Sufism is based on the idea that the universe consists of 7 “realms of existence.” We are talking about the multidimensionality of space.
The subtlest spatial dimension, which Sufis call Zat, is the Abode of God in the aspect of the Creator. The Creator and all the diversity of His Creation (in Sufi terminology - Sifat) form the Absolute. The Creator permeates the entire Creation with His Love.
The multidimensional human organism, being similar in its structure to the multidimensional structure of the Absolute, can reveal in itself more subtle “types of being.” This is done through the process of self-knowledge and self-improvement.
Thus, only through comprehension of his true essence can a person achieve direct perception of God and gain unity with Him. This is very succinctly expressed by one of the hadiths of the Sunnah, which says: “Whoever knows himself will know God.” On final stages such comprehension is individual human consciousness merges with Divine Consciousness. This ultimate goal is described in the Sufi tradition as the highest state of consciousness Baqi-bi-Allah (Eternity in God). In the Hindu and Buddhist traditions, this term corresponds to Kaivalya, Mahanirvana, Moksha.
Love is at the heart of Sufism(mahabba, hubb). Sufis even sometimes speak of their teaching as a “hymn of Divine Love” and call it tassa-wuri - “love-vision”. Love is seen in Sufism as the force that leads to a constant strengthening of the feeling of inclusion in God. This process leads to the understanding that there is nothing in the world except God, who is both Lover and Beloved.
One of the basic principles of Sufism- “Ishq Allah, Mabut Allah” (“God is Lover and Beloved”).
A truly loving Sufi gradually sinks, drowns and dissolves in the Creator - in his Beloved.
The perception of God as the Beloved comes from direct, immediate experience. Sufis describe it as follows. When a person travels a certain distance along the Path of Love, God begins to help the seeker much more actively, attracting him to His Abode. And then a person begins to feel more and more clearly the reciprocal Divine Love.
Let us trace how such love leading to God develops, based on the ideas of Jalal ad-Din Rumi.
It happens:
1) through the development of emotional, heartfelt love for everything that is most beautiful and harmonious in the world;
2) through active, sacrificial, love-service to people;
3) then - through expanding the circle of this love to all manifestations of the world without distinction; Sufis say about this: “If you make distinctions between things that come from God, you are not a person.” spiritual path. If you think that a diamond will exalt you, and a simple stone will humiliate you, then God is not with you";
4) this developed love for all elements of Creation is redirected to the Creator - and then the person begins to see, in the words of Rumi, that “the Beloved is in everything.”
Obviously, this concept of Love is identical to those presented in the Bhagavad Gita and the New Testament: the same main milestones, the same emphasis. True love is considered in Sufism, as well as in the best spiritual schools of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity, as the only force that can lead to God.
The attitude of Sufis to worldly activities
Sufi sheikhs often live in the world, engaging in the most ordinary worldly activities. They can run a shop, a workshop, a forge, write music, books, etc. This happens because Sufis are convinced that there is no need for complete solitude or hermitage in order to go to God.
They argue that there is nothing in worldly activity that separates you from God, if you do not become attached to its fruits and do not forget about Him. Therefore, at all stages of spiritual ascent, a person can remain included in social life. Moreover, it is this that, in their opinion, provides enormous opportunities for improvement. If we consider each life situation as an educational one, you can communicate and even live side by side with the most “terrible” and depraved people, be exposed to the grossest influences - and not suffer from this, on the contrary, maintain constant cheerfulness and serenity, improving through these social contacts offered by God.
Training in Sufism
As for murid students, Sufi sheikhs emphasize that not everyone who would like to become a Sufi can become one, not everyone is ready to accept Sufi teachings. Sufis say that you cannot teach anyone anything: you can only show the Path, but everyone must go through it themselves. Therefore, if a candidate disciple does not yet have the ability to use the teaching for his spiritual development, there is no point in learning, teaching spills like water into sand.
A person’s readiness to accept teaching is determined by the sheikh. Moreover, provocative methods are often used for this. Those who aspire to become disciples are placed in various situations, sometimes impose harmless conversations on them in order to determine their level of development. If a candidate student shows promise, then the sheikh, observing him for some time, determines his individual characteristics and the level to which the teaching can be perceived by a novice adept. In accordance with this, the murid is given certain tasks for the entire period of study and is given the necessary sections of the teaching.
Having determined the specifics of the student’s spiritual development, the sheikh can send him to other orders, brotherhoods, training centers. The neophyte begins to move from sheikh to sheikh - and so gradually comprehends and assimilates the program. After a long and varied training, the murid again appears before his first sheikh. He gives him the final “internal cutting”, “internal polishing” and then the so-called ijaza (permission) to continue the tradition of the sheikh and preach the teachings.
The scope of Sufi training includes both the esoteric side and the exoteric side, i.e. murids improve not only ethically, intellectually, psychoenergetically, but also master techniques, comprehend the secrets of the worldly craft and art that the sheikh owns. This subsequently helps them in life.
Stages in Sufi training
The initial stage of spiritual practice - Sharia (law) - is associated with strict observance of all religious precepts. Preliminary passage of Sharia is a prerequisite for entering the path of spiritual improvement.
Actually, esoteric training begins at the next stage - tariqah (path, road). Passing the tariqa is associated with mastering a number of maqam steps.
In ethical terms, the maqams of the tariqa involve a fundamental revaluation of values. They are associated with the identification of one’s own vices and repentance (tawbah), abstinence from the forbidden (zuhd), the strictest caution in distinguishing between what is permitted and what is not permitted (wara), and the renunciation of non-spiritual attachments and desires (faqr). The murid also learns patience (sabr), “swallowing bitterness without expressing displeasure.”
The constant memory of death, the awareness of its inevitability, leads the murid to a series of rethinkings. Including - to the appearance of careful attitude to the remaining time on Earth. Reflections on death are strong remedy fighting unwanted habits and attachments. Al-Ghazali said: “When something in the world pleases you and attachment is born in you, remember death.”
At the stage of tariqa, intensive intellectual work is also carried out. Sheikhs constantly offer students new topics to understand, talking with them about the basics of teaching. Murids get acquainted with various literary sources, rich parable material, educational stories, etc.
As he passes through all the steps of this stage, the murid acquires an unlimited desire to achieve unity with the Creator and enters the state of rida, defined by the Sufis as “peace in relation to predestination,” i.e. into a state of serenity, complete calm regarding what is happening.
Those who have successfully completed the maqams of tariqa are given the opportunity to move further along the path of marefat - meditative comprehension of God. At this stage, further ethical “polishing” of the ascetic occurs, there is a constant improvement of his love (in a variety of aspects), wisdom and strength. A Sufi who has passed this stage truly comprehends the multidimensionality of space, the “illusoryness” of values material existence, receives a living experience of communication with God. As an arif (knower), he can receive initiation as a sheikh.
