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Keeping Spiritual Company
Spring/Summer 1998


As one embarks on the spiritual path, one begins to realize the journey is better taken in the company of those who are traveling the same road. Sheikh Din shares his thoughts regarding the keeping of spiritual company. In this beautiful article, he again reiterates the importance of spiritual Community, the Company of Truth, and the role of the Spiritual Guide as we travel the straight and narrow.
     The principle of "keeping spiritual company" is an extremely important concept from both of our spiritual lineages, the Sufi as well as the Yogic traditions. We often forget it, but we are actually affected by this principle every day. The concept is based upon that which takes place within us as well as how we are influenced by the support, or lack thereof, of the company we keep. One undertakes life on the spiritual path in order to realize and then take action for the fulfilling of one's purpose. Thus it is important to ascertain whether or not the company we keep supports us in that supreme endeavor.
     Fulfilling our divinely created purpose in life is the most important reason for life. It is fundamental. If we don't know what our purpose is, we go on a mission to find out what is our purpose. After we come to terms with our purpose, we spend the rest of our lives in an effort to fulfill it, consciously or unconsciously. Risking sounding too trendy or catchy, I have said, "The meaning of life is nothing other than to find and fulfill one's purpose." If you were able to go deeply enough beneath the surface of your thoughts and feelings, you would find that the drive behind your desires, longings and attractions stems from one common desire, longing and attraction. It is the longing to be fulfilled through the realization of your purpose.
     Many more times than not, we feel off-track, and more than off-track, we become bewildered. We are smashed and hammered by all of the different images in our world and influenced by all the different impressions those images leave. The impressions of those images create arguing voices inside of our heads causing personal tension and confusion for what we feel, what we want, where we are going and what we're doing. "Go here. No! Go there." Yes and no, good and bad, black and white, pretty and ugly. These are among the constant voices battling within us.
     Trying to sort through all these voices by oneself, it's hard to hear which one is the "Truth." Where is the path? What does it really look like? If we are trying alone to see and hear along the path, we not only end up feeling lonely, but at times the journey appears impossible. Why is it that the path has been called a razor's edge? Because it is narrow. Why in Sufism has the path been likened to "a single hair that stretches across a chasm of fire?" Because, it is difficult. It is hard to be on the spiritual path and to be in the world at the same time. Thus, in order to develop the stamina, strength and support to walk the path, our spiritual discipline directs us to keep the company of saints, stay among the company of lovers and abide among the company of practitioners and spiritual aspirants who are also traveling along the path. In Sanskrit, this type of company is called Satsang (the Community or Company of Truth). Among the Sufis it is simply the "Circle of Friends."
     The word Sat in Sanskrit means Truth. In Arabic, the word for Sat is called Haqq. Haqq is the True Reality that is unchangeable, unalterable and immutable in existence, rhythm and flow. Haqq or Truth is another name for God/Allah in the Holy Qur`an as Allah is revealed as the Absolute Truth.
     Sat/Haqq does not mean the "stating of facts," because facts change before our eyes. We find that those things which we had trusted to be facts are not facts at all, they were only our opinions. Our feelings tend to follow the facts (opinions) as we perceive them, so a fact is not the same thing as the Truth. Fact is only a relative expression. Anything in this phenomenal world that we look to count on as Truth, we discover is only a relative expression. What are our opinions and feelings, likes and dislikes based upon today? Is it our family, our friends, our job, where we live, our age or our gender? Any of these things that we normally depend on to give us our reference points are literally dying and changing before our eyes. How then can they be called Truth?
     So the word Sat/Haqq, defined as Truth, does not refer to any of these relative points. Sat/Haqq denotes a Truth that exists as a prior existent Reality, a "Higher Reality," like a primordial thread that stitches all Reality together from before the beginning of time and space until after the end of time and space, linking all time and space as well as bridging all thoughts, words, actions and feelings together as One.
It has been said that the Truth is revealed to someone who is as hungry for It as a drowning man is hungry for a breath of air. When that much longing wells up inside our Hearts, the Truth starts to be revealed. Perhaps some think that it is childish, impractical or just too idealistic to long for the Truth so much. Although for some, all we can think about is what is theTruth, and what is my Purpose. What am I doing here? How do I fulfill my meaning for life? I want the Truth, I want the Truth, I want the Truth. I want to rend the veils of appearance that cover everything before me. I want to go deeper than all of the ways that I thought I could count on as "Truth," that only disappear before my eyes.
