AL-HUDA
Foundation, NJ U. S. A
Article 1: - Article 2: - Article 3: - Article 4: - Article 5: - Article 6: - Article 7: - Article 8: - Article 9: - Article 10: - Article 11: - Article 12:
Akasha
The word Akasha in the
language of the Hindus is expressive of a meaning that explains
its object. Akasha means accommodation; not necessarily what man
calls the sky, although the sky is an accommodation. On the
model of the Akasha the whole creation has been based. The
organs of the senses, the ears, the eyes, the nostrils, the
mouth are all different aspects of Akasha, and thus is the human
body constructed. The purpose of this construction can be found
in its own nature; as the purpose of the ears is in hearing, of
the nostrils in breathing, of the eyes in seeing, so is the
purpose of the whole body.
The purpose of the body is to experience life fully. The
body becomes a vehicle for the intelligence by which it is able
to experience life fully. In order to make sound more audible
people build domes and other places where resonance is produced
and the voice and the words become more clear. So the
construction of the body is intended to make all that is
perceptible clear. By nature the body is the vehicle of the
intelligence or the soul, by which it experiences life fully.
But as man has lived for generations a life of increasing
artificiality, he has moved farther and farther from nature;
therefore this vehicle which was made a perfect instrument to
experience life fully has become less and less capable of
attaining that object. It is this incapability of experiencing
life fully, and the innate desire to experience it, which makes
the soul strive for spiritual attainment. What man does not know
he thinks does not exist; in this is to be found the origin of
materialism. But the tendency towards spiritual realization
remains there as an innate desire which is consciously or
unconsciously felt by every soul, whether spiritual or material.
It is for this reason that even a material person has a silent
craving in his heart to probe the depth of the very spiritual
ideal which he disowns.
The work of the senses is to experience, to taste, smell,
touch, hear, and see; but besides these senses there is the
inner sense which is one sense. It is by experiencing through
the different organs of the senses that this one sense becomes
many senses. It is the same sense which hears, smells, tastes,
feels, touches; but because it experiences life through
different organs, man divides one sense into five senses. The
depth of that sense which is the inner sense is more subtle than
one can imagine. When that sense finds a free expression it not
only experiences life more keenly through the organs of the
senses, but it becomes independent of the organs of sense. It
penetrates through life deeply, and as Kabir says, 'It sees
without eyes and hears without ears'. The reason is this: that
all that exists is contained in an accommodation, in the Akasha,
and by being in Akasha the nature of all things is revealed.
In fact there is nothing in this world which does not speak.
Everything and every being is continually calling out its
nature, its character and its secret; and the more the inner
sense is open, the more it becomes capable of hearing the voice
of all things. In every person this sense exists, but for the
most part, hidden, buried; and its being buried gives
discomfort, for it is something which is living, the only living
being there is. The idea of the 'lost word' has its secret in
this; when once this inner sense has broken the walls which keep
it enclosed, it breathes the freedom and happiness which belong
to the soul; the soul attains. Every discomfort, from whatever
source, comes through the lack of understanding. The more the
inner sense is covered, the more the soul finds itself in
obscurity. It is for this reason that the sign of the
enlightened soul is readiness to understand; therefore these
souls are easy to reconcile. When a person can understand
himself better, he can make another person understand better
also. But when a person is perplexed himself, instead of making
another person understand, he confuses him. In this way
differences are produced.
The organs of the senses are the Akashas or accommodations
of grosser and finer nature. The finer the organ the more
perception it has; the grossness takes away from the organ its
power of perception.
This shows that the body may be likened to a glass house
made of mirrors. In Persian language the poets have called it
Aina Khana, meaning the 'Temple of mirrors'. The eye stands as a
mirror before all that is visible;it reflects all that it sees.
The ears are the accommodation for the re-echo of every sound
that falls upon them. The senses of touch and of taste are
grosser than the senses of sight and hearing. At the same time
their nature is the same; all the different sweet, sour and salt
savors, and the feeling of warmth and cold, are perceived by
them, and they stand as mirrors in which objects are reflected.
Therefore, as one sees oneself reflected in the mirror, so this
body stands as a mirror in which every experience of the outer
life is reflected, and is made clear. If the mirror is dusty it
does not reflect the image clearly, so the experience of life is
not clear when the body is not looked after according to the
spiritual point of view.
The scriptures say that the body is the Temple of God; but
the right interpretation of this saying would be that the body
is made to be the Temple of God; a temple cannot be called a
Temple of God if God is not brought and placed there. So it is
natural when a soul feels depressed that there is something
wrong with the vehicle. When the writer wishes to work, and the
pen is not in order, it annoys him; there is nothing the matter
with the writer; it is the pen which is not right. No discomfort
comes from the soul; the soul is happy by nature; the soul is
happiness itself. It becomes unhappy when something is the
matter with its vehicle, which is its instrument, its tool, with
which to experience life. Care of the body, therefore, is the
first and the most important principle of religion. Piety
without this thought is of little significance.
The soul manifests in this world in order that it may
experience the different phases of manifestation, and yet may
not lose its way and be lost, but may attain to its original
freedom, in addition to the experience and knowledge it has
gained in this world. The different exercises that the Sufis and
Yogis do in order to enable the mind and body to experience life
more fully, exercises such as fasting, pose, posture, movement,
they all help to train the body, that it may become a fitting
vehicle for the experience of life. Wonder-working, such as
psychometry, feeling the atmosphere of places, of objects, of
people, comes when the body is also prepared for it.
