Sufi Wisdom

[mystictrek]

Read > http://sufiorder.org/ten_thoughts.html

 

Hazrat Inayat Khan said: "There are ten principal Sufi thoughts, which comprise all the important subjects with which the inner life of man is concerned."

 

http://sufiorder.org is devoted to The Universal Vision of Hazrat Inayat Khan.

 

I believe there is a lot of common ground for people of all faiths in these Ten Thoughts.

[JosephM]

Great site. Wonderful and practical information for everyone. Thanks for the link.

 

Love in Christ,

JM

[flowperson]

Great site. Wonderful and practical information for everyone. Thanks for the link.

 

Love in Christ,

JM

 

MT...GREAT SITE...ROCK ON...!!!

 

flow....

[Cynthia]

MT...GREAT SITE...ROCK ON...!!!

 

flow....

 

 

This seems to answer the new denomination question! Perhaps progressive christians are actually Sufis!!

 

Only God is God... oops, that's Islam! In my father's house there are many rooms... whew... back around.

 

Great site - thanks!

[Flatliner]

Thanks MT, great site.

I like the 5 Aspects of Prayer/5 elements.

 

FL

[Divinejoy]

I know this is a very old thread, but am looking to dialogue with other universal Sufis who also consider themselves Christian. I have been on a Sufi path and following the teaching if Hazrat Inayat khan for the past 12 years. I was raised catholic (complete with 12 years if catholic school) and became disenchanted with the hypocrisy and "black and white" kind of thinking that i felt with the Church. I have joked about being a "recovering catholic" for years, however in my heart I have never denounced my faith in God and I acknowledge that my path to God came through Jesus. The humanistic teachings of Jesus (unconditional love, compassion, understanding, generous in spirit and deed,etc) have always been with me and I feel that the true essence of my catholic upbringing are and always have been the foundation of my relationship with God.

 

I was drawn to the Sufi path because I was not required to convert or leave my beliefs behind. It became a way for me to deprogram the catholic rules that I was taught so I could be with and focus on experiencing the essence of what I what I was taught.

 

Because the Sufi path recognizes the teachings of all faiths, I have come to learn about, enjoy and appreciate aspects of other faiths. And this path has inspired me to deepen and feel my own authentic experience with God. And I am also moved when I witness others from different backgrounds or faiths express and experience authentic connection to God.

 

Aside from my Sufi meditation group and path, I have not been part of any organized faith based group since I left the Catholic Church.

 

Ive been in a wonderful relationship for four months with someone who considers himself a progressive Christian and we have started more serious sharing and discussions about our faith and paths. Spiritual compatability and sharing faith in a relationship is a mutual priority for both of us. From my perspective, I feel like we have plenty of common of spiritual ground to continue deepening our reltionship.

 

Being part of a church and partipatng in worship services and taking part in bible study are important things to him. And are things he would like to be able to share with a partner. I feel open to exploring how to do this with him and feel that we can find a way. I think he still has some uncertainty because he still doesn't quite understand the Sufi path I have been on.

 

So I'm curious to hear form other Christian Sufis about their experiences and how they perhaps participate in Christian worship.

[JosephM]

Divine joy,

 

Thanks for bringing this thread back to my attention. I re-read the link and find it most refreshing. I think most here will find some value in the Sufi teachings but i do not know if any actually label themselves as a Christian Sufi.

 

Joseph

[Divinejoy]

Thanks for you post Joseph. Perhaps I was to hasty in using the term or label "Christian Sufi." I think my curiosity is learning if there is anyone out there who consider themselves Christian who worship regularly with a fellowship but who may also learn from the teachings of Hazrat Inayat khan.

 

I experience my Sufi path as non-denominational meditation practices which helps me connect to the wisdom of the one true God that I have always known and believed in. I experience and participate in prayers, chants and traditions from other faiths, including Christianity. However if one asked if I were Hindu, or Jewish, or Buddhist or Muslim I find it easy to say with certainty, "no I am not." I respect and appreciate aspects of those faiths, and can and have experienced authentic experiences with God through some of those traditions. But I do not feel I could or ever would fully align with those faiths.

 

However when asked about being a Christian, my heart answers yes. i was introduced to God through Jesus and raised with Jesus' teachings and have never denied or felt i abandoned that. However i have struggled with aligning myself outwardly with that because of all the conservative, extremist, fundamentalist out there who in my opinion have twisted the teachings of Jesus in a negative way. I didnt want to be judged or labeled as something i was not. i have found it easier to live my beliefs, as opposed to explaining them. so i stayed away from stating i was christian. In fact i feel it is the Christian qualities of unconditional love, compassion, understanding and tolerance that i was raised with that have been the foundation of my sufi journey and the Sufi experience has helped me delve deep within into the essence and qualities of my Christian experience.

