The
A Springtime Jewish-Sufi meditation on Purim
And Forgotten/Neglected Revelations
In the
Jewish calendar we are in the season of the Trees. The months of Shevat and Adar signal the end
of the rainy season in
When I meditate, I often go to a place that I have explored and developed over several years. Contained within this outer mandala is a region I’ve come to call the forest of doctrines. This forest is vast and contains all the philosophies, religions, theologies and cosmic speculations that have ever been and will ever be. Obviously, it’s still growing, and each tree in the forest is the embodiment of some such religion or philosophy. All are unique, manifest and equally cherished in the forest. Some trees, like some doctrines, insist on standing off alone; others are gathered together in little clusters, or surrounded by supporting vegetation.
Some trees are oddly shaped, gnarled and twisted, while others sprout all sorts of brightly colored fruits (of course the most interesting are the gnarled ones that also sprout fruit). Some trees are linked by heady vines; some are tiny and delicate, while others, like the tree of Dharma, are so large that I’ve not yet managed to see the circumference of the tree whole.
I recognize this forest as my resting place: here is the place where no religion, no attempt to utter truth, no prophecy, no matter how limited, is denied its place, its expression, and none will ever have to wither and die, unless the tree itself determines a cessation. I find new trees growing here all the time, and am constantly amazed at the variety, the longevity, the beauty of the continuing process of revelation on our plane of existence and others.
I have a guide in this magical place: she pops up from time to time and points out some of the more amazing trees to me and I’ve often wondered who she is. The following account might provide some clues, but then I doubt that I could really ever exhaust her possible identities.In doing so, I also offer up some fruits from this forest-- wonderful revelatory plants that my guide has shared with me.
Traditionally, the texts of the Universal Worship are drawn from the six revealed religions that Hazrat Inayat Khan delineated in his teaching. In more recent times, readings have been drawn from other established religious traditions. My offering goes a little further even than that. In my studies, I’ve noticed that many, if not most religious traditions, contain some reference to a “tree of life,” as a source of inspiration, nourishment or revelation. Sometimes individual trees are being indicated, other times; the symbol “tree” has a much larger meaning.
I decided to go through a number of proclaimed revelatory texts, two ancient, three Middle Eastern, four more contemporary (three, in fact American), and present these often neglected or unacknowledged revelations as proof that the light of prophecy is not limited to those trees in the forest that have become “accepted” as the norm.
We are all familiar with the “tree of life” image…..but the usage and understanding of this “archetype” is not limited to the six revealed religions that Inayat Khan suggested. Indeed, I think our teacher knew this…as the Gayan reading seems to indicate. When wandering in a forest it seems wise to take a look at all the trees….at least eventually.
But first some words about the guide: Adar is also the Jewish month which features the minor festival of Purim. Some of you may know the story associated with Purim as found in the biblical book of Esther. To remind you—Esther was a Jewish woman who was made the Queen of Persia, but due to the fact that the Jews were in exile in the Persian Empire at the time (6th Century BCE or so), a subject people, Esther’s guardian, Mordecai, determined that she shouldn’t reveal her ethnic identity. When the villain of the story, Haman, hatched a plot to have the Jewish people exterminated because he hated Mordecai, it turned out that Esther was in the right place at the right time to save her people because she had the favor of the King. But, the guide isn’t Esther.
To skip
forward a bit…here’s a little story from the Persian Sufi master Hafiz: In a
certain
The saintly man and his advisors met and after much deliberation and calculation, chose the representative Rasmussin, as being the most able and likely to impress the prince. The Perfected One consulted no one knowing that he would send his slovenly housekeeper, Yasmenine, as his representative. Yasmenine was known for her myriad bad habits and poor hygiene; she never bathed, combed her hair or washed her clothes. She was a powerful psychic who could see the unspoken secrets of any man she looked upon. She also farted every few minutes and constantly picked her nose. Apparently her aim when flicking boogers was legendary.
The prince met with the two representatives. Rasmussin was impeccably dressed and his manner was courtly, refined, and exemplary. He entertained the prince with learned and genteel discussion; he rose and sat at exactly the right moments and every thing he did bespoke a fine upbringing and elegance. The prince was very impressed and became favorably inclined toward the saintly man.
And then there was Yasmenine. She trod into the room without the slightest inclination of humility; she alternately belched and farted all through the meal, and two of her airborne boogers bounced off the prince’s nose and landed in his tea. But most disturbing of all, she knowledgably rattled on about the prince’s finances, his military plans and the most secret of his sexual affairs, including a certain indiscretion in the desert while on caravan with a most beautiful young camel……..well, the prince couldn’t take any more past a certain point. He called his guards into the room, whereupon they forced Yasmenine out into the court yard, beat her and sent her back to the Perfected One.
