There is nothing else but God.

One of my clients said that he was "drifting in and out" during the session and he felt as if he was talking with someone. So we spoke about "having conversations."

I said that every conversation we have is a conversation with God. Because God expresses Itself through everything and everyone.


Then I remembered the sufi zikr. Sufi are muslim mystics, e.g. if you ever saw whirling dervishes or read Rumi poetry? They are all sufi trained. Although sufis are organized into schools, their teaching is not organized religion, it is mysticism, so it has as its goal this Unity with God. Zikr is either a loud chant or mental whisper, something like Hindu mantras or Buddhist chants or Christian chants.

So, this zikr is the basic one, and the person can just repeat it aloud and ponder it all the time:

THERE IS NOTHING ELSE BUT GOD.

The original is: la ilaha illa 'llahu. Someone who is into organized religion would translate it as: there is no god but Allah and Mohamad is his only prophet. But the deeper meaning is that 'there is nothing else but God.'

True mystic say that it means:

La illaha
Nothing other than God Exists.

Il Allahu
You alone are God.

Meaning: everything is God and so there is nothing else but God.

THere is nothing else but God...

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So if God is all that there is, all around me and in me, how do I treat it then?
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Read what Bawa has to say.
http://www.bmf.org/sufi/?gclid=CIPTidm355UCFQJNagodGmsMeA




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Here are some other sufi zikrs:

Subhana-Allah! "Holiness be to God!"

Alhamdu li-Allah! "Praise be to God!"

Allahu akbar! "God is great!"

Or 2 and 3 togheter:
Subhanna 'llahi bi-hamdi-hi! "Holiness be to God with His praise."


Meditation:
Allahu haziri, "God who is present with me."

Allahu naziri, "God who sees me."

Allahu ma'i, "God who is with me."

Having recited this zikr, either aloud or mentally, the worshiper proceeds to meditate upon some verse or verses of the Koran. Those recommended for the Qadiriyah Faqirs by Maulavi Shah Waliyu 'llah are the following, which is considered most devotional and spiritual by Muslim mystics: -

"He (God) is first. He is last. The Manifest, and the Hidden, and who knoweth all things." Suratu 'l-Hadid (57:3)

He (God) is with you wheresoever ye be." Suratu 'l-Hadid (57:4)

"We (God) are closer to him (man) than his jugular vein." Suratu Qaf (50: 16)

"Whichever way ye turn, there is the face of God." Suratu 'l-Baqarah (2:109)

"God encompasseth all things." Suatu 'n-Nisa (4:125)

"All on earth shall pass away, but the face of thy God shall abide resplendent with majesty and glory." Suratu 'r-Rahman (55:26,27)


REciting the zikr and meditation awakens the heart.
"The heart, in this manner, is kept constantly occupied with the idea of the Most High God: it will be filled with awe, love, and respect for Him; and, if the practiser arrives at the power of continuing to effect this when in the company of a crowd, the zikr is perfect. If he cannot do this, it is clear that he must continue his efforts. The heart is a subtle part of the human frame, and is apt to wander away after worldly concerns, so that the easier mode of arriving at the proceeding is to compress the breath, and keep the mouth firmly closed with the tongue forced against the lips. The heart is shaped like the cone of a fir-tree; your meditations should be forced upon it, whilst you mentally recite the zikr. 'Let the "La" be upward, the "ilaha" to the right, and the whole phrase "La ilaha illa 'llahu" (There is no God but Allah) be formed upon the fir-cone, and through it pass to all the members of the whole frame, and they feel its warmth. By this means, the world and all its attractions disappear from your vision, and you are enabled to behold the excellence of the Most High. Nothing must be allowed to distract your attention from the zikr, and ultimately, you retain by its medium, a proper conception of the Tawhid, or Unity of God.

"The cone-shaped heart rests in the left breast and contains the whole truth of man. Indeed, it signifies, the 'whole truth'; it comprises the whole of man's existence within itself and is a compendium of man; mankind, great and small, are but an extension of it, and it is to humanity what the seed is to the whole tree which it contains within itself: in fine, the essence of the whole of God's book and of all His secrets is the heart of man. Whoever finds a way to the heart, obtains his desire. To find a way to the heart is needed by a heartfelt service, and the heart accepts of the services of the heart. It is only through the fatigues of water and ashes that the Murid reaches the conversation of the heart and the soul; he will be then so drawn towards God, that afterwards without any difficulty, he may without trouble, in case of need, turn his face from all others towards the Tark (the abandonment of the world), the Haqiqat (the truth), the Hurriyat (the freedom), and the Zikr the recital of God's names and praises)."

Propher Mohammad said:

# The best expressions are these four:

Subhana Allahi "Holiness be to God!"
al-Hamdu Lillahi "Praise be to God!"
La ilaha illa Allah "There is nothing else but God."
Allahu akbar "God is great!"

and it does not matter with which of them you begin.

# Verily I like repeating these four expressions: O Holy God! Praise be to God! There is no deity but God! And God is Great! better than anything upon which the sun shines.

# There are two expressions light upon the tongue and heavy in the scale of good works, and they are, "O holy God! Praise be to Thee!" and "O Holy God! The Mighty One!"

# Reciting "O Holy God" is half the scale of good works, and reciting "God be praised" fills the scale. The recital of "There is no deity but one," removes the curtain between the worshipper and his God.

# He who recites with an unsullied heart, "There is no deity but God," shall have the doors of heaven open for him until he reaches the throne of God, as long as he abstains from great sins.