teachings of a sufi master

5/24/2018 Teachings of a Sufi Master

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Contentslntroduction

What s theWay of the Sufi? ... . . . .The Truth Lies in Your HeaftBack o the Basisof SufismThe MysticalTeachingMethodHow DoesOneRecognlze nAuthenticSchool?What s theGoal? .. . . . . . . . . . . . .Recipient r Content ' /. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A Little TechniqueI-essEgotistical,MoreAltruisticThe Way of theParrot

SheikhKamelUncleHassan'sastMinutes . . . . . . . . . . . .

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The Nights of the Month of Ramadan1. The Two Doors

A Few Wordson SuflAstrology2. The Bird in a Cage3. The MerchantAnd His Parrot

TheSymbols.. . . . . . . . . . . .4. TheTwo Worlds visible nd nvisible).. . . . . . . . . . . .

Dreamor RealityTheBeyond . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5. The Interpretation f Dreams6. The Old WanderingMusician

CommonLanguage r CollectiveMemory?7. The Post-Physical orld

WhatAboutReincarnation?.... . . . . . .The Dangers f Idealizing eincarnationThe One Way of theTwo Doors

8. The Pre-Physical orld

5355565965697I7474l7838691Y59899

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The ContestBetween he Chinese ndRomanArtists .12.Explanation f thePrincipleofNegation

There s No Derv'ish n the WorldTheMinstreland heTurkishEmir .. . . . . . .Commentary.. . . . . . . . . . .

13.SoulDoctorsTheArab from theDesertand he Caliphof BaghdadMowlana'sMessage

14. An Allusion o the Principleof Negation15.TheGrammariannd heNavigator... . . . . . . . .16.Man n the mage f God.. . . . .

TheDeception f Resemblance.... . . . . . . . .The Oil Merchant'sParot

17.The Lion n theDesert nd heBowl of Milk... . .TheCow thatBecame LionTheLion'sMeal . . . . . . . .

18.Wealth ndPoverty... . . . . . . . . . . .19.Thirty Birds:TheQuestof the Simorgh

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24.Hozeh 16725.Closing f Schools f Mysticism ... . . . . . . . . . . . 16926.TheTruthAbout ihad.... . . . . 173

David and Goliath 17527.Nafs 177The Distinction BetweenJihads 17828.The Storyof theTwo-Headed reature... . . . . . . . . . .. 181


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IntroductionEveryone s familiarwith thewhirling dervishes;more ikely, every-one at sometimehasseena film on Turkey and ts folklore,where tis impossible o ignoredanceof the dervishes, ressedn longwhiterobesandhigh felt headdresses,hirling to themonotonous hythmof a hauntingmusic.Someknow that the dervishesareoriginally mysticsof the MiddleEast,whose oots are o be found n Islamic culture n abroadsense.But very few know the real philosophyof the dervishes:he way ofthe Sufi.Some hink Sufism s an slamic sect,which for themmakes t suspi-ciousand rightening.Others hink it is ust anotherEastern eligion,suchasZoroastrianism; induism;or


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74 TheTenchingsf n SufiMaster

cionof sectarianism. ould t be a religion?A religion s character-izedby dogmas,a set of beliefsofficially established,o which thefollowermust adhere o be a memberof the"church" or community.Sufismpreaches o particulardogma,except hegreat ruths hatarethebasisof all religiousbeliefs: he belief n the existence f divin-ity, of an invisible world, and of the immortality of the soul.Unlike the mosque, he Sufi's gatherings open o all people;every-body can go in the circle of a Sufi Master as an observerwithoutchanginghis religion. f you areChristian, ewish,Buddhist,or evenif you have no religion, your entrance o a Sufi gathering s not re-fused.Sufi circlesarenot exclusivelv or Muslims.

