Path: Supernews70!Supernews69!not-for-mail From: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (haramullah) Newsgroups: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.sufi,alt.islam.sufism,alt.religion.gnostic,talk.religion.misc,talk.religion.newage Subject: Religion and Sufism Date: 7 Jan 1998 21:27:58 -0800 Organization: Access Internet Communications, Inc. Lines: 84 Message-ID: <691o4u$4p5$1@shell.accesscom.com> Reply-To: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com NNTP-Posting-Host: 1250@205.226.156.10 X-Newsreader: NN version 6.5.0 (NOV) Xref: Supernews70 alt.magick.tyagi:14641 alt.sufi:2518 alt.islam.sufism:3201 alt.religion.gnostic:8793 talk.religion.misc:340594 talk.religion.newage:91460 [Orig-To: tariqas@world.std.com] 49970916 aa2 assalam alaykum, my kin. YahyaM@aol.com quotes al-Ghazzali: # "The essence of religion is love. . . . The love of God may be # of two kinds. Some love Him for His bounties, others for His # perfect beauty irrespective of bounties. The former love # increases according to bounties received, but the latter love # is the direct result of the contemplation of His perfect # attributes and is constant even in tribulations." # (This translation by Syed Nawab Ali was published in "Some Moral # and Religious Teachings of al-Ghazzali" [Lahore: Muhammad Ashraf], # p. 131-148.) there is much discussion once again about the sovereignty of Islam with respect to sufism. it seems we are so many people jumping up and down on Luna, digging our flags in deeper, still deeper, laying claim. here is a portion of text from sources apparently being disputed here: Idries Shah's relation of Naqshbandi wisdom: On Your Religion Thoughout the dervish literature you will find us saying repeatedly that we are not concerned with your religion or even with the lack of it. How can this be reconciled with the fact that believers consider themselves the elect? Man's refinement is the goal, and the inner teaching of all the faiths aims at this. In order to accomplish it, there is always a tradition handed down by a living chain of adepts, who select candidates to whom to impart this knowledge. Among men of all kinds this teaching has been handed down. Because of our dedication to the essence, we have, in the Dervish Path, collected those people who are less concerned about externals, and thus kept pure, in secret, our capacity to continue the succession. In the dogmatic religion of the Jews, the Christians, the Zoroastrians, the Hindus and literalist Islam this precious thing has been lost. We return this vital principle to all these religions and this is why you will see so many Jews, Christians and others among my followers. The Jews say that we are the real Jews, the Christians, Christians. It is only when you know the Higher Factor that you will know the true situation of the present religions and of unbelief itself. And unbelief itself is a religion with its own form of belief. Ahmad Yasavi -------------------------------------------------- _The Way of the Sufi_, by Idries Shah, Arkana Books, 1990; p. 171. __________________________________________________ Shah's _The Sufis_ makes some simlar points with respect to the relationship between religion and sufism. it is for this reason that I found it valuable to begin the construction of an agreed language which could break through the semantical barriers and allow a suitable consortium of like-minded ecumenism: http://www.hollyfeld.org/heaven/Avidyana/Gnostik/sufimodel.h peace be with you, haramullah tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com -- (emailed replies may be posted); http://www.hollyfeld.org/~tyagi; 408/2-666-SLUG join the esoteric syncretism in alt.magick.tyagi; http://www.abyss.com/tokus -- (emailed replies may be posted); http://www.hollyfeld.org/~tyagi; 408/2-666-SLUG join the esoteric syncretism in alt.magick.tyagi; http://www.abyss.com/tokus