“My presence stimulates in your heart that feeling that must always be kept alive.”
The Murshid may teach the murid the ways of prayer, fasting, and vigils in the night. The Murshid may tell stories of the prophets and saints of long ago. The Murshid may speak of the invisible world. None of this, however, is of the essence. The essential work of the Murshid is to stimulate the heart of the murid.
This is a work, and yet it is not a work. There is no force in it. It happens naturally and effortlessly. The Murshid touches the heart of the murid not by doing, but by being. The Murshid’s words and deeds are the shore of an ocean of limitless depth.
The presence of the Murshid stirs a distant memory. The Murshid is of this time and this place, but also of the timeless and the placeless. The Murshid has a form, but is also formless.
A feeling arises, like the turning on of a light. A generous glow suffuses the universe. Everything is woven into everything else. Meanings succeed meanings in a vast regress as far as the eye can see. The Ancient Bird is on the wing.
Music of the Spheres: Gamaka Commentaries, Vadan
The Murshid may teach the murid the ways of prayer, fasting, and vigils in the night. The Murshid may tell stories of the prophets and saints of long ago. The Murshid may speak of the invisible world. None of this, however, is of the essence. The essential work of the Murshid is to stimulate the heart of the murid.
This is a work, and yet it is not a work. There is no force in it. It happens naturally and effortlessly. The Murshid touches the heart of the murid not by doing, but by being. The Murshid’s words and deeds are the shore of an ocean of limitless depth.
The presence of the Murshid stirs a distant memory. The Murshid is of this time and this place, but also of the timeless and the placeless. The Murshid has a form, but is also formless.
A feeling arises, like the turning on of a light. A generous glow suffuses the universe. Everything is woven into everything else. Meanings succeed meanings in a vast regress as far as the eye can see. The Ancient Bird is on the wing.
This feeling must always be kept alive.