Çilingir Sofrası 20 / Hint İrfanı – Ayan-ı Sabite (with English subtitles)

0:00Çilingir Sofrası 20 / Hinduism & Divine Names and Attributes ****translated by Prof. Dr. Nükhet Kardam*****

0:01Our ayan-i sabite, our Divine Name is already downloaded to us when we are born.

0:04Which signifies our inborn capabilities, talents

0:07Serhan: So we can know them

0:09No, we don’t know them

0:11Sinan: No you don’t know them

0:14But our inclinations, or what comes easily to us

0:19as Prophet Muhammed says, my religion is easy, don’t make it difficult.

0:34For example, in pilot schools, children are tested

0:40to see if they have a sense of rhythm

0:44If they don’t have a sense of rhythm, they can’t be musicians

0:47maybe it is better for them to study engineering

0:51For instance, you ask a kid to sound a note You do that when you teach music, right?

0:58You ask a student to sound out ‘Do’ (C).

1:03If he does it like me, Dooo (C), out of tune like me, it doesn’t work.

1:08Sinan: Not just Do, but he would need to continue with Do (C), Mi (E)..

1:12Does that mean such a person has no capability for music?

1:17It is possible if they work hard.

1:20Sinan: That’s not her or his calling.

1:21But the point is that person’s ayan-i sabite is different.

1:24But she might pick up a pen and you wouldn’t be able to write like that

1:28or pick up a needle and thread

1:33I watched a film the other day about a tailor.

1:36I was entranced, the way he was holding the material,

1:42folding it, it felt like a scene of worship.

1:45I am not going to mention the name of the movie, so that it doesn’t look like I am advertising it, but it was wonderful.

1:49Serhan: It was never hard for me to play the guitar even at the beginning

1:51That’s it.

1:53Serhan: Even when I was a beginner, it was not hard for me.

1:58Even from the beginning, it was never difficult.

2:02Serhan: I am sorry I interrupted you but I want to tell you

2:06About my own experience, as someone who has lived through it.

2:12For example, I see people who are just starting to learn the guitar,

2:17for instance students who take lessons from me,

2:20they are telling me that it is so hard to learn the guitar

2:25I can’t do this, it is so difficult for me, it is too hard.

2:31I am going back to the time when I was a beginner,

2:34For me I was in a state of timelessness that you talked about earlier

2:41Time and place were of no consequence to me

2:48Therefore, I didn’t even think about whether it was hard or easy

2:51while I was practicing

2:56For me, it was never hard to play the guitar

2:59That’s it.

3:00Maybe because it was easy,

3:04I chose the easy path, and decided to continue

3:09with what came easy to me

3:12That’s what we mean by talent, capability.

3:15Serhan: And I built on this capability that I had.

3:18Bravo

3:19So, yes, just like you said, Sufism is about real life, real experiences

3:29Serhan: It is about what is not difficult for me

3:31Bravo,

3:32what does Ibn Arabi say about this?

3:35He says that what we call capability comes from our ayan-i sabite.

3:39It is inborn.

3:40It is God’s gift to us.

3:41What does that mean?

3:43That means you didn’t acquire it yourself or earn it.

3:49But you have it.

3:51So if you did not acquire that capability, somebody bestowed it on you

3:54Whether you call it God, or nature.

3:56But the point is,

3:58that capability is a person’s own Divine Name, a person’s talent.

4:04If one chooses to work on that, success will follow

4:07If they choose something else, it won’t work as well.

4:10So what that means choosing the straight path.

4:14That’s what we mean by ‘Sirat-al Mustakim’ (straight path)

4:17Serhan: Some people find their talent, others don’t

4:21No, what do we mean by the straight path (Sirat-Al Mustakim)?

4:25It is what comes easy to you, that’s already the ‘straight path’.

4:31The problem is it is us who later complicate things.

4:34Parents, for example, say we want our child to be an engineer.

4:37But he doesn’t have that capability,

4:39it is not congruent with his own Divine Name.

4:42Sinan: But parents must be satisfied.

