© 2024 Dominique Ronfet
© 2024 French-speaking Association of Readers of the Urantia Book
| What is Behind the "I AM"? | Le Lien Urantien — Issue 107 — September 2024 | I AM and the Principle of Causality |
Dominique Ronfet
We sometimes find ancient texts that are particularly enlightening. This is the case with the following story.
El Ghazali in question lived in the 12th century. He was a philosopher, scholar and Sufi religious.
Isa, of course, is Jesus.
This story brings out several interesting points.
The Urantia Book emphasizes to us that the way is not in fear of the past, nor in the unbridled desire to reach a wonderful future.
But rather to be as fair and exact as possible in our present, imbued with a feeling of absolute confidence, despite a very real state of mental and temporal uncertainty.
Uncertainty with security is the essence of the Paradise adventure—uncertainty in time and in mind, uncertainty as to the events of the unfolding Paradise ascent; security in spirit and in eternity, security in the unqualified trust of the creature son in the divine compassion and infinite love of the Universal Father; uncertainty as an inexperienced citizen of the universe; security as an ascending son in the universe mansions of an all-powerful, all-wise, and all-loving Father. (UB 111:7.1)
Even if the Sufi philosophy in question here does not belong to any one in particular.
But rather to a universal wisdom.
The Spirit of Truth in question should also speak to us.
But let us go:
“Those who reach reality.
Imam El-Ghazali reports a tradition concerning Isa ibn Maryam.
One day he saw people sitting on a wall at the side of the road.
They looked miserable.
Isa asked them:
“What is your affliction?”
They said:
“It is our fear of hell that has made us this way.”
Isa set off again, and saw people standing sadly on the embankment, in different attitudes.
He said to them:
“What is your affliction?”
They said:
“The desire for paradise has made us like this.” He set off again, and shortly afterwards met a third group. These people looked as if they had endured a lot, but their faces were beaming with joy.
Isa turned to them:
“Tell me what made you like this.” They replied:
“The Spirit of Truth. We have seen Reality, it has made us forgetful of lower goals.”
Isa then said:
“These are the people who attain to reality. On the Day of Reckoning, it is they who will be in the Presence of God.”
Those who believe that exclusive emphasis on the theme of reward and punishment promotes spiritual progress have often been surprised by this Sufi tradition relating to
Jesus: For Sufis, a strong emphasis on the idea of gain or loss is only useful to certain individuals, and even then this aspect of things represents only one component of the totality of experiences lived by each person.
Those who have studied the methods of conditioning and indoctrination, and their effects on the human person, will be inclined to agree with them. Devout formalists have difficulty in admitting that the simple alternatives (good-bad, tension-relaxation, reward-punishment) are only elements of a complex system of self-fulfillment.
Like dervishes
The coming of the Spirit of Truth on Pentecost made possible a religion which is neither radical nor conservative; it is neither the old nor the new; it is to be dominated neither by the old nor the young. The fact of Jesus’ earthly life provides a fixed point for the anchor of time, while the bestowal of the Spirit of Truth provides for the everlasting expansion and endless growth of the religion which he lived and the gospel which he proclaimed. The spirit guides into all truth; he is the teacher of an expanding and always-growing religion of endless progress and divine unfolding. This new teacher will be forever unfolding to the truth-seeking believer that which was so divinely folded up in the person and nature of the Son of Man. (UB 194:3.8)
¶ Sufism
Sufism is the mystical path of Islam. Sufis favor personal experience over community outreach. The God they discover is a God of love, accessed through love. “Who knows God loves him; who knows the world renounces it.” Islam has had its mystical experience since the 8th century.
Sufism is never practiced alone: the one who aspires to it, the mourid, must be taken care of by a master, the Shaikh, who takes care of his spiritual training. This relationship between the master and the student allows the perpetuation of a chain of initiatory transmission, which always goes back to Muhammad.
Sufis believe that the name of Muhammad is holy and sacred. Devotion to Muhammad is the strongest practice of Sufism. Sufis have always revered Muhammad as the foremost personality of spiritual greatness.
| What is Behind the "I AM"? | Le Lien Urantien — Issue 107 — September 2024 | I AM and the Principle of Causality |