THE MEANING AND PURPOSE OF EXISTENCE AND THE ULTIMATE REALITY

THE MEANING AND PURPOSE OF EXISTENCE AND THE ULTIMATE REALITY

KAZEM FANI

e-Book

Maverick Publishing

HOUSTON, TEXAS

THE MEANING AND PURPOSE OF EXISTENCE AND THE ULTIMATE REALITY

KAZEM FANI

Introduction

The lives of people from materially advanced countries have improved greatly. The increase in personal income, technological advances and scientific discoveries have made people’s lives easier, more comfortable, and pleasurable. And there is ever increasing time for leisure.

As their material needs are satisfied, people have more time to reflect on their spiritual needs. There are those who recognize their spiritual poverty. Their material abundance and satisfaction sharply contrast with a sense of inner emptiness and darkness.

As a result, ever-increasing numbers of people are searching for ways to satisfy their spiritual needs. People in need of spiritual fulfillment seek answers in books, lectures, and courses, which address these issues.

Most of these books, lectures and courses, emphasize the importance of nurturing the Self. They promote the feeling of "I versus the World," and advocate separation of the individual from the world.

This view implies that the World is waiting for him, to provide him whatever he demands and desires. On the other hand, this book is about man’s mystic connection to the world and ultimate reality, if he will only open his eyes to see it.

The definitions of mystic and mysticism in encyclopedias and dictionaries are inadequate, vague and not easy to comprehend. In the western world, "mystic" is used indiscriminately to refer to those with unusual ideas or behavior, who are often judged as kooky, unreal, irrational, unscientific, superstitious, pathological personality, and so on.

The best way to understand the meaning of the world of "mystic," is to study the meaning ascribed by Asian wise men. A mystic frequently quoted is Rumi. Born in Asia Minor, his father him and the family traveled to Turkey because of war. All books of Rumi are in Farsi, the language of Iran, which is a country considered part of Asia, although Turkey considers itself as part of Europe. To avoid controversy, we refer to Eastern mystics or Oriental mystics. In the Orient, there are two meanings of "mystic." One is "man with knowledge" or "The man who knows." The second meaning is "perfect man."

In the Orient, a mystic is deemed perfect because he has acquired ineffable knowledge, which explains the meaning and purpose of life and ultimate reality.

The mystic has learned the knowledge by harmonious integration and union with the world of existence and the infinite.

In this book, we will learn how the mystics speak in metaphors. For example, a "drop of water" for mystics can refer to an individual or the infinite world. We will learn what a mystic means when he says, "The drop of water is annihilated in the sea."

All quotations and explanations in this book are translated directly from the original language used by the mystics. However, because of the particular cultural climate of the era during which the mystics wrote, using idiosyncratic and localized references regarding religious practices, folklore, social and political customs, the attempt at translation has been made difficult.

Most of the writings of Eastern mystics are in metaphors and stories. Many times mystics tell stories to make their point. Jalaluddin Rumi said, "It is better to tell secrets in stories." Mystics have had to resort to metaphors and stories to avoid the misunderstandings and the wrath of contemporary fanatics and orthodoxy of religious leaders and government authorities that threatened the mystics’ teachings.

One popular metaphor has been that of birds. For example, many Eastern mystics have spoken through the talking birds. One of the most important books of the era, by an Oriental mystic, Attar, is "Language of Birds." Throughout the book, birds speak to one another, representing another metaphor of human beings. It should be noted that a bird is a creature that is free. It is not confined to the ground. It can fly and can see things from above and has a much larger field of vision than the animal confined to the ground.

Some of the mystics, who dared to express their ideas and teaching directly without metaphor, were severely punished. An example is a mystic by the name of Mansur Hallaj. By the order of Caliph Mogtader of Baghdad, his hands and feet were cut off, his eyes were gouged out, and then he was hanged. His corpse was burned and his ashes were thrown into the Tigris River. The mystic Hallaj had to endure these cruel and barbarous punishments because some of his teachings and opinions were considered to be blasphemy by the contemporary religious leaders, especially when he made statements like, "I am ultimate reality."

