The Universal Worship is a sacred ritual offered in a religious atmosphere in which candles, Holy Scriptures and prayers depict the message of the unity of all religious ideals, known and unknown to the world at large. During this ritual, candles are lit to symbolise the Divine Light originally kindled in each religion, and the Holy Scriptures are placed side by side on one single altar. Readings from the scriptures reveal that the same message has been expressed in different words all down the ages, as all have been inspired by one and the same Truth. The prayers said during the Universal Worship inspire a devotional attunement to the great Masters and Prophets, whose names are invoked as rays of the Divine Light shining in all forms and all beings. A sermon is given describing the purpose of the Universal Worship, the mission of which is to spread the Sufi Message of Spiritual Liberty in an atmosphere of devotion. The Universal Worship ends with a blessing, given in an attunement to the Sufi invocation, ‘Toward the One, the perfection of Love, Harmony and Beauty, the only Being, united with all the illuminated souls who form the embodiment of the Master, the Spirit of Guidance.’
Melbourne
Universal Worship Services are usually held on the 3rd Sunday of each month at 2.30pm.
At Rhu Na Craig 136 Hawdon St. Heidelberg Vic
Next Universal Worship will be on 15th February 2009 at 4pm
The Topic to be decided.
We read from the World scriptures on the Subject of Renewal in the Hand of God.
We read from the Hindu scriptures – Divine Wisdom
Chandogya Upanishad, VI, xiv, p 139
A certain man was led blindfold from the land of the Gandharas and left in an uninhabited place. He was tossed around, whether east or north or south or west he did not know, for he had been brought there blindfold and been abandoned blindfold.
Then a certain man came up to him and removed the bandage from his eyes, saying, The land of the Gandharas is in that direction; that is the direction you should take.
And so being a sensible man, he went from village to village asking his way, and once he had been shown the way he arrived home in the land of the Gandharas.
So too does the man who has a teacher to show him the way know that he will arrive home.
We read from the Buddhist scriptures – Divine Compassion
Introduction: II: 2, 4-5, pp. 1-2
The Buddha, our Lord, brings comfort to the weary and sorrow-laden; he restores peace to those who are broken down under the burden of life. He gives courage to the weak when they would fain give up self-reliance and hope.
There is balm for the wounded, and there is bread for the hungry. There is water for the thirsty, and there is hope for the despairing. There is light for those in darkness, and there is inexhaustible blessing for the upright.
Heal your wounds, ye wounded, and eat your fill, ye hungry. Rest, ye weary, and ye who are thirsty quench your thirst. Look up to the light, ye that sit in darkness; be full of good cheer, ye that are forlorn.
We read from the Zoroastrian scriptures – Divine Purity
Yasna 31: 11, p. 85
O Mazda, from the beginning You fashioned for us
physical bodies, an awakened conscience
and a directive intelligence through Your own Mind.
You infused life breath into mortal forms.
You granted us capacities to act and true teachings to guide us
So that we could choose to be with You or against You.
We read from the Jewish scriptures – Divine Law
Jeremiah 18: 1-7
1-2 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.”
3-4 So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.
5-7 Then the word of the Lord came to me: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as the potter has done? says the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel…”
We read from the Christian scriptures –
Divine Self-Sacrifice
Acts 9:3-9, p. 137
3 Now as Paul journeyed he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed about him.
4 And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
5-6 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting; but rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”
7 The men who were travelling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.
We read from the scriptures of Islam – Divine Unity
Sura 24: 30 something – pg. 233
God is the light of the heavens and of the Earth. His Light is like a niche in which is a lamp – the lamp encased in glass – the glass, as it were, a glistening star.
From a blessed tree it is lighted, the olive neither of the East nor of the West, whose oil would well nigh shine out, even though fire touched it not! It is light upon light. God guideth whom He will to his light, and God setteth forth parables to men, for God knoweth all things.
We read from Gayan – Divine Truth
In the influence of the situation the hand of God is seen. (Boula)
P 148
I looked and looked, to find someone to whom I might give my trust; but I found no one, until I saw Thee at last in my heart, holding in Thy hand the record of my life’s secret.
Universal Worship – Harmony and Beauty
Dear Beloved Ones of God,
It is part of our human natures that we occasionally stop and take an inventory of our lives and make promises to ourselves to do better. This act is often an act of renewal. Renewal can be a restoration of the old or bringing in new energy and improvement.
The ending of a year and the beginning of a new year has become the time when many of us in westernized cultures review our lives and come up with some goals to work on personal renewals. This popular habit of making New Year’s resolutions has been around a long time. This tradition is believed to have begun in 153 B.C. when Janus, a mythical king of early Rome (like Britain’s King Arthur) was placed at the beginning of the calendar.
Janus had two faces and could simultaneously look back on events of the past and forward towards the future. Janus became an ancient symbol for resolutions. The citizens of Roman exchanged gifts before the beginning of each year and looked for forgiveness from their enemies. We see the seeds of our own Christmas here.
Literature and media have given us many examples of protagonists making New Year’s resolutions. The most popular ones according to the US government are to:
- Lose Weight
- Pay Off Debt/s
- Save Money
- Get a Better Job
- Get Fit
- Eat Right
- Get a Better Education
- Drink less Alcohol
- Quit Smoking
- Reduce Stress Overall
- Reduce Stress at Work
- Take a Trip
- Volunteer to Help Others
I remember this ritual well from my own childhood. My mother’s family always got together New Year’s Day for our third big meal in a short time – Thanksgiving, Christmas and then New Year’s Day. In the morning, we would watch the Rose Bowl parade in which many floats covered in roses would bring in the New Year and the football game we would likely watch later in the day. After dinner the adults would make some resolutions, for some, it often was something like – after digesting this wonderful dinner, I am going to begin a diet tomorrow. Then there would be laughter!
