In a collection of the sayings and traditions of the prophet Muhammad, one at the beginning of the collection indicates that the consequence of our actions depends on our intention. This is an important understanding which informs us that not everything is as it appears to be. In addition to all the external layers are the inner layers where truth exists.
As we go through life we are often so fixed on a specific goal we stop looking at our actions because we believe the goal is paramount, we assign such positive things to the goal we sometimes forget about the actions we take to achieve this goal. God has only to say, “Be!” and that thing exists. Results are in His hands, not ours, yet what is in our hands is our intention as it manifests in our actions. Our intention may not bring about the results we intend, but if our intention is correct it will cause something appropriate for our state of being. We need to go through life with appropriate intentions. What is an appropriate intention, what is correct for us? This is something to consider, something we should contemplate deeply, we need to understand what that intention can do.
Intention is our bandwave connecting us to the open space of His holiness, our intention must be aligned with His. To do this we have to walk to Him on the path of purification. As long as our intention is motivated by something other than His grace or His glory, our intention is not pure. How do we stay pure, how do we stay on the path to Him, and how do we understand the difference between purity and impurity? Our intention is to be like Him yet there is the whisperer of evil who whispers then withdraws, taking us away from Him.
Why does the whisperer withdraw or disappear? He has only the ability to whisper, to invite us to go his way, he comes to whisper words into our ear, whether we respond or not is up to us. Who is the whisperer, what is the whisperer? The whisperer surrounds us, the whisperer can be any of the media, the whisperer can be friends or associates, the whisperer can be any of the influences in this world. Gold whispers to us, sex whispers to us, property whispers to us, fame whispers to us, all these things whisper and withdraw. They leave and we are left hanging onto whatever it is they leave with us. We must be aware that the whispers keep coming, we must be aware that we need to distinguish between the whisper and the truth, between the whisper and reality, between the whisper and what is truly good.
One of the miracles of this country is our freedom to choose the way of darkness and illusion or God’s way. Now in this country the darkness is obvious, we can see it, we are warned. Other countries looking at this one fail to understand that beneath the surface there is profound belief in God. There is faith in God in this country which is not only permitted, it is permitted in a way which rises naturally from the hearts of the people because it is their intention, it is not forced, and that is the power of this country, the true intention for God can rise in its people. In other places the apparent intention might be forced on people, and when things are forced they do not manifest in the same way. We have to thank God that we are in a position to make a choice, that we are given a range of possibilities, we can see what is correct and what is not.
The whisperer has been among us since the beginning. He whispered in the garden of Eden, he continues to whisper to human beings. Why is there a prohibition against gossip, against talking about others? These are things which are done in whispers, things which are hidden, done behind people’s backs. What is hidden begins to ferment or decay like things hidden in dark places: mold grows in dark, hidden places, funguses grow in dark hidden places; a fungus slowly eats away the thing it attacks.
If you want a dark place, be there alone in the early morning, in silence, focused on God. This can be an appropriate dark place because the darkness depends only on our rotation around the sun, a time when the influence of things affecting us is reduced. Understand when that place is appropriate and when it is not; be on guard, we need to be on guard against the whisperers dressed as friends who influence us in an inappropriate way. This means we need to develop a level of inner judgment which is not baffled by paradox, not confused by language that indicates one thing but means something else. True justice sees through these things, even if worldly justice cannot.
The whisperer takes words and turns them upside down, making us believe in things which are not true. We have to hold everything we hear up to the light of God, we have to hold everything we are shown up to the light of God. Does it pass the test of His light? Most often what we have to hold up to His light is our own intention; does our intention pass the test of His light? We have to keep doing this because we so easily, so quickly convince ourself we are traveling a path of truth, but it is our focus on that truth we must remember to check.
Within us is a place which intuitively understands whether we are in balance or not, whether we are aligned with what is true, yet this intuitive place only reveals itself when we undertake purification; if we have not done this, we cannot hear that faint voice. We need guidance until we come to that place, and we have to be very secure in the choice of our guide, extremely careful about whom we listen to, pay attention to, whom we befriend or spend time with. We have to discover how naïve we can be, how easily we can be dazzled by words.
We should keep returning to the truth, keep a deliberate focus on the pillars of truth. When things are not consistent with these pillars we have to reconsider, if things feel good for the wrong reasons we have to understand that something is wrong.
The German word Schadenfreude means the happiness we take in someone else’s misfortune. We do enjoy many different things—some people actually rejoice in the misfortunes of others, a joy driven by jealousy or resentment. Feeling good is not necessarily an indication that we are good, we have to differentiate between what is truly good and what is merely feeling good. A maxim of today’s pop culture is if it feels good do it, something accepted by many people, especially the young. This is not to say that something which feels good is bad, but not everything which feels good is good.
We need high standards adopted from high places. Everyone has standards; even thieves have standards, the more they steal the better off they think they are, that is their standard. Pickpockets have standards, religions have standards, yet God exists. We need to change, we need to understand the joy of His grace, we need to be overwhelmed by love. When we are overwhelmed by love we have the possibility of acquiring the correct intention, true love will not let us be resentful, will not let us be jealous or angry. True love is a fire burning these things away.
We should turn up the heat and understand, remember what it feels like to be in love, know the feeling of overwhelming compassion, of grace and compassion, of unquestioning kindness to others. If we are filled with the understanding that this is what we need, filled with the intention to reach this state, our path will be, with God’s help, to Him. Whether or not results occur as we expect them to does not matter. Eventually, results are not what we are interested in, what we are interested in is our state of being. Many saints have been beggars whose results, according to the world, were minimal, they were not respected, yet according to God they reached the heights of being. In this world we are respected for visibility, for fame. Do we see God anywhere, does He show Himself to us?
We need to know His truth and recognize the lies of the world. May God cleanse us of these lies, may our intention be purified. May we be active in this purification and may He assist us with that; without His help we cannot do it, understand that without this realization we cannot do it. Only if we bring ourself to His intention can we change in the right way.
