What is Sufism ? Pir Zia Inayat Khan A talk given at The Power of Love onferen e at !mega Institute" !

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I thought it might be helpful to begin by saying something about the meaning of the term Sufism. Because Sufism, it should be remembered first of all, is a neologisma newly coined word. And I must say its not only a neologism but also a misnomer, a badly coined word, and that is because it contains an ism and the ism sub erts the essential meaning of the word because an ism always suggests a closed community, an ideology, a doctrineand Sufism, in essence, is none of those things. So if we want to truly !now what Sufism is it would be helpful to go bac! to the original word in Arabic which is tasawwuf. Its not "uite as easy to pronounce but it contains a more accurate meaning because it is a erbal noun, and so it refers to a process of becoming. Its not static, but dynamic. Tasawwuf literally means the process of becoming a Sufi. So from the outset one understands that it is not a club to which you belong or do not belong, it is a transformati e e#perience. But then the "uestion is$ %hat is a Sufi& %hat is the end result of that process& Since the earliest days when this word came into currency ' tasawwuf and Sufi ' the Sufis ha e gi en their answers to the "uestion, what is a Sufi& (ach of those answers differs. (ach of those answers is a facet of the single reality that is the meaning of being a Sufi. )hose definitions are li!e Arabic !oans that help to orient us in a process toward which we can only distantly percei e its goal. *ere are some of the definitions and I will read them in translation. )he first is from a Sufi named Abul+*asan Bushan,i$ Sufism today is a name without a reality that was once a reality without a name. )hat was said bac! in the eighth or ninth century. And this from Ibn al+-alla$ Sufism is an essence, a truth. )here is no form, no ritual, no custom in it. It is pure essence. )hese two sayings go together. Sufism was a reality that has now become a form, has now become a name that is no longer a reality. )rue Sufism is always a reality that eludes form. It can ne er be fully embodied in form and ta!es on all manner of forms, innumerable forms for its e#pression and manifestation. And yet its whole essence remains secret, hidden, beyond form. )he Sufis ha e always recogni.ed the process whereby a hidden

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secret is institutionali.ed, commodified and !nown to the world as a form while the Sufis themsel es, in secret, concealed its essence and carried on. )his has happened o er the generations. )ime after time a transmission has been passed down from person to person from heart to heart without intermediary, always from heart to heart. 4f course, its not to say that Sufis ha ent written boo!s. )he ery same Sufis who said that it could ne er be put into words went on to write multi+ olume encyclopedias. But at the end of the day, they !new that words fail. *ere is the ne#t definition, from Abul+*asan al+9uri, a great early Sufi * Sufism is not rituals and forms and is not bodies of !nowledge, not doctrines, not ideas, not theories. But it is impeccable manner, the manner of the lo er in the presence of the Belo ed. )hat is the ery essence of the law. )he religious law e#ists to !eep us in chec! when we are unaware of the presence of the Belo ed. %hen one is in the awesome intimacy of the Belo ed, ones beha ior rises to a degree of perfection that is otherwise unattainable. 6robably you ha e all noticed in your own life that you beha e according to different standards depending on who you are with. And the one that you most ideali.e, the one who is most belo ed, in the presence of that one, you are on your best beha ior. Sufism, then, is li ing life in that constant presence. )here was a Sufi murshid :teacher; once in India who said to his students, <nfortunately the time has come that we ha e to change our tactics. <ntil now we e ,ust been recei ing alms from whome er will spontaneously gi e, but things ha e become ery difficult and now I will ha e to as! you to ta!e something surreptitiously. =o out and steal something. )he one pro ision is that you cant do it when anyone is loo!ing. 6eople came bac! with all !inds of things$ someone had a chic!en and someone else brought a purse, and only one of the students came bac! with empty hands. And the murshid said, I ga e you ery clear orders to steal something and you ha e brought bac! nothing> )he student said, I had to obey your ca eat not to do it when anyone was loo!ing, and =od was loo!ing e erywhere.

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)his, then, relates to the ne#t definition which is again from that ery great early Sufi, Abul+*asan al+9uri. )he Sufi is one who possesses nothing and is possessed by nothing. ?ou will find in the (ast, fa!irs who interpret this ery literally. )hey possess nothing. )hey are wandering mendicants who own nothing. And there are others who li e in palaces in great opulence but are completely detached from the wealth, ready to release it at any moment. )hey are playing a role in the world. )hat is the essence of what is meant by not possessing and not being possessed. 6ossessing means grasping, being addicted, being unable to part from something. )he Sufi is addicted, being unable to part with only one thing and that is the 4ne Being who is e er+present and can ne er be lost or stolen. So one finds that the less one possesses, psychically possesses, the less one is possessed. Because all the things of life, as one collects them, ,ust weight one down. 4f course, there will come a time, whether in this life or in the ne#t when e erything, item by item, will ha e to be released. It can be oluntary or in oluntary. *ere is another definition of Sufism$ )he Sufi is the possessor of breaths. )he pre ious definition said the Sufi does not possess anything. )his is an e#ception to the rule. )he Sufi is the possessor of breaths. )he one who breathes well is another translation or )he one who is awa!e to the breath. ?ou !now it is an idea in the (ast that each person is born on earth with a certain limited number of breaths. Some yogis try to e#tend their breath, slow down the breath, so they will li e much longer. %ell, the same principle applies here, but it is not e#tending the breath in time, but e#tending the breath beyond time, ma!ing each instant, in the awa!ened breath, eternal. It is through the breath that we attain presence and through the neglect of the breath that we are absent. @y grandfather was told by his murshid that in this path of Sufism there is only one sin and one irtue. )he sin is the breath that escapes in forgetfulness and the irtue is the breath that is breathed in awareness of the unity of being. It is as simple as that. -ust one lesson in Sufism$ each breath to be breathed in remembrance of the 4ne Being. It is something ery simple, but it is a lifetime study. And now another definition from Abu @uhammad @urtaish$ )he Sufi is the one whose thought !eeps pace with his footstep. )he one who is where she stands. )he one who is present here with feet firmly planted on the earth. )he one in whom body and soul are united in presence, in awareness.

