Since ancient times some people have been trying to find satisfactory answers to some philosophical questions by taking recourse to theosophical techniques. In general, theosophy refers to teachings about God and the world based on mystical insight. This broad definition of theosophy encompasses various philosophies and traditions that seek a deeper understanding of the divine and the universe through spiritual experiences. In this section, I have discussed the method of esoteric inspiration and its limitations in finding satisfactory answers to the philosophical questions related to God.

ESOTERIC INSPIRATION

Esoteric inspiration refers to creative or intellectual stimulation resulting from mystical experiences, hidden knowledge, or practices associated with occult traditions. The term esoteric means something relating to knowledge that is restricted to a small, select group of individuals. The term inspiration means the process of being mentally or spiritually stimulated to do or create something, often stemming from external sources. Such practices highlight the human desire to seek knowledge beyond the confines of conventional understanding and to explore the potential of the mind or soul and altered states of consciousness. The validity of esoteric knowledge or practices cannot be definitively proven through scientific or other rational methods.

The guiding principle of this method of seeking knowledge is that intellect, learning, and reasoning faculties block the way instead of opening the door to the discovery of the ultimate truth. Esoteric inspiration considers the vision of ultimate reality necessary for attaining its knowledge. This, according to them, can be acquired through self-purification, illumination of the spirit, and developing an inner sense that can perceive the spiritual realities and metaphysical truths in the same way as the eyes can see material objects. This sense, according to them, is developed when the earthly nature of a human and his outer senses or faculties are completely suppressed and subdued. In this way, the spiritual cognition of reality is possible only through pure and unmixed intellect and inward illumination that are produced by penance and self-mortification, aided by meditation and contemplation.

After understanding the limitations of human intellect and reasoning mentioned in the section on philosophy, historically, certain people have resorted to the path of esoteric inspiration in order to know certain higher-level realities. This included answering the philosophical questions regarding God, His attributes, and His relationship with the universe. However, this path of finding the truth has its own limitations, as discussed below. 

Limitations of esoteric inspirations

Like pure philosophy, the path of esoteric inspiration has its limitations in finding answers to philosophical questions related to God. Here I would like to again quote Maulana Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi in order to demonstrate the limitations of esoteric inspirations for solving metaphysical problems.  Maulana Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi writes in his book: 

“It is true that man possesses an internal faculty to perceive higher realities. In fact, there may be a few more similar faculties and senses but all of them are no more than human faculties - weak, limited, fallible, and impressionable. Like the bodily senses and faculties, the sources of acquiring knowledge through sensory impressions, there is always the likelihood of committing a mistake or getting a deceptive impression through this inner sense also. Had it not been so, the ecstatic intuitions and spiritual inspirations of the theosophists and mystics would not have differed so widely in their impressions of what they deem to be the truth or reality. Such differences are common among both Muslim and non-Muslim mystics.”

“In any case, there is nothing like ‘pure intellect’: like the ordinary faculty of reasoning, the inner intellect is also impressed by external observations and perceptions and touched by internal passions and affections; and hence it cannot be expected to reflect the true image of a thing without any possibility of mistake. Similarly, the beliefs and surroundings of the mystics and theosophists color their spiritual perceptions and that is why we find in the observations of neo-Platonic mystics the traces of Greek and Egyptian superstitions. The ideas that sometimes appear to them as realities during their ecstatic transports cannot be treated as anything more than the product of their imaginations, devoid of any reality or existence outside their minds.”

“Theosophy or illuminism affords a glimpse of the spiritual world; certain figures and colors are seen and some mental impressions of articulate or inarticulate sounds are heard but they leave one as unenlightened of the Will and Pleasure of God, the divine law and the life and stages of the Hereafter as any other man pretending to be wise in his own conceit. The fact of the matter is that philosophy and theosophy are cast in the same mold: the spirit underlying both of them is one and the same. Both want to attain the ultimate reality without the agency of prophethood; the destination of both is the same; one wants to reach it with the wing of its imagination while the other desires to get at it through a spiritual tunnel of inner faculties.”

“Illumination of the spirit has been regarded as an unerring and dependable source of acquiring knowledge and certitude, regulation of ethical conduct, purification of the self, and creation of a just social order. Egypt and India were its two great centers in antiquity. This school of thought owes its popularity to the reaction against excessive intellectualism and the resultant carnal mindedness which was first set afloat in Greece and Rome but later on flourished at Alexandria, the great converging center of Eastern and Western thoughts and religions.” 

“The propagators of this school claimed that the most important source of acquiring knowledge and certitude was spiritual perception which could be developed by inner illumination, self-purification, and contemplation. It helped to acquire, according to them, pure intellect which created a direct connection between man and the world-soul through an inner perception of reality. This principle pre-supposes the existence of an additional internal faculty, in addition to the five human senses, which can be quickened to perceive luminant objects, sounds and facts not perceived through the five senses. But there is nothing to warrant the supposition that this additional sense is not limited like the other outward senses or that it cannot commit mistakes like them in its apprehensions. Had this additional sense been unerring, its findings would have been free from contrasts and contradictions; nor there would have been any possibility of doubt or uncertainty in its perceptions.”  