The prince was so disturbed that he had trouble sleeping. Finally, he nodded off…and had a dream in which the Perfected One appeared and asked him: “Why have you beaten and driven off my Yasmenine when all she did was tell you the truth?” The prince woke early in the morning, troubled and discomforted…so he set off to find the Perfected One. He made it to the gates of the Perfected Ones dwelling and….
And there, Hafiz ends his story….inviting the reader to come up with whatever ending one might find most pleasing….
This is the ending that came to me (in the shower)…and herein is revealed some part of my guide’s identity:
And the Perfected One met the prince at the gate and welcomed him in. They entered a well maintained, but modest, dining room, and the prince was seated next to the self-same Yasmenine at the head of the table. The prince was speechless, but the Perfected One smiled warmly and said: “G-d knows all secrets of the heart.” Thereupon, from a place of deep longing and years of pent up emotion , and in front of Yasmenine and the entire assembled household of the Perfected One, the prince unburdened himself of all the sins he had ever committed, including those which Yasmenine had revealed the day before, and many others besides…including the time with the goats…..
At last, exhausted from his confessions, the prince fell weeping at the feet of the Perfected One and cried “Oh great master, what can I possibly give you that you might continue your great spiritual work? Please tell me….even up to my kingdom….it is all yours.”
The Perfected One replied, “I need no kingdom, nor your wise and generous patronage, although I am gratified that you are so willing to part with your dearest belongings. You have given me the secrets and trust of your deepest heart and that is quite sufficient for me. Why should I ask more of you, or anything other than that which the Beloved Allah does most desire? Give your treasures to the saintly man, for he truly requires the worldly wealth you offer, and it will do him more good than it would me.”
The prince was startled, but said that he would do as the Perfected One suggested. So the saintly man got the rich patronage. Then the prince returned to the Perfected One and begged him to join the royal court that he might learn at the feet of the Holy One himself.
The Perfected One replied: “I will come on one condition- that you sit with me at the feet of Yasmenine, for she is from whom I have been learning all these years. Do this and we will accompany you to your court.” And the prince agreed, and it was so.
But who is the guide, and what does this have to do with the story of Esther? In the beginning of the Esther story, the Persian king orders his wife Vashti to display herself in front of the court at the culmination of a huge 100 day party. Jewish tradition says that he ordered Vashti, who was a beautiful, cultured, educated woman, to parade naked in front of his retainers in order to demonstrate his control over her.
According to the story, Vashti refused the kings order. The king banished her so that the women of his kingdom would not take heart from her example and make it a habit to flout the commands of their husbands. Vashti vanishes from the story….and without her disappearance, Esther would never have had her chance to win the king’s good graces and save the Jewish people. I’ve always wondered what happened to Vashti….but now it seems, at least from what I’ve gathered in the Forest…where the pollens from different flowering trees can mix in gentle and various hybrids….that Vashti wandered into the wilderness (Persia and Iran being mostly the same place) and became a mendicant wild and holy woman….no longer concerned with appearance and manners….but certainly understanding the ways of men of power, and definitely knowing what such men need to hear….
Esther may have been a Tree of Life that sheltered the Jewish people at one time, but Vashti, the banished, forgotten one, has helped to nurture Trees of Life that are abandoned and maybe even feared…..even as some of these revelations I share with you have been….
And so, it is through Yasmenine that I came to know the truth of Vashti, as did the prince and the Perfected One (and perhaps even Hafiz as well). In my mind’s eye, Vashti left the world of the court and its deceptions behind. In the story of Esther, every character is governed by deceit, secrecy or the pretenses of power. Every character, including the heroes, must “play the game” of the world.
Except for Vashti, who, in the end, or rather, at the beginning of the story, simply refuses to do so. I can only imagine the sense of relief she felt when she laid the scepter down…..rather like the relief that the spirit of Anna Nicole Smith must feel now that all the games, including her own, are behind her. And my guide is, perhaps in part, this untamed woman who was once a worldly queen, who leads me about this forest that includes and nurtures “forgotten” and overlooked revelations and helps me tend each and every Tree of Life.
Each text has a little explanation and meditation associated with it below in order to provide context and reflections. Take your time in these parts of the forest; there is no need to rush. Examine each tree one at a time, give each one a day. I dedicate this service in homage to the Mandaean people whose struggle for existence has, at this time, become critical. When you come to them in the readings…spend some extra time with them. Their trees will always grow here in this sacred place….but to lose them from the inner mandala would also be a great sorrow.
Come and walk with us in the forest…..