Sufism - what is it? Science has not yet created a clear and unified understanding of this most complex and multifaceted direction of Muslim religious thought. Over the many centuries of its existence, it covered not only the entire Muslim world, but also managed to penetrate into Europe. Echoes of Sufism can be found in Spain, the countries of the Balkan Peninsula and Sicily.
What is Sufism
Sufism is a special mystical-ascetic movement in Islam. His followers believed that direct spiritual communication between a person and a deity, achieved through long-term special practices, was possible. Understanding the essence of deity is the only goal that Sufis strived for throughout their lives. This mystical “path” was expressed in the moral purification and self-improvement of man.
The Sufi's "path" consisted of a constant pursuit of God, called maqamat. With sufficient diligence, maqamat could be accompanied by instant insights that were similar to short-term ecstasies. But it is worth noting that such ecstatic states were not for Sufis an end in themselves to be strived for, but served only as a means for a deeper knowledge of the essence of the deity.
The many faces of Sufism
Initially, Sufism was one of the directions of Islamic asceticism, and only in the 8th-10th centuries the teaching fully developed as an independent movement. At the same time, the Sufis began to have their own religious schools. But even under this condition, Sufism never became a clear and harmonious system of views. The fact is that at all times of its existence, Sufism greedily absorbed many ideas ancient mythology, Zoroastrianism, Gnosticism, Christian theosophy and mysticism, subsequently easily connecting them with local beliefs and cult traditions.
Sufism - what is it? This concept the following definition can serve: this common name, uniting many movements, schools and branches with various ideas of the “mystical path”, which have only a common final goal - direct communication with God. The ways to achieve this goal were very diverse - physical exercise, special psychotechnics, auto-training. All of them were built into certain Sufi practices, spread through brotherhoods. Understanding these numerous practices gave rise to new wave varieties of mysticism.
Beginning of Sufism
Initially, Sufis were the name given to Muslim ascetics who, as usual, wore a woolen cape “suf”. This is where the term “tasawwuf” comes from. This word appeared only 200 years after the time of the Prophet Muhammad and meant “mysticism.” From this it follows that Sufism appeared much later than many movements in Islam, and subsequently it became a kind of successor to some of them.
The Sufis themselves believed that Muhammad, with his ascetic lifestyle, showed his followers the only Right way for spiritual development. Before him, many prophets in Islam were content with little, which earned them great respect from the people.
A significant role in the development of Muslim asceticism was played by “ahl al-suffa” - the so-called “people of the bench”. This is a small group of poor people who gathered in the Medina mosque and spent time in fasting and prayer. The Prophet Muhammad himself treated them with great respect and even sent some to preach Islam among small Arab tribes lost in the desert. Having significantly improved their well-being on such trips, the former ascetics easily got used to a new, more well-fed way of life, which allowed them to easily renounce their ascetic beliefs. But the tradition of asceticism in Islam did not die; it found successors among itinerant preachers, collectors of hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad), as well as among former Christians who converted to the Muslim faith. The first Sufi communities appeared in Syria and Iraq in the 8th century and quickly spread throughout the Arab East. Initially, Sufis fought only to pay more attention to the spiritual aspects of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad. Over time, their teachings absorbed many other superstitions, and hobbies such as music, dancing, and sometimes the use of hashish became commonplace.
Rivalry with Islam
Relations between Sufis and representatives of orthodox movements of Islam have always been very difficult. And the point here is not only in the fundamental differences in teaching, although they were significant. Sufis prioritized the purely personal experiences and revelations of each believer, in contrast to the orthodox, for whom the main thing was the letter of the Law, and a person had only to strictly obey it. In the first centuries of formation Sufi teachings official movements in Islam fought with him for power over the hearts of believers. However, with the growth of his popularity, the Sunni orthodox were forced to come to terms with this situation. It often happened that Islam could penetrate into remote pagan tribes only with the help of Sufi preachers, since their teaching was closer and more understandable to ordinary people. No matter how rational Islam may be, Sufism made its rigid postulates more spiritual. He made people remember their own souls, preached kindness, justice and brotherhood. In addition, Sufism was very flexible, and therefore absorbed all local beliefs like a sponge, returning them to the people more enriched from a spiritual point of view. By the 11th century, the ideas of Sufism had spread throughout the Muslim world. It was at this moment that Sufism turned from an intellectual movement into a truly popular one. The Sufi teaching about the “perfect man,” where perfection is achieved through asceticism and abstinence, was close and understandable to the poor people. It gave people hope for a heavenly life in the future and said that divine mercy would not bypass them. Oddly enough, having been born in the depths of Islam, Sufism did not draw much from this religion, but it happily accepted many theosophical constructs of Gnosticism and Christian mysticism. Big role Eastern philosophy also played a role in the formation of the doctrine; it is almost impossible to briefly talk about all the diversity of its ideas. However, the Sufis themselves have always considered their teaching to be an internal, hidden doctrine, a secret underlying the Koran and other messages left by many prophets in Islam before the coming of Muhammad.
Philosophy of Sufism
With the growing number of followers in Sufism, the intellectual side of the teaching gradually began to develop. Deep religious, mystical and philosophical constructs could not be understood by ordinary people, but they satisfied the needs of educated Muslims, among whom there were also many who were interested in Sufism. Philosophy has always been considered the destiny of the chosen few, but without a deep study of its doctrines, not a single religious movement can exist. The most widespread movement in Sufism is associated with the name of the “Great Sheikh” - the mystic Ibn Arabi. His pen includes two famous works: “Meccan Revelations”, which is rightfully considered an encyclopedia of Sufi thought, and “Gems of Wisdom”. God in the Arabi system has two essences: one is intangible and unknowable (batin), and the other is a clear form (zahir), expressed in all the diversity of creatures living on earth, created in the divine image and likeness. In other words, everyone living in the world is just a mirror, reflecting the image of the Absolute, the true essence of which remains hidden and unknowable.
Another widespread teaching of intellectual Sufism was wahdat al-shuhud - the doctrine of the unity of testimony. It was developed in the 14th century by the Persian mystic Ala al-Dawla al-Simnani. This teaching said that the goal of the mystic is not to attempt to connect with the deity, since this is completely impossible, but only to search for the only the right way exactly how to worship him. This true knowledge comes only if a person strictly observes all the requirements of the Holy Law, which people received through the revelations of the Prophet Muhammad. Thus, Sufism, whose philosophy was distinguished by a pronounced mysticism, was still able to find ways to reconcile with orthodox Islam. It is possible that the teachings of al-Simnani and his many followers allowed Sufism to continue its completely peaceful existence within the Muslim world.
