Spirituality is the Religion of the Soul and the Core of all Religions

What is the difference between the Goharian Philosophy of Divine Love and the teachings of Sufism/Spirituality? 

If you do a comparative study of the religions you will notice that there is a concept of Spirituality in Judaism, Christianity and also in Islam. But the concept of Spirituality is to be found only in that religion which has been established by Messengers and Prophets sent by God and you will see all the man-made religions do not have a clear concept of Spirituality. Buddhism is not a celestial religion; it is a set of thoughts of a man. Jainism and Hinduism are not a celestial set of beliefs. There are three main Abrahamic Faiths and these three are monotheist religions, they were established by Messengers sent by God. All three, Judaism, Christianity and Islam have a lengthy Spiritual System. The teachings of spirituality in Judaism are known to be the teachings of Kabala and in Christianity, spirituality is known as Gnosticism. If you look up this word in a lexicon, the meaning of this word Gnosticism is Muarifa. There is also a Bible, the Gnostic Bible composed by Thomas, ‘The Gospel of Thomas’. It is really sad and strange at the same time that in all three religions, Judaism Christianity and Islam, the teachings of spirituality have been altered. The teachings of spirituality have been regarded as an alien object in the religion like it has nothing to do with the mainstream orthodox teachings of the religion. It is a very sad and disheartening fact that the teachings of spirituality have been regarded as an alien object in all 3 major religions of the world.

Those who represent the Law of the Religion (Sharia) are proudly known as Orthodox followers of the religion and spiritualists in all these three religions have been considered to be separated from the mainstream religion. It is not just the religion of Islam where Sufis are considered to be heretic but also Sufis in Judaism faced more fierce opposition by the orthodox clerics of the religion. Those who practise Kabbalistic teachings earn no respect in Judaism. They are considered as some kind of orthodox type of people. Similarly, The Gospel of Thomas which is the gist of Gnostic Teachings within Christianity to be practised but in a very occult way. The mainstream religion does not appreciate the importance of spirituality in the religion. The synagogue does not accept the teachings of Kabala as orthodox teachings whereas the church does not appreciate and accept Gnostic Teachings and in Islam also Sufis do not have much respect in the mainstream religion. For those who practise Sufism most of the time the mainstream religion and religious people, these Sufis are regarded as heretics. This is what has been happening so it is not one man’s fault in one era. This error in the human mind has been going on for a long time. There is no mention of the time of Adam, how did the people of that time take the teachings of spirituality? It is not mentioned anywhere in the recorded history. However, as far as we can go in history, we understand that Judaism, Christianity and Islam do not accept spirituality as part of orthodox religion. 

We also are a part of this society. When everybody knew spirituality is separated from mainstream religion we lived in the same society, we interacted with the same people so we also had the same view on spirituality. Sufism is regarded as something excluded from the religion. I never thought that Sufism was part of the religion until I met His Divine Eminence Gohar Shahi and HDE Gohar Shahi explained everything. HDE Gohar Shahi explained there are two aspects of every religion, the outer aspect of the religion and the inner aspect/dimension of the religion. 

HDE Gohar Shahi said, ‘Spirituality is the soul of the religion, spirituality is the life of the religion. Spirituality is the core of the religion whereas the Sacred Law (Sharia) is only the shell.’ 

HDE Gohar Shahi said, ‘All 5 Grand Messengers were given a book and all those 5 Grand Messengers were also given the inner dimension of the religion they were granted by God. No religion is complete without its inner dimension.’

According to the Quran there are two aspects of everything. God created everything in pairs like light and darkness, day and night, cold and hot. Everything was created in pairs. In a similar way Quran said God exists everywhere, in both the outer and inner dimensions. Existence can be either seen or divided in two different aspects. The apparent existence which you can see and the invincible dimension which you can easily say is an abstract dimension which you can feel but cannot witness it. You can feel it but you cannot witness it. However you can observe it. You have your existence and your existence also has two different dimensions, the outer dimension and the inner dimension.

