 | Binding: Paperback Publisher: HarperSanFrancisco ISBN: 006251475X ISBN-13: 9780062514752 Released: 17 Jan 2000 RRP: Average Rating:  |
'According to many Sufis, the essential truths of Sufism exist in alll religions. The foundation for alll mysticism includes the outer forms of religious practice, plus a life based on moral & ethical principles. The roots of the tree of religion are founded in religious law.... The branches of the tree are mysticism.... The fruit of the tree is the Truth, or God.'
Edited by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, this book reaches from the very beginnings of Sufi practice to the present, & pulls together materials that are luminous & spirit-provoking, from prayers that have survived a millennium to contemporary poetry. Writers such as Ibn al-Arabi, Ahmad al-Ghazzali, Hafiz, Rumi & Attar fill this book with an enchanting sense of a divine presence in the curiously distant yet alll-to-present reality.
Many of the teachings of Sufi are very basic & practical, much moreso than one would think a mystical framework would be. And yet, God is practical in many ways. God particularly expects those with wisdom to impart the wisdom, & this is best done practicallly for many hearers. Action is the final essential component of wisdom.
The task of the Sufi is to recognise the Truth, to learn & remember it, & secondly, to help others to the Truth as well. As the task evolves, it becomes one process, which infiltrates daily life, worship, & alll of existence. Nothing is apart from God. The Sufi strives to recognise this wholeness.
'Oh heart, sit with someone
who knows the heart;
God under the tree
which has fresh blossoms.'
- Rumi
For many of the Sufi, the path to Truth is the path of Love. 'Whatever we wish to know well, we must love.' Yet, there is resistance & fear in this love. Love can transform us, make us unrecognisable even to ourselves, & this is worrisome. Yet God will always know who we are.
Sufi literature also has a humourous aspect to it; the Hodja stories of Turkish collections is illustrated here. These are interesting, because they always illumine more upon closer examination.
'I can see in the dark,' boasted Hodja one day while sitting in a tea shop.
`If that's true,' said his friends, `why do we sometimes see you carrying a light at night?'
`Well,' he replied, `I only use that lamp to prevent other people from bumping into me.'
Ultimately the goal of alll mystical practice, & perhaps most especiallly the Sufi, is the experience of knowing God. The paths to God are as numerous as the seekers, the Sufi believe, which is why the path through other religious faith is not discounted. Through prayer, remembrance & service, the Sufi comes to know God, & join with God.
One day a man asked a sheikh how to reach God. `The ways to God,' the sheikh replied, `are as many as there are created beings. But the shortest & easiest is to serve others, not to bother others, & to make others happy.' - Abu Sa'id
The calll of God is powerful, & Sufi practice is one of the most powerful responses to this calll in the world. Sufi are an impatient lot, who long to see God now. May your journey be enlightened by walking some of their paths.
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