Criteria for Certitude

"If it be your wish, O people, to know God and to discover the greatness of His might, look, then, upon Me with Mine own eyes, and not with the eyes of anyone besides Me. Ye will, otherwise, be never capable of recognizing Me, though ye ponder My Cause as long as My Kingdom endureth, and meditate upon all created things throughout the eternity of God, the Sovereign Lord of all…"

"… when a true seeker determineth to take the step of search in the path leading to the knowledge of the Ancient of Days...

Tap each condition as you pause and reflect on it.

1. 1he must, before all else cleanse and purify his heart…
2. 2That seeker must at all times put his trust in God,
3. 3must renounce the peoples of the earth,
4. 4detach himself from the world of dust,
5. 5and cleave unto Him Who is the Lord of Lords.
6. 6He must never seek to exalt himself above anyone,
7. 7must wash away from the tablet of his heart every trace of pride and vainglory,
8. 8must cling unto patience and resignation,
9. 9observe silence, and refrain from idle talk. For the tongue is a smoldering fire, and excess of speech a deadly poison. That seeker should also
10. 10regard backbiting as grievous error, and keep himself aloof from its dominion, inasmuch as backbiting quencheth the light of the heart, and extinguisheth the life of the soul.
11. 11He should be content with little,
12. 12and be freed from all inordinate desire.
13. 13He should treasure the companionship of those that have renounced the world, and
14. 14regard avoidance of boastful and worldly people a precious benefit.
15. 15At the dawn of every day he should commune with God, and
16. 16with all his soul persevere in the quest of his Beloved.
17. 17He should consume every wayward thought with the flame of His loving mention, and,
18. 18with the swiftness of lightning, pass by all else save Him.
19. 19He should succor the dispossessed, and
20. 20never withhold his favor from the destitute.
21. 21He should show kindness to animals, how much more unto his fellowman…
22. 22He should not hesitate to offer up his life for his Beloved,
23. 23nor allow the censure of the people to turn him away from the Truth.
24. 24He should not wish for others that which he doth not wish for himself,
25. 25nor promise that which he doth not fulfill.
26. 26With all his heart should the seeker avoid fellowship with evildoers, and pray for the remission of their sins.
27. 27He should forgive the sinful, and never despise his low estate, for none knoweth what his own end shall be. …
28. 28he should regard all else beside God as transient, and
29. 29count all things save Him, Who is the Object of all adoration, as utter nothingness…

"…Then will the manifold favors and outpouring grace of the holy and everlasting Spirit confer such new life upon the seeker that he will find himself endowed with a new eye, a new ear, a new heart, and a new mind… Gazing with the eye of God, he will perceive within every atom a door that leadeth him to the stations of absolute certitude…"