4:44That’s usually the case in the whole world.

4:48But many people like Russell, Humboldt are researching the field of education

4:53They have been working diligently and what is emerging is the concept of personalized,

4:56specific education, just like we have personalized medicine now.

5:00Instead of general medicine, personalized medicine is taking its place such as specifically for Serhan or Sinan

5:04Sinan: personalized medicine

5:06Same thing in education,

5:08we willl discover what comes easy to children,

5:13and when we provide an education that is congruent with their talents, they will shine

5:16Sinan: It will be such a great development.

5:19It will happen

5:23Now, there are also such situations where being prevented to practice what comes easily may be useful too.

5:29Sinan: So it can be useful

5:30Being prevented to practice what comes easily to you might provoke you

5:35to persist and overcome barriers and allow you to practice the virtue of ‘courage’.

5:40If we are shy, and turn away from what has been

5:46Given to us, our gift, that means we are also turning our back to our Creator.

5:51If you are repressed, it could be a reaction to parents,

5:59or to teachers or even society as a whole,

6:01to authority, you might say, I am going to...

6:06Sinan: I will prove it to you

6:07...persist no matter what, and then you would be called a hero.

6:11Such people are the ones whose souls are under the guidance of God.

6:18Before that, souls are not under the guidance of God.

6:23So that means we go from being just any person

6:27to a specific person.

6:29We have learned to use our talents, our capabilities.

6:37But is that the end?

6:39No. It is just the beginning.

6:41The question is now is can you give up that person you built up?

6:45Sinan: Sübhanallah, so leave all that now!

6:52Can you now give up everything that you have built up?

6:55All the effort you have put out to manifest your Divine Name,

6:58to bring your capabilities and talents to fruition.

7:04Now it is ready to be offered to God.

7:06If you have come to that point,

7:07go and present what you have to God.

7:10Put it in front of God

7:13and say my God:

7:14You gave me these capabilities,

7:17and you said worship me with these and work hard

7:20I worked hard, here it is.

7:23Here is my offering.

7:25Do you remember how people in India worship God?

7:31Serhan: By not eating, drinking

7:32No, that is related to the nafs.

7:37What do they offer God? What do they offer in temples?

7:41Serhan: They offer themselves

7:42No, they bring fruits in baskets, carrying them on their heads.

7:48Sinan: Flowers, incense

7:50Let me explain.

7:52Whatever is produced in that culture, of the best quality good enough

7:55to present to the King,

7:58it must be fresh and of the best quality

8:01Suppose I grow olive trees.

8:05Who would I offer my best olives?

8:09Either to my guests or to the king, to God.

8:14You can’t just offer something that is not good enough.

8:20Serhan: God sees what you are hiding as well as what you are offering.

8:24Bravo!

8:25What does it mean, to make an offering to God?

8:27Whether it is a real, imaginary or idealized God

8:32That’s not important.

8:33What is important is your servanthood.

8:36You say, I didn’t create this soil, nor this olive tree, nor the oil in the olive.

8:46All I did was the work, the contribution I made towards the final product.

8:52So I contributed. But if there wasn’t this soil, this tree

8:57whatever I did would not matter at all.

9:01I could be digging and digging in vain.

9:09These gifts come about with my efforts and contribution,

9:12yes, but what is given to me, is external to me.

9:17How will I show gratitude?

9:21How will I give thanks?

9:23Gratitude means to offer what I have, to share what I have produced

9:27Serhan: The culture of sharing

9:29To share what I have produced

9:29I have put out an effort

9:33But the context also contributed.

9:37What do Native Americans say?

9:39They say to the white men from Europe

9:46To those bandits

9:52They say, you white man,

9:57you are asking me to sell my land to you.

10:02Now, how can I sell a butterfly?

10:05How can I sell the glimmering ripples of the river?

10:09There are deer walking in the forest, are their glances for sale?

10:14Sinan: That breeze, that wind, how can I sell it?

10:18What are you talking about?

10:20Serhan: This is something that can’t be explained to the white men.

