The Sufi practitioner is a mystic. Sufi practices are the mystical practices of Islam. Many of those whom Islam heralds as saints and sages were Sufi masters. For nearly 1500 years, Sufi practices have co-existed with a diversity of other practices and cultures in which Islam has survived and thrived. 'According to many Sufis, the essential truths of Sufism exist in all religions. The foundation for all mysticism includes the outer forms of religious practice, plus a life based on moral and 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 and Robert Frager, this book reaches from the very beginnings of Sufi practice to the present, and pulls together materials that are luminous and spirit-provoking, from prayers that have survived a millennium to contemporary poetry. Writers such as Ibn al-Arabi, Ahmad al-Ghazzali, Hafiz, Rumi and Attar fill this book with an enchanting sense of a divine presence in the curiously distant yet all-to-present reality.
Many of the teachings of Sufi are very basic and 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, and this is best done practically for many hearers. Action is the final essential component of wisdom.
The task of the Sufi is to recognise the Truth, to learn and remember it, and secondly, to help others to the Truth as well. As the task evolves, it becomes one process, which infiltrates daily life, worship, and all 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 and fear in this love. Love can transform us, make us unrecognisable even to ourselves, and 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 all mystical practice, and perhaps most especially 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 and service, the Sufi comes to know God, and 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 and easiest is to serve others, not to bother others, and to make others happy.' - Abu Sa'id
The call of God is powerful, and Sufi practice is one of the most powerful responses to this call 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.
