I ask Allah to make us steadfast in his way. To make us firm and forget our faults. To conceal our mistakes and bestow mercy upon us. I ask you by the reality of your lofty essence, please do not leave any one of us to be miserable, sad, or suffer. Do not forsake us, forgive us, bestow your mercy upon us and grant us happiness. All of us. Amen.
Today I’d like to talk about the mindfulness and open heart that’s important when we pray.
It’s important to remember the spirit of prayer. We say in Sufism that we worship God as if we can see
God, and if we can’t see God, know that God sees us. There’s a true story that I’d like to share with you about mindfulness and having an open heart in prayer.
It happened in the 17th century and there was an emperor who was performing his prayer in a forest when a young peasant woman arrived seemingly out of nowhere, and she just walked right across his path. Well, as you can imagine, the emperor was really angry at this interruption and screamed at the peasant woman, ”How dare you cross my prayer path?” And told the guards who were with him to seize her.
But she obviously was trembling with fear and she lowered her eyes and explained that she really didn’t see the emperor because she was lost in thought about her beloved husband. And then somehow she got the courage to look at the emperor straight on and ask, how was it possible for him to see her if he was also lost in prayer and in the remembrance of his beloved? Well, rather than being angry at her and at the question that she posed, the emperor was really moved and he gave her a really big reward for teaching him a really important lesson about mindfulness and having an open heart in prayer. So I’d like you to set some of your intentions for today’s prayer and place your hand over your heart. Really listen to the deepest part of what your heart says when you set your intention.
You want to find a way out of the prison of our ego into the freedom of our spirit. Meditation and prayer is the vehicle that allows us to do that. The prayer that I have to you today is one of my favorite prayers from my Sufi guide, Sidi Muhammad al-Jamal. And it goes like this. He says, we ask Allah to give you all good things for he is the healing for your hearts, for your spirits, for yourself and for your bodies. As a Gnostic he said there’re special places, special times and special people. So open your heart, please, and your spirit.
I ask Allah to make us steadfast in his way. To make us firm and forget our faults. To conceal our mistakes and bestow mercy upon us. I ask you by the reality of your lofty essence, please do not leave any one of us to be miserable, sad, or suffer. Do not forsake us, forgive us, bestow your mercy upon us and grant us happiness. All of us. Amen
He further says that he prays to keep us always inside the Holy circle of this divine love. That we knock on the door with a deep sincere, and we see ourselves in the real life. I pray that this prayer and this teaching will help support you as you gather for prayer and worship and learn how to listen to the guidance of God within your heart. Our intention is always to return to God with purified hearts and spirits and bodies.
In the Sufi way, we surrender with peace and love, and this is a everlasting love that the human being can never do without. It’s a true love that God wants for all of us, for all the worlds. Not only just the humans, but the animals, the fishes, everything that exists. And part of this prayer is to help you embody in your heart, in your soul, and in your spirit.
This is a prayer, it’s important to do each day. Give it time when you’re feeling a need for some extra help or extra support. I thank you and I pray that you get nourished spiritually by this prayer and all the prayers that I’ll be sharing with you over the seven day challenge. Salaam alaikum, peace be with you.
Maxine Salima Adelstein M.Ed., D.D.
Salima helps people to discover and embody the deep truth of their beauty and essence through her work as a healer and teacher. She is a Murshid Murabbi Ruhi, (Sufi Spiritual Guide) in the Shadhilyya Sufi tradition, a rank given to her by her guide, Sidi Muhammad al-Jamal. Her heart is filled with the joy and compassion that result from living in the heart of God.
