There is a wall between reality and illusion. If you live in illusion, and if you get your sustenance from illusion, and if illusion is what carries you through your life, you can’t see through that wall. As what goes on in the world becomes less and less important, and you lose your attachment to the world, that wall becomes less opaque and begins to become transparent to the point where that wall may disappear. Even though we stand, and we live, and we see, and we touch illusion on a constant basis, it has no impact on our existence because what we see is reality, what we see is haqq, what we see is the truth.
What is haqq? What is the truth? The truth is that all that matters are the qualities of Allah. If we can understand that our life is the qualities of Allah, and that which remains with us are the qualities of Allah that we have picked up and made part of us and that that’s all that exists, then we can begin to live in the truth.
Bawa used to ask the question, “Nan Yar?” which in Tamil means, “Who am I?” As a matter of fact, one of the people who came from Sri Lanka to the United States, he named her “Nan Yar” so that that question was constantly being asked everywhere. “Who am I?” “Who am I?” “Who am I?”
What we associate with, what we see ourselves as, are things that belong to the illusory world, are things that belong to illusion. They are not things that belong to reality. So, we are not our job, we are not our title, we are not our homes, or our cars, or any of the things that we have accumulated within the world; we are none of these things. So what are we? And where is reality, and how can it be found?
We are that which is beyond illusion. We are that which is not connected to illusion. We are that which is connected to the truth, to reality, to haqq. So if there’s going to be a reality to us, if we’re going to be real people, something has to happen. I’m sure you’ve all heard, when people talk about people, “He’s not real, there’s no substance to him, you can’t depend on him, there’s no loyalty to him.” Why? Because there’s no haqq in him, there’s no reality in him.
People who don’t understand loyalty, people who don’t understand truth, don’t understand real relationships. They cannot treat you in the way that Allah treats you, and the only way to be treated is the way Allah treats you. They are constantly absorbed in themselves to the point where they can’t give. And what does God do? God gives. So if you’re going to have friends, don’t have friends who are not real. Don’t have friends who don’t have compassion. Don’t have friends who aren’t kind. Don’t have friends who aren’t helpful. Don’t have friends who are only interested in their titles, the amount of money they can make, and what they can accomplish in the world. You’re going to be incredibly disappointed. Why? Because it’s very easy for Satan to enter into those people, and even though those people may declare themselves to be your best friend, when Satan enters them, because of their qualities they are going to react to you as if you’ve never known them, as if you had never met them, as if you had never done anything for them; they have no gratitude…
