Peace and the Dianic Sufi

[Philosophia]

Peace and the Dianic Sufi

You may wonder how I reconcile my Sufism with my Dianic practice. How can someone who honors a pantheon of Goddesses also practice within the most monotheistic of traditions?

I don't blame you; my mind continues to struggle with the paradoxical elements of my spiritual practice. Fortunately, sometimes the fates bless me with an experience that fills my heart and overrides my doubts -- like the workshop called Spirit and Matter: The Dance of Life, led by the awesome Sufi Teacher, Sheikha Tasnim Fernandez [2]. The focus of the weekend was the dance between Goddess/God as imminent and transcendent, us as manifest but still mystical beings, and the lessons we can find in and beyond the natural world. She focused on teachings from the Sufi tradition; as I listened beyond the surface of these teachings I realized that I was ready to hear why it is both possible and acceptable for me to make my home in these two spiritual communities.

From here (http://www.matrifocus.com/SAM04/queer.htm).

I admit I don't know a lot about Sufism so I can't honestly say whether I agree with it or not but, nevertheless, its an interesting article.

[RainInanna]

I have to read it later but I can say I'm not surprised - if I remember correctly, T Thorn Coyle draws from Sufism and Yezidism and her version of Feri Witchcraft, which is very ecstatic and involves the manifest Sacred. Although Sufism was often mixed with monotheism it seems clear to me from what I've read so far that it transcends monotheism. In fact a lot of what I've read has nothing to do with monotheism at all.

[Mithrea]

Although Sufism was often mixed with monotheism it seems clear to me from what I've read so far that it transcends monotheism. In fact a lot of what I've read has nothing to do with monotheism at all.

I don't have time to read the article, but it reminds me of a time when I was in grad school and I tried to explain my religion to a boy I was seeing who was from Iran. His response was: "Ahhhh, I see--Sufi."

There was a time when that was clearer to me how he made the connection, but it's all muddled now. :weirdsmil

[RainInanna]

I like this quote

'The Sufi', says Inayat Khan, 'sees the truth in every religion. The Sufi's true temple, the true mosque, is the human heart, in which the divine Beloved lives. Sufism is a religion if one wants to learn religion from it; it is a philosophy if one wants to learn wisdom from it; it is mysticism if one wants to be guided by it in the unfoldment of the soul; and yet it is beyond all these things. It is the light of life which is the sustenance of every soul. It is the Message of Love, Harmony, and Beauty. [8]

and this is the Sufism resource thread here at MW (http://mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=172963).

"The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan"'s website has 10 Sufi thoughts, including this one, which might help explain how Sufism can seem Pagan

The God of the Sufi is the God of every creed, and the God of all. Names make no difference to him. Allah, God, Gott, Dieu, Brahma, or Bhagwan, all these names and more are the names of his God; and yet to him God is beyond the limitation of name. He sees his God in the sun, in the fire, in the idol which diverse sects worship; and he recognizes Him in all the forms of the universe, yet knowing Him to be beyond all form: God in all, and all in God, He being the Seen and the Unseen, the Only Being. God to the Sufi is not only a religious belief, but also the highest ideal the human mind can conceive.

The Sufi, forgetting the self and aiming at the attainment of the divine ideal, walks constantly all through life in the path of love and light. In God the Sufi sees the perfection of all that is in the reach of man's perception and yet he knows Him to be above human reach. He looks to Him as the lover to his beloved. and takes all things in life as coming from Him, with perfect resignation. The sacred name of God is to him as medicine to the patient. The divine thought is the compass by which he steers the ship to the shores of immortality. The God-ideal is to a Sufi as a lift by which he raises himself to the eternal goal, the attainment of which is the only purpose of his life.