73: 8 “And remember the Name of your Lord and devote yourself to Him wholeheartedly.”
Recap: What does it mean to devote oneself to the Lord “whole-heartedly”?
Let us start with a simple example: The tree is created. The fruit that I enjoy eating is NOT produced by the tree. The tree is just a vehicle where qualities (fruits) of its Maker are manifested. The tree as well as the fruit are being created by the same One who is the Creator of the universe. It seems to us as if the tree is growing the fruit but we notice that together with the fruit the tree is also undergoing a series of changes in its existence. When we observe these processes, we assume that these changes are happening by themselves. But a little bit more careful consideration makes it clear that they have no quality to make themselves to change, but they are subject to change. What or who can create these changes in their existence? The answer is simple: Whoever is giving existence to the whole order of the universe is creating them every moment in another form. This seems to a superficial eye as if the things are making themselves change.
We need to train ourselves to feel and experience whatever make sense to us theoretically. That is the only way that our human qualities will get acquainted with the Source of their existence. By definition, the Source of existence of the universe cannot be part of the universe. It is a logical conclusion that one derives at as a result of his/her investigation in this universe. Hence, to devote oneself to the Lord “whole-heartedly” means to be fully aware that all the qualities that we observe and experience in this universe belong to a One not part of the universe, but the Source of its existence.
Let us take another practical example: You know that your learning abilities cannot be the result of the choice of unconscious particles, they belong to the One that gives you your existence. When you ace that job interview and lands the job, the result also belongs to the Lord of the universe (the One that gives existence to everything in the universe.) The interviewer’s and your exercising of free will cannot create anything, but we together with our being including the free will are created by the One Who creates the whole universe.
- Every object and event that we experience in this universe carries a message which is a call for us to connect our being to the Source of its existence i.e. the Lord of the universe.
Question: How can I discern between my thoughts and a feeling so I can know what is right and what is wrong?
Answer: The ability to be on the right way is within us. We are given the freewill to investigate what makes sense to our being. When we are in conformity with our intrinsic nature, we will find out that we are on the right way. The scriptures help us confirm our intrinsic nature.
- When we read the scripture with its intended purpose, we find that its message corroborates with what we observe and experience in the universe. Our duty is just to confirm the conclusion that we derive from experiencing the universe + getting meaning from the scripture.
- The conclusion is: There must be a One that gives existence to my memory so I recall what I studied for the job interview, for example.
As a result of coming up with the above conclusion, we must have a need to live with this conclusion and presenting it to the One that enables us to come up with the conclusion. When the need is genuinely felt, one is inclined to present this conclusion in the form of prayer which is nothing but one’s expression, excitement and happiness towards the Source of their existence.
- If you are struggling with this inclination, then you need to start from scratch. That is, before coming up with the conclusion, you must first work out within yourself to recognize the following:
- I am needy.
- I am limited in my ability to choose.
- When I chose something, I just follow the order in creation.
- I do not create results.
Please note that while you are obeying the order, you are refining your human qualities when you are aware of it.
73:9 “(He is) Lord of the East and West, there is no deity but He, take Him therefore for (your) disposer of Affairs.”
- What does East and West mean?
- It means that everything comes into existence by the will of an Absolute Creator.
- What does there is no deity but Him mean?
- We cannot attribute the existence of anything to anything else in the universe. Are we the results of random happenings? Does the hurricane happen accidentally? No. It exists within a perfect order and thus it is the result of a conscious choice. Does illness strikes a person by chance? No. Nothing here happens without reason or purpose (lailaha). There must be a Source which gives existence to everything (illallah). Human reasoning works with experiencing opposites. If there was no illness, we would not know about health. If there was no hurricane, we would not realize how the earth is made to rotate every moment. Are things happening by themselves? We need to reflect more and more. Also, because of the option “no” which we got used to as toddlers, we get to know about the option “yes” which is needed to confirm the truth.
We need to reflect more on this. Think about your nails. When you cut your nails, you just obey the order in creation. You cannot choose anything outside the order.
- What does taking Him as the disposer of Affairs mean?
- It actually means to be in total awareness and then submission to a One that gives existence to the whole universe. In other words, being conscious that the Creator is acting as far as the creation of the things is concerned and we are just obeying His order in the creation by our free will. Being aware that I am not the Creator but He is, and then submitting to His Creatorship is (tawakkul).
- How can I make tawakkul? Just choose to be aware that It is the Creator of the universe. Never say: I am going to develop or create my skills. Say: I will obey the order of the creation and then He is going to create it according to my seriousness in following the order.
Our duty is to look for the rules in the order of creation to get something. Since we do not create the results, we just ask It to guide us by following the order and by accepting our dependence in our existence, our weakness, shortcomings and not knowing everything. That awareness is the worship of the Creator, God. Otherwise, if we think that we are in control of our doings, then we are going against our real self and thus end up with psychological problems when we do not achieve what we aimed at. Also, if you do not get something you desired, then know that you do not know whether that something is good or bad for you. You need to pay attention to your effort in following the order in the existence by using your given free will. Just be conscious of this reality!