Unity

So I know its been a while, but we're back and this time we're gonna talk about Sufism. And its pretty awesome.

In short Sufism is the primary mystic branch of Islam based on obtaining a deep unity with the Divine Presence here and now in this life by obtaining the Fitra, or the point where nothing that one does is wrong in the eyes of the divine, because all of your actions are undertaken from a deep love of God.

yeah, its pretty cool like that

Interestingly, like many mystic traditions once this point the divides, dualism, and multiplicities that normally define are lives begin to fade away into a single sense of unity, many within the tradition report that even their individual sense of self, can at times, begin to disappear well. This approach is seen as a very spirituality rigorous one that is not taken lightly, and is often viewed with a distant sort of respect by other Muslims as obtaining a deep oneness with God could be seen as overwhelming if not destructive and dangerous.  

This method is approached through a variety of fashions, but most of them revolving around the Sufi purifying there lesser traits and refining their higher ones. How that is done varies on the teacher that one has, but methods included meditating on the 99 names of God, singing, chanting, and of course the famous whirling dervishes.  

So that's pretty cool, but how does one even begin to do such a thing?  Glad you asked. 

Sufism is an esoteric religion, and like many mystic traditions, it is passed from teacher student. The teacher is approved by other Master of the Way forming a network of lineage leading back to the beginnings of the movement. 

Which is interesting considering the fact that Islam has a long history within the Iranian region, where many other religions, such as Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Gnosticism, Greek and Roman Paganism/Philosophy, have had a presence throughout history. Meaning that the potential for overlap between   these various traditions mystic branches is high, so I think it could be really cool to check out what dialogue, if any, exists between these traditions. 

Until next time, 

Jacob 

references: 

Ernst, Carl W. The Shambhala Guide to Sufism. Boston, Mass: Shambhala, 1997.

Renard, John. Knowledge of God in Classical Sufism: Foundations of Islamic Mystical Theology. New York: Paulist Press, 2004.

Shah, Idries. The Way of the Sufi. London: Penguin, 1990.