FROM THE SPIRITUAL TREE

How does one achieve this marifah? This journey begins with the acceptance that there is a God and finishes with one discovering the true Creator. The individual must first of all become a seeker and later become a finder. It is this order of the journey of marifah which applies to common man as well as to a prophet. Another Arabic saying brings out the above understanding with clarity, “I don’t know, is half of knowledge”. First of all, an individual has to discover his own ignorance, and then a spirit of enquiry is born within him. The greater his acknowledgement of his own ignorance, the greater is his spiritual and intellectual learning. It is a natural reality to which there is no exception. Marifah or the discovery of God is not something to be inherited that a father may give to a son and the grandson may receive from his forefathers. It is of a personal nature. Whenever anyone attains to God-realization, it will happen only as a result of personal effort. Without personal effort, no one can ever achieve marifah. Whatever one receives without personal struggle will be just a kind of traditional belief rather than a living marifah. Marifah relates to the entire personality of the human being. It is initially achieved at an intellectual level. Subsequently through a natural process, it pervades his whole personality. The attainment of marifah for anyone colours his whole personality in its hue. No aspect of his life will remain unaffected by its influence. The journey of marifah is indeed one of discovery. This discovery continues during the whole of one’s life. One who thinks that he has achieved complete marifah would in effect never have discovered marifah at all. o The discovery of God is not something to be inherited that a father may give to a son. It is of a personal nature. Whenever anyone attains to Godrealization, it will happen only as a result of personal effort.