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Sufis and awareness

Bruno Martin, © 2004

A seeker asked: "How can an insignificant thought to be an obstacle for a large?" The Sufi sage replied: "See you there on the stones These stones you do not block the view, as long as they are within a certain distance but if you think you one of the stones directly in front of one eye, he'll seem huge and.. blocking your view. "

Introduction

Similarly with the doctrine which is referred to in the West as Sufism. If we see only the large stones of tradition within Islam before our eyes, we see the "Sufism" commonly referred to as "Islamic mysticism". Historically, Sufism has over the centuries actually prevalent in Islam and contributed much to its spread. Solidified rituals, the embedding in the Islamic orthodoxy and orthodoxy was the original path of the great sages and mystics, the people for their own knowledge of the divine to lead, downright observed with boulders. "Search is not the teaching of the ancients, seeking what they were looking for." For this reason, the Zen master Basho said Although ecstatic elements in the various dervish orders are still present, the reality of these groups is more or less determined by orthodox Islamic beliefs.

The emergence of Sufism goes back in history than Islam; some researchers see Gnostic and Neoplatonic ideas, even Buddhist or Indian Vedantic origins. But probably the basis of the Sufi teaching a few thousand years old and dates back to shamanism. So writes JG Bennett, who explored the history of the "Masters of Wisdom", which contributed significantly to the development of Sufism at the time of Erorberung many Asian territories by Genghis Khan: "The shamans were dedicated people who underwent rigorous training to their capacity to answer to increase the guidance of the Spirit. They used spiritual exercises, fasting, and breath control. It is even possible that the retention of the breath, as practiced by the masters of wisdom, came from the shaman and not from India. "

What are Sufis?

One of the masters, which are associated with the Sufi tradition, GI Gurdjieff (1866-1949), gives some indication of esoteric schools in the Middle East, including a "Sarmoun monastery" where he allegedly met the secret tradition. Sarmoun said in a reading & quot; guardians of tradition ", in another translation is called sar also & quot; head". This is an indication that here the core of the Sufi tradition is to lie. The most important Sufis, Bahauddin Naqshband example, Hajji Bektashi, Faruddin Attar, Abdul Halik Gudschduwani, Ahmed Yesewi and many others that have learned all subsequent masters and with their names many medals are named, drew their knowledge from this source.

The & quot; guardians of tradition "are the wise, the commissioners and ambassadors of the highest reality. Chain of tradition "is always the prophet Mohammed called as origin; therefore, in the & quot. But that is not the person Mohammed meant, but the & quot; cosmic "Mohammed, the manifestation of divine power, and because Allah is one, or the unit, the knowledge is also unlimited.

Another translation for & quot; Sarmoun "is also & quot; Bee". a symbol that the creative "spiritual heads" draw the "nectar" from many sources. The bees pollinate the flowers and trees, whose fruits we reap. All great masters know that the universal knowledge of the laws of the universe was not only a spiritual direction or teaching and is reserved.

Hassan Shushud, a Sufi master in the tradition of the "Masters of Wisdom", the source of today's Sufism, differs in his book The Masters of Wisdom of Central Asia between two streams in Sufism:

- The northern Sufis, the principal have worked in Turkestan, Khorasan, Iran, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan. The most famous Sufirichtungen went from the first Hadschegan ("Masters of Wisdom"), which Naqschabandis, Yesewis and Bektashi.

- The southern Sufis worked mainly in Syria, Egypt, Iraq and Arabia. The goal of the Southern Sufis exhausted mostly in visions of unity with God, the mystical union; can this tendency as & quot; describe drunkenness, "as merging in the highest bliss.

The northern Sufis belong to the & quot; sober "mystic, Meister Eckhart similar to that of Christian mysticism. They are the & quot; spiritual scientist "and developed a training system that is based on the understanding of human psychology and the cosmic laws. Your goal is the absolute liberation, not only the absorption in the divine unity, but in the "absolute nothingness", beyond all attributes of the source. It is the Shunyata of Mahayana Buddhists, beyond Nirvana and Samsara.