Sufi literature
It is difficult to appreciate the diversity of ideas that Sufism brought to the Muslim world. The books of Sufi scholars have rightfully entered the treasury of world literature. During the period of development and formation of Sufism as a teaching, Sufi literature also appeared. It was very different from what already existed in other Islamic movements. The main idea Many works attempted to prove the kinship of Sufism with orthodox Islam. Their goal was to show that the ideas of the Sufis are fully consistent with the laws of the Koran, and their practices in no way contradict the way of life of a devout Muslim.
Sufi scholars tried to interpret the Koran in their own way, with the main attention being paid to verses - places that were traditionally considered incomprehensible to the mind of a common man. This caused extreme indignation among orthodox interpreters, who were categorically against any speculative assumptions and allegories when commenting on the Koran. According to Islamic scholars, the Sufis also treated hadiths (traditions about the deeds and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) very freely. They were not very concerned about the reliability of this or that evidence; they paid Special attention only their spiritual component. Sufism never denied Islamic law (fiqh) and regarded it as an immutable aspect of religion. However, among Sufis the Law becomes more spiritual and sublime. It is justified from a moral point of view, and therefore does not allow Islam to completely turn into a rigid system that requires its followers only to strictly fulfill all religious instructions.
Practical Sufism
But in addition to highly intellectual Sufism, which consists of complex philosophical and theological constructs, another direction of teaching also developed - the so-called pragmatic Sufism. What it is, you can guess if you remember how popular various eastern exercises and meditations are these days, aimed at improving one or another aspect of a person’s life. In pragmatic Sufism, two main schools can be distinguished. They proposed their own, carefully developed practices, the implementation of which should provide a person with the opportunity for direct intuitive communication with the deity.
The first school was founded by the Persian mystic Abu Yazid al-Bistami, who lived in the 9th century. The main postulate of his teaching was the achievement of ecstatic delight (galaba) and “intoxication with the love of God” (sukr). He argued that through long meditation on the unity of the deity, one can gradually achieve a state when a person’s own “I” completely disappears, dissolves in the deity. At this moment, a role reversal occurs when the personality becomes a deity, and the deity becomes a personality. The founder of the second school was also a mystic from Persia, his name was Abu-l-Qasima Junayd al-Baghdadi. He recognized the possibility of ecstatic union with the deity, but urged his followers to move further, from “intoxication” to “sobriety.” In this case, the deity transformed the very essence of man, and he returned to the world not only renewed, but also endowed with the rights of the messiah (baka). This new being could fully control his ecstatic states, visions, thoughts and feelings, and therefore serve even more effectively for the benefit of people, enlightening them.
Practices in Sufism
Sufi practices were so diverse that it is not possible to subordinate them to any system. However, among them there are several of the most common ones, which many still use today. The most famous practice is the so-called Sufi whirling. They make it possible to feel like the center of the world and feel a powerful circulation of energy around. From the outside it looks like a quick circle with with open eyes and raised hands. This is a kind of meditation that ends only when the exhausted person falls to the ground, thereby completely merging with it.
In addition to whirling, Sufis practiced a variety of methods of cognition of the deity. This could be long meditations, certain breathing exercises, silence for several days, dhikr (something similar to meditative recitation of mantras) and much more. Sufi music has always been an integral part of such practices and was considered one of the most powerful means for bringing a person closer to the deity. This music is still popular in our time; it is rightfully considered one of the most beautiful creations of the culture of the Arab East.
Sufi brotherhoods
Over time, brotherhoods began to arise in the bosom of Sufism, the purpose of which was to give a person certain means and skills for direct communication with God. This is the desire to achieve some freedom of spirit as opposed to the mundane laws of orthodox Islam. And today in Sufism there are many dervish brotherhoods, differing from each other only in the ways of achieving fusion with the deity. These brotherhoods are called tariqats. Initially, this term was applied to any clear practical method of the “path” of the Sufi, but over time, only those practices that gathered around themselves began to be called this way. greatest number followers. From the moment the fraternities appeared, a special institution of relations began to take shape within them. Everyone who wanted to follow the path of a Sufi had to choose a spiritual mentor - a Murshid or Sheikh. It is believed that it is impossible to go through the tariqah on your own, since a person without a guide risks losing his health, his mind, and possibly his life itself. On the path, the student must obey his teacher in every detail.
In the era of the heyday of teaching in the Muslim world, there were 12 largest tariqas; later they gave birth to many more side branches. With the development of the popularity of such associations, their bureaucratization deepened even more. The system of relations “student-teacher” was replaced by a new one - “novice-saint”, and the murid was no longer subject to the will of his teacher, but to the rules established within the framework of the brotherhood. The most important among the rules was complete and unconditional submission to the head of the tariqa - the bearer of “grace”. It was also important to strictly observe the charter of the brotherhood and strictly carry out all the mental and physical practices prescribed by this charter. Like many other secret orders, the Tariqah developed mysterious initiation rituals. There are groups that have managed to survive to this day. The largest of them are Shaziri, Qadiri, Nakhshabandi and Tijani.
Sufism today
Today, it is customary to call Sufis all those who believe in the possibility of direct communication with God and are ready to make any effort to achieve that. mental state, at which it will become real. Currently, the followers of Sufism are not only the poor, but also representatives of the middle class. Belonging to this teaching does not at all prevent them from fulfilling their social functions. Many modern Sufis lead the ordinary lives of city dwellers - they go to work and start families. And belonging to one or another tariqa these days is often inherited. So, Sufism - what is it? This is a teaching that continues to exist in the Islamic world today. And the most amazing thing is that it’s not only about him. Even Europeans liked Sufi music, and many practices developed within the framework of the teaching are still widely used today by various esoteric schools.
From this article you will learn many truths of the mystical teachings of the Sufis that are applicable in everyone's life. Sufism is a mystical Islamic movement with its own unique and deep wisdom and philosophy.
Reading the thinkers of this movement, you are immersed in thoughts about the universe, and about the role of man in it, about the Lord, and eternity. There are many roads leading to God, but the Truth does not change and it can be felt by studying the real, ancient, time-tested Paths.
Wisdom and teachings of the Sufis
Fragments of a speech by Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh, Master of the Order of Nimatullahi, read at the Sorbonne, Paris and containing the wisdom of the Sufis:
The essence of Sufism is Truth, and Sufism is the knowledge of Truth.
The practice of Sufism is to move towards Truth through Love and Devotion. This movement is called tariqa, or the Path to God.
A Sufi is a lover of Truth, one who, through Love and Devotion, moves towards Truth and Perfection, and in natural loving zeal becomes alien to everything except the Truth.
Sufism says:
"Those who strive for eternal life, cannot pay attention to the mortal world. In the same way, those who are immersed in the material world do not care about what comes after. The Sufi, because of his loving zeal, cannot serve either this world or the next.”
In this regard, Shibli says:
“He who dies with love for the material world dies a hypocrite. The one who dies with love for the afterlife, dies an ascetic. But he who dies with love for the Truth dies a Sufi.”