In recent years, many books have been written about mystical ideas and teachings by authors who claim to be mystics. Most of the books advocate and propagate contemporary values such as individualism, freedom, self-enhancement, self-realization, love, and numerous other ideas that claim to enhance the "self." All of these ideas are appealing to our vanity, selfishness, greed, and wishful thinking.

The teachings of the ancient mystics are different from these hollow, self-serving prescriptions which enhance individualism and the idea of "I" versus the world.

The ancient mystics suggest that a man can harmoniously integrate and unite with the world, to learn the purpose and meaning of life and ultimate reality.

No one who wants to learn the knowledge of the mystics is excluded.

Oriental mysticism is truly universal, timeless, and pantheist. This Eastern mysticism is not meant to be a religion, a social philosophy, nor a political ideology. It does not advance a particular way of life, dependence on others or on a particular religion.

It is likely that some of the teachings and ideas of Oriental mystics are universal expressions of truth that have also been expressed by other mystics in other places of the world at other times in history. However, our purpose here, in this book, is to set forth as clearly as possible the teachings of the great Oriental mystics.

The teaching of the Oriental mystics was not for material gain. They did not ask for anything tangible or of material value from their students and followers. The Oriental mystics quoted in this book had reputations of never asking for material support from their followers nor being paupers, more often, they had gainful employment or a profession. For example, a mystic named Attar, whom most mystics consider to be one of the greatest mystics, was a physician and pharmacist (at that time, the two professions were done by the same person).

This book is made up of quotations and explanations from the books that Oriental mystics have written and their teachings about how one can learn the ineffable, which have to do with the meaning and purpose of life and ultimate reality. Thus, I hope you will participate with the wisdom of these mystics in order to purify and enhance your spiritual life.

In this book, the word "Man," means all human beings, whether woman, white, black, Christian, Jew, Moslem, Oriental, or any other category.

THE MEANING AND PURPOSE OF EXISTENCE AND THE ULTIMATE REALITY

KAZEM FANI

Table of Contents

What is Knowledge?

Inexplicable

Bondage

God And Religion

Mirror and Movement

Sleep and Death

What is Knowledge?

Any intelligent man has many questions. Some fundamental questions he seeks are:

What is the meaning of existence? What is its purpose? What is the ultimate reality? No religion, ideology or philosophy has a satisfactory answer for these questions despite many inquiries. Wise men and geniuses have tried to find answers to these great questions, without success.

Omar Khayyám, a Persian astronomer, mathematician, poet (not a mystic) and author of the Rubáiyát, who lived in the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries, said: "I am brought (to this world) without my consent. All I have gained in my life is amazement. I must go (die) against my will, without knowing why I came, why I am here, why I must go. Even those who learned everything and became guiding lights to their companions did not find the way out of the darkness."

Rumi said, "Why am I in this convoluted world? Where am I coming from? Why I am (in existence)? Do you know where are you coming from? Nothing is worse than ignorance. Without knowledge you are dead. When you gain (the) knowledge, you are a perfect man. Search for your origin, know what you are doing, learn where are you going."

Altar said: "I do not know where I am from, where I am, which one I am, who I am."

In Oriental mysticism the answer to those questions is "the Knowledge." For Eastern mystics, the most important ultimate development in spirituality is gaining "the Knowledge." Eastern mystics have said that there are two aspects in every man’s life. One is material, which is necessary for sustaining and maintaining our mundane life in coordination and cooperation with the other members of society. In this part of our existence, we must be logical, rational and base our thoughts and actions on scientific knowledge and the collective wisdom of mankind.

The second aspect of our life is spiritual. Without spiritual development, we will feel empty and dark inside and we will have a meaningless and purposeless existence.

Scientific knowledge teaches us logic and rationality, but it does not provide us, "The Knowledge." Even with all the scientific information, we have to face a different aspect of "Knowledge." The mystics seek to take us to a different plane of Knowledge that is beyond our frail physical bodies, which ultimately die and turn to dust.

Scientific knowledge, as important rational and logical as it is, has fundamental shortcomings.

Throughout human history, contemporary scientists have tried to explain phenomena based on the knowledge they had at that time.

