God Suffices – Part 1

We have been focusing on the importance of “establishing belief in the Absolute Being”. The Source of our existence is another realm of existence. Our existence is temporal and contingent and we belong to an Absolute Source.

We cannot jump into practicing rituals without first establishing “belief”. The fundamentals of belief encompass believing in angels, messengers, hereafter… which shapes our worldview. How can we feel comfortable with our existence in this universe? This is the main concern that we face every time.

How can we make sure that our Owner really takes care of us? How can we attach our senses to Him? Our worries and expectations are endless and we find it difficult to relate them to the Absolute. We need to apply belief into our existence. At first glance, nothing seems easy but we have to develop ourselves and attach our being to the Creator. Our actions are the result of our belief. What we feel in our hearts reflect in our actions. Example: If we see a bird run over by a car, we may react with a frown. If we react with a smile, that is superficial and contrary to our creation.

Without solving our internal problems, our actions become insincere, as a result of which we may even cheat ourselves. Just being convinced about the Lordship of the One who creates the universe does not solve our internal problems. We need to dig deeper and find what lies beyond the reality. Example: If an acquaintance dies, we usually justify the “necessity” of death (i.e. old age, illness…) but not the “existence” of death (i.e. reality). Similarly, if some calamity befalls, we say “where was the Creator?” Concluding that “I am created by the Creator is not enough.” We need to investigate further to extract meaning out of our existence.

“…For us God suffices, and He is the Best Disposer of Affairs.” Al-Imran (3):173

• This is easy for us to say but we have to feel it.

The Fourth Ray

NOTE: Peculiar to myself, it took the form of a significant discussion governed by the feelings, an animated conversation about belief, a secret discourse of the heart; it was healing for my various deep ills. Those who are completely in harmony and agreement with me may understand it. Otherwise it will not be entirely a great yearning for life, together with an infinite impotence and endless want. But an awesome transience was extinguishing the immortality. Suffering that state of mind, I exclaimed like the sorrowing poet: “While my heart desires its immortality, Reality wants the passing of my body; I am afflicted with an incurable ill, which not even Luqman could cure!

• Alongside our “reason”, our “feelings” must also be satisfied. The author is asking us to empathize with his feelings because we all have the same feelings.
• Do we really desire to be immortal?Immortal: desiring to stay young and happy forever.
• On one hand we desire immortality and on the other hand, we are so impotent that we cannot keep the existence of anything. Our nature always desires for more, the more we have, the more we want; but we cannot guarantee anything. This contradiction puts us in a dilemma.
• Can we really solve this dilemma? Well, there is no way to be immortal. Even Luqman, famous for providing the cure for every illness cannot help us.
• We are so lost in this world that we think that human concern is only to require a good job, a good spouse, sheltering offspring…Human concern is far more than that, it is using our consciousness (human qualities) to get to know the real purpose of our existence.
• We should always question the “Source of existence” of everything.
• Usually when something unpleasant happens or when something does not go according to the way we expected, we get disappointed. When we see no solution to solve our problems, we transfer the responsibility to the Creator. Although, these problems are painful but there is a solution to alleviate the pain. We need to have a strong heart as far as being satisfied in our existence.

“I bowed my head in despair. Suddenly the verse (mentioned above) came to my assistance, summoning me to read it with attention…”

• Repetition must be done in order to remind ourselves of the content of the phrase that we are using.
• If we are not concentrating on the meaning of the verse, the tongue repeating itself will not help us much.

The First Degree of the Luminous Verse ‘For us God suffices’.

Because of a shadow in my essential being of a manifestation of one of the Names of the One of Glory and Perfection, Who, possessing absolute perfection, is of Himself and for no other reason worthy of love, I had an innate desire for immortality, directed not to my own immortality, but to the existence, perfection and immortality of that Absolutely Perfect One. However, due to heedlessness, that innate love had lost its way, become attached to the shadow and enamored of the mirror of immortality. Then the verse, “For us God suffices, and He is the Best Disposer of Affairs” raised the veil. I saw and felt and experienced at the degree of ‘absolute certainty’ that the pleasure of happiness of my immortality lay exactly and in more perfect form in the immortality of the Enduring One of Perfection, in affirming my Sustainer and God, in believing in Him and submitting to Him. For an undying truth was realized through His immortality. The insight of belief established that “my essential being is the shadow of a Divine Name which is both enduring and eternal…”

• The author draws our attention to the fact that the desire of wanting to be immortal is legitimate. Why is it legitimate to want “eternal happiness”?
• This “sense” is the shadow of our Creator.
• “Shadow” is a tool or ladder that we use to climb to another level of existence which makes us feel that the sense of seeking immortality urges us to look for the Source of this sense. The One who gives us existence gave us the desire to look for the Source. This One is the Source itself.
• If we did not have this sense, we would never look for the Eternal Source/Immortal Source and we would never know that our Owner is “Immortal”. In other words, the concept of having an Owner would never occur to us if it were not for having the desire to be immortal.
• Do not blame yourself that you seek perfection or immortality, that you want everyone to be perfect or that you are yearning for Eternal happiness. It is innate in you, deliberately put by the Maker in order for you to get to know Him; so that you start searching for the means to satisfy your need. Our Maker knows that we will search for a cure for this need and so He gives us the urge to look for Him. Nothing in the universe can help us satisfy our human needs.
• This quest is a “sign” from our Creator so that we can “investigate” our desires and get to know Him.
• This is the best way to get to know who our Lord is.

