Discovering God

This is no simple act. It is, in fact, a development of the human personality along the right lines, and tazkiya is only the other name for this development of the human personality. There is nothing mysterious about tazkiya. Tazkiya is the result of the awakening of such consciousness as enables a person to attribute everything to God; every experience becomes a means of bringing him closer to God. It is through these experiences that a personality develops which may be called a purified personality. The truth is that the whole matter is one of right or wrong attribution. Wrongly attributing events to anyone other than God is to pollute one’s soul. This is to deprive oneself of the opportunity to purify oneself. On the contrary, when one attributes events to the true Creator, one emancipates and uplifts one’s soul. By availing of all such opportunities, one develops one’s personality by purifying one’s soul. Tazkiya cannot be attained in a vacuum; it comes about in the course of the everyday events of life. What is required for tazkiya is an awakened mind, rather than some mysterious action performed in seclusion. Tazkiya and Sacrifice The attainment of tazkiya is no simple matter: it always requires some sacrifice, which is psychological rather than physical in nature. This sacrifice is to completely