Feisal Abdul Rauf: Lose your ego, find your compassion

Translator: Martina Corral Aller Reviewer: Vanessa Pombo

I'm speaking about compassion from an Islamic point of view,

Eu falo da compaixón dende o punto de vista islámico.

and perhaps my faith is not very well thought of

e tal vez a miña fe non sexa vista

as being one that is grounded in compassion.

como unha fe arraigada na compaixón.

The truth of the matter is otherwise.

A verdade é outra.

Our holy book, the Koran, consists of 114 chapters,

O noso libro sagrado, o Corán, consta de 114 capítulos,

and each chapter begins with what we call the basmala,

e cada capítulo comeza co que chamamos a basmala,

the saying of "In the name of God, the all compassionate, the all merciful,"

dicimos: no nome de Deus, o Clemente e Misericordioso

or, as Sir Richard Burton --

ou, como Sir Richard Burton,

not the Richard Burton who was married to Elizabeth Taylor,

non o Richard Burton que foi esposo de Elizabeth Taylor,

but the Sir Richard Burton who lived a century before that

senón Sir Richard Burton, quen viviu un século antes,

and who was a worldwide traveler

viaxou por todo o mundo

and translator of many works of literature --

e foi traductor de moitas obras literarias,

translates it. "In the name of God, the compassionating, the compassionate."

el tradúceo como: "no nome de Deus, Graciabilísimo, Misericordiosísimo".

And in a saying of the Koran, which to Muslims is God speaking to humanity,

Nunha pasaxe do Corán, que para os musulmáns é Deus falándolle á Humanidade.

God says to his prophet Muhammad --

Deus dille ao seu profeta Mahoma,

whom we believe to be the last of a series of prophets,

quen cremos que foi o último dunha linaxe de profetas,

beginning with Adam, including Noah, including Moses, including Abraham,

comezando con Adán, logo Noé, Moisés e Abrahán,

including Jesus Christ, and ending with Muhammad --

incluíndo a Xesucristo e terminando con Mahoma

that, "We have not sent you, O Muhammad,

dixo: "Non te enviamos, oh, Mahoma,

except as a 'rahmah,' except as a source of compassion to humanity."

excepto coma raham, como fonte de compaixón para a Humanidade".

For us human beings, and certainly for us as Muslims,

Para nós, como seres humanos, e coma musulmáns

whose mission, and whose purpose in following the path of the prophet

cuxa misión e o propósito é segui-la senda do profeta

is to make ourselves as much like the prophet.

debemos chegar a ser como o profeta

And the prophet, in one of his sayings, said,

e o profeta dixo:

"Adorn yourselves with the attributes of God."

"Adórnense cos atributos divinos".

And because God Himself said that the primary attribute of his is compassion --

Porque Deus dixo que o seu principal atributo é a compaixón,

in fact, the Koran says that "God decreed upon himself compassion,"

de feito, o Corán di: "Deus autoimpúxose a compaixón",

or, "reigned himself in by compassion" --

ou "reinou sobre sí mediante a compaixón".

therefore, our objective and our mission must be to be sources of compassion,

Polo tanto, temo-lo obxectivo e a misión de ser fontes de compaixón,

activators of compassion, actors of compassion

activadores da compaixón, actores da compaixón,

and speakers of compassion and doers of compassion.

voceiros da compaixón, practicantes da compaixón.

That is all well and good,

Todo iso está ben,

but where do we go wrong,

pero, onde nos equivocamos,

and what is the source of the lack of compassion in the world?

e cal é a causa da falta de compaixón no mundo?

For the answer to this, we turn to our spiritual path.

Para atopa-la resposta, acudimos a nosa senda espiritual.

In every religious tradition, there is the outer path and the inner path,

En cada tradición espiritual, existe unha senda externa e unha interna,

or the exoteric path and the esoteric path.

ou a senda exotérica e a senda esotérica.