What is the Way of the Sufi?Sufism is a set of personalpractices though rarely practicedcollectively n small groups* designed o help the follower de-velop hidden and unexploitedcapacities,with the goal of devel-oping knowledgeof the self and the visible and invisible world,andguiding the seekeror "traveler" alongthe spiritualpath,andultimatelyacquiring ruthsof his existence nda certainvision ofthe world. l


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The Truth Lies n Your HeartThebasepostulate f Sufism.as with all mysticism, s that here sno need or blissful aith in a supposedruth,as advocated y dog-matic religions.All answersie within the self, deep n the heart.Sufism eacheshe ollowerwho sincerely eekshe ruth o developthe capacitieso discover or himself he answerso his existentialquestions. hus,he drawshis own truths, ndependent f any beliefimposed r imprcssed ponhim sincechildhood.Haveyou everasked ourselfwhy you areChristian, or example?Most likely,95o would simply respond hat hey were born n theU.S.A.or in France nto a Christian amily. f you wereborn n theMiddle E,ast, ou would probablybe Muslim; or Buddhist, f youwere born in Tibet To what degreeare you free to chooseyourrel igion?Unless ou areconverted, n exceptional ase, ou sim-ply follow the religion of your parents,which mingleswith thetraditionsof your countryanil of your surroundings.Whenyou thinkabout t, fiom a slight distance, ou realize he nonsense f reli-giouswars.Take he next stepandgo directly to the higher evel and startwithspiritualmatters.What'sessentials to have he will to progress nthe way of esscntial volution, o bccotne etter,moreexperienced

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t6 The 'feac,\ingso.io Strfi Msster

andwiser.This will result n your time on eartlibeingpositive.But we aregoing oo quickly.

Back to the Basisof SufismThus,a Sufidoesnotneed o believe n the existence f unattainablemysteries. veryphenorlenon asan explanation, veryeffecthasacauseandvice versa).A humanbeingcandevelop is souluntil heattains he knowledge f what we call God(thoughwe do not reallyknow what this is). The only limits to an adequateeaming methodare o be found n our own capacities nd n our personalwork.Let us inger br a while on these wo fundamental oints.Each ndividualhasa uniquecapacity. lthougheveryone asachanceto develop he soul,we mustadrnit hat, n this ield,as n all of nature,equalitydoesnot exist. Somepeoplehavea small bicycle and mustmakean enoffnous ffort to clirnb he mountainpath.Othersarebornwith a big motorcycle hatwill carry hem o the op without effort- ifthey arecarefulnot to fall into a precipice.This is the reasonwhy theSufi way is ndividualized. achperson ractices ccordingo his ownnatureand capabilities. each he rnotorcyclist o pedal,andhe willnot get far. Teach he cyclist o stafta motorcycleengine,and he will


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The Mystical TeachingMethodThe onewho sincerelyseeks heway to substantial evelopmentn-deedproduces roundhimselfwaves,wavesperceived y the eacherandwaves hat showthe seekerhe techniques f esoteric elf-inter-rogation.The teacherwill appearat the right time in the life of theseeker.As with any otherprofession,hepostulanton the way to a substan-tial developmentmust go througha systematicand well-organizededucation. he authenticityof the mysticalway is provenby its edu-cationalmethod. f a mysticalschooldoesnot function accordingly,it is not authentic.In eachschool,only a certainnumber of personsare authorized oteach he echnical ractices f Sufism.

How DoesOne Recognize n Authentic School?The link or connection o an ancientand well-established tructure,basedon a seriousphilosophical radition, s themain proof of theauthenticity f a Sufi school.

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knows they arenumerousand dangerousFinally, the studentwill also recognize he authenticityof a schoolby thedeepandmeticulouseaching e s given,aswell asby certainsignsperceivedn dreams.Thereal spirirualadventure eginsas: he seeker ecomes traveleron thepathto his own intemal development nd unity with his ownspirit, he universe, nd God.

