When your lower self is at the stage of Lawamma (Regretful Self) and it humiliates you,
this is the time when you must forbear humiliation from others as well as your lower self.
Why do you fear outward humiliation when the lower self within you is constantly criticising and humiliating you?
The actual reason for that is your inner humiliation is not as effective...
Humiliation: A Tool to Purify the Lower Self
In order to purify the lower self and change its obstinate nature,
and in order to remove all forms of filth, grime and dirt from the lower self, one has to adopt various practices.
One among which is the most prominent...
the one practice which holds most prominence is humiliation.
This is why as soon as divine energy enters the lower self, it progresses from the stage of Ammarah or Lawammah - and it stays Lawammah for a while.
Today, I'd like to tell you that there are two aspects to everything;
foundation and completion.
When your lower self is at the stage of Lawamma (Regretful Self) and it humiliates you,
this is the time when you must forbear humiliation from others as well as your lower self.
So that your progress is expedited.
Why do you fear outward humiliation when the lower self within you is constantly criticising and humiliating you?
The actual reason for that is your inner humiliation is not as effective...
For instance, when you realise that you've done something wrong - it's like you're the criminal, the judge and the justice all in one.
You make known your own verdict to yourself to acquit yourself.
For example, you think, 'gosh, I've stolen!' But then you also tell yourself, 'yeah, but so do others'.
So, although you are being humiliated from within, it is not having a real effect on you.
However, when someone else humiliates you, they will not be lenient.
You will even ask them back down some.
But when someone humiliates you or criticises you for something [wrong] that you have done, they will not go easy on you.
They will question you continuously.
Humiliation is imperative [for purification].
If you now understand and adopt this point then the process of the purification of your lower self will move rapidly.
This is terrible if you think about it, that suppose someone does something wrong
and when people point it out to them, they don't like the criticism.
You did the wrong thing...now accept the consequences
and listen [to the criticism].
But we do not like it.
Now, ask your lower self this: why can't you forbear the criticism that comes your way due to your own bad deeds?
The reason why it cannot stand it is that [it knows] the humiliation would purify it.
This is why the lower self doesn't accept it.
How many of you here have the courage to admit your mistake completely?
'Yes, I did it'.
And do not apologise.
Because this is what the lower self does, as soon as your mistake is made public, it immediately apologises so that no one says anything to you,
no one humiliates you.
It immediately asks for forgiveness so nothing more can be said.
The reason why it asks for forgiveness immediately is so that no one can humiliate you
lest this humiliation brings purity to the lower self.
It does not want humiliation, so it seeks forgiveness.
And that [asking for] forgiveness is nothing more than lip-service, like a political statement.
It does not mean that you're actually feeling remorse
or you regret it.
That is not the case.
The lower self has taught us how to be devious and deceitful
because your lower self is more cunning than a fox.
So what you need to start doing in your day-to-day lives is if you do something wrong, do not stop people from criticising you for it.
You should rather tell yourself, 'I do deserve [the criticism]. I did do this wrong thing'.
Because this shall bring purity to your lower self.
However, if you puff your chest with arrogance...
There are some shameless people who say, 'yes, I did it. What are you going to do about it?'
Now, this...you think doing this proves your bravery.
But this is not bravery. This is immodesty and shamelessness.
A Sufi must not
Moreover, if someone accuses you of something you have not done, they humiliate you for no reason, you're gaining double benefits.
Because they are being unreasonably cruel to you.
And although it is cruel, it rapidly purifies the lower self.
You see, there are some people who are born genderless.
It is not their fault if they are naturally born like that and there are many such people
who are not masculine despite being born male
due to which they appear to be feminine
and they are not pretending.
This is how they are naturally and many people are born like this.
We call them Khwaja Sara in Urdu, commonly known as transgenders.
Unfortunately, they are given a very hard time in our societies, in Pakistan especially. They are treated with such hostility.
For such people, HDE Gohar Shahi says, 'Because these people are victims of hatred and blameworthiness,
the idol of their ego is shattered and the mischievous nature of the lower self diminishes'.
This is why the sages said that such people are half-saints.
How so? Because their lower self has become purified through humiliation but they have not obtained Activation of the Heart, hence they are only half-saints.
They are treated terribly, aren't they?