The esoteric path of Islam is more popularly known as Sufism, or "tasawwuf" in Arabic.

A senda esotérica do Islam coñécese como o sufismo, ou tasawwuf en árabe.

And these doctors or these masters,

E todos estes doutores ou mestres,

these spiritual masters of the Sufi tradition,

estes mestres espirituais da tradición sufi,

refer to teachings and examples of our prophet

refírense ás ensinanzas e aos exemplos do noso profeta,

that teach us where the source of our problems lies.

que nos ensinan onde está a fonte dos nosos problemas.

In one of the battles that the prophet waged,

Nunha das batallas onde loitou o noso profeta,

he told his followers, "We are returning from the lesser war

el dixo aos seus seguidores: "Regresamos dunha guerra menor

to the greater war, to the greater battle."

e iremos cara unha guerra maior, a batalla maior".

And they said, "Messenger of God, we are battle-weary.

E eles dixeron: "Mensaxeiro de Deus, estamos cansados da batalla.

How can we go to a greater battle?"

Como poderiamos ir cara unha batalla maior?

He said, "That is the battle of the self, the battle of the ego."

El dixo: "Esa é a batalla do ser, a batalla do ego".

The sources of human problems have to do with egotism, "I."

As fontes dos problemas humanos relaciónanse co egoísmo, o Eu.

The famous Sufi master Rumi, who is very well known to most of you,

O famoso mestre sufí, Rumi, moi coñecido por vostedes,

has a story in which he talks of a man who goes to the house of a friend,

conta unha historia sobre un home que visita a casa dun amigo

and he knocks on the door,

chama á porta,

and a voice answers, "Who's there?"

e unha voz responde: "Quen é?"

"It's me," or, more grammatically correctly, "It is I,"

"Son eu"

as we might say in English.

"Son eu"

The voice says, "Go away."

A voz di: "Vaite".

After many years of training, of disciplining, of search and struggle,

Despois de moitos anos de adestramento, disciplina e loita,

he comes back.

el regresa,

With much greater humility, he knocks again on the door.

E con maior humildade, chama á porta de novo.

The voice asks, "Who is there?"

A voz pregunta: "Quen é?"

He said, "It is you, O heartbreaker."

El responde: "Eres ti, oh, inconmovible".

The door swings open, and the voice says,

Ábrese a porta, e a voz di:

"Come in, for there is no room in this house for two I's,"

"Entra, xa que non hai espazo nesta casa para dous "Eu",

-- two capital I's, not these eyes -- "for two egos."

dous eus (en inglés rima con "eye", non dous ollos -"eyes"-), para dous egos.

And Rumi's stories are metaphors for the spiritual path.

As historias de Rumi son metáforas da senda espiritual.

In the presence of God, there is no room for more than one "I,"

En presenza de Deus, non hai espazo para máis dun Eu,

and that is the "I" of divinity.

e ese é o Eu da divinidade.

In a teaching -- called a "hadith qudsi" in our tradition --

Nunha ensinanza chamada "hadith qudsi" na nosa tradición,

God says that, "My servant," or "My creature, my human creature,

Deus di: "Meu servo", ou "miña criatura", miña criatura humana

does not approach me by anything that is dearer to me

non se aproxima a min por ningún medio máis prezado

than what I have asked them to do."

que a través de aquilo que lle pedín facer".

And those of you who are employers know exactly what I mean.

E os patronos ben saben o que quero dicir.

You want your employees to do what you ask them to do,

Queren que os seus empregados fagan o que lles piden,

and if they've done that, then they can do extra.

e se o fan, poden facer aínda máis,

But don't ignore what you've asked them to do.

pero non ignoran o que vostedes lles pediron facer.

"And," God says, "my servant continues to get nearer to me,

E Deus di: "Meu servo achégase máis a min

by doing more of what I've asked them to do" --

ao facer máis do que lle pedín".

extra credit, we might call it --

Gañando puntos extra, poderiamos dicir,

"until I love him or love her.