Looking back, one will notice how little scientist of the year 1000 knew, compared with their colleagues in the year 2000. Scientific knowledge is ever increasing and subject to change by new scientific discoveries. One cannot be sure, but probably scientists of the year 3000 will think the same way about their colleagues of the year 2000.

Based on their investigation, scientists make statements that are essential for our health and well-being. For instance, years ago scientists told us that margarine is good for our health because it is made from vegetable oil and has no cholesterol. This statement was accepted as true then because it was presumed scientists proved it to be true. However, now scientists say margarine is harmful because recent scientific discoveries have shown that margarine contains unhealthy trans-fatty acids. The trans-fatty acids are more dangerous to our health than cholesterol in butter and other animal products.

Even the laws of physics are not absolute. For instance, scientists thought that the maximum speed in the universe is the speed of light. Recently scientists found out that two parts of a split photon sent in opposite directions communicate with one another at speeds much faster than the speed of light. The principal law of speed of light still is valid, but the above theory shows that scientists keep investigating and progressing.

Niels Bohr, a Danish theoretical physicist who lived between 1885-1962, made major contributions to quantum theory, nuclear reactions and nuclear fission. He believed that all atoms were in constant communication with one another. This idea is identical with the statements of Oriental mystics (mystics did not use the word atom; they said "the smallest particle.") Though Bohr was neither Oriental nor a mystic, thoughts about the "smallest particles" were something he had in common with the mystics, who were not scientists.

A scientific idea is valid until new scientific discoveries refute, modify, or improve on them.

Progress is in the nature of science and progress and change is inseparable.

A scientific idea never can be absolutely certain, because scientists cannot be sure that the idea will not change with future scientific discoveries.

There is no logical, rational or scientific explanation for the mystical experience. It is an experience that a person must learn by himself directly and firsthand.

Attar said, "A logical man has wooden legs. Wisdom has feet of wax the path to 'the Knowledge' is paved with molten rocks."

Rumi said, "Mystical experiences are not imaginable or comprehensible (with ordinary senses) or explainable. Do not look with the eye of your head, look with the eye of your heart."

Attar said: "As long as you are restricted by logic, rationality and science, you are not going to learn 'the Knowledge.' Whatever you see and know is not anything more than an assumption. Beware of rationality and science. Intelligence has a limit."

There is a limit in scientific reduction. Furthermore, there are mysteries about the universe, life and death that cannot be compartmentalized into a scientific theory or experiment.

Many authors have stated that there are many realities and each person makes his own reality. There are others that have gone further and said that there is no reality at all, that our perceptions are so subjective we cannot trust in what we see (reality becomes our own conceived illusions). If that is what they really believe, they should not hesitate to step out of a window on the seventeenth floor or a high-rise building or step in front of a fast approaching train.

The mystics have said the meaning and purpose of life and ultimate reality, like truth, has only one version. The self-made reality, like falsehood, has countless versions.

Every moment that we are awake, we perceive things around us through our eyes, ears and other senses. All the incoming is processed, filtered, modified, ignored or enhanced by our mind, which, itself, is in different degrees of emotions that can change our perceptions. Our minds change the information based on our emotions like love, hate, anger, resentment, jealousy, pride, wishes, hopes, expectations, and bias. Likewise, our minds can be influenced by the state of our physical needs like pain, hunger, thirst and sexual desires. For instance, when we are hungry, we are more aware of food than after eating.

One can see the falsehood of our perceived realities in many examples of daily life.

Let us presume that an automobile accident has occurred and the driver of the car has killed a pedestrian and driven away. The accident happened in a crowded street and one hundred people saw the accident. The police intervened and recorded the observations of each person who saw the accident. If one takes statements from each person, probably not even two descriptions of the accident would be identical. Each observer would have a different perception of the events, including the description of the car, driver, speed of the car, what the driver did and did not do after hitting the pedestrian, and the description of the victim of the accident and what he was doing at the moment of impact.

From these descriptions, it appears that one hundred accidents have happened because each person perceived the accident in his or her own way, noticing some things about it, while ignoring others. In a sense, each story, added together, form a complete picture of what actually happened.

"The reality," is that only one accident happened, but there are multitudes of perceptions, based on different observations.

