The Inner Source Digest – Unit: 16

July 1958
Issue: 16
EMRE’s Conversations: 16

(Notes from a conversation in the garden of Mr. Ahmet Çempel at 13.10.1957)

Emre – Trying to learn sufism from the book is something like to look at the picture of the beloved. Does the one in picture love you? You can’t understand. Although this knowledge is learned from the eyes of The One in front of you. Which one is better, to listen someone side by side or from the radio? Certainly the speech is better and effective while we are looking at him/her. It’s not possible to ask a subject which we couldn’t understand from the one who is speaking on the radio or from a book which is written many years ago. Altough we can ask from The One who is before us and solve the trouble of us. 

He/She is a tree of spirituality. Many birds settle onto this tree but not all of them can nest.

We offer valuable readers this revelation which is related with this subject:

*Horizon: (I swear, he had seen him in a clear horizon.)

Emre – If all of the birds nest, the branches of the tree can’t stand; it dries and breaks. Many of them comes… But they run away because of their desire and goal are selfish. That means they don’t come for God’s sake. If they come with the empty bags of mind and belief, that Might will fill their vacancy. But they come as being full, so they don’t give up their filling then they take the same filling and leave. 

There is a story:

There was a time in which a king has declared all of the country that: “I will reward the ones who give me a present. “ Then a man living in a desert heard this. He is such a poor man living in hard conditions with his wife and four children in an old tent. This poor man also has the hope to have the reward and comes to his home at desert. He tells the state to his wife. They both think about the present they can give to the king. They have nothing actually. At the end, his wife says with joy; “give him our sweat water “. Because, at the desert sweat water is the most valuable thing to have. It comes from a place four days long. For each person, they have just one glass of water. They accumulate a jug of water from their share. The man takes the jag and goes to the capitol probably Bagdad. When he comes he sees that thousands of people is present around the palace. Some of them having either a carpet or rug on their shoulder. The others have either horse or camel near them. They are all shouting that “I brought this and that”… But the door doesn’t open.

Arab thinks himself  “ Sultan doen’t deal with carpet, rug, horse, camel. He has many of them. But I will carry the water, he guzzles, he likes it and gives me the reward.” He thinks that there is a deficiency of water in Bagdat.  Because he could never guzzle in his life.

Poor man waits for the door open then wants to go around the palace. Then he sees the river flowing at backside of the palace.  Man had never seen a flowing river during his life. He says himself “vaaw, what is this? “  He comes near to the river and drinks a handful water. It is like honey. The water which he brought is like salty water compared to this. He stands back saying himself : “Shame on you unwary, you had brought poor water to the owner of this adam’s ale. “ You were also criticizing the presents of the others. You are the one who must be criticized. Don’t say anyting, and leave. “ Then he throws the jug to the river as being disappointed.  This causes a voice at river. At the same time, Sultan was having a talk with his beloved ones. He asks that “what is this voice? “ His men sees a jug dipping into the water then they bring it. Sultan asks the content of it. They say “it’s water my Sultan“. Some of them tastes the water and say that “it is salty my Sultan. “ They wonder who threw it? They see the man,  catch him and bring him before Sultan. He asks: “did you throw it?” Yes, my Sultan. “Why did you do it? “ Arab tells the whole story in detail. He begs to be forgiven in shame because of the salty water present despite of Sultan’s adam’s ale river. Upon this, Sultan says: “ You deserved the reward my boy; because it is suitable for the empty hands. We have everything in this palace. We need nothing. The ones who are shouting at the door have full hands but yours is empty. You’ll have the reward.” He says his men “ take him to the treasure, let him take as much as he want.” Then they take him away to the treasure. Arab sees that there are a lot of shiny jewels and golden. But he is a sensible man and he understands that it’s needed to be empty handed before Sultan. Then he takes nothing and comes before Sultan. He asks “ why didn’t you take something? “ He replies “ If I did, my hands would be full, I shamed. Being before you is more valuable than jewels and golden.” Sultan says : “if you say so,  may you stay with me from now on. The one who select the nothingness will be rewarded. “

The ones also who arrives the presence of God with nothingness, live in an eternal pleasure. The ones who beat the door with the knob of their wishes and possessions wait for nothing. As the sheik Hassan of Baghdad said, this door is opened when the one who knock the door looses his/her power to knock.

