Peace and blessings on our Holy Prophet and his Immaculate Family.
Today's talk is about surrendering.
Surrendering to fear.
Fear wells up in all of us many times triggered by an outer situation.
And right now we are surrounded by a lot of panic,
Anxiety and stress with news of the virus and the sudden changes we've all had to make in our lifestyles.
Although this fear is a collective one and looks very general on the outside,
What it's triggering for each one of us is different.
For some of us it's the fear of death,
For others it's the fear of losing a dear one.
For some it's the fear of change,
Fear of scarcity,
Fear of being unable to cope,
Fear of being sick,
Etc.
It is important to note that fear is a signpost with a cause that's hiding underneath the outer symptoms.
And these symptoms point our attention to something deeper.
Today our effort is to embrace this as a learning opportunity and try to learn more about ourselves through this fear.
Everything Allah has created serves a purpose and our fear has a purpose to take us closer to our own selves because it is going to tell us something which we haven't seen yet.
We use this as a starting point to begin a journey within.
Haditha Qudsi narrates,
Qadarafa nafsahu fa qadarafa rabbahu Those who know themselves know their Lord.
The Holy Quran says,
Those who migrate in the way of Allah and then are slain or die,
Allah will surely provide them with a good provision.
Allah is indeed the best of providers.
We cannot learn from something if we run away from it.
Traumatic situations come to us to bring to surface something that was already there,
Buried deep within us.
But we're not seeing it.
We're not finding the courage to look at it.
I do I.
And say to ourselves,
What is this begging to tell me?
What am I supposed to do with this?
How can I learn and grow and transform through this?
For the growth of our soul,
It is essential that we find the courage to see this darkness eye to eye.
Because it's going to reveal something to us that may change us forever,
Liberate us from the chains we have tied ourselves down.
And we always have the choice of opening ourselves and being free.
But that would mean the death of our old selves.
That would mean letting go of the little comfort zone we created for ourselves and became snuggled in for a long time.
And that's the death.
That's the death that Allah is saying that when you migrate and you die on the way,
Allah is going to provide.
What is he going to provide us with?
Allah promises us in the Quran,
He it is who descends peace into the hearts of the believers by increasing their faith with more faith.
So as we walk towards opening ourselves to a new adventure of self discovery,
That may scare us and looks difficult.
We ask Allah to fill our hearts with courage and fill our hearts with faith and enable us to see,
Accept whatever may come up and then gently hand it over to Him.
All that looks difficult and dark and scary and feels burdensome.
All of it that is holding us back from reaching our true highest potential.
As we move into more authentic versions of ourselves,
We ask Allah to hold us tight and take us through.
Because they say the only way out is through.
The Holy Quran again says,
Wal ladhi na jahadu fee na lana hthiyan nahum subulana Wa innaa wa inna Allaha lama almaahsinin Those who strive for us,
We will surely guide them to our ways and indeed Allah is with the doers of good.
Hazrat Musa is heard in the Quran as saying,
Qala kalla inna ma'ayas rabbisa yaadin No indeed with me is my Lord and He will guide me.
What we want to do is to undertake a migration of our soul out of its comfort zone in search of the Divine through inner transformation.
Inner transformation of whatever that is dark,
Heavy and burdensome into light.
And you can see light is the opposite of heavy and light is the opposite of dark.
Think about that.
We want to peel away our pretentious self to let our true light surface and our authentic selves emerge out of all the shame and guilt and ultimately overcome all the fear and replace it with the light of faith.
This is the death of the old self that we are so afraid of letting go,
Of losing who we think we are to becoming who we actually are.
So as we move into the journey of the unknown towards the death of swords and may even be a resurrection for us,
We first acknowledge that Allah is holding us in His all embracing mercy and unconditional love.
The Holy Quran says,
Qul ya'ibad-e-ani asrafu illa anfusihim la taqnazumayah rahmatillah Inna Allaha yakfirudhuunu ba jami'a Inna hu'al kafooru rahim Say,
O my servants who have transgressed against themselves,
Do not despair of the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Indeed Allah forgives all sins.
Indeed it is He who is the forgiving,
The merciful.
It is He who answers the call of the distressed person when He invokes him and removes his distress.
He also says in Surat al-Aq that whoever becomes mindful of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
He will make for him a way out and He will provide for him from where he does not even expect.
So feel assured as you embark on this journey within that Allah is holding you tight in His embrace of light and unconditional love.
He holds you because of who He is,
Not because of who we are.
And now if you feel ready,
You may start the meditation.