The Two Aspects of Human Existence

Even the body has two dimensions. There are two types of doctors, physicians. If you have minor disease you will see a physician and he will ask you what is wrong and you will say I feel pain all over my body, I am coughing badly and my nose is running. Most probably he will say you have a cold. Physicians will ask you questions and you will tell him how do you feel and you will tell him the symptoms. Having heard the symptoms he will then prescribe for you a medicine. But his judgement will be based on what you tell him so he has studied the knowledge of symptoms. He will prescribe for you a medicine and you will start taking that medicine. For example if you have pain in your stomach in England most probably he will give you Paracetamol every 6 hours. Having taken that medicine without fail for a week if you still have pain, most probably that physician will send you to the hospital because he wants to know what is wrong inside your body. If you are running temperature you will feel the temperature by touching your body, if it is hot than it normally is; 98.7 is the normal temperature of a man but if his temperature is 100 it means he is feverish. He is trying to determine what could go wrong if the body is hot or what could have gone wrong and if the body is hot and if Paracetamol is not curing the pain then he wants to see what could be wrong inside your body. The knowledge of the inside of the body is anatomy. Even the body has two dimensions. Now what could be wrong inside your body? The organs you cannot see until you are dissected. A physician cannot do it. If something is wrong in your stomach then most probably they will put in your stomach a camera and they will manoeuvre the camera in your stomach and they would want to see what is wrong inside your stomach. That is the inner aspect of your body. 

In a similar way there are two aspects, physical aspect of your existence and spiritual aspect of your existence. Whether it’s a Jew, a Christian or a Muslim, whether they believe in spirituality or they do not believe in spirituality they will have to admit the fact that there is a body and there is a soul and human being is a compound of both. But before the body was created your soul already existed so your Batin (inner dimension) is much older than your body, which means it is more important to teach your soul your religion rather than teaching your body your religion because your body is in your possession momentarily. But what will continue to be in your possession is your soul. You will never get rid of your soul no matter you live here or you die. Even when you have died you will continue to exist because of your soul. The soul is the source of your eternal existence. When a religion is sent, the religion is to address the theosophical needs of your body and also the spiritual needs of your soul. What happens when the religion is destroyed? A religion is destroyed when the outer aspect of the religion is fine but the religion cannot reach and cannot cater for the spiritual needs of the inner dimension of our existence. That is exactly what has happened to the religions today. 

In other words spirituality is the core of the religions. If there is no soul in the body the body is dead. If there is no spirituality in the religion, the religion is dead. If the soul leaves your body your body cannot move, cannot talk and cannot digest food. When somebody dies and they carry him into the graveyard they insert something into his nose, his mouth, etc. because there is no soul there is no power, there is no light, there is no energy and anything that could have been left out in his stomach could now release. Life sustains your body and that life stays inside your soul so your soul is the ‘Sustainer of Life’ in an actual and factual way. Your body does represent your presence in this world but it doesn’t represent your existence. If you cannot see something you cannot say it doesn’t exist but you think what you can see only that thing exists. For example if you cannot see Jesus and you say Jesus is here but we cannot see him, the pathetic thing is if you cannot see something you cannot convince yourself to believe the fact that, that thing exists. 

God says, ‘I am everywhere.’ But he is nowhere to be seen. When I was a child I asked my teacher is he was in the toilet as well and he said no shut up. 

Spirituality is the core of all religions and no religion can exist without spirituality. Spirituality caters for the needs of the soul. Your soul is your permanent, eternal and factual existence. There is a very deep and heavy emphasis on facts. Your soul is the factual evidently existence and your body only represents your presence in this world. You existed through your soul before you came into this world. But when you die that will be the death of your body. You must understand this point. What is death? When you die you do not stop living. The process, the cycle of existence continues. What is death? Before you came into this world you existed and your existence was through your soul and after your death, you return to the same previous state of life. So this body is a fake existence, a momentary existence. Your real existence belongs to your soul how and why? Before your birth into this world, your soul existed and after your demise in this world, it will be your soul through which you will exist. So religion is sent to teach your existence, to teach your reality, to teach the essence of your being and the essence of your being is not your body. The essence of your being is what will continue to exist when you stop living in this world. It’s not your body. The essence of your being is your soul because that will continue to exist even when you stop living in this world. Our actual and factual being is our soul not our body, therefore we also understand any religion, any spiritual, any divine medicine or divine help which is extended to humanity is meant to cater the needs of the factual existence of mankind which is not the body, it is the soul. The knowledge that we cater for the needs of the soul is called spirituality. It is the teachings of spiritualty which will in reality address and cater the needs of your soul not the body. If the religion does not reach out to your soul that religion is not fit to take care of your theosophical needs.

