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HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN ON: THE SUFI

EXCERPTS FROM THE SUFI

(HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN PAPER ON THE SUFI, INITIATION ON THE SPIRITUAL PATH AND IN THE SUFI ORDER INTERNATIONAL, THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE SUFI TO ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY, AND ON VARIOUS OTHER TOPICS.)

What is a Sufi? Strictly speaking, every seeker after the ultimate truth is really a Sufi, whether one calls oneself this or not. But as he/she seeks truth according to his/her own particular point of view, he/she often finds it difficult to believe that others, from their different points of view, are yet seeking the same truth, and always with success, though to a varying degree. That is in fact the point of view of the Sufi and it differs from others only in its constant endeavor to comprehend all others as within itself. It seeks to realize that every person following his/her own particular line in life, nevertheless fits into the scheme of the whole and finally attains not only his/her own goal, but the one final goal of all. Hence every person can be called a Sufi either as long as he/she is seeking to understand life, or as soon as he/she is willing to believe that every other human being will also find and touch the same ideal.

All beliefs are simply degrees of clearness of vision. All are part of one ocean of truth. The more this is realized, the easier is it to see the true relationship between all beliefs, and the wider does the vision of the one great ocean become.

Limitations and boundaries are inevitable in human life; forms and conventions are natural and necessary; but they none the less separate humanity. It is the wise who can meet one another beyond these boundaries.

In considering the question of being initiated into the Sufi Order, there is in the first place the inclination to know something different from what is taught in the world. One feels the desire to seek for something though one knows not what. One feels that the opposites, good and evil, right and wrong, friend and foe, are not so far apart as one used to think. At the same time the heart is felt to be more sympathetic than ever before, and the sense of justice makes one wish to judge oneself before judging others. This all shows that one may look for a guide through these unknown paths.

Then there is the feeling, especially after reading or hearing something about Sufism, that one is already really a Sufi, that one is at one with the circle of Sufis. One may now feel drawn to the spirit of the Teacher from whose hand initiation may be taken.

And thirdly there is the feeling, after studying the books published by the movement, or after speaking with the Pir-o-Murshid, that the message is genuine.

INITIATION

Then the question arises: what is meant by initiation? Initiation, or in Sufi terms Bayat, first of all has to do with the relationship between the pupil and the Murshid. The Murshid is understood to be the counsellor on the spiritual path. He/She does not give anything to or teach the pupil, the mureed, for he/she cannot give what the latter already has; he/she cannot teach what his/her soul has always known. What he/she does in the life of the mureed is to show him how he/she can clear his/her path towards the light within by his/her own self. This is the only purpose of man's life on earth. One may attain the purpose of life without a personal guide, but to try to do so is to be like a ship traversing the ocean without a compass. To take initiation, then, means entrusting oneself in regard to spiritual matters to a spiritual guide.

The next thing to be decided is: if I must have a personal guide, whom shall I take as guide? There is no stamp of spirituality, or seal of perfection marked upon any man's forehead, which enables one to say, 'This is the man from whose hand to take the Bayat.' Neither his/her appearance nor his/her words can be relied on as evidence of his/her worth. The only thing that can be relied upon is the appeal of his/her soul in one's heart. Even so, one must satisfy oneself whether it is evil appealing to the devil in one or God appealing to the good in one.

There are three ways in which people trust. One is not to trust a person until he/she proves in time to be trustworthy. To those who trust in this way there will be no satisfactory gain on this path, for they will go on, like a spy, trying and testing the Murshid with their eyes focused downward. Hence they can only see the imperfect self of the teacher, and will never be able to see the beauty of the perfect self, above and beyond the limits of their view.

The second way of trusting is to trust and to continue to do so until the person is proved unworthy of trust. Those who trust in this way are better suited than the first, for if their trust makes their sight keen they will have every prospect of development, provided that intelligence guides them all the way.

But the third way of trusting a person is to have an absolute trust, and to continue until it be proved true. This is the trust of devotees. It is these mureeds who make the Murshid. It is such worshippers who make God. 'By faith, a tongue is produced from the rock, and it speaks to us as God, but when faith is lacking, even God, the Eternal Being, is as dead as a rock.' The word of the Murshid is as useless to the doubting mind as a remedy to the unbelieving patient.

To become an initiate in the Sufi Order therefore implies.. a willingness to cease to attach importance to the differences of the world's various faiths, and to see in all the Masters only one embodiment of the divine Spirit.

