Welcome to today's practice,
Which is from the Sufism tradition.
Sufism is a path within Islam,
Where the goal is to purify oneself and achieve mystical union with the supreme,
In this case Allah.
At the core of their practice is to fill the heart with God and unite with him.
The journey of the Sufi is the way of the heart.
It is the lover returning to the arms of the beloved.
Sultan Bahu,
The Sufic mystic and poet,
Said,
Love flourishes in the heart,
In which glows the name of God.
The love of God is the fragrance that even a thousand wrappings cannot hold,
Or like a river that cannot be stopped in its course.
My friend is in me.
In my friend am I.
There is no separation between us.
The essence of Sufi meditation is to keep your attention fully focused on God,
So that love can awaken in your heart,
And to constantly watch your mind so that no other thought apart from God can enter the mind.
In Arabic the word for meditation is muraqaba,
Meaning to watch over or to protect.
So a Sufi meditation is to watch over the thoughts and to protect from anything entering other than God.
Ikra is a Sufi word for mantra and is used to meditate on the name of God,
Either spoken or written.
Rumi,
A Sufi poet,
Said,
Make everything in you an ear,
Each atom of your being,
And then you will hear at every moment what the source is whispering to you,
Just to you and for you,
Without any need for words or anyone else's.
The practice we are doing today is called thikrisah,
Which means awareness of the heart.
Begin by getting yourself comfortable and closing your eyes if you wish.
Still your mind and make an intention to fully focus on your heart.
Imagine breathing in and out of the heart,
And keep your attention here.
Every time your mind wanders,
Bring your attention back to the place where your heart is.
Place your hands over your heart until you can feel or sense your heartbeat and keep your hands there.
Tune in to this heartbeat and keep your attention there.
Now listen to your heartbeat as if this was the name of the Divine,
Whatever is the name of your belief.
So it could be Allah,
Allah.
Keep your attention there.
The heartbeat is the name of the Divine.
The heart is the source of all the light.
The heart is the source of all the light.
If you wish you can begin to repeat the mantra of the name of your Divine.
Whichever speed you wish,
However many times you wish.
Or you may just want to have the sense of the heartbeat as the name of the Divine.
However you wish.
I will leave you for a few moments to continue.
Make everything in you an ear,
Each atom of your being,
And you will hear at every moment what the source is whispering to you,
Just to you and for you,
Without any need for my words or anyone else's.
Now allow the mantra to fall away and allowing the hands to relax in the lap,
But keeping your attention on the subtleness of that practice.
So it is as if you can still feel the heartbeat,
Still hear the name of the Almighty Being,
Even though you are sat in silence.
Listen with your heart.
And open your eyes when you are ready.
This practice is from the Sufism tradition and is traditionally used with the name of Allah,
But I believe this can be used for any tradition,
Whether it is in the name of Jesus or the name of Gaya,
Whichever is your tradition or belief.
Let me know what you thought of this practice.
Thank you.
