Virtue is the Master of creation, not its production. Virtue originates as a decision within the Self, and it is not dependent on outward circumstance or creation. Nor is it selectively applied (towards things we like or dislike). Virtue that is a dependent variable (on what the Other is doing or receiving or goving back) is not virtue at all—it is a self-serving transaction and wickedness. (I.e. I will do good to you only if you behave in ways pleasant or favorable to me, otherwise I will punish you or the rest of existence for feeling 'screwed'.)*
Self is the origin and the Master of Virtue: it decides whether or not to be virtuous. The resources for being virtuous are plenty inside a human being. The task is the recognition of that inner resourcefulness, that fulfillment. It is both a matter of gratitude, and beyond that, a Trust that neither grasps nor can be grasped. In other words, it does not even require counting one's blessing for one is already blessed by having existed at all. This existing is the marvel, and there is no word sufficient for grasping, explaining, and thanking that. How could the Self thank the Self enough or at all?
The Origin is a point of rest from which all creation has emerged.
Man forgets that he is the source of all creation that he senses, perceives and experiences. Therefore Allah 'reminds' him of his original truth and condition. This Remembrance cannot really be acted upon or altered—it can only be known, felt, experienced. This is a point of Assurance for Man. This is our Sustenance.
That Which neither sleeps nor blinks an eye supports us at the deepest level; and this is what allows our tiny bodies to rise upwards against the tremendous gravitational force of the Earth in the first place. Have we calculated the mathematical odds of this defiance?
Virtue is therefore not a transaction with creation. "I'll be good to you if you're good to me, and I will get after your life if I don't like you for some reason" is not ethic, virtue or morality—it is meanness, selfishness, wickedness.
Virtue is the decision of a Self that is free at the point of its origin, and by transacting virtuously with the creation, the Self buys its ticket for outward freedom in the manifest world.
The Tree of Virtue is already planted in the heart of Man, for the core of Man's heart is a Virtuous Self, and all we need to do is to let that Tree sprout, and nurture it with good/right deeds and remembrance.
And Allah knows best.
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* Of course that does not mean we do not need to take steps towards liberation. We need help, nourishing, encouragement, support, training, guidance and tough love in order to become more fuller humans.
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rn
Saturday, January 04, 2013
Karimabad, Hunza Valley
Karimabad, Hunza Valley
