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Tarquin

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Everything posted by Tarquin

  1. Hi, I am new here so just finding this thread now. I know it is very old but rather than start a new one I thought I'd give my 2c fwiw! I have some experience with Sufism and have recently returned to identifying as a Christian rather than a Muslim. I can explain about that if anyone is interested but suffice to say I see no conflict between the two and my return to Jesus isn't in the manner of a rejection of other things. It's more than that. But that's a different issue, what I wanted to say was that my understanding of Sufism has always been that it is not in fact exclusively Islamic but that it is essentially a method of 'waking up' or finding God. As such it is one of many such paths which have always existed and the method is not in fact a religious one but the method has traditionally manifested in religions because societies were until recently religious. So yes, you can have Christian Sufism and I know of several examples. Also I would say that 'Sufism' (again, just my opinion) is not actually a word known by Sufis traditionally. It was coined in the 19th century by a Christian theologian but there is no Middle Eastern equivalent. There is 'the state of being a Sufi' but that is not an ism and no Sufi would really call themselves such. An exact equivalent would be the Western Gurus who claim to be enlightened. You kind of suspect that making such a claim speaks against it and the person who never claims enlightenment is more likely to be. That's the idea anyway. Jesus is particularly relevant to Sufis and Sufis generally regard him as being a Sufi in the sense I mentioned above. Anyway, is an interesting discussion in this thread... I hope it can get resurrected!
  2. As it says above! I've intro'd myself in the intro thread so won't go into that again. Basically I am looking for a daily practice but have not found one yet. Contemplation/Prayer is something I need to incorporate but not sure how or what form this would take. Would be great to hear about other people's practice or any advice! Thanks!
  3. Hi, I am new here so I guess I should do the intro! Basically and briefly: grew up in Evangelical household, father was pastor. Rejected it all and went on a journey to find myself/Truth/God/Whatever - went through many things - Gurdjieff, Islam, magic and assorted other things. I learnt a lot and, believe it or not, grew a lot through it all but none of it brought me closer to God. I never felt I was lost or sinning or anything, just not closer. I was always opposed to literalist Christianity (but not Jesus) though I was never an atheist, I saw myself mostly as Muslim I suppose in an ideological sense though I did not practice or know many other Muslims. But then things changed this week. My father passed away last week and when I went to see him in the hospital as he was passing I just experienced Love (capital L). He could not speak so we did not talk (though I said some things and he could understand) but we shared an experience where both he and I moved on and transcended. I believe he went past his literal readings of Jesus and I did too. Since then I have come back to Jesus so.... here I am! The loss still is a bit raw but there is this new found Love and Acceptance underneath. It is as if everything ha been "let go of" - I put it like that because it was not me that did it, it happened for me or to me. I just want now to move on and follow Jesus. I don't quite know how but that's for another time I guess! Anyway, that's me so hello! I am in the South of England btw if anyone else is and wants to catch up!
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