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m trying to say: “An atom’s weight of love is worth more than seventy years’ worship without love”:

Love is the Mortar of all Prayer

s we were coming to the mosque today I saw a billboard that read: ‘Everyone Needs Standards”. I didn't understand “ what this could mean, but just then the ra “arg traffic light turned red, so that we atonned right in front of the sign. Then I looked more closely and noticed that someone had vandal- ized the sign, and with a pen had crossed out “Standards”, and written instead: “Love not Stan- dards”, so that the billboard now read: “Everyone needs Love, not Standards’.

If one is open to wisdom he may take wisdom from every side, and so, Glory to Allah, this bit of vandalism has given me a topic for this lecture. Yes, that person was right, and this recalls to mind a saying of the Prophet Muhammad, upon whom be peace, in which he prayed to God:

“Oh Allah, I ask You to grant me the Love of You and the love of those whom You love, and grant me, Oh my Lord, the love of those actions which lead me to the love of You". To ask our Lord to open up our hearts to His Divine Love is the most important request we can make of Him in our prayers, as nothing can take the place of love. The Holy Prophet, who is called the Beloved of Allah, whom Allah created with the yeast of love, and whom Allah loved so much He dedicated the creation to him, even this beloved Prophet asked Allah for Divine Love — why? Be- cause who tastes of that love asks for more. Whose heart is like a rock will not ask God for this love, but those who have hac the slightest taste of that love know that it is the key to all spiritual prog- ress, to mercy, beauty, wisdom, to all favours that God may bestow upon His servants. Therefore, the Holy Prophet taught all mankind what is precious in this life.

And then his prayer continued: “And grant me the love of those who love You”. The first level, “Love of God”, is the Station of the Prophets, and you can’t step from the bottom of the stairway to the top in one step. Allah Almighty is the Tran- scendent Being — you can’t even begin to fathom anything about Him Almighty — but it is easy to love those who represent His Love among mankind, for it is much easier for us to begin to understand and love human beings like ourselves. You will find nothing in their hearts but the Love of God; therefore, loving them is a means to approach the Divine Love.

Lastly, the Holy Prophet asks for the love of those actions which lead to the love of God, actions which carry blessings with them, which soften our hoarts and weaken our greed and selfishness. These are the actions encouraged by our Lord through the example of His Prophets, actions ordered and recommended in His Holy Books. And, although in (he beginning our inner state may not correspond lo these saintly actions, by engaging our limbs in what pleases our Lord, He will strengthen our hearts thereby.

These are the three levels of love for which the Holy Prophet prayed, and the wisdom reflected in this prayer is proof enough of the veracity of Muhammad, peace be upon him. While Believers must always ask for that love, Satan is ever at war with such a notion, for he knows that once love has entered the heart of one of his slaves, that slave is lost to him, for he will not be able to snare him anymore with this world’s pleasures. He who has tasted that love may not even notice those pleasures, or may regard them as only a drop in an ocean.

Once, as Moses, upon whom be peace, was headed toward Mount Sinai, he passed the cave of a hermit. The hermit emerged and called after Moses: “Oh Moses, please ask our Lord to bestow upon me just an atom’s weight of His Divine Love’. Moses agreed to do this, then continued on his way. Later, when Moses was addressing his Lord, be petitioned on behalf of that hermit. The Lord replied: “I will gsrant that servant of My Divine Love, but not in

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the amount he requested. I will only grant him the tiniest fraction of an atom’s weight of that love”.

When Moses returned from the mountain, he quickly went to see what was happening to the hermit, to see what effect such a tiny dose of Div- ine Love might have had on him. When he arrived he was startled to see that where the cave had been a part of the mountain was blown away, anc in place of that cave there was a deep chasm in the Earth. “Ch servant of my Lord”, he cried out, “what has happened, where are you?” Then Moses looked down the chasm and saw the hermit sitting down there as if in another world, completely overwhelmed by that love.

Why cid that hermit ask for a portion of Divine Love? Because he was worshipping but feeling nothing; he felt an emptiness in his heart that could only be filled by that love. Without love, worship is tasteless and useless; therefore, we must be sure to build our worship upon a sirong foundation of love and to bake Jove into the bricks of the build- ing of our devotional practice. This is more than an analogy, for even physical buildings are either alive with the love of their builders, or dead from their hard -heartedness. Therefore, old buildings often emanate a good feeling because of the love and goodness of those who built them. This is es- pecially true of old mosques and churches, for their original congregations built them for the sake of their Lord's love and in an attitude of sincere piely.