"facendo que o ame.

And when I love my servant," God says,

E cando amo ao meu servo", di Deus,

"I become the eyes by which he or she sees,

"Transfórmome nos ollos polos que el ou ela ve,

the ears by which he or she listens,

os oídos polos que escoita,

the hand by which he or she grasps,

a man coa que empuña,

and the foot by which he or she walks,

o pé co que camiña,

and the heart by which he or she understands."

o corazón que lle da entendemento".

It is this merging of our self with divinity

Esta é a fusión do noso ser coa divindade,

that is the lesson and purpose of our spiritual path and all of our faith traditions.

a lección e o fin da nosa senda espiritual, de tódalas nosas tradicións de fe.

Muslims regard Jesus as the master of Sufism,

Os musulmáns ven a Xesús como o mestre do sufismo,

the greatest prophet and messenger who came to emphasize the spiritual path.

o máis grande profeta e mensaxeiro, que veu a resalta-la senda espiritual.

When he says, "I am the spirit, and I am the way,"

Cando el di: "Eu son o Espírito, Eu son o camiño",

and when the prophet Muhammad said, "Whoever has seen me has seen God,"

cando o profeta Mahoma dixo: "Quen me vira, veu a Deus",

it is because they became so much an instrument of God,

porque se converteron nun instrumento de Deus,

they became part of God's team --

son parte do hálito de Deus,

so that God's will was manifest through them,

e así a vontade de Deus manifestouse a través deles

and they were not acting from their own selves and their own egos.

xa que non actuaban dende sí mesmos e dende o seu ego.

Compassion on earth is given, it is in us.

A compaixón terreal dásenos, xa está en nós.

All we have to do is to get our egos out of the way,

Todo o que debemos facer e retira-los nosos egos,

get our egotism out of the way.

desfacernos do noso egoismo.

I'm sure, probably all of you here, or certainly the very vast majority of you,

Estou seguro de que todos vostedes, ou a gran maioría

have had what you might call a spiritual experience,

tiveron unha experiencia espiritual,

a moment in your lives when, for a few seconds, a minute perhaps,

un momento das súas vidas no que, por uns segundos, quizáis un minuto,

the boundaries of your ego dissolved.

os límites do ego disolvéronse.

And at that minute, you felt at one with the universe --

E durante ese minuto sentíronse un co Universo,

one with that jug of water, one with every human being,

un con esa xerra de auga, un con cada ser humano.™

one with the Creator --

Un co creador,

and you felt you were in the presence of power, of awe,

e sentíronse en presenza do poder, do asombro,

of the deepest love, the deepest sense of compassion and mercy

do máis profundo amor, a máis profunda compaixón e misericordia

that you have ever experienced in your lives.

que experimentaran nas súas vidas.

That is a moment which is a gift of God to us --

Ese momento é un agasallo de Deus para nós,

a gift when, for a moment, he lifts that boundary

un obsequio no que, por un momento, el retira esa barreira

which makes us insist on "I, I, I, me, me, me,"

que nos fai insistir en eu, eu, eu, min, min, min,

and instead, like the person in Rumi's story,

e a cambio, como a persoa na historia de Rumi

we say, "Oh, this is all you.

dicimos: "Oh, todo eso eres ti".

This is all you. And this is all us.

Todo eso eres ti. E todo iso somos nós.

And us, and I, and us are all part of you.

E nós, e eu, e todos nós somos parte túa.

O, Creator! O, the Objective! The source of our being

Creador de tódalas cousas, tódolos fins, a fonte do noso ser,

and the end of our journey,

e o final da nosa travesía.

you are also the breaker of our hearts.

Tamén eres quen rompe os nosos corazóns.

