A Look into Sufism – The Path Of The Heart
First, let’s start by defining ” Sufism “, this mystical tradition considered as the spiritual path within Islam.
What is Sufism
Sufism is a way of “Being” with God! and unveiling the secret that is within us, for the sake of the love we carry in our heart! its the path where we experience our first heartache, the heartache of an illusive separation from creation, it is our longing to live the truth of our divine nature, it is the cry of our soul to be in union with God, to uncover the secret of our existence, that we are divine beings, that he is with us, in us, in every step we walk, every breath we take…
This secret we are looking for, lives within the heart!.
Sufism is known to be the path of awakening true love, our heart consciousness which bridges us with God consciousness. Sufism holds the secret how we can awaken through this primal feeling called love, and the journey is taking place in our own being, in our heart! A HEART WITHIN A HEARTH.
The first transmission of sufism
The first transmission of sufism, was done by prophet Mohamed(PBUH) to his companion Abu Bakr Al Siddiq at the cave of Thawr, when the Prophet was being surrounded by soldiers from all directions, he took refuge in the Cave. The two managed to stay hidden , but on the third day of their refuge, it so happened that the Quraish troops closed in on the Prophet and reached the cave. the prophet’s companion Abu Bakr panicked, but he was comforted by the enlightening words of the Prophet, who said
” Do Not Be Sad, He is with US” and a versus of Koran was channeled to document this incident
"As one of the two in the cave, and he said to his companion , do not grieve, Allah is with us, and we supported him with soldiers who are not seen" Sorat Althawbah
The Meeting of the two seas
The Journey within
When asked about his Journey, Rumi Said:
I Burnt, and I Burnt and I Burnt
Rumi
One of my favourite definitions of Sufism is : “the place where the two seas meet, and where the dead fish becomes alive”, these two seas are the HEART and the MIND, our feminine and masculine energies, the Yin and Yang, the darkness and light.
The dead fish is the taught knowledge, what we read in books, what we were conditioned to believe, this dead fish comes to life by becoming an experienced knowledge, you can read all the books in the world, but if you can’t integrate that knowledge in your heart and experience it, it is useless! just words!
It is the place where heaven and earth meet, where our physical and spiritual nature merge! that’s where the revelation happens, the divine being reveals itself to the human being! it is where we go through a process of burning of everything we were made to believe WE ARE , all the programmes that distanced us from your spiritual nature, in order to come close to the divine residing in our heart, and listen to his secrets, find our way back home!
“Why listen to the news reports if you can get the news from the source itself”
The Story of Khidr
“Khidr” or the “Green Man” was an archetypal figure that was depicted in the Quran as ” the one who has mercy of our mercy, and knowledge from our knowledge!”, this archetype is part of each one of us, and available within each of us, whenever we are ready to seek and unveil our truth! Moses Journey with Khidr ,described in the Quran is not nothing but his path towards seeking the wisdom , knowledge and mercy within, from the part of him that carried the mercy and knowledge of the divine, from “and his encounter with Khidr, was a metaphor to Moses own Journey of awakening to the divine secrets!
Sufism is the path of surrender, faith, and of trust in the unknown and unseen. the knowingness that there is a higher power guiding and protecting us, yet maintaining an active role in our lives, and taking responsibility of our choices. It is the path of the Fana’a (the end), the void, the zero state, the realm where we surrender our ego-self, all things we identify with, what we know as normal, what we think make us who we are! and renounce the Ego “Al Nafs” to find God. Thus the interest shown by sufism in the science of psychology, and their curiosity to understand the human behavior in an effort to dissolve what we know, the taught self and remake a new one with true love.
In God’s presence, there is no room for two egos. You say “ego,” and he says “ego”? Either you die in his presence, or he will in your presence, so that no duality may remain.
Jalal Eldin Rumi
A Personal Note
My interest in Sufism, came from my dual nature, being a seeker and intuitive who is so much in touch with the emotional realm, and the skeptic-intellect, who has a scientifically trained mind. The duality I carried created so much internal conflict for me, which I used to perceive as a curse, yet, lately I started grasping the beauty of this gift, this blessing in disguise that was bestowed upon me from heaven, created such a discomfort, that pushed me outside of my comfort zone, it triggered the seeker within me, the student of life, to start looking for every book I can find, to try different courses & modalities, to investigate different religions, sects, old scriptures and beliefs, to look at different perspectives, to find the truth!…and I still AM!
The solid side I was very comfortable with, was my mind, my practical side, my mental abilities, the way I process information, and pace it together to get the full picture effortlessly (the Air element).
On the other side, the spectrum of emotions I have access to is limitless , however, I lacked the emotional regulation skills. Every-time I was faced with an emotional incident, it took me down the rabbit hole, and caused me so much suffering, until I learnt how to let go of the resistance to feel, to be with my feelings, to acknowledge them, and not fall into self-shaming, I started allowing them to show themselves, I was getting used to be gentler and kinder with the soft and sensitive part of me, to be in total acceptance of my vulnerability, instead of faking strength and in return cultivating anger and resentment because I did not have the courage to face my emotions and voice them out.
Magic started happening, my creative energy started flowing , I was able to channel my feelings into arts, music, poetry and many other creative outlets. Life started becoming easier. I started witnessing movement in my life, while it was stagnant for years, there was a certain flow of energies, that was new to me!, My wisdom grew more and more, and I cultivated the habit of seeking wisdom in every situation life threw my way, I started sharing what I know with my community, I shifted from the victim mentality I was sitting in for years (the distorted masculine energy) to a curious mentality, driven by a sacred feminine energy that is not afraid to dive into emotions, and break through the darkness to the light, my approach in life shifted from why Me? to What’s in there for me? what can I learn from this?
I remember when I first did my numerology reading I learnt that my true nature or higher potential in this life, is the state of zero, the path of the neutral mind, in other words, the path of that who is able to sit in the place where the two seas meet, that realm where God or the source speaks through you, there is such a surrender and absence of the ego or judgement in that space, that one is able to see things as they are, with the eye of the unconditional love, without schemas (projections or judgements), a space where the divine bliss flow through you and you are asked to speak it.
To end this article, I would like to flag that we all hold both energies, both seas exist within us, and our responsibility is to do the inner-work in order to find a healthy balance. We have been governed for years by a Toxic Patriarchy! where both feminines and masculines are manipulated to feel shame and guilt, we are transiting from a time where the world is led by the three downfalls : Money, Power and Sex, and both masculines and feminines potentials are demeaned, controlled and trapped. We are now officially in the age of Aquarius, which is the age of innovation, of choosing a different way of being, the age where there is no guru, no mediation between you and the source, and there is a call for all of us, to be responsible to save our inner-world by allowing the seas to meet, by allowing yourself to experience and generate your own soul wisdom, not what you learn from others, by surrendering to our love nature. and to support our outer world, by leading by example, embracing compassion and mercy towards the other! because the OTHER is YOU.