Kindle The Flame of Love – Iman Center, Los Angeles, USA
The following is a transcript of Spiritual Sufi Revivalist Younus Algohar’s speech at the Iman Foundation for the spiritual heart opening event in Los Angeles, USA.
I would like to share my energies and whatever spiritual knowledge I have with you. I hope today that as we share our energies and we go back home the hope that you have in your hearts in increased and love blossoms more. I hope you take this responsibility individually upon yourself to bring a change in international societies, in this world.
Peace is a ring of love.
This will happen when the hearts are united and each one of us knows, ‘I am not greater or better than others’. When we realise that we all have the same potential invested in us by the supreme power who created us. When we come to this realisation that we are all one and equal in the eyes of the one who created us.
Initially, all humanity was one. When God created Adam and Eve, there were no differences. They were all brothers and sisters to each other. With the passage of time, when God introduced more prophets, one after the other, we happened to be diversified. We were divided into many different religions and races. With a widespread progeny of Adam, languages evolved, differences increased to a point where now, we have forgotten that we are the creation of the same God.
On one side of the story, we have become so scientifically advanced. We have set our foot on the Moon and we are thinking about going to Mars. On the other hand, spiritually, we have become so shallow-witted. We cannot see that everybody is calling upon the same God with different names. Whether it is Ram, Wahe Guru, Bhagwan, Elohim, Yahweh or God.
All these different religions were not created by God to make differences. They were like different pathways leading to one singular destination ultimately God.
Whether it was Abraham, Moses, Jesus, or Prophet Mohammad, the purpose and the principal was always the same: to love and worship God – and also to love humanity, and take care of each other.
God granted every messenger two different types of knowledge: knowledge of the exterior and knowledge of the interior. The knowledge of the exterior teaches us how to discipline our body, live physically and live in perfect peace and harmony with our fellow men. Then interior knowledge was to enable us to recognise God, connect with God and find peace in our hearts.
It has been very unfortunate that in every religion, after some time, the most important knowledge, spiritual knowledge, became extinct. Their practices of religion became futile.
Let me quote here Prophet Mohmmad, the Prophet of Islam. He said, ‘O’ Sons of Adam, there is a lump of flesh in your body. If it is set right, your entire body will be set right. But if it is corrupted, your entire body will remain corrupted. Remember well: it is your heart’.
We have God’s name on the tip of our tongue, but we have no place for the name of God in our heart, where God is supposed to be.
We can easily give our heart to our girlfriend, wife and/or our children, but we never think of giving our heart to the Lord. The place of love is our heart. I must tell you what my master said about love.
My master, Lord Ra Riaz Gohar Shahi said, ‘if you want to love somebody, bring that somebody in your heart, because the place of love is your heart. Whoever comes inside your heart, you will begin to love them’.
But we do not know how to bring God in our hearts. We do not even know where God is. No offence to any religion but according to all celestial books, ‘God is everywhere’.
We have faith, we believe that, but that belief is out of fear. This faith is not based on our observation. If God was everywhere, there wouldn’t be so much strife in this world. But then again, since all the divine dignitaries in the world said that God is everywhere, you feel really shaky and shivery to deny the fact. At the same time, we can’t even accept it because we don’t see God everywhere. We don’t see God in any place, let alone seeing God everywhere.
We’re supposed to have faith, but this faith is not going to help us until our faith is based on our observation.
Feeling, personal experience. If God is not inside you then he is nowhere. The first place where God must be is your heart.
According to the Quran, God said, ‘I am nearer to you than your jugular vein’.
That’s good news, but if God is nearer to everybody than their jugular vein, why is there so much hatred in this world? How can you have God in you and still behave evilly and selfishly? Did God’s presence have no impact on you?
We have this problem because those who interpreted the religion were not spiritually competent enough to interpret the divine word. We have to bring God in our hearts, only then will God be nearer to us than our jugular vein. This will not happen before bringing him in our heart.
I do not see any difference between the Bible, Quran, Talmud and Torah because they are all God’s word. It came from the same God.
All these wonderful, beautiful celestial books have been misinterpreted. On top of that, we have been deprived of spiritual knowledge. The intuitive understanding of the Quran and the Bible is missing. Intuition doesn’t come by reading books.
In this day and age, a majority of those who come to you in the garb of a Sufi are businessmen. They do not know what Sufism is. Religion has become a wonderful business: you dress up like a Sufi, go around the world collect donations, come back home and have a wonderful lifestyle. You are as hateful as ever and the people who rely on you spiritually have been misguided. They kept their faith in you and they are getting nothing out of this practice. This has been going on.
I’m not a priest, I’m not a religious man, but I am a Sufi. When I was in college, I did my masters in Organic Chemistry. I never went to a religious school. This is not my job that I’m doing right now, but I had to take up this job. When I was introduced to His Divine Eminence Gohar Shahi, I was completely fed up with my religion. I grew up in a Muslim family, and the reason I was completely fed up with my religion was because of the different denominations. There are so many different sects and every single sect has a different ideology. My mind was confused. I didn’t know what was right and what was wrong.