You are the one whom we should all be towards, for whose purpose we live,

Eres aquel a quen debemos dirixirnos, aquel por quen vivimos,

and for whose purpose we shall die,

e por cuxa vontade morreremos,

and for whose purpose we shall be resurrected again

e por cuxa vontade resucitaremos

to account to God to what extent we have been compassionate beings."

para xustificar ante Deus como de compasivos fomos.

Our message today, and our purpose today,

Hoxe nosa mensaxe e propósito,

and those of you who are here today,

e quenes están hoxe aquí,

and the purpose of this charter of compassion, is to remind.

e o propósito deste capítulo de compaixón, é recordar.

For the Koran always urges us to remember, to remind each other,

E é que o Corán sempre nos urxe recordar, que nos recordemos os uns ós outros,

because the knowledge of truth is within every human being.

porque o coñecemento da verdade está en cada ser humano.

We know it all.

Sabemos todo.

We have access to it all.

Temos acceso a todo.

Jung may have called it "the subconscious."

Jung chamouno inconsciente.

Through our subconscious, in your dreams --

A través do noso inconsciente, nos nosos soños,

the Koran calls our state of sleep "the lesser death,"

o que o Corán chama, estar durmindo, a morte menor,

"the temporary death" --

a morte temporal.

in our state of sleep we have dreams, we have visions,

Cando durmimos, soñamos, temos visións,

we travel even outside of our bodies, for many of us,

incluso moitos viaxamos fóra dos nosos corpos,

and we see wonderful things.

e vemos cousas marabillosas.

We travel beyond the limitations of space as we know it,

Viaxamos máis alá das limitacións do espazo, tal como o coñecemos,

and beyond the limitations of time as we know it.

e máis alá das limitacións do tempo, tal como o coñecemos.

But all this is for us to glorify the name of the creator

Pero todo isto é para glorificar o nome do creador

whose primary name is the compassionating, the compassionate.

cuxo nome primordial é o Clemente, o Compasivo.

God, Bokh, whatever name you want to call him with, Allah, Ram, Om,

Deus, Bokh, como desexen chamalo, Alá, Ram, Om,

whatever the name might be through which you name

sexa cal sexa o nome que usen para denotar

or access the presence of divinity,

ou chegar á presenza da divindade,

it is the locus of absolute being,

é o locus do ser absoluto,

absolute love and mercy and compassion,

amor, piedade e compaixón absolutos,

and absolute knowledge and wisdom,

coñecemento e sabedoría absolutos,

what Hindus call "satchidananda."

o que os hindús chaman satchidananda.

The language differs,

A linguaxe pode cambiar,

but the objective is the same.

pero o obxectivo é o mesmo.

Rumi has another story

Hai outra historia de Rumi

about three men, a Turk, an Arab and --

de tres personaxes: un turco, un árabe,

and I forget the third person, but for my sake, it could be a Malay.

e esquezo o terceiro, pero podería ser un malaio.

One is asking for angur -- one is, say, an Englishman --

Un pide angour, o outro é, digamos, un británico,

one is asking for eneb, and one is asking for grapes.

un pide eneb, e o outro pide uvas.

And they have a fight and an argument because

E pelexan e discuten porque:

-- "I want grapes." "I want eneb. "I want angur." --

eu quero uvas, eu quero eneb, eu quero angour,

not knowing that the word that they're using

sen saber que a palabra que usan

refers to the same reality in different languages.

refírese á mesma realidade en diferentes idiomas.

There's only one absolute reality by definition,

Só hai unha realidade absoluta por definición,

one absolute being by definition,

un só ser absoluto por definición,

because absolute is, by definition, single,

porque o absoluto é, por definición, único,

and absolute and singular.

absoluto e singular.

There's this absolute concentration of being,

Hai unha concentración absoluta do ser,

the absolute concentration of consciousness,

a absoluta concentración da conciencia,

awareness, an absolute locus of compassion and love

a cognición, un locus absoluto de compaixón e amor

that defines the primary attributes of divinity.

que define os atributos divinos primordiales.

