Sufism and learning by closing the book (or laptop)

This morning I read an article from yesterday's New York Times that inspired me to extend my search in a direction that I had not considered previously. The article described festivities that the author witnessed in Lahore, Pakistan and that were held to pay tribute to and mark the death of the saint, Ali bin Usman al-Hajveri, an 11th century mystic who is sometimes known as the giver of treasures. What struck me about the article was the picture that it painted of fun, festivities, music and dancing and the fact that this image was not of the Pakistan that I had imagined.

With my interest thus piqued, I set about to learn more about what seemed to be a jovial branch of Islam - Sufism.

What I discovered, firstly, is that Sufism is not a sect of Islam, but rather the mystic aspect within this religion. Secondly, many of the sources that I read highlighted the role of the teacher within Sufism. The principle aim of the Sufi is to draw closer to Allah by replacing the worldly aspects of the ego with purer characteristics. They do this by learning from teachers who pass on an oral history that is said to trace its lineage right back to the Prophet.

It also quickly became evident that becoming a Sufi is not all drumming and dancing. Once one has found his or her teacher, learning the sacred knowledge from this individual can be arduous. Sufi's pray five times a day, they give to charity, regularly fast and their understanding of what it is to be Muslim adheres to strict guidelines, however, unlike other branches of the Islamic faith, whose adherents believe that one will only become close to God after death, Sufis believe that it is possible to become close to Allah while still alive. (I was sure that there would be some pay back for all that praying and sacred dieting).

What I find attractive about this form of belief is the personal element - the fact that one person teaches the next and that the spiritual journey of any adherent is an individual one. Plus, I like the Sufi's stance on book learning, which is that reading alone will not lead to spiritual closeness with Allah. I am all for reading and spend most of any average day with my eyes trained over lines of wonderful words, but there is no sunshine between the covers, no human contact or interaction - these can only be found when one turns one's gaze beyond.

I'm starting to notice that in my minor explorations of world religions I am most interested in how the practice of a religion or faith impacts upon the individual. I am always wondering how religious belief effects someone psychologically and what exactly they gain from it. My heart warms when I suspect that someone is nurtured by their faith and that it leads them to be more open to and more accepting of others (no matter what they believe in).

However, as I poke my nose where it is not necessarily wanted, I am also aware that religions are complicated beasts and that I am only getting the slightest sense of any aspect of any of them. I suspect that like the Sufis, I will have to take my nose out of the books (or in this case, laptop) and talk to individuals about their faith, their experiences and what they believe to be the meaning of their life before I will gain any real insights into the purpose of our existence.

If you'd like to poke your nose into Sufism, here are some good sources to get your started:

International Association of Sufism

The New York Times article mentioned

BBC's introduction to Sufism

Wikipedia on Sufism