21.) Do
mystical methods of chanting, fasting, meditation, contemplation and seclusion bring about
or cause mystical states and stations?
The
chants, mediation and other practices may be the occasion for the onset of a given
mystical state or station, but they are not the cause of these conditions. The Will of
God, which is entirely transcendent to, and independent of, the Created realm, is the sole
cause of spiritual transformations.
Spiritual
practices are akin to the clearing of a space that permits, if God wishes, something of a
spiritual nature to become established. As such, one might liken these techniques and
methodological activities to an advanced form of wuzu or ritual ablution.
A Muslim
performs ritual ablution in order to be in a state of purified readiness to receive
whatever blessings that Allah may wish to confer on us for activities -- whether
obligatory or otherwise -- which take place while in this condition. Similarly, the
aforementioned spiritual practices help one assume a state of purified readiness for being
open to whatever barakah or blessings which God wishes to confer on one while one is under
the influence of that state of purity.
Different
kinds of blessings come through different conditions of purified readiness. Nevertheless,
the condition of readiness is not the cause of the blessings -- just the doorway through
which such barakah may enter into our lives.
Spiritual
seekers sometimes make the mistake of assuming that the mystical journey demands an
attitude like someone who is intent on storming the Bastille in which individual strength,
courage, talent and ability are considered to be essential ingredients to a successful
operation. One can storm the mystical fortress until the rivers all run dry, and one can
do so with the utmost virtuosity, yet one may not come even remotely close to the desired
objective.
This is so
because spiritual success does not depend on what the individual believes she or he has to
offer to Divinity. Rather, spiritual success depends on what comes to us from the treasure
chest of Divine generosity.
Making
efforts may, by the grace of God, put one in a position of readiness to receive. However,
neither efforts in general, nor the particular practices to which such efforts are
applied, can be considered to be what causes God's blessings to come forth. As such, these
efforts toward becoming reading to receive, are what might be referred to as necessary,
but not sufficient pre-conditions on the spiritual path.
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