Beams

All of these aphorisms have been selected from Spectrum of Reality, by Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri. These "Beams" come from the body of text on each page, while the "Bursts" are selected pieces from the aphorisms highlighted at the bottom of each page.

Though nothing has been added, and his words are presented here as he wrote them, I have carefully ordered them to draw out some specific threads which touched my heart. This act of curation takes on many dimensions in the digital world, because our words are - in a sense - only given meaning by that which they leave out, just as music is made meaningful only by the silence which punctuates each note. When you leave out essentially the entire internet, the few pearls you do select take on far more gravity when parsed by an empty mind and a pure heart.

Please stop here and take a moment to breathe. Allow yourself to sink into the silence between each impulse. Let your attention return to its seat in your heart.

Now we can begin.

We cover our ignorance about our true nature with the roles that we play in life.

To recognize a fault in others means that we have that same tendency within us.

We have medicalised our health, industrialised our leisure, and commercialised our wellness. The real answer lies in meditative practices.

Meditation becomes transformative when attention and focus flows into boundless consciousness, without a goal or predetermined direction.

With reflection, one realises that inner and outer states are in constant resonance or entanglement.

A healthy body, clear mind, and pure heart are our primal duties.

The more insight we have, the greater will be our foresight.

We carry within us the story of galactic events as well as the subatomic mysteries. Spiritual awakening will reveal boundless Reality.

We ask when, why, and how life began. Plausible answers transcend the intellect and causality. They are heart-felt.

When normal mental activity and thoughts cease, you are along the path that leads to the origin of creation.

To go beyond mind, reason, and habits is the ultimate act of intelligence.

The mystery of life is as wide as the universe itself.

We are constant migrants, journeying towards origin and the state before creation.

Our origin and essence is perpetual in its perfect beingness.

The end is where the beginning was: ever constant and present.

Everything is heading towards completion.

You are not who you think you are.

Only when thoughts stop and identity is lost can one be at the door of sacred presence.

Within the still moment lies a zone of transcendence of mind and time. That is the infinitude of Reality.

Time and space are frames in which identity is given a temporary virtual reality which draws its energy from the One reality.

To transcend time you need to follow a trustworthy map and live along a path that unifies shadows and lights.

The present moment is the most potent and powerful link to the essence of time.

The past is not present. Neither is the future. Now is present and is the connection with timelessness and all times.

It contains all, yet there is no thing in the present. It is in time, yet free of time.

Once we have tasted timelessness we may come to realize the presence of eternity within our own heart: the perpetual moment.

Even patience and limitation become sweet: this is when you are accessing timelessness.

The dancer unifies with the dance and both vanish into the mystery of the harmony of sound.

When the mind is still and the heart is pure, the realisation of what had always been becomes obvious: Oneness and no otherness.

The purpose of human life is to experience existence through the lens of Oneness without denying the temporary experience of pluralities.

The primal purpose is to witness the beauty, majesty and perfection of the Cosmic Spirit: ever-present as the human soul.

The ultimate purpose of human life is to experience the infinitude of life itself and dwell therein.

When the nature of the soul is realized, then the ideas of freedom or choice disappear and what remains is blissful peace.

Peace is at the edge of space and time. It is still, stable, and constant.

Constant victory is a state within higher consciousness where everything is part of oceanic unity and perpetuity.

The self yearns to be welcomed and the soul is the most perfect host.

The soul is free from the notion of limitation or liberation.

The ultimate fitness is to live as a soul. That is perfection.

The enlightened being lives on earth as it is part of the hereafter and is constantly revitalised by this magnificent realization.

What makes death easy, natural, and acceptable is the personal experience of cosmic consciousness and boundless life.

Souls unify. Minds differ.

The illusion of duality is a driving force in life towards unity. The awakened person was a self and now is a soul. Perfect destiny.

Illumination is to experience the stillness and timelessness that underlie all change and transition.

By observing otherness and difference with insight and reflection, we may know and experience the essence of sameness and Oneness.

The sacred language of Oneness is the origin of all that we hear and know. It brings about human liberation and sustainable contentment.

The human quest is the personal realisation of the origin of life and the One source that permeates and governs all.

All life and awareness has emerged from One source which is the only perpetual reality.

Sameness and otherness overflow from Oneness: the incomparable One, unique and all pervasive; the Cause of the universe.

The realisation that there is only Oneness and no otherness is awakening.

The treasure of the soul is found when all else is lost. The soul is supreme. The One is true.

Thank the One source of all.