The following quotation from The Hundred Letters of Sharafuddin Maneri underlines the necessity for the seeker on the spiritual path to be free from the usual motives of gain and loss that operate in the outer world, and seek ‘the refreshment of union’ with the King of love.  For more about Maneri and his letters of instruction see this earlier post.

Worldly people […] when they think of hell, they reduce their sinful pursuits.  The reason is that, although they will not desist from the pursuit of transient pleasure for the sake of what is permanent, yet they will do so out of fear of hell.  On the other hand, one who worships in a spirit of “praising what God ordains” is a beloved of God. He hopes to receive his reward from the Lover.  What effect will the remembrance of heaven and hell have on his enlightened mind? How could the grief of losing heaven or of going to hell trouble him, for the King of love and desire has come!  How could he remain preoccupied with the hope of heaven or the affliction of hell?

Compared to the refreshment of union, heaven is a pile of rubbish:
In the path of lovers, it looms as a trivial gain!

As Khwaja Mumshad Dinuri was on his deathbed, a disciple prayed in this fashion: “O God, be gracious to him and grant him the wonder of heaven.”  Khwaja Mumshad opened his eyes and said: “Fie upon you!  For thirty years now they have been praying that I will enter heaven but I won’t even glance at it from the corner of my eye!  What sort of prayer is this?”

Translation by Paul Jackson, SJ