There is often a very strong feeling of the Divine Presence in old mosques, but have you ever felt such an atmosphere in the new showpicce - of - ster- ile- architecture -mosques? No, it is impossible, you may feel only an inner contraction inside of such concrete hills. They have left the love out of the mortar: the most important ingredient is missing.

sme YF men A Lesson from Jbn Arabi's Fall off his Donkey

nee Sheikh Muhyuddin Ibn-al Arabi was riding on a donkey lat that time owning a donkey was like owning a Rolls Royce in our time-—not everyone could afford

= one!) surrounded by his disciples, pass- ing through the countryside in silence. All of a sudden, the donkey bucked, and Sheikh Muhyuddin fell to the ground, but his foot caught in the stir- rup so that, for a few paces, the donkey dragged him along on his face. Then the disciples rushed upon the donkey to free their Sheikh from this dangerous and undistinguished position, but he prevented them, saying: “Wait a moment until it becomes clear to me in what verse of the Holy Qur'an this event is mentioned.” In great distress the murids waited, obeying his wishes, until after a few moments he said: “Alright, now you may free me.” So they set him back on the donkey and con- tinued on their way.

Sheikh Muhyucddin was one of those who re- ceived the light of perception with which he could discover meanings hidden in the Holy Qur'an, as Allah Almighty says in the Qur’an:

= 95 “Oh people, you may find everything in this

Qur'an: large and small, wet and dry”.

Even this meeting must be mentioned there and also what we are saying. Perhaps to some of us this seems to be quite a claim, but just consider a drop of water: you may look and say: “This is just a drop of water, nothing more”. But were you lo put that drop under a microscope, you would be presented with quite a different picture. Because your view has changed, so has your thought, and you would say: “That drop is a sea, and so many things are swimming in it.” Where are they? You can't see them with the naked eye, but with the microscope you can see millions of bacteria, and even that is only a small number compared to what we know to be inside that drop, too small to detect with a simple microscope. Even with a microscope we are unable to see the molecules of water con- sisting of two atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen: even with an electronic microscope you can’t see this. And these atoms themselves consist of nuclei and electrons.

From ignorance one may say: ‘What is this talk? That is only a single drop of water’’, but sci- ence confirms what we say. The same is true of the Holy Qur’an, for it was revealed as a guide to all mankind, not just to a few people living at the time of the Holy Prophet in Mecca and Medina. It was given to all mankind for all epochs; and if life were to continue eternally on Earth, the Holy

a

Qur’an would still be relevant to the lives of those —

people of the future. Therefore, everyone must be able to derive benefit from the Ocean of the Holy Qur'an; but we are so pre-occupied with trivia that it is impossible for us to see for ourselves. If however, we can concentrate our spiritual powers we will have no trouble recognizing subtle signs.

The Holy Prophet himself had the most com- plete knowledge of the inner meanings of the Holy Qur'an, because of the Divine Attributes of per- ception that the Lord bestowed upon him. After him, the Friends of God, like Sheikh Muhyuddin, have also been awakened to the existence of these attributes within themselves. Sheikh Muhyuddin knew that all that occurs is pre-destined and does not happen by chance or accident. You can’t take one step out of that “divine program” — it is im- possible. When you understand this point you may live in contentment, and say: “I move in accordance with my Lord’s Will, and though I may make an intention to do something with my will, if He does not desire it to reach fruition, His Will will over- come mine’. And the same is true for something you would never desire like falling off of a donkey. If it is written for you nothing can prevent it.

Then Sheikh Muhyuddin recited the Holy Verse: “Say: Nothing will befall us except what Allah has written for us. He is our Lord’. You must believe that He Almighty is your Protector, your Saviour, and that He is guiding all things in the best of

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ways. He Almighty has informed us that this world is only a place of trials, that it is not all and every- thing, only a prelude to eternal life, therefore we must not blame Him for the vicissitudes of life, nor hate Him for creating a world that abounds in death, suffering and injustice. Rather, we must believe in His promise of final justice, and do our best to advocate justice in this realm, as He all mighty has ordered us: “Strive toward good ac- tions”. We must not believe that our Lord has des- tined evil for us. We must surrender to His Will, and we will attain inner peace, having the burden of the “worry for the morrow” lifted from our shoulders, Whoever believes that God is his saviour feels him- self in the best of hands, and will not succumb to hopelessness. Look, as long as you are a conscien- tious parent, your daughter is not too concerned about where her next meal is going to come from, nor whether she will have a warm bed to sleep in tonight. And though, as a good parent you may be training her to take on responsibility, requiring her to be of use in the kitchen or to make her own bed, everything is in order because you are cver- seeing her efforts. In the same way our Lord pro- vides us with all we need in our lives and the intelligence to use what He provides, overseeing our actions. We must, therefore, be at least as con- fident about our daily sustenance as that little giri,

