Divine Unity in Islamic Mysticism

Behind the doctrines of Sufism–the inner teaching of Islam–is a rather sophisticated metaphysic. Central to esoteric as well as exoteric Islam is the Unity of God or Unity of Being.

The condition in which humans now live is the world of multiplicity–the manifold reflections of the emanation of God. The phenomenal world is a “mirror of nothingness” which reflects the self-disclosure of Allah.

In Islamic mysticism the term Allah has similarities to the mysticism of Meister Eckhart. Allah not only refers to the personal God of Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Mohammad; it also signifies the Ultimate Reality, the Ground of Being, the impersonal and unmanifest Godhead. This primordial God of the highest order exists as Beyond-Being. God as Ultimate Reality is beyond all attributes and can only be realized in the unitive state of the mystic.

The first determination of this Beyond-Being is Being itself, God as Supreme Person and Creator. This is God with attributes: the All-Merciful and All-Compassionate. The second determination is quite similar to the Word in the first chapter of John’s Gospel, for it is the Logos. Just as John says that all things were created through the Word, it is the Logos in Islamic mysticism that originates the Universal Existence, which consists of all worlds in their multiplicity.

It is essential to understand that everything from the Ultimate Reality to the Universal Existence is contained within the Unity of Being. This is not by virtue of a pantheism but by way of the mirror of nothingness in which existents are a reflection of the Divine Unity. This posits that all existent entities are non-being in that they do not exist in themselves. The only reality is God. So the Koran says that everywhere you turn their is the Face of God. Contemplation on God’s reflection leads to contemplation of the Source.

The goal of the Sufi is to journey home from multiplicity to Unity. The saint is a person who, having achieved Unity, returns to the world of multiplicity, abiding there and serving humanity.

It can be said that humans have a higher self and a lower self. Put another way, she has a face turned inward and a face turned outward. The face turned inward looks into the Face of God as reflected in the mirror of nothingness. This reflection is her true Self, the Divine Unity. This is the only sense in which the human being has a real existence.

The lower self is the face turned outward towards the world. The lower self is also called the ego. The ego represents the fallen state of humankind. The illusion of the ego is an existence apart from God. Although the lower self has a relative existence, it has no ultimate reality and as such is non-being.

The negative characteristics of the lower self–i.e. lust, greed, and anger–are veils that cause us to forget our primordial existence in the Unity of Being. One of the goals of the Sufi is the removal of each veil and its replacement with a corresponding positive quality–i.e. compassion, generosity, and patience.

The journey of the Sufi, then, involves one of the remembrance of who we were in our primordial existence. We still contain that existence beneath the veils in its potentiality here and now and in the multiplicity of our world. Our souls contain the imprint of the memory that, before our creation, God said, “Am I not your Lord?” to which the response was, “We witness it.”

The remembrance can be engendered in the practice of recollection–the repetition and undivided concentration on the statement of faith, “There is no God but God,” and in the repetition of the Names of God. Through the process of self-annihilation we experience our nothingness before God, whereby we witness to the truth of the Divine Unity, “There is nothing but God.”

God bless.

On Three Spiritual Practices

As I mentioned in the previous post, the Sufi concept of passing-away (fana) can be instructive to the Christian seeking to surrender his or her will to the will of Christ. Such a surrender is to go beyond external doctrine and into the heart of the Savior.

The prerequisite to this transformation is the annihilation of the ego. In Christianity, this is symbolized by our Baptism, as we have died unto our sinful selves and are reborn into the life of Christ. The annihilation of the ego as the entryway to the Divine Life is a universal concept in religion.

Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. (John 12:24-25, NIV)

There is a saying in Islam: “Die before you die.”

This state of surrender is most difficult to attain in a culture based on materialism. We cannot surrender to God’s will while we have our own agenda. Among the Islamic mystics, even the desire for Paradise or the fear of Hell are seen as egoism.