10:23Sinan: He thinks about the square meters of land.

10:27Native Americans are saying: what do you want from me?

10:29What does selling land to you mean?

10:30How can I sell a butterfly to you,

10:32or the shining ripples of the river?

10:35How can I sell all of these to you?

10:37They don’t understand.

10:39Serhan: He doesn’t understand. This land is not his to sell.

10:42They are shamans.

10:45They are saying, look, this river doesn’t flow for itself,

10:53but for us.

10:55The sun doesn’t rise for itself, it rises for you and me.

11:02A fruit is not growing for itself, for us to eat it.

11:06Look at nature, nothing exists for itself.

11:11Everything is presenting itself as a gift.

11:14So to whom are you offering your efforts, what you produce?

11:19Serhan: So the earth offers, the fruit offers, everyting offers from itself

11:23what am I offering as Serhan?

11:28The funny thing is whatever you are presenting as a gift, is already given to you as a gift!

11:33Serhan: They say, look at a piece of fruit! You are not even close to a piece of fruit!

11:36Sinan: Bravo, of course.

11:38There are even several pieces of fruit on one branch.

11:44So it would great if there was a photo of

11:46how Indians make these offerings we talked about,

11:49They put trays of fruits and flowers on their heads, they go to temples

11:52Sinan: They are arriving in the presence of the Divine.

11:55they go to the temple and leave their offerings there in front of the Buddha statue

12:01And we look from outside and say that they are pagans.

12:05We laugh that they are offering food to sculptures.

12:07What would a sculpture do for you anyway? It is just a statue

12:11We make fun of them.

12:13Serhan: Right, we even make fun of them.

12:15You know what this is?

12:18It is a symbol.

12:20You are presenting, making an offer to Divinity.

12:25Are there people who take care of the temple? Priests? Yes

12:30We might say that priests are probably stealing all that fruit and other gift.

12:36But if they are real, they would never do such a thing.

12:39So what do they do?

12:42Sinan: Let’s say twenty boxes of apples arrived.

12:45People keep bringing more fruits, vegetables.

12:49What do you think happens to them?

12:53Sinan: Maybe they offer it to guests at ashrams.

12:56Serhan: I don’t know. What do they do with these offerings?

12:58They give it to the poor.

13:01Sinan: Look at the social order here!

13:03Go to Prophet Solomon’s temple, it is the same thing.

13:06Thousands of sheep are slaughtered in one day, as God ordered.

13:15What are they going to do with all of that?

13:19There are no refrigerators

13:23They are offered to all poor people.

13:25Under those circumstances, there were no refrigerators, no way to keep them.

13:30But it is important to know that this is not about turning poor people into beggars.

13:38Serhan: How come? When they come to get their share, their food, they might feel like beggars

13:43or those who see them receiving the food, might think they are beggars,

13:49No, if you bring the food directly to a poor person’s house

13:55and tell him: look I am helping you, I am giving you this food, that would be the case.

13:59That would turn a person into a begger.

14:02Instead, there is an institutiont there, you are getting the food from that institution.

14:07You are getting the food from the temple. I am not giving it to you personally. It is God giving it to you.

14:11Serhan: So I brought 3 bunches of bananas, and everyone brought the same and

14:14now there are 500 bunches of bananas

14:18And someone came and got as much as he needed

14:22The thing is we don’t know who brought the bananas

14:28Or who is taking the bananas, nobody knows who brought the bananas or who is taking them

14:35If I brought the bananas directly to you, I would have turned you into a beggar.

14:38Sinan: There is no barcode.

14:39You would have known it was me. And I would have said I am giving this to you,

14:42You would have thought you are dependent on this person.

14:44You would have stood up everytime you saw him and thanked him.

14:50But instead I am going to the temple, and it is God who is giving me food.

14:54I don’t know who brought the food.

15:00That’s what we mean by Temple.

15:02Serhan: How beautiful! Amazing!

15:04Çilingir Sofrası 20 / Hinduism & Divine Names and Attributes ****translated by Prof. Dr. Nükhet Kardam*****