This is the nature of our relationship with our

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Lord: He wills and we intend to follow His Will. If we are mad enough to oppose His will, that is our freedom of choice. Yes, He permits us, if so we desire, to declare in a boastful and obstinate way: “I'm going to do what I want”. But we are then only like people who are on a ship, walking from bow to stern, thinking that we are advancing in the opposite direction of the ship’s course.

The Holy Qur’an says: “He is the One guiding everything in its proper direction”. He who under- stands this will never indulge in saying, “If only”. One of the companions of the Prophet used to say: “TJ would rather eat fire than say ‘if only’”. Who- ever can leave that way of thinking behind him has found safety in surrender, and should find a whole new horizon opening out in front of him, a horizon free of envy, doubt, regret and worry.

Question: “How can we decide or be respon- sible for anything in our lives, when it is pre- destined whether we will go right or left?”

The Sheikh said:

Everything must be pre-destined, but, as we are mankind, Allah Almighty’s most highly hon- oured creatures, we have been honoured, and test- ed with the granting of our own personal will. We are not like other creatures, behaving strictly according to instinct, but have been honoured with the ability to consciously decide what we will do: whether we will try to accord with what we know to be His command (which has been revealed to

us through His Holy Books) or whether we try to rebel and go the destructive path,

As I said, we must always assume that our Lord has decreed the best for us, and we must never, therefore, excuse ourselves, saying: “God willed me to do evil’. We have our own personal will, and we must do our best with it, but whatever the case may be, we never escape our destiny, but move through it.

The train comes to a fork in the tracks: one track leads to Germany and the other to Switzer- land. The driver gives a signal as to which way he wants to go, and the switchman cooperates by putting him on whichever track he desires. That is an honour for us as human beings; that we are not animals to be tied and carried.

The best attitude is for us to say to our Lord: “Inspire me to do what is best’. For example, our brother offered to take me for a ride in these moun- tains. Since he knows these mountains best I will not tell him where to go, but will trust him to take me the most scenic route with the loveliest pan- orama. I] left my will to his, and he is taking me: and I trust that I should be pleased when I follow him. If I were to exercise my will and tell him where to go, I am sure that we would be lost very soon. He may ask me which of two scenic drives I prefer, and describe them, but he is not going to drive me over a cliff.

We are heavenly creatures, but tied to earth,

and to know what our Lord desires of us we must develop wings. To know your Lord’s will you must cut yourself off from thoughts of this world, and, if only for one minute, put yourself in the presence of your Lerd, and ask Him to show you the right way to follow in any matter. He Almighty may show you a red or a green light, that you may know whether to stop or to proceed (But in Turkey, whether the light is red or green we charge across the intersection!).

You must address your Lord: “Oh my Lord, You are powerful enough to do everything, while I am completely powerless. You know everything and I know nothing. I am in doubt about such- and-such a matter facing me in my life. Oh my Lord, if it is good for me open up the way to it, and if if is harmful please keep it from me. And I am asking You, Oh my Lord, for a clear sign to guide me in this matter.”

But to do this you must be serious, and it must be a matter of real importance; then, you must be genuinely confounded and open to guid- ance. You must take a shower and then go to a silent place where you won’t be disturbed, and ask your Lord for guidance. This is a method that any- one who is bewildered about his future course may use, and he should receive a clear signal in a dream or waking. There is only one condition: that you must not ask about anything that is already quite clearly indicated. If you come to a street which

aha says: “One Way” with an arrow pointing in the opposite direction, or a sign that says: “Dead End”, the signs are clear and there is no need to ask. There is no need to clarify what is already clear, but when you are confused ask your Lord and He will honour you with an answer.

tle who is without Shoes, Look at the one without Feet

f all of our ego's’. characteristics, without a doubt envy is the worst, for an envious person, even if he were in paradise would feel himself to be in hell. And the irony of this character- istic is, that the more enviable positions people seem to aitain in life, the more severely afflicted with envy they themselves become. Therefore, envy is most rampant among the rich and privileged who are disturbed by the fact that others may be even richer or of higher rank than themselves, and wish to be the only ones to possess everything. Among the common people envy of the rich is normal, but they don’t envy each other as much as the upper classes do.

