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On Sufi Practices

Vladimir Antonov,
Ph.D. (in biology)

Translated from Russian

by Vladimir Antonov.

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One of the highest levels of development of an embodied person is to be successful — before the death of the body — in becoming the same as our Divine Teachers — Holy Spirits.

But for this, we must first cognize Them — not only to hear Them but to see by the vision of the developed consciousness, communicate with Them as freely and clearly as with incarnate people, to embrace, merge with Them.

What is needed to do this?

In addition to the steps necessary for intellectual understanding of the spiritual Path and for ethical transformation of oneself, the following must be done:

First — to refine oneself (as a soul, consciousness) up to the level of Their Divine Subtlety.

Second — on the background of achieved refinement — to become as big Consciousnesses as They are. (Let’s understand that the size of individual consciousness is proportional to its strength, capacity for functioning).

... On the methods of refinement of consciousness, much was already spoken in our books and films. I stress now only that it can hardly be realized without meditation of attunement with the harmony of nature — the clarity and transparency of the calm of early mornings, when the air is filled with tender light of the rising sun, with the voices of morning birds, with loving embraces — on this background — with friends-companions on this Path.

Stabilization of oneself in these paradise conditions is the necessary step to the fullness of the real cognition of the Holy Spirits.

These conditions, however, should not become a "trap" to discontinue the development. Always, no matter how blissful these conditions are, it is necessary to remember the main Aim of the actions: this is the Mergence with God on the background of love for Him.

... I think very skeptically about such popular methods as spending time stamping one's feet in a circle with exclamations such as "Allah! Allah!", also — the "Sufi whirling" without the previous development of the spiritual heart. The most that can result from such methods is a temporary deactivating of head chakra ajna — to stop the exhausting, endless stream of thoughts about the events in the world of matter. But the exercise ends — and everything returns to its previous state: a stable effect of such methods cannot be achieved, the advancement towards Perfection does not happen at all!

But the Perfection is achievable exclusively by the work on the "opening" of the spiritual heart, increasing it outside of the body, and then to transform oneself into it (with the inclusion of all the best that has been accumulated in other parts of the consciousness: I mean the capacity for the developed thinking, memory, power of a consciousness, etc.; see [13,17]).

This is — together with the ethical transformation of oneself and constant aspiration to the Aim of these efforts — the Straight Path, which was proclaimed by God and mentioned, in particular, in the Quran and the New Testament (2 Peter 2:15).

When developed in such a way the consciousness becomes so large that it can involve the whole Earth — it becomes possible to ascend to the level of existence proposed by Hermes Trismegistus [12]. I mean His recommendation to cognize the Divine Light-Fire that exists in the distant heights above the part of the Earth's surface where my body is, and also the same on the other side of the planet.

Then we fill with oneself the space between these two parts of oneself-consciousness — in the eon of the Divine Light-Fire.

Training oneself to this state allows to consolidate oneself in the status of the Holy Spirit, and — from this state — in particular, to correct any remaining imperfections in one’s material body, gradually deifying it.

* * *

God shows people this Path all along the history of mankind on the Earth [12]. He talked about this not only in prose but even in verse [3].

But... religious ignorance reigns on the planet! Instead of getting rid of vices,

— those who consider themselves Buddhists, — rotate drums with "prayer notes" placed in them, and commit "religious" bodily movements named as "the great stretches",

— naming themselves Hindus — massively devote their lives to begging "blessings" from God and openly, unashamedly worship fanciful "god" Ganesha,

— many self-identified Muslims — embark on the criminal way of the "external jihad", where they — indulging their vicious soul properties — routinely do violence over others, kill them — rather than improve themselves before God,

— a significant part of those who call themselves Christians — also live their lives not in the aspiration of love for their Creator but in hatred towards "foreigners" and "infidels"...

* * *

For beginners in religion — in addition to intellectual awareness of the Path and ethical perfecting — also would be proper to honor God in all His Manifestations. Visiting temples for this and spiritual meetings with others may favor success in this direction of work upon oneself.

By the way, a lot of people — under the influence of ignorant "pastors" — are convinced that it is possible to sin; but then we only have to perform obligatory repentance (or even repent beforehand, as it was in Catholicism; see [6]). Due to this repentance, God, of course, — through mediation of the "pastors" — surely remove, forgive such sins...

But reasonable people understand that this is — a lie! God needs us in that degree of purity when we lose even the very ability to sins (i.e. to do ethical mistakes)!

