The Unity of Being (Wahdat al-Wujud)

Many many years ago when I began my spiritual path on my own, I kept meditating on la illah ha il Allah, doing deeper and deeper into it. It was like layers of veils were being peeled off of my mind, and every time that would happen, a deeper meaning of this Divine Statement would come to mind, and I would likewise dive into that. It kept occurring until the meaning came to me that there is no reality except God. And in that moment, I felt real.

I love your seminars. As an old Christian woman with an open heart I enjoy learning about my brothers and sisters. How lovely and deep are their thoughts. We are so close but hold ourselves apart.

This exposition of Wahdat al-Wujud was so fine, a diamond of a video and gift to the world. Ibn Arabi would be proud to see youtube used to spread and explain ideas of unity like this. Keep em coming.

One of the best explanations for an often misunderstood concept: "The Akbarian Wahdat al-Wujud (Oneness of Being) transcends duality without denying it: Haqq is Haqq and khalq is khalq. To use numerical symbolism... the number 1,000 gets all its reality from the number 1, without which it is nothing. Even so, one cannot write 1 = 1,000 or 1,000 = 1, which would be to deny the unity of the one or the multiplicity of the multiple. The notion of theophany comes clear in its crucial sense: the three zeroes of the number 1,000 (the word 'sifr,' which designates zero means, precisely, 'nothing,’ ‘emptiness’) in themselves are nonexistent. But preceded by the number 1, they express the series of epiphanies by means of which this principial 1 manifests to itself and by which each is unique: an instantaneous lightning flash of a Name which is not God, but which is not, either, other than God." - Michel Chodkiewicz

The line about God and creation viewing each other in mirrors was awesome

This is the best episode of anything on YouTube ever, full stop. I don't mean this as hyperbole. I want our future to include more people that "get" this concept.

Bought tears to my eyes. Thank you so much. ‏لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰهُ

Peace! I just felt like I should express some appreciation for your work on this channel. As a Muslim, it seems to me to be a great contribution and help in clearing up misconceptions around various people, their thoughts, and movements. I can also learn here about other religions, if they are as well respresented as I find Islam here to be. Keep up the good work!

I am Persian. I'm living now in the UK but I know many Sufis in Iran. This video was amazing and it's just incredible how accurate and beautiful you explained Wahdat al-Wujud! Thank you so much for this. Such videos make man drunker than any wine! When we define something, we distinguish it from other things by showing its attributes. But the concept of "Nothingness" cannot be described with a certain number of characteristics, otherwise, "Nothingness" would become "something", and therefore, it would be not "Nothingness" anymore and it would be limited to those characteristics of a thing. Therefore, when Nothingness cannot be defined, it means that it cannot be distinguished. Therefore, "Nothingness" must have all the characteristics and attributes at the same time and consequently, Nothingness is in fact Everything! and it means Nothingness is the very Being and has infinite attributes. and when we say God is infinite, then, God seems like "Nothingness" for the mind while it is also everything at the same time but it is not a certain limited thing because it is infinity! I want to add a Persian poem from Maulana Jalaluddin Muhammad, known as Mowlavi in Iran, who is the Persian poet known as Rumi: مرد و زن چون یک شود آن یک تویی ** چون که یک جا محو شد آنک تویی‌‌ این من و ما بهر آن بر ساختی ** تا تو با خود نرد خدمت باختی‌‌ تا من و توها همه یک جان شوند ** عاقبت مستغرق جانان شوند مثنوی ۱ از ۱۷۸۶ تا ۱۷۸۸ When man and woman become one, Thou art that One; when the units are wiped out, lo, Thou art that (Unity). Thou didst contrive this “I” and “we” in order that Thou mightst play the game of worship with Thyself, That all “I's” and “thou's” should become one soul and at last should be submerged in the Beloved. Masnavi 1 (1786 - 1788)

dude my youth has been centered around contemplating and consuming these things, but you manage to rock my world every time. thank you so much.

God is Greater, the Greatest. I type this with tears in my eyes. Thank you for this video and for this channel. May God bless you and Guide you to Him. Ameen.

your Arabic Pronounciation is so good😍

Beautifully explained, please continue making videos on Ibn Arabi(qs) and Muslim gnostics and mystics

Watched the first half of the video, thinking all the while, "so, basically Advaita Vedanta?" Pleasantly surprised that the final half illuminated a primary difference, namely that of the universe being merely a reflection of Gods attributes, and this being both God and not God, as opposed to Vedanta's belief that the universe is entirely illusory. The Sufi concept seems to me to be more logical, more beautiful, more believable.

Absolutely fantastic - I am so glad I found this channel. That was a lucid exposition

What is interesting is that Theoretical Physics in the subatomic Quantum reality realm is defining & new debating the concepts of matter energy & conscious in these SAME TERMS

I study Oriental studies and I am very interested in Islam and in religions generally. As a student I find your videos very interesting and informative. When I want to watch one of your videos, I need to grab a pen and a notebook, and I usually end up making many notes. Thank you for the great academic content. I am looking forward to watching all of your videos, and do further reading on the topics that interest me more. I hope one day I will know as much about religions as you do. :) Also thank you for always mentioning the main sources you use. Much love and respect from Armenia!

I am so impressed by this young scholar. He has been blessed by the Divine

Very impressed with your explanation, thank you for this video. It is indeed good to see someone talk of the real Islam, the Islam that the Prophet (Sal) and the great Saints taught. Today this type of teachings are covered by Wahhabism. Wahhabism does not accept spirituality, neither follow any tradition of the Prophet (Sal), instead divert people from the real teachings of Islam. The real teachings of Islam today can only be found in Sufism and through these teachings one can reach closeness to his/her Lord to the state of saying 'be' and it is, also internal eye can open to see what others cannot see, past present and future. There is no limit to what your Lord can give you when you get close to Him, hence we pray to be among the favoured ones, and favoured are those who become the Saints.

You've become my favorite religious YouTuber and I just started watching your videos. Amazing.