The objects one should have in taking initiation under the Murshid are: to realize the self within and without; to know and communicate with God, whom alone the world worships; to kindle the fire of divine love, which alone has any value; to be able to read nature's manuscript and to be able to see into the world unseen; to learn how to control oneself; to light the torch of the soul and to kindle the fire of the heart; and to journey through this positive existence and arrive in this life at the goal at which every soul is bound in the end to arrive. It is better to arrive in the light than to be only transported through the dark. 'Who is blind here will be blind in the hereafter.'

Therefore, one does not take initiation for the sake of curiosity to see what is going on in a 'secret' Order. Such a one will certainly not be able to see what he/she wishes to, for only the eye of sincerity can see. The eye of curiosity has the cataract of doubt, and is blind already. Neither does one take initiation for the sake of gaining some material advantage in one's occupation. Initiation is not a scientist's process, or an engineer's invention, or a business enterprise; it is not something that can be stolen, nor anything to be bought. It is revelation, which has new offspring at every moment, which can never be stolen by a thief. The only process for gaining it is righteousness, and when its light is covered under a bushel, even the Jam [drinking glass] of mystery stolen from Jamsheyd will serve no better than an earthen bowl.

One does not take initiation for the sake of attaining happiness. It is true that one cannot attain wisdom without deriving a certain advantage from it, as it is more advantageous to be wise than ignorant. But it is not for this that the journey is entered upon. However, as he/she progresses on the spiritual path the Sufi becomes aware of a wonderful peace, which inevitably comes from the constant presence of God.

Many people of various beliefs and faiths have written about the practice of the presence of God, and all speak of the happiness they receive from being in His/Her presence. So it is no wonder that the Sufi also, should he/she wish to speak of it, should testify to similar happiness. He/She does not claim to a greater happiness than his/her fellow-men because he/she is a human being and subject to all the shortcomings of mankind. But at the same time others can decide about his/her happiness better even than his/herwords can tell it. The happiness which is experienced in God has no equal in anything in the world, however precious it may be, and everyone who experiences it will realize the same.

One should not seek initiation if one has set before oneself certain principles one does not wish to abandon. One might find that the foundation one has built does not correspond with the building now to be erected upon it. Such is the person who goes from one teacher to another, from one method to another, and is never able to gain that which is only to be obtained through steadfastness. Those who have a desire to teach while coming to learn should not pose as disciples; they must come as teachers.

Are there any conditions imposed on a would-be initiate? No one need fear taking initiation from the idea that he/she undertakes something he/she may not be able to fulfil. If he/she does not wish to progress beyond a certain point, that is only for himself/herself to say. The only thing that happens when a person is initiated, is that from the hour of initiation one is the brother/sister of all in the Sufi Movement, of all other Sufis outside the Sufi Movement, of all knowers of truth, whether they call themselves Sufi or not, and of every human being, without distinction of caste, creed, race, nation, or religion; one is the companion of the illuminated souls of the Sufis living on earth and of those who have passed to the other side of life. Thus one is linked with the chain of Murshids and Prophets, and so enabled to receive the light running through this current, through the chain of the Masters. And one is the confident of the Murshid and of the Order. Therefore the initiate takes a vow in his/her heart to make use to the best of his/her ability of all he/she receives from the Sufi teaching and practices, not using any parts for selfish purposes.

One may ask why there is any secrecy about the teaching. If true, why should it not be scattered broadcast? This implies that secrecy is objectionable. The answer however is quite easy. A certain secrecy is necessary in that some of the Sufi conceptions might easily be misunderstood and misused, were they exposed to the general public. The earnest pupil will not speak of them without due consideration of his/her audience.

Whatever instruction he/she gives this pupil is naturally 'secret'; it is a personal matter; the pupil may hand it on to his/her own pupils later, but he/she does not have it printed and circulated indiscriminately. The secrecy is no more than this. It may also be said that every school which gives the initiate special personal instruction trusts that respect shall be paid to that which it teaches. All teaching can be misconstrued and perverted and made to appear ridiculous. To do this with Sufi teachings, consciously or inadvertently, will not help the pupil. A certain medicine may be good for a sick person at a certain time, but this does not mean it should be used by every sick person in the world. Nor would it be any advantage to anyone, if the exact medicine were to be published indiscriminately. If there should arise need to say what it was, the doctor would not withhold the information.

