What it means to be human Sayyed Hosein Nasr

MAN IS ASLEEP AND WHEN HE DIES HE AWAKES

_Prophet alaihis salam.

INTRODUCTION

The message of Sufism is perennial because human nature is always human nature, beyond accidental changes of historical epochs and fashions of the day. Along the history of human it self, it will never change, in a sense, its already there, take a seat within human. And also a nature for human for the unavoidable questions since they have been being alive, that of Who we are or who am i , where we came from, what we are doing here, and we are we going?. These questions emerged since we were child in a simple mind until we are growing up, and thus demand answers from us to. ecause of this demand, along the history man seeks for the answer through many ways and acts that probably can not provide the answers and remain satisfied man. !n the traditional societies such answers always came from the teachings of religion, and to a great e"tent they still do for ma#ority of people in many parts of the world. They seek for answers by themselves, trying with their whole being to delve into the inner meaning of religion and wisdom. !n any case, how we choose to live in this world,$ how we act and think and how we develop the latent possibilities within us %depends totally on the answer we provide for ourselves to those basic questions of who we are, for human beings live and act for the most part according to the image they have of themselves. MAN IN SUFISM ( Marifatul Insan) &an' is one of discourses(perspectives of Sufism based on ontology. )iscourse of man in traditional perspective interested with identity of man. This perspective will lead us to find out the answer of human crisis.

What it means to be human Sayyed Hosein Nasr

&odern perspective will be to create identity of man. Since they have accumulated all of things into their self then it becomes identity, which related to other, outwardly. *n contrary, +eligious()ivine perspective sees a man with the full crowded of soul to come to the emptiness. So all you have to do is rediscovering original face. !ts an interiori,ations #ourney(travelling. +egarding that man already has identity, so it #ust an effort to recollect or refined your identity because it has covered by a mask. -rom the .reek tradition, personality synonyms to Mask. Asking for personality seems so suspicious that making us forget our self. /hen you open this face' then you see 0is face. So, identity of man in Sufism related to consciousness or being conscious of whom you really are, since surely we are what we think and are determined by our mind. 0uman .reek philosophy responses the question of what is man by analysis, where the man is became ob#ect of analysis, while Traditional /orld()ivine response to the question who am I by trying to look into self, who you really are. &an becomes a sub#ect and understanding self is becoming a #ourney or goes inside the self. !n this way which Sufism will be focused on. Answering those basic questions on human, surely provided by Sufism approaches, since Sufism addresses the path on the deepest level to the question of who they are in a manner that able to touch and transform their whole being. The Sufi 1ath is the means within the !slamic tradition on finding the ultimate answer to this basic question and of discovering our real identity. Universal Man 1erfect &an or merely 2niversal &an is not about becoming( to be perfect that you want to be or transforming to be, but returning to the starting point as you are already perfect but you are not aware. !n the beginning was consciousness and the end is consciousness.

What it means to be human Sayyed Hosein Nasr

1erfect &an can be defined into 3 &acrocosmis 3 1erfect human is not man. The comprehensive prototype in man so$called insan. &acrocosmis( all the universe is insan kamil in 0is manifestation. wa allama adama al asmaa k llaha . .od manifest 0imself e"terioritionally or in progressive materiali,ation into alam syahadah 4visible of present5. inni !a"il n fil ardh khalifah6.0e pro#ected 0imself physically. !n any case, 2niversal &an is the reality containing all the levels of the e"istence other then .od. !t includes all possibilities in each of those levels. &icrocosmic3 individually. 0e is insan kamil in a sense how he discovered himself to see the original face to be conscious of the universality within him self. This #ourney is interiori,ation. As you do d,ikir(remembrance, you are going inside, reabsorb. !n a sense, your heart must be aware, that you are in #ourney. !t is a reality that in those who have fully reali,ed. !i is androgynic prototype of the human state, both male and female. There e"ist a correspondence between the microcosm and the macrocosm. The universal &an is like mirror before .od, reflecting all 0is 7ames and 8ualities, and is also able to contemplate .od through eyes that are illuminated by the light of .od. UMAN NATUR!

9oncerning the 8uranic term ahsan taqwim, .od :created man as the most complete and perfect theophany, the most universal and all$embracing theater of divine hierophany, so that he may become the bearer of the divine trust 4amanah5 and the source of unlimited effusion:. And Sufi identifies asfal safilin with the world of natural passions and heedlessness. 0ence man at once bears the imprint of the :divine form:;he possesses a theomorphic nature according to

What it means to be human Sayyed Hosein Nasr

the hadith, :.od created man in 0is own image: 4khalaqa <lahadam =ala suratihi5 ;and fallen from this innate perfection which yet he cannot forget. !slam is certainly unveils the complete doctrine of our true nature and also the nature of the levels of reality issuing from the *ne, who alone is ultimately +eal, and provides teachings that practically lead into #oy and felicity.
#eril$ we come from %od and to &im is o r ret rning the 1rophet as said3 Whosever knows his self, knows his 'ord 3 that is, self knowledge leads to knowledge of the )ivine. Sufism takes this saying 4hadith5 very seriously and also puts it into practice.

