Human development (Sufism)

Although part of the Islamic faith, Sufism as a mystic tradition has incorporated influences from Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and Zoroastrianism. Devotees repeat the name of God in a similar way to the repetition of the mantra in Hinduism and Buddhism. They use prayer beads in a similar method to the Roman Catholic rosary. The main aim is [self cognition]

, or inward cognition of truth, based on the teachings of the Prophet Mohammad, "Whoever knows himself truly knows his God". There is awareness of the paradox that God is both infinitely transcendent and also closer to man than his own body. Awe and fear at the tremendous mystery of God is combined with a sense of this divine closeness and desire for greater intimacy with the source of inexhaustible mercy and loving concern. Seeking oneness with the Divine, the Sufi is able to discover the truth. This search or mystical pilgrimage begins with the stripping off of all earthly desires, progresses through love and knowledge, and a sense of amazement, to ultimate annihilation in uniting with God. This unity is the law of Sufism, which sees no opposition between mind and matter, or between physics and metaphysics. Mind, body and spirit are one complex unity.

The Sufi aims to be devoted to God, preferring God to everything and preferred, loved by Him. Pleased with all God does, God is pleased with all he does. He becomes dead to his own attributes, the Beloved's attributes manifesting through him. His inner and outer self are both totally surrendered. Love for the Absolute and unity as of a lover with the beloved are central, as is the path by which the Sufi is transformed spiritually. Perfection is not achieved through the orthodoxy of religion or belief in God from a ritual standpoint. These are not really true. Through Erfan, or the reality of religion, each individual is introduced to his inherent values and true personality. He is trained to develop all his creative abilities so as best to benefit from the resources provided by nature and live in peace, knowledge and justice. Emphasis is on the need for a spiritual guide - "whoever travels without a guide needs two hundred years for a journey of two days". There are numbers of mystical "schools" which describe journeying on this path and the stations or maqamat on the way; but all describe the states of [fana]

, annihilation in the divine, and of [baqa]

, of permanence or abiding. Idries Shah speaks of four "journeys": first the path to [fana]

, that described poetically in many Sufi writings when the individual is drunk or intoxicated with love; then the path to [baqa]

, when knowledge of God is stabilized and the Sufi is not only united with God but has totally surrendered his will and lives only through that of God - this is the level of [Perfect Man]

or teacher - [qutub]

- to whose wisdom others are attracted; the third path extends the scope of the teacher in one locality to that of spiritual guide for all mankind; and finally the Perfect Man becomes one who guides others through the experience of death in the physical sense to a stage of development beyond that visible to mankind in general.

The Sufi way of life relates to the inward transformation of man. Realization of moral ideals and higher values is from the pursuit of inward purity rather than from theoretical principles and doctrinal knowledge. Truth - [al-Haqq]

- is understood from experience and from living with it. Emphasis is on discipline of the soul and personal experience - love of God and of his creation leads automatically to following of a moral path and loving one's fellow men. Training is through control of the desires of the lower self and discipline to subdue worldly temptations. Rather than burdening others, the Sufi takes on others' burdens. He treats others as he would wish to be treated, with unfailing kindness and with good manners. The heart is purified from recurrence of inborn weakness, natural characteristics are left behind, attributes of human-ness are extinguished and the Sufi holds aloof from temptations of the senses.

From the ethical standpoint, the Sufi system of progress towards unification with God considers moral attitude as the most important condition for the attainment of spiritual perfection. Moral development implies the purification of the soul necessary for realization of divine attributes. From the psychological standpoint, saintly progression towards God is through the experience of [mujahada]

, mortification of the self, passing through several psychic states to attain the purity of heart to reach higher spiritual states and eventually leading to spiritual perfection. From the philosophical standpoint, the outward qualities of the ego are differentiated from inward manifestation, so that a true relationship is experienced with God, leading to annihilation of human qualities and consciousness of Godly attributes with subsistence in the creative truth.