"La ilaha illa Llah" states "There is no God but God." This simple yet profound statement of Unity reminds us that God's Essence permeates all. However, we don't live every moment in the conscious awareness of the Presence of God. In the following discourse, Sheikh Din distinguishes form, or who we think we are, from Essence, Who we Really are. When we realize God's Presence within, we can truly begin to see God everywhere.

It could be said that the fundamental substance of Reality is Consciousness. Last time we were together we expressed the notion that there's a "little bit of God" in everybody and everything. In this sense, we could say the fundamental substance we are calling Consciousness is the little bit of God that is in everybody and everything. Why do we use the term "Consciousness"? Consciousness denotes something that is animate, awake, alive and present, full of feeling, creativity and intelligence. Consciousness is mindful, and it is Presence. Maybe this seems a little too abstract, so let's try to offer an example.

It could be said that the fundamental substance of a sculpture is clay or marble. However, when you look at a sculpture, as in Michelangelo's David, you're so impressed by the form that you don't initially "see" the marble. You might even approach David and exclaim, "How real! How magnificent!" Not many people walk up to Michelangelo's David and nonchalantly mutter, "That's a hell of a piece of marble." No. We are more impressed by what the marble has been sculpted or formed into.

Likewise in life, the fundamental substance of Reality is Consciousness, Allah's Ever Living Presence. But how often are we in the state of mind or the state of seeing to approach Reality and realize that God's Presence is everywhere and is in everything? Most often we are just as impressed by Reality's forms as we are by the form of Michelangelo's sculpture. Can you understand?

The sculptor's impressions which mold the marble or clay are what give the substance the appearance of being David. Likewise, the "impressions" made upon Reality are what give reality the appearance of what you think It is. Perceived reality is constructed of an untold number of physical and psychic impressions.

When we can accept that the fundamental substance of Reality is Consciousness, we can then declare that we are one; one mind, one heart, one desire, one love, one thought, one longing, one God. If we are one, why is it that we appear separate? Because, for a limited time, our minds are more attached to the forms of reality than Reality Itself.

Most participants on the spiritual Path and in the "New Age" movement misuse the word karma, i.e., my karma, your karma, good karma, bad karma, etc. Karma is all too frequently used to describe the effect or reaction to the forms of certain personal and collective reflections. But this is actually a corruption of the word, because karma has nothing to do with form. The word "karma" is simply a Sanskrit word meaning "action." It doesn't denote positive action or negative action; it simply denotes action. The "law of karma" reminds us that through action we impose, attract and acquire impressions upon ourselves and others.

Like the sculptor molding clay, touching the big, soft block of clay would affect it by the squeezing of the sculptor's hand leaving an impression. So the clay takes on its new form. It becomes a sculpture over time as the artist works to control the sets of impressions. However, the underlying Reality is that the sculpture is clay taking on a form.

In the process of action and reaction (karma), life's impressions undergo a pressure to correct or balance themselves. In other words, it's not as simple as the sculptor leaving a static or fixed impression upon clay, but as experiences are impressed upon life's clay, the impressions seek to be relieved. The impressions on life literally "want" to dissolve back into the fundamental substance and return to the original balanced condition.

The more impressions we have accumulated upon the True Self, the more impressions that our personal sculpture is made of. More impressions require a longer period of time to undo. If we poked our fingers very deeply into clay, a bigger hole would have to be filled than if we only touched it lightly. Some might call this impression repair "burning off your karma" or "reaping what you sow," or in ecumenical terms, "spiritual reconciliation." To quote Bob Dylan we might say, "Bringing it all back home."

The willingness to allow life's impressions to return back into balance, to reconcile, is the process of spiritually "letting go" or spiritual "surrender," in plain terms. The letting go and surrendering of impressions is that which allows those very impressions to reconcile themselves. The opposite is hanging on to the impressions. We call that, in plain terms, "being attached." The categories of impressions and attachments include projections, assumptions, expectations, conjectures, fantasies and so forth. If you're attached to form, while forgetting that underneath form is the fundamental substance, you don't want the form to change, do you? Because you think the form is what's Real. Just like if you were to watch the great, magnificent sculpture melt before your eyes, you would realize it is not David, but that the real substance is marble. Marble was only temporarily taking the form of David.

How attached are you to the impressions of your own life, thinking that the way your life operates is the Truth? The spiritual Path and practice is the process that detaches us from falsely identifying with form and has us re-identify with substance, as the great Prophet Jesus (a.s.) taught, "Separating the wheat from the chaff." Raw ore must be smelted by heat for the gold within. The Sufis call the fundamental substance "Essence." Essence is also comprised of Consciousness.

Some people have never had a glimpse that they are anything other than the impressions of who they think they are. They are thoroughly locked into identifying with the marble sculpture, mistakenly thinking that their body, age, gender, language, job, residence, ancestors, religion, preferences and habits are the Essence of the True Self. If you don't know any better, you are totally locked in. A mind is as it thinks. That's all it knows.

Living under this illusion is a guaranteed formula for suffering, because no matter how tightly one tries to hold on to forms, the forms change. It is just like the old saying about building castles out of sand. No matter how elaborate the structure we build for ourselves, at some point the wave comes and takes it away. Look at the impact Of time, place and person on your own life.

