The 99 names of God is something we need to touch on briefly in this series. We’re not going to get deeply into it because that could be its own whole thing, but it’s a beautiful Sufi teaching.
Instead of trying to say the qualities of God in large abstract terms, we talk about small, different, qualities that exist within the fullness of the idea. It’s kind of the opposite of nonduality.
Nonduality says there’s no sense in talking about it at all because you can’t really define it. Sufism, being the way of the heart, talks about things that can be defined, these little essences of God. God is the Healer and God is the Guide. There are 99 names that can be used in spiritual practice to learn to notice the world and how things work together with you as a participant in it.
Erachman Erachim is where the story of the 99 names of God begins because these two qualities cannot exist without the other. Erachman Erachim can be used in place of saying the word of God or the word Allah.
Both of them have “the womb” as their root because they both carry within them the aliveness of creation. Erachman is the protector of the womb, the husband, the container within which creation can bloom. Erachim is this overflowing creation that comes forth when it’s held in the safety of creation. You have to have both things, the protector of life and life. The container, and what’s being contained; what’s being protected and what’s blooming forth.
This reminds me very much of a story that a Sufi Master once told. Erachman Erachim is considered the cure for what ails us most today — the narcissistic wound. It’s the idea that you intrinsically do not belong, that you’re intrinsically divided.
This narcissistic wound can manifest in various problems, from feeling disliked by others to feeling you don’t like anyone, to not feeling like you belong in society or thinking the world is against you. Erachman Erachim is the cure because it helps you understand that you are held in the universe, on the earth, within the air, and by gravity in the most basic, never-ending way. Even if you’re sick and dying, you’re still held.
A story from “Sand Talk” by an Aboriginal man beautifully illustrates this idea. In a natural tribe, the baby is considered the center of the universe due to the magnetism it holds for everyone. As the baby grows, his/her attention gradually expands outward, becoming part of a circle of care around all the babies, children, and everything that’s growing. The story concludes with the idea that when you die, seven generations later, you come back as the baby, and the cycle continues.
So, Erachman Erachim is the beginning of our feelings and ideas. It’s a beautiful teaching to explore the 99 names of God.