A person may be intelligent, clever, learned, good or pious,
and yet his sense of perception may not be fully awake. It must
be remembered as the first principle of life that manifestation
was destined for keener observation of life within and without.
The greatest unhappiness that a person feels is from lack of
mastery; the unhappiness comes when knowing his mastery he yet
cannot practice that which he knows. Sadness comes from
limitation, limitation in different forms: lack of perception,
lack of power over oneself, or over conditions, or from the lack
of that substance which is happiness itself, which is love.
There is sometimes lack of understanding, though there may
be love, or lack of love through lack of understanding; there
may be both things and lack of power. If love has reached
perfection it will attain all three powers; when love becomes
power, it becomes understanding. The nature of love is as the
nature of water in the depths of the earth. If one does not dig
deep enough one finds sand, not water; but when one digs deep
enough one finds water. Many lovers of God lose patience, trust
and hope; they have touched sand and not reached water, but when
they have dug deep enough they find pure water.
As there are different organs of senses, so there are five
centers of inner perception. These centers are seats of the
intuitive faculties. Two among them are of great importance: the
heart and the head. If the Sufi training differs from that of
the Yogis, it is in the training of both these centers together,
by which the Sufi achieves balance. The head without the heart
shows dry intellect. The heart without the head represents an
unbalanced condition. Balance is the use of both these
faculties. The Sufi training is based upon this principle.
The centers may be likened to the space that one finds in
the apple. It is an Akasha, an accommodation, where not only
scent, touch, hearing and sight are perceived, but even the
thought and feeling of another; the condition in the atmosphere,
the pleasure and displeasure of one's fellow-man are perceived,
and if the sense of perception is keener, then even past,
present and future are revealed. When man does not perceive in
this way it does not mean that it is foreign to his nature; it
only means that the soul has not developed that power of
perception in his body. The absence of such free perception
naturally causes depression and confusion, for the soul longs
for a keen perception; and it feels confused, and at times
agitated, owing to a lack of a fuller perception, as the person
who is blind feels nervous agitation, because the inner longing
is to see, and when the organ of sight fails he becomes
agitated.
This is generally the cause in many souls who feel restless.
And the life man lives is a life of artificiality, it works
against him. It is not necessary to read the ancient traditions
to find out the truth about this. Today in the people who live a
less artificial life, a more simple life, a life in and near
nature, the intuitive faculties are more keen, and these people
show a greater happiness.
The centers become blocked by certain foods and by living a
more materialistic life. They are located in certain places; and
as there are some plants in the caves of the mountains where the
sun and the air do not reach, and it is difficult for the plants
to live, so are the centers of perception located in the
physical body; the body is nourished by food, but these centers
remain without any nourishment.
The physical body is made of matter, its substance is
matter; but the centers of perception are of still finer matter,
and though they are located in the physical body, no nourishment
can reach them, except that which is drawn through the breath,
the fine substance which is not even visible. In the language of
the mystics it is called Nur, which means light. The body does
not only want food, but also breath, in other words vibration,
and that vibration is given to it by the repetition of sacred
words. The sounds, the vowels, and the composition of the sacred
words is chemical, and it is this process which was called by
the ancient philosophers Alchemy. These centers are the Akashas
or domes where every sound has its echo, and the echo once
produced in this Akasha or Asman reaches all other Asmans which
exist within and without. Therefore the repetition of a sacred
word has not only to do with oneself and one's life, but it
spreads and rises higher than man can imagine, and wider than he
can perceive. Verily every action sets in movement every atom of
the universe.
When once the inner sense has become keen it shows its
development first by working through the organs of the senses.
The vision becomes clearer, the hearing becomes keener, the
sense or touch felt more keenly, sense of taste and smell
clearer. Therefore among those who tread the mystic path one
finds many who are sensitive, and become more sensitive as they
develop spiritually. As the standard of health known by the
average person is much beneath the mystical ideal, so to the
uninitiated the sensitiveness of a person of mystical
temperament may often seem peculiar. At the same time when this
sensitiveness is developed by spiritual training, and is under
control, it manifests as the first quality in the life of a
seer. The body which covers the soul keeps it blind by depriving
it of its freedom of expression in keener perception. It is like
a captivity for the soul. When the centers of the body are
awakened and at work, then the soul experiences life more
clearly, and naturally clouds which give depression clear away.
The soul begins to look forward to life with hope, with trust,
and with courage; and thus attains that power and understanding
which is needed in the struggle for Life.
When a little more advanced, the intelligence begins to see
through the eyes what every eye cannot see: the finer forces of
nature manifesting in color and form. There are many who talk
much about this, and some who know and say little, for they do
not see wisdom in speaking about something which their neighbor
does not see. And among those who speak much about seeing things
which others do not see, there is hardly one who really sees.
There is no doubt that, as the sight becomes keen, first the
colors of different elements working in nature manifest to the
view; secondly, the atmosphere that is created around man, which
is composed of semi-material atoms also becomes manifest. This
is what is called the aura. The different colors of this aura
express the meaning, for there is nothing in this world which is
without meaning. The one who pursues the meaning of life in all
its aspects hears again in them the Word which was once lost for
him. No doubt the life of a sensitive person becomes difficult,
especially when one has to live among the crowd. It is for this
reason the Brahmins lived an exclusive life, which has been
criticized by some who do not know the meaning of it. Different
practices of breathing are a great help in training both mind
and body to make them more perceptive, in order that they may
become fitting vehicles to fulfill the purpose of life.
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