This is the second part of my writing on “Garden of The Secret” If you haven’t read the introduction, please check out that first.
I have translated some of the poems and I will let you read them for yourself and then I will write some interpretations on them for you. I suggest you read these in a claim, unhurried, and attentive manner and contemplate the meaning as you go.
First Part of the Garden of The Secret – Preface
In the name of That which Thought the Soul to Think
And illuminated the lamp of heart with light of the soul
By his merit both worlds became luminous
By his grace Adam’s soil became a Garden
The Mighty One, who in a moment
Created from A and Z, Both worlds
Once M of his Might blew into the Quill
Thousands of patterns appeared from Nothing
From that breath were created both worlds
And from that breath manifested life in man
Manifested in man intelligence and discernment
Which enabled him to understand all things
Once Man saw himself as an individual
Questioned and thought “What am I?”
From individuality, traveled he to unity
And looked at the universe with a new perception
He saw that this universe of diversity
Is truly One that appears as many
Universe commanded and created from one breath
That Breath that came in, was the same that went out
In truth there is no place for coming and going
If you look, you’ll see that coming is nothing but going
Every thing returned to its origin
Every thing Manifest or Unmanifest became One
The Almighty Ancient one that with one blow (breath)
Can Start and End both worlds
Here, Universe was created as one
One became many and many became one
All the division that you see is out of your illusion
As a Dot may look like a circle when circulating high speed
In this Patch the realized Masters
Are protectors and guides
In this Patch the Realized Master
Have talked about their origin
When they realized their own greatness
They talked about knower and known
One drowned in the ocean of unity and said “I AM GOD”
Another talked about dimensions and details of the ship
One only acquired the superficial knowledge
So he talked about the beach and dry land
One got the shell
One passed through it and got the pearl
One talked about forms and names
Explained the Wine, Candle and Witness
One talked about his existence
One talked about rituals and idol worship
As opinions became so many
People became confused
If one is wondering about all these
Must understand what it means
—–
Let’s now talk about the meaning, instead of me writing a line to line interpretation, I will try to explain the whole thing.
Whether you are an atheist or theist or whatever, almost everyone agrees that something, some intelligence, has created this world and also created us, that intelligence created this universe, which is so vast and sophisticated, and limitless, that even if it was limited, and whole humanity spent millions of years researching it, we still can’t understand a minuscule of it!
The very same intelligence installed a unique intelligence in man, which enables him to analyze and understand things, to a certain limit of course.
Unlike animals, humans have been given a unique type of intelligence to understand things, especially when it comes to realizing themselves. This doesn’t mean that the Self (SELF, Soul, God, Buddha Nature etc.) can be realized by thinking about it, but it means that humans are the only species that have the dormant capability to realize their true nature.
What is your true nature? Let me tell you
Nope, I can’t tell you! Nobody can tell you, even if someone told you, it would become only a belief in your head! Beliefs won’t take you anywhere, direct perception does.
There is a difference between intellectualizing things and experiencing them. Direct perception is a product of experience, belief is not.
When we talk about Spirituality, we are really talking about experiencing “Spirit” What is Spirit? Something that is subtler than matter, something that can’t be seen by human eyes, because it’s not the object, it’s the subject, It’s you real You!
You can’t see yourself in the same way that you see and understand objects and people. In this context the great Sufi, Abu Saeid, has a nice poem:
I asked him why are we apart
He said there’s a reason I can say
I’m your eyes, no wonder you don’t see
I’m your soul, no one sees the soul
Only by direct perception of your true nature you can know it, this is not done by looking at something objectively, but by experiencing your true nature, by spiritual practices, and meditation. Probably not the type of meditation that someone who got a Yoga certificate is teaching at your Yoga class or on Youtube!
Anyways, that intelligence that created worlds, and gave man the ability to see things, better than other creatures, also is present in man’s heart, in the form of light, and once we connect to the light in the temple of the heart, the spiritual experience starts.
That intelligence is the light that makes eyes see, ears to hear, tongue to taste, and body to move. Without that light, nothing can be realized and experienced.
Since it’s limitless, then it is not limited to the laws of this universe, neither to time nor space. That’s why Shabestari says:
The Mighty One, who in a moment
Created from A and Z, Both worlds
Once M of his Might blew into the Quill
Thousands of patterns appeared from Nothing
The Creator’s light, or energy of creation, created the whole universe and man. Not only that but he gave man the ability to understand and discern things, discern good from bad, and to use discernment as a tool to go beyond limited human experience.
The ability of discernment is often mentioned in mysticism and especially in Yoga and Vedanta. It is known by the Sanskrit word “Viveka”, it is considered a necessary quality that needs to be developed if one wants to grasp the highest truth of existence. Viveka has a complex meaning but generally, it means differentiating untruth from truth, real from unreal.
What is untruth? Here this is not about verbal truth.
In all Spiritual traditions, (Such as Hinduism/Buddhism/Yoga/Vedanta/Daoism/Sufism, and the list goes on!) this mundane experience is considered transitory and impermanent. In Sanskrit, it is known as Maya or illusion. Just like when a rope in the dark may seem like a snake and may give you a heart attack! Lol! Viveka as a light to discern the snake from the rope!
Modern science also thinks that what we experience as the world, is not really what it is, but the data that is shown to us by our senses. For some animals, the world is black and white and some even don’t see, by eyes, but by other means. Our sense just translates the vibration and feeds us data In different ways, the world is just a play of energy! (for more Scientific information refer to Dr. David Eagleman’s studies on the brain)
Viveka basically means being Spiritual-Smart! It doesn’t mean that you must become a monk and don’t do anything mundane (which is basically impossible anyways!) but it means that you should prioritize spiritual goal to mundane things. Why is that?
because the worldly experience is transitory and impermanent, it won’t last, things and people are all temporary, and attachment to them brings suffering, and you can’t get anything out of it in the end!
Jesus explained Viveka in a symbolic way:
“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Viveka, in a way, means being so smart to know what the most worthwhile thing is and spend your energy on the highest goal. The ability to discriminate low-value things from that which has the highest value, is real power of discernment.
What has the highest value? Self-Realization and Freedom. The goal of all true spiritual teachings is to help mankind know his true nature and become free from suffering and the cycle of birth and death.