True surrender is an act of God’s grace, although it can be facilitated by a spiritual practice. A spiritual practice is NOT an act based on “works” in order to gain merit; it is in itself an act of submission to the will of God.

There are many spiritual practices, which would take an entire book to cover. The three I will mention in this post are the Jesus Prayer, the dhikr, and the Rosary.

The great Russian classic about the Jesus Prayer is The Way of the Pilgrim. The Jesus Prayer can be practiced with the aid of Jesus Beads, which consist of 100 beads, usually wooden, plus a cross. The 100 beads can be used to count one series of repetitions of the prayer. Several forms of the prayer can be used. The full form of the prayer is:

Lord Jesus Christ, son of the Living God,

Have mercy on me, a sinner.

A common (silent) form of the prayer is to recite, “Lord Jesus Christ,” on the in-breath and, “Have mercy on me,” on the out-breath. The goal of this prayer is to facilitate the surrender of the individual will into the will of Christ.

This is similar to the Sufi practice of dhikr. The most common way to practice the dhikr is the recollection or remembrance of God by the recitation of the shahada: “la ilaha illa’ llah” (There is no God but God”). The negative statement, “la ilaha,” is recited on the out-breath, while the affirmative statement, “illa’ llah,” is recited on the in-breath.

There are several Catholic websites which give detailed instructions on how to practice the Rosary. As Wayne Teasdale has noted, the effectiveness of the Rosary as a spiritual practice has been proven.

The Rosary beads are used to keep track of the prayers and meditations. One of the characteristics that makes the Rosary effective is that the repetition of prayers engenders tranquility of mind while simultaneously meditating on the “Mysteries,” which are primarily centered on Jesus Christ. It takes some doing at first to learn the Rosary, but once learned it can be practiced almost anywhere.

For those who might object to the “Mariology” implied in the Rosary, rather than discard this effective practice, one can employ a few substitutions. In place of the “Hail Mary,” one could use the following:

My heart is glad, my soul rejoices.

You will show me the path of life;

The fullness of joy in your presence;

At your right hand happiness forever.

Similarly, in place of the extra-biblical Mysteries of the Assumption and Coronation of Mary, one could substitute the raising of Lazarus and the conversion of Saul. Lastly, one can finish the Rosary with an “Our Father” (The Lord’s Prayer) instead of the “Hail, Holy Queen.” And there you have a fully Protestant-ized version of the Rosary.

The simple rule about spiritual practices is to use what attracts you and,

Pray as you can, not as you can’t.

Open your heart to Him and He will open the door.

God bless.

The Sufi Way and the Christian

Although Sufism has flourished as the mysticism of Islam, according to Sufi master Hazrat Inayat Khan, “Sufism has never had a first exponent or a historical origin. It existed from the beginning, because man has always possessed the light which is his second nature.” (“The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan”)

Some religionists have laid the claim that Sufism is the sole property of Islam, but from an interspiritual standpoint, this could be no more true than saying that the truth is the sole property of one religion. As a Christian, I have experienced a great kinship with Sufism, and its teachings have invigorated my faith in Christ, despite the fact that Islam is not an incarnational religion.

As to the preexistence of Sufism, about the location of Persia, and the mutual influence of religion, according to Khan,

Persia, lying between Greece, Egypt, Arabia, and India, came under the influence of Plato and Socrates, of Hinduism and Buddhism, and especially of their poetry and philosophy. Everything in the world is influenced by other things, so it cannot be said that Sufism was born in Persia and that it did not exist before; it is an undeniable fact that Sufis existed in the time of Muhammad and even previously, and that Muhammad liked to converse with them and advise them. Thus Sufism in the course of time absorbed the influence of many religions, and in turn also influenced many other religions. (Khan)

As with Christianity, the path of Sufism begins with repentance (tawbat). The original sin in Islam is said to be self-existence, or the belief that there is a self that exists independently of God. The product of this self is selfish desire, which is the cause of every sin. Repentance is an act of God’s grace upon humankind. The Sufi turns to God because God has gone to him and called him out (i.e. of himself).