Sufism is a school for putting Divine Ethics into practice. It deals with the enlightened heart rather than intellectual proof, with revelation and evidence rather than logic. If we are talking about ethics, then this is not the ethics of the social contract, but Divine Qualities, which have nothing to do with either social conventions or the idols of the “bazaar”.
Expressing the Truth is an extremely difficult task. Words, possessing disabilities, do not allow us to adequately explain the Perfection of the Absolute, the Limitless. Thus, for those who are imperfect, words create doubt and misunderstanding. But still
Although you can't drink the whole ocean,
You need to drink to your limit.
The volumes that scholars have written about Truth are reliable, but not sufficient. From the point of view of a Sufi who has achieved perfection, philosophers see the Perfection of the Absolute in a narrow perspective, they see only a part of the Absolute, and not the Infinity in its entirety. What philosophers see is correct, yet it is only part of the whole.
Moulavi Rumi in " Masnavi" tells this story. One dark night, several Indians, who had never seen an elephant before, came to the place where the elephant was. They approached and began to feel him. After that, everyone described the elephant according to their idea of it.
Their descriptions were very different. The one who felt the leg imagined an elephant in the form of a column. Another, who touched his back, likened him to a smooth board. The third, who felt the ear, imagined that the elephant looked like a fan, and so on. Each of the descriptions of the elephant was incorrect, but their perception of the parts of the whole corresponded to the Truth. Molawi adds: “If these people had a candle, there would be no difference of opinion.
Candlelight would show the elephant as a whole. We say that for the knowledge of the Truth there is no candle except the Tariqa and the Path of Wisdom.”
The Sufi says that a person must become perfect in order to see the Perfection of the Absolute with his inner gaze.
If we liken the whole to the Ocean, and the part to a drop, then, as the Sufi will say, it is impossible to witness the Ocean, having the eye of a drop. The Drop needs to merge with the Ocean and see the Ocean through the Ocean's eye.
Quotes and parables of Sufis
How can you become perfect?
According to the Sufi, a person is bound hand and foot by his passions, he is morally sick. As a result of this illness, his feelings are damaged, and his thoughts and perceptions become unhealthy. As a result, a person’s faith and his understanding of the Truth are very far from reality.
Sufi quotes say that first of all, painful thought processes should be cured, and passions should be transformed into a moral principle. And only when thoughts become healthy can one correctly understand the Truth. This Spiritual Path consists of spiritual poverty, devotion and constant self-denial remembrance of God. By doing this, a person begins to perceive the Truth as it is.
Asceticism and abstinence in Sufism
In order to follow the Path, a Sufi needs the strength that food gives him. Therefore it is said: everything that a Sufi eats is transformed into spiritual qualities and light. At the same time, the food of others, serving only their own passions, only strengthens their greed and envy. On this occasion Rumi said:
This one eats - and only generates greed and envy,
And he eats - and does not generate anything except the One Light.
This one eats - and only the impurity appears,
And he eats - and everything becomes the Light of God.
It is obvious that Sufism is not based on ascetic practices such as abstinence from food. In our school, a person following the Path of Truth is advised to abstain from food only when he is sick or experiences excessive sensual desire. In this case, the teacher, or Spiritual Guide, instructs him not to eat for a short period of time and instead encourages him to concentrate on spiritual exercises.
In this way, the traveler gets rid of passions and can continue his dangerous Path.
Hindu philosophers claim that through fasting the power necessary for purification can be obtained. In Sufism, abstinence is not enough for purification. Indeed, asceticism and abstinence give a person a certain spiritual state, and in this state perception can be purified.
But if the Self is likened to a dragon, which becomes powerless as a result of fasting, it is obvious that when the fast is stopped and enough food has been taken, the dragon will come to its senses and with greater strength than ever, and will try to satisfy its desires.
In Sufism through the Spiritual Path ( Tariqa) The “I” is gradually purified and transformed into Divine Attributes until there is nothing animal left in the “I”. All that then remains is the Perfect, Divine Self. In such comprehensive and precise work, asceticism and abstinence are practically useless.
The path and tales of the Sufis
Spiritual Path
Tariqa - this is the Path of the Sufi, through which the Sufi comes to harmony with the Divine Nature. As has already been said, this Path consists of spiritual poverty ( fakr), devotion and constant self-denial remembrance of God. Dervish's Rubber ( grunt) symbolizes these qualities.
1. Spiritual poverty (fakr ).
This is, on the one hand, a feeling of imperfection and need, and on the other, a desire for Perfection. Prophet Mohammad said: “My glory comes from spiritual poverty. I was glorified above all the prophets because I was gifted with spiritual poverty.” And God revealed to the Prophet:
“Say: “Lord, increase my true knowledge of You.”
As follows from this saying, despite the fact that Mohammad had the gift of prophecy, he needed to feel his poverty and desire to get closer to the essence of God.
2. Dervish rags (grunt ).
Khyrka is the dervish's dress of honor. She symbolizes Divine Morality and Attributes. Some people mistakenly believed that the rags themselves, like Solomon's ring, possessed these qualities, and believed that if a person wears such rags, he becomes a saint.
However, all this is wrong, and clothing does not play any role. A person should wear what he likes, trying to be in harmony with what is socially acceptable. Ali said: “Wear such clothes so that no one points a finger at you because of them, but also does not admire or envy you.” Everyone can wear what he likes, but what makes a person a Sufi is his morality and way of acting. Saadi said:
Sit at least on the royal throne,
But be a dervish, pure in thoughts.
In order to sew rags, two basic elements are needed: the needle of Devotion and the thread of self-denial remembrance of God. Anyone who wants to be honored with this sack of poverty must, filled with Devotion, submit to the Spiritual Guide.
True Devotion draws the heart towards the Beloved. It involves giving up rest and focusing constantly on God. The traveler must, without asking questions, obey the sheikh unquestioningly.
The guide-sheikh, using his spiritual power, penetrates into the depths of the traveler’s soul, transforms him negative qualities and turns the impurity of their multiplicity into nothingness. In other words, the guide takes the needle of Devotion from the hand of the Wayfarer, or disciple. and, using the thread of his self-denial remembrance of God, sews the disciple with the rags consisting of the Attributes and Name of Allah, so that the disciple becomes a perfect man.
3. Constant self-denial remembrance of God (zekr ).
In the Absolute, Infinite Unity are contained the powers whose emanations manifest as created beings. Each being, in accordance with its nature, receives the grace of these forces. In the realm of words, the manifestations of these forces or truths are expressed by Divine Names. For example, Everlasting ( al-hayi) means that the life of creation is directly united with Him; Excellent ( al-ali) means that the power of the Universe is with Him.
Divine Names of constant self-denial remembrance of God ( zekr) are prescribed by the sheikh of the spiritual Path to cure students of the illness of the Self, its desires and fears. But this recollection is devoid of any value if all the feelings of a person are not concentrated on the semantic Reality of the corresponding Names.
