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
There will be no Universal Worship in July 2008
Universal Worship – Harmony and Beauty
We read from the World scriptures on the Subject of Harmony and Beauty.
We read from the Hindu scriptures.
Bhagavata-Purana Book X chapter 29 1 - 3
1 When He saw that on those nights the jasmine had reached its full autumn bloom, even the Lord made up His mind to take pleasure in love with the help of the mirific power of His yoga..
2 Then the lord of the stars arose, soothing the distresses of men and painting red the face of the East with his balm-giving beams, just as a (returning) lover seen from afar soothes the cares of his beloved and rubs her face with vermilion (powder) with his balm-giving hands.
3 Seeing (the moon,) under whom white waterlilies thrive, red-dish like fresh saffron, full-orbed, and radiant as the face of Laksmi, and (seeing) the forest coloured by his gentle rays, Krsna sang sweetly, catching the hearts of lovely-eyed women.
We read from the Buddhist scriptures
The Gospel of Buddha XL1X 34 – 36
The Tathagata lets his mind pervade the four quarters of the world with thoughts of love. And thus the whole wide world, above, below, around, and everywhere will continue to be filled with love, far-reaching, grown great and beyond measure. 34
Just as a mighty trumpeter makes himself heard – and that without difficulty – in all the four quarters of the earth; even so is the coming of the Tathagata: there is not one living creature that the Tathagata passes by or leaves aside, but regards them all with mind set free, and deep-felt love. 35
And this is the sign that a man follows the right path: Uprightness is his delight, and he sees danger in the least of those things which he should avoid. He trains himself in the commands of morality, he encompasseth himself with holiness in word and deed; he sustains his life by means that are quite pure; good is his conduct, guarded is the door of his senses; mindful and self-possessed, he is altogether happy. 36
We read from the Zoroastrian scriptures
Yasna 47 1 - 2
1 Through Your Spirit of Benediction
and Your Supreme Mind
You will grant Perfection and Immortality to him
Whose words and deeds are in harmony with Truth,
With the Sovereignty of Mazda
And the Devotion of Ahura.
2 Through this Most Benevolent Spirit
the best life will be cultivated by him
who speaks with the words from the mouth and tongue of the Good Mind,
and whose actions are performed by the hands of Devotion.
This unique insight reveals Mazda as the Father of Truth.
We read from the Jewish scriptures
Ezekiel 31 3 – 9
3 --- Once a cedar in Lebanon,
with beautiful branches overshadowing the forest:
it towered on high, its top above the thick foliage.
4 The waters nourished it, deep springs made it grow tall;
their springs flowed all around its base and sent their channels to all the trees of the field.
5 So it towered higher than all the trees of the field;
its boughs increased and its branches grew long, spreading because of abundant waters.
6 All birds of the air nested in its boughs,
all the beasts of the field gave birth under its branches;
all the great nations lived in its shade.
7 It was majestic in beauty, with its spreading boughs,
for its roots went down to abundant waters.
8 The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it,
nor could the pine trees equal its boughs,
nor could the plane trees compare with its branches ---
no tree in the garden of God could match its beauty.
9 I made it beautiful with abundant branches,
the envy of all the trees of Eden in the garden of God.
We read from the Christian scriptures
Mark 14 3 – 9
3 While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of a very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured perfume on his head.
4 Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, ‘Why this waste of perfume?
5 It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.’ And they rebuked her harshly.
6 ‘Leave her alone,’ said Jesus. ‘Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.
7 The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. 8 She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.
9 I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.’
We read from the scriptures of Islam
Sura 55 The Merciful 40 – 70
Which then of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?
But for those who dread the majesty of their Lord shall be two gardens:
With o’erbranching trees in each:
In each two fountains flowing:
In each two kinds of every fruit:
On couches with linings of brocade shall they recline, and the fruit of the two gardens shall be within easy reach:
Therein shall be damsels with retiring glances, whom nor man nor djinn hath touched before them:
Like jacynths and pearls:
Shall the reward for good be aught but good?
And beside these shall be two other gardens:
Of a dark green:
With gushing fountains in each:
In each fruits and the palm and pomegranate:
In each the fair, the beauteous ones:
With large dark eyeballs, kept close in their pavilions:
Whom man hath never touched, nor any djinn:
Their spouses on soft green cushions and on beautiful carpets shall recline:
Blessed be the name of thy Lord, full of majesty and glory.
We read from Gayan
Love develops into harmony, and of harmony is born beauty.
Beautiful gorse-bushes, what are you here for?
- We are little lanterns on your path.
But where do you get your prickly thorns from?