This is nothingness which refers to the “dying before to die”  and this is understood in various ways according to the mind. Although is there any meaning of our being? Does it have any difference from carrion after the Might had left?

One of the Europan sufist either Socrates or Platon is at death’s door and says the followers that he will die. They ask what will we do to your corpse?  He says ; “throw it “.

“How can we do my master, jackals may eat it. “

“In that case, put a wand near to me. “

”What is the usage of it?”

“I may run after the jackals when they come co eat.”

”How can a dead person run away after the jackals? “

”So, why do you wonder the carrion which has no power to run after the jackal. Throw it! “

Notes from a conversation at 21.12.1957

Q. – Did Ibn Mulcem murdered Hazrat Ali with his consent or wilful?

Emre – Hazrat Ali, was aware of Ibn Mulcem is responsible to kill him someday. One day when they were in a visiting dinner, he was pushing the meat before him to eat. The others were worry and asked : “Why are you doing this Ali?” He said, “he must be strong enough; someday he will kill me.”

Another day when they were riding on the animals in a crowded group

the whip of Ali drops. He dishorse and takes the whip himself. They also ask “why didn’t you make him take, he is your servant?” He says “ he need not to loose weight; someday he will kill me. “

Q. – Alewies damn Ibn Mulcem.

Emre – After Ibn Mulcem stabbed Ali, the ones around him tried to kill Mulcem. He said “if I die because of this wound, apply the order of sheriah but don’t damn. “ Why do we damn for someone whom Ali didn’t approve to beat or damn? Didn’t Ali have enough power to deal with him? Shall we take his revenge? Isn’t it similar to swing at air for someone who doesn’t exist now? Despite of their belief that God’s might is manifested in Ali, they accept him as an helpless one who can’t uphold his right. How can it be?

He is the one who ordain this death. There needs a cause for one to leave this world. So, Mulcem is the cause of Ali’s entering the other World.

The ones who try to defend Hazrat Ali do not aware of neither his might nor his love; so they are the helpless ones actually. Ali doesn’t need their defense.

Did Ali said “damn those ones in order to defend me? “

Q.- They say Ali didn’t wear the worldly cloth. (physical body)

Emre – Ok, in that case can this unseen man be killed? Do those words match each other?

After then, can a human damn who has an evolved education? There was a man damning Omar, Osman, Muaviye. One day, I said ; “isn’t bond related with the thing which is carried in mind? “ He said yes. I said “If you die while you are damning Yezit, you will become either Yezit or Mervan. “ He thougt 10-15 minutes then left. He came after 20 days and said : “ you are wise men, I don’t damn now, but I don’t give up. “

It’s not easy to be Alewi. In order to be, it’s necessary to be absent in Ali’s character. Being Ali, Mervan, Yezit is just a moral issue situated inside of us. Isn’t it shame if we make Mulcem kill Ali and Şimr kill Huseyin who reside in us? That means being defeated by those characters.

Damningness corresponds to chase something from us. This belongs only to God. He calls the ones He prefers, and chases the ones He rejects. Our damning for evil is only possible by not doing the actions which are forbidden by God. If we are doing the actions of evil, that means we are the servant of him. It’s not easy to damn. The one who did, becomes like divine light. He/she doesn’t need to damn again. If we are damning everyday, it means we didn’t give up this character. So, devil laughs us. Humankind is so weak… He/she doesn’t know what he/she did and said.

Notes which are saved from a conversation at 10.12.1957:

Emre – Nile, even the clay of Nile is the cause which revives Egypt. Sun burns the surface of mountains and turns them to dust. The various essences of Sun mix with those dusts.  Then snow and rain takes those essences and let them down to the gardens and fields. Those clays becomes fertilizer for those fields. By means of those clays which are flowing from the mountains and rivers, seas fill up and create plains. Sometimes seas overflow through the land, fill it up because of the increase or decrease in the velocity of earth rotation. In this way seas become land, lands become sea. But those events can’t fit into the history. History is just yesterday; those events don’t have neither past nor future.  It is just a forever moment. From the perfection to the decadence, from the decadence to the perfection. The perfection of this time is the decadence of tomarrow. In order to join the perfection, it is needed to see it. The ones who couldn’t see, stays in decadance. Anyway this corresponds to death and revivement. The ones in decadance are dead, the ones who see the perfection is alive. But the mind asks ; “so, is there anyone alive? “ Mind has also right. Because it depends on body and deems the death of body is also death of itself.  But if the mind could able to be perfect, it would understand that he/she is not this body. The one which he/she tends to have is actually this decadance. The Ego is decadance. But The Might who says “I” from this mouth, is the perfection itself. 