What is the Goal'/Lookingat the deflnitionof Sufism,we find a doublepurpose: 1)personal evelopment;2) knowledgeof the self and of thevisibleand nvisibleworld.In fact,both purposes o hand-in-hand, ecause ersonal evelop-ment eads o knowledge. hiscanbesummarized nderonedefini-tion thatperfectlycaptures he Sufi goal:essential volution.This requires n explanation:We human beings are not what we think we are.In reality we arewhat we think we are. Indeed, we each dentify


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If a sound s inaudible or his ears, or example ltrasound,t is de-fined asnon-existing,whereashis dogwill perfectlyhearand run tohis masterwhen John blows his ultrasoundwhistle, although hisverywhistleproduces operceptible ound or ushumanbeings Allthis is to say that many things exist that remain naccessibleo thehumanbeingsbecauseheyareoutside hereachof thefive senses.For instance,we know that someanimalscanperceive nfrared andultraviolet,which are colors unknownto the human eye because four imitednatural apacit ies.Becausehe five senses f our physicalbody allow us to perceiveonly thephysicalworld, we tend o think that his is the only existingworld; that we are his physicalbody becausewe feel the heartbeatsin our chest.Yet, t is not solThereexistsan nvisibleworld beyond he capacity f perception fourphysical yes, world that s also naudible beyondourhearingcapacities and also mpalpable beyondall our five senses. uttherearealsomany nvisible worlds in suchdimensionshatmake timpossible or us either o suspect heir existence r even o definethem. Wordswould be uselessor the definition of what we cannotreach.

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Recipientor Content?Indeed he truth s thatwe arenot only constituted f a mortalphysi-cal body with five senseshat will perishwith us at our death,butthat eachof us hasalsoa soulor energetic ody, nvisible but mmor-tal. This nvisiblebodyhas ive senses pecific o itsownworld level;we can abel his invisibleworld by thegeneric itle of "sixth sense,"in order o differentiate t from the five physicalsenses.In our daily lives, our ordinary five senses ominate.The senses fthe soul hat nhabit our body are automatically witchedoff to suchan extent hat we even orget hat we havea soul, hatwe are a soulthat temporarily nhabitsa body.Yet, as soon as the soul leaves hebody, as t doeswhen we dream,and definitively when we die, thefive senses f the soul takeover. This is the invisible world of thesoul,where we shall all go someday, t the lateston the day of ourdeath,our definitive departure rom this earth.Thus, during his lifetime on earth, he human being may be com-pared o a bird imprisoned n a small cage.Thebird can stick ts feetout between he bars n order o walk, but thecage s so narrowthatits wings remainstuck o itsbody.Thebird completely orgets hat thas wings. It even orgets hat it is a bird and believes hat it is thecage A moving cagewith an nternalmechanism.


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This s whatwe nleanby "personal evelopment."t is a question fconsciously ontrollingand giving life to the abilitiesof the soul,while we inhabitour physicalbody.This requiresong and some-timesdangerousraining,but t canbe done f onecorrectly ollowsan efficient eaching.In antiquity,one of the most rnportantspiritualplaces n the Medi-terraneanwas the temple at Delphi, seatof the celebratedPythiaoracle.There s an inscriptionon the pediment,written n classicalGreek,with thefollowingprecept:

"Know yourselfand you will know the universeandyou will know Godoand you will becomeGod."

Sufi teachinghas adopted his ancientmaxim: by developinghissoul'spotentials,hefollower gainsconsciousnessf liis own apti-tudesbeyondhis ordinary aculties.He acknowledgesis realspiri-tual dimension.He acquires elf-knowledge, nd how to evaluatethepossibilities f his energetic ody.Thus, hroughpersonalanddirect knowledge,he becomescertainof his immortality.Aboveall, he will recognize hat he is a soul,or energetic ody, tempo-rarily contained n a physicalbody for the durationof a lifetime.This certitude, orn from his own direct experience, ill give himnot only greatspiritualelation,but alsoa feelingof responsibility

