Spiritual Chemistry And Seeking A Teacher
A person
inquired about how to go about finding a Sufi teacher. After exchanging several e-mails on
the issue, the individual expressed interest in becoming affiliated with a certain silsilah within
the Chishti Order. The following constitutes an amalgamation of
some of the points and suggestions which were given during the aforementioned inquiries.
The question
you are raising is one of the most important and, simultaneously, one of the most
problematic issues which confronts an individual seeking to set foot on the spiritual
path. Its importance is rooted in the fact that the need to find an authentic spiritual
guide (and the emphasis is on "authentic") is fundamental to spiritual health
and progress. The problematic aspect of this question revolves around the issue of
authenticity - as in: who is and who isn't.
It would be
a violation of adab (or spiritual etiquette) for me to give you a list of people to stay
away from even if what I was telling you were true. All that can be said at this juncture
is there are a lot of spiritual quacks running around who are claiming to be authentic
Sufi teachers but who are not, and, therefore, one must exercise a certain amount of
caveat emptor (i.e,. let the buyer beware).
Your own
heart plays an essential role in the process of trying to locate an authentic guide. If
you are sincere, then, God willing, such sincerity will be rewarded, but you must try to
listen carefully to what your heart is saying and not allow this inner communication to be
sullied by the whisperings of ego, the limitations of rationality, the call of the world,
or the dark influences of satanic suggestion - all of which are working day and night to
keep possible seekers away from the Sufi path.
However you
decide to proceed with your pursuit of things Sufi, there are several points which ought
to be made. These points are offered for your consideration in the hope that this process
of reflection will help you to proceed in a way which will be constructive for you and not
harmful.
Although you
have made contact with our Order, the leads given in the previous e-mail were put forth
for a purpose. Without wishing to over-emphasize the following point - since it can be
misleading and end up in confusion if not properly understood - there is such a thing as
spiritual chemistry.
In effect,
what this means is that an individual's heart is sometimes more receptive to the spiritual
guidance which comes through one mode of manifestation rather than another, even though,
ultimately, all guidance comes from One and the same Source. Therefore, before jumping
into something, a person should check things out a little to see if one is drawn more in
the direction of some given mode of Divine guidance rather than another.
Now, as
indicated above, this search for spiritual chemistry can be problematic and confusing in a
variety of ways. For instance, a seeker can go hunting for an epiphany (a spiritual
unveiling characterized by intense ecstasy and deep insights) in his or her beginning
relationship with a shaykh, and this event(s) may never occur, or may not occur until a
much, much later time.
If this
doesn't take place right away, the individual may conclude - incorrectly - that this means
the given shaykh at whose doorstep the person has arrived must either not be an authentic
guide or may be an authentic guide but not a very great one. By setting expectations and
pre-conditions on what should transpire in such relationships, a seeker becomes veiled and
may wind up further from the Truth than when she or he began the spiritual quest.
Nonetheless,
having given the foregoing caveat, there still can be a spiritual chemistry which is
important to find - if God should choose this for a given seeker. Such chemistry is
important because the Sufi Path is a very long one, and there are many difficulties along
the way, and, in many cases, all one has to help one through those difficulties is one's
relationship with the shaykh.
When the
aforementioned spiritual chemistry is present, this can make holding on through the 'dark
night of the soul' easier to do than if such spiritual chemistry is not present.
Consequently, the suggestion that you make contact with some of the other shaykhs
mentioned in the previous e-mail is for your potential benefit rather than merely passing
on discardable information.
Of course,
another problem which can arise out of the foregoing - and it is somewhat related to the
epiphany syndrome - is that a person spends so much time looking for the
"perfect" shaykh for herself or himself, the individual never does settle down
and get on with the process of real spiritual struggle. Another problem is that a seeker
may begin to make judgements about the spiritual station of a given shaykh, and this is
not a good thing to do since, among other things, the seeker is not competent to make such
judgements.
None of the
foregoing is intended to push you away from us. Rather, the counsel is for 'you look
before you leap' while balancing this with 'he (she) who hesitates is lost'.
Another
suggestion involves the MysticalNotion Web Site in general, and the SufiCompassion
directory of that Site, in particular. There is a great deal of information about the Sufi
Path which is contained in that Web Site, including a reading list.
Although
reading is not an absolutely essential pre-requisite to the Sufi Path, nonetheless, within
certain limits, it can play a supportive and constructive roll. I don't know what or who
you have been reading, but both "what" and "who" can make a big
difference in terms of the kinds of problems one might encounter on the Path.
Just as
there are all too many spiritual quacks running around professing to be Sufi shaykhs,
pirs, guides, teachers, or masters, there also are many authors who claim to have
spiritual insight into the Sufi Path but who do not. The bibliography provided in the
SufiCompassion directory of the MysticalNotion Web Site is a fairly good one. The book
titles appearing there will help an individual and not hurt her or him.
On the other
hand, just because a book title may not appear in that bibliography, this absence does not
necessarily mean such a book is problematic in some way. Let the following question be
raised, however: namely, why venture on one's own into unknown territory when a clearly
marked path has been provided?
Finally, in
the light of certain things which you have said in your previous e-mails, a further point
needs to be made, and you may do with this what you will. A spiritual teacher is not an
advisor, although, clearly, advice does come through such an individual.
A Sufi
shaykh is a locus of manifestation of Divine guidance in the form of an individual who is
rooted in a spiritual silsilah (or chain of spiritual lineage) that can be traced back to
the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), and through the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon
him) back through all of the 124,000 Prophets - including Adam (peace be upon him) the
first Prophet - who have been sent by God to help humankind and all of creation. A Sufi
teacher has been authorized to serve as a guide by none other than God and, by Divinity's
permission and design, the Prophet of God - Muhammad (peace be upon him).
If one is
contemplating taking initiation with a given spiritual guide, then understand in Whose
Hand one is placing one's hand. Furthermore, if one does not have confidence in what is
being said here, then, one ought to stay away from such things so that neither the seeker's
time is wasted, nor the time of the spiritual guide.
| Return to People Ask Menu |
|
