Sufis say that the source of all wisdom is God and that when mystical unveiling dissolves our mistaken identity, we will find that our own consciousness and being are in fact God’s Consciousness and Being. Wisdom flows from that unity. Rumi tells us,
…when you look for God
God is in the look of your eyes,
in the thought of looking, nearer to you than your self…
Be melting snow.
Wash yourself of yourself.
A white flower grows in the quietness.
Let your tongue become that flower. (repeat)
In other words, when we wash away that over-layer of self, we may discover Divinity blossoming like flower in the inner stillness. Can we give voice to Its wisdom?
I am going to ask you a question. The same question over and over. Your job is just to write down whatever thought or answer comes to you each time. Trust yourself. No censoring, no judging, no interpreting. No right or wrong. “Let your tongue become that flower.”
Here’s the question. It’s part of a riddle posed by the Sufi mystic Lalla. He asked, “What do we most deeply want?”
And so I ask you, “What do you most deeply want?” Let a response come to you spontaneously. Write it down or note it inside. Ibn al-‘Arabi says, “Unveiling takes place when God illuminates the heart…” Let it come from your heart. Be brief and succinct. You won’t be sharing this so be completely honest. “What do you most deeply want?” (repeat every 15 minutes at least four times) Let a new response come each time. Again…
Good. Now take a moment and review your heart longings, notice which were the deepest, and how you feel in this moment. What was revealed to you? Cherish these revelations. This is the wisdom of your heart. This is God speaking through your life and nature. May this deep knowing light your way into the future.
And by the way, Lalla’s answer to his own riddle was quintessentially Sufi. He said, “What do we most deeply want?…What we most deeply want is to be God in human form.”
John’s newest book shows us how we hold the power to change the world, right where we are.
