Sufi Path

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The Sufi Path

The Ten Sufi Thoughts

1. There is One God, the Eternal, the Only Being, none else exists.
2. There is One Master, the Guiding Spirit of all Souls, who constantly leads all followers towards the Light.
3. There is One Holy Book, the sacred manuscript of Nature, the only scripture which can enlighten the reader.
4. There is One Religion, the unswerving progress in the right direction towards the ideal, which fulfills the life’s purpose of every soul.
5. There is One Law, the law of reciprocity, which can be observed by a selfless conscience, together with a sense of awakened justice.
6. There is One Brotherhood/Sisterhood, the human family, which unites the children of earth indiscriminately in the Parenthood of God.
7. There is One Moral, the love which springs forth from self-denial and blooms in deeds of beneficence.
8. There is One Object of Praise, the beauty which uplifts the heart of its worshippers through all aspects from the Seen to the Unseen.
9. There is One Truth, the true knowledge of our being, within and without, which is the essence of all wisdom.
10. There is One Path, the annihilation of the false ego in the real, which raises the mortal to immortality, in which resides all perfection.

Objectives of the Sufi Movement

1. To realize and spread the knowledge of unity, the religion of love and wisdom, so that the bias of faiths and beliefs may of itself fall away, the human heart may overflow with love, and all hatred caused by distinctions and differences may be rooted out.
2. To discover the light and power latent in man, the secret of all religion, the power of mysticism, and the essence of philosophy, without interfering with customs or belief.
3. To help bring the world’s two opposite poles, East and West, closer together by the interchange of thought and ideals; that the Universal Brother/Sisterhood may form of itself, and person may meet with person beyond the narrow national and racial boundaries.

The Way of the Sufi

The Religion of the Sufi is the cry of the heart;

The Ideal of the Sufi is spiritual consciousness;

The Goal of the Sufi is self-realization;

The God of the Sufi is the Divine Presence within;

The Path of the Sufi is brotherhood and sisterhood;

The Manner of the Sufi is inner nobility;

The Art of the Sufi is personality;

The Charm of the Sufi is humility;

The Moral of the Sufi is beneficence;

The Attitude of the Sufi is forgiveness;

The Beloved of the Sufi is love itself.

For a Sufi…

WISDOM
is the art of being responsive to the opinions of others
and tolerant of their pre-conceived ideas,
while preserving one’s own understanding from the
limitations of dogma.

RELIGION
is the path of liberation from the captivity of that
illusion which arises when one assumes a duality in
the unity of love, human and divine.

SPIRITUALITY
is the process of clearing away all aspects of self-assertion
while at the same time searching for the divine impulse
within oneself, which is the source and goal of
all creation.

MYSTICISM
is an inner awakening to the reality of the undefinable,
which is experienced when the voice of the heart cries aloud
“This is not my body. This is the temple of God.”

Some Sufi Terms

Bayat – Fealty or homage but in Sufism, initiation.

Begum – Lady or queen; a term of respect, as, for example, ‘Pirani Ameena Begum Ora-Ray Inayat-Khan,’ the wife of Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan.

Dargah – A royal court, or in Sufi terms, the tomb of a saint or master. The Dargah of Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan is in the suburbs of New Delhi.

Fikar-Thought, reflection. In Sufism, the name of a spiritual exercise involving breath and concentration.

Gayan – ‘Singing,’ ‘song’ or ‘chant.’ The title of a collection of inspired sayings by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan. Often published together with two other books, Vadan (‘instrumental music’), and Nirtan (‘dance’).

Hazrat– ‘Presence’ or ‘dignity’; a title of respect given to the worldly great and to spiritual masters.

Khatum – ‘Conclusion,’ ‘end,’ the name of the third prayer of the Universal Worship.

Mureed – ‘Willing,’ therefore applied to a follower, student or disciple; an initiate in the Inner School.

Murshid – see Pir-o-Murshid, below.

Nabi – ‘Prophet’; encountered in the prayer Salat, ‘O Messenger, Christ, a Nabi, the Rasul of God…’ [see Rasul, below.]

Nafs – Breath or essence, but if that should be coarse and unrefined, it may also refer to the false ego.

Pir-o-Murshid – Both Pir and Murshid mean a spiritual guide or master. The k combined term denotes a teacher of teachers, or in other words the spiritual head of an order, and specifically of the Sufi Order, the inner school of the Sufi Movement.

Rasul – ‘Messenger,’ a prophet of the highest rank; encountered in the prayer of Salat, ‘O Messenger, Christ, Nabi, the Rasul of God…’ [see Nabi, above.]

Salat – The name of the second prayer of the Universal Worship, meaning, ‘prayer,’ ‘benediction,’ ‘blessing.’

Saum – The name of the first prayer of the Universal Worship, also found in the Gayatri, in the book, Gayan.  ln Arabic and Urdu, it means ‘fasting,’ and therefore evokes religious duty, but Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan may have also used the term because it is a homophone to the western word, ‘psalm.’

Sufi – According to Pir-o- it, Murshid Inayat Khan, it means wisdom, from the same root as the Greek sophia. Other sources connect it with words meaning purity, and even wool.

Sura -In Arabic, a verse of the Qu’ran. In Sanskrit, a deity, the sun, a melody, breath, sound, or an angel.

Universal Worship – A devotional service given to the world by Hazrat Inayat Khan, in which lights are kindled and scriptures read for major religions as well as for the light of the Spirit of Guidance present in all names and forms.

