00:00:00
greetings and peace i hope you and yours
00:00:03
are doing well today wherever you might
00:00:04
be watching this from
00:00:06
now the title of today's presentation
00:00:08
that i would like to do is the teachings
00:00:10
of the sufi master ibn arabi
00:00:12
in similarity to freemasonry just like
00:00:15
how i have covered a roomy in the past
00:00:17
and covered the
00:00:18
esoteric meanings of a lot of these
00:00:20
poems
00:00:21
in terms of in self-improvement
00:00:23
connecting to the divine
00:00:25
and becoming better in your thought
00:00:27
action speech
00:00:28
and good conduct as a good man which i
00:00:31
related to the masonic path as well
00:00:33
so i hope you're able to get something
00:00:35
from this uh from these teachings in
00:00:37
poetry of ibn arabi
00:00:39
which i will offer my own esoteric
00:00:41
explanation from a masonic and
00:00:44
a sufi islamic point of view i hope you
00:00:47
like what i have to offer and
00:00:49
thank you for watching and always
00:00:50
sticking by
00:00:53
before we get into ibn arabi's teachings
00:00:55
let's look a little bit about his
00:00:57
background and who he was and what he
00:00:59
stood for in his foundation
00:01:01
he was born in muslim-controlled spain
00:01:03
at the time in
00:01:04
the 11th century and he was revered and
00:01:07
celebrated
00:01:08
as a mistake as a philosopher as a poet
00:01:12
someone who was able to see that there
00:01:13
was something more to this world
00:01:15
than what it's originally taught to us
00:01:17
which is even relevant in today's
00:01:20
society
00:01:21
and he was born in july 28 1165
00:01:25
in southeast of spain when it was under
00:01:27
islamic
00:01:28
rule under that time and he died in
00:01:30
damascus syria
00:01:32
in 1240 by the time he reached age 75
00:01:37
and he was someone that came from the
00:01:39
pure bloodline
00:01:41
of the arab tribe of the taei and it was
00:01:43
there
00:01:44
in seville in spain at that time where
00:01:47
he
00:01:47
went he underwent like all the training
00:01:50
his education
00:01:52
for about 30 years studying everything
00:01:54
that he could
00:01:56
and the older teachers and spiritual
00:01:59
masters were so intrigued by him that
00:02:01
they took an interest on him
00:02:03
and at the time there was uh
00:02:07
times where the elders had interviewed
00:02:09
him and had exchanges with him
00:02:11
and they got so overwhelmed by his love
00:02:14
and his
00:02:14
um love for god and humanity that even
00:02:18
some of them
00:02:19
became his disciples in a way that they
00:02:22
started revering him
00:02:24
and it just goes to show you that
00:02:26
whoever almighty god puts the light of
00:02:28
education and love in their hearts that
00:02:31
we can learn from them
00:02:32
if someone is older than you you can
00:02:34
learn from them there might
00:02:36
be somebody younger than you that might
00:02:37
have the answers that you're looking for
00:02:39
so this uh scenario of ibn arabi
00:02:42
impressing the elders
00:02:43
shows that we need to be able to learn
00:02:46
from everyone younger or older
00:02:48
which is the masonic comparison that i'm
00:02:50
making here of meaning on the level
00:02:52
of how you have masonic brethren who
00:02:55
does
00:02:55
doesn't matter what their generational
00:02:57
difference is if one can learn from the
00:02:59
elder and one can learn from the younger
00:03:01
it's one and the same for we are all all
00:03:04
one and the end
00:03:05
no matter where we come from this is our
00:03:08
our our
00:03:08
ultimate truth that we must comprehend
00:03:11
in our life
00:03:13
so at the same time he he was
00:03:16
studying he was impressing all of these
00:03:18
elders
00:03:20
and he started uh going into all of
00:03:22
these teachings
00:03:23
which over time set him out from his
00:03:26
journey
00:03:27
where he had a vision that he had to
00:03:29
leave spain and go to the east
00:03:31
so there we have the traveling man
00:03:33
comparison
00:03:34
and that's where he went to the orient
00:03:36
and then he was
00:03:38
there he began his journey and started
00:03:41
writing some of his major works
00:03:42
which are still around today in a
00:03:44
published format
00:03:46
and it was there that he spent basically
00:03:48
most of his life
00:03:50
because that was his vision to go from
00:03:51
the west to the east to search for light
00:03:53
and search for knowledge
00:03:55
just like how a mason would and
00:03:59
over time when he went to mecca to do
00:04:01