Since this is a thought that is for most people beyond any understanding, it is not surprising that many representatives of Sufism were often in conflict with the prevailing orthodoxy. Even though significant Sufi masters have not rejected the religion, they have always made it clear that an authentic tradition and development of the doctrine of the Sufis, although operating in the forms and manifestations of the culture, but is completely independent of it. This is the real Sufilehre, it goes solely to the highest liberation, not frozen, but always has the external social conditions drafted into the methods of the inner progress.

The practice

Sufism lives mainly through action. The core of the method is called School of the moment, which states that every action, every training, arises from the spirit of the moment and rarely works with predetermined or fixed forms. A Sufi was asked, & quot; Why do you tolerate careless questions "He smiled and said:. & Quot; In order to have the benefits for all of us to meet such questions, as you have just found one"?

The main work is done at the Sufis - as with so comparable Zen masters - within the normal living conditions; a temporary retreat in an intensive teaching situation of the group is above all the fast, inner development. The Sufi may give the student specific jobs or tasks that he must complete good, or he learns through the action of the teacher. Even if certain actions often seem contradictory or paradoxical, in a "master of the moment" nothing happens without a reason.

Hodja Faghnawi taught for the first time the "exercise of the present moment" (SíKr-i alaniyya). When asked why he introduces an innovation, he said: "People are living in a dream, so they will wake up." The "School of the moment" has no formal method and no rigid doctrine. If such Sufi schools use some external structure, that does not mean that the practical work is routine; that seems to be only for an outsider so.

To understand the significance of the "master of the moment" right, I will briefly summarize the main aspects of the training, as they were formulated by Abd al-Khaliq Gudschduwani in the 11th century and are still taught today:

Breathe every moment conscious. Let your attention wander a single breath. Remember always and in all situations to your Gegenwärtigsein. These instructions for the respiratory control were supplemented by the dhikr (Sufi mantras). In general, there are several types of dhikr, the "memory with the tongue", sung loudly and rhythmically at the various formulas of prayer or God's name, and the "memory of the heart", the silent dhikr, which is practiced mainly in the Naqshbandi , The loud dhikr plays an important role in the communal ritual (hadra) of the dervishes ("arms"). Another form is habs-i dam, ie, holding the breath for a long time after a certain number of breaths (with or without words), a kind of yogic pranayama.

You hold your intention in every step you take always in mind. Your goal is liberation, and you should never forget. (This exercise is similar to the Buddhist Vipassana meditation.)

Remember that you should carry your travel from the reality of the world of appearances in your home to the world.

Stay inside with all your external activity dates. Learn to identify yourself with anything or anyone.

Remember your friend, ie Allah. Let be the prayer of the tongue, your heart. This is particularly the Wazifa meant, comparable to the Eastern Christian prayer of the heart. This also includes the Naqshbandi technique the concentration of dhikr on the Lataif, the subtle centers.

Return back to unity of God. There is no other goal than reality.

Stay vigilant. Struggles with all foreign thoughts. Holding you in mind, what you do, internally and externally. Become aware of you, what holds your attention. The exercise of self-perception becoming that GI Gurdjieff "self-remembrance" called.

Collection. Be constantly aware of you the quality of the divine presence. The "loss of self", the ego, makes it possible to participate in a greater reality.

Everyday life is the actual exercise field of the Sufis. All great masters - with few exceptions - use the everyday circumstances of the exemplary training of students. Internal exercises, alone and in the group, in addition serve to strengthen and transform the inner energy, without which no growth is possible. The main work is done, however, within the normal living conditions. The Sufi may give the student specific jobs or tasks that he must complete good, or he learns through the action of the teacher. . Abdul Hassan said: "brooding over the things of this world, has nothing to do with the dervish path Thinking about the next world, has nothing to do with the both behave to each other as yesterday and tomorrow How Today - something like that.. but something quite unique - so is the way ".

Even if certain actions often seem contradictory or paradoxical, in a & quot; master of the moment "nothing happens without seeming paradox, not without reason. A Sufi gave a lecture. During the lecture, he paused from time to time and looked in a thick stack of sheets that lay before him, sometimes he dug too nervous in the leaves. A listener went to the lecture on the desk and asked the Sufi, if he could publish this lecture in his university magazine. He casually looked in the papers and found that they were completely empty. & Quot; They seem to have a notepad that contains no notes, "he said. & Quot;? Oh yes, "replied the, & quot; there is a reason. I could previously often notice that many people criticized what I presented, because they said it was not drafted carefully enough, if it is acquitted. Or they are more interested in the fact that you can speak without notes, and listen to, listen to the lecture. "

Teaching Building. However, there are schools that use a certain external structure - at least it seems to look to an outsider so. These schools are important, because they only give the necessary foundations in students so that he is able to achieve a higher level of knowledge. Quot An important prerequisite for the &; advanced "method is the school's attention. This can only be developed through training and practice.