It is only through full awareness and love of the Reality of these Divine Names that attention to the Self leaves a person. Then the “I” becomes purified and transformed by the Divine Attributes.
The beloved was sitting
turning to my open heart,
so long
What, besides Her Attributes and nature,
from my heart
there's nothing left.
Maghrebi
Only this kind of repetition of the Divine Names can be called self-denial remembrance of God, or zekrom .
A disciple is like a machine whose source of energy is Devotion. This machine, through selfless remembrance of God, transforms all the desires and fears of the Self into Divine Attributes.
Gradually the disciple's "I" disappears and the Divine Nature appears. Then the student truly becomes the owner of Sufi rags, and his heart and soul turn out to be enlightened by the Grace of the Divine Attributes. From this moment on, the student is worthy to join the spiritual festival of the Sufis, which takes place in the “Tavern among the Ruins” ( kharabat).
This is the spiritual state of the Self that has disappeared into God ( fana). Here the Sufi directly perceives the mysteries of Truth, as it is said in the Koran, “experiences it (perceives the Truth).” Such “purified” ones are called Perfect Beings in Sufism.
To show how remembering (zekr) is carried out, consider the example “ La illah ill Allah ", which means There is no god but God(Which is One)."
The Sufi sits either cross-legged or on his heels, placing right hand on the left thigh, and with the left hand clasping the right wrist. In this position his arms and legs form La (the negative particle “not” in Arabic, symbolizing the non-existence of the Sufi in the presence of the Beloved. In this state, the Sufi must give up attention from focusing on this world and himself.
"La" his arms start from the navel and continue to the neck. These are scissors that symbolize cutting off the head of one’s “I”, the renunciation of faith and attachment to one’s limited existence.
With the word " Illah" (Allah) the Sufi makes a semicircle with his head and neck to the right.
This is called the arc of possible existence. The movement symbolizes the denial, or refusal, of belief in the reality of “that which is not God.” “That which is not God” in Sufism is all transient, limited and possible forms of existence. Human beings, instead of serving the Eternal, All-pervading, Necessary and Absolute Reality of God, serve these forms.
Then with the words “ Il Allah "The Sufi moves his head and neck to the left. This is called the arch of necessity and symbolizes the Reality of Necessary, Absolute Being.
Truth and teachings of the Sufis
Manifestation of the Divine
Since the words of truth of the Sufis are nothing more than manifestations of objects, concepts and truths, the Sufi feels that through continuous and complete concentration of attention on the meaning and Reality of remembering God, he becomes the true manifestation of that remembering, i.e., through constant, self-denial remembering the Divine The attribute becomes dominant in the being of a Sufi.
Sufis believe that every prophet and saint is dominated by a certain Divine Attribute, and it follows that they are the embodiment of that Attribute. For example, Sufis believe that Moses is a manifestation of the transcendental aspect of Reality due to his ability to speak to God without an intermediary. The Lord said to Moses: “Do not be afraid. for you are exalted" (Quran). Jesus is the manifestation of prophecy. As an infant he cried out, “God gave me the Book and made me a Prophet.”
All prophets are manifestations of Divine Unity and Perfection, but Mohammad is their greatest manifestation. His name is the highest of the Divine Names and contains all the others. So Mohammad is spiritual embodiment and the manifestation of all the Names of God. Mohammad himself said: “In the beginning God created my Light.”
To what has been said above, we can add that every prophet is a manifestation of one of the Divine Attributes, and all Attributes are contained in greatest Name. Consequently, as a result of the fact that his manifestation includes all the Names, he stands hierarchically above all creation, on this occasion he said: “I was a Prophet while Adam was still between water and earth.”
Sam
If you are not connected to the Beloved, then why are you not looking?
And if you are in unity, then why don’t you rejoice?
Gatherings with music and dancing are called Sam . The Sufi, being in a state of spiritual ecstasy, focuses the attention of his heart on the Beloved. By performing certain movements, often accompanied by rhythmic music, he indulges in self-denial remembrance of God. In this state, the Sufi is at the height of intoxication, remembering nothing but God. With all his feelings and mind he is turned to his Beloved, completely abandoning himself and forgetting about himself.
Not all students participate in sema. It is given as an exercise only to some, at the discretion of their Spiritual Guide, who decides whether it is necessary. Samah can be likened to a medicine that is sometimes prescribed and sometimes forbidden.
Philosophy and followers of Sufis
Holiness
It was said earlier that the goal of the philosophy of Sufism is the cultivation of perfect beings who are mirrors reflecting the Divine Names and Attributes. The perfect being is called get out (saint), literally sincere friend. All prophets were also saints. The spiritual degree of holiness indicates the state of inner being, while the rank of prophecy reflects the mission of a person as a messenger of God.
Our Prophet carries within himself both secret and obvious holiness, while Ali carries only hidden holiness. Ali said: “Spiritually I accompanied all the prophets.” As the great Sufis believe, all eleven sons of the imam were saints. Sufi sheikhs who followed the esoteric path of Ali are also saints. The Prophet said: “I and Ali are from the same Light.” These enlightened beings, according to their abilities, drank from the source of Truth.
Since they are known only to God, only God can know the difference between their spiritual levels. In the prophetic tradition ( hadith) God says: “My friends are under my banner, no one knows them but me.”
Most people do not have the patience needed to know the saints. One who is engulfed by something cannot know what has engulfed him.
True knowledge of saints comes through knowledge of the Reality behind them through one's own inner being.
Mohammad said: “The faith of one who believes is not perfect until a thousand sincere people will not testify to his “infidelity.” He meant that the Divine Knowledge of the Perfect Believer is beyond the thinking of most people. Those who hear the speech of such a perfect being will call him an unbeliever.
True believer, Sufi. must live in society, serve it, guide it and be an instrument through which society receives Grace. Coordinated and harmonious existence in society, living in peace with everyone are the necessary qualities of a perfect being.
Purification and its stages
The stages of purification are:
1. The traveler’s “I” becomes empty and deprived of all attributes.
2. With each remembrance of God, the rust is removed from the mirror of the heart.
3. The heart is filled with the Attributes of Allah.
4. The traveler’s “I” is destroyed to the point of complete non-existence, and this is called fana.
I thought about You so often that I completely turned into You.
Either You were gradually approaching, then I was quietly leaving.
The disciple, going through these stages of purification, travels along the inner path, while Sharia is only preparatory stage. Having walked along this path, a perfect person reaches the threshold of Truth ( Hakikat ). The Prophet said about this: “ Sharia - this is speech tariqa is an action and hackikat - this is a state."
One can liken this last journey into haqiqat, into the Truth, to study at the Divine University, in a “tavern among the ruins” ( kharabat ). In this true center higher education there are no professors, and the only teacher is Absolute Holiness and Perfect Love. Here there is only one teacher - Love, instead of textbooks - Love, and the perfect person himself - Love.