the hajj and pilgrimage
00:04:03
it was there he met a young girl who was
00:04:06
so beautiful and that basically reminded
00:04:10
him of sophia
00:04:11
which is wisdom and this was basically a
00:04:15
comparison between
00:04:17
dante and beatrice and ibn arabi
00:04:21
wrote a lot of poetry on love similar to
00:04:24
rumi
00:04:24
which is for the beloved god and also a
00:04:27
beloved if someone is your other half
00:04:29
depends on the interpretation of how you
00:04:31
see it
00:04:32
but this girl that he saw in mecca was
00:04:34
able to inspire
00:04:36
that fire in him and ibn arabi
00:04:40
at the same time was being elevated to
00:04:43
the rank
00:04:43
of of a saint of a sufi saint which at
00:04:46
the time was prohibited
00:04:48
in in that time era but as we see now
00:04:51
that that has become a reality
00:04:54
and after he was done with mecca ibn
00:04:56
arabi
00:04:57
went to egypt he met other teachers
00:05:01
and other followers such as suther
00:05:03
al-din al-kunavi
00:05:05
and then from there he went on to
00:05:08
baghdad and aleppo so he was in the
00:05:10
orient doing his studies
00:05:12
and trying to make his difference in the
00:05:14
world and he had gotten so famous
00:05:17
in the islamic world that it was that
00:05:20
time he started publishing writing
00:05:22
teaching others and ultimately
00:05:25
from what he was able to teach and leave
00:05:27
behind for future generations we can
00:05:29
still find today
00:05:31
where the character of ibn arabi is even
00:05:33
portrayed in archer girl
00:05:35
or resurrection orthograph which is a
00:05:38
show about the um
00:05:39
like the precursor of the ottoman empire
00:05:42
and it shows how his influence and his
00:05:44
education and how everyone had looked up
00:05:47
to him as an elder had spread all over
00:05:49
that orient
00:05:50
where they were coming to him for advice
00:05:52
and education
00:05:55
now that we took some time to learn a
00:05:57
little bit about him
00:05:58
we can understand now what his true
00:06:00
foundation was as a teacher
00:06:03
evan araby emphasized the unity of being
00:06:06
all beings are in reality manifestation
00:06:08
of god's attributes
00:06:10
if god alone really is the always
00:06:14
ultimately lead to him so ibn araby is
00:06:17
basically saying that
00:06:18
god is the only reality everything else
00:06:21
is an illusion
00:06:22
and all of our physical selves that have
00:06:25
manifested into this reality it's
00:06:27
basically
00:06:28
an extension of the divinity that's
00:06:30
trying to understand itself and trying
00:06:32
to find a way back
00:06:33
to itself and the attributes meaning you
00:06:36
have the 99 names of god
00:06:38
in islam and which you know the concept
00:06:41
that we have is
00:06:42
all those attributes represent a part of
00:06:44
the grand architect of the universe
00:06:47
you'll have the forgiver you'll have the
00:06:50
conqueror
00:06:52
you'll have the s supreme all-seeing
00:06:55
so all these attributes you have all
00:06:58
knowing
00:06:59
symbolizes this creator and how that all
00:07:02
these religious scriptures are also
00:07:04
telling us that god is within our heart
00:07:06
closer to us than our jugular vein
00:07:08
kingdom of heaven is within
00:07:10
so all these teachings are telling us
00:07:12
that it's you
00:07:13
you are the temple all the answers
00:07:15
you're looking for you're going here
00:07:17
you're going there
00:07:19
ultimately it's all you you come to that
00:07:22
realization yourself in your own heart
00:07:24
and in your own soul
00:07:26
and how even in the masonic brotherhood
00:07:28
that's emphasized
00:07:29
the unity of being that all religions
00:07:31
are teaching you the truth in their own
00:07:33
unique way it's the same story that's
00:07:36
being taught in their own way
00:07:38
hence why every sacred law is attributed
00:07:42
as a volume of sacred law because
00:07:44
each each path is taking you to the same
00:07:47
mountaintop
00:07:48
and to go to the mountaintop is where
00:07:50
you find the enlightenment
00:07:52
and god is the only reality and once we
00:07:54
come to that realization what ibn arabi
00:07:56
arabic teaching us
00:07:58
how can how can i have any hate in my
00:08:01
heart for anybody
00:08:02
i cannot because the same source that i
00:08:05
come from the other individual comes
00:08:07
from that same source too
00:08:08
and we're all ultimately we come in this
00:08:10
cycle
00:08:11
we're born in this life we go through
00:08:14
the
00:08:14
