| or '...
one way to slice the pie.'
by Murshid Wali Ali Meyer
(circa 1991)
At a recent Jamiat (gathering of
Sufi teachers, or teachers and students) in San Francisco, and later
at a mureeds' (initiated students) meeting in Kansas
City, I made use of an outline on the main components of Sufi practice,
as I see it, according to the teachings of Pir-o-Murshid Inayat
Khan and Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti (Samuel L. Lewis).
My purpose in presenting this overview was to help disciples to
see just how varied these components are, and how much more than
just a set period each day for practice is involved. In fact, a
person who never sat down to do "daily practices" could
be an adept at many of the most essential realizations of the Sufi
path
So many people asked for copies of my little outline, which after
all is just one way to slice the pie, that it seemed reasonable
for me to publish it with a few explanatory notes under each heading.
I hope it will be a useful tool to help you get a perspective on
areas of strength, and areas for further development in your own
spiritual practice. I want to thank Zarifah Demcho-Wagor who sent
me a nice packet of notes from my initial presentation to the Jamiat.
I. Psychological Healing
As Hazrat
Inayat Khan says in no uncertain terms in The Inner Life,
a person needs to be whole to take the journey. The point of this
is to get your basic self in tune with your higher self. We are
talking here about wounded psyches, fractured consciousness and
dysfunction. Without addressing these issues, a person can become
quite advanced in many ways, and yet at a certain point find it
necessary to self-destruct because she/he has not made a true accommodation
in her/himself to sustain realization. Many of us started on the
path even sneering at the psychological aspect of things, but had
to go back to do such things as address our inner child, align the
three selves, do a 12 step program, or some form of individual or
group therapy. Samuel L. Lewis was no exception here.
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II. Prayer
Opening the self for the action of God in
your life -
ongoing communication and realization
There are different types of prayer. What is meant by prayer in
this general sense includes far more than repeating certain established
phrases aloud. Some of the things prayer would include as a category
of Sufi practice are: the central experience of thanksgiving, ritualized
movements accompanying words, a practice of contemplation of phrases
from Hazrat Inayat Khan's prayers, an opportunity for devotion,
the opening of an ongoing inner colloquy or dialogue with the Friend.
(see Hazrat Inayat Khan's The Unity of Religious Ideals)
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III. Concentration
This key element can be simply described as the ability to maintain
a steady focus on the object of concentration and ultimately to
gain the secret of that object and to merge with it. Sufis teach
the development of this faculty through the awakening of interest,
feeling, and love for the object. Concentration practice is equivalent
to practicing musical scales in the elementary stages. It is a building
block for attainment of all kinds. For example, the ability to maintain
one's purpose as a disciple on the spiritual path or to sustain
a meditation. depends upon concentration. Some elements of Sufi
concentration practice are: holding simple images and symbols, maintaining
steadiness of interest with eyes open and with eyes closed, moving
from the dot to large fields of concentration, doing imaginatively
enhanced concentrations. (see the Githas: Murakkaba Series )
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IV. Vision
A most essential component is the development of intuition. Put
another way, it is the ability to seek guidance and to recognize
it when it comes. What is the inner voice "which constantly
cometh from within"? Hazrat Inayat Khan says that when
power leads and vision follows the waters of life are muddied and
our enterprise fails but when vision leads and power follows our
success is assured. Many Sufi practices are given to encourage the
development of this faculty. (see Murshid Samuel Lewis' commentaries
on the Gathas: Kashf Series)
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V. Wazifa practice
Working with the Divine Attributes
The qualities of God can be evoked and seen through the repetition
of Wazifas (the Divine Names and Attributes) aloud, in thought,
and simply holding the quality itself up to the view of consciousness.
Initiators and dance leaders must learn how to use wazifas as a
psychological prescription to meet the needs of an individual or
a group. We must learn to recognize divine attributes in nature,
to recognize their function in ourselves and in others.
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VI. Zikr practice
Working with the Divine Essence
This is part of coming to an understanding of the Absolute nature
of God. Part of this process is recitation of the Zikr (divine
remembrance)-chanted, sung, in groups, alone, in thought, in pure
contemplation. Sufis become continuous practitioners of Zikr. We
learn the different stages and forms of the Zikr as well.
