The Inner Call recently posted a short excerpt from Theophan the Recluse’s thoughts about a rule of prayer, and it seemed to resonate with some readers, and generated a question about whether there could also be a rule of ‘wazifa’ for those on the Sufi path.
If we study the matter, we find that much of what Saint Theophan said would apply not only to prayer but to many forms of spiritual practice, including the repetition of sacred words naming divine qualities – that which Sufis know as wazifa. He advises, for example, that there is no need for many prayers; a few, deeply felt and assimilated, turned over in one’s thoughts during the day, will do the job. This restraint could help to avoid the tendency, which we sometimes encounter, to accumulate a closet full of wazifas, in the mistaken belief that this will somehow make us more spiritual. Knowing the dictionary meaning of a word is not the same as experiencing it. We may say, for example, that a certain word means ‘love, but it could take us all our time on earth to really feel that inwardly. As one Sufi once observed, a wazifa is a form of medicine, and if we feel the need for many, we must have a lot wrong with us. The full pill cupboard seems to reaffirm sickness rather than the state of health which is in fact our natural condition.
What is more, prayers and divine names come from a sacred source, and by staying with one or two, it gives us an opportunity to trace them to their root, so to speak. We could say that there are many flowers in the garden, each one with its special beauty, but if we hurry from one to another, we will have difficulty learning the lesson each one offers. A flower grows and opens in its own rhythm; to think we know it from a quick glimpse is to overlook its living conversation with the earth and the sky.
And this brings us to another important point : what is our purpose in performing our practice? We might say something like, ‘Well, I have faults and I want to overcome them and be a better person,’ but while everyone has flaws, this is perilously close to the dead-end of self-centeredness. To focus on ‘my faults’ is to focus on ‘myself,’ and thinking of our practice this way we risk closing the prison door upon ourselves and turning the key. Theophan spoke of a prayer rule for those who wish to please God, and this is a much safer way to approach our exercises. Of course, it requires that we give up our solitude and develop a relationship with Perfection, and for many people this is difficult because it ultimately leads to the path of surrender. Many would prefer to keep their illusion of ‘self’, however uncomfortable it might be, than to let it drop and accept the loving embrace of the One.
If we do wish to please God, we must also give shape to our ideal, a shape that will evolve over time as we begin to drop our limitations. What is the nature or shape of our aspiration? How high can we reach? Each time we lift our eyes upward, they will see further. Following this path, we will come in the end to the place described in this saying of Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan : My heart is no longer mine since Thou hast made it Thy dwelling place.
When that becomes a reality, our practice is pleasing to God because it is then He himself Who plays the flute of the heart.