Wazifa – A spiritual exercise involving the repetition of sacred names or phrases, similar to jap or mantra yoga.

Zikar – ‘Remembrance’; specifically, a spiritual exercise central to Sufism, the repetition of a phrase meaning, ‘There is no God but God; God alone is.’

Five Characteristics that the Sufi Develops on his Path to Perfection

There are no principles that the Sufi is obliged to follow, but there are certain characteristics favourites of the Sufi, and which make his life easy on the path to perfection.

The first characteristic is to recognize the divine in man, which in time develops so that he recognizes the divine in all, deserving or undeserving, wise or foolish, saint or sinner. In all forms of life he sees God, and thereby he has toward everybody that attitude which a lover of God, a a worshipper of God has toward God. Therefore the Sufi complains no more, has no grudge against anyone, has nothing to grumble about: “That person insulted me,” or “treated me badly,” or “behaved unjustly,” or “acted unkindly,” -no complaint whatever, for complaint comes to a person who thinks of himself most of the time. He is inclined to self-pity at every moment, self-pity, which is the worst poverty. The one who is sensitive to all things that come from the people around him will have a thousand complaints, whatever be his life’s position. In a palace or in a cottage, be he poor or rich, he is always full of complaints. Nothing is right to him; and for that poor person life is death.

If this person thinks of his health, that ha has many complaints to make about different pains and aches and disagreeable things he feels, and if he thinks of his friends and foes then he has many things to say about them, The Sufi therefore finds the only way out of the distresses of life, the life which will always fail to prove true to one’s ideal. He rises above it, taking all things as they come, patiently.  He does not mind how he is treated. His principle is to do his best, and in that is his satisfaction. Instead of depending on another person to be kind to him, the Sufi thinks if he were kind to another person, that is sufficient. Every wise man in the long run through life will find in this principle the solution of happiness. For we can not change the world, but we can change ourselves; and if we made ourselves as we wish others to be to us, it would not be a small achievement in life.

The fourth characteristic of the Sufi is to fulfill his obligations in life, to think what he is expected to do by all those with whom he comes in contact in life, to answer their demands to the best of his ability, willingly, patiently.

And the fifth characteristic of the Sufi is o practice forgiveness, showing thereby the Divine Spirit reflected in his heart, Forgiveness can be overlooking, forgiveness acts in different forms.

The Sufi need not speak about these five principles, but practise them. The Sufi does not profess to have these five characteristics, but he tries to practise these principles, which enables him to tread the path with less difficulty and with ease.

The Sufi Movement (compiled from the Teachings given by Hazrat Inayat Khan)

The Message for which we have been preparing so long, as the workers of the Sufi Movement, is in reality now being born. We do not need to think or trouble about its greatness while it is yet so small, for the greatness of everything is according to our own idea; and there is One only Who can be called Great, and that is God.

As to the devotion of many among my mureeds, I have not the slightest doubt. In order for me to know the devotion of my mureeds I do not need words or any outer expressions, for devotion itself is a living thing; if there is anything living, it is devotion. But there is something more that could be done, thus utilizing that power of devotion to its best advantage. The Sufi Order is an embodiment, a body which is being composed to deliver that Message which is the Message of God. Therefore my mureeds are the particles of that body, the organs of that body; and the more they will realize that, the more they will know their responsibility.

But now there are rules to keep this embodiment of the Movement in perfect condition. That can be learned by understanding how one hand is dependent upon the other hand to help it; how one finger bends with the other finger when it bends, in order to help the finger which is next to it; how the nerves of the body are in sympathy with one another. So my mureeds must work harmoniously with the thought of cooperation.

What is our need? Our need is for active workers who are ready to sacrifice their time and take every trouble that can be taken to do what they can in order to spread the Message. And how can one be a successful worker? By forgetting the self. Once a person stands to work in the cause of God and humanity, he does not consider himself. And the moment one has forgotten oneself, one is already on the right path. We need among us some who should practice to become speakers. Another need is writing. A practice must be made to develop the faculty of putting into words the ideas which are given by the Message. We ought to have a great many among us who will be able to give the interpretation of the Message, and we shall never have too many workers for the cause. It is something to be thankful for that there are now, after many, many years of patient waiting, some among us who are able to do something tangible in order to help the cause.

Another work of the Movement is the study and meditation in the school of Inner Culture, the Sufi Order, which has originated from the ancient school of Egyptian mysteries, a school which existed even before Abraham, the father of three great religions: Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Those who know Sufism from superficial writings, and, sometimes from translations of the Arabic or Persian literature, are apt to think that Sufism is the mystical side of Islam. In reality, it is not true. Sufism existed before Mohammed, before Jesus Christ, before Abraham. It is true that the mystics in the world of Islam are Sufis, but that does not mean that Sufi means the mystics of Islam.

The Sufis of all nations are one. They are a nucleus made for human brotherhood. It is not our wish that all people in the world must become members of our Movement, but it is our wish that the members of the Sufi Movement may be able to serve the world. Our Movement, no doubt, is in its infancy, but the power that gives us courage is Truth. There is no question about the success of the Sufi Movement. It is certain, since it is no man-made enterprise, it is the Message of God and Truth must be successful. At the same time, we do not work for success, we work for the sake of the work, It is the direction that we are given from above. We take it, and we shall go through life, making a way until the Message of God is fulfilled.

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