4 Rungs of Love and 4 Gates of Sufism

There is a Turkish Sufi poet I like. His name is Yunus Emre. In one of his famous poem he says:

“Science is knowing science,
science is knowing yourself,
if you are not knowing yourself
what kind of reading is this?”

I don’t think what the Mayas and the Mayan calendar tells us is something very different. We shall know ourselves and which state our evolution is. This is especially important when we realize that the difficult days we are in are getting more difficult. At my previous post, I wrote about how the spiritual evolution can turn into an illusion. This time I want to share with you some clear-cut road maps given by some of the significant spiritual guides of humanity. The former is from The Mother, the spiritual consort of Sri Aurobindo who is famous for his philosophy and visions about the evolution of humanity. Latter is from Rumi…

By looking at these maps we can clearly see where we are in our evolution. How about you? Where are you?

The Rungs of Love:

At first one loves only when one is loved. Next, one loves spontaneously, but one wants to be loved in return. Then one loves even if one is not loved, but one still wants one's love to be accepted. And finally one loves purely and simply, without any other need or joy than that of loving.

- The Mother

4 Gates of Tasavvuf (Sufi Mysticism):

1- Gate of Sharia
2- Gate of Tariqa
3- Gate of Marifa
4- Gate of Haqqiqa

The Sheikhs of the path have said that there are four gates that one must pass through on the journey to Allah. They are Sharia, The law; these are the rules of the contract between Allah and mankind. Tariqa, the path; this is the way that one approaches Allah more closely. Marifa, direct knowledge; when Allah brings His Servant closer. And Haqqiqa, the experience of The Divine Reality.

One of Rumi’s disciples asks him;
"Master, I don’t understand this matter of 4 gates very well. Could you explain it to me in the language that I can understand?"
Rumi says "Go to that seminary over there and you will see four students all curved into their lecterns. Go and slap four of their napes and come back, I will tell you then.”
****
Rumi’s disciple goes into the seminary and slaps the first student’s nape.

The student stands up immediately and knocks down Rumi’s disciple with an even stronger slap. Although disciple loses his courage to continue he trusts his master and continues with slapping the second student. And he immediately stands up and raises his hand as well. Just about to hit back he backs out and sits down to his place.

Rumi’s disciple continues with slapping the third student.

The third one gazes at him shortly and continues to study.

The fourth one doesn’t even get disturbed by the slapping and continues to study.

When his disciples come back and tells Rumi what was happened, he smiles and says;

"Here are the examples you asked for...

— The first one was someone who was not able to pass the gate of Sharia. Because the rule in Sharia is “eye for an eye”, when you slapped him he stood up and returned it to you.

— The second one is in the gate of Tariqa. When you slapped him he stood up and when he was just about to hit, he remembered the promise that he has given in the teachings of Tariqa: "do a favor even to someone that does harm to you ". Therefore he stopped and sat down.

— The third one has passed the gate of Marifa. He knows and believes that the good and evil comes from only one Creator. Bu he thought “which devil is made an instrument to this misdoing by the Creator”, and he could not stop his curiosity and just looked at you.

— The fourth one has passed even the gate of Haqqiqa. He knows by heart that the goodness and badness has only one master and they are the same.
So he was not even bothered to turn his head and look at you...

Mevlana Celaladdin Rumi