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+eturning is going inside, returning means #ourney, which is in the language of !slamic thought both philosophy and mysticism, the first part of this #ourney of all beings from the Source is called the arc of descent' and the second part back to the Source the arc of ascent'. /ithin this vast cosmic we find ourselves on earth as human being. !n the beginning was consciousness', and it has no temporal end because in the end is consciousness'. *nce we discover who we are in the spiritual sense, we gain an insight into the mystery of where we came from before the caravan of our earthy life began its #ourney and also into the mystery of where we shall go after the end of this terrestrial #ourney. The Sufi 1ath is inward #ourney within the #ourney of life, while life itself is a #ourney within the #ourney of all beings in their return to the Source. The Sufi path is inward #ourney which goal is to know who we really are, from where we came, and where we shall go. !ts aim is also to know ultimately the nature of +eality, which is also Truth as such. Although man have aspect and e"periences on psychology, emotions, or even imagination 4that most people create them in the low level5, these all not defined us. /e are not determined by those forms as +umi says,

What it means to be human Sayyed Hosein Nasr

( )rother, tho ght are tho ght self *he rest of th$ )eing is ) t sinew and )one 4&athnawi, >3>?@5 *r as according to St. Thomas Aquinas, conforming Sufi teachings d o s nt in homine +*here are two in man,. The part of us that seeks to control our temper must be distinct and not determined by the part of our soul that is angry and needs to be controlled. The nature of man that is thought to think, here +umi means that the simply every day discursive thought, or conceptual knowledge can be wrong and lead to error. Thats why mystics have also spoken of unknowing' and stated e"plicitly that to reach the Truth, one must be tear the veil of thinking'. !n any case, Sayyed 0ossein 7asr said that while we have a mind, our true identity resides in an even deeper level of our being. This deeper level is the heart(intellect. !t is being the center of the human microcosm and also the organ of unitive knowledge associated with the intellect, but which can not associated with reason. The heart is also where )ivine +eality resides in men and women, for as the sacred hadith asserts, *he &eavens and the earth cannot contain Me, ) t the heart of m$ faithf l servant does contain Me. 0ere, at the very center of the heart is where we found the root of the !' and of answering the question of /ho am !A'. -or +umi said, in the heart there is room for only one !, which is both the root of our true self and the Self as such. /ho am ! A ! am the ! that having traversed all the stages of limited e"istence from the physical to the mental to the noumenal, has reali,ed its none"istence and by virtue of annihilation return to the )ivine +eality. -or 7asr, &an can know himself only by reali,ing his theomorphic nature. !t is only in remaining conscious of the divine imprint upon his soul that man can hope to remain human. *nly the attraction of the celestial can prevent man from being dragged by gravity to the abysses of subhuman e"istence. And it is a remarkable feature of the human state that no matter where and in what

What it means to be human Sayyed Hosein Nasr

condition he may be, man always finds above him the sky and the attraction which pulls him toward the !nfinite and the Bternal. What it means to be fully human To be fully human is to reali,e the source of whatever has been created and if you believe in .od, it is the acceptance to take care and watch over his creation. -irst we must reali,e that we are not finished pieces, but works in progress. Secondly, human nature varies, so the social conditions are always changing. <astly, technology is on the rise and we always use this in respect towards our 9reator and his creations. The principle of creativity is very similar, in the sense that we again must recogni,e the 9reator. /e cannot create out of nothing and for that reason we share in creation in an imperfect sense. /e also are limited in the sense that what we invent should never be used to dehumani,e. All creativity and inventiveness should be used for the glory and praise of .od. -inally, there is a cooperative task at hand, in which we should cooperate with the 9reator in all creation. -or e"ample, man and woman come together as one and through a procreative and unitive act their love is shown through a child. .od ever present allows conception and infuses a soul, and thus man and woman have cooperated with .od in bringing life into the world. To be fully human, therefore is to care for, watch over, cooperate with and share in .ods task at hand. 7asr means to be fully human is to be a .ods Servant is to reali,e our perfect servitude and to remove the veil of separative e"istence through spiritual practice so that .od, transcendent and immanent within us, can utter !'. The highest meaning of servanthood is truly the reali,ation of our nothingness' before .od. The significance of worship in relation to the human state very much emphasi,ed in 8uran surah al$ -atihah and almost commentaries by Sufis and repeated over and over. The te"t of the chapter itself begins with 1raise

What it means to be human Sayyed Hosein Nasr

be to .od' and this statement is on behalf of human beings although here it is uttered by .od. The word for praise is al-hamd, and the attitude inherent in it constitutes an essential aspect of being truly human. Also its significant that it penetrates the daily life of all &uslims. The opening Alhamdulillah may be said above all gratefulness for to be human. To be human is capable of hearing the word of .od and being considered worthy of receiving 0is revelation and guidance. According to the doctrine of 2niversal &an in Sufism, to be fully human is to reali,e, with the help of those who have already reali,ed the state of perfection, the reality of the 2niversal &an, which we all are potentially. To reali,e the state of 2niversal &an is turn to become veritable servant of the <ord, to be aware of our central state in this world as his vicegerent +khalifah,, to reali,e our fana, and finally through this annihilation of the ego, to reach with the light of the intellect within the Supreme Bssence, which alone is ultimately real.

*nly the person who has reached the center o his(her being and knows who he or she really is can be considered fully human and be really someone. 1arado"ically, however to become someone spiritually means also ultimately to become no one, nafs works through the personification of self. one means do not create personification of self. eing no

What it means to be human Sayyed Hosein Nasr

+eferences The .arden of the Truth, Sayyed 0ossein 7asr, 0arper 9ollins, >CC@ The Bssential Sayyed 0ossein 7asr Dst semester lecture on !slamic &ysticism !, The !slamic 9ollege3 *he .nthropolog$ of / fism, supervised by &uhammad aqir.