But the advantage gained from this humiliation is softness in the lower self, its mischief diminishes.
and when such a person comes to a Sufi Master, the barest glance of spiritual concentration is enough to purify the lower self completely.
So in your lives, all of you - those who obtain zikr and those who grant it alike -
you must be very careful with your words because you are representing His Divine Eminence Gohar Shahi's mission.
Be mindful of what you say, be mindful of what you see and be very calculated with your words.
What is the reason?
The reason for this is that your character shall partially reflect in the one to whom you have granted zikr.
If you are a very angry and disturbed person, someone who picks a fight for no reason.
This will worsen the state of your lower self.
Every prophet and saint sought refuge from the mischief of the lower self
the lower self is so cunning and clever, it uses tricks to misguide you and you are none the wiser.
This is why God said, 'Qad aflaha man tazzaka'
'Successful is one who purifies the self' - so that's a big deal, isn't it?
Now, God has mentioned two types of success.
Success while living in this world is to purify the lower self
and success in the hereafter is dependent on Activation of the Heart.
'Qad aflaha man tazzaka... (successful is one...)'
Successful in what?
In religion.
If your lower self is impure then no form of performance of worship has any effect on you.
If you stand in salah and your heart is full of thoughts about your wife, children, parents and business... what is the use of such salah?
Bulleh Shah said, 'your heart is engulfed with thoughts of your wife and children, and your head is bowing in prostration'.
Your heart is engrossed with your family while your head is in prostration.
Then he said, 'How can you deceive God?'
You swindled God? How can you deceive him?
How can you think of your family in the presence of the Lord?
Success in religion is the purgation and purification of the lower self.
I can provide you with examples of its efficacy.
If someone incites you and picks a fight with you for no reason whatsoever,
and you are a Sufi, you practise the teachings of Sufism, so you will quietly listen to him to avoid any escalation.
But if you are not a Sufi, or you consider yourself a Sufi but you do not practically follow the teachings,
then if someone says just one thing to you, you would retaliate with worse.
This is why we do not make progress in spirituality.
A few years ago, I said to Anwar Bhai, 'You must go through the process of humiliation',
and the following day, I said something about him that caused people to shower him with insults.
When he was utterly fed up with being insulted all day, he approached me and said, 'Sayyidi, please tell them this is for the nafs and I haven't done anything wrong'.
I said, 'if I tell them you're innocent then there's no point'.
Then you will not be insulted, right?
This is what constitutes bravery.
Brave is one who has the ability to absorb any humiliation directed towards him.
Being insulted and humiliated day and night brings forbearance and control in the lower self.
And tell your lower self, 'this is what you deserve' - this will rapidly purify the lower self.
You must adopt this one thing in your characters...
if someone speaks badly of you and you are patient, it will help you progress rapidly in spirituality.
On contrary to this, if someone humiliates you and you enter into a contest with them...
Both them and you are just throwing insults at each other.
As if you could break the bones of the one humiliating you so that he never can again.
And stop defending yourself.
Specifically, when you have actually made a mistake then why are you defending yourself?
For example, this bottle is placed here
and as I'm speaking, I knock it over.
And Nofil says, 'Sir, you knocked over the bottle'.
And I say, 'What? No, it wasn't me'. Even though he saw me doing it.
He will say, 'Yeah, I saw your arm hitting the bottle'.
And I say, 'No. How is that even possible?'
'I didn't drop it. I don't know how it fell down'.
It's just a small thing, isn't it?
Why lie about it?
Because it is in human nature.
Your lower self will not even allow you to comprehend what has happened.
The lower self speaks in its defence abruptly.
The lower self comes to a defensive position instantly.
'No, I didn't do it'. But we have the video proof and after it is shown, they say, 'You see, I told you I didn't do it'.
'But your hand...' 'Yeah, so it was my arm, so what? I didn't do it'.
This habit you have adopted of defending yourself in every conversation...
This is an awful habit.
You are not required to start doing so intensely in the beginning
just enough that if someone were to say 'look, you dropped this bottle',
And you do not require tons of expertise to be able to react.
You just have to say, 'Yeah, man, it fell down'.
Just accept it.
'Yes, it fell down'.
What is the point of lying?
It's not a big deal, is it?