the motions of growing up and going
00:08:17
through society
00:08:18
and at the end we get buried and then we
00:08:20
get back to the source our energy gets
00:08:22
returned
00:08:23
back to the source from where we came we
00:08:25
get it lost in this life
00:08:26
of illusions being divided by race
00:08:29
religion
00:08:30
thinking who's right who's wrong who's
00:08:32
superior
00:08:34
we're all equal and we're all on the
00:08:35
level and we're all walking each other
00:08:37
home
00:08:38
and that's what ibn araby's emphasizing
00:08:41
is that we should continue to love one
00:08:42
another for we are all extensions
00:08:44
of that divinity experiencing this
00:08:46
reality together
00:08:48
and uh ultimately it's just um
00:08:52
uh i guess you could say it's a stage
00:08:54
but at the same time
00:08:55
we're here in a spiritual school so we
00:08:58
could get better
00:08:59
in the aspect of self-improvement
00:09:03
now i'd like to go into some of the
00:09:05
teachings of ibn arabi
00:09:07
mainly some of his quotes and offer my
00:09:09
own
00:09:10
esoteric interpretation of them from a
00:09:13
sufi and masonic point of view to try to
00:09:15
relate both paths together
00:09:17
first one being do not praise your own
00:09:20
faith exclusively
00:09:21
so that you disbelieve all the rest if
00:09:23
you do this
00:09:24
you will miss much good nay you will
00:09:27
miss the whole truth of the matter
00:09:29
god the omniscient and the omnipresent
00:09:32
cannot be confined to any one creed for
00:09:34
he stays in the quran
00:09:36
wheresoever ye turn there is the face of
00:09:38
allah
00:09:40
everybody praises what he knows his god
00:09:42
is his own creature
00:09:43
and in praising it he praises himself
00:09:46
which he would not do if you were just
00:09:49
for his dislike is based on ignorance
00:09:52
now this is very powerful what ibn arabi
00:09:54
is saying
00:09:55
if you read one of the quotes of manly
00:09:57
palmer hall
00:09:58
who is a great teacher in in the fields
00:10:01
of freemasonry and esotericism
00:10:04
manly p hall also says that the true
00:10:06
mason is not creed bound
00:10:08
for he finds light at every altar such
00:10:11
as christ buddha muhammad
00:10:13
peace be upon them all he finds a little
00:10:15
bit of light everywhere
00:10:17
and that's what the concept is teaching
00:10:20
us is that
00:10:21
the the love of the creator and the
00:10:23
grand architect can be found everywhere
00:10:26
those that get lost in the mentality
00:10:27
that if you don't believe what i believe
00:10:29
you're going to hell
00:10:30
or your god or my god they lose the plot
00:10:33
if you can go to a place where two
00:10:36
religions are have opposite tables
00:10:39
next to each other and everyone's trying
00:10:41
to recruit people to their cause and
00:10:43
give pamphlets out
00:10:44
and do all that good stuff you could go
00:10:47
to one table
00:10:48
they'll be teaching you the same exact
00:10:49
good moral teachings of how to be a good
00:10:51
person
00:10:52
how to get close to god all that good
00:10:54
stuff but then they will say
00:10:56
if you have to believe this exclusively
00:10:58
if you don't then you'll be condemned to
00:11:00
hell
00:11:01
you go to the next table they're
00:11:03
teaching the same exact thing and then
00:11:05
they're saying the same thing about the
00:11:06
opposite table
00:11:08
so we have this aspect where most are
00:11:12
i guess serving their ego they have this
00:11:14
aspect of
00:11:16
how many people can i went to my cause
00:11:18
or or you know my stuff is right yours
00:11:20
is wrong
00:11:21
but we realized that everything is won
00:11:24
everything comes from that one light why
00:11:26
doesn't nobody have a table that's
00:11:28
telling people that
00:11:29
you're all the same love and respect one
00:11:31
another and live in harmony
00:11:33
you have even religious texts tells you
00:11:36
that respect your neighbor
00:11:37
love thy neighbor in holy quran surah 2
00:11:41
verse 62 it tells you that it doesn't
00:11:44
matter if you're a jewish
00:11:46
jew muslim or christian as long as you
00:11:48
believe in god do right by yourself and
00:11:50
do right by others
00:11:51
you shall have no grief of any kind so
00:11:54
we need to get this
00:11:55
concept that we're all on the level
00:11:57
we're all brothers
00:11:59
we're all sisters and we're all walking
00:12:00
each other home in this
00:12:02
short life that we've been given and in
00:12:04
the short life if we
00:12:06