The mystics teach that our knowledge of the World is "limited," by our perceptions. To perceive the greater reality, we must go beyond only what we see.

INEXPLICABLE

Everything that we know is either firsthand or direct experience or derived from speculative thoughts. First hand experience is more important than learning from others. People learn from and teach each other because they have in common similar senses and intelligence. For instant eyesight, hearing ability, sense of touch, taste and intellectual ability to reason and deduce.

Most of the basic knowledge of the outside world and ourselves is firsthand experience. If we do not have one of the senses, we cannot experience anything firsthand that requires that sense.

Firsthand experience helps us to learn and teach better and exchange information and experiences with others.

There are many things that cannot be explained and the only way to learn them is by direct personal experience.

There are many examples of the inexplicable. Can you explain the colors of red, green or any other color to a congenital blind person? Can you explain the sounds of music and singing of the birds to a congenital deaf person? As these examples show, the only way to understand a color is to see it directly by our own eyes. The colors are inexplicable to the congenital blind person. The same is true about sounds or anything that affects our senses.

We exchange our feelings and our knowledge with people who share something of our same experiences.

If you are in a music hall and everybody, except you, is deaf, how can you explain the music played by the orchestra? And, if the audience is made up of blind people, how do you describe well enough the shape and distinctiveness of each instrument? In this example, the music and the scenes are both inexplicable.

Another common example of the inexplicable is the dream. All of us, occasionally, have a dream while asleep. The dreams can be about numerous things, some pleasurable and others frightening.

As a result of our dream, we may have measurable physiological changes, like increased blood pressure, increased heart beat and eye movements. The people who observe the dreaming person in bed will not see, hear or feel anything. Only the dreamer knows what he is dreaming, and at the time, every part of the dream appears real to him. After being awakened, the dreamer, if he remembers, can tell you what the dream was about, but certainly cannot prove it. The dream was a direct, personal and firsthand experience for only the dreamer.

It should be noted that many times the dream is irrational and illogical to others. For instance, a person dreams that he is flying in the sky like a bird. Obviously, no human is capable of flying like a bird; thus, the dream takes on a symbolic meaning, because the dreamer is doing something in the dream he could never do in real life.

I am not trying to interpret the dream or offer scientific explanations about the dream. The dream is mentioned as an example of what an individual can feel while asleep but cannot prove what he "experienced," to anybody else, even if others were watching while the dreamer slept.

When the dreamer tells about his dream, others have to accept it as the dreamer’s personal experience, without believing everything in the dream actually happened.

Each person must learn for himself the meaning and purpose of life and ultimate reality directly, firsthand, and alone.

Rumi said, "I am a libertine with a dream in a deaf world. I am unable to tell and the people are unable to hear. Your eyes and ears are open, but you are blind and deaf. The person who has learned the secrets has a locked mouth and sutured lips. "I cannot tell you anything that you are unable to understand."

The feelings and emotions, also, are very difficult or impossible to explain, if the listener never had felt that emotion. The most that can be said is the outward manifestations and physiological changes take place with each type of emotion.

Another reason that "The Knowledge" is inexplicable is that each of us has his own concept and understanding of words, particularly, intangible words.

One of the most used and abused words is "love." The Eastern mystics have said, "Beware of love. Without love, you cannot learn the Knowledge." These statements appear to be contradictory. They are not. Both are correct in the context that they are spoken.

When we speak of "love," we usually mean an intense infatuation and sexual desire for a woman or man. How often you have seen, heard or read that somebody is in love with an ugly, repulsive, foul-smelling and overbearing person?

The object of "love" usually is a pretty woman or a handsome man, which adds appeal to our sexual desires. The love of a pretty person is combined with an intense desire for the sexual act.

This "love," at least temporarily, is diminished by the sexual act. Anatomy and physiology textbooks teach us that the automatic neurological center for sexual act, urination and defecation are in the same area in the lowest part of the central nervous system, identified as the sacral section of the spinal cord.

Even when our "love" is not sexual, it is for something or somebody that appeals to our desires of selfishness. In this love, we chose a person or an object vis-à-vis the rest of humanity and the world.