Some newspapers have capitalised on the list of resolutions above and advertise local businesses that will be glad to help you with your goals. And yet we find that only a small percentage of individuals that make such resolutions will be able to reach their goals.
However, a review of our lives and commitment to the future is an important part of being human. It is difficult to find the time for reflection upon our lives and making plans for the future that takes in all aspects of our reality – familial, social, occupational, financial, and spiritual – and more generally, our health and well being. There is so much to do – how do we find the time for the review! But it is needed and we acknowledge this need even in our vision of God. Our creation stories tell that God stopped and rested and reviewed all that had been accomplished up to that time. Luckily, for God, he saw that it was good and satisfied, whereas, most of us want to change.
Why can we so easily not find the time to reflect or find pathways to successful renewal? The answer to that would be unique for each of us; however, the scriptures read today help us to consider some important issues.
First of all, what is the goal of our existence? In therapy it is sometimes called the “overarching goal”. There may be many lesser goals that one would need to accomplish in order to achieve that overarching goal. However, having the larger goal in sight helps the movement forward. For example, for some, the overarching goal is “a life worth living”.
For all of us, whether or not on a spiritual path, the overarching goal is to move towards the essence of God, whatever that might be. For those of us on the Sufi Path, we are less tied to a particular image of God or a set of religious ideals, but rather have respect for the unique pathway of each individual. The sura of the Islamic reading describes God as “the light of the heavens and of the Earth... the lamp encased in glass – the glass, as it were, a glistening star.”
Yet, it is even hard for us to recognise this as a goal. The Upanishad likens coming to earth as being blindfolded, tossed around, and then seemingly abandoned. Somewhere along the line, the blindfold is removed and the man is pointed towards “Home” – toward God.
On the journey home, there are many goals along the way that both move us forward and distract us. We are required to be sensible in order to find our way. Some of us will get to the end of the year and note our success in these important goals. We might already be giving to others, living healthy lives, our debts paid, holding jobs that provide us resources, as well as possible enjoyment, etc. However, often there is also a desire to begin anew and make change. For some individuals, the situation will be more complicated and the story of the Buddha identifies weariness, weakness, sorrow and being broken down under the burden of life.
This can be true when we stop to look at our lives, even if not in dire circumstances, it is difficult to view what is happening and to figure a way forward. Many things are beyond our control and we feel concerned that we will not have what it takes to meet our goals.
We often need guidance directing us towards home. Renewal requires us to make a decision in order to move forward – we must make a choice. Many of us would prefer to have Paul-like experience – travelling along the road, spiritually lost, then a voice, a bright light, and clear direction of what to do. Even those around him heard the voice, so he didn’t really have to explain away his choice to others. So Paul chooses to listen to the voice and follow instructions. Paul’s renewal was such a dramatic story of renewal – moving from persecutor to one of the faithful. From then on we know that Paul had a close relationship with God. A few days of blindness might not be so bad if we know what to do – and if our life takes on a complete renewal.
Likewise, Zoraster tells us that we are required to make a decision – to be with God or not. However, in these readings, we hear that we contain abilities to enable us to work towards our goal – an awakened conscience, directive intelligence and the capacity to act.
What about this decision – what are we deciding about. Even if the spiritual side of life is not taken into account, it is about making ourselves better – evolving in some way that will help us and those around us to live better lives. And so we are often calling upon our willpower to aid us and take us through. Yet, the readings tell us that beyond our capacity, there is a provision of resources for us to rely upon in our renewal.
The Buddhist scriptures told “there is balm for the wounded, and there is bread for the hungry. There is water for the thirsty, and there is hope for the despairing. There is light for those in darkness, and there is inexhaustible blessing for the upright.”
And what do we do, we are required to heal our wounds, eat our fill, rest, quench our thirst, be of good cheer and look up to the light. The reading from Jeremiah of the Jewish scriptures sums up what is God willing to do for us. God is willing to be fully involved, like the potter with the clay. But unlike the potter who makes the decision about each of his or her pieces of work. We must make a decision to allow the Potter to reform and reshape us. Years ago, I had a study guide (long gone in the move from America) that was focused on this piece of scripture. The text focused on how one allowed oneself to be clay willing to be reshaped by God.
For some, the thought of allowing the self to be manipulated by an outside force immediately is counter to what we believe and accept and brings up the defenses. However, through humility and acceptance, we may be able to make use of our capabilities.
Even the newspapers realised that most individuals were not going to meet the goals of their New Year’s resolutions without the help of a gym or a financial planner. For those of us on the spiritual path, we can recognise that we may choose to rely upon a source of strength even greater than exercise equipment – the hand of God.
From the different messages, we see that with our humility to ask for help, there will be a hand that points us in the right direction of our home – the light of God and resources to help us use our own capabilities to reshape and mold our lives into something better. In this season, we can remember that God is willing to help us renew our lives and we can rest in that promise of support.
And I will close with the words of Hazrat Inayat Kahn, “I looked and looked, to find someone to whom I might give my trust; but I found no one, until I saw Thee at last in my heart, holding in Thy hand the record of my life’s secret.”
Sydney
Universal Worship is held in Sydney on a Monday evening four times a year. As dates are not set in advance please phone Hamida on 02 9387 5263 for more details of services.