The priest gives a benediction from the church; the branches of the tree in bending give blessing from God.
Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
Related Material by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
Compiled by Wahiduddin Richard Shelquist – wahiduddin.net
Anyone who has some knowledge of mysticism and of the lives of the mystics knows that what always attracts mystics most is nature. Nature is their bread and wine. Nature is their souls’ nourishment. Nature inspires them, uplifts them and gives them the solitude for which their souls continually long. Every soul born with a mystical tendency is constantly drawn towards nature. In nature that soul finds its life’s demand, as it is said in the Vadan, ‘Art is dear to my heart, but nature is near to my soul.’ … nature itself is the glory of God.
The deeper we look into life the more it unfolds itself, allowing us to see more keenly. Life is revealing. It is not only human beings who speak; if only the ears can hear even plants and trees and all nature speak, in the sense that nature reveals itself, reveals its secret. In this way we communicate with the whole of life. Then we are never alone, then life becomes worth living.
( from the Sufi Message Series, Volume VI – The Alchemy of Happiness: The Deeper Side of Life )
What appeals to us in being near to nature is nature’s music, and nature’s music is more perfect than that of art. It gives us a sense of exaltation to be moving about in the woods, and to be looking at the green; to be standing near the running water, which has its rhythm, its tone and its harmony. The swinging of the branches in the forest, the rising and falling of the waves, all has its music. And once we contemplate and become one with nature our hearts open to its music.
When we begin to see all goodness as being the Goodness of God, all the beauty that surrounds us as the Divine Beauty [ al-Jamil, Source of All Beauty ], we begin by worshiping a visible God, and as our hearts constantly love and admire the divine beauty in all that we see, we begin to see in all that is visible One Single Vision; all becomes for us the vision of the Beauty of God. Our love of Beauty increases our capacity to such a degree that great virtues such as tolerance and forgiveness spring naturally from our heart. Even things that people mostly look upon with contempt, we view with tolerance. The kinship of humanity we do not need to learn, for we do not see humanity, we see only God. And as our vision develops, it becomes a Divine Vision [ al-Basir, All Seeing, Seeing in Totality, all points everywhere – visible, invisible; possible, impossible; manifest, unmanifest. ], which occupies every moment of our lives. In nature we see God, in humanity we see God’s image, and in art and poetry we see the dance of God. The waves of the sea bring us the message from above, and the swaying of the branches in the breeze seems to be a prayer. For us then, there is a constant contact with our God.
( from the Sufi Message Series, Volume IX – The Unity of Religious Ideals, Part I: The God-Ideal )
Commentary by Murshid S.A.M. (Sufi Ahmed Murad)
Samuel L. Lewis
What is the church? It is not wrong to go to church or worship in church. Church is right where it unites people in prayer and worship and so promotes unity and kinship; it is wrong when it excommunicates or antagonizes and so divides humanity. This division is of humankind, not of God. God does not condemn on any basis as humanity declares; God is not bound by any decisions of human councils or human institutions.
Priest speaking in the name of self or in the name of church with thought of self cannot give the Divine Blessing. Tree, having no thought of self, rapt in love for God, can give the highest blessing and many people, believers and unbelievers alike, feel it.