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When he bird manages oluntarily o leave ts cage, t realizes hat tis a bird andthat it can fly. It stops dentifying itself with the cage,and hus eaves he cagewith ease.Throughpersonalexperience ndunder he directionof a master, hefollower may acquiredirect experience f the universebeyond hereachof the five senses, sing he faculty of his soul called he sixthsense, hichhe hasdevelopedor thispurpose.At this stage here s no longer any need o believe n dogmas.Allveils fall, one by one, as the student earnsmore. According to thelevelof his maturity,he acquires nswerso his questions. hrough-out his apprenticeship,nd hroughhispersonal xperiences,e formshisown ideaof the world, usinghis own visions,dreams r medita-tions. He attains his under the permanentguidanceof his teacherwho watchesover him and eadshim along this path full of pitfallsand hazards.To the seeker, his learningprocess nows no other imit than hiscapacities ndpersonalwork. Thus he cango as ar as he end ofthe universe,as far as the ultimate truth, as far as the throne ofGod.


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the bestknown, s meditation. his is the act of depleting he spiritand successively eutralizing he ordinary senses ntil somethingtriggersand tilts furtively the spirit in the other world, a world ofdreams ndvisions, ull of teachings nd senses.Thesecondtechniqueomplementshe irst. t isconcentration, hichmay be divided nto two practices: isualizationcalled ikr by theSufisandmandalaby the yogis); andmentalrepetition calledzekrby the Sufisandmantraby theyogis).Visualization sesmentalprojections. s detailedaspossible, f aperson, lace, r otherobject. n general,he Sufivisualizes is mas-ter,whosemental mageheplacesn his hear1,n himself, n order oidentifywith him.Theprinciple s that f thevisualizations cor:rectlyone, t comes oan invisibleconnection etween he visualizingand the objectofvisualization;n this case, etweenhe Sufi andhisguide.This con-nections fundamental,ecause ssoonas he soulcomes utof thebody (in a stateof meditationor in dream), t joins the soul of theguide, n order o use ts energy,wisdomandprotection.This connections oneof thepillarsof the Sufi'sspiritual ife. It leadsto an mmense piritual ove betweenmasterand student, s was, orShams f Tabriz.

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paleocortex. his s the oldestandmostprimitive partof the brain,which controls,as ts namesuggests, uchbasic unctionsashun-ger, emperature,leep, swell as heprimitivedrives, uchassexu-ality andaggressivenessf the ndividual.Thus, a well-trained Sufi cancompletelycontrolhis physicalbodyandhis deepest rives.He canputhis senseso sleepn order o allow the emergencef hissixthsense.The combination f thesemethodsmakest possibleorhim to sink, wheneverhe wishes, nto a stateof autohypnosishatimmediatelyproduces he exit of the soul from its physicalprison.

LessEgotistical,More AltruisticThis conscientious ontrol of the Sufi over his reptilian brain neu-tralizes is animalandegotistical rives.Thisallowshim to becomea "better"person:esswild; more human; essegoistical nd morealtruistic; essmaterialisticandmore spiritual.This transformations called he "EssentialEvolution."The Essen-tial Esevolutions, thus,an nner ransformation,ocusedon thepro-cessof soul-makingand away from all appearances.


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Rumi, well known in the Westernworld, told this story:Therewas a merchantwho owneda beautifulparrot n a cage.As hewas about o travelon businesso India, heparrotsaid o him: "Iwouldbeverygrateful f, once n India,you gavemy greetingso thefellow birds that live there and f you told them that I live here n acage."The merchant cceptedhis hatmless equest.Once n India,he went o a big treewherea colonyof multi-coloredparrots ived, birds very similar o his own. As promised, e deliv-ered he greeting.As soonas he had finishedspeaking, neof theparrots ell to the ground and remained here, nerl. Our merchantwas very impressed y this. As he cameback home,very embar-rassed ndvery sorry hathe might havecaused he deathof a beau-tiful Indianparrot,he told hisown bird what hadhappened.At thatmoment iis parrot fell off its perch,apparentlysubject o a suddencataleptic troke.Ourmerchantook hebird out of the cageand eft it on the edgeofthe window,meaning o bury it later n the garden.He was aghastwhen he saw he beautifulbird fly away o thenearesttreeand expressts gratitudewith thesewords:"You told me aboutyour experiencewitl, rny fellow birds n India,andyou havepassedget my prison.