The fruit must be of a certain degree of ripeness before its taste becomes sweet. So the soul must be of a certain development before it will handle wisdom with wisdom. The developed soul shows his/herfragrance in his/her atmosphere, color, the expression of his/her countenance, and sweetness of his/her personality, as a flower spreads its fragrance around, and as a fruit when ripe changes its color and becomes sweet.

One may ask why the awakened ones do not awaken people in the world from the sleep of confusions. The answer is, that it is not to be advised that little children, whose only happiness is slumber, should be awakened. Their growth depends on their sleep. If they are kept up late they become ill, and will not be so useful in the affairs of life when they are grown up. Childhood needs more sleep, and the children must sleep. Such is the nature of immature souls. They are children, however old their bodies may appear. Their fancies, their joys, their delights are for unimportant things in life, as the life of children is absorbed in sweets and toys. Therefore those who are awakened walk slowly and gently, lest their footsteps may disturb the slumber of the sleeping ones. They only awaken on their way those whom they find tossing in their beds. They are the ones to whom the travellers on the spiritual path give their hand quietly. It is for this reason that the spiritual path is called the mystical way. It is not unkind to awaken a few and to let many sleep, but on the other hand it is great kindness to let those slumber who require sleep.

During his/her mureedship the initiate should avoid wonderworking; claiming to know or possess something unfamiliar to one's fellow-men; casting out devils; communicating with spirits; character-reading; fortune-telling; appearing overwise in conversation with others about spiritual things, and looking to others for approbation. Also sanctimoniousness, over-righteousness, and teaching and advising others before having learnt one's own self, which is as dangerous as giving the same medicine to another that the doctor has prescribed for oneself.

During discipleship, the habit of discipline should be adopted which makes the ideal mureed. Self-denial is the chief religion, and this can only be learnt by discipline. It is as necessary in the path of discipleship as for a soldier on the battlefield; in the absence of it the mureed holds fast the very thing which he/she wishes to crush by taking the initiation. 'Mastery is in service, and it is the servant who alone can be master.'

One should also have a respectful attitude to the Murshid. This is not to raise the honor of the teacher in his/her own eyes, or in the eyes of others. It is to learn a respectful attitude by first having it towards one who deserves it. The mureed may then be able to develop in his/her nature the same respect for all, as a little girl by playing with a doll learns the lesson of motherhood. To respect another means to deduct that much vanity from ourselves, the vanity which is only the veil between man and God.

During the period of mureedship sobriety, an equable mind, a serious habit, regularity in all things, diligence, a desire for solitude, a reserved demeanor, an unassuming manner, a pure life, and uninterrupted daily spiritual meditations, are desirable.

The Sufi is the student of two worlds, the world within and the world without. The world within is equivalent to what is popularly named 'the next world', because of the widespread belief that time is the all-important factor; that we have a life now, and another life at another time. The Sufi knows otherwise. The world without has two aspects, the social world in which we are placed, and the greater world which is the topic of history, past, present, or prophetic. The world within can be entered only by the student himself/herself, though he/she may learn about it as 'esotericism', a subject which also has two aspects, that of the forces in the mind and that of the divine light. The latter is the real goal of the Sufi's enquiry, it is his/her Shekinah, it is his/her Holy of Holies.

IS SUFISM A RELIGION?

Is Sufism a religion? It should be clear from the above explanation that the religion of the Sufi is not separate from the religions of the world. People have fought in vain about the names and lives of their saviors, and have named their religions after the name of their savior, instead of uniting .with each other in the truth that is taught. This truth can be traced in all religions, whether one community call another pagan or infidel or heathen. Such persons claim that theirs is the only scripture, and their place of worship the only abode of God. Sufism is a name applied to a certain philosophy by those who do not accept the philosophy; hence it cannot really be described as a religion; it contains a religion but is not itself a religion. Sufism is a religion if one wishes to learn religion from it. But it is beyond religion, for it is the light, the sustenance of every soul, raising the mortal being to immortality.

As matters stand today, each one claims his/her own religion to be the best, and he/she has his/her own religion. The Sufi tolerates all, and considers them all his; therefore he/she does not belong to a religion but all religions belong to him. He/She can see all the religions like so many forms in a school: some are in one, others are in higher forms, that is, some study life more deeply. And in each class in the school there are pupils who like to play.