Mystics have warned you against the kind of love. Oriental mystics have a completely different concept of "love." To them, "the love" is an unconditional and unlimited affection for all creation and a feeling of oneness with the infinite universe and Divine Being. This love is mandatory for learning "the Knowledge."

So far, we have talked about the inexplicable, difficult to explain, and the inexplicable in ordinary life with common senses, perception and rationality.

"The Knowledge" is ineffable because it is beyond the senses or rationality, logic and science.

Acquiring "the Knowledge" is an epiphany. It manifests to the seeker of knowledge when he is prepared and ready to receive it.

A crude example is when we have a problem without a solution. We keep thinking about the problem for a long time. Suddenly, a solution appears in our mind. As the saying goes, "Eureka!" Eureka does not happen to the mind that has not been thinking about the problem.

BONDAGE

All concerns, cares, emotional or physical attachments are "bondages." Also, all attachments to tangibles, like money, job, rank, position, appearances, attire, property and investments are "bondage."

Each real or emotional attachment to something or to someone is an obstacle to the perception of reality. The attachments distort, disrupt and interfere with our perception. Anything we perceive is therefore different from reality.

An essential condition for learning, "The Knowledge" is complete freedom from all bondage. In mystic conception, freedom refers to the state of mind, not the condition of the body. A mystic is free, even if he is in a prison.

Mystics have suggested renunciation to free our minds from bondages. They have said that the seeker of "the Knowledge," must be able to renounce everything that concerns him.

Rumi said: "I was serving many masters. I banished my masters." "If you want Knowledge, cut off yourself from everything." "If you want new, get rid of the old." "I am neither master nor slave of anybody or anything." "Do not love anything that is not eternal."

Ansari said: "You are a slave of your concerns."

Abul Khair said: "If you want to understand reality, you must be free." "You are created free, remain free from everything." "You cannot choose, until you are free." "I want not to want anything." "The Knowledge is for a man who has discarded everything." "Whatever is in your hand, drop it; whatever is in your mind, discard it."

Renunciation is intended to create a cessation of desires and not wanting, needing or requiring anything, a state of mind that has no concerns and where nothing matters. In a psychological state of detachment, a person can do anything, as long as it is under his control.

In a state of complete non-attachment, our mind is protected from anything that may interfere with perceiving objective reality.

This non-attachment is contrary to our usual state of mind, which is selecting, distorting, categorizing, and processing all incoming information through our senses to suit our desires, wishes, prejudices, our physical and emotional needs.

Our mind changes what is out there because of our conscious or unconscious wish to impose our will on everything and everyone? Our pursuit of immediate gratification of our desires is a big obstacle to the freedom of our mind, which is mandatory for preparing the mind for the epiphany of "the Knowledge." The psychological result of our concern for everything that we want or have is that those concerns own our thoughts and actions.

Rumi tells this story: A rich lady had sexual relations with her male donkey. She took proper precautions to prevent injuries to herself. One of her maids knew about this relationship. In the absence of the lady, the maid wanted to have fun and tried to have sex with the donkey without the proper precaution. As a result, the maid died under the donkey from the rupture of her viscera. Rumi asks, "Do you know a more shameful death?" Rumi goes on and tells the reader that the maid is you and the male donkey is your uncontrolled desires. Submitting to the uncontrolled desires is more shameful than dying under the donkey. Although this story may seem bizarre and dramatic, Rumi often told dramatic stories to draw attention to his lesson. Every reader should know this is not a real event.

It has been said that the children of a mystic by the name Rabea were killed in a riot. She first cried, then smiled. Amazed, people asked her the reason for smiling. Rabea replied that, "I cried because I lost my children who I loved more than anything else. I smiled because I have lost all my concerns and from now on I am completely free to seek union with God."

Our concerns interfere with our unbiased objectivity. When we enter a room full of people, we notice a few and barely observe others, depending on our biased concern for or against them. We notice the prettiest woman or the most handsome man, if we are concern about physical beauty. We notice the tallest or shortest person because our bias is for or against anyone who deviates from the average. If we know people in the room, we notice the richest or most politically powerful and influential person because of our desire to approach them and cultivate them in order to gain monetary or political advantage. If our mind had been free from concerns and unbiased, we would notice everyone in the room equally.