Plotinus was a Greek-speaking philosopher born in Roman Egypt. Plotinus is considered the founder of Neo-Platonism, which is a philosophical system that emerged in the 3rd century AD. Neo-Platonism had a significant influence on late antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance. Plotinus’ philosophy emphasized the importance of mystical experience as a way to achieve union with the ultimate reality. He believed that through self-discipline and contemplation, the soul could transcend the limitations of the material world and experience the ultimate reality. Regarding Neo-Platonism and other related illuminist systems, Maulana Abul Hasan Nadwi writes: 

“However, the history of theosophy bears witness to the fact that the perceptions of the theosophists are as inconsistent and conflicting as the speculative thoughts of Greek philosophers or other Eastern rationalists. Aside from the mysticism of the old whose history is mixed up with legends, let us take the example of conflicting beliefs and religious practices of neo-Platonist precursors. Plotinus (A.D. 203 - 262) was a freethinker who rejected the religious beliefs and rituals of his time and laid emphasis on contemplation and meditation instead of devotional exercises. His disciple, Porphyry (A.D. 233 - 305) was, however, a moralist and a mystic. Porphyry believed in the re-birth of the human soul in the shape of animals but Plotinus rejected that idea. Proclus (A.D. 412 - 485) was another celebrated teacher of the neo-Platonic school. He punctually observed the then Egyptian religious devotions, and the reverence with which he honored the sun and moon was unbounded. Yet, all three believed in the inner spiritual perception of the Truth.” 

Some Muslim mystics also tried to rely fully on information gained during their mystical experiences and other related sources. One such famous person was Shahabuddin Suhrawardi. Maulana Abul Hasan Nadwi explains: “The ecstatic experiences of Muslim mystics having complete reliance on mysticism and its capacity to reveal spiritual truths beyond common understanding, also show numerous inconsistencies like other theosophists. We find one mystic contradicting the exalted perception of the other experienced during an ecstatic transport, condemning it as intoxication (sukr) or insanity of experience (ghalba-i-hal). The intellections having no extrinsic existence save in the minds and works of the philosophers are often reported to shake hands with those mystics who acknowledge the existence of hierarchical Intellects. The history of mysticism is replete with similar examples. One example is that of Shaikhul Ishraq Shihab-ud-din Suhrawardi (549 - 587 A.H.) … who achieved considerable renown among the Muslim mystics of the 6th/12th century. … ‘One finds in Suhrawardi along with peripatetic ideas’, writes S. V. Den Bergh, ‘all that mystic philosophy obtained from Hellenistic syncretism, all the mixture of neo-Platonic doctrines, Hermetic theories, occult sciences, Gnostic traditions, and neo-Pythagorean elements’.”

While concluding the section on philosophy, I quoted a renowned philosopher (Immanuel Kant) to further elaborate my point. Here I will quote a person who is considered an authority on matters of mysticism and esoteric inspirations. His name is Shaikh Ahmed Sirhindi, who earned the title "Mujaddid Alf Sani" (Reviver of the Second Millennium) for his efforts in reviving Islamic traditions and practices. He was a prominent Muslim scholar and reformer during the Mughal era in India. He was a member of the Naqshbandi Sufi order who also worked against the wrong concepts and practices introduced in various Sufi orders. Therefore, he was no stranger to the interior experiences of the spirit and had no difficulty in making headway to the esoteric plane. 

Mujaddid Alf Sani asserted that the existence of pure or infallible spiritual illumination and inspiration was almost impossible. He proved that the effort to attain the knowledge of ultimate reality with the help of self-purification and illumination of the spirit was nothing more than an attempt to attain the impossible. In one of his letters, he explained: “One must understand that the ecstatic experiences are not misled by satanic suggestions alone. It sometimes happens that figmental and fanciful notions are stored in one’s mind; Satan has no access to the quarters where they are stored; yet they come out of the subconscious symbolized in a human form. This is how certain persons who claim to have a vision of the Prophet, attribute things to him not permitted by the Shariah (Islamic law). Such cases cannot be regarded as inspirations from Satan since he cannot appear, according to the scholars, in the shape of the Holy Prophet. These cases represent creations of the brain which mislead certain persons to take something for granted although they have no basis for it.” 

In another letter, he writes, “Even if a soul is converted through self-purification into a wholly contented soul (nafs-i-mutma‘yinnah) it cannot be completely expurgated of its inherent characteristics with the result that mistaken notions can find a way into it.” 

Thus, like philosophy, esoteric inspiration (Kashf) is also not a reliable method to find out the ultimate truth about higher realities like God and His attributes. I must again clarify that I am not by any means suggesting that esoteric inspirations (kashf) or other mystical experiences are all wrong.  I am a strong believer in spirituality, and I believe in related concepts like “kashf”, “Ilham”, and “Karamat”. I am just trying to explain its limitations in accurately knowing about God, His attributes, and His relationship with the universe.