So the ego of human becomes dead as long as this Perfect goes on meditate. There is such a vitality in this dead ego, which corresponds to the Being of God. For the ones who understand this, there is no death.  Such person dies as body in order to be born to a deathless life. This subject can’t be solved even all of the biologists come together. But at the other side, when the shepperd like Yunus Emre had fallen in love, the knowledge which reveals from this love makes him a scientist, then no one can know that he knows.

This state can only be understood by lovers. Don’t understand the others? If they want, everybody can understand. God doesn’t favour; He isn’t cruel. This is not the door of despair. The ones who decide, will succeed. This is the right of every creature. For this reason God says in Koran : “Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds” . With this Word, God becomes teacher, tutor of everyone but for the ones who want to learn. He doesn’t deal with the ones who don’t want to learn. Because He had given will to everyone and made them free to do what he/she prefer, to select the way to follow.

It’s so simple to learn this: forget yourself; there is one “knower” inside of you. He also knows at this moment but our ego becomes obstacle. But the one who wants to know with ego, can’t know. The ego of the one is immortal who says “I need to know”. The one can only know who gave up his/her ego.

Despite of our conversations in order to solve the trouble, we become more dived. The last Word is LOVE.

To rescue belongs to you, Hazrat love, hand up!

Lets liken compassion to the fire. Without fire can there be anything? Can we able to cook? Can we able to get mine? Can we live without fire I mean heat? Can we care for each other,  family and children without compassion?

There is also a greater spiritual affinity which without it, we can’t love God. That’s called LOVE.

Some of the ones who know this secret had said some heartbreak words in order to lead us love. For example Yunus Emre says:

“The one doesn’t have love

Is just like a stone.”

Someone had lost his donkey with which he used to carry the woods. He seeked for many days long. He had problems in living conditions. Some day while he was passing through the mosque, his friends in order to ridicule send him to Nasreddin Hodja who preaches there. They say him ; “ ask Hodja, he can find your donkey” . Poor man goes and stands before Hodja. Hodja asks him without waiting the end of preach; “what do you want? ”. He says “my donkey is lost; they said Hodja can find it, so I came”. Hodja says “ok go and bring a halter “. He goes and brings it. Hodja finishes the preach and stands saying : “you people, is there someone among you who didn’t love goose, girl, walnut or some other thing ?” A man raises his finger. Hodja asks : “Didn’t you ever love in your life? “ He says no I didn’t. Nasreddin Hodja turns to the man who lost his donkey and says “so, this man is your donkey; you may go, set the halter on his neck, take him away.” The manhesitates: “how can it be? “ Hodja says: “ don’t worry; take him away”. The man is aware of wisdom in Hodja’s each Word, stops hesitating and starts to walk through the man. Some of the watchers of this event say the man who never falled in love in his life; “in order to resque from this condition you may give the price of donkey to this man”. Man pays the woodsman the price of donkey and pays the redemption of this condition.  

Nasreddin Hodja, here hits two birds with one stone. He both supplies a donkey to the poor woodsman and explains the community that the ones who never taste the spiritual love stays in brutish life only as a prisoner. Really, if we look at the one who has no divine love we see that he lies, rages, looks down the others. These are the actions forbidden by God. These are brutish attributes. 

We read about the humbleness of Mevlânâ (Rumi) : when a priest greeted he also greeted him by leaning more than him.  The one who is in love with God must be like this. When somebody says bad things, they lough, when they swear, they tolerate. Love turns a man to this state.

Love is a medicine for all type of the sicknesses, especially for the illness of God. It’s the taste of each food; it’s the mentor of the passenger in path of truth; it’s also the tutor of Gabriel who lead on The Prophet Mohammed to God; the wings of Jesus; the baton of Moses; in sum everything is extant with love.  

LOVE is the thing which Moses stands instead of baton. How can a man reach the highest level; love is also the wing of Jesus. How can a man reach seven layer sky which is said as symbol? First of all by means of Mohammed’s Gabriel and then himself, just himself is LOVE.