What expectations have you had so firmly fixed in the scope of your life? What aspects of your physical, mental and emotional reality have you thought would always remain, would never change and would always last? Did they? No. They never do. Starting with our bodies; they don't last. They change. They get too big, too little, too fat, too old and then they die. Oh well.

On the emotional level, our beliefs, our relationships and our attachments to our possessions all change. It all goes. So why be attached to the form of those items if we know that those forms don't and can't last? I didn't suggest not to utilize them properly. I simply challenge you with the question of attachment.

Inspect the system of the ego's defenses carefully. See how attached this defense system is to the identity of your personality. Is the personality your True Essence? The personal defenses are caught up trying to protect the limited form of the personality. This is the same form that over time changes and dies, yet is mistakenly thought of by most people as being the Essence.

Do you think the marble really cares whether or not the artist was perfect at sculpting the arm or the leg? If you visit some of the great ruins of ancient civilizations, you will find sculptures of great marble that have lost their arms or legs over time. In spite of their great beauty, or missing limbs, do you think the condition of the sculpture's form is all that important to the marble itself? The marble remains to be the fundamental substance regardless of time, space or condition. The condition of the sculpture's form may or may not be important to the observer, but the observer is only observing from a particular point of view. The observer's point of reference is based upon self-interest, personal preference, expectation and aesthetic appeal. According to the observer, the form of art has value based upon preference. "Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder." That's what art is all about, isn't it?

Abstract art challenges the expectation of public preference to form, design and style. An abstract artist, rather than a literal artist, may sculpt the sculpture without the arms to begin with, just to get you to ask the question, "Where are the arms?" Does the marble care or suffer (with or without arms)?

What is the "cost" of realizing the Essence, fundamental substance, other than the shattering of our expectations? In order to "realize the marble" we must let go of the attachments to things (forms) that make us suffer. The only real cost is the annihilation of our illusory projections.

It is amazing how important some people make the form of their life compared to how unimportant the form of their life is to someone else. One of the things that used to astound me while living in New York City was how many people there were on the street. As they bustled by, walking back and forth, I recognized that each one of them represented the center of an entire individual universe. Everyone of those people had a job, or were homeless, had parents and brothers and sisters, as well as each one perceived the world as if they themselves were the focus or the most important. People are so consumed with themselves as the nucleus and just how important they think they are in their situation. And there they are passing each other every day, left and right, totally unaware or in total disregard of just how important somebody else holds their form and reality to be.

Do we look deeply enough to see the fundamental substance, Essence, that holds, connects and contains the whole? We've spoken many times about the seduction of a person's life story. Every person has one. I know something, from a little bit to a great deal, about each person in our Community. We can hardly say that any of our lives are picture perfect. In addition to the tremendous amount of spiritual longing, heartfelt love, care and solidarity that we have experienced as a Community, we also know that some have come from broken households, have been abused, have problems and addictions, hurts, ailments and have been through divorce.

Everybody could tell a story of what got you here. "Oh yeah? Well you ought to hear what happened to me." But you see, these high impact life stories only cause the impressions that create the form that you are living in. To the degree that you are attached to those impressions is the degree to which you suffer over holding on to the form.

We sit quietly in meditation. We pray. We perform other spiritual practices so that we might get a glimpse of the fundamental substance, the Essence, that underlies the personal forms. This helps and allows the impressions and their forms to be released.

A person who cannot observe and learn to control his/her mind will never be at peace. How could you observe your mind, let alone control it, if you actually think that you are all of the stuff that's rattling around in it? It would be impossible because you are still attached to your body and mind thinking that it is really you. You think that the forms and the impressions are you. So one must sit; learn to sit quietly. We learn to go inside to look for the Essence, the fundamental substance. We must dive deeply beneath the surface of the sculpture into the Essence of our sculpture to find out what it's made of. Quiet the mind, quiet enough where we can release the attachments of our impressions. When we have the view inside ourselves of the pure substance, then we are able to start to have that sight outside ourselves. We will be able to see the Presence of the Essence everywhere. When we can see the little piece of God inside ourselves, then we start to see the little piece of God in everything and everybody. This is the Presence of God/Allah.

If we were really a master sculptor, it might be hard for us to simply look at any sculpture, anywhere, without seeing the substance that it was made of or cast from. We would appreciate the form while having the knowledge of its fundamental substance. After enjoying the form, we would be looking to see the substance: what is it made of, and how did it get like that? If we were to become a Master of Reality, then we would always be looking to see the substance of Reality, the Consciousness, the little piece of God that is everywhere we go in everybody and everything. In coming into contact with the various forms of creation, we are like the one who exclaims, "Oh Lord, your Presence is everywhere. How did you come into the world and create these forms? And why are they stuck on being that way?"

By understanding the difference between form and Essence, we are able to utilize the instructions of the Teacher and the performance of spiritual practices to assist us in the process of alleviating the formed impressions of life. This reconciling allows us to return in balance to our fundamental substance. When we realize the Essence, it might be said that we have glimpsed the Enlightenment of Truth, God's Presence. We are then able to know directly the Nature of Reality as it is. Upon this realization we no longer suffer over the loss of form, nor are we attracted to it. We are linked to the pure substance - the Essence.