Since only a perfect being enters this university, nothing definite can be said about him, since he is outside the realm of words. Moulavi Rumi says about this:
Footprints lead to the Ocean shore.
There is no further trace left.
If you call him by name, then, like Bayezid, he replies: “I lost him many years ago. The more I look for it, the less I find.” If you ask him about religion, then like Moulavi, he answers:
The lover's religion is the religion of God,
Religion and homeland for lovers - God .
If you ask him about his life, he, like Bayazid, will answer: “Under my rubbish there is nothing but Allah.”
If you listen to what this perfect man says, he sings like Hallaj: “I am the Truth.”
Such words can only be uttered by perfect beings, those who have lost their “I” and become a manifestation of the Divine Nature and Divine Mysteries. Their "I" disappeared, only God remained.
Sufism - what is it? Science has not yet created a clear and unified understanding of this most complex and multifaceted direction of Muslim religious thought.
Over the many centuries of its existence, it covered not only the entire Muslim world, but also managed to penetrate into Europe. Echoes of Sufism can be found in Spain, countries and Sicily.
What is Sufism
Sufism is a special mystical-ascetic movement in Islam. His followers believed that direct spiritual communication between a person and a deity, achieved through long-term special practices, was possible. Understanding the essence of deity is the only goal that Sufis strived for throughout their lives. This mystical “path” was expressed in the moral purification and self-improvement of man.
The Sufi's "path" consisted of a constant pursuit of God, called maqamat. With sufficient diligence, maqamat could be accompanied by instant insights that were similar to short-term ecstasies. But it is worth noting that such ecstatic states were not for Sufis an end in themselves to be strived for, but served only as a means for a deeper knowledge of the essence of the deity.
The many faces of Sufism
Initially, Sufism was one of the directions of Islamic asceticism, and only in the 8th-10th centuries the teaching fully developed as an independent movement. At the same time, Sufis had their own religious schools. But even under this condition, Sufism never became a clear and harmonious system of views.
The fact is that at all times of its existence, Sufism greedily absorbed many ideas from ancient mythology, Zoroastrianism, Gnosticism, Christian theosophy and mysticism, subsequently easily combining them with local beliefs and cult traditions.
Sufism - what is it? This concept can be served by the following general name, which unites many movements, schools and branches with various ideas of the “mystical path”, which have only a common final goal - direct communication with God.
The ways to achieve this goal were very diverse - physical exercises, special psychotechnics, auto-training. All of them were built into certain Sufi practices, spread through brotherhoods. Understanding these numerous practices gave rise to a new wave of varieties of mysticism.
Beginning of Sufism
Initially, Sufis were the name given to Muslim ascetics who, as usual, wore a woolen cape “suf”. This is where the term “tasawwuf” comes from. This word appeared only 200 years after the time of the Prophet Muhammad and meant “mysticism.” From this it follows that Sufism appeared much later than many movements in Islam, and subsequently it became a kind of successor to some of them.
The Sufis themselves believed that Muhammad, with his ascetic lifestyle, showed his followers the only true path for spiritual development. Before him, many prophets in Islam were content with little, which earned them great respect from the people.
A significant role in the development of Muslim asceticism was played by “ahl al-suffa” - the so-called “people of the bench”. This is a small group of poor people who gathered in the Medina mosque and spent time in fasting and prayer. The Prophet Muhammad himself treated them with great respect and even sent some to preach Islam among small Arab tribes lost in the desert. Having significantly improved their well-being on such trips, the former ascetics easily got used to a new, more well-fed way of life, which allowed them to easily renounce their ascetic beliefs.
But the tradition of asceticism in Islam did not die; it found successors among itinerant preachers, collectors of hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad), as well as among former Christians who converted to the Muslim faith.
The first Sufi communities appeared in Syria and Iraq in the 8th century and quickly spread throughout the Arab East. Initially, Sufis fought only to pay more attention to the spiritual aspects of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad. Over time, their teachings absorbed many other superstitions, and hobbies such as music, dancing, and sometimes the use of hashish became commonplace.
Rivalry with Islam
Relations between Sufis and representatives of orthodox movements of Islam have always been very difficult. And the point here is not only in the fundamental differences in teaching, although they were significant. Sufis prioritized the purely personal experiences and revelations of each believer, in contrast to the orthodox, for whom the main thing was the letter of the Law, and a person had only to strictly obey it.
In the first centuries of the formation of Sufi teachings, official movements in Islam fought with it for power over the hearts of believers. However, with the growth of his popularity, the Sunni orthodox were forced to come to terms with this situation. It often happened that Islam could penetrate into remote pagan tribes only with the help of Sufi preachers, since their teaching was closer and more understandable to ordinary people.
No matter how rational Islam may be, Sufism made its rigid postulates more spiritual. He made people remember their own souls, preached kindness, justice and brotherhood. In addition, Sufism was very flexible, and therefore absorbed all local beliefs like a sponge, returning them to the people more enriched from a spiritual point of view.
By the 11th century, the ideas of Sufism had spread throughout the Muslim world. It was at this moment that Sufism turned from an intellectual movement into a truly popular one. The Sufi teaching about the “perfect man,” where perfection is achieved through asceticism and abstinence, was close and understandable to the poor people. It gave people hope for a heavenly life in the future and said that divine mercy would not bypass them.
Oddly enough, having been born in the depths of Islam, Sufism did not draw much from this religion, but it happily accepted many theosophical constructs of Gnosticism and Christian mysticism. Eastern philosophy also played a major role in the formation of the doctrine; it is almost impossible to briefly describe all the diversity of its ideas. However, the Sufis themselves have always considered their teaching to be an internal, hidden doctrine, a secret underlying the Koran and other messages left by many prophets in Islam before the coming of Muhammad.
Philosophy of Sufism
With the growing number of followers in Sufism, the intellectual side of the teaching gradually began to develop. Deep religious, mystical and philosophical constructs could not be understood by ordinary people, but they satisfied the needs of educated Muslims, among whom there were also many who were interested in Sufism. Philosophy has always been considered the destiny of the chosen few, but without a deep study of its doctrines, not a single religious movement can exist.
The most widespread movement in Sufism is associated with the name of the “Great Sheikh” - the mystic Ibn Arabi. He is the author of two famous works: “The Meccan Revelations”, which is rightfully considered an encyclopedia of Sufi thought, and “Gemmas of Wisdom”.
God in the Arabi system has two essences: one is intangible and unknowable (batin), and the other is a clear form (zahir), expressed in all the diversity of creatures living on earth, created in the divine image and likeness. In other words, everyone living in the world is just a mirror, reflecting the image of the Absolute, the true essence of which remains hidden and unknowable.
