There is no place for place!
by Hakim SanaiEnglish version by Ivan M. Granger
Original Language Persian/Farsi
There is no place for place!
How can a place
house the maker of all space,
or the vast sky enclose
the maker of heaven?
He told me:
"I am a homeless treasure.
The world was made
to give you a place to stand
and see me."
Tell me, if the one you seek
is placeless,
why put your shoes on?
The real road
is found by polishing, polishing
the mirror of your heart.
 | -- from The Longing in Between: Sacred Poetry from Around the World (A Poetry Chaikhana Anthology), Edited by Ivan M. Granger |
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/ Image by RobertoBertero /
I've always loved these verses, but this morning it's the middle verse that especially stands out to me--
He told me:
"I am a homeless treasure.
The world was made
to give you a place to stand
and see me."
Mystics, through direct perception, often declare that there is a fundamental unity in existence. There is no real separation between beings. There is no separation between the individual and the Eternal.
But this raises a dilemma in the minds of some philosophers: In a reality where all is One, why then does the perception of separation and multiplicity emerge? Is that simply a false vision, a delusion, or does it serve a divine purpose, even if temporary? In other words, why does that externalized reality ("the world") come into being?
One way this question is answered is to look at the journey of the individual human consciousness from birth, through individuation, to mature adulthood and, finally, hopefully, to wisdom and enlightenment. As newborn infants we don't imagine ourselves to be separate from our mothers. There is hardly any self at all. Or, rather, self is so open that it is not a "self" in the normal sense. There is only Mother. And the wider reality is only the perception of sensation. This is a form of unity, but it is immature. This initial unity does not yet allow us to effectively interact with the wider, complex reality and embody our full potential.
Next, separation and individuation begins to occur. The toddler discovers a powerful word: "No!" A sense of self emerges. This is also when "the world" emerges. Wider reality becomes something outside ourselves, outside the self, separate. We get the dynamic of self and object, self and other.
That self-object dynamic is essential. It allows for interaction. It allows for experimentation and experience and growing comprehension. We gain a vantage point through which to perceive and understand reality. We gain a place to stand and to see.
As profound and necessary as this relationship with reality is, it is ultimately limited. It works well for the basic need of all beings to figure out how to survive and socially connect. But it is an incomplete picture, and it leaves us incomplete in ourselves. Even when, as mature adults, we learn the skills of the world, there is more. And we know it.
The wise woman or man is dedicated to continuing the maturation of the awareness, rediscovering that primal unity while integrating it with the hard-learned lessons of the world. This leads to true spiritual maturity, with vision and a place to stand, yet consciously connected to all things.
We need the world. We need a place to stand, so we can look and see. Eventually we once more see the One in the patterns of the many.
Then the idea of place falls away. Place only has meaning amidst the many, when seeking some segment of reality. But, when, in our full maturity, we seek the blissful vision of the Whole Reality, what meaning does place have anymore?
There is no place for place!
How can a place
house the maker of all space...?
Enough running about from place to place; we are on a journey to the placeless. Let's kick off our shoes, sit down, and begin the quiet work of polishing that most secret center until we truly see, and know, and are lost in the vision...
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