Therefore — in reality — it is a reason to get rid of each of our ethical blemishes from the moment when we discover it! Because otherwise — we may soon have no time!

And understand that our ethical vices are not only wrong thoughts, words, emotions and actions but also the absence of positive qualities.

I repeat again: God does not need our prayers — such as "Give! Save! Have mercy!". We are sent by God into His material Creation, to improve us in it and — at the end of the Path — join, having reached the Perfection, with the Primordial Consciousness, enriching Him with ourselves!

And in order to cognize Him, we must be able to love Him very much! Therefore, we need to strongly develop the ability to love! And — to destroy in ourselves all the properties that resist love!

Direct opportunity to implement what was said — is the mastering the art of psychic self-regulation [13].

But those who live their lives on the Earth without eliminating soul defects — those die of cancer or in other similar torments and then settle in hell...

* * *

Someone may try to argue: but Jesus — at the request of His interlocutors — suggested them the prayer named "The Lord's Prayer".

But — let’s see here the wisdom of Jesus: for this, He has created for a number of His followers the Divine Exhortations, presenting it in usual for Jews of that time "prayer" form.

Let us examine this in more detail (translation of these citations is made from Russian edition of the New Testament):

"Our Father Who is in Heaven,"

It is necessary to distinguish between sky and Heaven. (In Russian and possibly in some other languages the meanings of these words usually are mixed). Jesus offered to seek God (in the Aspect of the Creator, the Primordial Consciousness) not in sky but in the subtlest eons (i.e. real and completely cognizable spatial dimensions). Incidentally, the word Heaven is appropriate to write with a capital letter.

“Thy name hallowed be,"

This is what we have already said: to praise God — that's right!

"Let come Your Reign — as in Heaven, so on the Earth!"

Jesus spoke here about the adequacy of our perception of God.

It goes without saying that in the Heavenly Kingdom He is the absolute Master: for He Himself fills it entirely.

But we must learn to accept His Will also in our lives on the Earth, in our own perception of the world, submissively accepting what we would not like as well. This is about both the tolerance to dissents, and the humble acceptance of our own failures, illnesses, problems in relationships with other people, etc. All it comes to us from our Teacher-God — according to our destiny, created by ourselves. And we must not grumble! That is He brings us up through all these difficulties! We must learn to understand His educational Will and thank Him — for all these lessons!

In Islam, by the way, the customary expression is "Insch Allah!" — "Let all be in the Will of God!". Even the very word Islam means submission, humble acceptance of God's Will. (Although, as we know, not all who name themselves Muslims are able to understand and realize it in their lives. For example, aggressiveness, violence — as the properties of souls — are diametrically opposed to the principle of the humble acceptance of God's Will).

"Give us daily bread on this day!"

Word bread must be understood not in the narrow sense (as a loaf) but widely: as nourishment.

But nourishment can be understood both as material — and spiritual.

Which one Jesus spoke about?

Personally I asked God for spiritual food — and got it in abundance!

There are in past and now religious organizations where a total parasitism is preached: monks do not even have the right to take care of feeding themselves with material food. They "must be” fed by "flock"...

(You can try to find yourself in the role of such monks-vampires, who are glancing at others, craving offerings from others, hating them because they do not feed me...).

Instead of love, caring for the welfare of others — these people cultivate opposite qualities...

Let us think: what does God think about them? And by what educational measures will He try to help these people to become better?

"And forgive us our debts, like we forgive our debtors!"

One can repeat these words thousands times ignoring the second half of this phrase. The expected effect of these actions will be nothing!

What is important here is the emphasis on the second part of this saying of Jesus: God offers to forgive us our mistakes — but only if we ourselves forgive the debts of others before us.

... Who can be true Christians? Let's look at the situation through the Eyes of God. Not crosses on necks and not our "prayer" movements are important for Him! And — not to pass through the "sacraments" of baptism! And — not participating in other ceremonies!

For Him — the value in us is our adherence to His Commandments (i.e. offered by Him to us ethical principles of our lives)! [2,12-14]

... For example, I was killed, robbed, slandered — and I did not avenge, did not engage in hostilities, but continued to move forward along the chosen Path.

... Our neighbors on the upper floor, making major repairs, covered us with dust that sifted through the cracks caused in the ceiling because of vibrations produced by the compact saw (angle grinder), and also poured through these cracks with water so that the plaster crumbled away from the ceiling, and the wallpaper on the walls peeled off... I did not make any complaints to them. Even to the offer of monetary compensation, I replied: "It was not intentional on your part! Try to be more careful — for this will not happen anymore! And concerning money — it is not necessary: we all have to live according to the Commandments of God!".