Another widespread teaching of intellectual Sufism was wahdat al-shuhud - the doctrine of the unity of testimony. It was developed in the 14th century by the Persian mystic Ala al-Dawla al-Simnani. This teaching said that the goal of the mystic is not to attempt to connect with the deity, since this is completely impossible, but only to search for the only true way to worship him. This comes only if a person strictly observes all the requirements of the Holy Law, which people received through the revelations of the Prophet Muhammad.
Thus, Sufism, whose philosophy was distinguished by a pronounced mysticism, was still able to find ways to reconcile with orthodox Islam. It is possible that the teachings of al-Simnani and his many followers allowed Sufism to continue its completely peaceful existence within the Muslim world.
Sufi literature
It is difficult to appreciate the diversity of ideas that Sufism brought to the Muslim world. The books of Sufi scholars have rightfully entered the treasury of world literature.
During the period of development and formation of Sufism as a teaching, Sufi literature also appeared. It was very different from what already existed in other Islamic movements. The main idea of many works was an attempt to prove the kinship of Sufism with orthodox Islam. Their goal was to show that the ideas of the Sufis are fully consistent with the laws of the Koran, and their practices in no way contradict the way of life of a devout Muslim.
Sufi scholars tried to interpret the Koran in their own way, with the main attention being paid to verses - places that were traditionally considered incomprehensible to the mind of a common man. This caused extreme indignation among orthodox interpreters, who were categorically against any speculative assumptions and allegories when commenting on the Koran.
According to Islamic scholars, the Sufis also treated hadiths (traditions about the deeds and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) very freely. They were not very concerned about the reliability of this or that testimony; they paid special attention only to its spiritual component.
Sufism never denied Islamic law (fiqh) and regarded it as an immutable aspect of religion. However, among Sufis the Law becomes more spiritual and sublime. It is justified from a moral point of view, and therefore does not allow Islam to completely turn into a rigid system that requires its followers only to strictly fulfill all religious instructions.
Practical Sufism
But in addition to highly intellectual Sufism, which consists of complex philosophical and theological constructs, another direction of teaching also developed - the so-called pragmatic Sufism. What it is, you can guess if you remember how popular various eastern exercises and meditations are these days, aimed at improving one or another aspect of a person’s life.
In pragmatic Sufism, two main schools can be distinguished. They proposed their own, carefully developed practices, the implementation of which should provide direct intuitive communication with the deity.
The first school was founded by the Persian mystic Abu Yazid al-Bistami, who lived in the 9th century. The main postulate of his teaching was the achievement of ecstatic delight (galaba) and “intoxication with the love of God” (sukr). He argued that through long meditation on the unity of the deity, one can gradually achieve a state when a person’s own “I” completely disappears, dissolves in the deity. At this moment, a role reversal occurs when the personality becomes a deity, and the deity becomes a personality.
The founder of the second school was also a mystic from Persia, his name was Abu-l-Qasima Junayd al-Baghdadi. He recognized the possibility of ecstatic union with the deity, but urged his followers to move further, from “intoxication” to “sobriety.” In this case, the deity transformed himself and he returned to the world not only renewed, but also endowed with the rights of the messiah (baka). This new being could fully control his ecstatic states, visions, thoughts and feelings, and therefore serve even more effectively for the benefit of people, enlightening them.
Practices in Sufism
Sufi practices were so diverse that it is not possible to subordinate them to any system. However, among them there are several of the most common ones, which many still use today.
The most famous practice is the so-called Sufi whirling. They make it possible to feel like the center of the world and feel a powerful circulation of energy around. From the outside it looks like a quick spin with your eyes open and your arms raised. This is a kind of meditation that ends only when the exhausted person falls to the ground, thereby completely merging with it.
In addition to whirling, Sufis practiced a variety of methods of cognition of the deity. These could be long meditations, certain silences for several days, dhikr (something similar to meditative recitation of mantras) and much more.
Sufi music has always been an integral part of such practices and was considered one of the most powerful means for bringing a person closer to the deity. This music is still popular in our time; it is rightfully considered one of the most beautiful creations of the culture of the Arab East.
Sufi brotherhoods
Over time, brotherhoods began to arise in the bosom of Sufism, the purpose of which was to give a person certain means and skills for direct communication with God. This is the desire to achieve some freedom of spirit as opposed to the mundane laws of orthodox Islam. And today in Sufism there are many dervish brotherhoods, differing from each other only in the ways of achieving fusion with the deity.
These brotherhoods are called tariqats. Initially, this term was applied to any clear practical method of the “path” of the Sufi, but over time, only those practices that gathered the largest number of followers began to be called this way.
From the moment the fraternities appeared, a special institution of relations began to take shape within them. Everyone who wanted to follow the path of a Sufi had to choose a spiritual mentor - a Murshid or Sheikh. It is believed that it is impossible to go through the tariqah on your own, since a person without a guide risks losing his health, his mind, and possibly his life itself. On the path, the student must obey his teacher in every detail.
In the era of the heyday of teaching in the Muslim world, there were 12 largest tariqas; later they gave birth to many more side branches.
With the development of the popularity of such associations, their bureaucratization deepened even more. The system of relations “student-teacher” was replaced by a new one - “novice-saint”, and the murid was no longer subject to the will of his teacher, but to the rules established within the framework of the brotherhood.
The most important among the rules was complete and unconditional submission to the head of the tariqa - the bearer of “grace”. It was also important to strictly observe the charter of the brotherhood and strictly carry out all the mental and physical practices prescribed by this charter. Like many other secret orders, the Tariqah developed mysterious initiation rituals.
There are groups that have managed to survive to this day. The largest of them are Shaziri, Qadiri, Nakhshabandi and Tijani.
Sufism today
Today, it is customary to call Sufis all those who believe in the possibility of direct communication with God and are ready to make any effort to achieve the mental state in which this becomes real.
Currently, the followers of Sufism are not only the poor, but also representatives of the middle class. Belonging to this doctrine does not at all prevent them from fulfilling their social functions. Many modern Sufis lead the ordinary lives of city dwellers - they go to work and start families. And belonging to one or another tariqa these days is often inherited.
So, Sufism - what is it? This is a teaching that continues to exist in the Islamic world today. And the most amazing thing is that it’s not only about him. Even Europeans liked Sufi music, and many practices developed within the framework of the teaching are still widely used today by various esoteric schools.
Our story today is about the mystical and wise direction of Islam - Sufism, in which we will consider its main ideas and essence, principles and philosophy of Sufis, respectively, people practicing and professing this religious direction of the Middle East.
What is Sufism and how to translate it?
Word Sufism translated as " wool", this name was given to the mystics of this movement, who wore clothes made of wool, as a symbol of self-knowledge and self-denial.Moreover Sufi could, and in principle Any person can become, regardless of faith, cultural affiliation and position in society. This word has other translations, but more on that later.
