So Who Is This God Allah? - and Where Do I Find Him/Her?

So Who Is This God/Allah Guy/Gal? 

shaykh ibrahim ansari

Q:  I've read a lot of Sufi books, been to Zikr, watched a lot of YouTube videos, and even been to the Mosque a couple times. I love Rumi and the Turning. But I don't have a clue how to put it all together, I mean, I’m not even sure what I am feeling. I’ve tried Zikr and meditating…

So where is this Guy or Lady God? Who is Allah?

Q: I have put a lot of time and energy into calling on Allah, the Turning, and the Sohbets (spiritual discussions) are fun and supportive and enjoyable. The chanting, the drumming, the discussions all feel real and maybe just a bit cultish. But what’s supposed to happen? When do the ‘mystical experiences’ happen?

A: First, let’s put aside the idea of gender. There is no old man with a beard, or goddess waving her wand. This has nothing to do with a single entity or being. If we use the word He, it is just a symbol for something so vast yet intimate. Allah is greater than you can imagine, yet accessible.

If you follow anything scientifically to its source, you will discover that everything is connected to everything. That is the physical truth. If I was to start linking, say, taking your next breath, some of its source is from the oxygen exhaled from your house plants, and some may be from trees near by a river. That river is connected to the water cycle, and the plants are connected to the chlorophyl cycle, all grown from recycled soil, animals, rocks and weather. Every little thing, alive or inanimate, has its source. Tracking that source will bring you eventually back around again. It has no end.

Or, every complex atom on this planet came from stars colliding, and smashing the simple hydrogen and helium atoms to create our amazing Periodic Table of Elements. This also includes the stuff that makes you. 

Now, that is just the physical manifestation. Next we might look for a spiritual marker - for example, survival. All life has this energy and built-in desire to survive: to live. The Life Force. But where did it start? Whether you look at it physically or spiritually, you end up with the same mystery: we do not know. So, what if we were to say that life was Willed into being out of Love? That a loving intelligence weaves and connects all living and non-living things, and the purpose of this life is to love, be loved, and make more love? Maybe we could even add in: To learn, to Grow, to appreciate and enjoy creation.

I believe that every one of us is born with a spiritual intelligence, a desire to feel connected to life and love. There are a few  circumstances that get in the way of this connection, one is when someone is afraid or hurt by love, or thinks they are more intelligent than they actually are, and imagining that they are independent. No one is totally independent. Sometimes rejecting spirituality is politically correct and the cool thing to do.

Many have also been abused by those who practice one of the traditional religions, where the core of the teachings has been lost, and one is forced to believe in a deity of fear. The religiou

Salaam Alaykum, murids, seekers, curious and interested listeners,

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Transcript

So Who Is This God/Allah Guy/Gal? 

shaykh ibrahim ansari

Q:  I've read a lot of Sufi books, been to Zikr, watched a lot of YouTube videos, and even been to the Mosque a couple times. I love Rumi and the Turning. But I don't have a clue how to put it all together, I mean, I’m not even sure what I am feeling. I’ve tried Zikr and meditating…

So where is this Guy or Lady God? Who is Allah?

Q: I have put a lot of time and energy into calling on Allah, the Turning, and the Sohbets (spiritual discussions) are fun and supportive and enjoyable. The chanting, the drumming, the discussions all feel real and maybe just a bit cultish. But what’s supposed to happen? When do the ‘mystical experiences’ happen?

A: First, let’s put aside the idea of gender. There is no old man with a beard, or goddess waving her wand. This has nothing to do with a single entity or being. If we use the word He, it is just a symbol for something so vast yet intimate. Allah is greater than you can imagine, yet accessible.

If you follow anything scientifically to its source, you will discover that everything is connected to everything. That is the physical truth. If I was to start linking, say, taking your next breath, some of its source is from the oxygen exhaled from your house plants, and some may be from trees near by a river. That river is connected to the water cycle, and the plants are connected to the chlorophyl cycle, all grown from recycled soil, animals, rocks and weather. Every little thing, alive or inanimate, has its source. Tracking that source will bring you eventually back around again. It has no end.

Or, every complex atom on this planet came from stars colliding, and smashing the simple hydrogen and helium atoms to create our amazing Periodic Table of Elements. This also includes the stuff that makes you. 

Now, that is just the physical manifestation. Next we might look for a spiritual marker - for example, survival. All life has this energy and built-in desire to survive: to live. The Life Force. But where did it start? Whether you look at it physically or spiritually, you end up with the same mystery: we do not know. So, what if we were to say that life was Willed into being out of Love? That a loving intelligence weaves and connects all living and non-living things, and the purpose of this life is to love, be loved, and make more love? Maybe we could even add in: To learn, to Grow, to appreciate and enjoy creation.

I believe that every one of us is born with a spiritual intelligence, a desire to feel connected to life and love. There are a few  circumstances that get in the way of this connection, one is when someone is afraid or hurt by love, or thinks they are more intelligent than they actually are, and imagining that they are independent. No one is totally independent. Sometimes rejecting spirituality is politically correct and the cool thing to do.

Many have also been abused by those who practice one of the traditional religions, where the core of the teachings has been lost, and one is forced to believe in a deity of fear. The religious marketing clerics urge their followers to convert as many unbelievers. The more scared there are, the better the market. This is an immature and especially ineffective way of inducing love and care for others. It turns people off to the central teachings of the once living school, shutting down the heart hungry for connection.

What is Life? Why are we here?

There are all sorts of theories, even ones about an alien race that used genetic engineering to create us humans, but that still does not answer the question: so what gave the aliens life? No matter where you start, the mystery remains.

Mysteries make life interesting.

All right, so where is this Allah? Well, of course Allah is everywhere and everywhen; the galaxies, stars and black holes. The vast pan-galactic universe, invisible and infinite.

But He is also in this moment, in the small things. Those moments when the eyes meet, when tea is served with a giving hand. When you breathe in the incense and feel welcomed and safe. When you love and feel loved.

When a child laughs, when conversation suddenly stops, and you realize you are part of a community. Allah is with you when you are happy. And when you are sad. All the mysteries of life, and their paradoxes and confusions  - Allah is in those corners and surrounding you.

For me, the experience of coming to the obvious conclusion that everything is connected was almost physical in its realization. At the same time, the knowing that it is all connected by Love took a little longer, but that summation had always seemed inevitable.

In some ways, for the human mind and heart, it does not really matter if any of these spiritual ideas are true or not. There is a deep wonder and pleasure of belonging to something greater. When we look up into the night sky and wonder at the trillions of stars, I find it helps to imagine a loving universe, an ongoing theater of mystery. There is the excitement of observing change, nature, people, sciences and arts to learn and cherish - my heart smiles, and responds positively and generates even more joy internally. 

I suppose you might say Allah is what you make of … Him. And from that curious place, what you make of you.