RE: If you were to follow a particular religion...
July 15, 2012 at 2:04 am
(This post was last modified: July 15, 2012 at 2:05 am by Oldandeasilyconfused.)
Quote:Sufism though is quite strict from what I remember studying
I qualified my comments with 'as taught by Idries Shah'. He says Sufism is much more than a school of Islamic mysticism, and that Sufis are found in all religions. I'm aware this view is not the consensus. Indeed,there is no consensus when it comes to defining who is and is not a Sufi. Of course your view is right, but I think a bit limited.
My own studies began at University,studying about some of the Sufi lodges in the Atlas mountains. I also received some personal tuition from a member of a Sufi lodge in London.The crux of his world view; the greatest good is service to others.
Do I consider myself a Sufi? No I do not.
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Quote:Sufism as a form of timeless wisdom
Shah presented Sufism as a form of timeless wisdom that predated Islam.[41] He emphasised that the nature of Sufism was alive, not static, and that it always adapted its visible manifestations to new times, places and people: "Sufi schools are like waves which break upon rocks: [they are] from the same sea, in different forms, for the same purpose," he wrote, quoting Ahmad al-Badawi.[26][41] Shah was often dismissive of orientalists' descriptions of Sufism, holding that academic or personal study of its historical forms and methods was not a sufficient basis for gaining a correct understanding of it.[41] In fact, an obsession with its traditional forms might actually become an obstacle: "Show a man too many camels' bones, or show them to him too often, and he will not be able to recognise a camel when he comes across a live one," is how he expressed this idea in one of his books.[41][42]
Shah, like Inayat Khan, presented Sufism as a path that transcended individual religions, and adapted it to a Western audience.[27] Unlike Khan, however, he deemphasised religious or spiritual trappings and portrayed Sufism as a psychological technology, a method or science that could be used to achieve self-realisation.[27][43] In doing so, his approach seemed to be especially addressed to followers of Gurdjieff, students of the Human Potential Movement, and intellectuals acquainted with modern psychology.[27] For example, he wrote, "Sufism ... states that man may become objective, and that objectivity enables the individual to grasp 'higher' facts. Man is therefore invited to push his evolution ahead towards what is sometimes called in Sufism 'real intellect'."[27] Shah taught that the human being could acquire new subtle sense organs in response to need:[26]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idries_Shah...ess_wisdom