History of the emergence of Sufism
Historians attribute the emergence of SufismVII-VIII centuries when a separate direction in Islam based on asceticism and mysticism.
Various Sufi schools gradually developed, and the popularity of this direction grew, as way of life based on self-knowledge and knowledge of the Absolute when a person comprehends himself in its entirety.
The essence and purpose of Sufism
The religious teaching of Sufism aims to cleansing the soul and self-knowledge, How through the practice of asceticism and through the practice of prayers, rituals and faith in one Allah.
An example for the Sufis was the Prophet Muhammad, who led an ascetic lifestyle and was not interested in worldly affairs and spent most of his time in prayer and fasting.
The essence and essence of Sufism is oneness with all existence, which cannot be approached intellectually. It is necessary to fall in love with existence. And there is no system here, but only love and trust in deep existence.
Sufi parable
There is a story about Sufis, or as they are also called Sufi parable when the student came to the master and said that he wanted to know the truth.
Then the master said, okay, let's go get some water, but don't ask questions. And so they came to the well, and the master began to lower a bucket that had no bottom into the well, he lowered a bucket without a bottom into the well and raised it.
Finally, the student could not stand it and asked: “What are you doing, the bucket has no bottom.” The teacher sent him away because he broke a rule. To understand wisdom, intelligence is not needed.
Main ideas of Sufism
Sufism early period based on imitation of the Prophet Muhammad and following his rules and regulations. Sufis also reflected on the essence of the Koran, and spent their lives in prayers and fasts, renouncing the worldly.
Also, one of the main ideas of early Sufism was purifying your soul through the practice of poverty and repentance.
Thus, the Sufis wanted to get closer to God, showing selfless love and service in prayers and fasting, which is also true for virtually all Christian saints and ascetics of Christianity and virtually all other religions of the world.
This is how the theory and practice of merging or dissolving oneself in God was formed in the philosophy of Sufism.
Principles of Sufism
The basic principles of Sufism are the creation of a perfect man, free from his passions, his ego or self, and the realization of Divine truth or merging with God. Which is also practical.Thus, the principles of Sufi practice are improvement spiritual world person and liberation from financial dependence, as well as selfless service to God. Also, in their principles of practice, they rely on the teachings of the Koran and following the ideas of the Prophet Muhammad.
Philosophy of Sufism in brief
Let's talk about the word Sufism, it turns out that this word is translated from Persian as "A Sufi is a Sufi", which means there is no difference between oneself and the whole or between oneself and the rest of the world.
A Sufi can exist anywhere, and he is truly religious, because he strives for the beyond and in what way closer person towards God, the more he dissolves and disappears. And when a person is not there, he becomes everything.
Sufism is transmitted from heart to heart like magic. And for a Sufi, God is not a person, for him he is everywhere and everywhere, like a name or an idea of an integral existence.
Sometimes the word " Sufa" translates as purity of mind, the fact that there is nothing else in the mind or there is nothing to look for. There are no thoughts, reflections and no mind. Which will only be fully understood by Zen practitioners.
You are not looking for God, but He is looking for you
The great Sufi sages say that a person cannot seek God while a person thinks that he is choosing him.
The initiative belongs to God. He is always the first to ask: “Where are you?”
God chooses first, then you seek Him. After all, man is so small and does not know how to seek God. And man also does not know what this search for God is all about. And this is a great blessing - when someone seeks God and finds Him.
Philosophy of the Sufis
Sufis say that To live in the present, you should not think about the future or past. A Sufi lives from moment to moment and has no worries or plans for the next moment.
Sufi lives in the present
To live in at this moment- this means that there is nowhere else to go, neither to the past, nor to the future, nowhere at all.
In this present moment there is a stop, a stop for the past and the future, you died for ordinary life and were born for God, who always came to you, but you were not at home.
And to be in the now for a Sufi is to be at home and finally God found you in your place - what an exciting meeting, neither He nor you no longer know who is who.
After all usually a person has a past or future, but no present. A person living in the past is simply stuck and is not in the present.
The past is an illusion, just like dreams of the future are fiction or illusion.. And only in the present moment the building of illusion collapses, the illusion of the mind, the suffering and regenerating mind collapses.
Spiritual growth is truly possible only when you are in the present moment, which is life itself. And if this is not so, then you simply fell asleep and sleep, or even died, since you do not have an awareness of yourself as integral with all life and with everything around you.
Why is there no joy in ordinary people?
In accordance with the philosophy and teachings of the Sufis, usual life it seems monotonous and boring - since for most it is a pursuit of one thing or another, and that is why there is so little joy in life. And since people have experience of the vulgar, they are no longer surprised and are bored.Here Sufism says - remove the burden of the past and future, why think about what is no longer there or about what does not yet exist. Why not live in the present moment, where there is the joy of self-discovery and knowing God within?
How to become enlightened in Sufism?
At this moment you die as a man and are born as a God. Why people are afraid of death - because at the time of death a person disappears, he is swallowed up by nothingness, great light or great emptiness.
The Sufi is complete, the ordinary person is not
A person constantly demands attention: a husband from his wife, a wife from her husband; politicians and artists. They all want external attention because they are empty inside and they need something to fill this hole.
And the Sufi is full of being, he is not separated from existence, his ego is absent, and he himself is absent. A when a person is absent, God is already present in him. This is enlightenment in Sufi style.
Are you living in the present?
To see what a person is like and determine whether you are living in the present, Sufism says that you just need to look at the second hand on the dial of your watch. Even for one minute a person cannot simply look at the hands of the clock.
How many times have thoughts about the past or future taken us away from the present moment. This suggests that a person sleeps and dreams, sometimes about the past, sometimes about the future, he died for God a long time ago, he is just a corpse, since he never lives in the present and that means he does not exist.
The most famous Sufis of history
Therefore, the awakening of the Sufis, and Sufism believes that Christ, Buddha, Lao Tzu, Kabir, Osho and Sri Ramana were Sufis, and the most famous real Sufi, of course, is the Great Enlightened One and writer Omar Khayyam, about whom we will talk later to speak separately, and many other saints of the past - “Awakening”, this means living life as it is and being in the present moment, this is merging with life and with God.
Conclusion
There can be a Sufi in every person, regardless of his religion and belief, provided that he wants to awaken in this life. After all, God comes to a person every day, but the person is not at home at that time. Since he is constantly busy either with the past or with the future.And living in the present moment means being at home. Sufism is not a faith or a religion, it is a field of knowledge where everyone knows or at least knows himself, simply by being a witness, where the knower and the known are one existence. That is God. Which, in principle, is the ideal of most religions and true beliefs.
Well, with this I will have to finish the conversation about the philosophy and essence of Sufism, until we meet on our portal of learning and self-development, where we will continue to consider various religious and philosophical systems world, for example, you can, and in the next article we will tell you the worldview of shamans and dozens of other religious movements.