received many marriage offers -

including a proposal from Hasan al-Basri himself, she

remained celibate and died of old age, an ascetic, her only

care from the disciples who followed her. She was the first in

a long line of female Sufi mystics.

It is also possible that she helped further integrate Islamic

slaves into Muslim society. Because of her time spent in

slavery early in life, Rabia was passionate against all forms of

it. She even refused a slave later in life, despite her

heightened spiritual status.

Rabia had unique way of teaching through anecdotes,

Parables and stories.

One day, Rabia was seen running through the streets of

Basra carrying a torch in one hand and a bucket of water in

the other.

When asked what she was doing, she said, ‘I want to put out

the fires of Hell, and burn down the rewards of Paradise.

They block the way to God. I do not want to worship from

fear of punishment or for the promise of reward, but simply

for the love of God.’

R The Way of Rabia


In his Life of St Louis, Jean de Joinville reports this story of a

woman, but no name or religious affiliation is given to the

woman, and the report appears to be contemporary (when in

fact Joinville lived three centuries after Rabia).

At one occasion she was asked if she hated Satan. Hazrat

Rabia replied: ‘My love to God has so possessed me that no

place remains for loving or hating anyone

else.’

When Hazrat Rabia would not come to

attend the sermons of Hazrat Hasan Basri,

he would deliver no discourse that day.

People in the audience asked him why he

did that. Hasan replied: ‘The syrup that is

held by the vessels meant for the elephants

cannot be contained in the vessels meant

for the ants.’

Once Hazrat Rabia was on her way to Mecca, and when half-

way there she saw the Kaa’ba coming to meet her. She

exclaimed: ‘It is the Lord of the house whom I need, what

have I to do with the house? I need to meet with Him Who

said, ‘Who approaches Me by a span’s length I will approach

him by the length of a cubit.’ The Kaa’ba which I see has no

power over me. What joy does the beauty of the Kaa’ba bring

to me?’

At the same time the great Sufi Wali Hazrat Ibrahim bin

Adham arrived at the Kaa’ba, but he did not see it. He had

spent fourteen years making his way to the Kaa’ba, because

in every place of prayer he performed two rakats.

Hazrat Ibrahim bin Adham said: ‘Alas! What has happened? It

maybe, that some injury has overtaken my eyes.’

An unseen voice said to him, ‘No harm has

befallen your eyes, but the Kaa’ba has gone

to meet a woman, who is approaching this

place.’

Ibrahim Adham responded: ‘O indeed, who

is this?’

As he ran he saw Rabia arriving, and that

the Kaa’ba was back in its own place. When

Ibrahim saw that, he said, ‘O Rabia, what is

this disturbance and trouble and burden

which you have brought into the world?’

Rabia replied, ‘I have not brought disturbance into the world.

It is you who have disturbed the world, because you delayed

fourteen years in arriving at the Kaa’ba.’

Ibrahim: ‘Yes I have spent fourteen years in crossing the

desert because I was engaged in prayer.’


Rabia: ‘You traversed it in ritual prayer - Salat but with

personal supplication.’

Then, having performed the pilgrimage, she returned to

Basra and occupied herself with works of devotion.

One night Rabia came on the road outside her home and

started searching something under the lamp-post. Crowd

gathered. Rabia continued her search very intensely.

People enquired: ‘What are you searching on the road?’

Rabia responded: ‘I am searching for my needle that fell

somewhere.’

The people also started searching for the needles. Then

someone from the crows further said: ‘Rabia the road is very

big area and the needle is very small. Tell me which part of

the road needle fell so that we can search for the needle in

the right place.’

Rabia responded: ‘The needle fell inside the room where I

was working.’

Someone from the crowd said: ‘We know Rabia you are

crazy. But we did not know that you will be crazy to this

extent. The needle is lost inside the room and you are

searching outside.’

Very innocently Rabia responded: ‘Indeed the needle was lost

inside. But there was darkness so I came in the light to

search for the lost needle.’

Such were the ways and means of teaching of Rabia Al Basri.

Salih Qazwani always taught his disciples, ‘Who knocks at the

door of someone constantly, one day the door must be

opened to him?’