Most people do not believe in a Creator because they do not think that there is a Conscious Will in their existence. They desire perfection but they claim that it is a wishful thinking or false desire and thus do not seek the Source of this perfection. They do not think the source of existence of this sense of desiring for perfection. We need to develop our understanding that our desire for perfection is from Him. If someone does not see that his needs are given to him in order to know the “Source of existence” of these needs, then his attributing these needs to his own being without thinking makes his existence contradictory. Such people think that they are not the product of a perfect Creator and that they are in this universe to struggle. Perhaps that maybe the reason why some people think that something within their existence is chaotic and so the order in the universe (which seems perfect) is the result of chaos. We need to realize that the order in the universe is contingent and points to its Source, calling us to find out that the One who creates the universe is “not only the Creator but also the Eternal One”.

• Our need for Eternity is given by Him so that we may look for a solution in our realization of Him being “the Creator”: He must be the Eternal One. If we did not have this concept, we would not know that God is Eternal, the concept would not exist.
• If we connect our need for Eternity to Him being “the Eternal One”, then we realize that we are given this need in order to get to know His qualities. And so, we have to expect our Creator to satisfy this need because He gave this need to us; only He can satisfy it because He is the Eternal One and gave us our existence.

LET US THINK ABOUT THIS CAREFULLY: My being is completely unable to satisfy my needs and at the same time, my having endless needs may seem contradictory. In reality it is a deliberate act (not my failure) calling me to get to know who my Source of existence is. That is how I get to know the qualities of my Creator and who my Creator is. Otherwise if I was not in this contradictory position, I would not care about the existence of my desires and know who my Owner is. So I have to utilize these senses.

The contradiction occurs when you do not question the Source of these desires. If you do not question why you have these desires, you would not investigate. When you do not investigate, your tongue says but heart/belief does not confirm it, which becomes very cultural (imitation).

• WE HAVE TO QUESTION: I have this sense, what is the Source of existence of this sense?
• Whatever you want is given to you: if you want more, you have to question the Source of existence of “wanting more”, where did I get this need? Can I find any Source which will give “existence to the Source” of my needs?
• We are given existence to question. Without questioning, we cannot come to a logical conclusion, neither in “accepting God” nor in “rejecting God”. If we do not have a question, He will not give us an answer.

The author starts with the foundations that our “desiring immortality” is the means to acknowledging Him. The Creator wants you to acknowledge Him as the Immortal One. If you can find anyway to satisfy your desire for immortality in this world, then you would not need God. God is not only the Creator but also the Eternal One. He is the Creator of your “desiring immortality”; this desire is a means of acknowledging the attributes of the Creator.

We are mortal beings and we want immortality. Our existence is attached to our coming from an Immortal One. We are always in need of being given existence. Everything needs to be given existence; nothing can be the Source of existence of anything in this universe. When we see problems in our lives, we think that we failed to solve them. Rather than questioning the wisdom in the existence of “human inquires” by using “our senses”, we send out our inquiries to God. It doesn’t solve any problem, it makes us look dumb. That is why people say that “religious belief” is “dogmatic”. We don’t know how to utilize or manipulate our human senses as created by the Creator.

Our lack of questioning leads us to fall into the above mentioned dogma. Our existence needs reflections, elaborations and a step by step approach to reach a conclusion. Perhaps that explains why Atheistic reasoning is also bound to be dogmatic. Satisfactory answers to our questions should lead to satisfactory conclusions. We have to confirm our conclusions in this world under the evidence of our own reasoning.

Question: How can we conclude that “death” is a transformation rather than the end of our existence?

Not desiring “death” means that I do not want to disappear from existence. If I do not accept my existence and the existence of a Creator, then I inevitably conclude that “death” is the end of my existence.

• Belief that the Quran offers us is based on lailaha, there is no Source of existence for this sense in this universe. But the sense exists and so I logically conclude illallah, there must be a Source giving existence to everything in this universe.

In conclusion, it is not an accident that my desire for immortality exists; it is serving me to get to know who the Creator is. There is wisdom in the existence of that desire. The “existence” of the desire itself is the call to attach our being to an “Eternal Source”. We are perfect beings; we are given endless qualities which we can realize only through experiencing the universe. Never forget to question the Source of existence of anything in this universe, including your questions: who gave it to you?