It was not the only religion made subject to sectarianism. The same thing was done to Christianity and Judaism. This all happened when spirituality was denied in those religions.
When spirituality is forgotten and you are deprived of the only knowledge which can connect you with God, you become a godless man.
When you become a godless man, you lack empathy and compassion. In place of love you, develop hatred. In place of forbearance, you develop an intolerance. You cannot coexist with others. That is the ‘gift’ of having a lack of spiritual knowledge.
We are living in a very, very strange world where everything is upside down. We have been diversified into different nations. We are known by the colour of our skin. What a pity! We are known by our races. What a pity.
The soul doesn’t have a colour. The soul doesn’t have a race. The only colour the soul will have is the colour of love.
The element of unification is inside our hearts and souls. We are divided simply because our hearts and souls are not awakened and enlightened.
The element of unification is not sinking into our character because the source of unification is dormant.
The soul is not enlightened or awakened.
Every word of the Quran, Bible, Torah and Talmud is very powerful. But today, we don’t see that power.
If you have pain, you take painkillers. You take two tablets of Panadol and anticipate the pain to disappear within 30 minutes. What if the pain doesn’t go away? Will you keep taking the same tablets? No. You will wonder why the tablets are not working.
Suppose you have been following and practising your religion for 10-20 years and you still hate people, lack empathy and are cruel. In that case, you have to ask yourself: what happened to your religious practice – your constant repetition of God’s name? How can you claim to love God while you still hate God’s create and live a fraudulent lifestyle?
Don’t you anticipate the pain will go when you take two Panadol tablets? Yes, you do. Then why don’t you anticipate love will arrive when you practise a religion?
We practise a religion today, not because we know why we should need a religion, but because we seemed to inherit the religion from our parents. We should ask ourselves, ‘What benefits will I reap out of following this religion, why should I practise it?’
If you don’t know why you practise a religion then it’s very pitiful. This is exactly what’s happening today. You need religion to reach God. You need religion to open your heart. You need religion to get rid of the evil presence in your body. You need religion to connect with God.
If the practice of religion doesn’t help you connect with God, then you are better off without having any religion at all.
But I’m also telling you why religious people are hateful people these days. Why religions have become monsters. This is because the knowledge of spirituality, which is responsible for connection with God, is absent in the church, mosque, synagogue and Hindu temple. If that knowledge which connects you with God is introduced again – and with the power of spirituality, once again you feel connected with God, I’m sure you will be proud of who you are.
Lord Jesus Christ said, ‘I am the way to God’.
Similar things were said by all the messengers. The main purpose of adopting a religion is to make that religion a bridge between you and God so that you may become a Godly person.
When you eat an orange or banana, you peel off the outer peel first. Similarly, the outer practice of religion is its outer skin; and inside is spirituality.
I have come here to tell you that today that we have a new form of Sufism: Sufism without a religion. Direct contact with God through spiritual means: Neo Sufism.
In order to feel and be connected with God, the true gateway is the heart.
There is a dedicated soul sitting dormant on the physical heart. It is responsible for connection with God. A true Sufi is one who has the authority and ability to enlighten and awaken it. Every single human being has this soul in their breast.
Some people have their souls enlightened. They are the people who show compassion, empathy and love. They want unification. They do not hate anybody; they embrace everybody.
Why are some people like that – while others talking about division and hatred? Those who talk about compassion, empathy, love and forbearance are those who manifest the divine characteristics in their character. Their hearts and souls are enlightened. Those who promote hatred, who like divisions, are those who have been deprived of the activation and the enlightenment of the soul. As a result, the divine characteristic do not manifest in them.
This soul, upon its enlightenment and awakening, will not only repeat God’s name constantly (even when you are sleeping), but this will also produce divine energy. It will then mingle in your bloodstream and reach every nook and cranny of your body. It will purify, energise and illuminate your entire body.
Once this happens, all the attributes and characteristics of God will manifest in your heart. You will have an enormous amount of compassion for everybody.
God equally blesses those who believe in him and those who do not believe in him. A Sufi is the same; whether you praise him or swear at him, he doesn’t hurt or harm anybody. You will reap the benefits of his presence, whether you like it or dismiss it.
So I’m here today – not just to tell you that there is a soul sitting on your heart and it is dormant – but also to tell you that I have some people with me who have been delegated to awaken that soul. This is not my business. I’m not going to charge anything. There is no commitment here.
This is a simple message of love: a message of unification, of finding God again. It is about the purification of the heart and elimination of negativity and all evil from our character. This will happen when that dormant soul on the heart is awakened. I’m telling you today that we have the method. I am not just talking about the disease, I’m also giving you the medicine.
