Spiritual Health Learning Community Center
Exploring Life's Horizons
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Each day God is upon some task. - [The Qur'an 55:29]
|
Expansion
Becoming initiated and stepping onto the mystical path is a
very exciting time for an individual. It is a period of
expansion.
The person feels exhilaration. One has started the most
important journey of one's life. Perhaps, one feels a sense of
direction, purpose and belonging which previously had been
absent or marginalized in one's life.
Very likely, initiation has been the culmination of a fairly
intense period of: uncertainty; wavering back and forth;
doubt; anxiety; exploration; and, reflection. Somehow,
whether by careful consideration or a feeling in one's heart
or in some other way, one finally decides to commit oneself to
the mystical path. One experiences a lifting of tension and a
accompanying sigh of relief.
One can't wait to read about the path and talk with one's
fellow travelers. One looks forward to spending time with the
teacher and receiving instructions concerning practices.
One entertains the future with a mixture of anticipation and
bewilderment. One doesn't know what to expect. One
wonders when one will have a mystical experience and what
it will be like.
One thinks about stories one has heard or read concerning
the great mystics of the past. One marvels at their wisdom
and wonderful moral qualities. One feels a degree of pride
for being permitted entry to the same path on which they
have been wayfarers.
Enthusiasm courses through one's body and mind. One tries
not to miss anything which is said, or goes on around one,
concerning the path.
This initial encounter with a species of expansion lasts
various lengths of time for different people. For some, it lasts
for a few days. For others, it lasts for a week or a month.
For others, it lasts longer. Moreover, different people
experience it to varying degrees of intensity.
Eventually, however, many of these feelings fade. One may
still feel excited about, enthusiastic toward and happy with
the decision to step onto the path and, finally, be underway
on one's journey. Nonetheless, one's feelings in these
respects do not remain as intense or as focused as they had
been earlier. The feelings are not as pervasive and constant
as they had been. They are somewhat sporadic.
The problems of the world or with one's life begin to seep
back into the center stage of one's consciousness. One's ego
begins to create problems in a number of different ways.
Doubts, questions and anxieties may begin to assert
themselves.
One may be having difficulty in establishing a regular pattern
in relation to one's spiritual work. Perhaps, one is
encountering difficulty in freeing up time for the practices
one has been given. One may be experiencing some sort of
tension or resistance in relation to certain aspects of the path
which are troubling to one.
One may begin to feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of the
undertaking to which one has become committed. One may
be confused by some of the teachings or wonder how they
can be implemented in a feasible manner in modern society.
Now, one is experiencing a form of spiritual contraction.
Everything seems difficult, frustrating, problematic, and
somewhat of an unmanageable burden.
Before, during the experience of the expansionary aspects of
initiation, everything kind of bubbled and flowed. Things
seemed to come easily. Life was light and happy or pleasant.
In contraction, things appear to drag and have a heaviness
about them. Events do not flow. They trickle and, maybe, not
even that.
Everything seems to come with tension and conflict attached
to it. One may feel somewhat alienated and out of sorts. One
has to struggle.
These cycles of expansion and contraction will continue to
occur on the Sufi path. They may change their modalities of
manifestation as one makes, God willing, spiritual progress
along the mystical path, but they are an important structural
feature of the path.
When the heart is opened up, when one feels close to God,
when one is gaining spiritual insights and understanding,
when one embraces submission, and so on, then one
experiences various kinds of happiness, joy, peace, and
contentedness. These are expressions of spiritual expansion.
On the other hand, when, spiritually, one's heart feels closed
down, when one feels far away from God, when one does not
seem to be acquiring any spiritual insight or understanding,
and when one is struggling with one or more aspects of the
process of submission, one experiences being down, separate,
restless and uneasy. These are expressions of spiritual
contraction.
Both expansion and contraction have much to teach one. In a
sense, the lessons of contraction till the soil of the soul and
heart and prepare them to receive the seeds of expansion so
that the latter may grow.
The lessons of expansion, on the other hand, provide spiritual
strength, sustenance and consolations. Through the spiritual
support which comes, by the grace of God, from the
experience of expansion, one is enabled to continue with the
aspects of the spiritual journey involving the struggle and
work of contraction.
The difficulties of contraction, in turn, will pave the way for
further expansion. The tears of contraction will be exchanged
for the tears of expansion. The tears of struggle will be
transformed into the tears of joy and ecstasy.
Along the Sufi path there are many different stations. These
stations deal with themes such as repentance, longing,
patience, dependence, gratitude, and love, to name but a few.
When one is struggling with the challenges and trials
peculiar to such stations, one goes through a form of
contraction which is appropriate to that station. When, by
the grace of God, one is opened up to the mysteries of such
stations and becomes adorned in the qualities of those
stations, one experiences a form of expansion which is
consonant with those stations.
Some people are able, by the grace of God, to find peace,
contentment and even happiness during periods of
contraction. They have been given a deep rooted
understanding that all things, including contraction, come
from God.
Consequently, they are at peace with, and discover
contentment in, the condition of contraction because it has
been sent by their Lord especially for them and their spiritual
progress. For them, contraction becomes a gift to be
savored, appreciated and, yes, enjoyed.
Alternatively, by the grace of God, some people, while in a
condition of spiritual expansion, nonetheless, feel a special
form of contraction which has its own bliss and beauty. This
species of contraction concerns the condition of being true
servants of God. Although these people have been raised to
the highest spiritual realms, they humble themselves before
God and do not have any desire other than to be the servants
of Divinity.
Those who undergo this sort of "contraction" are extremely
happy and well-satisfied with such a condition. They do not
feel down or uneasy or restless. There is no heaviness or
difficulty associated with it. There is no sense of its being a
burden or a struggle. Those who enjoy this spiritual
condition have found an essential kind of contentment and
peace.
In fact their experience is characterized by all of the qualities
of expansion. However, the people of this condition know
they are the servants of God. They are not God in any
essential way.
This distinction between Divinity and the servant is
sometimes marginalized in certain conditions of expansion.
Nonetheless, the distinction is always present, and it is
absolute.
The placing of the above distinction at the center of
consciousness, understanding and actions constitutes,
relative to the transcendence of God, a contraction of sorts.
The distinction between Divinity and servant indicates that
no matter how great the spiritual expansion of an individual
may be, it is insignificant in the context of God's
incomparable greatness.
In many ways, distinctions between expansion and
contraction tend to lose significance in these advanced
mystical stations. Whatever may be the truth in relation to
such stations, these lofty spiritual heights are a long, long
way from the point of departure at the time of initiation and
one's initial taste of expansion.
| Return to Streams Menu |
|
|
|
Copyright © 2004 Interrogative Imperative Institute. All Rights Reserved.,
|
|
