A Journey To Self-Peace

A Journey To Self-Peace

By

Dr. Abdelfattah Mohsen Badawi

Sri Sathya Sai Sadhana Trust, Publications Division

Prasanthi Nilayam - 515 134

Anantapur District, Andhra Pradesh, INDIA

STD: 08555 ISD: 91-8555 Phone: 287375 Fax: 287236

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Website: www.srisathyasaipublications.org, www.sanathanasarathi.org, www.saireflections.org

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First Edition: 15th October, 2013 (15/10/2013)

ISBN: 978-93-5069-199-1

Published By

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Sri Sathya Sai Sadhana Trust, Publications Division

Prasanthi Nilayam, India, Pin Code – 515134

STD : 08555 ISD: 91-8555 Phone: 287375 Fax: 287236

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Allaho Akbar, La Illaha Ila Allah

This is the sacred formula of Islam. It signifies that God is the super-most sovereign; Allah is the undisputed, unexcelled Ruler of creation. He, alone, is worthy of worship.

Sai Baba

Sathya Sai’s mosque built in 1978 for the Muslim population of Puttaparthi

Dedicated To Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Contents

Preface

Foreword

Introduction

1. War And Peace Within Man

2. Spiritual Alchemy

3. The Divine Alchemy

4. Sai Baba And Sufism

5. Truth Is One

6. Righteousness And Good Character

7. Seek Peace In Faith And Surrender

8. Loving Allah

9. Serve All

10. Non-Violence

11. Health In Happiness And Peace

12. The Self-Peace Path

13. Divine Discourse Of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba On 1st January, 2001

Appendix [A] Passage To India

Appendix [B] From Paris To Brindavan

Appendix [C] A Journey To Sai Baba. The Interview

Appendix [D] A Journey To Self-Peace

Symptoms Of Self-Peace

Bibliography

Preface

This book is the thesis of Dr. Abdelfattah Badawi for doctoral degree in comparative religions and mysticism. I found the subject of Sufism and comparative mysticism, with special reference to the Indian mystic Sathya Sai Baba, is well researched and presented. This work will be of immense value for the scholar as well as lay men interested in this area.

Dr. Badawi is a professor emeritus of the famous Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute in Applied Organic Chemistry. He represented Egypt in various international seminars and gave talks at various American universities.

Dr. Badawi is a Muslim, whose scientific reasoning and love for universal love, beyond the boundary of his own religion, naturally lead him to the study of other great world religions in light of Sufism, the mystic part of Islam. Qualified non-dualism of Bhakti Vedanta is the Indian counterpart of the Islamic Sufism and is studied in-depth in this work, based on Dr. Badawi’s immense interest in Sathya Sai Baba’s works. Sathya Sai Baba is a mystic, a philosopher, and a great social reformer of the East.

Dr. Badawi, as an ardent Muslim, has visited Mecca several times in fulfilment of his spiritual obligations and visited Puttaparthi, the abode of Sai Baba, as a part of his journey towards eternal peace, the quest of every Sufi.

This book, in my opinion, is not a negation of the great faith of Islam, but a confirmation of its underlying unity with other great religions of the East. It also clears the doubts of the Western mind on the misconceived fanaticism of Islam. Also, this book is the great homage to Dr. Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, the Imam of Al-Azhar, whose preaching motivated Badawi for the constructive dialogues with other great religions.

For analysing Sufi doctrine, Dr. Badawi combined his scientific logic with the love of Allah, the Almighty, as no logic or scientific reasoning alone can synthesise Islam and Sufism, as the Infinite is far beyond the logic of the finite human mind.

Dr. T.Y. Yousuf

Director, Sufi College,

Hawaii, U.S.A.

Foreword

The author of this book, A Journey To Self-Peace, Dr. Abdelfattah Mohsen Badawi, is a member of our Imhotep Scientific Society. I, being the President of this Association, got an opportunity to express a few words concerning his book. He has assembled material from his spiritual journey to attain self-peace, self-realization, and then God-realization, so as to be knowledgeable of God and to achieve the love of God.

The goal of living, whatever it might be, could be pursued and attained more readily, if one acted in accordance with the laws and therefore, realized optimum potential. If one did not do this, he would be poorly prepared to achieve his objectives and would be constantly getting into difficulties.

I was introduced to Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s speeches. There are a number of volumes based on these speeches, which clearly show that the purpose of life is spiritual development.

This book is offered in the hope that its contents may be helpful to many readers in their everyday living and thus, prepare them more adequately to continue their spiritual search and development of happiness. I can say it is a perfect guide for those, who are practising self-peace or other exercises to achieve love of God and self-peace; particularly now-a-days, because a human being is moved by matter, instead of making it subservient to him.

He has vast knowledge on self-peace and the exercises of other religions to achieve the righteous path of life. During his spiritual journey to attain self-peace, he met several saints, but he was impressed by Sri Sathya Sai Baba, who teaches his devotees Truth, Righteousness, Peace, Love, and Non-violence to attain self-peace and work for salvation in the midst of their worldly activities.

