Who Am I?
By
Jamal Rahman, New Age Islam
4 June 2021
The
Human Has A Divine Spark—Call It Christ Nature Or Buddha Nature, Or Essence Of
Elohim Or Breath Of Allah
Main
Points:
1. If
we identify or define ourselves only by our outer reality we miss out on our
inner reality.
2. May
we awaken to our true Divine nature.
----
Mulla
Nasruddin, well known in many Muslim cultures, is a fictional character, a sage
and village simpleton rolled into one! Through his humorous stories, many
valuable truths are made known. I love this story about the Mulla in which he
travels as far as China for a business deal. He enters the bank, and after some
discussion, the banker asks him, “Sir, could you please prove your identity to
confirm who you say you are?”
So, what
does the Mulla do? He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a pocket mirror. He
peers into the mirror for a long time. And finally, he says, “Yeah! That’s me
alright! I confirm it!”
The story
has many levels of meaning. One level of meaning is: “Who am I really? Do I
know who I really am?”
The Quran
says that God moulded the human being from water and clay and then infused that
water and clay with Divine breath. And then, amazingly, God asked the angels to
bow to the human. Yes, the human has water and clay personality but also has
that Divine spark—call it Christ nature or Buddha nature, or essence of Elohim
or breath of Allah. But then why is it that we do not recognize the real ‘me’?
Sufi sages explain that this is because we
identify or define ourselves only by our outer reality. We miss out on our
inner reality. So, for instance, we define ourselves by our name, our family,
our religion, our ethnicity, our profession, the colour of our skin, our age,
our geographical location, our bank account, the car we drive, and so on. But
we completely miss out on our inner reality: our capacity to love and be
compassionate, to forgive and restrain our anger, to grow in awareness and be
mindful.
The great
sages ask, “Does someone who inherits wealth understand the value of wealth?”
Our soul, our Divine spark, was given to us at no cost. But sadly, we don’t
value this precious gift; we take it for granted.
But the
great sages say, “It’s alright. Don’t get overly anxious. Be gentle with
yourself. This is why you are here: ‘Foredoomed to forget so you might
remember. Foredoomed to slumber so you might awaken.’”
So, my
prayer for you and myself is that in the course of this lifetime, may
we—slowly, little by little, and with compassion for ourselves—awaken to our
true Divine nature.
----
Based in
the USA, Jamal Rahman is a popular speaker and author on Islam, Sufi
spirituality, and interfaith relations.
Along with his Interfaith Amigos, he has been featured in The New York
Times, CBS News, BBC, and various NPR programs.
Jamal is co-founder and Muslim Sufi Imam at Interfaith Community
Sanctuary and adjunct faculty at Seattle University. He travels nationally and internationally,
presenting at retreats and workshops.
Jamal’s passion lies in interfaith community building and activism.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/god-angel-human-divine-christ-buddha/d/124933