JUNE 1, 2014     

Something I'd like to tell you about - I'm involved with a group who are building an intentional community in Guelph - a place where we can live in an environment of shared values. If you are interested in such a thing and you'd like to know more about it, please feel free to contact me. 

If you'd like to access past newsletters containing articles on the Big Shift, as well as articles on the Physics of Mysticism, Magic, the Power of Mantra and other topics, please visit the 'newsletter' page of my website: 

 whyislife.com

  by Dennis Gaumond 

The Islamic religion started with the prophet Mohammed, who was born in 570 AD. Like Judaism and Chritianity, it is a monotheistic religion, advocating the worship of one God called Allah. The word 'Islam' means 'surrender', referring to the idea of surrendering to the divine will, which is a mystical concept common to many traditions. Like most organized religions, however, much of Islam has come to have very little to do with the mystical path and seems more concerned with rules and regulations.

Despite this, mystical traditions have persisted. Let's now take a look at the mystical branch of Islam known as Sufism. It originated with ecstatic poets such as Rabi'a and Bayazid of Bastami, circa 874 AD. Some of these poets were also great scientists, such as Omar Khayyam. They wore plain wool garments called 'suf', from whence the name 'Sufi'. They soon came to be seen as a heretical threat and some, such as al-Hallaj, Suhrawardi and Ayn Hamadani, were put to death by Muslim authorities. Despite persecution the sect continued, culminating in the 13th century with the great poet and mystic, Rumi. The movement declined after that, but like many mystical schools, it is making a comeback in modern times.

Sufis believe that the purpose of life is to discover one's true divine nature, to unite with the whole. Like the Gnostics and other mystics, the Sufis believe that the best way to achieve such union is through direct experience of the divine, placing little value on religious ritual and dogma. To Islam the concept of 'Jihad' has come to mean 'holy war'- going to battle for some 'just and holy' cause. To Sufis, however, Jihad refers to the notion of battling one's own sense of ego and surrendering to the divine will. Suhrawardi taught that the roots of Sufism and of all mystical traditions was the wisdom that was handed down by Hermes/Thoth, the great god/magician of ancient Egypt.

In practice, the Sufis seek divine union by means of meditation, breathing techniques and various methods of entering trance. Music, drumming, chanting and dancing are important methods. Perhaps the most famous of the Sufi dancers are the Whirling Dervishes, a group of monks established by Rumi. They seek to achieve a state of ecstasy by twirling continually to the point of exhaustion.

The purpose of this series of articles on mysticism was not to teach an in-depth understanding of the various mystical traditions and religions. There are many excellent books available to anyone seeking a deeper understanding. Rather, this section was meant to show the many significant similarities among the different mystical traditions. I believe that the philosophies and insights that they provide regarding the nature of reality are profound and important. If we are to make sense of our existence, our purpose, then we need a better grasp of this thing called reality. One of the reasons compelling me to write my book was that, the more information I gathered, the more I could see the links and connections among so many bodies of knowledge. Things just began to make more and more sense. One of the more convincing examples of this are the many parallels that can be drawn between mystically derived knowledge and the explorations of modern science. We'll take a look at some of these parallels in upcoming newsletters.