And these should also be

E eses tamén deben ser

the primary attributes of what it means to be human.

os principais atributos do que significa a humanidade.

For what defines humanity, perhaps biologically,

Xa que o que define a humanidade, tal vez de maneira biolóxica,

is our physiology,

é a nosa fisioloxía,

but God defines humanity by our spirituality, by our nature.

pero Deus define á humanidade pola nosa espiritualidade e natureza.

And the Koran says, He speaks to the angels and says,

O Corán di, el falou aos anxos e dixo:

"When I have finished the formation of Adam from clay,

"Cando termine de formar a Adán con arxila,

and breathed into him of my spirit,

e insufle nel o meu espírito,

then, fall in prostration to him."

entón postrádevos ante el".

The angels prostrate, not before the human body,

Os anxos postráronse, non ante o corpo humano,

but before the human soul.

senón ante a alma humana.

Why? Because the soul, the human soul,

Por qué? Porque a alma, a alma humana,

embodies a piece of the divine breath,

encarna parte do hálito divino,

a piece of the divine soul.

parte da alma divina.

This is also expressed in biblical vocabulary

Esto tamén se expresa con vocabulario bíblico

when we are taught that we were created in the divine image.

cando nos ensinan que fomos creados en semexanza á imaxe divina.

What is the imagery of God?

Cal é a imaxenería de Deus?

The imagery of God is absolute being,

A imaxenería de Deus é o ser absoluto,

absolute awareness and knowledge and wisdom

cognición, coñecemento e sabedoría absolutos,

and absolute compassion and love.

amor e compaixón absolutos.

And therefore, for us to be human --

Entón, para que sexamos humanos,

in the greatest sense of what it means to be human,

no máis alto sentido do que significa ser humano,

in the most joyful sense of what it means to be human --

no máis gozoso sentido do que significa ser humano,

means that we too have to be proper stewards

quere dicir que tamén nós debemos ser portadores axeitados

of the breath of divinity within us,

do hálito divino que xace en nós,

and seek to perfect within ourselves the attribute of being,

e buscar perfeccionar en nós o atributo do ser,

of being alive, of beingness;

de estar vivos, de nosa condición de ser,

the attribute of wisdom, of consciousness, of awareness;

o atributo da sabedoría, consciencia, cognición,

and the attribute of being compassionate and loving beings.

e o atributo de seres compasivos e amorosos.

This is what I understand from my faith tradition,

Esto é o que entendo da tradición da miña fe,

and this is what I understand from my studies of other faith traditions,

e esto é o que entendo dos meus estudos doutras tradicións de fe,

and this is the common platform on which we must all stand,

esta é a plataforma común que todos debemos pisar,

and when we stand on this platform as such,

e cando pisemos esta plataforma

I am convinced that we can make a wonderful world.

estou convencido de que poderemos crear un mundo marabilloso.

And I believe, personally, that we're on the verge

E creo, persoalmente, que estamos cerca,

and that, with the presence and help of people like you here,

e coa presenza e axuda de persoas coma vostedes,

we can bring about the prophecy of Isaiah.

podemos facer realidade a profecía de Isaías.

For he foretold of a period

El predixo unha era

when people shall transform their swords into plowshares

na que a xente transformará as súas espadas en arados

and will not learn war or make war anymore.

e non aprenderán a guerra, e xa non librarán a guerra.

We have reached a stage in human history that we have no option:

Chegamos a unha etapa da historia humana onde non hai opción.

we must, we must lower our egos,

Debemos aplaca-los nosos egos,

control our egos -- whether it is individual ego, personal ego,

controlar os nosos egos, sexa o ego individual, persoal,

family ego, national ego --

o ego familiar, o ego nacional,

and let all be for the glorification of the one.

e que todo sexa por glorifica-lo uno.

Thank you, and God bless you.

Grazas, e que Deus os bendiga.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)