I’m not asking you to adopt any religion. If you are a Christian, remain to be a Christian. If you are a Jew remain to be a Jew. If you are a Hindu or a Sikh, remain to be a Hindu or Sikh. Everybody is right, but what is missing in everybody’s life and religion is spirituality. So I am just here to talk everybody up with spiritual knowledge: to fill the gap and to fill the hearts with the divine energy.
A Hindu needs to be a good Hindu. A Sikh needs to be a good Sikh. A Muslim needs to be a good Muslim. A Christian and a Catholic need to be a good Christian and Catholic.
All of these religions are good. However, today, religions are sick. They need medicine: the medicine of spirituality.
Spirituality is more important than religions because our reality is not our body. Before we were born into this world, we did not have this physical body. After our departure from this world, we will not have this body. It is only with us for a brief period of time. Our reality is our soul.
Isn’t it foolish to just concentrate on our body? To make our body say ‘Allah’, ‘Ram’, ‘Jesus’, ‘Moses’ or ‘Abraham’ while our souls are kept in the dark? When we have done our time in this world, we return to the higher realms and we are asked who we are but our souls are dormant. It is our souls that need to be awakened and need to take God’s name.
My religion is love and humanity. I love all and I want all to love all. I know this is difficult, but this difficulty can be removed if you embrace spirituality. We need to learn to love.
Love is a big word. Love is not easy. You need to make a lot of sacrifices for love to survive.
When we make sacrifices for love to stay, we are troubled. When we are troubled and tested, we grow tired; then we gain our strength from our heart.
There is a constant battle between the mind and the heart; intellect and love. Whatever in you is stronger will win the race. Let’s make our heart stronger so that love finally wins.
QUESTION: There are some major dark forces that have hijacked this planet and are taking control of every system here. What do you say about that?
There are so many dark forces. So we need to become part of the light forces. Only then we can combat darkness. The more hearts are enlightened, the bigger the force [of light] will become. We will only be unified and united when our hearts are united. When our hearts have this divine energy then we will not see any difference between each other. Otherwise, if you keep sitting idle, and we do not become part of the love forces – then obviously, the dark forces will take over one day completely.
We have to do something practical. What you can do today is take one step towards becoming part of the light forces – the forces of love – by initiating your heart. Let your heart be introduced to divine energy, divine light, divinity. Become part of this love force, enlighten the heart.
You have that spark of love in every heart. All you need to do is light it up. Kindle it today with the Activation of the Heart.
It has always been prominent and stronger than the positive forces. Negativity is all around us. Even though we have this potential, we are not inclined towards becoming part of the love force; we will embrace love only when our hearts are enlightened. Without the enlightenment of the heart, without finding a source of energy, we will always be spiritually sick and weak.
Today we are afraid of the dark energies because we do not have light in our hearts. When we have light in our heart and we are connected with God, we will develop confidence. No matter how strong the dark forces are, we will win. We will keep lighting the flame of love in all the hearts. We have to hurry, and light up the flame of love in all hearts one by one – until we see the entire universe is lit up with the flame of love. We only recognise love, we do not look at each others colour of skin, races, and nationalities. The bond of love is in the heart.
Love will anchor in the heart, not outside the heart.
No matter how many times we say the name of God with the tip of our tongue, it’s not going to help us. The only time God’s name will help us is when God’s name is inserted in our heart.
This is what the Bible said, ‘Love your lord, love your God, with all your heart, with all your soul’. Luke 10:27
We read it every day, but we don’t understand it. We don’t know how to love the Lord with the heart and the soul. We take it for granted that we love God in our hearts, even though the hearts don’t know anything. This is where we make a mistake.
If the heart is supposed to love God, then we should know how the heart should love God. Do you think in the Bible God asked you to love him? No, he’s asking your hearts and souls to love him. Our souls are in some kind of wilderness of ignorance and dormancy while our bodies are active. This is why we claim we love God, even when our body is engaged in hatred.
We need to kindle the flame of love in the heart.
That’s the most important thing.
QUESTION: What techniques do we use to kindle the heart?
It is a spiritual transmission. On this physical heart, there is a soul, the Spiritual Heart, that is especially dedicated to communication with God. What we do is transmit divine energy spiritually.
For a mobile phone, we need two things: a connection and power. If the phone is not charged, we cannot use it. If it has no service, we cannot make calls. Similarly, for the Spiritual Heart, we need a service provider who will connect the heart with God, and we need to keep our heart fully charged and energised. Messengers like Jesus, Moses and Abraham were like connection providers. The power in the heart comes by repeating God’s name.
There is a system provided by God, and that is the basis in Sufism: the remembrance of God, glorifying God. When we repeat Gods name inside the heart, it generates divine energy. It charges up the heart and then, with the connection, we communicate with God. Whatever we have in our hearts – all our ideas, thoughts, everything – through the heart, will reach God. God will reply and his replies will come onto the screen of our hearts. This is how we will receive messages from God.