Love which is mixed with self results in abjection.  Love which is mixed with God, results in power.

Q. – Is love God?

Emre – God isn’t separate. If we can see, it is a realm which is radiated from the eyes of The Beloved. If our eyes are open, then this radiated thing enters into our eyes takes us away to The Beloved.       

Notes from a conversation at 14.5.1956:

Emre – Many of the people misunderstoods the words “ the one who knows his/her self also knows his/her Lord (the truth) “  They say my self is Lord and choose the way of heresy. However the one can’t know the self unless getting above the self, killing, defeating it. The one who understands that self is a harmful thing,  believes in necessity to kill it also. Because our prophet had said that “all of the harmful things must be killed. “

Biggest enemy of us is inside of us, in our mind, in our character.

If we are glad because of the bad end of someone, this state will hit the ground us also just after him. Because beside the “Hâdi; guiding” epithet of God there is also common “Mûdill; leading astray” epithet.

If we pity for the illness of a friend and be well-wisher for him/her, we would help him/her morally. In order to save a drowning man, we have to jump into the sea.

If we censure our friend, this is a very bad habit. Gossip is a state refused by our prophet. The word of anyone must not be mentioned here.

Someday Shibli is invited to a feast but he didn’t want to attend.  He said “instead of me, some other may go”. The other man went to the feast.  After finishing the meal, the attendies started to talk ill of Shibli : “He didn’t come because he looks down on us; he sent his man instead of himself. He doesn’t deign to our feast.“  The man bores because of this condition. He comes near to Shibli after some hour and says “they mentioned about you such this and that”.  Shibli listens him after a long conversation and asks him: “what did you eat at feast?” he says “this and that “. “Where are they now?”  He says “ I’ve digested”. Shibli says in order to awake him: “I wish you would digest those words also.“

Human has both of the characters which are evil and merciful as mixed. Sugar is obtained from beet. What if we put some beet into this coffee? Could it be tasted? Of course not. So God’s order “to kill self” corresponds “throw your beet so let the sugar manifests”.

Can you save beet for a long time? You can’t. Because the asid inside of beet destroys the sugar also. So this beet of ego and self must be carved and send to the factory as soon as possible.   

We can only close to God just after refining our character. Wasn’t Adam pure? Didn’t he called as “God’s pure man”? Angels prostrated him because of his purity. Do the spirits have body and brow to prostrate? The real meaning of prostration is not related with touching the brow to the earth. Instead of this, it means loving God, giving up himself/herself. That means to love by means of throwing the asid; desire.

Man can’t love God without getting clear of evil. Even if he/she could able to find God, wants something selfish things depending on his/her desires from Him. These are the things which are forbidden by God. If God would give something other than his/her desires, he/she doesn’t accept. However this is better for him/her. If He orders to prostrate Adam, he/she rejects; goes his/her own way. If He says the truth, he/she doesn’t listen, denies.

When our prophet held the hand of manhood, he said through the language of manhood; I mean he  said our states. (Tebbet yedâ…) is not related with himself, it is related with Ebûleheb who thinks about his property before The Prophet Mohammed while he is in his community. It is said in order to awake him.  Revelations are also like this. It is being said for the actions of the ones who is bonded but actually it is said for all of us.  The language of revelation belongs all of us. Emres in revelations are all of you. When I come to pieces, and shared among you, you are the ones saying throughout my mouth.

Q. – A friend of mine was asking : “Does God exist in earth and tree? “

Emre – Creatures are like the lampad around the candle. The duty of a lampad is to save the candle. The shining candle in this lampad is human, a human among the people. The individual and might of God is being manifested in human. The other manifestations are the attributes of him. Only God knows and sees his might himself. But this might is shown through the human. From whom the words of God are being said? Human. From whom is being listened? Human. But there is so much difference between the people. Among so many billion people there are a lot of ones who has never thought about God throughout the whole life. Can they be same the one who thinks God and the other one who doesn’t?

Q – Isn’t it because of the God’s will/fate?

Emre – God gave will to the human. He/she can do anything he/she wants.

Some fates are belong to the total will and some others are because of the particular will. The ones who are together with the total will can do anything but they can’t do other than God’s will. Because they are being absent in Him. They have much patience like Him, they don’t deal with time.