waste our time focusing on divisions we
00:12:09
forget the purpose that we were sent
00:12:10
here for
00:12:11
we were not sent here to just pay bills
00:12:13
pay taxes
00:12:15
and conform to the system and just fight
00:12:18
with one another and ultimately
00:12:20
go go into the next realm we came here
00:12:22
to help one another and touch
00:12:23
lives and touch hearts that's the goal
00:12:26
of the mason
00:12:27
that's the goal of the sufi is to be in
00:12:30
that aspect of self-improvement
00:12:32
and know that that oneness is found in
00:12:34
everything
00:12:36
and uh you know even in the concept of
00:12:38
sufism
00:12:39
we believe that before god created the
00:12:42
heavens and the earth
00:12:42
there was the light of noor muhammad
00:12:44
peace be upon him
00:12:46
and from that light all existence was
00:12:48
made so if all
00:12:49
existence came from that one light from
00:12:51
what my teaching is telling me
00:12:53
and how can i have any hate in my heart
00:12:55
for anybody
00:12:56
and in on what basis do i have the right
00:12:58
to condemn someone else
00:13:00
and that's what it is it's submitting to
00:13:03
the divine will
00:13:04
when you let go of the resistance and
00:13:06
you submit
00:13:08
then everything is given to you and i
00:13:10
noticed that in my own life experience
00:13:12
is that when you're in a state where you
00:13:15
desire nothing from this world and you
00:13:16
given your will to the divine
00:13:19
then everything is given to you times 10
00:13:22
and you shall have no lack in your life
00:13:24
of anything
00:13:26
all the good people all the aspects of
00:13:29
having a stable life having a roof over
00:13:31
your heads having good food good family
00:13:33
all that stuff is provided for you
00:13:35
because you're generating that inner
00:13:37
frequency from your inner temple
00:13:39
and attracting that reality around you
00:13:42
if you choose to be ungrateful and
00:13:43
miserable
00:13:44
then that frequency from your inner
00:13:46
temple will manifest out
00:13:48
into the outer world so there is that
00:13:50
aspect of creating your reality
00:13:52
and the concept of free will that god
00:13:53
has given all of us
00:13:55
so we need to take these words to our
00:13:57
heart especially in today's time
00:14:02
this one goes i am in love with none
00:14:04
other than myself
00:14:06
and my very separation is my union i am
00:14:09
my beloved and my lover
00:14:11
i am my knight and my maiden so
00:14:14
even araby's teaching you a very
00:14:17
powerful
00:14:18
uh esoteric teaching here and telling
00:14:21
you that
00:14:22
everyone in their life is looking for
00:14:24
separation of some kind
00:14:26
and they're they give their power
00:14:28
outside of their own self not
00:14:30
knowing that all the realizations and
00:14:32
knowledge
00:14:33
is all hidden away in your heart and in
00:14:35
your mind
00:14:37
there is a saying right where they say
00:14:38
that people only use six percent of
00:14:40
their dna and the rest is locked
00:14:43
so ibn arabi is saying that
00:14:46
anything that causes separation is
00:14:48
ungodly anything that separates you
00:14:50
from others from your own self no the
00:14:53
concept of knowing thyself and you know
00:14:55
thy lord
00:14:56
is it will put you on that aspect of
00:14:58
becoming better
00:15:00
and in order to love somebody else you
00:15:03
have to love yourself
00:15:04
in order to love your family you have to
00:15:06
love yourself in order to love god
00:15:07
you love yourself because why we're all
00:15:10
mirror reflections of each other
00:15:12
any person you meet in your life no
00:15:15
matter what phase your life is going
00:15:16
through
00:15:17
is always going to be a reflection of
00:15:19
your past present and future
00:15:21
because it's those same mirrors that are
00:15:23
coming back to you
00:15:24
and that's the concept why in all of the
00:15:27
holy scriptures god always
00:15:29
addresses itself as we it's not i it's
00:15:32
not my or me it's we
00:15:34
because it's all of us collectively
00:15:36
we're an extension
00:15:38
of that uh divinity that came here to
00:15:40
experience life together
00:15:43
and we're here to love one another and
00:15:45
find our way back to this reality
00:15:48
and that's why it's saying that you are
00:15:50
your own you have to hold stock on your
00:15:52
own
00:15:53
anything you do in your life such as how
00:15:55
masonry says that you only get out what
00:15:57
you put into it
00:15:59
and how in the holy quran it says that