There are several ways to describe the Sufi Way, and among these descriptions are several sophisticated theological concepts that I cannot hope to cover in a posting such as this. But an early account enumerates seven stages of the path: (1) repentance, (2) abstinence, (3) renunciation, (4) poverty, (5) patience, (6) trust in God, and (7) satisfaction.

One of the Sufi concepts that I have found most valuable and fascinating as a Christian is called fana, or the “passing away” of the individual self and absorption in God. It has also been described as “going out” from the individual will and abiding wholly in the will of God.

This is a mystical state equal to the realization of the Hindu or the satori of the Zennist. Through the practice of dhikr–the “recollection” of God through the repetition of one of the Divine Names, a verse from the Koran, or more commonly the shahada (“There is no God but God”)–there becomes a sense that the individual existence of the self dissolves, as if it were “annihilated.”

That which remains is the mystical apprehension of the Islamic concept of the Unity of God–God alone is. There is not even a “self” being aware of God; it is God being conscious of himself.

This experience has been compared metaphorically to the moon seeing itself reflected in the light of the sun and exclaiming, “I am the sun!” It is only in the light of the sun that the moon is aware of itself, and the soul only has its true existence in the light of God.

As a Christian, I find this to be a beautiful way of understanding my life in Jesus Christ. The fact is that I only have a life in the sense that it is reflected in the light of Christ. It is not even I myself that lives, but Jesus Christ who lives his life, in the eternity of the present moment, through my body. (i.e. Galations 2:20) This is also what Christian mystics have called the “mystical marriage,” or the union of the soul with Christ.

God bless.

About Interspiritual and Ecumenical Religion

One of the main premises of this blog is that religions must show the nations how to live in peace by their own peaceful coexistence with each other. Every religion needs to re-examine itself in this light. Also, as part of a global community, members and especially leaders of every religion need to become conversant in multiple religions. As a Christian, learning about world religions has contributed a great deal to my relationship with Jesus Christ.

For those who are traveling along the path of interspirituality, I believe it is important to remain grounded in one religion. Although, in this interspiritual age, it is not uncommon for some people to observe a “second religion” in addition to the one that they are grounded to. Examples of this are Ruben Habito, a Catholic Christian who is also a Zen master, and Bede Griffiths, the Catholic priest and monk who also lived the life of a Hindu sanyassin in India. Unless a person feels especially called to a second religion, I believe it is best to have one religion to be grounded in.

My calling is to be a follower of Jesus Christ, but in the same sense that Gandhi intended, I am also a Sufi, a Jew, a Hindu, a Buddhist, and a Muslim. This is to say that I recognize one common humanity which has one God, by whatever name he or she may be called.

Even in confirming that I am a Christian, it could be asked what kind of Christian am I, as there is a wide variety of Christian traditions. Again, my answer would have to be that I am both a Catholic and a Protestant; and within Protestantism, I am an Episcopalian, Evangelical, Baptist, Charismatic, and etc. The best term to use, perhaps, is ecumenical. The term interspiritual was coined by Bede Griffiths to apply to the crossing of religious boundaries. The term ecumenical is commonly applied to the crossing of denominational boundaries within one religion.

I used to believe that I had to make a distinct choice to the exclusion of all the other choices. This is the main reason why I ended up studying so many different creeds and traditions. After many years, I finally discovered Bede Griffiths, the great interspiritual pioneer after Gandhi, and Brian McLaren, the Christian elder and pioneer in the emerging church movement. One of my intentions for this blog is to offer ideas and information that took me so many years to discover, in the hopes of saving a lot of time for younger people.

God bless.

The Trouble With Mystics

Wayne Teasdale, a Catholic contemplative monk and interspiritual pioneer whose mentor was Bede Griffiths, observed that the convergence of religions rests in mysticism. The trouble is that mystics of all religions tend to draw the wrath of orthodox religionists. This is because mystics perceive a fundamental Source that is beyond, even, the dogmas of the particular religion they are faithful to.