Obviously, a person cannot survive and maintain his material life without concerns about everything that a normal life requires. For instance, we must be concerned about our health and we ought to do whatever is necessary to maintain good health. We must be concerned about a job in order to pay our bills. But concerns must not be an overwhelming obsession and master of our mind, dictating all our thoughts and actions. An example is a person whose concern about the stock market has overwhelmed him. All his waking hours are spent watching the stock prices or obsessively trading stocks. He wants to know any change in the value of his investments and lives in constant hope of gaining money and the constant fear of losing it.

The seeker of "the Knowledge," must develop the mental ability to keep his concerns as few and minimal as practical and necessary for a normal life. He must have the ability to discard all his concerns whenever he wills it. Some concerns are needed for survival.

In a small way, we change, diminish or enhance our concerns every day and during all our waking hours. For instance, our attention to our job concerns is markedly diminished after finishing work. An example is a surgeon operating on a patient to remove a cancerous tumor. While operating, all his concerns are focused on the method of the operation to assure removal of the tumor. After completion of the operation, the surgeon proceeds to the next patient and he turns his focus elsewhere. As this example shows, even essential concerns, after completion of the task, can be set aside and removed from the awareness.

To perceive reality, we must clear our mind of all concern. As Abul Khair said, "Whatever is in your hand, drop it. Whatever is in your head, discard it."

Part of the name of some mystics was "Word of The King." One of them was asked, "You call yourself a king. Where is the kingdom that you rule?" The mystic replied, "I am absolute ruler of the kingdom of my existence." The seeker of Knowledge must be this kind of king.

GOD and RELIGION

Each person is aware of the concept, if not the existence of good and evil. Most people turn to religious faith to nurture the good within themselves and to ward off evil. Most all religions promote the good by describing particular paths or journeys one must take in order to achieve it. For example, the Christian concept of God is a God of love, mercy and forgiveness. The Moslem God is a God of justice, mercy and compassion. The followers of each religion are expected to imitate the characteristics of their God. For instance, true Christians must love their fellow man.

The Gods of most religions have common characteristics. These gods, for the believers, possess supreme powers and have mandated laws the faithful must believe and obey.

God will reward the faithful in the future (after death) with admission to the Kingdom of Heaven, or paradise.

Damnation and eternal suffering in hell will punish the infidel.

The eastern mystics, while they profess belief in God, have a different concept of heaven, and hell,

For mystics, heaven is learning the ineffable Knowledge and a harmonious integration of self into the world of existence and union with the infinite.

Hell, is not knowing; it is being separated and isolated from the rest of the world.

In most religions, rewards are given in the future after life, while in mysticism; rewards are bestowed in the present.

In most religions, a person approaches God through an intermediary, like a priest, rabbi or Imam. In mysticism, the seeker of the Knowledge connects directly to God Himself, and achieves union with the ultimate reality.

In most religions, the believers must learn from religious leaders and, through them, enter the kingdom of heaven. In mysticism, there are no intermediaries. Acquisition of ineffable Knowledge comes directly from the Divine to the self the teachings of the mystics is intended simply to prepare the union of a person with the Divine.

Religious leaders and saints are recognized by the faithful as having performed miracles as a sign from a divine supernatural power. In mysticism, miracles are performed directly by a person for himself. The miracle is to prepare the person’s mind to learn ineffable Knowledge.

For the mystics, the Devil is anything that prevents or interferes with learning the Knowledge.

Attar said, "I have united with him (God), and I found absolute freedom; I do not know where he ends and where he begins; I was nothing and I needed everything; and I united with him and I became everything and needed nothing."

Rabea said in her prayer, "0 God, give the hell to your enemies, save paradise for the Man who worships you for it and grant me a face to face audience."

Someone once said to Rabea, "All mystics are men. You are a woman." Rabea replied, "All braggarts are men and no woman has been impotent."