 

I have never given much thought to what it would be like to rejoin or be part of a Christian congregation again, but the relationship I am in is inspiring me to consider this. Being part of regular Christian worship is important to him and something he wants to be able to share with his partner. And i too want to share God and faith in my relationship. He considers himself a progressive Christian, and I feel we have plenty of common ground to explore and find a way.

 

As a Sufi I have no problem experiencing and being part of Christian worship and studying Jesus' teaching. As long as it feels like an authentic experience and that the bible is not thrown at me as literal all or nothing acceptance. In fact now that I have deprogrammed much if the catholic dogma that I was raised with, I am curious to see what it would be like to approach the teachings of Jesus with a fresh perspective and with the same curiosity and intrigue as I had when learning about Buddhism or Judaism or Islam, Hinduism, Wicca, etc.

 

So as a Sufi, I see no problem worshiping as a Christian and being part of a Christian fellowship. However, I'm concerned that perhaps a Christian fellowship may not be able to tolerate me and view my beliefs and Sufi practice as sacrilegious. I do not wish to abandon or discount my sufi experience and practices but i also do not wish to insult or interfere with anyone's experience of God or beliefs in Jesus and the Bible.

 

So I am curious to know if there are others who are on a Sufi path who also actively practice their Christian faith with a fellowship. Wondering what that experience is like for them and what struggles or obstacles they may encountered.

 

I'm so very grateful to have found this website and forum!

[Divinejoy]

Post script: I was just re reading my posts and want to clarify two things I wrote. When I wrote in the first post that I have been "following the teachings of Hazrat Inayat khan" I do not intend that to mean that I worship or pray to or through this teacher. Rather his work and writings help me know myself and my own spiritual beliefs and truths.

 

In the last post I made reference to "being a Sufi" in regards to participating in christian fellowship. Something about using that label makes me feel i could be perceived as not being a true christian. The feelings of either/or, one or the other is coming up for me. perhaps my concerns are the residue of my catholic dogma. The Sufi path that I know and experience is not a religion. For me it is an outlook and a way to help deepen the qualities of my core faith. It is a mystical perspective that recognizes the truth and value in all faiths. So perhaps saying "from a Sufi perspective" is a more true expression of what I feel and believe.

 

Again, I am so very grateful for this forum. Being able to reflect on these big questions and be able to express and be heard is wonderfully powerful and helpful for me.

[JosephM]

Divinejoy,

 

It seems to me that most progressive Christians would not object in the least to whatever label you might choose to identify yourself with. In my experience here, it appears to me that many of the other members here are familiar with more than one religious tradition and have found great insight by studying and discussing them. Our main organization defines PC in general as " an open, intelligent and collaborate approach to the Christian tradition and the life and teachings of Jesus that create pathways into an authentic and relevant religious experience." Essentially , we embrace pluralism and the 8 points of Progressive Christianity.

 

Personally i have found nothing in the Sufi thread teachings referenced that would be outside the generalities of the 8 points of PC. I think you fit in quite well and your insights from your experience with the religions you have indicated you have studied and/or practiced would be highly valued in any discussions here. I look forward to and welcome you and your contributions.

 

Joseph

[Divinejoy]

Thank you so much Joseph for being in dialogue with me about this. My heart is overwhelmed with gratitude and i am so overjoyed to have found this website and message boards to help me further understand, articulate and live my beliefs. I have to admit i am not one to join on line chat sites or message boards, but I sense an authentic atmosphere of safety and comfort here in which I feel i can further expand and deepen. I feel like I have stumbled upon and am opening to yet another important piece of my ever progressing journey.

[bearpawss]

Well I don't know much about "Universal Sufism", but I was attending meditation classes in nearest Naqshbandi Sufi Order place for few months and they were awesome.

 

 

I like to listen to the sermons Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani says. Most are pretty much for muslims only, but still there is much to learn from this guy whatever you are.

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/sufilive

[PerpetualSeeker]

Thank you for this read, I really enjoyed it.

[Tarquin]

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!


 

[JosephM]

On 7/25/2020 at 7:31 AM, Tarquin said:

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. 

I would agree with that. It seems to me that Sufism was meant to be a path from the heart rather than religious dogma and doctrine.

[thormas]

On 7/25/2020 at 7:31 AM, Tarquin said:

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!

There is a site called contemplative life.org: it is progressive and as you scroll down it has a small section of Sufism.

Also have been reading John Hick's book 'The Fifth Dimension' where he talks about the various human responses to the Transcendent and in one part mentions Al-Junayd's saying, "the water takes its color from the vessel containing it."

We are the vessels.