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Because f this smallstorv. hewav of the Sufi is called"the way oftheparrot."


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UncleHassan'sLast MinutesUncleHassans about o die.He hasspent he ast wo months n thehospital,dragginghimself from bed to annchair, rom armchair obed.Now he s bedridden.It all startedwith an nfection of the urinarytract,which couldn'tbetreated. he ractbecamenfected, nd he nfectionwent o the ungs.Uncle Hassanhasproblemsbreathingand he suffers rom high fe-ver. He hardlyeatsand survivesonly with intravenous rops n eacharm.Aunt Poonehs anxiouslywaiting.The doctorcameby yester-dayandshookhishead,which spoke olumes f hisprognosis. untPooneh adbombarded im with questions. e said t wouldn't belong now, ust a questionof days,becausehe immune system sexhausted.His two childrenhavecomeas ast as hey could.Sara omes romthe seaside hereshe ives.Sheusuallycolnesonceor twice a year,for the New Year and for summervacations.Shehas crossed hedeserland he mountains,ust to come o his bedside.Tired from thetrip andheavyemotions, hehasdark circlesunderher eyes. Thedeathof a lovedone s a serious ndsolemnmoment n life, it takes

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ancient ity,modemityand ancestralraditionsive side-by-sidencomplete armony.The mausolcum f agreat eligiouspercon, ShahCheragh,"s in the centerof thecity.Thereare othergraves n thesuburbs,wheregreatmystics,suchas S'adi,Hafez,and Khadjoo,areburied.Thepeopleof Shiraz, lthough ery modern, remostlybelievers. hey bclieve n life afterdeath,when body andsoulpart.OurAunt Pooneh asno doubtHassan ill riseat heendof time, obe ogethern paradisewith theblessed,heprophets ndall the saints"r.vho ontinually ing hehymn n praiseof His glory."This s whatshe ias eamed n her childhood.But the endof time s so ar Deep n herheart, he s woried: she safraidof death,of separation, f solitude.Hassan s disturbed ndtries o catchhis breath.His exhausted eartgivesway.The oscillo-gram becomes lat on the monitor; a shrill alarm sounds.The sur-veillancenurse ushes n, but all shecan do is notice hat there snothingmore o do. Aunt Poonehweepsat the foot of the bed.Sheholdsher daughterSara n her arms.Tliis is the endof fifty yearsofmarried ife in this depressingndanonymous ospital oom.Therearenow a numberof problems o solve:what to wear,planningofthe funeral.calling friendsand amily, the frighteningact of goingtothe cemetery, nd coming back o an emptyhousewhereeachdetailwill be a reminderof their happyyears ogether. unt Pooneh s


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form, like a cloneof the lifelessbody,and floatsslowly under heceiling,aboveHassan.SheikhKamel hinks hat fAunt Pooneh new the ruth,shewouldn'tbe sodesperate.f shecouldobserverequenciesnvisible o thehu-man eye,shewould have seenhow Hassan's moky doublehad eftthe deadbody. Shewould know for sure hat death s not an end buta change f state,which s not heopposite f life, but heopposite fbirth. Shewould learn hatphysicaldeath s a birth in the otherworld.SheikhKamel decideso comfoir hepoorold woman.He asksherto sit next to him. He explains hat there s no need o wait for aneventual ndof time:crossingheveil is immediate nd otallypain-less.This is generallyexperienced s iberationafter a longagony,asrelease rom all the bodily hindrances n a tired and deficientphysi-cal body.When deathcomes, he "soul" (or energeticbody) leavesthephysicalbody which hasbecomeuseless,ust the way a driverwould leavean old vehiclewith a burnedmotor on the sideof theroad, beforegoing on his own way.SheikhKamel is a much respected, nd an exceptional igure. He isold in years,but youngat heart.Althoughvery attachedo traditions,he understandshe needsof modernpeoplevery well. He knowstheQuranby heart.Besides he time he spends n meditationand otheresoteric ractices, e readsscientificbooks andmagazines. e loves