     If you look to the external world for your reference, comfort and approval, you will find yourself being urged to seek those qualities from without rather than from within. You'll find yourself being coerced and enrolled to consume, to achieve, to accomplish and "to get ahead." What does "getting ahead" mean? Getting ahead is all too often defined by how much material and psychic resources you have accumulated - pride, prestige and position. How big is your job? How many things do you have? How much money is in your bank account? How sexually attractive are you? These are the things that we typically associate with getting ahead. This is our conditioned definition of success. Nonetheless, all of these pursuits die before our eyes. Who is left in you to spend the money when you're in the grave? Who is left in you to enjoy all the toys you have accumulated when you are in the grave? Who is left in you to worry about whether you have crows feet around your eyes or sag lines or gray hair or no hair? Who is left in you to wonder whether you were a man or a woman when you're in the grave? What's the point? Is this really success? Success according to what?
     The word Sangha in Sanskrit means Company or Community. So, Satsang means the Company that gathers to support and reflect the pursuit and realization of Truth. The spiritual Community is established in order to support each person individually as well as provide a place for the individual person to give back to the collective in a form that serves the furtherance of Truth and Purpose.
     There is more to life than sense gratification and accumulation. The Truth we are looking for cannot be spoken from the mouth. Do not get caught in words and language. It, the Truth, is behind the heartbeat. It is located deep within the longing we all have which I call "the urge to merge."
     Whatever name you like to call God/Allah is fine. God/Allah has been called by so many names. The Vedas say God has more than 108,000 names. The Qur`an refers to Allah in 99 names. The Torah reminds us that you cannot name or say the Name. Within Sufism there is a tradition that says, "If the seven seas were full of ink and you were to use a tree as your pen, upon emptying the seven seas seven times you would not have begun to rehearse Allah's greatness." We don't want to get hung-up on words. What we want is the experience of Truth. For that we employ the support and help of the Company of Truth - the Satsang.
     We need the support of others, because on the straight and narrow path, we run into great obstacles. The obstacles exist as the many levels and layers of our own ego. We fall from remembrance and forget our direction and purpose. "Where am I going? Why am I even going there?" We run into the powerful cravings of the "lower" desires. In Sanskrit, Yoga explains that these desires express themselves as vrittis or propensities, and in Arabic, Sufism explains that these desires express themselves as nafs or the layers of the personality self.
     The lower self multiplies its cravings taking on countless different attributes as the ego argues for its self-importance. "What about me? What about me? What about me?" I, me, mine. I, me, mine. I, me, mine. As the "I, me, mine" gets stronger and more pursuing, the True Self forgets the original purpose. Now the individual is tracking on something totally different than the Truth. We establish the Community for support along the path of Truth.
     Even as the Community supports one to go down the straight path, the individual will continue to run headlong into the opposition of the ego. As one increases one's intention to realize Truth, the ego may recoil and rebel even more intensely than it did before. Before the increase of our longing for Truth, we may have had little self-reflection that actually showed us what we "looked liked" or what we were doing. We might have even thought being in the forest, that we were a tree. We didn't know any different. Surely you have heard the expression, "can't see the forest for the trees." In human life, the forest is so thick and so deep, you might start to think you are a tree!
When you keep the Company of other practitioners that are trying to support the way of Truth, the ego reacts strongly, like a cornered dog. "This isn't for real. Don't you want to go somewhere else? It's easier over there. What are you doing that for? Why are you sitting on the floor chanting, 'la, la, la, la'? Isn't there something more important to do? More sophisticated, too? This is stupid. What if somebody saw me like this?" All those voices that argue: What about my job? What about my relationship? When's my soul mate coming? Where's my next lover?"
     Actually, it's a very important function of the Sangha, the Community, to bring to the surface these negative aspects in ourselves. We must face them like the Bodhisattva depicted on a Tibetan thangka. Have you ever looked at those big silk paintings that the Tibetan Buddhist monks paint depicting their journey through life to the Truth? You will find dragons that come out of caves, and the venerable Lama must face the dragon. You have to face your dragons, so that they can be released, be let go of and be gone. Those are the times that we need the support of the Community, because everyone has dragons. We need the Community, the Ummah (Arabic), to support us.
