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We have all had the experience of failing time
after time in changing old habits. Then suddenly these old habits lose
their hold on us. What was so attractive suddenly becomes unattractive.
This is a sign that God has accepted our repentance.
At this point, my sheikh used to say, that
we are no longer responsible for those old sins. We have truly changed and
we are now someone who is not even tempted to commit them.
Sheikh Ragip Robert
Frager in 'Heart, Self & Soul: The Sufi Psychology of Growth, Balance
and Harmony' p. 71
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We train our children in competition,
acquisitiveness and even aggression.
Then we expect cooperation, respect and consideration.
Shaykh
Fadhlalla Haeri
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The
life of the heart is knowledge; so preserve it,
The death of the heart is ignorance; so avoid it.
Your
best provision is true devotion; so provide it.
This advice of mine is enough for you; so heed it.
Ghazâlî
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"The
contraction of the heart comes with the expansion of the ego, and vice
versa."
Bayazid
Bistami
Ie:
The expansion of the heart comes with the contraction of the ego.
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Do not leave the invocation of Allah (dhikr)
because of your lack of presence with Allah therein, for your heedlessness
of invocation is worse than your heedlessness in invocation. It may well
be that He raises you from invocation with heedlessness to invocation with
attentiveness, and from invocation with attentiveness to invocation with
presence of heart, and from invocation with presence of heart to
invocation in which there is absence — from anything besides the
Invoked, ‘and that is not difficult for Allah’ [Qur’ân 14:20].
Sidi
Ibn ‘Ata’ Illah
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Outer calmness is the reflection of inner
awareness. Nader Angha
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Whatever we perceive in the world around us
tends to reflect who we are and what we care about most deeply, as in the
old saying, "When a thief sees a saint, all he sees are his
pockets."
Sheikh Ragip Robert
Frager in 'Heart, Self & Soul: The Sufi Psychology of Growth, Balance
and Harmony'
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Happy are those who find fault with themselves
instead of finding fault with others.
Muhammad
(saw) (Essential Sufism)
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"I searched for God and found only
myself. I searched for myself and found only God".
Sufi
Proverb
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Arrogance and conceit in a person may be
recognized by three signs:
When alone does he feel gloomy, and in company feel happy?
When people praise him, does he perform more worship?
When they speak badly of him, does he perform very little worship?
Al
Ghazâlî (Essential Sufism)
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For every sin but the killing of Time there is
forgiveness.
Traditional
(Essential Sufism)
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Whatever you have in your mind - forget it;
Whatever you have in your hand - give it;
Whatever is to be your fate - face it!
Abu
Sa'id (Essential Sufism)
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A donkey with a load of holy books is still a
donkey.
Traditional
(Essential Sufism)
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Asking good questions is half of learning.
Muhammad
(Essential Sufism)
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Do not buy the enmity of one man for the love
of a thousand men.
Al
Ghazâlî (Essential Sufism)
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Growing
old is inevitable, growing UP is optional.
There is no key to
happiness. The door is always open.
Silence is often
misinterpreted, but never misquoted.
Faith is the ability
to not panic.
Blessed are the
flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape.
The most important
things in your home are the people.
He who dies with the
most toys is still dead.
If you think you are
too small to be effective, you have never been in a dark room with a mosquito.
God wants spiritual
fruit, not religious nuts.
It's all right to sit
on your pity pot every now and again. Just be sure to flush when you
are done.
Learn from the turtle,
it only makes progress when it sticks its neck out.
contributed
by:
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There are four things which are useful and
beneficial for everyone, namely:
To be just;
To be guided by wisdom;
To be patient and persevering and
To respect people.
Shaikh Fariduddin 'Attar
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There are four things, which go to point out
the foolishness of a person, namely:
Not to see his own bad defects in the world;
To be in search of the defects of others;
To sow the seed of stinginess in his heart;
And inspite of it, to expect generosity.
Shaikh Fariduddin 'Attar
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"Every
activity can be an opportunity for the most profound lessons." Ragip Baba
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Truth
will make you free, but it will also make you suffer. Vilayat Inayat Khan
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"If you haven't really struggled with
a question, you cannot digest the answer even if it is handed to you." A.H. Almaas
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"The
ego is important until one does not need it anymore." Vilayat Inayat
Khan
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"When a negative disposition is
reinforced through behavior, it leads to the development of a negative
trait in the self. This negative trait, then through habit becomes
'stable' in the self, and the punishment and torture which accompanies it
will also afflict the self". Naraqi
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"The
lower self is like a flame both in its display of beauty and in its hidden
potential for destruction; though its color is attractive, it
burns." Bakharzi
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"We believe our own beliefs too much,
without questioning them, and then go about our lives based on
them". A. H. Almaas
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"If you desire a glory that never vanishes,
then try not to embrace a glory that vanishes." Ibn Ata
Allah
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However great be the effort of moral man, reason leads him to error.
Fakhir al-Din Razi |
The greatest calamity that befall the heedless is that they are ignorant of their own faults.
Ali Hajwiri |
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"Self-understanding
is at least half the battle in self-transformation". Ragip Baba
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"A small amount that leads to agreement is better than a great amount that leads to discord."
al-Jahiz
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"It is in supporting one another that two hands find strength. A thorny branch can only be cut if the left hand is helping. The right hand raised alone could not cut even a morsel of meat."
Abdellahi Muuse, Somali Poet
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"Have the courage to face the light of your
own being." Vilayat
Inayat Khan
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"Every
activity can be an opportunity for the most profound lessons." Ragip Baba
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"Let
your peace be materialized in actions." Vilayat Inayat Khan
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"A closed heart means not trusting oneself to
love." Vilayat Inayat Khan
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Humility
is our connection with our own fundamental Being, which has certain
qualities:
Acceptance of what is, rather than complaints of 'poor me' or 'why
me?'
Openness, rather than preoccupation with 'me'
Gratefulness, rather than resentment for what has happened to 'me'
Generosity, rather than possessiveness
Modesty, rather than the self-importance of 'me'
Forgiveness, rather than blame of others of ourselves
Trust, rather than insecurity and doubt.
Kabir Helminski in 'The Knowing Heart'
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"When you feel I am nearest, then am I farthest from you. When you feel I am furthest from you, then am I nearest to you."
Niffari
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He who finds a new path is a pathfinder, even if the trail has to be found again by others; and he who walks far ahead of his contemporaries is a leader, even though centuries pass before he is recognized as such.
Ibn Khaldun
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Never do I argue with a man with a desire to hear him say what is wrong, or to expose him and win victory over him. Whenever I face an opponent in debate I silently pray - O Lord, help him so that truth may flow from his heart and on his tongue, and so that if truth is on my side, he may follow me; and if truth be on his side, I may follow him.
al-Imam Al-Shafi'i
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A man's behavior is the index of the man, and his speech is the index of his understanding.
Ali ibn Abu Talib (raa)
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Learn politeness from the impolite.
Egyptian Proverb
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If there be but one hair binding me to my fellow men, I do not let it break. If they pull, I loosen; and if they loosen, I pull.
Mu'awiyah
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