FANA-BAQA, Part 1

 
The Sufi term "baqa" means "abiding-in."

To come down to normal consciousness from the super-conscious "I am God" state to experience the "abiding-in" God state would mean getting established in the very life of God. Thus in baqa the life of God in a human being is established. This means that in baqa man establishes himself as God consciously. This consciousness is called "sulukiyat" or the normal consciousness of being "established in the life of God."

Distinct from this is the majzoobiyat or "being drowned or absorbed by infinite bliss" in the state of "I am God." Accordingly, God as man, experiencing the state of baqa, is called the real "Salik" in Sufi terminology. This baqa of Reality and Divinity is called "baqa-billah". In Vedanta it is known as "atmapratisthapana."

The Salik not only experiences infinite power and infinite knowledge while in infinite bliss, as in majzoobiyat, but, now being the Salik, He consciously accumulates all the infinite power, infinite knowledge and infinite bliss while being established in the life of God with the normal consciousness of His Sulukiyat.

But before finally and really "passing-away-in" the reality of the ultimate fana-fillah state with full consciousness completely matured, and before getting established in the final baqa-billah of Divinity, generally speaking in terms of Illusion, there are as many individualized experiences of fana-baqa as there are varied and innumerable species and states of life in Creation.