Sufi way of Meditation

The life of a Sufi is nothing but experiencing the world in its fullest. With the beautiful yet strong conviction that everything from the smallest particle to the mighty inconceivable universe is the creation of that eternal power, they sing, dance and live their lives with immense love and gratitude. Throughout their life of ecstasy, they are filled the immense gratitude. Filled with compassion, the Sufis can feel the world and personalize it with empathy.

This perspective towards life is shown explicitly and implicitly in the Sufi writing too. Thus, even after 800 years after his death, Rumi (Sufi poet) is one of the most read poets even now. In addition, Rumi poetry is also heavily seasoned with the ideas like fragrance of love, pain of loss, warmth of experience and glow of wisdom.

Masnavi, the most extensive poem by Rumi is also known as the Persian Quran and it depicts the inner beauty of Sufism. Masnavi as a book extends in six volumes and has 27,000 lines. The first two volumes portray the picture of corrupt minds of human being that has hooked on knowledge or intelligence. The third and the fourth volumes explain the cause and effect of thoughts and knowledge. In the last two volumes Rumi incriminates intelligence and knowledge as impediments in the journey towards absolute bliss.

As far as Sufism is concerned, knowledge and intelligence are obstacles in attaining union with the Divine. When they sing or dance, they are elevated to a selfless state of consciousness wherein they dissolve in the Divine.

This state of consciousness is similar to that of Nirvana in Buddhism and Moksha in Hinduism. The difference is that in Sufism, this state of transcendence is attained through the true experience of the world. All these impressions aim at the chastity of the heart through meditation.

–Praveen Vikkath ([email protected])