The Uwaysi Work has three cycles: the first one is difficult, the most difficult to survive, the second one deals with the unwanted emotions, that are the big defenders, like anger, sadness, fear, and the third cycle, is about the major characteristics we all share and this is a work of purification.
The word ‘purification’ has been very much misunderstood, because it implies that there is something impure in you. No, there is nothing impure, but a part that will disturb your life.
It should be simply called sacrifice: you simply sacrifice the disturbing behaviours, thoughts, patterns.
Because you learn to identify them, and you will see step by step that you keep on creating them all the time in your life.
And one day inshallah you reach the courage to let them all go. Then when you are on that point, you need a master. And actually when the master sees that you are there, he puts you straight into seclusion. In seclusion you start to practice at a high voltage, and you will go deeper and deeper; there you will see if you are ready to give yourself to the Divine or not.
Because you will find out, that the ego simulates to you that you want the Divine. That you want to come out, to break through. But the reality is that only few people have the courage to do it.
You need courage. Rumi was saying: “You need the courage of one thousand men”. And that courage must be transmitted, and can be transmitted only by one who has it. A real master has it, and that’s why he can transmit it to you, saying “look, you go in that direction”.
Even if you are trembling with fear, you will be able to do it because that connection is a trust connection, a love connection, which is no conflicted, no corrupted, it is a safe connection and you go there and you face the darkness or whatever you have to face.
And in the best scenario you shift, from the ego dynamics to your soul dynamics: that is your birthday, you start to live free from fear. That is where life starts not before.
As long as you are in fear you cannot live, you cannot experience its intensity, you are afraid of it. So everything is fear driven, and only then life starts.
And the journey is magic, I like this word ‘magic’ because it is the closest. ‘Magic’ has this aspect of wonder, miracle, surprise, unexpected, beauty, there is never a routine there, there is never a day, a moment the same as the other. So you start living a fantastic life, that is the life you are invited to, this is what has been written for you.
So you accept this invitation or not. Finally you will have to, but when it will be His decision.
That day will be your happy birthday.
We do not celebrate birthdays in our tradition, because it is not a birth-day, you are getting closer to death actually, what do you have to celebrate, it only means that your physical body is one year closer to death. No, so we celebrate different days, for example when a master dies, that is a birthday because he meets His Beloved.
So the Uwaysi System has to happen inside a group, that is an important point. The group meet and share what they understand of the topic, and like this they inspire each others.
You have to understand that the ego is very, very stubborn, and it will become more and more difficult for you to find reasons why you are so miserable: that is the problem of the Work.
Finally you are absolutely so pissed off of what you see about yourself, that you just do not want to look anymore, you want to vomit. And I have to read all your reports you know…
There are the advances ones, at the beginning they are still in peace with the process but as they come more in power of the observation, there comes a point where all the aggression is bursting out, and at the end of the report they write thank you Sheikh, but in fact they don’t want to say really thank you, they would love to write “fuck you, we have it up here, all the time the same thing, we cannot stand it any more”.
But most of them have the courage to continue. Because in a way you feel also that there is no other option. The problem with the Uwaysi System is that what you have seen, you have seen, you cannot take it back.
That is the problem with the truth: once you saw it, you cannot say all right, halas, forget it, I go back, now I forget everything, I will have a life like everyone else, I drink what I want, I do what I want, and back to life. But that does not work.
So finally it’s hard, it’s painful. It’s very, very painful to awaken. Shah Bahauddin Naqshband made it very easy for us. Every Grandsheikh has been given a prayer that will be fulfilled: and Shah Bahauddin Naqshband prayed that his disciples may experience every possible difficulty. That was his prayer for us.
When I heard about it I thought, “what is this, it cannot be true”, but once you start walking the path you understand it has to be like this. So he helps us to shorten the journey. That is what you will experience when you will start the Path, everything accelerate.
Then of course that is the difficulty that most of people has, it is difficult to give them something good; you keep the practice the keep the goodness, the easiness, the light inside of them. That is the big challenge, they get so hypnotized about the darkness inside that they forget completely about the light. For this reason it is extremely important that you sing in the Uwaysi System for example.
The singing is a must, because it balances the work. This is very important point.
Sheikh Burhanuddin Herrmann, SUFI INTENSIVE, 22 September 2018, Amelia, Italy
Youtube: Burhanuddin Herrmann Channel, Ep. 59
