What Happens to the Lower Self After the Opening of the Spiritual Heart?
Ali Raza Zafar asks,
'Since divine energy started to be produced in my heart as a result of invocation of God's Personal Name -'
'- and I began to refrain from sins -'
'- it seems as if my Lower Self is no longer the Commanding Self.'
'I think it has died due to the abundance of invocation of God's name.'
'But then if I start to sin, will the Commanding Self be strengthened again?'
No, there are different stages of the Lower Self.
If you mean to say that committing another sin indicates that you have the Commanding Self, this is wrong.
The Commanding Self compels you to do bad.
It commands you to do it.
However, when you obtain the Opening of the Spiritual Heart with the Personal Name of God,
then the Lower Self progresses from the Commanding Self to the Blameworthy Self.
Then what changes is that your Lower Self will make you feel blameworthy after you commit a sin.
You will feel regret.
You will have regretful feelings.
You will still sin though.
Once you start to feel regret after sinning, your Lower Self is no longer the Commanding Self; it is now the Blameworthy Self.
Do you understand?
But the desire to sin will not be as strong.
The desire to sin will be weaker.
And if you feel regret having sinned,
then that regret and blameworthiness are evidence that
your Lower Self is now the Blameworthy Self, not the Commanding Self.
Because the Commanding Self is recognised by the fact that it becomes happy having committed a sin.
If, rather than being happy, you feel bad having sinned, this is proof that your Lower Self is the Blameworthy Self.
Is there anybody here who becomes happy and content having sinned or having done something wrong?
No?
Then be thankful that you don't have the Commanding Self.
If you don't have the Commanding Self, then you are already halfway to salvation.
Yes.
If you don't have the Commanding Self, then that is half of your salvation!
Then, as the state of the heart changes,
and divine energy is constantly produced within the heart,
correspondingly, the Lower Self's states also change with it.
And it is just like that saying, 'The more sugar you put [in the dish], the sweeter it will be.'
Now, if you just have the invocation of God's name in the heart - but no other worship,
and no other good deeds,
then you will make very slow progress.
Once your heart is awakened and divine energy enters the heart,
now you have to nurture it.
You have to perform Salat and recite the Koran.
You have to send benedictions upon Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
And you have to do all the other good deeds [that are required of you].
When the heart receives the divine energy generated from these various good deeds, it will be further strengthened.
And if just your heart is revived but you don't perform Salat or give Zakat (charity),
and you don't practise any other Pillar of Islam,
then the speed of your spiritual progress will be as slow as a turtle's crawl.
The people who strictly follow the other requirements of Islam are the ones who obtain success on this path quickly.
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