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VII. Breath Practice
This is another vast subject in the inner science of Sufi Ryazat
(esoteric practice). Briefly, a few of the elements contained
in this area are: the Healing Breaths, forms of kasab, shaghal,
and amal, learning the difference between refined and coarse
breathing and how that affects things, as well as the difference
between a breath which emphasizes right or left nostril, inhalation
or exhalation. We learn breath as darood for walk, as an
aid for various physical and mental activities, as an aid for vision,
as a doorway for deep meditation, as a source of prana (life
force), as an oracle. (see Murshid Samuel Lewis's' commentaries
on the Gathas: Pasi Anfas Series)
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VIII. Contemplation
As distinct from Concentration, where the individual focuses on
and ultimately merges with an object, Contemplation is a technique
by which the practitioner experiences her/himself as absorbed in
a greater reality and as part of the functioning of that greater
reality. In other words, for example, you don't experience yourself
as a person feeling compassion, you experience yourself as a part
of the great ocean of Compassion. Advanced heart contemplations
such as Mushahida (the great witnessing) are among the most
important practices recommended by Murshid Samuel L. Lewis.
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IX. Study
This is not to be ignored. We are asked to study the world scriptures,
the esoteric teachings of Hazrat Inayat Khan, Murshid
SAM's commentaries, the enlightened beings, etc. There should
be some process of study, though the amount will vary with the personality
and learning style of the mureed. The Prophet Mohammed (pbuh)
said to seek knowledge even unto China.
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X. Love
Mevlana Jelal-ed-din Rumi says several times in his Masnavi
"when I came to write the word love my pencil broke."
The realization of this may be the single most distinctive mark
of the true Sufi. Friendship. compassion, mercy-how these function.
How can we truly develop the love quality? How does it become the
instrument for the transmission of blessing as in the Dances
of Universal Peace, for example? Love is the secret of support
for all assemblies of spiritual seekers. We find God as nearest
friend, as guest, as lover.
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XI. Light
This is developed through contemplation and meditation on the nature
of light. We ultimately learn to use Light as a vehicle of spiritual
transmission and realization. An example of this is through the
use of the Glance, as in the Sufi Tawajjeh (sharing atmosphere,
magnetism, and a spiritual state through the eyes and the breath)
or the Darshan.
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XII. Tassawuri
Working with Attunement
This is another giant subject. It includes learning to attune to
the great beings through the development of fana (self-effacement),
learning how to accommodate their atmosphere within your atmosphere
thereby giving you an enhanced field of operation. We say "united
with all the illuminated souls" when we express our basic orientation
with the recitation of the Sufi Invocation. In addition to
the processes of fana-fi-sheikh, fana-fi-rasoul, and fana-fi-lillah
(effacement in the being of the living, personal teacher, in the
being of a World Teacher, in the being of Allah), part of this subject
refers to the development of attunement in all aspects of life.
The self learns through practicing a kind of focused emptiness,
yet one finds a self in the midst of attunement. Fana does not mean
becoming mindless. For example, if we "put on the mind of Christ"
as Murshid SAM encourages us to do, this is hardly becoming
mindless.
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XIII. Baka
Baka, which is sometimes called self-realization, is an
ultimate stage which is pretty much beyond description. When this
arises, you discover that you are God, your action is the action
of God. Beyond attunement, is Being. But the ego is easily confused
and intoxicated. One does not need to trouble oneself over the development
of this stage. It is a Grace.
If we have tremendous resistance to undertaking spiritual practice,
we must innocently seek to view our basic intentions. Perhaps psychological
healing is called for. Spiritual practice is essentially an opportunity
to cultivate. It is not a heavy duty or obligation; neither is it
a business arrangement where God gives you something you want, in
return for your efforts. You are here to cultivate this quality
of attunement or of concentration, or whatever, because that is
what life is all about. It is the legacy of being incarnated as
a human being, to be able to develop God's nature, and to find our
inheritance, to dig deep and discover it. We could look upon it
as an adventure, as a process of discovery, not as a bitter pill.
This was certainly Murshid SAM's attitude. He also recommended
that people read, in this regard, Walt Whitman's Pioneers, 0
Pioneers.
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