Dr. Yahya Hamza Koshak, President,

Imhotep Scientific Society,

Cairo – Egypt

Introduction

As a religion, Islam stands for complete submission and obedience to God; Islam means peace, the peace that man establishes with Allah (the Almighty in Islam). Such a person is called Muslim, a word derived from Islam. The meaning of the word ‘Muslim’ is one, who surrenders to God. A Muslim believes that there is only one God, the Creator, the sovereign Ruler of the living and the non-living in the Universe, with no ascendant and no descendant. A Muslim has a set of well-defined rules to conduct his life, which are known as the five pillars of Islam. They are:

1. Faith in Allah and absolute submission to His will and the messenger of Allah.

2. Prayer, after proper ablution, five times a day.

3. Charity, giving a part of one’s income to help the poor.

4. Fasting for the full month of Ramadan, daily from dawn to dusk.

5. Performance of pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime, if possible.

Islamic history can be divided into two movements:

Exoteric: From the Prophet Mohammed through the four Khalifas and all the religious leaders.

Esoteric: Spiritual, through the Sufis from 8th to 16th centuries and onward.

Many verses in the Koran suggest that Sufism is inherent in Islam. Zhikr (remembrance of God) was mentioned many times in the Koran, leading man to the spiritual world.

The practice of Sufism with its Zhikr is still relevant and will be able to contribute to the values of the 21st century. Sufism is practised for peace and well-being and Zhikr is therapeutic. Sufism develops the human being as a whole. With this development, man comes to acquire cosmic consciousness.

During his spiritual journey, a Sufi attempts to attain eternal peace. During this journey, he is subjected to Alchemical Transformations, which purify him from his suspended impurities and thus, liberate him from the forbearing constraints on the Journey of divine love. Along its path, the Sufi reaches self-realization, then God-realization.

I was venturing on the Sufi path, while working as a research chemist over a period of thirty years and I was always accompanied with an enthusiasm and love for Sufism. As a professor of Applied Organic Chemistry and being familiar with the organic synthesis of new compounds, of unique and valuable characteristics, healing and treating illnesses in humans and in the environment, I discovered that Sufism enjoys the same attributes, which are capable of curing human illnesses and relieving man from the sufferings he bears, so that he is alchemically transformed into a pure, cognizant Divine Self.

During my journey on the path of Sufism and the paths in Egypt, which are of the Shazleya and Khalilya doctrines, I discovered myself and I found the Sufi path completely unified with the teachings of two mystics in India, known as the Sai Babas.

The First Sai Baba, known as Shirdi Sai Baba, a Godman (1838-1918) in India, taught the basics of morality and spirituality to mankind through his simple, yet powerful teachings of love, compassion, patience, faith, surrender, equanimity, detachment, and service. He was a simple, illiterate, rural ascetic, Who lived for forty years in an old, isolated mosque at Shirdi, wearing tattered clothes like a Muslim faqir, begging alms and performing all sorts of thrilling miracles to cure, help, and bless His countless devotees and visitors.

The goal of a Sufi aspirant is to reach God-realization - to realize his own inner divinity. Shirdi Sai Baba attained His divine status and throughout His life, He also played the traditional role of a Master guiding others along the path.

Shirdi Sai Baba was observed constantly repeating, Allah Malik Hai, and it appears that He had a direct experience of Union with God. He demonstrated God-like powers, such as clairvoyance, the ability to appear in devotees’ dreams, or to appear in distant locations. The thrust of Shirdi Sai Baba’s whole life was one-pointed, focused entirely upon God, giving up everything for the goal of God-realization. His method was the ascetic, renunciate, mystical path with emphasis on Zhikr, the unbroken recollection of the name of Allah. He is an example of One, Who had achieved the last stages of Sufi attainment, namely Haqiqat, the Truth and Marifat, permanent gnosis as evidenced by His miracles (Karamat). At this stage, annihilation of the separate ego self and of false identification with the body has taken place. This annihilation, termed Fana by the Sufis, is what Sai Baba was referring to, when He said, This body is just My house. He declared that after His physical death, He would return in eight years, reincarnating in a new body.

The Second Sai Baba known as Sathya Sai Baba was born on the 23rd of November, 1926, in Puttaparthi, as Sathyanarayana Raju. On October 20th, 1940 at age 14, He suddenly threw away His school books and announced to His family and friends that He was Sai Baba of Shirdi, ‘His previous body’. No one at Puttaparthi in rural Andhra Pradesh, the birthplace of Sathyanarayana Raju, had ever heard of the saint, Sai Baba of Shirdi, Who had passed away in 1918. Sathya Sai gave many proofs that He was the same Entity reborn. He related numerous incidents and experiences He had as Shirdi Sai.

Bhagawan Sathya Sai’s mission does not teach any new cults or religions. He exhorts the individual to become aware of the Divinity that is inherent in him and to conduct himself accordingly, to achieve the ultimate goal of union with the Divine. He calls for human relations that are governed by Sathya (Truth), Dharma (Righteousness), Prema (Love), Shanti (Peace), and Ahimsa (Non-Violence).

He emphasizes devotees of all faiths to practise their own religion by understanding the true spirit behind every religion. He underlines the essential unity of all religions and exhorts all to develop a proper understanding of all religions as being based on love.

Human beings think that happiness exists in their aspirations, which could not be fulfilled. Once their wishes are reached, they realise that they have missed the right path. The fruit that they longed for so long did not give them the pure honey they wanted. Being frustrated, they seek another aim to realise this lost happiness. Life goes on without reaching their aim.

Human beings seek happiness outside their own selves. For this reason, they are lost. Wise men realised, after their long search for truth, that happiness is hidden within themselves and springs out from their own depths.

An American physician once stated that he wrote a list, when he was young, including his worldly requirements, namely health, love, talent, ability, wealth, and fame. He presented this list to a wise man, seeking his opinion. The wise man told him that it is well-designed and in good order. However, he forgot the most important element that cancels all these elements. This factor is written in two words: Self-Peace. This