     There is a traditional saying from the Yoga parables that says, "If you walk with people who limp, eventually you will limp." One without proper guidance, support and protection takes on the characteristics of whatever and whomever is around them. The propensities of people, like water, seek their own level. That is why our Master used to say, "Find the people that have the highest possible propensities, spend time with them and they will help raise you to their level." This is the principle of assimilation.
We all know that we assimilate from and to others. As a matter of fact, all of the various religious and cultural traditions of the world are concerned with assimilation. People are afraid to be influenced or to "lose" themselves as a people. When I was growing up and attending religious school, they used to tell us that the pride of the Jewish people was to not be assimilated by anyone at any cost. If you start hanging out with others, you will eventually share ideas. Dogma discourages us from sharing openly with others, although at this point in the world, it's impossible to stop. Through technology and travel, the world has become very small, and most people are realizing that no person, country, religion, idea, history or culture is unto itself. We are all in the melting pot of all ideas.
     The ego also knows about assimilation. It knows that if you are next to someone or something long enough, you will start to resonate with it. This is a principle of physics. If you put two compounds near each other, they start to mix. They take on each other's properties, e.g., color, taste, smell, etc.
     In spiritual practice, we want to assimilate with those things that draw the best out of us. We let go of, purge the worst, and be with the best. This takes a tremendous amount of support and strength. This is the power of the Community. This is the function of keeping company in the Community.
     On the other hand, when we meet someone who is extraordinary and hear the Truth, we may think, "That sounds great, but I'll never be able to do it. It's beyond me. It's impossible." Along with associating with others in the Community, the second concept of keeping company on the spiritual path is being in the presence of a living Master. A living Master is someone that represents two things: 1) in knowing (wisdom), that person represents your highest ideal, your life's goal, and 2) in heart and in feeling, that person represents that which is nearest and dearest to you. The Master offers a very personal relationship with that which is exemplary of your highest knowing and your deepest longing. On the Sufi path we call that person the Sheikh or Murshid, and on the Yogic path we call that person Guru. The Master is a true mystic, one who is free from bondage of the convention of body, mind and society.
     The closeness of the Master serves the Community by providing a living human presence whose example is linked to other living, or previously living, human beings whose historical traditions communicate an unbroken chain of Mastery. When you see the Master in person, you become linked to the chain or lineage of the Masters. This living pathway shows you that you can actually realize the purpose of your life, and that the path is not merely a philosophy, a dream or a conjecture. You can do it, too. See? Look. You have the sight of It in the form of a person, a living example. In Sanskrit, the sight of the Master is called Darshan. Darshan comes from the root syllable Dri, which means to see. You get to see somebody real, a person, a human being, and that person becomes very important to your work. In Arabic, the word Sheikh means elder or chief. The word Murshid means master or guide. The Sheikh or Murshid is somebody that exemplifies the Way.
     However, it is simply not good enough just to see the Master. We can look at the Murshid, our Beloved, with the deepest sense of knowing and longing and get stuck like an "armchair quarterback" watching sports on television. You know, sitting back in the chair seeing your favorite quarterback going out onto the field. He makes a touchdown, and you love him as you cheer. Or he missed a pass, and you complain and criticize him. "He should have done it this way, or he should have done it that way." In this example, however, the TV quarterback can't see you sitting, hiding in your chair. You are safe. You just sit back and watch him. You turn on your favorite programs and your favorite heroes are there: rock stars, sports figures, millionaires, whoever they are. Haven't you watched Olympic ice skating and felt emotionally moved because you're seeing human excellence? You watch and exclaim, "My God, what humans can do!" It blows your mind, that level of excellence. You can see it, but you're safe sitting in your chair.