Attention is a property of the will and is normally energized and consumed by many things. As the attention can be concentrated, is one of the secrets of teaching. An important practice is mindfulness in every situation. For a holistic perception must be developed with the goal to resolve any adherence to internal and external things. It is about learning, "in the world but not being of the world". Therefore, certain life evoke much tension because people are confronted with their identification of themselves and things. An intentionally constructed tension by a teacher can exacerbate this situation for the student's identification clearly perceives and can dissolve so.

Many of the "masters of the moment" to use the teaching method of "censure" malam. In this "educational" principle it comes to clearly lead the student his weaknesses and his Egozentriertheit in mind. This method enhances the student's sense of their own nothingness - nobody wants like to see. Each and every, going on a spiritual path, first of all feel "chosen" and "special". The harsh, sometimes repellent and rude behavior of a teacher who (Turkish malama. Melem) "Mint", which is also available in other traditions such as Zen, stings in the wound of the imaginary personality of the student or the student. The external behavior of the Master is of course supported by an intense compassion and selfless love for the people concerned. It is an attitude of service to and for the people. This "method" is used primarily to strengthen the internal struggle against vanity, self-love and self-satisfaction.

The principle of Malam has in some ways also GI Gurdjieff lived and taught, who stressed several times that the "intentional suffering" (as he called it) a direct path to the task of any identification with the secular "personality" and that the most effective way to Non-adherence to existential conditions and social constraints is. His behavior was often described as "non-compliant" and unconventional. He shrank from people who were not willing or able to break away from social conventions. In this case, this non-compliance is not an end in itself. It is used to detect the unconscious arrests and to find his own inner path - even within the "normal" life.

Another element is the deliberate interruption by the teacher to keep the student always alert. An effective method here is the "stop exercise". If the teacher or the teacher calls the word "stop", the student must be as still as frozen, no matter what activity they are performing. Another important method is the production of situations that challenge the students to think for themselves and perceive the situation as a whole. Especially here in the West, where most people are trained that everything is well organized and everything is planned, a teacher will always be situations arise in which not everything is "lubricated" expires, as many expect or would like.

So it can happen that a teacher instructs an exercise, but do not clearly formulated and perhaps even contradictory. The students then think the man knows probably not exactly what he wants. But the opposite is the case: It is to be awakened an awareness, even to find out what is actually happening in the moment. If the student begins to nag at the inner teacher, he falls exactly in the identification with one's own ideas of what "should actually be right", until he noticed that the "world in a different way" works.

Another Wachsamkeitschulung consists in requirements, several things at once, without being confused. The latter is very important because advanced training methods just require this versatile attention. In itself self to stay centered and still be aware of with attention to the external environment is an important practice of & quot; school of the moment ".

To wake up in the "world of consciousness", we must realize that we "sleep" first. Therefore, a training exercise for the "spiritual" impulses is extremely important, because they are too fast for the "normal" human thought and feeling. We can perceive only in retrospect. The best example is the effect of a creative impulse. We have an idea that comes out of nowhere, so to speak, which is not caused by external factors, or at least is not a direct response to an external event. Rarely, however, we are to see this idea at the moment of its creation, perhaps not even afterwards able. It just flows through us, without leaving a trace. The same applies to the intuition. When you actually follow an intuition?

Some spiritual directions that are common today, say that you simply & quot; to flow in the cosmic power ". That may be a very pleasant feeling, but is at the very core misses the point. It is rather to be connected with the natural movement of the Spirit in alert attention. For the unbound sensitivity should not be just seen, but concentrated, so that the attention has any basis in us. Without the concentration of natural energy, without an "energy body", we are exposed to all sorts of internal and impulses that distract us from our work. We are indeed free - but we are not; Freedom is a property of the will and attention. & Quot; The world of the will must of course not be understood as a rigid structure, it is just the opposite, otherwise it would not be a world of freedom "(JG Bennett) The creative, spiritual impulse requires an inner concentration, so that the not easy". passed through it. " This is meant by "collection".