The notes from a conversation saved at 1.12.1955:

Emre – There are some creatures, seas, rivers inside of sphere just like the outside. These will be invented in good time. But those creatures doesn’t have nourishment like us. For the creatures other than human there is no consciousness in feeding. I mean they don’t deal with peeling, cooking. But they have their own conscious. They know the grasses which are poisoned. They eat the grasses which are useful for them.   You can eat what the chicken, goose, bird; so cook and eat them,  they don’t harm. Those grasses are useful for human also.

There is no sickness among the animals which are living in wild area. They are infected because of the people who are living in a rural area. Their excreta might be messed with the grass. Animals can be infected because of this grass which they eat. Animals can cure those diseases by means of various grasses. But in animals which are related with human there surely occur some diseases. Even in ants and bees. Bees and ants kill the sick one instantly, because they live in a society and there is a fatal danger for all of them.  

Whirligig eats sweeties, butter and cheese. They don’t harm people. They swallow sugar, pekmez and heaves them onto the leaves. When winter comes and their nest is closed, they lick, swallow the pukes inside.

Black ants swallow the juice of grape and the fruit tree. They heave them onto the rubbish and leaves. In winter, they swallow this juice when it hardens. 

Another type of ant eats directly cereals. They cut and eat the parts of barley and wheat which will be stocked for budding. They set up the wheats and barleys just like a bag as being eaten parts upside. The place in which they set up the wheats and barleys is somehow high. They peel the bark of barley and seed but not the wheat.

They don’t spend much energy because they don’t walk around in winter so they eat less amount. In order to get water, they swallow the water of earth. Like ants there are a lot of animals having a solid body just like shell never drink water in winter. Those animals don’t have lung. The part of their body which we see as tummy is actually something like air filter, air bellow. Grasshoppers, bees, scorpions don’t have lung. They are killed with insecticide. Because it causes their bellow to foul and they can’t get air and die. The first one to die is honeybee, the last one is bedbug.

Now let Naciye sing a hymn, then we will dismiss ants.

Saved by: Şevket Kutkan

EMRE’s  Jokes, Narratives and Instantaneous Responses:

*Emre – Bigotry impedes the free and dangerous ideas like communism. There are two tyes of bigotry; scientific and ignorantly. The first one is necessary in order to protect country, religion, honor. Ignorant bigotry corresponds to the state of unconscious, without knowing. This is bad. This leads the people to laziness and reactionism. They can’t protect also the country, nation and religion.

*Emre – There is just one day. Not more. We are passing through this uniqe day throughout our life. We assume the steps of life as a day.

*Emre – Womanhood, manhood is something like a dress. God dressed some of us womanhood some of us manhood clothes. Whatever they said, both man and women comes to the community of truth. Do we undress if someone will say something?

In truth there is no man or women. The one who is called as dame is actually the one who is convicted by his/her ego. It doesn’t matter whether he is man or woman.

*Emre – Gabriel isn’t the mind of everyone. It corresponds to the reason of The Prophet Mohammed and the ones who are like Him.

*Emre – In small villages there are a lot of ego and gossip. When we come to the cities, gossip and ego starts to decrease. As people progressed in morality they digest their arrogance, ego and gossip. That means they don’t gossip and they digest the gossip which is said.               

The Sufist Eplanation of Nasreddin Hodja Narratives

The Blue Bead

Nasreddin Hodja had two wifes. One day he had given a blue bead to one of them when they were alone, saying;

—Take this and save; never tell this to the other one! Another time he also gave the same thing to his other wife saying the same words.   

One day while they were discussing about the degree of his love against them, they couldn’t agree. Then they decided to inform Hodja asking:

—Which one of us do you love more?

Hodja looked both of woman suggestively and said:

—I love the one who has the blue bead!

Explanation:

In sufism there is a marriage which is mentioned. This corresponds to giving up the will with full devotion before the guide. After this devotion, the guide starts blowing, exhaling into the ear of life of him/her. Here the one blowed is being female and the one blowing is being male. After a Perfect had blowed the word of truth into the Mary of our mind, Mary becomes pregnant and gives birth to spiritual Jesus in good time.

Nasreddin Hodja, had taught “bonding” to two person in appropriate time who are in contact with him spiritually. But they were discussing because they were still in childhood mode. Because they don’t aware of each other’s spiritual path and state, they even decided to inform their guide. He had solved the trouble answering them to satisfy both of them.