     Therefore, along with seeing the Master, the second function of the Murshid, Sheikh or Guru is to also see you! In other words, for you to be seen. So you see, and you are seen. These are the two aspects of Darshan. When you are seen, you have the experience of your highest knowing and deepest longing looking back at you in the form of the Master. There isn't any way to hide. This is a very vulnerable position to be in. It's a position where there are no corners in the room left to turn. The carpet is now turned over and what is beneath is exposed. There's nowhere for that ego, and all the levels of that ego, to reside and get comfortable. You cannot pretend that the house is clean if your bed isn't made. If you are really seen, you are naked.
     There are a couple of ways that a person can respond after they have been seen in this manner. The first way is what we hope for, which is surrender or submission. There is an opening in the student and a willingness to do the Work. Until we get tired of our own ego mechanisms, however, all too often we react by pulling away in some fashion. Perhaps we deny that the experience with the Master ever happened, that we imagined it, and then we get away as fast as we can. If you've been seen down into the depth of your being, and you don't want to deal with yourself, don't come back!
Another tactic of the ego is to argue with the style of the Master. For instance, "Wow, that talk he gave was great, but he calls God `Allah,' and I definitely can't handle that. If only he wasn't Muslim, then I would like the teachings better." The ego argues for its position again and again until such time that it is too tired to operate. The more tired we become, the more we suffer. Then we go seeking the Company of the Community and the Sheikh again.
     From Sufism comes the concept of Sheikhi al-Sheikh, which means the Elder of Elders which is God/ Allah. "Outsiders" and beginners to the spiritual path often get hung-up on the idea of a personal Teacher, whom we call the Sheikh. The purpose of the human Sheikh allows you to contact the feeling of "seeing God seeing you." If you were to live your life everyday with each moment and every breath carrying the direct perception that I am being seen by God, your whole life would change. The Prophet Muhammad (saws) taught, "Worship Allah as you see Allah best, but if you cannot see Allah, remember that Allah is seeing you." Imagine the feeling that God is actually seeing me in everything that I do. Your whole life would clean up!
     But . . . we have a problem with the whole idea of God. The problem is that God/Allah is greater than our greatest conception or ability to conceive. That is why we declare Allahu Akbar (Arabic: God is Greater) in the call to prayer and in every prayer throughout the day. The Buddhists also have a chant that declares that the Truth is Beyond the Beyond, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Boddhi Swaha. Beyond the beyond, beyond the great beyond, and even beyond that, hail the goer!
     The limitation of the analytical mind cannot relate to this vastness on ordinary terms. What is beyond the beyond? Put your arms around God. Hug God. Kiss God on the "cheek." Kiss "God's hands," and be at "God's feet." This is the poetry of the saints. Sit at "God's table." Come to "God's throne," and look in the "Face of God." The beauty of the imagery inspires us into greater longing, but be honest with yourself for a moment - can you really relate to this in simple daily functioning? Where do you practice having a relationship with God? How do you do it when God/Allah is That which is beyond time and space, has always been and always is on every level in every world in every thought, word and action, and is That which has ordained destiny as well as invests destiny with free will? Allah has given creation a plan, but at the same time allows creation to evolve. Allah is all form and is formless. How does your mind relate to That? What is your system? How will you be in relationship with It?
You must learn how to be in relationship with That which only your heart will come to know. It is not of the intellectual mind. The practice on our path is to transfer the feeling of seeing and being seen by God into being in relationship with each other. This practice starts during Darshan, seeing and being seen by the Master.
     We transfer our attention into the medium of Community support and the guidance of the Murshid. "I can see that you are seeing me, there's nowhere to hide, the path is straight and narrow, and my ego is going crazy, but this is real." As our ego rebels and argues for itself, we use our free will to remind ourselves of the purpose of our work and pursuit. We look to the Community to help us stick to the path, and we look to the Guide to reflect to us our purpose and goal. We find ourselves relying on these two points: 1) the Company of Truth, and 2) the Sight of Truth. They provide us with the rudder to steer a course on the straight path.
     Ultimately the realization of our purpose comes not by our own control, but through Grace. It comes through Blessings. It comes through Mercy. It comes through Compassion. The purpose of keeping the Company and the Sight of Truth is to bring ourselves into alignment with our true intention. The true intention of the human being, on the deepest level of the heart, whether the mind remembers it or not, is to fulfill the human purpose by becoming filled with the purpose that Allah has intended. This is Love.