00:16:01
man can only have in his life what he
00:16:03
strives for
00:16:04
so you got to put in the work it's you
00:16:06
that have to do it
00:16:08
you get up and go and take care of your
00:16:10
family you get up and do
00:16:11
everything and because you are are the
00:16:15
maker of your reality in a way if you
00:16:18
choose to just sit down and do nothing
00:16:20
nothing will come to you you have to put
00:16:21
in the work
00:16:23
and that's what ibn arabie's teaching
00:16:24
you on an esoteric level
00:16:26
and on the aspect of building your
00:16:28
character and self-improvement
00:16:30
that hold stock in yourself hold faith
00:16:32
in yourself know yourself
00:16:34
and that's why you'll know all the
00:16:36
reality around you for what it is
00:16:40
this one goes i follow the way of love
00:16:43
and where love's caravan takes his path
00:16:46
there is my religion my faith now this
00:16:49
is very touching to me on a personal
00:16:51
level
00:16:52
because i always saw humanity as one
00:16:54
united body
00:16:56
and i always saw love in my heart for
00:16:58
all humanity
00:16:59
when i came to the west at a young age i
00:17:02
saw the love for all human
00:17:04
beings i used to go to the bible classes
00:17:06
on the same day
00:17:07
then i used to go to the quran classes
00:17:09
on the same day
00:17:11
then i used to go to the sikh gurdwaras
00:17:13
closer to my home
00:17:14
where i would see them feed the people
00:17:16
for free twice a day every
00:17:18
day and since then even they're still
00:17:20
doing it now
00:17:22
and it just goes to show you that where
00:17:24
you find love
00:17:25
that's where you find god and where you
00:17:28
find hatred or perversion of any kind
00:17:31
that's where the element of darkness
00:17:33
exists and that's why
00:17:35
i tell people that anything that causes
00:17:37
disunity is ungodly
00:17:39
whether it's portrayed by any religious
00:17:42
leader
00:17:42
anyone interpreting the text for their
00:17:44
own benefit you gotta go
00:17:46
where there's only unity being professed
00:17:49
love is being professed and brotherhood
00:17:51
is being professed
00:17:52
that is the true path of the grand
00:17:54
architect and into your own heart into
00:17:56
your own physical temple of
00:17:57
self-improvement
00:17:59
and the aspect of finding light wherever
00:18:01
you can take a little bit good from
00:18:03
everyone apply that to your life where
00:18:04
they're all teaching you the truth
00:18:06
and that's what ibn arabi is saying that
00:18:09
anywhere where you find love that's
00:18:11
where you'll find the truth
00:18:12
anyone that shows you love without any
00:18:15
motive or any benefit of any kind
00:18:17
that's where you'll find true love true
00:18:19
friendship
00:18:20
and true brotherhood and true
00:18:22
companionship
00:18:24
and that's what you must strive to gain
00:18:26
in your life
00:18:27
to be surrounded by those that teach you
00:18:29
in their love
00:18:30
and you have love to offer them that is
00:18:33
the greatest wealth
00:18:34
that you can carry in your life most
00:18:37
people that are rich
00:18:38
they have all the assets of material
00:18:41
wealth of this uh
00:18:42
short earthly life that we're in in
00:18:45
reality some of them are very poor
00:18:46
because
00:18:48
they do not carry that love in their
00:18:49
heart for self and others
00:18:51
and what they came here to achieve
00:18:53
they're gonna leave it all here
00:18:55
and what makes you a wealthy person is
00:18:58
what good did you do for yourself and
00:18:59
others with the short time you were
00:19:01
given
00:19:02
and if your heart is full of love then
00:19:04
you will have access
00:19:06
to the reality after this
00:19:09
this is one of my favorite ones where
00:19:11
ibn arabi
00:19:13
tells us that he alone is the observer
00:19:16
he alone is the observed there is none
00:19:19
but he in the world of existence
00:19:22
same thing that we said the concept of
00:19:24
god and how we're all an extension of
00:19:26
that divinity that's basically playing
00:19:28
hide and seek with each other
00:19:30
trying to understand its own self and
00:19:32
how
00:19:33
it's it will it will be in a place where
00:19:35
man expects to find at least which will
00:19:38
be in your heart
00:19:39
and that's the reality is that god and
00:19:42
the grand architect
00:19:44
that is the only reality there's nothing
00:19:46
else that exists beyond that
00:19:48
all the heavens and the earth all the
00:19:50
