The Sufi message calls upon us to cultivate that relationship through whatever outer form, in the framework of whichever religion. Each religion is a providential dispensation that can serve to accommodate an inner opening toward the truth.
In this era in which we live, there has been a global awakening. The world is coming together in ways that have never been possible. There seems to be the prospect -- the danger, on the one hand, of a unification on the level of homogeneity, if not uniformity. On the other hand, there seems to be the prospect of a unity within diversity, a recognition of the providential nature of the diversity of religious forms, but awakening to the essential unity that pervades and underlies them.
That is the essential goal of the Sufi message in our time -- to unite the segments of humanity, which are like organs of a single body that has become dismembered and that must reunite through the guidance of the heart to function as a single body for the sake of the health of all of the different parts. That is the message that must be heard in this era.
- Pir Zia Inayat Khan
2 comments:
Well Sean! Your blog has almost the same name as mine..("Sufistuff.")..how about that?
I"ve been trying to follow a traditional Sufi Sheikh for some years now..but,as my feelings/thinking are just like yours in this post..it has been causing me more and more difficulty of late ..
My blog/s are partly an attempt to deal with this..(there're ten of them..sort of interlinked..)
www.sufistuff.blogspot.com
I found you in Technorati,search term sufism.
Leave acomment or whatever if you feel to. Uthman/Grego.
Hi Uthman! I noticed on your blog you mentioned you were having a crisis of faith... The choice between Islamic Sufism and what Hazrat Inayat Khan calls Universal Sufism. I posted the follwing message on your blog:
Sit in silence and listen to your heart. The path that is right for one person may not be the path for another. Only you know the answer deep down inside.
This reminds me of a story a dear friend once told me... One day, two dervishes went to see their master. One was very traditional in his approach. He did all his prayers and was very strict in the practice of his faith. This dervish, no doubt, had discipline. The other dervish on the other hand was always out drinking, seldom did his prayers and lived a very free lifestyle. Both had one thing in common. They both felt that they were spiritually stuck. Each asked their teacher what it is they should do to progress spiritually. The master looked at both dervishes and told them to change into each others clothes. When they were done, he told the dervish who had discipline go out drinking, to stop doing his prayer regularly and live a carefree lifestyle. On the other hand, he told the other dervish to do his prayers regularly, to adhere to the prescribed Islamic laws strictly and to refrain from imbibing in alcohol.
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