Moodboard: Chapter 4 of the BAHR AL-HAYĀT ("OCEAN OF LIFE"). Section 4
"The recollection (dhikr) of hans [no. 1], that is, the first spiritual state of the Jogis; they teach this practice to their students, and in this generosity appears. In their technical terms they call recollection (dhikr) practice (karma), and they call asceticism and abstemiousness dharma. Their piety (taqwa) is to become separated from attachments and impediments, with an ascetic’s rag (zhinda) on the breast, a covering (fūṭa) on the waist, dust scattered on the head, and face smeared with ash – they are distinguished from the people of the world. From nothingness they see the whole of existence, they have grasped the thread of unity from end to end, internal and external have a single meaning, imagination, thought, and concept have taken on a single form, and with all peaceful beauty, whatever comes from the beloved is worthy, and one understands the posture. The posture of this practice (karma) they call sahaj āsana; let it be unveiled! One holds the head, waist, and back even, and one meditates, placing one shin over the other, holding the left ankle under the point of the right knee, and placing the right ankle under the point of the left knee, clasping both hands together. When exhaling, one says hans, and hans is an expression for “the spiritual Lord” (Ar. rabb rūḥī). When inhaling, one says so ham, and so ham is the expression for “Lord of Lords” (Ar. rabb al-arbāb). When the spiritual Lord takes the form of the Lord of Lords, a single manifestation becomes apparent with every beauty. It becomes the locus of witnessing, unveiling, and vision. Most people need to persist in this recollection (dhikr), to open the door to the hidden of the hidden.The goal1 of the spiritual state of this point is this.2"
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Image and English translation from the mysterious Bahr al-Hayāt translated as "The Ocean of Life" written in Persian by the 16th Century Sufi mystic Muhammad Ghawth. The first illustrated manual of Hatha yoga, which has been studied over the many centuries and is said to be possibly an attempt at bridging Sufi mysticism to meditation and yoga, that are renown in both Hinduism and Buddhism.
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