trees humanity all living sentient
00:19:52
beings of mother earth including mother
00:19:54
earth herself
00:19:56
everything is an attribute of that
00:19:58
creator experiencing this reality
00:20:01
and how in some religious texts it also
00:20:03
tells you that first there was the word
00:20:06
and then the word became flesh so we
00:20:08
have that aspect of
00:20:11
these sufi teachings as well of knowing
00:20:13
thyself
00:20:14
and how god is in your heart and how we
00:20:17
waste our whole lives looking for
00:20:19
answers not knowing
00:20:21
that it was you the whole time you were
00:20:23
the one that held the key
00:20:25
to find the answers of your life you
00:20:26
just had to give up the resistance you
00:20:28
just have to surrender
00:20:30
which is one of the main cores of sufism
00:20:33
ultimately
00:20:34
islam is you have to submit to the
00:20:36
higher power
00:20:37
same goal of the mason submit to the
00:20:40
grand architect
00:20:41
the supreme grand master of the universe
00:20:43
and all
00:20:44
goodness and having faith in those
00:20:46
things and having faith in yourself will
00:20:48
open all the doors in your life
00:20:50
for then you realize what the true
00:20:52
reality is and what illusion is
00:20:55
and how this reality you're living in
00:20:57
where you like things upset you people
00:20:59
upset you
00:21:01
not knowing that it's basically
00:21:03
different phases
00:21:04
of those attributes of the creator
00:21:06
testing you so you can find your way
00:21:08
back home
00:21:10
and that is the ultimate reality where
00:21:12
some come to the realization of it
00:21:14
some do not some might have loads of
00:21:17
educations from the societal point of
00:21:19
view
00:21:20
they might get it some might not
00:21:24
so this is that aspect of
00:21:27
finding true light that you got to have
00:21:30
it in your heart to understand these
00:21:32
things
00:21:33
and know that we're all here in the
00:21:35
short life
00:21:36
trying to understand it's uh each other
00:21:39
our own selves and how we're all an
00:21:42
extension of that
00:21:43
creator trying to understand
00:21:46
this reality that we're in and that
00:21:48
ultimately
00:21:50
it is not the purpose of greed control
00:21:53
ego
00:21:53
but all but pure love and pure unity
00:21:56
that is the ultimate reality
00:22:00
this one goes the desires of this world
00:22:03
are like sea water
00:22:04
the more you drink of them the more you
00:22:06
thirst
00:22:08
and another aspect which touches on his
00:22:11
previous teachings that i have just
00:22:12
covered that
00:22:14
anything in this world is an illusion
00:22:17
you might have those that
00:22:18
go into these different entertainment
00:22:20
industries and they sell out for fame
00:22:22
and fortune
00:22:23
not knowing when you do that you lose
00:22:26
both
00:22:26
because when you die from this reality
00:22:28
you will lose all of the material wealth
00:22:30
which was for this realm
00:22:32
and then the next life you will be held
00:22:34
accountable for selling out
00:22:36
so that's really not a a bargain that's
00:22:38
worthwhile
00:22:39
where you have something that's
00:22:41
temporary and then in the next you lose
00:22:43
that access too
00:22:44
so that's what ibn arabi is saying is
00:22:46
that we have a society
00:22:49
that just wants more and more and more
00:22:51
and more than one instant gratification
00:22:54
not knowing that we're in this reality
00:22:56
to love one another
00:22:57
and not be stuck in this illusion and
00:22:59
move on to a higher realm if you
00:23:01
resonated with that
00:23:03
and you can drink as much as you want
00:23:06
there are people who make so much money
00:23:08
but for them it's still not enough they
00:23:09
want more
00:23:10
they want more they want more not
00:23:13
knowing
00:23:14
and i can ask many of them is that all
00:23:16
the money and assets you have
00:23:18
what guarantee can you give me that your
00:23:19
eyes are going to open up tomorrow
00:23:21
morning
00:23:22
and if you can't give me that then that
00:23:23
means you're still poor you still
00:23:25
haven't found the answers you're looking
00:23:27
for because you're you're
00:23:28
like a dog chasing its own tail it will
00:23:31
never be enough for you
00:23:32
and you will be stuck in a circle until
00:23:35
you realize what the ultimate truth is
00:23:38
that yeah you have the concept of
00:23:40
earthly money
00:23:42
you work hard to get what you have but
00:23:44
don't be in a concept where
00:23:46
