Becoming a Seeker
By Jamal Rahman, New Age Islam
24 May 2021
We Need to Ask Deeper Questions About
Life
Main Points:
1. What inspires us to ask deeper questions
about life and motivates us to seek the truth?
2. What prevents many of us from asking those
questions?
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A good question to ask ourselves is the
following: “On the timeline of the journey of my life, have there been certain
events or circumstances that really made me turn in a different direction and
made me a seeker?” Such an event could be a meeting with an enigmatic, wise
person, like when Jalaluddin Rumi met his teacher, Shams, a meeting that
completely changed his life. The event could also be questions about life—for
example, the questions about suffering that Siddharth Gautama asked and that
finally led him to becoming a Buddha. In the case of the Prophet Muhammad, the
event was the extraordinary experience of meeting Angel Gabriel.
It is good to reflect on what event or
events in our life might have been the occasion for us to make a major shift.
What inspires us to ask deeper questions
about life and motivates us to seek the truth? And what prevents us from asking
those questions?
Rumi says that because we human beings are
unmindful, there are two veils that come in the way of us becoming a seeker—the
veil of health, and the veil of wealth. When our health is good and when there
is wealth—not just money but also emotional security—all this talk about
becoming spiritual, transforming the ego and opening up the heart feels not
only irrelevant but also very, very inconvenient. But, inevitably, ill health,
loss of security, or reversal of circumstances will sooner or later appear, and
then, suddenly, we will be confronted with deeper questions about life. This
may prompt us to seek deeper answers.
This realization is reflected the words of
the 14th century Persian poet Hafiz, who says, “Something missing in my heart
tonight has made my eye so soft, my voice so tender, my need for God absolutely
clear.”
At times like this, when we are faced with
great challenges, we ask deeper questions. “What is going on?” we want to know.
“Why me?” we ask. The key point here is, “I need help, I really, really need
help, but from a being higher than human personality, from something greater
than any human institution.” And that is when we turn in the direction of God.
The Quran (6:162-63) beautifully expresses
the spirit of surrender to God thus:
Say, "My
prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death are all for God, the Lord of
the worlds; (162) He has no partner. So am I
commanded, and I am the first of those who submit."
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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/seeker-truth-rumi/d/124873