The first knowledge is Shariah.
The second knowledge is Tariqah.
What do you attain from the first knowledge?
Let's find out.
The purpose of the first knowledge...
What is the Third Knowledge?
Q: Imam Mehdi (a) declared, 'If you seek paradise and damsels, worship extensively so that you may earn a place in the most elevated paradise'.
My question is that entry into paradise is dependent upon enlightenment of the spiritual faculties. How can one enter paradise without this?
Yes, what [Sarkar] said was about the worship of the souls.
You must engage your souls in worship.
When your souls are engaged in zikr, you can teach your souls how to perform salah, too.
Your sub-spirits can also perform salah.
There are many heavens, not just one.
The divine wisdom behind the statement is that if you seek paradise, then you must engage your souls in worship
so that you can enter the most elevated paradise.
And if you seek the Lord, you must prepare yourself for witnessing the divine splendour.
After the witnessing of the divine splendour begins the third knowledge.
The first knowledge is Shariah (Law)
The second knowledge is Tariqah (Spirituality)
What do you attain from the first knowledge?
You must know this.
The purpose of the first knowledge is to cleanse your outer
and the culmination of the first knowledge is purification of the lower self.
The second knowledge is Tariqah.
With the first knowledge, you are to purify your body and your lower self.
The second knowledge is Tariqah.
Tariqah commences with Zikr e Qalb.
And what is the culmination? Witnessing the divine splendour.
However, the knowledge of Tariqah concludes when you reach God.
Now you have seen God.
Seeing God has to do with Haqiqah (Truth).
So the third knowledge begins automatically.
Now that you have entered the third knowledge, tell me what are you supposed to do?
Simply look at God.
Neither shariah nor tariqah matters now.
They were stepping stones; tariqah comes from 'tareeq' which means 'path'.
Once you have reached the destination, why would you need to get back on the path?
Let's say you need to go to India. You hop on a plane and reach India. End of story.
You won't say, 'I haven't sat in a plane in 6 months, let's go sit on a plane', because that was part of the journey.
You travelled on the plane. Similarly, tariqah is just a journey.
When you reach God, then you simply look at God.
Then, when one reaches God,
one enters the third knowledge.
What is the third knowledge? Witnessing and exhibition.
He looks at you and you look at him.
It was for such people that Abdul Qadir Jilani (rh) said, 'Those who intend to worship after divine union have committed kufr'.
Now, regarding the third knowledge, there were many individuals in ASI in Pakistan - the 'Lovers' Group' -
God knows what they thought 'third knowledge' meant
because they know absolutely nothing, the poor sods.
What is the third knowledge?
In the third knowledge, all you are required to do is see, and nothing else.
You are required to recite benedictions upon hearing or seeing Prophet Muhammad's name, right?
So reciting benedictions upon hearing the Prophet's name is the first knowledge.
Now, what should one who has third knowledge do when he sees the Prophet's name?
He will close his eyes and see the Prophet (s), he won't be reciting benedictions.
This is the third knowledge.
What do the people of the first and second knowledge do when they hear the adhan?
They will offer salah in accordance with their ranks.
And what will one who has third knowledge do when he hears the adhan?
He will close his eyes and reach God.
Because his knowledge consists of seeing, he has already done everything he was meant to do.
He has already accomplished all the physical and spiritual acts he was required to perform
but now he is in the third knowledge.
The third knowledge states: you look at me and I look at you.
When you hear the Prophet's name, you reach the Prophet's feet.
Bulleh Shah said, 'The worshippers remember God five times a day, while a lover remembers God nonstop.
The worshippers go to the mosque while the lover goes to the beloved's feet'.
He also said something regarding the third knowledge.
'When I learned the Salah of Ishq, I forgot about mosques and temples'.
This is for those who attain the third knowledge. You are not being told to forget your worship places.
Those who have the third knowledge are being addressed because once you reach that stage whereby you see God by simply closing your eyes,
then of course you would forget about worship places, wouldn't you?
You won't have the go to any temple or mosque to see God.
You need to reach God, right?
Whether you're a Muslim or Sikh, your aim is to see God.
You will not go to any gurudwaras, temples, mosques or churches.
You won't need to go anywhere except where the Lord is.
This is the third knowledge.
It is not attained by human efforts.
It is only bestowed by the spiritual attention of the spiritual master.