Yes, it is ironic that those who are more edu- cated, who claim to have a better understanding than the masses should be blind to the harm they are inflicting upon themselves, oblivious to the fire that is rapidly burning them up. If they are so intelligent they should realize that their Lord brings people into this life and sets them in differ- ent conditions, and that despite the discrepancy in their outward ranks, all have been honoured by their Lord and bestowed with dignity. Whoever

— 46 — has been favoured with even the slightest degree of wisdom must know this and so be free of envy. God's Holy Prophets and their Inheritors, the riends of God, have always reminded mankind of (his fact: cach and every one of them has been honoured by being created as a human being, and need envy no one. Our Lord, in the Holy Qur’an, encourages us to not only understand this point, but to declare it openly, when He Almighty says:

“(Oh people), proclaim your Lord’s favours

unto you”.

We were nothing and our Lord brought us into existence; can there be any favour greater than this? And our Lord informs us that all things in existence are busy glorifying their Lord, even atoms, Atoms, too, have life, because without life it is impossible to be in existence. Perhaps we can say that the atoms’ life is of a very different kind from our own, but they are also perfect in their own right and are praising their Lord for the grant of that perfection.

Those who have attained certainty of faith, who have a light shining in their hearts, may perceive even inanimate objects glorifying their Lord. One of the miracles bestowed upon our Prophet Muhammad, upon whom be peace, was that, one day he held up a handful of pebbles and all those present were made to hear those pebbles glorifying their Lord. All of creation participates in this glorification: rocks, earth, water, plants,

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trees, leaves, flowers, fish, birds, ants, bees, roam Allah's spacious Earth, swim in His seas, fly in His skies, or to just be a part of that creation — all are grateful, except, that is, for dissatisfied mankind. The Hely Qur’an states: “Everything in existence glorifies Allah, you just don’t understand their glorification”, and also: “Hast thou not seen how to God bow all who are in the heavens and ail who are in the earth, the sun and the moon, the stars and the mountains, the trees and the beasts, and many of mankind? And many merit the chastisement: and whom God abases, there is none to honour him. Ged does whatsoever He will.”

Notice that ‘some of mankind” is the only exception to the rule. This is because all of creation is obedient to Allah by nature, and only mankind has been presented with the option to praise the Lord and to find inner peace or to be ungrateful and live in the hellfires of discontent and envy. So what about you, oh ungrateful mankind? You may own a Rolls-Royce and live in a splendid palace, but if you are ungrateful you are beneath the level of inanimate objects. And I am sorry to say that in our times widespread envy is destroying all humanity.

Nowadays, whoever is obliged to ride a bus is surely envious of car- owners; and how should it

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not be so with spiritual values in such a state of oclipse? A medieeval Persian Sufi poet, Sheikh Saadi Shirazi, wrote about a person who was so poor he was not able to afford a pair of shoes. This person used to complain incessantly about his condition, but the more he complained the less inclined anyone was to buy him shoes. One day he came across a person who had no legs, and this sight caused him to repent, saying: “Oh my Lord, thank you for giving me legs with which to walk!” Yes, we must consider the blessings we have been miven,

The other day I visited a man who is waiting to die of a terminal disease, a disease which does not leave him eat nor drink. If that person possessed all the gold contained in the Bank of England, do you not think that he would gladly give it all if he thought he could thereby prolong his life? Does anyone think that he would refuse? You must con- sider what you have been given! Would any of you agree to give me both of your eyes in exchange for all that gold, or even if, in exchange, I were to make you king of the world? (Now if I offered such power or wealth for one eye, so many foolish people would readily agree!) Of what use would that kingdom be to you then? You would be known as “the blind king’.

But people are foolishly saying: “Why does that person own a Rolls-Royce and not I?” “Why does he live in a palace and I live in a flat?” “Why does

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he own a business and I have to work for wages?” “Why is that person a queen and lama subject?” You must be thankful that Allah Almighty put Her Majesty the Queen on that throne! A wise man observed: “Allah has placed His slaves in the pos- itions He has chosen for them.”

