Sufi Sciences
At various
junctures throughout the SufiCompassion Web Page, the terms mystical or Sufi
"sciences" are used. This is not a loose or empty usage of the idea of
science.
Sufi
sciences give expression to the following principles:
(a) science,
of whatever kind- mystical or otherwise, is rooted in empirical experience. However, one
of the primary differences between physical sciences and mystical sciences is that the
latter explores, in a rigorous fashion, experiences which come from sources beyond the
usual biological modalities of hearing, seeing, smelling, touching and tasting.
(b) The use
of instruments plays an important role in the process of science. In the physical sciences
instruments (such as microscopes, telescopes, particle accelerators, oscilloscopes, gas
chromatography, seismographs, and so on) extend the range of sensory experiences to which
we have access.
In Sufi
sciences, human beings have a variety of internal instruments (e.g., mind, heart, sirr,
spirit, kafi and aqfa) which allow the individual, God willing, to gain access to realms
of reality beyond the purely sensory. These internal instruments, however, as is the case
with all instrumentation, must be properly calibrated before they can give reliable
results. The calibration process is done under the guidance of the spiritual teacher.
(c) All
forms of science depend on a recursive methodology to help explorers achieve, hopefully,
closer and closer approximations to the structural character or nature of various aspects
of the phenomena being studied. A recursive methodology is merely a series of steps which
is repeated again and again such that the results of one cycle of steps is fed back into,
and, therefore, shapes, colors and orients, the next cycle of experimental steps. The
intention underlying this recursive aspect of the scientific process is for the sequence
of cycles to progressively converge toward uncovering deeper and deeper dimensions of the
truth of things.
In Sufi
sciences this process of recursive methodology also plays a fundamental role. The seeker,
under the guidance of the spiritual elder, repeats a cycle of methodological steps which
are adjusted in the light of the results obtained from previous applications of those
steps. Such recursion or repetition, with certain variations, leads the seeker, if God
wishes, to deeper, richer and more refined 'openings' to the truth of different dimensions
of existence.
(d) There
are some aspects of physical sciences which make use of "unobtrusive" measures-
that is, ways of studying phenomena which do not interfere with, distort or damage, that
which is being studied. Nonetheless, most methods employed by physical sciences do alter,
to varying degrees, the processes and structures of reality which are being investigated.
In Sufi
sciences, great emphasis is placed on seeking to implement the use of
"unobtrusive" methods in all aspects of the seeking process. This requires one
to work on removing as many sources of distortion, bias, prejudice, presupposition, and so
on, from the exploratory process as is possible.
In fact, the
spiritual condition of gnosis refers to a way of knowing reality which is not mediated by
concepts, emotions, beliefs, thoughts, senses, or language. As such, gnosis is, in a
sense, an example of an unobtrusive measure (of a qualitative rather than quantitative
nature) which does not impose anything foreign onto the reality which is being engaged
through such a way of knowing. One experiences reality from within the modality of its
manifestation rather than in separation and at a distance.
(e) At the
heart of physical and biological sciences is the notion of "replication". In
order for an experimental result to be accepted by the community of knowers which
constitutes the jury of peers who will be evaluating the authenticity of one's scientific
work, the people on such a jury must be able to repeat the requisite set of methodological
steps indicated in a given experiment. Moreover, the people on the jury of scientific
peers, must be able, after following the indicated steps, to arrive at an empirical result
which, within a certain range of allowable differences, verifies the character of the
results obtained by the scientist who first conducted the experiment.
Similarly,
replication plays a central role in Sufi sciences. However, there are differences from
what is the case in relation to physical/biological sciences.
For example,
the seeker, who is to run the experiment, is not, yet, a member of the community of
knowers. Consequently, the spiritual seeker is not in a position to understand and
appreciate the character of the experimental results generated by his or her predecessors
on the Sufi path.
Instead, the
seeker is performing the set of experiments which previously has been completed
successfully by the spiritual masters who preceded the seeker on the Sufi path. If the
seeker can, by the grace of God, replicate the results of the Sufi masters across a broad
spectrum of spiritual "experiments", then, this person also becomes part of that
community of knowers through the successful completion of the assigned exercises.
In other
words, through the process of replication, the seeker has verified, for herself or
himself, that the truths to which the Sufi masters allude in their talks and discussions
are, in fact, the case. However, this is not a matter of judging from the
"outside" the rightness or wrongness of the results obtained by the community of
knowers of the Sufi path who have preceded the individual. Rather, it is a process of
experiential confirmation which comes from the "inside" of the truths being
explored and discussed.
(f)
"Objectivity" is one of the watch-words of physical and empirical sciences.
Generally speaking, objectivity is contrasted with "subjectivity".
One's
experimental engagement of reality should not be shaped and colored by personal
allegiances, beliefs, vested interests or desires, all of which are considered to be
unwarranted subjective intrusions into the realm of scientific inquiry.
One should
permit oneself to be opened up to what reality is trying to tell us, in the way it is
attempting to tell us. As much as possible, the explorer should merge horizons with the
character of the phenomena being studied.
In Sufi
sciences, the key to objectivity lies in the conditions of fana and baqa.
The former involves the passing away of the false self, with all of its attendant currents
of subjective biases and distortions. Baqa, on the other hand, involves the realization of
the identity of the true self, which is, in essence, a manifestation of Divinity and,
therefore, gives expression, according to the spiritual capacity of the individual, to
total objectivity.
(g) Finally,
as indicated in (e) above, the community of knowers plays a fundamental role in both
physical, as well as, mystical sciences. In both instances, in order for a person to be
considered to be a legitimate member of those respective communities, the individual has
to have passed through a rigorous set of purifying transformations. God willing, these
transformations infuse the individual with some minimal level of competence in the
methodology, principles, values, procedures and conduct that mark the quality of a
authoritative member of the community of knowers.
In physical
and biological sciences, competence is frequently judged according to the mastery which a
person displays in the use of logic, mathematics and conceptual analysis in relation to
experimental explorations. In Sufi sciences, competence is a function of: whether or not
the individual has realized, by the grace of God, her or his true, spiritual identity, as
well as, whether or not the person is able to give, God willing, active expression to the
individual's essential, and unique, capacity to bear constant loving and faithful witness
to the presence of Divinity in an individual's being.
The only
person who can testify to the competence of a seeker of truth is someone who, himself or
herself, is, by the grace of God, possessed by such competence. This competence has been
acquired not through personal accomplishment, but through the generosity which has come to
the seeker though the channel way of spiritual transmission that is given expression in
the relationship of nisbath between seeker and spiritual guide.
Unlike the
community of knowers in physical and biological sciences, the members of the community of
knowers in Sufi sciences do not establish the standards, principles, rules, values,
methods and so on which characterize mystical science. Rather, these members reflect the
result of submission to Divine standards, principles, rules, values and methods.
Consequently, they see, feel, and act in accordance with Divine wishes.
If, and
when, one is admitted, by the grace of God, into the community of knowers of Sufi
sciences, one will, in one's own unique fashion, reflect Divine wishes as well. The
absence of this quality of reflectivity of Divine wishes is an indication that the seeker
has not, yet, arrived, at the goal and purpose of the Sufi path, and, therefore, has not
mastered the science of the Sufi way.
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