you start selling out yourself your
00:23:48
family and others to get that temporary
00:23:50
fame and fortune
00:23:52
which ultimately any everything you do
00:23:54
in this life your thought action and
00:23:56
speech you will have a price to pay
00:23:57
in this life and the next so
00:24:00
know that what what those things stand
00:24:03
for
00:24:04
and that it will never be enough for you
00:24:06
if you want true peace
00:24:08
find that in your own heart you don't
00:24:10
need to impress the internet you don't
00:24:12
need to impress
00:24:13
anybody you just need to be at peace
00:24:15
with your own self
00:24:16
and then you will have the ultimate
00:24:18
wealth that you were looking for
00:24:20
and that is the reality ibn araby is
00:24:22
teaching us
00:24:25
this is what i touched on earlier as
00:24:26
well with this quote
00:24:28
when you know yourself your eyeness
00:24:30
vanishes
00:24:31
so the concept of knowing thyself and
00:24:33
knowing thy lord
00:24:35
and why almighty god is always
00:24:36
attributed as we
00:24:38
in the holy scriptures because that we
00:24:41
as you and i it's all of us that's all
00:24:44
the living sentient beings
00:24:46
it's the plants it's the trees it's all
00:24:48
of us
00:24:49
and we were in that concept of unity
00:24:52
what the masonic brotherhood teaches as
00:24:54
well
00:24:55
is that you be in unity with one another
00:24:57
being in love with one another
00:25:00
same thing a lot of these prophets and
00:25:02
saints and teachers and religions
00:25:04
everyone is teaching you to love each
00:25:05
other be in unity be one
00:25:07
united world community be at peace with
00:25:10
yourself be at peace with each other
00:25:12
you have the agents of chaos and what i
00:25:15
mean by the agents of chaos that those
00:25:16
who serve disunity and darkness
00:25:19
and they also exist in every race
00:25:21
religion country
00:25:22
and group you can imagine there's no bad
00:25:25
race or good race there's no bad
00:25:27
religion or good
00:25:28
religion it's a fight between light and
00:25:30
darkness
00:25:31
and you will find those elements
00:25:32
everywhere
00:25:34
you have to stand for the light and know
00:25:36
that anything that causes disunity is
00:25:39
ungodly
00:25:40
and that's what ibn arabi's teaching you
00:25:42
is that get rid of the i
00:25:44
it's all of us it's we just like how the
00:25:47
religious texts
00:25:48
when almighty god speaks it's always we
00:25:52
and we're all an extension of each other
00:25:55
and any person
00:25:56
you meet in your life like i have
00:25:57
addressed as a reflection of your past
00:26:00
present and future
00:26:01
we are mirrors of each other you grow up
00:26:04
your parents you come through your
00:26:06
parents with the will of god
00:26:08
you grow up you go through society you
00:26:11
go through the motions you go through
00:26:13
everything
00:26:14
ultimately you settle down you have a
00:26:16
wife or you have a husband
00:26:18
you have children and life goes on
00:26:22
then that cycle gets repeated then your
00:26:25
mirror goes into your children
00:26:27
they grow up then the same cycle happens
00:26:30
so ultimately it's just one mirror
00:26:32
reflecting to the other reflecting to
00:26:33
the other reflecting to the other
00:26:35
until we all find our way back home and
00:26:38
we must be
00:26:39
very of any agenda that tells us who to
00:26:42
hate who to fear
00:26:43
who to watch out for because those
00:26:45
people do not serve our highest good
00:26:48
and we need to eliminate that eyeness
00:26:50
and become we again
00:26:53
this one goes god sleeps in the rock
00:26:57
dreams and the plants stars in the
00:26:59
animal
00:27:00
and awakens in man and how
00:27:03
when someone passes away we say to god
00:27:06
we belong unto him we shall return
00:27:09
because that is the only reality how you
00:27:11
have a mineral
00:27:12
that goes to a plant plant goes to an
00:27:15
animal
00:27:15
animal goes to man man goes to angel and
00:27:18
angel goes
00:27:19
ultimately back to god that source of
00:27:22
pure love
00:27:23
and pure essence of energy which does
00:27:26
not have any form
00:27:27
does not have any gender and that is the
00:27:29
reality that the sufi is trying to get
00:27:31
back to in his aspect of connecting to
00:27:34
the divine
00:27:35
and in his aspect of self-improvement
00:27:38
which is the goal of the mason as well
00:27:40
to get close to the grand architect put
00:27:43
his faith in god to become better know
00:27:45