To say, 'You are not of my religion; my religion alone is true,' is as reasonable as to say, 'You are not a lawyer, a merchant, a scholar; your way of carrying on life is false; you must become as I.'

To say, 'All who are in my religion are saved' is as reasonable as to say, 'Every lawyer, merchant, scholar (as the case may be) is earnest, and performs his/her work perfectly.' Some speak of 'nominal' Christians, and 'true' Christians; this is only another way of saying that some persons are earnest about their work and others play.

Is Sufism a belief? What do we mean by the word 'belief'? It is the nature of mind to believe, and disbelief comes after. No unbeliever was born an unbeliever; for if a soul disbelieved from childhood he/she would never learn to speak. All the knowledge that man possesses he/she has acquired by belief. When he/she strengthens his/her belief by knowledge, then comes disbelief in things that his/her knowledge cannot cope with, and in things that his/her reason cannot justify. He/She then disbelieves things that he/she once believed in. An unbeliever is one who has changed his/her belief to disbelief; disbelief often darkens the soul, but sometimes it illuminates it. There is a Persian saying, 'Until belief has changed to disbelief, and, again, the disbelief into a belief, a man does not become a real Muslim.' But when disbelief becomes a wall and stands against the further penetration of mind into life, then it darkens the soul, for there is no chance of further progress, and man's pride and satisfaction in what he/she knows limit the scope of his/her vision.

A constant 'why' arises in the minds of the intelligent, and when this 'why' is answered by life to man's satisfaction, he/she goes on further and further, penetrating through all different planes of life; but when this 'why' does not get a satisfactory answer from life, then doubt, dismay, and dissatisfaction arise and result in confusion, bewilderment, and despair. Sometimes belief proves to be worse than disbelief. This is when a person, set in his/her belief, hinders his/her own progress, not allowing his/her mind to go further into the research of life, refusing guidance and advice from another, in order that he/she may preserve his/her own belief. Thus a belief, which is preserved as a virtue, becomes the greatest sin. Both belief and disbelief, by practice, in time become natural tendencies; the person who is inclined to believe gets into a habit of believing all things and everything, and an unbeliever in time comes to disbelieve everything whether right or wrong. The optimistic temperament is the temperament of the believer, and pessimism is as a rule the nature of the unbeliever. The prophets have always promised a reward for the believer, and have threatened the unbeliever with punishment, because the chance for spiritual enlightenment is only in the life of the believer, while the unbeliever covers his/her soul by his/her own disbelief.

STAGES OF BELIEF

Sufis are inclined to recognize four stages of belief:

Iman-e Muhmil, when someone believes in a thing which others believe in, but no matter how strong his/her belief may be, when those in his/her surroundings change their belief, he/she will likewise change his.

Iman-e Kamil, the next stage of belief, is the belief of the idealist who has faith in his/her scripture and savior. He/She believes because it is written in the scripture, or taught by the savior. His/Her belief, of course, will not change with the weather, but still it may waver, if by any means reason were awakened in his/her soul. At least it would be dimmed just as the light of a candle would become dimmed by the rising sun. When the sun of the intelligence rises, it would break through and scatter the clouds of emotion and devotion made by this belief.

Haq al-Iman, the third stage of belief, when the human believes because his/her reason allows him to believe; such a one is journeying through life with a torch in his/her hand. His/Her belief is based on reason, and cannot be broken except by a still greater reason, for it is the diamond that alone can cut the diamond, and reason alone can break reason.

'Ain al-Iman, the fourth stage of belief, is a belief of conviction; not only reason, but every part of one's being is convinced and assured of the truth of things, and nothing on earth can change it. If a person were to say to him, 'Do not cross over this place, there is water here,' he/she will say, 'No, it is land, I can see for myself.' It is just like seeing with the eyes all that one believes. This belief is the belief of the seer whose knowledge is his/her eyewitness, and therefore his/her belief will last for ever and ever. Of course, as a soul evolves from stage to stage, it must break the former belief in order to establish the later, and this breaking of the belief is called by Sufis Tark, which means abandonment; the abandoning of the worldly ideal, the abandonment of the heavenly ideal, the abandoning of the divine ideal, and even the abandoning of abandonment. This brings the seer to the shores of the ultimate truth.

'Truth is that which cannot be fully spoken, and that which can be spoken is not necessarily the truth.'