I showed to those people an example of righteous behavior — and many of them, thanks to this, really got better before God! So — I did the right thing!

"And help us in times of temptations to deliver us from evil!"

Here Jesus said suggesting fear for us to make erroneous actions during ethically important "training sessions" that are created for us by God. In other words — always be alert, be wary of your own mistakes!

"For Thine are, for ever and ever, the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory!"

Here is again the homage to Everlasting and Almighty God, Who is Love.

* * *

What gives people confirmation of prayers for “salvation”?

Besides the fact that it is a waste of life time which was given to us by God for the real improvement — this kind of actions forms in humans a parasitic attitude to God. But God is not a servant to us! Namely we have to learn to feel ourselves as His servants!

In addition, the mentioned variant of prayers fastens in people a sense of their separateness from God. Whereas, on the contrary, we must strive to cultivate a love-aspiration to Him, that would help to get closer to Him by the quality of the consciousness, obtain the direct cognition of Him and Mergence with Him.

Recommended Literature

1. Akinfiev I.Y. — Vegetarianism from Biological Standpoint. Ekaterinoslav, 1914 (in Russian).

2. Antonov V.V. (ed.) — God Speaks. Textbook of Religion. “Polus”, Saint Peters burg, 2002 (in Russian).

3. Antonov V.V. (ed.) — Spiritual Heart: Path to the Creator (Poems-Meditations and Revelations). “New Atlanteans”, Bancroft, 2007 (in Russian).

4. Antonov V.V. — The Bhagavad Gita with Commentaries. “New Atlanteans”, Bancroft, 2008.

5. Antonov V.V. (ed.) — Tao Te Ching. “New Atlanteans”, Bancroft, 2008.

6. Antonov V.V. — Spiritual Heart — Religion of Unity. “New Atlanteans”, Bancroft, 2008.

7. Antonov V.V. — How God Can Be Cognized. Autobiography of a Scientist Who Studied God. “New Atlanteans”, Bancroft, 2008.

8. Antonov V.V. (ed.) — How God Can Be Cognized. Book 2. Autobiographies of God’s Disciples. “New Atlanteans”, Bancroft, 2008.

9. Antonov V.V. — Sexology: Development and Regulation of the Reproductive Function. “New Atlanteans”, Bancroft, 2008.

10. Antonov V.V. (ed.) — Forest Lectures on the Highest Yoga. “New Atlanteans”, Bancroft, 2008.

11. Antonov V.V. (ed.) — Spiritual Work with Children. “New Atlanteans”, Bancroft, 2008.

12. Antonov V.V. (ed.) — Classics of Spiritual Philosophy and the Present. “New Atlanteans”, Bancroft, 2008.

13. Antonov V.V. — Ecopsychology. “New Atlanteans”, Bancroft, 2008.

14. Antonov V.V. — The Original Teachings of Jesus Christ. “New Atlanteans”, 2013.

15. Antonov V.V. — Life for God. “New Atlanteans”, Bancroft, 2014.

16. Antonov V.V — Anatomy of God. “New Atlanteans”, Bancroft, 2014.

17. Antonov V.V — “Bubbles of Perception”. “New Atlanteans”, 2015.

18. Antonov V.V. — God-Centrism. “New Atlanteans”, 2015 (in Russian).

19. Antonov V.V. — To Understand God. “New Atlanteans”, 2016 (in Russian).

20. Antonov V.V., Zubkova A.B. — Taoism. “New Atlanteans”, Bancroft, 2013.

21. Harmony through Vegetarianism. “Society for Vedic Culture”, Saint Petersburg, 1996 (in Russian).

22. Zubkova A.B. — Story about Princess Nesmeyana and Ivan. “New Atlanteans”, Bancroft, 2007.

23. Zubkova A.B. — Divine Parables. “New Atlanteans”, Bancroft, 2008.

24. Zubkova A.B. — Dialogues with Pythagoras. “New Atlanteans”, Bancroft, 2008.

25. Zubkova A.B. — Dobrynya. Bylinas. “New Atlanteans”, Bancroft, 2008.

26. Zubkova A.B. (comp.) — Book of the Born in the Light. Revelations of the Divine Atlanteans. “New Atlanteans”, Bancroft, 2008.