The result is that mystics have often suffered the ultimate persecution at the hands of orthodox practitioners of their own faith, including burnings at the stake, torture, and death by dismemberment. Ironically, most of these victims later regain a high standing in their faith, even sainthood, as in the case of Joan of Arc in the Catholic Church. Christian mystic Meister Eckhart, who proclaimed that the soul and God are of the same substance, spent the last years of his life on trial for heresy.

Sufi mystic Al-Hallaj said that, when his ego disappeared in fana (self-annihilation), the only existent being was God. This lead to his ecstatic utterance, “I am He,” which is comparable to the words of the Hindu Upanishads, “That thou art.” The closest Christian parallel would be, “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” (Galations 2:20)

For the orthodox religionists of the time, this was a heresy, and Al-Hallaj was condemned to a protracted death by torture and dismemberment. Yet he said–while he was still able to speak–”Though I am killed and crucified, and though my hands and feet are cut off–I do not recant.” (Nicholson, Idea of Personality, 32)

Fortunately, such actions are illegal now, but the mystics are still vigorously attacked today by orthodox religionists. The objection seems to be that the perceptions of the mystics undermine the fundamental doctrines of orthodoxy. Nevertheless, the three examples of Joan of Arc, Meister Eckhart, and Al-Hallaj were all faithful to their religions.

The problem is that mystics are able to perceive truth on different levels–the literal level and at the level of the Absolute, which is beyond the symbols of religion–whereas their persecutors function only at the literal level.

Al-Hallaj spent years studying spiritual traditions other than Islam and had this to say:

I have meditated on the different religions, endeavoring to understand them, and I have found that they stem from a single principle with numerous ramifications. Do not therefore ask a man to adopt a particular religion (rather than another); for this would separate him from the fundamental principle; it is the principle itself which must come to seek him. (Divan: Muqatta’at)

This is very interesting because it implies that, once we are fortunate enough to discover the Source that is beyond all dogma, we remain adherent to the faith to which we were called.

For this very reason, whatever religion I may be studying or writing about at a particular time–and I am an enthusiast of many–I remain a Christian, and I affirm the Apostle’s Creed.

God bless.

Christianity and Sufism

Sufism is the mysticism of Islam. Mysticism is the direct experience of God. It is possible that Sufism was inspired when Muslims came in contact with the Christian ascetics of the desert. The meaning of the word sufi is related to the wool garments that Sufis wore in imitation of the Christian ascetics.

Many religious thinkers have observed that the common thread of mysticism runs deeper than doctrinal differences, and this is why the mystics of different traditions can learn from each other. While the earliest Sufis learned from the Christian ascetics, today’s Christians can learn a great deal from Islamic devotion to God.

The meaning of Islam is “submission” to the will of God. Three elements of Islam are faith, submission to the divine will, and virtue (or, the spiritual life). A saying often quoted by Sufis is “Die before you die.” According to R. A. Nicholson,

“fana, the passing-away of the Sufi from this phenomenal existence, involves baqa, the continuance of his real existence. He who dies to self lives in God, and fana, the consummation of  this death, marks the attainment of baqa, or union with the divine life.” (Reynold A. Nicholson, The Mystics of Islam, pg. 149)

We can recall the words of St. Paul, “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” (Galations 2:20, NIV)

One of the doctrinal differences Islam has with Christianity is that, while it recognizes the “son of Mary” as a great prophet and gives Jesus the utmost respect, the God of Islam does not have a son, because He “is neither begotten not begets.” (The Holy Koran) This is no small doctrinal difference, but in my view there is grounds for inter-religious dialog, as the Koran, within the confines of Islam, shows absolutely no disrespect whatsoever towards Jesus.

And the two religions find a common thread in the mysticism of both our great faiths. The Islamic poet Jalaluddin Rumi says,

If there be any lover in the world, O Muslims, ’tis I,

If there be any believer, infidel, or Christian hermit, ’tis I.”