- Flowers from above, thorns from below.
Harmony and Beauty - Homily
Beloved Sisters and Brothers,
Murshid says that harmony is that which makes beauty – beauty in and of itself has no meaning.
In the scriptures which we have just heard, we hear in the Hindu scripture- a description of beauty and thus of harmony. The whole feel of the reading is one of peace – it is soothing and balanced; It also engages all of our senses
- Visual - Krishna saw that on those nights the jasmine had reached its full bloom. The colour of Jasmine is white perhaps suggesting purity. The time is the night – an inner time. The vermilion powder is of a red / orange colour contrasting with that of the white of the jasmine. The moon is also described as a red-dish, like fresh saffron which is also a red / orange colour and one of the most expensive spices that one can buy.
- As Jasmine is so fragrant we can almost sense the Jasmine fragrance in the air. This scene made Lord Krishna desire pleasure in love. So it is out of that harmony and beauty that there comes a feeling and a desire for love.
- Krishna soothed the distress of men, with balm-giving beams and soothed the cares of the beloved by rubbing her face with vermilion powder. This is about the soothing power of touch.
- Seeing the moon under the white waterlilies and the forest coloured by the moons gentle rays, Krishna sang sweetly, catching the hearts of the beautiful women. So here we also have the sound – the sound of Krishna singing and capturing the hearts of the beautiful girls.
So this scene is harmonious and beautiful and it transports us to a warm gentle feeling of love and loving.
The passage in the Jewish reading is also a description of beauty which is an allegory for Assyria (like a tall cedar). However here we are looking at the beauty of the scene and the poetry. There is the imagery of a magnificent tree with deep roots which shelters the birds and beasts and which is fed by deep springs and waters. The whole scene is beautiful, reflecting harmony, shelter and abundance and this relates to the Garden of Eden – the garden of God. It is the place where we can imagine perfection, harmony, peace and beauty.
In the Koran we have a description of paradise, with two fountains, two kinds of every fruit, couches for reclining on, precious jewels, and beautiful ‘virgins’ – it is a vision of harmony and beauty and contains everything precious and rare that the people of those days could imagine.
As Murshid has said, the attainment of harmony takes a long time to acquire – perhaps it is the hardest of all our striving. In the Buddhist scripture the Lord lets his mind pervade all the corners of the world with thoughts of love, so that everything above, below, around, indeed everywhere, is continually filled with love. For the mystics this experience is said to be that of Unity – an experience of the all pervading Love. To achieve this we are told to follow the right path and to train ourselves in ‘morality’, holiness in word and deed, and to sustain life by pure good conduct, to be mindful, self-possessed and happy. Once again we can see that there is harmony and beauty in this knowledge of love which does not leave out one living creature. Here in this reading it is the love of the Lord which is being spoken about.
In the Zoroastrian reading we are told that when our words and deeds are in harmony with Truth, then we are granted Perfection and Immortality. What does it mean to be in harmony with Truth? Truth is capitalised so it can be taken as ‘The’ primary aspect of the Divine being – Mazda as the Father of Truth. If we make ourselves harmonious with the Divine, we are actually putting away our ego or small self and opening to a Truth which is immortal and perfect in its wholeness. We are one with the One – no boundaries, in harmony with every living being and creature.
Ultimately even Buddha held that the theology and beliefs that a person held were unimportant. The only thing that mattered and counted was the good life; if it were attempted, then Buddhists would find that the Dharma was true, even if they could not express this truth rationally. This is very similar to the teaching of Zoroaster.
Another aspect of beauty is highlighted in the story of Jesus and the unknown woman who anointed him with very expensive perfumed oil. Jesus says ‘Leave her alone she has done a beautiful thing to me.’ And he says that it is something which will be always be remembered. So our deeds and our words can be seen as beautiful and profound. This unknown woman was the only one to anoint Jesus, in the sense of his being a ‘King’ as well as in preparation for his death and burial. Once again the symbolism of her action is beautiful and demonstrates great love.
Beauty can be seen as an archetype, a divine form which could be discovered within the self. Plato showed how love of a beautiful body for instance could be purified and transformed into an ecstatic contemplation of ideal beauty. Such Beauty is unique, eternal and absolute, quite unlike anything we experience in this world. This Beauty thus has much in common with what we would call God.
Not only does beauty inspire love but as Murshid says in the Gayan – ‘Love develops into harmony, and of harmony is born beauty.’ In the nature meditation there are so many images of beauty and harmony, which inspire us to develop our own inner beauty, harmony and peace which of course leads to love and is of love.
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.