Rumi said, "When you annihilate into God, you achieve eternal life; Love is annihilation in god; I was a drop of water and I joined the sea; Knowledge is union with ultimate reality; He, who is not united (with God) is not perfect; Sometimes, I am the sea and sometimes I am a wave of the sea; When I am with you, I am you; When you join the God, you are God; Join him like a drop of water joining the sea; For years my heart was asking me about the ultimate reality. It was asking from a stranger what it knew; Whatever you hear from me, you hear it from god; Since I have joined him, I am a limitless world; When you learn ultimate reality, you are perfect."

* Annihilate is the exact translation. As an analogy, Rumi said, "When a drop of rain water falls in the sea, it annihilates into the sea, but still it exists."

Rumi tells this story about a king. The king is a metaphor for the god as ultimate reality:

A mighty king had a brilliant and dedicated servant. The king decided to reward him highly. The king appointed the servant as the governor of the largest state in his kingdom. The servant started to cry. He should be very happy for the great honor of being appointed a governor. The servant replied, "I am crying because I have to leave the king and I will be separated from him."

Rumi told another story: In the vast sea, the fish were talking to each other, exchanging information and rumors they had heard. Some fish said they have heard there is a mysterious object called water. Since none of the fish knew what water is, they decided to ask their omniscient master. The master told them that they were born in the water, live in the water, and their existence and life depends on the water. There is nothing, but the water!"

In this story, the fish are metaphors for the people and the sea a metaphor for ultimate reality. It is ever present. We must learn the Knowledge to understand the ultimate reality.

This discovery can be compared to Newton’s discovery of the law of gravity. The truth and reality are: 'gravity' has been ever present and has been one of the fundamental laws of the universe, possibly one of the most important laws of the universe. If it were not for gravity, the planets would become loose, leave their orbits and fly off into space. Neither solar system nor galaxies could have formed without gravity.

Before Newton, people had seen objects fall to the ground countless times. None of them noticed the events the way Newton thought about them and, if they did, they did not formulate the meaning of 'gravity.' The people were born into gravity, lived in gravity, and their lives depended on it. Every day they saw the manifestations of gravity. Nevertheless, the people never learned to see the meaning of gravity.

Newton with his prepared mind learned the Knowledge of gravity.

MIRROR and MOMENT

Eastern mystics have frequently used the ordinary minor as a metaphor for the state of mind, awareness, and consciousness of a man who has ineffable knowledge. Of course, there are convex and concave mirrors made for entertainment purposes or for scientific research. However, the mystics refer to flat mirrors for their spiritual illustrations.

They have said that the mind of a perfect man is like a polished mirror with light shining on it.

A mirror reflects everything, as it is. It does not interpret what it sees. It does not modify the size, shape, color or location of anything reflected in it.

The mirror has no emotion, nor is it impatient. The minor simply reflects things exactly, as long as they are there before it. The mirror never reacts.

When the object is taken away, the mirror no longer reflects the object. It has neither desire nor wishes to reflect the object again or not to reflect it again. It is completely neutral.

The mirror is absolutely objective and unbiased.

Every object that enters the minor is reflected equally. A minor does not program what it intends to see. It does not discriminate.

The minor makes no distinctions. As a result, the incoming information is received completely unchanged.

In a mind as perfected as a polished mirror, all possible forms of consciousness reach to the level of awareness equally, at once and at the moment that they are occurring, unmodified by time, senses, emotions, and thoughts.

Attar said: "When you are perfect, you see whatever that exists; you can not see anything in the mirror in darkness. There must be light for the mirror to see.

Oriental mystics have suggested the ways that a man can learn ineffable knowledge of purpose and meaning of existence and ultimate reality.

Abut Khair said: "Man must associate with people, eat, work with them, perform his duties and be aware of every moment of it." It refers to whatever is being done at the moment that function is performed.

Ansari said: "The greatest wish of a perfect man is to have a moment."

Attar said: "There is no yesterday and tomorrow for a man who has learned the Knowledge; You are alive only the moments you are with you; Your body is here, but your mind is in another time and some place else; You appear to be present, in realty you are absent." The expression, "You are with you" is a translation, which means the person’s mind is completely focused and aware of his self with no outside distractions.

In Eastern mysticism, the meaning of existence is captured in each moment. If a man is not completely aware at the present moment, he does not exist.

