Bulleh Shah poetry

[Billa]

Sharing this couplet from Sufi mystic and Poet Bulleh Shah. This is a transliteration from Punjabi, in which it was originally spoken.
Although I've always had more of a Daoist bent of mind, I've always been very curious about different Islamic traditions, particularly Sufi orders and masters that have inhabited the Subcontinent(India & Pakistan). To me, they represent the wheat that's left of what comprises of Islamic practices. This particular couplet has been relevant to me in recent times, so sharing it here. 

 

Punjabi:
'Eko Alif terey darkar,

Ilmoun bas kari oo yaar'

 

Transliteration:

"One Alif is all you need,

Forget the pride in your knowledge, O Friend."

Alif here refers to the arabic letter Alif which is written like 1 with a left to right inversion. It represents the unity of God and is the first letter of the arabic alphabet. More information here:

http://sufi-tavern.com/sufi-symbols/the-sufi-interpretation-of-the-letter-alif/

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I feel it's more about letting go of accumulating knowledge and dropping away unnecessary intellectualization. Letting the Tao/God guide you to your salvation.  

[rideforever]

On 12/19/2019 at 3:36 PM, Billa said:

Alif here refers to the arabic letter Alif which is written like 1 with a left to right inversion. It represents the unity of God and is the first letter of the arabic alphabet. More information here:

 

It's interesting that the alphabet was chosen with unity as the first symbol ... this means that the people who made this alphabet were in touch with God, and were not acting from the mind and making a technical alphabet.  Alif is a single vertical line, one with no other, and vertical. 
Likewise the word "I" in English ... do you think the sound of it "aiee" is meant to represent God?

I do sense that the muslims many of whom seem to pray a lot every day are more connected to god that the western world is currently.

 

[Billa]

On 12/27/2019 at 12:53 AM, rideforever said:

 

It's interesting that the alphabet was chosen with unity as the first symbol ... this means that the people who made this alphabet were in touch with God, and were not acting from the mind and making a technical alphabet.  Alif is a single vertical line, one with no other, and vertical. 
Likewise the word "I" in English ... do you think the sound of it "aiee" is meant to represent God?

I do sense that the muslims many of whom seem to pray a lot every day are more connected to god that the western world is currently.

 

 

I can't really comment on the phonetic aspects of it, haven't read up on it that much.

 

Well, I live in Pakistan here. People do try to pray 5 times a day, and others do charity and so on. But at times I feel like it's more religiosity and just mere ritual without much awareness to the inner aspects of these things. Like we're taught this concept of Sawab which means 'rewards/spiritual merits' for doing good deeds. So a lot of people just look at it from a mathematical or economic perspective, like trying to balance a weighing scale of good deeds and bad deeds, not looking at the deeper aspects of these things.

 

There's a concept called 'Huqooq e Allah' aka 'Rights/ Responsibilities to Allah' which is contrasted by 'Huqooq ul Ibad' aka 'Rights/ Responsibilities to fellow men/mankind'.

People would pray in the mosque, come out and start swearing in their conversations or straight up lie while selling their goods. So there's a deep schism between the two.
I feel like at least here, the focus is how to get to heaven while making life for others, a complete hell loool. I mean the earthly aspects and how to live on earth in a balanced way is majorly neglected in daily life.

Sorry if this sounds like a rant. I may be generalizing and overmagnifying these issues.   

[rideforever]

17 hours ago, Billa said:

Well, I live in Pakistan here.

In my opinion it is good what they do in Pakistan.
Human beings always talk about higher things ... but they are deceitful. 
Praying 5 times a day is where human beings are at.  It is an appropriate level of practice.  Of course they are half mad animals and full of insincerity, but if you can get them to pray 5 times a day you help them a lot.

One day they will start talking about being free of these institutions and they will stop praying.  Then they will fornicate and drink and dance for a few years and then the entire society will collapse and die.
 

[Tuesday]

Prayer, without presence, is a useless practice. They're just words you speak, nothing else.

Better to live your life with meaning and compassion and never pray than to pray and then go be shitty to everyone.

 

 

[rideforever]

28 minutes ago, Tuesday said:

They're just words you speak, nothing else.

In the West they call Christians "blind believers".  There is a continuous and nasty attempt to kick everyone in the balls.  All of mankind does this.  It is very sad.
Our whole species is demoralised and joins in with this nastiness.

[Tuesday]

The best thing you can do is better yourself. That's how you change the world.

[Billa]

Just now, rideforever said:

In my opinion it is good what they do in Pakistan.
Human beings always talk about higher things ... but they are deceitful. 
Praying 5 times a day is where human beings are at.  It is an appropriate level of practice.  Of course they are half mad animals and full of insincerity, but if you can get them to pray 5 times a day you help them a lot.

One day they will start talking about being free of these institutions and they will stop praying.  Then they will fornicate and drink and dance for a few years and then the entire society will collapse and die.
 

 

I agree that if these practices weren't in place, all hell would break loose. They do serve a purpose.

 

I guess it comes down to those of us who can see through it and embody actions from a place beyond these dualistic constructs, reinforcing what @Tuesday was saying about just working on yourself to change the world.