Flight of the Soul Bird

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

 The valley of intuitive Knowledge: Also known as the wisdom of the heart, marifa  or gnosis, this is direct revelation of the truth as apposed to ‘ilm’ or discursive knowledge. This is the Atmagyana or Atmabodh mentioned in Advaita. This revelation leads to detachment from all things perishable (valley of Detachment) and the realization of the unity of all existence (valley of Unity) – of both the phenomenal and the causative world. All opposites melt, everything is renounced and everything is unified. All forms merge into one singular Essence.

According to Jami, ‘ Unification consist in unifying the heart, that is, purifying it and denuding it of all attachment to all things other then “The Truth”, including not only desire and will but also knowledge and intelligence’. These valleys or states lead to the valley of Bewilderment, this is the long dark night of the soul, referred to by many Christian Gnostics – a state of perpetual sadness, and consuming desire – the agony of being in Love but not knowing with whom.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Baha’i Faith and Sufism

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

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

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

(photo credits: RonAlmog, Eviljohnius and Diabolic preacher)

Sufism: Being in love with Love

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

 

 

Notes: Nizamuddin, is a south-Delhi locality named after the dargah of the Sufi Hazrat Nizamuddin Awliya. Next to his grave lies buried his greatest disciple: Amir Khusro who was a poet, philosopher, musician, and linguist. Amir Khusrow Dehlavi (1253-1325) brought music to sufism and made it sing, blending folk and classical music, Amir Khusrow was the genius who through his love for the Divine, music and poetry, defined the pluralistic traditions of the Indian subcontinent. It is noteworthy that both Nizamuddin Auliya and Amir Khusrow were against organised religion as they believed that the clergy were more interested in power than in spreading the word of God.

 

 

The image at the top is an artist’s impression of Amir Khusrow