One of history’s most renowned Sufi Sheikhs, and one of the golden Nagshbandi chain of trans- mission, Abu Yazid al-Bistami, Sultan al-Arifin, was once passing through a narrow alley with his followers. All of a sudden a small dog appeared at the other end and was alarmed at the emergence of so many people; then Abu Yazid stepped aside in order a let the dog pass, and his followers did the same. Someone said to him: “Oh Aba Yazid, you are a distinguished Grandsheikh, and you are walk- ing with your respectable entourage how can you give way to a dirty dog?” Then Abu Yazid replied, and in his answer is to be found a lesson for all humanity: “Oh my sons, when that dog appeared and saw his way blocked by so many formidable figures, he said to me, ‘Oh Sheikh, don’t be proud of being a Sheikh and a man, thinking yourself above me in station. No, you must know that we are equals in creation, for it is only the Creator - yours and mine- who dressed me in the form of a dog, and J am grateful and pleased with my Lord. He dressed you in a human form; you didn’t cre- ate it yourself, so don’t be proud!’ When it was ad- dressing me in this manner I felt ashamed in front

—-- 5O — of my Lord and knew that it is wrong to look down on any creature, as if is Allah who created each one.

Once I was walking with our Grandsheikh through the streets and noticed a rock lying in the road, Since it is a meritorious action to remove such obstacles from the way, I decided to move if, but being too lazy to bend down and take it away with my hand, I just kicked it aside with my foot. Then Grandsheikh reprimanded me, saying: “Oh Nazim Efendi, you must never do that again. You must consider Who brought that rock into exist- ence, and so maintain for it proper respect.”

Such vision is the vision of the People of Truth, those who have perfectly grasped the teach- ings of Islam, and that perfect understanding leads one to respect everyone and everything in exis- tence. And if such is the level of respect maintained for a dog or a rock, what about our relations with our fellow man? How can envy live among real believers? It is impossible. But we are only imi- tators: that is why envy spreads through the world community like cancer through a body, and now that cancer is attacking individuals, nations and the whole world.

Know that it is only this rotten characteristic that is preventing you from attaining the break- through. Leave envy and you may approach your goal, and the nearness of Angels, Prophets and the Friends of God.

— 51 — Our Stand Against all Cruelty

bu Yazid al-Bistami, a giant among our Grandsheikhs, omce explained » that Islam, in its essence, is built upon % two great pillars; that everything we are exhorted to do or to believe in can be understood as falling into two broad categories. One pillar is the acceptance of Allah as our Su- preme Lord, and our striving to both respect His exalted Station and recognize our true position as His humble servants. The second pillar is our being merciful, our showing compassion tcewards all of God's creatures,

These two categories encompass every aspect of our lives; and when we evaluate our actions according to the spirit of these broad principles, we may derive benefit from Islam in the way it was intended.

Everything we do must be dedicated to our Lord: that is why we initiate all our actions with the invocation of His Attributes of Mercy, as Allah Almighty Himself invoked these attributes of mercy when revealing the first verses of the Holy Qur'an {and when revealing succeeding chapters), by saying: “In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Beneficent and Most Munificent’. Invoking these attributes of mercy is the key to success

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und the acceptability in the Divine Presence of our deeds of mercy towards our fellow creatures. You must always remain aware that without His Divine Help you can’t succeed in any attempt at good actions. Indeed, without His suppori you can move neither hand nor foot,

Now that you have devoted your life and all of your deeds to your Lord, invoking always His Attributes of Mercy, you must strive to show pity to all creatures. And even if you need to kill any creature you must do so as painlessly as possible. That is why there is a very specifically prescribed method of slaughtering animals for food, a way that involves the least suffering for the victim. When we carefully observe that ancient method of slaughtering we incur no guilt, buf now people are so careless and so heedless of these Divine Instructions and of the suffering of the victim, that they risk being blamed by their Lord for their cruelty.

Even when exterminating harmful insects or animals, it is necessary to do so in the most painless way possible. And it is absolutely forbidden in Islamic Law to kill any living thing by fire. Allah Almighty has reserved for Himself the right to burn who has earned such a fate in the fires of hell: He Almighty has extended that right to no one else. It is forbidden to burn fields because of all the insects that are burned in the process, and most emphatically it is forbidden to kill any human being

sas meen

by fire. Neither is it permissible in the case of ex- ecution (No burning at the stake!) nor in the case of war (No guns, no bombs!). But now Nations are preparing to burn up the entire world with fire. All modern weapons are basically fire - arms: that is prohibited. First of all, it is only permissible to wage war when all attempts at a peaceful settle- ment have been exhausted, and then only with. cold iron -spears, swords, etc. Fire is only for cooking and heating.

We must be merciful. Don’t even step on an ant without reason: it lives too and sees that you are approaching to kill it, feels fear and tries to escape. It feels pain and fears death, therefore it runs away. You must remember that it too glorifies the Lord, and so, if it doesn’t harm you, you mustn’t kill it, and if you do you will be held accountable. The message of Islam is mercy for all creatures, and mercy is the underlying theme of the teachings of all Sufi teachers.

