This book will take you straight to heaven, for that is, indeed, our reality.

Life everlasting is not a difficult attainment. In fact it is not an attainment at all, it is simply the reality. It is not a choice we can make to accept or refuse. It is guaranteed by the very nature of our creation. We can however, choose to believe it, or not. And we will then behave accordingly. 

We can either accept it or reject it but we cannot and will not change it. 

Such is the fundamental statement of all religions and it is good news to some and bad news to others, depending simply upon the point of view you choose to accept. 

The only real differences between people are in their points of view, their opinions, but not in fact. From the standpoint of Spiritual Psychology, know one (yourself), and you know them all. This is why it is so often said that the prime directive, so to speak, of life is to "Know Thyself", or "Physician, heal thyself". 

Since differences of opinion are based solely upon personal viewpoint, it is relatively easy, if one can find a moment of dispassion, to shift one's viewpoint to the "other side", if for no other reason but to see what it looks like from there. That's how common ground is found, and agreements are made. We are different in ego, or personal self-assessment, but not in heart. 

Life is a long opportunity for us to learn to see things differently, from "both" sides, and to be able to shift at will from a material (personal) to a spiritual (generic) viewpoint. If things are not working well from one viewpoint, we mustn't feel trapped by that viewpoint, we must find in ourselves the freedom to view things differently, providing ourselves thereby with more choices. I would like to point out what both sides looks like, so that you, should you be of an exploring nature, may find in yourself that moment of dispassion and shift, however temporarily, with the purpose of seeing, and feeling, the basis for eternal health. 

The main and most commonly accepted viewpoint is that of those who are desperately attached to their egoic and illusory self, and the lesser is that of those who are willing, even eager to let it go. There are those who are eager to develop only their minds, in a sense of desperation based on competitiveness, impatience, survival and fear for provision, and those who are eager to develop their hearts, finding them to be more reliable, trustworthy and full of resource. We might refer to them as the people of ego attachment and the people of ego detachment. When dealing in matters of belief, we might also classify this difference as between those who look forward to death and what follows, and those who fear it. Or those who trust in God for love and providence, and those who fear for it.

However, for both, Islam, the message of eternal life and how to live with it, comes as good news, as the "bearer of glad tidings". In it is confirmed that which is true of the religions that have come before it, and added knowledge of certainty and new revelations of use and value.

The purpose of Divine revelation is to assuage the fears of the fearful and confirm the trust of the realized. Healing is the conversion factor at work, actively converting fear into assurance, ignorance into knowledge. 

Ego attachment manifests in two distinct ways, both having to do with religion. They are religious fanaticism and religious aversion, both protecting an illusion from discovery, and both having to do with hidden, but unnecessary, feelings of guilt.  Both are from fear - fear of loss - fear of losing what is perceived to be had or attained (with hard work, or not), and fear of losing the sense of self upon which our "survival" depends, the 'haver", as it were. But in the true knowledge of self and God there is yet a greater reward. 

The difference between ego and soul quality is not always easily distinguisehd since one is a reflection of the other and comes from it. This unclarity is the basis for most of the misunderstanding in religions and psychotherapy. For without the added discernment of the actually realized (spiritual masters, et al), it is very difficult to distinguish between ego and soul quality. But it is the salvation of this soul quality that is the purpose of religions and spiritual paths, not the salvation of the ego, which will quite successfully attempt to usurp the position of the soul, or true-self, as ruler of the heart-and-body complex. 

The ego will surely perish in the great awakening. Such is the promise of all true religions for it is indeed the fact. The ego is a temporary loan, a functional fabrication, a pseudo-self, self-created to serve us for a duration of time in mortal existence, and is not to be taken seriously, as in given the full power of authority. It is this mistake, in spite of our nagging conscience (nafsil-lawamma) that is the cause of all problems, physical, emotional, religious and societal. 

Clearly distinguishing between ego and soul-quality is the meat of the work of all real spiritual paths, teachers, healing therapies and religions. 

And Islam is no different. Without connection to the heart and soul, (see "Islamic history and the origins of Sufism"), as reflected in the living presence of the Prophet and his family (ahli bait), it can become "merely" a religion, devoid of spirit and a mere imitation - like the ego, an attempt to 'replicate' the reality. And that's where the people of any religion have gone wrong, and entered into separation. When the ego attempts to usurp the position of the soul, not only can it not succeed, but it knows that it is wrong and therefore needs to be excessively assertive in its claim to rightness. This results in oppression, of self and others, in the name of religion. 

So religion can be either self-repressive or spiritually liberating, and the choice is always up to the believer.

This all-necessary recognition of true surrender can only be gained from the Prophet, his family (realized descendants) and their honored representatives, who are often referred to as Khalifas, and are mostly to be found among the Sufis. It is they who are cleared, with permission from the Prophet through a chain of authorization, to teach and to accept the true students of Surrender. And this is the central focal-point for the people of discovery and liberation. The rest are not considered wrong, simply choosing, for a variety of reasons, to prefer incompleteness in their education. 

Full and recognized realization is the necessary goal and the manifest success. This is the "Salvation" of the soul that is so highly misunderstood. (See "The Healing Powers of Direct Realization")

And that is why Rabi`a al Adawiyyah, Allah's Mercy upon her, one of the great Sufi saints of all time, said when overhearing a pious and obedient Muslim's claim to sanctity for having been born into a pious family and knowing for certain that he had never committed a major or minor sin according to the technical definitions of such in all the religious books, "Your very existence is a sin greater than any other". For he had clearly not attained the true point of religion, spiritual freedom from the bonds of his mortal existence.

This spiritual education is imperative. Self-realization and the quest for it is the answer to the problems incurred by the dilemmas of life. Self-realization is the point of life and the right choice. Recognize and honor God, and God will recognize and honor you. It's that simple. Know Allah intimately. Use all religions and spiritual paths. Benefit from their teachings to realize the truth of your situation, before it's too late. 

I will continue to present the rest of this book as and explanation of the problems incurred and show the way for the readers to alleviate themselves from the problems caused by ignorance of the truth of Islam.