STUDENT: Can you say it again, the part about getting in alignment with God's purpose for us?

SHEIKH DIN: Keeping the Company of Truth and the Sight of Truth helps bring you into alignment with your true purpose, because it's reinforcing it for you.

STUDENT: And our true purpose is?

SHEIKH DIN: Your true purpose is to realize your purpose.

STUDENT: Yes, and didn't you say more than that before?

SHEIKH DIN: I said too much, if I said more than that.
Your true purpose is to realize your purpose. If you don't know what your purpose is, then your next purpose is to go out and find out what it is. Don't let yourself sleep, and don't leave yourself alone until you find out what it is. This fervor is what will bring Grace into your life. If you don't know what your purpose is, you better get your butt to work to find out what it is. Do not let a moment go by, a breath go by, a thought go by, a feeling go by, or let one second or one blink of your eye go by without inquiring,
"What is my purpose? Why am I here?" Then the realization will come.
     This is what the Qur`anic verse means when Allah says, "I did not create you for idle sport or a game of play." The verse continues, "If I should have wanted a pastime, then I would have chosen those better than you!" This is a very poetic, mystical verse. What can we draw from it? What do you think is going on here (in this creation)? Something is taking place, driving the rhythm of life. Something's going on here. What are we using this life for? Inspired by the Qur`an, I have written a song with a line that simply states, "We are in this world for something more than this world." - The Purpose.
     The greatest people in life, who we call our heroes, our true heroes, were successful in life because they did what others thought could not be done. They did everything, and their wish was for everyone to experience the same. Everything in their lives reflected their purpose. They didn't hold back. These are the heroes of life, the saints. Look for It. Don't go to sleep tonight. Don't ever go to sleep again until you find It.

STUDENT: Do we all have the same purpose?

SHEIKH DIN: Ultimately we do, although it may express itself differently in our daily service. We are all different expressions of the One. The Sufis teach that the testimony of Allah's greatness is that no two moments or two things are ever alike. Can you imagine endless time passing and never is one moment a duplicate of the moment before and never is the next moment going to be like this moment? In terms of how you find your purpose, how you act out your purpose, how you express your purpose, it may look different on the outside, but the inner realization will be the same. This realization is in the Heart. That is why it can be said that Allah is in the Heart of every human being. The spark of Divinity is in the Heart of every human being. Allah is One, because ultimately the purpose exists within us as the same Self -The Highest Self.
     The Holy Prophet (saws) said, "Know thy Self and you will know thy Lord."
We get into conflict with the world when our inner Heart is calling us, "Whoever you are, wherever you are, please come," while our outer actions are doing something entirely different than answering the call. We get caught by the contradiction of our thoughts, words and actions. If you want to meet a really healthy person, that person's thoughts, words and actions will be completely in line. One. The bigger the gap between the thoughts, words, and actions, the more neurotic a person becomes. As the gaps grow, the neurosis increases. The bigger the gaps in your person, the bigger the holes in your bucket. A bucket full of holes cannot hold water. The water is likened to the Divine Light and the bucket is likened to life. If the gaps in your life are too big, you can't hold the light, the Nur al-Muhammad (the Light of Prophecy).
     People become distressed in the world when their hearts know that their works are "evil." It doesn't work. Or people promise things that they know they can't or don't deliver. I could give you lots of examples of how duplicity and hypocrisy express themselves. What we have to realize is that we all have these hypocrisies inside ourselves.
     As we work towards our purpose, we start to align what we do, what we think and what we say. We align ourselves accordingly in the world, in our vocation, in our avocation, in our hobbies, in our friends, in our lovers and in our families. We do the work of alignment. Try to imagine everything in your life aligned toward the One - Allah. Can you imagine the kind of life that is? So when you go to your job, your job becomes Divine Remembrance, Divine support and your job becomes service to Allah. When you're with your friends, what you hear, say and feel is of Allah. When you are making love with your lover, your spouse, the romance of the lover and the beloved coming together is a celebration and praise of Allah. When everything is dedicated to Allah, nothing inside of you rebels with, "I don't know if I really want to do be doing this." Nothing's held back because you know you are aligned, through your best intention, to God/Allah.
     Every interaction becomes service, submission and surrender. The person who does that, who gives every thought, word and action in their environment and their expression to Allah, is a free person. They can come and go. They can appear and disappear. They can be in pleasure, they can be in pain and nothing of this world can hold that person. They have given everything, so they receive everything in return.