Rabia one day heard it and said: ‘Salih, how long ‘will you go

on preaching thus, using the future tense, saying ‘will be

opened’? Was the door ever closed? It was ever open.’

Separation... simply unbearable!

One day, people asked why she kept no knife in the house.

Rabia replied, ‘Cutting asunder is the work of the knife. I fear

it may not asunder the bond between that exists between me

and my beloved Lord.’

A fervent prayer

One day she was going on an errand. Whilst passing a street

a vagabond pursued her. She ran to save herself from him

and in doing so her foot slipped and she fell down and broke

her arm.


She thereupon prayed to the Lord, ‘I am poor orphan and a

slave. Now my hand too is broken. But I do not mind these

things if Thou be pleased with me. But make it manifest to

me that you are pleased with me.’

The Divine voice in reply said, ‘Never mind all these

sufferings. On the day of judgment you shall be accorded the

status that shall be the envy of the angels even.’ Then she

returned to her master’s service.

Thanking the Lord

One day Sufyan Thauri went to Rabia. She passed the whole

night in worship, standing before the Lord. When the morning

broke she remarked, ‘God be praised that He conferred His

grace on us that we could pass the whole night in prayers. As

a mark of gratitude, let us pass the whole day in fasting.’

The joy of pain!

A man was crying, ‘Ah! How great is a pain!’ Rabia

approached him and said, ‘Oh! What a lack of pain!’ He asked

her why she said the contrary. She replied, ‘Because pain is

the privilege of great devotees, who cherish even with the joy

even so much anguish that even talking and drawing breath

become a matter of strain to them.’

Why no bandage for His blessings?

One day Rabia saw a man passing on the way with his

forehead tied with a bandage. She asked him why he put on

the bandage. He replied that he was suffering from headache.

‘What is your age?’ she asked.

He replied that he was thirty. She asked, ‘Till today, how

have you passed your life?’

He replied, ‘In perfect health’.

She said, ‘For thirty years the Lord kept you sound, and you

did not fly any colours on your body to express your gratitude

for His gift, so that people could ask you the reason for your

joy and knowing of God’s blessings on you would have

praised Him, but when for your own fault you have suffered

from a little headache you have tied a bandage and go about

exhibiting His harshness to you in making you suffer from

headache. What a base act is yours!’

Neither this nor that world,

you are enough for me

O Lord,

If tomorrow on Judgment Day

You send me to Hell,


I will tell such a secret

That Hell will race from me

Until it is a thousand years away

O Lord,

Whatever share of this World?

You could give to me,

Give it to Thy enemies;

Whatever share of the next world?

You want to give to me,

Give it to Thy friends.

You are enough for me.

O Lord,

If I worship Thee

From fear of Hell, burn me in Hell.

O Lord,

If I worship Thee

From hope of Paradise,

bar me from its gates.

But if I worship Thee for Thy sake alone

Then grace me forever the splendour of Thy Face.


Love

I have loved Thee with two loves

a selfish love and a love that is worthy of Thee.

As for the love which is selfish,

Therein I occupy myself with Thee,

to the exclusion of all others.

But in the love which is worthy of Thee,

Thou dost raise the veil that I may see Thee.

Yet is the praise not mine in this or that,

But the praise is to Thee in both that and this.-

Rabia al Basri


Reality

In love, nothing exists between heart and heart.

Speech is born out of longing,

True description from the real taste.

The one who tastes, knows;

the one who explains, lies.

How can you describe the true form of Something

In whose presence you are blotted out?

And in whose being you still exist?

And who lives as a sign for your journey?

Rabia al-Basri


If I Adore You

If I adore You out of fear of Hell,

Burn me in Hell!

If I adore you out of desire for Paradise,

Lock me out of Paradise.

But if I adore you for Yourself alone,

Do not deny to me Your eternal beauty.

Rabia al-Basri


Ya Allah! If I worship thee for fear of hell

Burn me in hell

If I worship thee in hope of paradise

Exclude me from paradise

But if I worship thee for your own sake

Grudge me not Thy everlasting

Beauty, splendor, and grace.


These are the words of the female mystic Rabia al Basri. She

grew in the tender love and training of the higher intuitive

powers of God and is one of the few women in the realm of

Sufism. Indeed she is considered the first female mystic

or saint in Islam. She was not trained by a murshid but was

born a devotee with great love for Allah.

