There are many different ways to explain the duality in our existence, the two-sided nature that exists within man. Some explain it by way of the “nafs”. They explain the nafs as the lower half and the unified self as the higher half, or the higher self. Some talk about the part of us that is taught entirely involved in sustainability. Sustainability of what? Sustainability of ourselves. Sustainability of our passions; sustainability of our needs; being able to do that which is pleasure for us and to avoid that which is not.
The unified self, the higher self, begins to lose interest in the “self” and the sustainability of the pleasures of the self… in other words, food, lust, housing, and all the things to take care of yourself, and becomes more and more attuned to the needs of others; more and more attuned to what goes on outside of the self. The self becomes more of a pass through. A pass-through of what? A pass-through for Allah’s qualities to enter into the world.
When we can get to the point were we ourselves become a place or portal that Allah’s qualities pass through, the real change begins to happen in our life. Now, the people who are involved in the sustainability of their life, and the sustainability of their needs, and constantly doing things that aid the progression of themselves in achieving their needs. They have very little time for anything else. They become overwhelmingly busy taking care of themselves. Taking care of themselves seems to be the biggest job in the world. These people can’t seem to get enough.
The beggar who has a dollar needs two dollars, the millionaire who has 1 billion needs 2 billion. The amounts are not what matter. It’s the drive and the attitude that is what matters.
The big difference between those who are busy sustaining themselves and those who are busy trying to become a portal for Allah’s qualities to pass through, so that they can do Allah’s work, the big difference is the people who are constantly in the mood of taking care of themselves don’t see what the other people are trying to do. They don’t understand it. They can’t connect to it because they only have connection to that which their senses can interact with. The ones who are trying to become portals for Allah’s qualities have entered into the world of the unseen. They’ve entered into the non-elemental world that is beyond that which we touch, hear, see, feel, and taste.
They begin to understand that there’s another component to existence than just our bodies, and just the things that we accumulate. When the people who are involved in merely sustaining their lifestyle look at it, their analysis doesn’t include an analysis of the unseen. They are incapable, when they’re so busy dealing with the elemental, they’re are incapable of getting perspective on the unseen. The ones who are attempting to understand the unseen have had certain experiences in their life, or have been exposed to certain teachings in their life, which have somehow explained to them that that which is not elemental — that which you can’t see — that which you can’t touch — that which you can’t hear — has more impact on your existence than the things you can touch and hear and see…
