How to Become a Devout Believer and Saint
There are two methods in spirituality.
One is the method through which you become a Devout Believer and the other is the method of becoming a saint.
It does not take long to become a Devout Believer.
There is an entity, the Spiritual Heart. It has to be revived.
Sultan Haq Bahu said, 'Those who have the spiritual alchemy in their eyes can glance at a stone and turn it to gold.'
'It is up to God [who he grants it to]. It does not matter if they are a Syed or a Jatt.'
The spiritual concentration of Sufis and saints revive the Spiritual Heart.
Then they, with God's permission, insert the Personal Name of God in the Spiritual Heart.
Once the heart begins to invoke upon God,
and your Spiritual Heart has become enlightened,
then that's it - now faith has entered your heart. Now you can perform Salat and fast for you are a Devout Believer.
Right?
This is the stage of being a Devout Believer. You don't need to go through any spiritual austerity for it.
You have to go through spiritual authority and discipline in order to become a saint.
There is a time frame for this.
Just as there is no specific time limit for a woman to get pregnant - she can get pregnant any time.
But she needs 9 months to produce the child itself.
No?
In a similar way, to become an Enlightened Heart once the Spiritual Heart is revived -
- for this, there is no time limit or need to go through spiritual austerities and discipline.
As soon as the Spiritual Heart is awakened with the spiritual concentration of the Perfect Spiritual Guide,
and God's name is resounding in the heart, then you have become a Devout Believer.
But there is an entire regime that you must go through to become a saint.
You have to fully train the Spiritual Heart.
Because there are three angels enclosed within the Spiritual Heart:
Qalb-e-Saleem (The Secured Heart), Qalb-e-Muneeb (The Heart Turned to God) and Qalb-e-Shaheed (The Witnessing Heart).
Those are the three angels enclosed in the Spiritual Heart.
It takes 12 years to awaken all three.
One after the other.
And along with that, there is the Lower Self.
There are four entities enclosed within the Lower Self.
Nafs-e-Ammarah (Commanding Self), Nafs-e-Lawammah (Blameworthy Self), Nafs-e-Ilhama (Inspired Self) and Nafs-e-Mutmaina (Contented Self).
These are the four entities.
It takes 12 years for the Lower Self.
And it takes 12 years for the Spiritual Heart too.
Do you understand?
So you have to go through spiritual austerity of 12 years for both.
These are the most important [subtleties in the body].
After that when all the subtleties are revived and engaged [in invocation],
and the Spiritual Heart has been completely awakened
and the Lower Self has been purified,
then [you] are near the culmination of the knowledge of Tariqat.
After that [you are taught] the knowledge of Haqiqat through which you can potentially witness the divine splendour.
It takes one year to be trained in this knowledge.
So [you learn Haqiqat] in order to reach the individuality of God.
You enlighten the soul in the forehead [the Ana]
and take it to the Station of Mehmood.
When the Ana performs a spiritual journey to the Station of Mehmood, it will witness the divine splendour.
The moment you see God, you will become a saint.
One does not become a saint before witnessing the divine splendour.
A saint is one who has seen God.
When you see God, the image of God will come onto your heart.
Then God says, 'Now go down [on Earth]. Whoever sees you will have seen me.'
So there is a time frame to become a saint - [2] periods of 12 years spent in isolation for spiritual austerity and discipline.
It does not take 35 years to do it.
These are the 2 main spiritual disciplines [that you have to go through].
One would have to go to a jungle [in order to purify the Lower Self and fully train the Spiritual Heart].
For 12 years each.
After that,
once they saw God, they would become a saint.
Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani had completed his spiritual training and had witnessed the divine splendour -
- and yet he didn't feel like leaving the jungle.
Therefore, he spent 40 years in the jungle.
40 years!
He didn't want to leave.
But this doesn't mean that you have to stay in the jungle for 40 years in order to become a saint.
He stayed extra because he wanted to.
Similarly, Baba Farid stayed in the jungle for 36 years.
How many years? 36.
He stayed for 36 years but it is not necessary to stay that long.
The period of spiritual discipline is 12 years.
Within those 12 years of spiritual discipline, one becomes a saint.
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