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)o illustrate this I will share a story, this time from my own life. As a child I was li ing in India and studying breath and mo ement, the sub,ect of the abo e definitions. I was studying with a teacher of )ai /hi from -apan. *e was teaching me the mo ements of a particular form. ( eryday we would wor! together. After some months li!e this, he told me, ?ou ha e attained a certain proficiency in this form and it is now time that we in ite our friends and ha e a demonstration of this form. %e did this on the roof of the )ibetan 9ational Bibrary in Charamsala, a ery auspicious place to do )ai /hi, and gathered some good friends. *e was doing the mo ement and I was doing the mo ement. As we were doing so, I suddenly felt a little itch on my nec! right at the ,ugular ein. I ery gently de iated from the mo ements, and brought the fingers down o er my nec! and then brought them forward. And then I could see there was a blac! scorpion with its stinger poised to stri!e. At that moment the consciousness of breath, the consciousness of mo ement ' all that was lost. I dropped the scorpion. But I wondered how did the scorpion get from the ground to my nec!& It must ha e crawled all the way up. I ,ust than! meditation for sa ing my life. I can truly say from that e#perience that meditation sa ed my life, that the awareness of breath, the awareness of the soul in the body, something that is inculcated in )ai /hi allowed me to be in a state in which the scorpion felt no animosity. So that has been a profound lesson that has li ed with me e er since. And I thin! it applies to many situations, not only deadly insects, but all !inds of ad ersity in the world. )he greatest protection that is possible is the serenity of the awa!ened breath. *ere is another definitiona ery wonderful and pro ocati e saying$ *e is a Sufi whose religion is =od. 9ot -udaism, /hristianity, Islam, Buddhism, any ism. )he religion itself is ,ust =od. =od is the religion. A religion is an accommodation in which one can more and more orient to the di ine presence as it transpires in the hori.on and in oneself. )he attainment of a state of mystical reali.ation is one in which ones religious obligation is directed to that reality. So one follows a religion whose forms are e ery form. ( ery re ealed tradition is an element of this uni ersal religion which is the di ine religion that encompasses all of the human traditions that are reflecting its one light. )his is the uni ersality of Sufism and the uni ersality of e ery mystical tradition in its essence. A reality, not a ritual, not a form. )he essence is always the reality behind the form. It is always illuminating to recall the words of Shay!h al+A!bar Ibn al+DArabi who says, Beware confining yourself to a particular conception and denying all else, for much good would elude you. Indeed the !nowledge of reality would elude you. Be in yourself a substance for all forms, for =od is too ast and tremendous to be restricted to one form of belief rather

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than another. )hat is a direct "uote from Shay!h al+A!bar Ibn al+DArabi from his Fusus al-Hikam and one that spea!s in a ery rele ant and timely way in our time when humanity is struggling to find a common spiritual language that transcends the boundaries of difference. 9ot merely a globali.ed mar!et but a globali.ed spirit. *ere is another definition. Al+Shibli was a great mad friend of al+*alla,. %hen al+*alla, was sentenced to death and people were throwing stones at him, al+Shibli threw a rose. *e used to fre"uent the asylums of his day. 6eople werent sure if he was totally mad or totally sane. *e said$ A Sufi does not see in the two worlds, in this world and the hereafter, anything with =od e#cept =od. 9othing in addition to =od. In e ery situation, in e ery place, at e ery time, in e ery relationship, the Sufi !eeps coming bac! to the 4ne and sees the innumerable mas!s as eils on the face of a single infinite personality, di ine being. 9ot for a single moment does the Sufi imagine that anything could be additional, recogni.ing immediately, intuiti ely, that e erything is essentially singular in its essence. )he Sufi recogni.es that this whole manifestation is one phantasmagoria that is the refraction and reflection of a single Bight. And now finally, these words of Shay!h Abu ?a.id Bistami$ )he Sufis are li!e infants in the bosom of =od. )o be a Sufi is to be in that state of reliance, assurance, lo ing resonance, non+indi iduated consciousness, feeling oneself enclosed in a lo ing embrace that is eternal and infinite and irre ocable, !nowing the essence of reality to be not ambi alent but in truth essentially compassionate, accepting, forgi ing, nurturing. Infinite mercy. (ternal compassion. )hese are no longer theories or wishful thin!ing but ones essential e#perience, incontro ertibly true because one resides in the embrace of the Ci ine Bo e. And this is the true meaning of the title of the conference this wee!end$ )he 6ower of Bo e. =od bless you.

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