The mystics believed that the minds of most people are concentrated in the past or toward the future. We reminisce about the past with joy, sorrow, anger or satisfaction, or we are planning for the future with expectations and hopes.

If we review our thoughts, for instance, in the last hour, we notice that all of that time our minds were occupied by matters that were not happening exactly at that time.

While it is necessary to take time to plan for the future and learn from our past experiences, neither the past nor the future should dominate or overwhelm our minds.

We must keep in mind that the past is gone and we cannot change it. Moreover, there is not inherently anything better, more rewarding, more important and more satisfactory in thinking about tomorrow than in existing for today.

We always have explanations and excuses for escaping the present and postponing living at and for the present moment.

The following story concerns our mental attitude most of the time. Two men were fighting in public. Onlookers separated them and asked them to settle their differences by peaceful negotiation. One man complained the other man owed him money and he did not pay his debt. He called him a deadbeat. The second man acknowledged his debt. "Then why do you not pay your debt?" the people asked. The debtor replied, "For three years I have been asking the lender for three days respite and he does not give me a chance," The debtor had a sorry excuse. Although the lender had not willingly granted three days respite, the debtor took advantage of the lender’s generosity.

By analogy, the debtor in this story is like most of us. We always have excuses and explanations to postpone living for the present moment.

Whenever an extraordinary event occurs, like an earthquake, the people caught in it for a short period of time, pay attention to whatever is happening at that particular moment, whether or not their own lives are in danger. Also, we are fully aware at the moment of extreme danger, like choking on food or extreme pleasure, like the culmination of a sexual act. This means that we are capable of intense, focused attention on the present moment, but these are often passive thoughts as we are caught up in the event. The seeker of Knowledge must learn to focus attention by his will on all circumstances.

In all of these occasions, our maximum attention and concentration on the present are passive and, most of the time, involuntary.

We have to learn to pay the same intense attention to the present moment at will and whenever we wish to do so in order to learn the ineffable Knowledge.

Even for the people who are not seeking to learn the Knowledge, living at and for the present moment is an extraordinary experience.

Most people watch what is happening and they can participate in events by giving maximum attention to the present moment in order to understand as much ineffable Knowledge as possible.

Someone not familiar with mysticism might ask, If the mind is focused on exactly what is happening at the moment, how can one also, simultaneously, be aware of a form of knowledge that is not connected to what is occupying the mind’s total attention at the moment? And if the moment is Knowledge, how does the mind know it is Knowledge and not something else? The answer is that these types of questions are based on a logical and scientific thought process. As in previous chapters, I have explained that mysticism is neither logical nor scientific.

"Knowledge" is not in the domain of science and rationality as we know and use them in daily life. In mysticism, "Knowledge" is an ever-present epiphany. Knowledge is revealed to the prepared mind and more on this will be discussed in coming chapters.

SLEEP and DEATH

Eastern mystics have frequently used the metaphors of sleep and death to stand for the acquisition of the Knowledge. They have said that to learn the Knowledge one’s ego must go to sleep and die in order to awaken into true Knowledge. By "dying," before the real death of the body, mystics meant that a seeker of Knowledge must develop the ability to absolutely free himself from all earthly concerns, as if he had died. The seeker must reach a state of mind in which nothing matters, as in sleep or death, to find Knowledge.

Rumi said: "In death and sleep, you are free from all concerns; If you want eternal life, die; How lucky is a man who dies before he dies; You are everything when you become nothing; You are all when you are without your self; Die before you die; I am alive because my self is dead; You have freedom in sleep and death; Do not be afraid of the death of your self; After my self died, I found life; Until you do not kill your ego, you will not get rid of it."

Attar said: "He who is annihilated in God (ultimate reality) is free and eternal: You are conscious, if you wake up from your sleep: You must be without you: You are free while asleep and after death; You must be without your self all of the time; If you want eternal life, die before you die: You must wake up from your sleep."

Ansari said: "I found life after my self died; Leave your self today: Love is annihilation in a lover: The death of your self gives you eternal life."

Rumi told this story: A merchant, who had a parrot, was going to travel to a distant foreign country for business. The merchant asked his family and his parrot what gifts they want him to bring back for them on his return. Everyone asked for something. The parrot said, "I do not want anything,