27. Zubkova A.B. — Parables of Lao Tse. “New Atlanteans”, Bancroft, 2011.

28. Zubkova A.B. — Divine Stories of Slavic Lands. “New Atlanteans”, Bancroft, 2013.

29. Zubkova A.B. — Parables about the Elder Zosima. “New Atlanteans”, Bancroft, 2013.

30. Zubkova A.B. — Story about Knyaz Dmitry and Volhva. “New Atlanteans”, Bancroft, 2013.

31. Zubkova A.B. — Sufi Parables. “New Atlanteans”, 2014.

32. Zubkova A.B. — Lessons of Pythagoras. “New Atlanteans”, 2016.

33. Zubkova A.B. — Fairy Tales of Kindness, “New Atlanteans”, 2016.

34. Zubkova A.B. — Saga of Odin. “New Atlanteans”, 2016.

35. Panova V.F., Vahtin YU.B. — Life of Muhammad. Moscow, “Politisdat”, 1990 (in Russian).

36. Spalding B. — Life and Teaching of the Masters of the Far East. “DeVorss & Co”, 1924.

37. Tatyana M. — On the Other Side of the Material World. “New Atlanteans”, Bancroft, 2012.

38. Teplyy A.B. (comp.) — Book of the Warrior of Spirit. “New Atlanteans”, Bancroft, 2008.

Video Films

Antonov V.V. — Spiritual Heart. 70 min.

Antonov V.V. — Sattva. 60 min.

Antonov V.V. — Sattva of Mists. 75 min.

Antonov V.V. — Sattva of Spring. 90 min.

Antonov V.V. — Art to Be Happy. 42 min. (HD-video).

Antonov V.V. — Practical Ecopsychology. 60 min. (HD-video).

Antonov V.V. — Keys to Mysteries of Existence. Obtaining the Immortality. 38 min. (HD-video).

Antonov V.V. — Bhakti Yoga. 47 min. (HD-video).

Antonov V.V. — Kriya Yoga. 40 min. (HD-video).

Antonov V.V. — Yoga of Krishna. 80 min. (HD-video).

Antonov V.V. — Yoga of Buddhism. 135 min., two parts (HD-video).

Antonov V.V. — Yoga of Taoists. 90 min., two parts (HD-video).

Antonov V.V. — Psychical Self-Regulation. 112 min., two parts (HD-video).

Antonov V.V. — Yoga of Sathya Sai Baba. 100 min. (HD-video).

Antonov V.V. — Yoga of Sufies. 128 min., в 2-х частях (HD-video).

Antonov V.V. — Yoga of Ancient Russians. 105 min., two parts (HD-video).

Antonov V.V. — Yoga of Atlanteans. 82 min. (HD-video).

Antonov V.V. — Yoga of Pythagoras. 75 min. (HD-video).

Antonov V.V. — Laya Yoga. 48 min. (HD-video).

Antonov V.V. — Kundalini Yoga. 45 min. (HD-video).

Antonov V.V. — Yoga of Don Juan Matus and Other Native American Spiritual Chieftains. 147 min., two parts (HD-video).

Antonov V.V. — Yoga of Jesus Christ. 128 min., two parts (HD-video).

Antonov V.V. — Agni Yoga. 76 min. (HD-video).

Antonov V.V. — Advaita Yoga. 47 min. (HD-video).

Antonov V.V. — Ashtanga Yoga. 60 min. (HD-video).

Smirnova Е.Yu. — Immersion into Harmony of Nature. Path to Paradise. (Slide-show). 90 min. (on CD или DVD).

Wildlife videos on www.ru.spiritual-art.info

Zubkova А.B. — Harmony of a Morning.

Zubkova А.B. — Family of Water Hens.

Zubkova А.B. — Little Sparrows.

Zubkova А.B. — Blackcock’s Display.

Zubkova А.B. — Sattva of Ducks.

Zubkova А.B. — Scaups.

Zubkova А.B. — Lapwing’s Babies.

Zubkova А.B. — Great-crested grebes.

Zubkova А.B. — Gophers.

Zubkova А.B. — God Has Created the Beauty Just for You!

Zubkova А.B. — Joy of Winter Forest!

Zubkova А.B. — Come to love!

Other materials:

www.new-ecopsychology.org

www.path-to-tao.info

www.swami-center.org

www.spiritual-art.info

www.encyclopedia-of-religion.org