Today the religions have become invalid, disabled because these religions do not have a valid Spiritual System and if a religion cannot cater anymore the needs of the soul that that religion in factual sense does not exist anymore. Religions were made but nothing can be obtained by the soul without spirituality. The word spirituality has word called spirit which is referred to the soul. You need to understand that the factual existence is not your body it is your soul. On the day of anointment, on the Day of Azal when God gathered all the souls and they assembled in the presence of God, was there any body? No. Then God showed them modelled luxuries of the world, modelled luxuries of the paradise and at that point in time the choice was made by the souls because your bodies did not exist at that time. You are sent into this world now and you are following a religion, Judaism, Christianity, Islam but the choice was made by your soul. If this religion does not reach out to the soul there is no coordination between the choice that you made and what you are doing here because the choice you made was made by your soul. Your body needs comfort luxury, that’s it. The religion of the body is comfort and luxury and if your body has comfort and luxury you are happy. If your soul is a loving soul and your body has all the luxuries and comforts of the world available to it but fortunately you have a loving soul in that body then you will feel uneasy with all those luxuries and all those comforts. You will always feel something very vital in my life is missing. You will have so much money yet your heart is not at peace because your soul is hungry, because your soul needs a doctor, because your soul is diseased. 

Your soul is inside you. Your body cannot see your soul. Who would be blinder than a person who cannot see his own existence and he talks about the world? If you talk about insight how far can you see? To me you cannot see beyond your nose. If you cannot see yourself forget about seeing the rest of the world. Perhaps this is why God cleverly said, ‘One who has recognised himself has recognised his Lord.’

What does it mean? Has there been a span of time in which I have been unaware of myself? Why do I need to recognise myself? Do I not know myself? You think your body is yourself but that is not true. The primary source of your life is not your body it is the secondary source, the primary source of existence is your soul and your body does not know that. You cannot see your soul. Spirituality is not something on top of an orthodox set of beliefs like a luxury in theosophical circles but rather a basic necessity without which there is no concept of becoming good or divine. There is no concept of goodness. 

Our body is filled with life. Every part of our body has life. But if we chop your hand off will you die? So, your hand is not very important to your life. If we cut your nose off will you die? No. Forget about cutting your heart off, just put a knife in your heart and you will die. So your heart is the centre of your life. Without eyes you will continue to live on. There are so many blind people they are living aren’t they? The quality of life is not the same but still they are living. There are so many people who do not have the organ to produce children but they are still living. 

Religious Spirituality & the Brand of Spirituality Introduced by His Divine Eminence Ra Gohar Shahi

Similarly, if the religion does not teach your body but it teaches your soul, you are okay because on the Day of Judgement it is not your body that will be asked questions. It will unfortunately be your soul. What has gone wrong with people in this day and age is that people have either ignored or forgotten or have become oblivion of the importance of spirituality because apparently they do know after their death the soul will be taken to the skies and celestial realms but it will be silly to ignore the fact that the questions by God will be put to your souls because you are leaving your body behind. Either the body is going to be cremated or put in the grave. Almost everybody in this world believes the soul will be taken to the celestial realms but of course the questions from God will be put to your souls because you will not have your body with you. Then why are you ignoring in the religion the knowledge that will enlighten your soul? When you know the fact that due to your demise your body will be left in this world and only your soul will be taken by the angels in the celestial realms and all the questioning and examination by God will be carried on your soul not your body. Why do you ignore the core of the religion, spirituality, when you know that you will be left with the soul in the end and you will have your body no more? Don’t you think it is foolhardy to confine the knowledge of the religion to your body only that is no the permanent abode of your soul? Spirituality is the core of every religion and those who think that it is not an orthodox set of beliefs they are fooling themselves. They are idiots. What else could be orthodox if not spirituality? Spirituality is the spot on teachings; it is directly addressing your soul. You will be present before God in your soul not with your body. At the end of the day the questions asked by God will be put to your soul because your soul will be representing you. In this world your body is representing you but on the Day of Judgement your soul will be representing you. Now it will be judged what you did while you were present here. Did you take the knowledge of the religion to your soul? 

