Salaam and Greetings of Peace Dear Friends:
Blogging is new to me, and since I am a darvish (which is the same as a dervish) of the Nimatullahi Sufi Order, I ask your forgiveness if I offend anyone unintentionally.
An old Sufi tradition advises us to speak only after our words have managed to pass through four gates. At the first gate, we ask ourselves, “Are these words true?” If so, we let them pass on. At the second gate we ask; “Are they necessary?” At the third gate we ask; “Are they beneficial?” and at the fourth gate, we ask, “Are they kind?” If the answer to any of these is no, then what you are about to say should be left unsaid.
This may leave me with very little to say, but nonetheless I will begin as a darvish would. I have therefore asked God’s blessing and cleared my heart of motives related to my self, for surely no blessings come to any endeavor in which selfish motives have a part. Now, there is a spiritual core of love that every human being has, whether they acknowledge it or not.
It is sometimes called the soul, that ineffable divine spark that links us to every other living being on earth, and to the infinite Source of creation, that Oneness of which we are all a part. How does it manifest itself if it cannot be seen or measured?
By love. By love alone is God known. It is neither emotion, though it may appear as such in humans, nor rational, though its immutable laws govern this world and the next. Every miracle is an act of love, every forward movement of evolution is an act of love, as the creation moves closer to the Creator.
That said, the Los Angeles City Council recently passed an ordinance that made it illegal to sit, lay down or sleep on the sidewalk. This law was, of course, meant for the homeless, whose poverty is an embarrassment to the city and its tourists. A Federal Appeals Court struck down the law as unconstitutional, more power to them, and now the City Council plans to appeal.