What is the moment?

As could be seen in the example of the attention training already, is the & quot; mastery of the moment "not an arbitrary matter, but based on a certain discipline of the student. A struktruierte method can provide many moments that want to be mastered. The challenge is permanent. This attunement to the situation in the & quot; big picture "is part of the training for the moment. Every moment is the only one we have, not the past or the future. But the unity of a present moment is not in the vanishing of a second timing, but in stepping into another time dimension, the larger the present moment. Here one second to infinity.

The more "inner space" we create, the more time we have. The inner space is free by the liberation of much mental garbage we carry around with us, and by the conscious expansion and strengthening of the internal force. The moment can "expand" in this way.

The master of the moment working with this fact, they have a vision and a connection to the larger space and the larger time. Therefore, they can do at a given moment in a time sequence of normal time right things, which are held by others for completely nonsensical because they can not see the context in which the action is appropriate.

A "school of the moment" is not dependent perform any rituals to draw up a specific doctrine or to give certain rules. It creates intelligent circumstances, not only the students get an opportunity for growth, but also play a role in a larger order. You can use any material that is available, and there are stones, as in the cited anecdote. The master of the moment are of course aware that any of their actions will eventually mimics that any form and structure they assume temporarily, can solidify. Therefore, these masters always create new forms and new situations, depending on what is needed in that moment.

We can not rely on a "Sufi" will always be a "Sufi" or that name us. Maybe he pretends to be a gardener, as in the anecdote about Gurdjieff: This worked in the garden when a visitor came by. "Where do I find Mr. Gurdjieff," asked the visitor. The supposed gardener described him very awkward one way and asked the visitor, later tell him where and how he had found Gurdjieff. The name is only valid for a specific manifestation and is dropped if he has done his job. Those who then stick to it, stick to a dead form, which has little vital force. The insistence of people to certain external forms is naturally the reason why some forms survive for centuries. In part, this is also intended, because few are able to take on the challenge of the school of the moment. In Zen, another school of the moment, there is the saying: & quot; If you hit Buddha on the road, then kill him ", which means that it is not a fixed Buddha, one by our imagination.

If today is written and spoken about Sufism, is the most traditional form or the form of adaptation meant to our taste. Real Sufis do not play with the circus of vanity. They may be known to us, give lectures and write books, but their real work is done in secret. Of course, everyone has to play a certain role to fulfill a service to humanity, and this is perceived. Nevertheless, the finder will have a hard time finding a "Sufi".

One student learned for several months at a Sufi. One day he said: & quot; Master, You are one of the greatest men in the world and yet relatively unknown. I see it as my duty to travel around and to tell people of your size. How can it be that such an infinitely perfect person must remain unknown "The Master said: & quot; If I would say I am an infinitely perfect man or someone would have spread from me, you'd know that I the am not. The feeling that you have to represent your teachers as the greatest people on earth, is a sign of your own arrogance. "

The goal of our striving is beyond imagination. Also the master of the moment are subject to certain conditions, but they are probably better able to draw from the own bootstraps. The cosmic infinity always creates new opportunities for work, and not mixed in. The work, the great work that challenges us again and again to participate. & Quot; If we commit ourselves to the work that sometimes the & quot; Spirit of God "is mentioned, we are committed to always change." (JG Bennett)

Literature:

Bennett, JG: The Masters of Wisdom, Südergellersen 1993

Feild, Reshad: Steps to Freedom, Zurich 2003

Frembgen, Jürgen: Dervishes - lived Sufism, Cologne 1993 (a comprehensive, beautifully illustrated work on all Sufi dervish and directions)

Gurdjieff, GI: Meetings with Remarkable People, Munich 1997

Martin, Bruno: Zen of sudden enlightenment, Havelte 2004

Martin, Bruno: Handbook of spiritual paths, Munich 2005

Shah, Idries: The Sufis, Cologne 1983

Shushud, Hassan: Masters of Wisdom of Central Asia, Ripon