better think better do better
00:27:47
and that is the ultimate reality that
00:27:49
aspect of the creator
00:27:51
and just like how rumi said i always
00:27:54
come back in some way i will always
00:27:56
exist as some kind of a universal energy
00:27:59
we believe that this life is it but your
00:28:02
energy will continue to exist
00:28:05
even it's shown in the matrix movie at
00:28:07
the end of the third matrix movie where
00:28:09
neo
00:28:09
after his sacrifice supposedly dies but
00:28:12
you see that burst of
00:28:14
energy when the machines carry him away
00:28:17
and as you see in the matrix 4 that
00:28:19
there is some kind of a return
00:28:21
of that energy manifesting again so no
00:28:23
one truly dies
00:28:25
the immortality of the soul that all the
00:28:27
esoteric spiritual paths are teaching us
00:28:30
sufism masonry other interpretations
00:28:33
that are out there
00:28:35
we will always exist in some way shape
00:28:38
or form
00:28:39
and that is the ultimate reality and our
00:28:41
love
00:28:42
that you sometimes people feel neglected
00:28:46
they feel hopeless not knowing that they
00:28:49
still serve a greater purpose than they
00:28:51
realize
00:28:51
maybe it hasn't been revealed to them
00:28:53
maybe they don't know
00:28:55
but everything has a right time and
00:28:56
right place for it
00:28:58
and we must never lose our faith knowing
00:29:00
our ultimate purpose in the grand scheme
00:29:02
of things
00:29:04
the last one there was a time when i
00:29:07
blamed my companion if his religion did
00:29:09
not resemble mine
00:29:11
now however however my heart accepts
00:29:13
every form
00:29:14
love alone is my religion now the
00:29:17
masonic aspect and the beauty that i saw
00:29:19
here is that
00:29:20
before most people join that aspect of
00:29:23
unity whether in sufism freemasonry or
00:29:26
any esoteric path that they're following
00:29:28
majority of the time their gatherings
00:29:31
and friendships will be surrounded by
00:29:33
people who often reflect
00:29:34
their own race and religion and
00:29:38
this is what have been araby's teaching
00:29:41
us
00:29:42
is that anywhere you find love that's
00:29:44
where you find unity
00:29:46
where i is a muslim man can stand side
00:29:49
by side
00:29:50
behind beside a hindu christian jewish
00:29:53
man
00:29:54
anyone and i can call them my brother
00:29:56
and they can do the same for me
00:29:58
and if they don't they don't resemble my
00:30:01
religion then
00:30:02
ultimately it's all the same truth
00:30:04
anyway
00:30:05
and there's a sufi sheikh that i know
00:30:08
that tells me that whoever he meets and
00:30:10
they ask him what his religion is
00:30:12
he would always tell them the answer
00:30:14
that would make them feel better as a
00:30:16
mere reflection
00:30:17
so if he meets a hindu and the hindu
00:30:19
asks him what faith are you he would say
00:30:21
i'm a hindu
00:30:22
if he meets a christian who asks him who
00:30:24
are you and he would say i'm a christian
00:30:26
if he would meet a muslim or a jew what
00:30:30
faith you resemble he would give him
00:30:31
that same answer that i am you you are
00:30:33
me
00:30:34
for we are an extension of that creator
00:30:36
experiencing this reality together
00:30:38
and the concept of unity when one
00:30:40
becomes an initiate
00:30:42
or comes to that awareness of knowing
00:30:44
thyself
00:30:45
and that's that's what it is you have to
00:30:49
have that company
00:30:50
and that love and understanding that
00:30:51
love is the only reality
00:30:54
and uh yeah we're all here to walk each
00:30:56
other home
00:30:57
that is the ultimate truth
00:31:01
thank you for watching i hope you were
00:31:03
able to gain something
00:31:04
from the teachings of ibn arabi and my
00:31:07
own interpretation
00:31:09
of his teachings and what he was trying
00:31:10
to teach us as the human family
00:31:13
if you have any questions or comments
00:31:15
please ask me and email me at
00:31:18
salmanshake911
00:31:19
gmail.com please ask before reposting
00:31:23
all images and thumbnails used were
00:31:25
retrieved from public domain search
00:31:27
and are the rightful property of their
00:31:28
owners i claim no ownership
00:31:31
and i'm using in this video for the
00:31:32
purpose of nonprofit and education
00:31:34
which is applicable under copyright laws
00:31:37
of fair use
00:31:38
and all opinions and thoughts expressed
00:31:40
here are of my own
00:31:42
and do not represent anybody else thank
00:31:44
you
00:31:45
all rights reserved
