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101 Helpful Illusions
"101 Helpful Illusions" highlights natural veils waiting to be transcended by disciplined courage, wisdom and insight.
Everything in creation has a purpose relevant to a specific situation that could lead the seeker of higher knowledge towards the ultimate spiritual truth of oneness.
Thus our egotistic vices can indeed be stepping stones towards acting selflessly, spontaneously, and cheerfully with heightened awareness and good expectations in all situations. Indeed, all our mistakes can lead us towards the desired spiritual awakening -- the ultimate purpose in life.
Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri shares with the reader that whatever we consider confusing illusions or paradoxes are actually conducive to and helpful along the path of awakening and soul discovery. When consciousness transcends duality and recognizes all-encompassing unity, then all paradoxes and illusions are resolved.
ABOUT SHAYKH FADHLALLA HAERI
Acknowledged as a master of self-knowledge and a spiritual philosopher, Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri’s role as a teacher grew naturally out of his own quest for self-fulfillment.
He travelled extensively on a spiritual quest which led to his eventual rediscovery of the pure and original Islamic heritage of his birth, and the discovery of the truth that reconciles the past with the present, the East with the West, the worldly with the spiritual – a link between the ancient wisdom teachings and our present time.
A descendant of five generations of well-known and revered spiritual leaders, Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri has taught students throughout the world for over 30 years.
He is a gifted exponent of how the self relates to the soul, humankind’s link with the Divine, and how consciousness can be groomed to reflect our higher nature.
The unifying scope of his perspective emphasizes practical, actionable knowledge that leads to self-transformation, and provides a natural bridge between seemingly different Eastern and Western approaches to spirituality, as well as offering a common ground of higher knowledge for various religions, sects and secular outlooks.
He is a prolific author of more than thirty books relating to the universal principles of Islam, the Qur’an, and its core purpose of enlightenment.
His other eBooks are listed at http://www.zahrapublications.com.
Everything in creation has a purpose relevant to a specific situation that could lead the seeker of higher knowledge towards the ultimate spiritual truth of oneness.
Thus our egotistic vices can indeed be stepping stones towards acting selflessly, spontaneously, and cheerfully with heightened awareness and good expectations in all situations. Indeed, all our mistakes can lead us towards the desired spiritual awakening -- the ultimate purpose in life.
Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri shares with the reader that whatever we consider confusing illusions or paradoxes are actually conducive to and helpful along the path of awakening and soul discovery. When consciousness transcends duality and recognizes all-encompassing unity, then all paradoxes and illusions are resolved.
ABOUT SHAYKH FADHLALLA HAERI
Acknowledged as a master of self-knowledge and a spiritual philosopher, Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri’s role as a teacher grew naturally out of his own quest for self-fulfillment.
He travelled extensively on a spiritual quest which led to his eventual rediscovery of the pure and original Islamic heritage of his birth, and the discovery of the truth that reconciles the past with the present, the East with the West, the worldly with the spiritual – a link between the ancient wisdom teachings and our present time.
A descendant of five generations of well-known and revered spiritual leaders, Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri has taught students throughout the world for over 30 years.
He is a gifted exponent of how the self relates to the soul, humankind’s link with the Divine, and how consciousness can be groomed to reflect our higher nature.
The unifying scope of his perspective emphasizes practical, actionable knowledge that leads to self-transformation, and provides a natural bridge between seemingly different Eastern and Western approaches to spirituality, as well as offering a common ground of higher knowledge for various religions, sects and secular outlooks.
He is a prolific author of more than thirty books relating to the universal principles of Islam, the Qur’an, and its core purpose of enlightenment.
His other eBooks are listed at http://www.zahrapublications.com.
140 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 7, 2009
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October 26, 2021
The Outer World can be Read as Signposts
On the Journey Home
“The greatest adventure a human being can undertake is the journey from the ego, the “I,” to the Self, the divine consciousness that exists within each of us. This most demanding and fulfilling journey takes us from a world of separation, governed by the ego’s fears, anxieties and desires, into the experience of divine unity, the oneness, peace and harmony that belong to the core of our being. It is a radical shift in consciousness that unfolds gradually within the traveller, helped by spiritual teachings, practices, and above all the grace that is given.
Traditionally it is described as a turning away from the illusions of the outer world of the senses, to discover the deeper truth that is within us. In the Sufi tradition, it is a “turning of the heart” that reveals the truth of divine love that is veiled by the illusions of the ego and our lower nature. Travelling the path these veils are gradually lifted, and we awake in the sunshine of the Self, in the wholeness of our divine consciousness.
The outer world is initially seen as a place of illusion that distracts us from this quest. And the spiritual seeker often has to make an intense effort to become free of these illusions, free of the grip of the ego and the desires of our lower nature. We work hard to free our self from the many attachments, the conscious and unconscious patterns that imprison us.
But Sufism has revealed a deeper truth that the illusions of the outer world can also be read as signposts on the journey Home. God, the Beloved, is hidden in the depths of our heart, and for the mystic is an unknowable Essence. But in the outer world, He manifests Himself in all the multiplicity of existence. The outer world is a reflection or manifestation of divine Truth.
To quote the great Sufi, Ibn ‘Arabi:
"How can I know You
when You are the Inwardly Hidden
who is not known?
How can I not know You
when You are the Outwardly manifest,
making Yourself known to me in everything?"
The challenge is how to use the illusions of the outer world as guidance along the path without being trapped in its distortions and distractions.”
― Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri, 101 Helpful Illusions
On the Journey Home
“The greatest adventure a human being can undertake is the journey from the ego, the “I,” to the Self, the divine consciousness that exists within each of us. This most demanding and fulfilling journey takes us from a world of separation, governed by the ego’s fears, anxieties and desires, into the experience of divine unity, the oneness, peace and harmony that belong to the core of our being. It is a radical shift in consciousness that unfolds gradually within the traveller, helped by spiritual teachings, practices, and above all the grace that is given.
Traditionally it is described as a turning away from the illusions of the outer world of the senses, to discover the deeper truth that is within us. In the Sufi tradition, it is a “turning of the heart” that reveals the truth of divine love that is veiled by the illusions of the ego and our lower nature. Travelling the path these veils are gradually lifted, and we awake in the sunshine of the Self, in the wholeness of our divine consciousness.
The outer world is initially seen as a place of illusion that distracts us from this quest. And the spiritual seeker often has to make an intense effort to become free of these illusions, free of the grip of the ego and the desires of our lower nature. We work hard to free our self from the many attachments, the conscious and unconscious patterns that imprison us.
But Sufism has revealed a deeper truth that the illusions of the outer world can also be read as signposts on the journey Home. God, the Beloved, is hidden in the depths of our heart, and for the mystic is an unknowable Essence. But in the outer world, He manifests Himself in all the multiplicity of existence. The outer world is a reflection or manifestation of divine Truth.
To quote the great Sufi, Ibn ‘Arabi:
"How can I know You
when You are the Inwardly Hidden
who is not known?
How can I not know You
when You are the Outwardly manifest,
making Yourself known to me in everything?"
The challenge is how to use the illusions of the outer world as guidance along the path without being trapped in its distortions and distractions.”
― Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri, 101 Helpful Illusions
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