Ibn ‘Arabi says, ‘Remove from your thought the exterior of words; seek the interior until you understand.’ (‘Alone with the Alone,’ Henri Corbin, in Laleh Bakhtiar, ‘Sufi: Expressions of the Mystic Quest,’ p18). Recently, after 10 years of wondering, speculating, and so on, on the meaning and the answer to the question asked of me … Continue reading ‘Unopened Gifts: Opening the Word from the Inside’
Tag: Sufism
‘The Myth of the Self’
The story – our own story – flows out of one only so long as one stays in tune (with it). Such attunement is the essence of a life of meaning. Lived in such a way, all questions such as the ones dealt with (see latest blog ‘Creating a Personal Myth or Story’) are answered, … Continue reading ‘The Myth of the Self’
“The Last Post”
“The Last Post” The war is lost. The war is won. The ‘last post’ is played over the dead and the living together, a bugle call reminder that – though it is time to round up our days - we should not let go of the memory of times other than these, where ‘peace’ now … Continue reading “The Last Post”
“Awakening – Mother Teresa – Synchronicity”
Part III Crossing India for the third time, I began the long journey towards Calcutta, this time sharing a sleeper with a Japanese Mahayana Buddhist monk from – of all places – Salt Lake City! He told me he was heading to Calcutta to offer his services to Mother Teresa as a willing worker at … Continue reading “Awakening – Mother Teresa – Synchronicity”
“What’s in a Word, or the Word that was not”
A Day in the Life of a Sufi Recently a friend said to me that he had stopped using the word, “sorry,” feeling that it didn’t ‘mean’ anything; so easy to say, so little ‘meaning’ or ‘content’…, “Oh, sorry! Sorry!” Instead he had taken to substituting the ‘word’ “apologise,” as in, “I apologise for that.” … Continue reading “What’s in a Word, or the Word that was not”
“Awakening – Mother Teresa – Synchronicity”
Part II Leaving Cochin I once again caught a bus, this time heading for Ootacamund, high up in the Nilgiri Mountains, with the promise of Ramesh’s ‘place to get away from the crowds’ as an additional draw-card. He had told me he knew of such a place when we shared the same accommodation back in … Continue reading “Awakening – Mother Teresa – Synchronicity”
“Steps In A Pathless Land”
Pages From the Life Of A Sufi (A Warning) Krishnamurti was wrong. He said, “Truth is a pathless land; no-one can take you there.” Many is the hand that has held my own on this journey of life, through life. For the Sufi, tracks appear wherever one looks. It was Imam Ali, the 4th Caliph … Continue reading “Steps In A Pathless Land”
“Awakening – Mother Teresa – Synchronicity”
The Real Beginning of a New Path Over the next three weeks it is my intention to attempt to follow the threads that led to the ‘opening’ of the Sufi path for me, and hopefully in showing some of the journey that I personally undertook beyond the autobiographical, “Dream that changed my life” (see my … Continue reading “Awakening – Mother Teresa – Synchronicity”
“The Word That Was Lost”
Pages from the Life of a Sufi 9:33pm Sun 4th August Sohravardi – Sheikh al-Ishraq ‘Man of Light’ – Sheikh of Light The ‘Lost Word’ – not lost “word” but lost ‘state of being’ in which the word no longer opens “from within,” the mystery of the “lost word” therefore becomes not some kind of … Continue reading “The Word That Was Lost”
“The Body Of Light: Opening The Word”
Pages from the Life of a Sufi Journal Sunday 26th May Jesus said, “Let them who have ears, hear.” * A questioner asked this of Jiddu Krishnamurti: Q. “Can life ever be lived without control? It’s the essence of discipline.” JK responded thus: “When the controller is the controlled, seen as an absolute fact, as … Continue reading “The Body Of Light: Opening The Word”
Tracks in a Pathless Land 