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Golden Coin and Golden Rule: Both Have Turned into Daper

mem en Allah Almighty created Adam, He caused a rain of trouble to sprinkle on him for forty years, then He caused a

os rain of ecstasy to shower upon him for one year. Therefore, man may find such a pro- portion of suffering to pleasure throughout his life. How does our Lord cause trouble to manifest through the course of our lives? Through our con- tact with other people. We are destined to con- stantly have to deal with others, most of whom are mainly interested in fulfilling their own desires without much regard for anyone else’s well - be- ing.

It is our fate to be given a nature that requires social contact with our fellow humans. And even if each person were to have a mountain to himself, in order to remain far removed from the bother and trouble caused by social life, we would find people abandoning their retreats and secking each other’s company in the valleys.

Why is it that people, though drawn to each other, often would like to flee from human associ-

55 — ation? Each person has his own will and his idea of how things should be done, and it is most diffi- cult to obtain another's compliance with those wishes, to influence him into doing what you want done. If you can come to exercise authority over a small circle of people, the nuclear family for example, your influence decreases immediately when we pass to the next circle of relations, the extended family. And so on down the line: the far- ther people are removed from your direct influ- ence, the more difficult to assert one’s authority or advocate one’s position - and one weak link in the chain will cause the complete rupture of that chain of influence. Therefore, your ability to make others conform to your wishes is limited, and this is a cause of preat frustration for people.

When Adam and Eve were alone they were able to agree that Adam would have ultimate auth- ority in matters, and when they had children they de- ferred to his authority, but when the world started to be populated by bis grandchildren and great - grandchildren, his authority waned and _ they became rebellious, By the time he died he had re- alized how powerless he was.

Everything that happens to mankind in general, every current that passes through affects our personalities. Some of these currents build in us inner force and rectitude, others cause these qualities to vanish. 1 is our challenge to face them all and to strengthen our personalities in any case:

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you must be firm enough to face every event, the wood and the bad alike. You may seek to escape (rom disliked circumstances, but usually, in the process of fleeing you will come up against some- thing even more formidable. We have a saying: ‘He fled from the rain to the hail’. You may af- firm the truth of this saying from your own experi- once. But what can we do? We can only learn forbearance: to increase in spiritual fortitude through being patient with the harm inflicted by others. If we react to every evil we will be burned up with rage, and will have gained nothing. What we need to be able to attack evil is, first of all, a “cool head” not clouded by impulsive rage. This is what all Prophets through all epochs have taught. The great source of suffering in the twentieth contury is impatience. Especially in the West pa- Lience has become a virtually extinct characteristic, and, contrary to being encouraged by society, even in theory, it is scorned and seen as being the attribute of stupid and exploited people. People in the “free world” are taught that they must demand, and have the right to demand, everything immedi- ately, and even, ideally, for it to appear in front of them before they ever thought of desiring it- that is efficiency. To call such a society “Twentieth century civilization” is a misnomer, for civilized people are patient, and real civilization tries to instil patience by esteeming it as a virtue. Because this quality is lacking, the higher peo- ple’s standard of living climbs, the more they come to expect everything to be instantly available to them at the touch of a button or flick of a switch, and when anything, God forbid, should go wrong, they are infuriated by the delay of what they expect to be instantly provided. It is terrible to even think about the condition people would be in if their systems were to fail on a larger scale: they haven't the slightest idea of how to provide them- selves with what they need for their lives. If their machines cease to function they will die-that is all.

An even uglier aspect of this trend is that people are not satisfied just to have everything available at their fingertips, but want to have every- thing for themselves to the exclusion of others, to have a monopoly of all wealth and pleasure. With such characteristics how shall anyone be happy? Modern education and the values passed through the media give the signal: “Go out and get what you want; if you can grab it, it is yours, that is only fair’. What we need to understand is that each has his portion, that what is yours is yours and what is his is his. How many of your possessions can you carry on your back? Even a moneybelt is bothersome: so how shall you carry someone else's portion? If you attempt to eat even one other person's portion you will be sick, and if you wear another's clothing in addition to your own you will be too hot. To begrudge people their portions

— 58 — is excessively stupid, the way to destroy your health and your soul.

We are in need of a different kind of education, an education that teaches us that everything in this life has been apportioned to its owner through Divine Wisdom, but instead we are encouraging such bad attributes that every good others enjoy is a thor
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