Rabia’s parents died in her childhood and sometime later

when Basra was in the grip of a fierce famine, she got

separated from her sisters. She was captured by a man

who sold her off for six dirhams. The purchaser subjected

her to hard labor. Many hardships fell upon her but she

immersed herself in relentless devotion and worship of Allah.

Her devotion for Allah was fired by a deep-rooted love and

longing for the Divine.

„Rabia‟s worldly possessions

are said to have been a broken

jug from which she drank, an

old rush mat to sit upon and a

brick for a pillow. She spent

each night in prayer and often

chided herself for sleeping as it

prevented her constant

contemplation and active love

of God.‟

Broken Mug – Rabia‟s Posession

Little is known of her early years except that she spent her

youth as a slave and was later freed. What we do know of her

however, is that throughout her life her asceticism was

absolute and unwavering as was her love for God. Poverty and

self-denial were Rabia’s constant companions.

For example, her worldly possessions are said to have

been a broken jug from which she drank, an old rush

mat to sit upon and a brick for a pillow. She spent each

night in prayer and often chided herself for sleeping as it

prevented her constant contemplation and active love of God.

She refused all offers of marriage – of which there were many

– because she had no room for anything in her life that might

distract her from complete devotion to God. Indeed, in this

same manner she rebuffed anything that could distract her

from the Beloved, i.e. God.

More interesting than her absolute asceticism however, is the

concept of Divine Love that Rabia introduced. She was the

first to introduce the idea that God should be loved for His

own sake and not out of fear - as earlier Sufis had done.

For example, she is reported to have walked the streets of

Basra with a flaming torch in one hand and a bucket of water

in the other. When her intentions were questioned, Rabia

replied: “I want to pour water into Hell and set fire to Paradise

so that these two veils disappear and nobody worships God

out of fear of Hell or hope of Paradise, but only for the sake of

His eternal beauty.”


In her master’s house she fasted by day and spent the night

praying. One night her master is said to have been awakened

by a strange voice urging him to free Rabia his slave. When he

looked through the window of his apartment, he saw Rabia in

prostration offering the litany “O God, you know that the

desire of my heart is to fulfill your commands and that the

light of my eye is in serving you. If the affair was with me I

would not rest even an hour from serving you, but you

yourself have left me at the mercy of a creature.”

Her master then perceived a lantern suspended above her

head giving out a blinding light. When day broke he

summoned Rabia and set her free. Rabia left the house and

wandered through the desert in search for what Allah had

apportioned for her. For a while she served God in a

hermitage and according to one version returned to her

master some days later, playing a flute with the skill of a

professional musician. Determined to perform the pilgrimage

she then set out for the desert to pray and became an ascetic.

Unlike many sufi saints she did not learn from a teacher

or master but turned to God himself.

It is said that on the way to the desert the donkey carrying

her bundle died. She entreated the Lord saying “O my God, do

kings deal thus with a woman, a stranger and the weak? Thou

art calling me to thine own house but in the midst of the way

thou hast suffered my donkey to die and left me alone in the

desert.” She had hardly completed her prayer when the

donkey stirred up and came to life.

Rabia was a mystic of the newly emerging Sufi order. She

often spoke of the concept of Hubb-e-Illahi or Divine Love in

Sufi philosophy. She expressed her love of God as:

“I love you with two loves, a love of passion and a love

prompted by your worthiness of that. As for the love of

passion, it consists in occupying myself with remembering you

and no one else. And as for the love of which you are worthy,

it consists in your lifting the veils so that I may see you.

However mine is not the merit in this or that. But yours is the

merit in this or that.”

“She was so singularly devoted towards achieving

divine union that all other attractions were meaningless

to her.”

Rabia was the one who first set forth the doctrine of mystical

love and who is widely considered to be the most important of

the early Sufi poets. Much of the poetry that is attributed to

her is of unknown origin. After a life of hardship she became

spontaneously realized.

When asked by Sheikh Hasan - al-Basri how she discovered

the secret, she responded: “You know of the how, but I

know of the how-less.”


Whirling – Dance of Ecstasy

Documents

International Journal of Naqshbandi Tariqat 0ct-Dec 2011