Spirituality is the core of every religion and those who say spirituality is not an orthodox mainstream aspect of the religion they live in fool’s paradise and they are actually misleading the humanity. When religions were sent spirituality was made the core of the religion. But it doesn’t mean spirituality by itself cannot be sent as a set of beliefs without accompanying any religion. The awaited One Imam Mehdi/Messiah/Kalki Avatar Ra Gohar Shahi is the pioneer of non-religious, secular spirituality. The Spiritual Sciences that I represent and HDE Gohar Shahi has introduced are the spiritual teachings which are non-religious and secular but purer than religious spirituality because now anybody can reach God without entering or coming into the fold of any religion. You do not have to embrace a set of beliefs of a religion in order to reach God. HDE Gohar Shahi is giving you a short-cut. When you apply for a passport a normal delivery will take 4 weeks and premium service within 2 hours. HDE Gohar Shahi teachings are like premium service. For example in the morning you are like alien to yourself, in the afternoon you met HDE Gohar Shahi and by the evening you know God. This is how quick this newly introduced process of Spirituality introduced by HDE Gohar Shahi is. 

HDE Gohar Shahi says a human being has two religions, one is the religion of his body and one is the religion of his soul. However many religions were sent into this world, they all had two dimensions of the religion with teachings for the outer body and teachings for the inner soul. However most followers of the religion are those who follow the outer dimension and the percentage of those following the religion of the soul is much lower. In the past the religion of the soul was partly introduced and HDE Gohar Shahi has introduced a full-fledged version of the Religion of God (Religion of the Soul). 

When spirituality is adopted as part of a religion it is adopted through religious principles, worship, customs and methods. In Islam there are many forms of worship and austerities. There is Dhikr, Salat and fasting. Fasting is related to the purification of the Nafs however it is only done one month out of a year, therefore, the percentage is decreased whereas Salat is offered every day. The teachings of spirituality within the religion must be adopted according to the religious method. If you are in the religion and you try to obtain the teachings of spirituality within that religion without the religion you will not be successful. This is why it is said there is no Tariqa without Sharia. It is very important to understand this. 

When spirituality as part of the religion is practised, it is practised via conventional methods of worship and any person in that religion if wanting to adopt spirituality without fulfilling the requirement of the religion will always fail. Spirituality in that religion has to be practised according to the principles of that religion. No wonder in Islamic circles they say there is no Tariqa without Sharia because whatever portion of spirituality in that religion that is part of that religion and you have to go by the book. Muslims becoming Sufis have to strictly follow Sharia and by virtue of the Law of Sharia they get to the core of the truth. That is the case in every religion. Now we have HDE Gohar Shahi’s brand of Spirituality. Spirituality which is to be found in religions is not very profound teachings of spirituality. It is surface level spirituality and it’s not very deep. It just touches upon a few important, essential parts of spirituality. For example, the Islamic spirituality consists of two main points, purification of the heart and mortification of the Self. That will do and a Muslim will turn into a Sufi. But that is not the hard core spirituality. We understand that spirituality which is part of any religion is acquired by virtue of the practise of the principles of that religion. Without embracing and performing the principles of that religion you cannot acquire the spirituality within that religion. 

But the form and brand of spirituality that HDE Gohar Shahi has introduced is self-standing Spiritual Sciences. It is not part of any religion. It is the core of spirituality and attainment of this new brand of spirituality is obtained without adopting any religious passage. You do not have to follow a religion in order to learn this spirituality and this message from HDE Gohar Shahi goes out to the entire human race. 

HDE Gohar Shahi says, ‘In order to recognise God and reach God learn Spirituality no matter what religion or faith you practise.’ 

