 |
| Meditation: Mohammad Nooraee (l.), a spiritual counselor from Iran, worships at the House of Sufism (Nimatullahi Order) in
Boston. Nicole Hill |
Sufism may be powerful antidote to Islamic extremism
With its spiritual tradition, 'the Sufi way' is an age-old alternative for radicals and modernists alike.
from the December 5, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
The initiate makes the confession of faith to Islam, "submitting your heart to God," but no other rules are required. "The seeker now becomes a disciple, and the teacher walks him or her through the path, what we call tariqah," Mr. Nooraee says. It is a path toward the truth through love, and involves techniques to get close to God.
"One technique involves how to meditate," he says, "focusing attentively on the names of God and negating your ego; the second is service, how to provide selfless service for others without any expectation of return. Once the disciple does both, then he or she starts to experience God. From then on, you see God with the inner eyes of the heart."
Contemplative dimension
Mr. Smith came to this order because he was moved by one of Dr. Nubakhsh's books, and has stayed with it for 20 years. Growing up in a very religious African-American family, he says he might have stayed with Christianity had he found such a deep contemplative dimension that enabled him to work with a teacher. He has visited and corresponds with the master. Meditating with the group in Boston, he finds "a lot of energy of support for the interior spiritual work we are striving to do."
Of course, the real work begins when you go out into the world and live it, and fail, and have to correct yourself, he says, with a laugh. But it has changed his life.
"It's made me recognize how much of a veil the ego is, and how important it is to set it aside," says the TV producer. "And when I get panicked about the world, it has helped me find greater faith in humanity as a manifestation of God."
A brief look at what Sufism teaches
In a new book, "The Garden of Truth," Seyyed Hossein Nasr presents the teachings of Sufism in contemporary language, drawing on his experience of more than 50 years of practice. The Sufi tradition, he says, contains "a vast metaphysical and cosmological set of doctrines elaborated over a long period...." Sufi metaphysics teach the Unity of God and the oneness of being.
Some excerpts:
"Not only were we created by God, but we have the root of our existence here and now in Him."
"In classical Sufism, the answer to the question what does it mean to be human is contained fully in the doctrine of what is usually translated as the Universal or Perfect Man ... [who] is like a mirror before God, reflecting all His Names and Qualities, and is able to contemplate ... God's creation through God's eyes."
Creation is renewed at every instant, according to Sufism's teaching, and "the whole of the material universe, no matter how extended its physical dimensions might be, is like a speck of dust before the grandeur of the world of the Spirit."
RSS feed
