Al Halláj Mansur

Al Halláj Mansur was a legendary Iranian Sufi Master who lived between 858—922 ACE and is reputedly one of the earliest Islamic Sufi Masters recorded in history. He is said to have lived his life as a dervish wandering through the vast expanse of the Middle Eastern Desert teaching and sharing his love of Allah (God) wherever he went. He would often go into trance where his only explanation of the state of mind he connected with was that it seemed he had become one with all creation, existence, and with Allah.

In 922, Halláj was convicted of blasphemy by the leaders of a local religious community and was executed through the slow tortuous process of pouring molten lead into his ear. The case against him was that he had claimed to have discovered God within himself and that he had repeatedly declared, “Ana al-haqq” which means; “I am the truth.” This statement may seem innocuous to those of us in the West, but following the tradition of the Sufi’s who would purposefully build ambiguity into their songs and poetry, this statement also had a dual meaning and he was also saying: “I am God!” Jesus Christ, was quoted as saying, “I am the way; I am the truth and I am life.” (John 14:6) Indirectly, Jesus was also executed for the very same reason. Halláj and Jesus both spoke of the truth but what is this truth to which they allude? How many of us know what the truth is to which these men referred?

Six hundred years ago Kabir was born in India in 1398 AD. He is said to have lived for 120 years and legend has it that he finally relinquished his body in 1518. The period of his life is also said to be the beginning of Bhakti Movement in India. Kabir, who was reputedly an illiterate weaver, ranks among the world’s greatest poets. He lived in the Indian city of Benares about a hundred years before William Shakespeare gained popularity in Europe. In India he is perhaps the most quoted of writers, but, at the same time, in his life he criticized all the religious sects of his country. He refused to allow anyone to classify him as Hindu, Muslim, Sufi or Bhakta. However, he is still mentioned with respect and honor by even those most tradition–bound. This paradox can be accounted for by the fact that Kabir spoke the Truth. He, simply, had wisdom. Kabir, whose present–day followers claim was born of a virgin, performed many miracles which included raising people from the dead, said; “Behold but One in all things; it is the second that leads you astray.” A famous poem by Kabir is:

what is seen is not the truth,
what is cannot be said.
trust comes not without seeing,
nor understanding without words.
the wise comprehends with knowledge,
to the ignorant it is but a wonder.
some worship a formless God,
others worship God’s various forms.
how is God unlike these mental attributes?
only the Knower knows,
a music that cannot be written.
what is the tune of your own song?
Kabir, with what awareness
will you overcome this severe illusion?
awareness alone is the key.

Sakyamuni Buddha sat under a bodhi tree for six years, and following his enlightenment, is reported to have said, “In all the universe I am the only One.” Following the now infamous encounter with a crowd of people intent on stoning an adulterous woman to her death, Jesus Christ was questioned by the Temple Priests about his family heritage and who exactly he was. Jesus simply said, “My Father and I are One.” Yet, how many of us know who or what is this One with which these men claimed union?

The various religions of the world recorded their teachings using the stories and metaphors that form their philosophies and theologies and are some times unique to a particular culture. However, if we look below the surface there is a common foundation that is based upon the experiences of the rare individuals (the Sage or the Saint) who actually transcended their ordinary world. Furthermore, our perception of the ordinary world is actually established and maintained by dependence upon our intellect and force of habit; conversely, it is by nurturing the more powerful functions of mind, such as direct perception, that we can eventually learn to transcend our own mental bondage. Depending upon our logical thought processes and by using our cognitive faculties we perceive imaginatively distinguished parts; however, if we can shift the focus to our before-thinking mind (direct perception) we get a chance to perceive the whole from which the parts are conceptually separated. Cognitive function therefore serves to separate us from the unified truth and from the kingdom of God that the Sages are all jabbering about.

The name “Pharisees” means “the separated ones” and, as Jesus Christ indicated repeatedly, the Pharisees were not only separated from other men, but also from God. Like so many of us, the Pharisees were separated from the truth by their insistence upon an exclusively conceptual understanding of the world.

It should not be surprising, therefore, that the words of sages from all religious traditions seem to defy logic and rationality, what we call common sense. After his enlightenment, Bankei, a famous seventeenth-century Japanese Zen Master, said, “When I woke up, I realized that I could never die because I had never been born.” Speaking about the same sort of realization, Jesus Christ said; “In very truth I tell you, Before Abraham was, I am.” (John 8:58)
Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi was probably the most famous Indian sage of the twentieth century. He was renowned for his saintly life, for the fullness of his self–realization, and for the feelings of deep peace that visitors experienced in his presence. So many people came to see him at the holy hill of Arunchala where he spent his adult life that an ashram had to be built around him. He answered questions for many hours every day, but never considered himself to be anyone's guru.

At the age of sixteen Ramana Maharshi left his home, his family, and all he knew. He felt drawn to Arunachula—a small mountain in Southern India. His only possessions were a piece of cloth to cover himself, and a walking stick. Little by little word of a sage living alone on Arunachula mountain became known. Many felt drawn to sit in his presence. Ramana Maharshi, was on his deathbed when his followers began crying and tearfully asked, “Master, are you leaving us?” Ramana laughed and asked, “Where could I possibly go?” He was not saying that nothingness awaited him, nor was he denying the physical death of the body. He was saying that who he is, in truth, couldn’t possibly die. Ramana Maharshi, like Al Halláj Mansur, Jesus Christ, Sant Kabir, Sakyamuni Buddha, and Bankei Roshi, had realized his unity with the One who never dies. He had discovered what Jesus Christ called “my Father.”

Each of us has the fundamental choice of whether to attend to the present moment or whether to get lost in our cognitive processes. Through directly perceiving this moment, we can discover the Infinite. From our viewpoint the choice is quite clear.