HDE Gohar Shahi’s message is self-evident and very vocal about its nature. If you read Sufi books you will find out that without adopting the Sacred Law of Islam one cannot become a Sufi. But then when you come to the realm of HDE Gohar Shahi, the message put across your mind is that you may belong to any religion because this spirituality is not part of any religion. It is an independent essence of Spirituality. How is it obtained and upon what principality? There is only one principle and that principle is HDE Gohar Shahi. In religious spirituality one has to wait until he or she obtains permission from God, until God permits him or her to become a spiritual person and then having been submitted to God, one cannot be 100 per cent sure whether he or she will definitely be accepted by God. When God responds to your Spiritual Guide he may simply turn down your request of becoming a spiritual person and he will never furnish your request with a valid reason as to why he rejected you because God doesn’t recognise furnishing your request and the rejection he makes with any reasoning. You cannot question God’s authority, unfortunately. In religious spirituality of Judaism, Christianity and Islam you have no control over your choice. For example you have a desire of becoming a spiritual person but it doesn’t depend on your choice. You have to wait until you are permitted by God only then you are initiated into spirituality and if God says I do not want to see your face, then it’s over. In religious spirituality for example, Kabala in Judaism, Gnosticism in Christianity and Sufism in Islam, it is not like you would want to become a Sufi and without any hindrance you will become a Sufi by reading a couple of Sufi books.

Sultan Haq Bahu said he sought a Spiritual Guide for 30 years until he found one and having become a Saint of God he looked for a true spiritual disciple for 30 years and he didn’t find one. So in religious spirituality, there is very limited space to manoeuvre. Sultan Haq Bahu said the Sacred Law is like a big palace and the hole of spirituality is very narrow. The Sacred Law of Sharia has mighty palaces and the fact is when he said the palaces of the Sacred Law of Sharia are huge, you can easily enter them but if you want to enter spirituality, the entrance is very narrow and on that narrow entrance of spirituality there are Islamic clerics standing guard, they will never let you in. Only those succeeded to enter that narrow hole of spirituality, who did it in a very secrete way, meaning they found a Faqir/Spiritual Guide outside of the religion and through his Merciful Glance they entered spirituality. The Faqir will not ask you to find spirituality through Soum or Salat; he will simply fall a glance of his Spiritual Sight upon your heart and take you to the court of the Lord. 

In religious spirituality there are so many problems, so many things to do and then you wait for the permission from God. If today somebody wants to become a Sufi, do you think it is possible that you make a desire of becoming a Sufi and with your effort you become a Sufi? Without prior permission from God you cannot be admitted into Spirituality but the good news is HDE Gohar Shahi has come. HDE Gohar Shahi said that Ba Yazeed Bastami remained engaged in extensive austerities in the jungle for 14 years waiting for the permission from God, permission of initiation. He remained in the jungle for 14 years so that God accepts him and let him in Spirituality. 

HDE Gohar Shahi said, ‘The one who comes to me and seeks Spirituality and my help, that person is instantly, immediately and on the spot admitted, permitted, accepted and initiated.’ 

In other words in the Spirituality introduced by Abraham, introduced in Christianity, introduced by Prophet Mohammad you can make a choice but you are not able to turn it into reality. In this brand new spirituality introduced by HDE Gohar Shahi if you wish to become a spiritual person HDE Gohar Shahi is ready to embrace. In this form of spirituality all you need is an aspiring and a willing heart. The rest will be taken care of by HDE Gohar Shahi, simple as that. Here at Gohar Shahi’s doorsteps there is no disappointment for anybody, there is no rejection for anybody because the applications for spirituality are dealt here in HDE Gohar Shahi’s office. It is not sent to God for permission.

What are the points upon which HDE Gohar Shahi accepts you and permits you to be initiated? What must be seen before HDE Gohar Shahi admits you? Only one point, if you have a willing heart, you are accepted. Was it ever that easy? People are vigilant day and night in the churches, mosques, synagogues and temples, yet they do not find a trace of God and here God’s love is on sale; a closing down sale, 99% reduction, liquidation. Was God ever obtained this way? Was God ever obtained so easily? You don’t have to go to a church, mosque, synagogue or any other worship place. You don’t have to do anything. You do not have to make any effort at all. Just close your eyes the rest will be done by HDE. 

This is why I call it the Goharian Philosophy of Divine Love. You do not have to practise any religion to be a spiritual person now. You will obtain spiritual power, spiritual knowledge and the spiritual principles without performing any religious principles. The main difference between HDE Gohar Shahi’s Spiritual Philosophy and the religious spirituality is that here all you need is a willing heart and you do not have to follow any religion at all; it is strictly spiritual.