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becauseGod hascreated s from one and he samepair we areallsistersandbrothers.We must thereforehelp and understand ne an-other.He constantly dvises is disciples o alwaysbe helpful andnever ry to dominateothers.He oftenremindshis audience hat themore devoutand helpful they are, he dearer hey are to the saintsand o God's riends.Tlie peoplewho associate ith him think thathe hasa positive nfluence n thc city, andevenon theworld.Whenhe speaks,here s total silence; eople istenvery carefully.He knows many Persian oems;he has also seriously tudied hedeeper spects f the occult n Persian oetry.He knows hephilo-sophicalandmystical extswritten by greatEastempersonalities.He has also authored omparative tudies f various nonotheisticreligions.He hasproduced very argumentativessay bout hecon-tinuity of esotericand Gnosticcurrents n Iran, fi'om the Mazdean othe Shiiteera.He carefully bllows heevolution f computer ciences nd henewmedia,as well as exactsciences. he spectacle f science omingevercloser o faithmakes im veryhappy.Verywiseandareserve fknowledge.he s very tolerantwith thosewho ignorespirituality.Yethe neverwastes n occasiono showpeople o theright way to sub-stantial erfection.n this respect, e now takes he opportunity oclarify hemysteryof death or Hassan'samily. He invites hem o


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Whvdoyoufbar the eaving ofyour soul?As Aunt Pooneh uestionshepossibilityof two bodies n a singlespace,SheikliKamel sirnplysays hat he subtleessence f the ener-geticbody mergeswith elements onstituting he physicalbody -like water n a spongeThe energetic ody vibrateson ahigherwave-length than the physicalbody, so that the normal human eye can'tsee t. He continues, haveyou ever seena cat reactas if facingsome nvisibleopponent, urving ts back,stretching ut its claws,its hair bristling up?This simply happens ecausehe cat s facing afrighteningentity or simply one that it doesn't ike. Some animalscan seea much wider rangeof frequencies han we. In reality, catshavemuch sharperperceptionshan we, and f they could talk, theywouldhavestrangehings o tell us "

Death s a Dream Without ReturnSheikhKamelexplains:

Duringour ifc, ourenergeticody,or what heoccultistscall he"astralbody,"overlapshephysical ody,butwcarenot awareof its cxistcnce.Whenwe fall asleep,heastral odymoves ut of thcphysical ody, o which trcmainsied hrough kindof longelastic and f vibra-


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verses,hephysical ody ecovers trengthn sleep. t thesameitne,simultaneously,heastral ody ives ts own ife n an nvisiblcworld,which is in fact its naturalhabitat see he later tale of "The OldAcrobat").Most of the time, the astralbody remainsclose o thephysicalbody andproducests own fantasies orn from the sleeper'sdailyworries.Sometimeswe wakeup rememberingo havedreamedsomemeaninglessreams,which arenothingbut theproductof ourown mind.Sometimeshe astralbody eaves, till connectedo thephysicalbodyby the silvercord,which shinesn the darkof night. t visits coun-tries araway,otherplanets, ndeven nvisibleworlds.This canhap-pen in the present, ast,or future.Time is not a hindrancen theinvisibleworlds.SheikKamel hen ecites oemsof the hirdvolumeof the MasnaviMowlana alaledin alkhiKhorasani(Pub.Mirkhani Tehran19531page 1):

He slept und the bird o/'his soul esr:apedtsprisonLeavittghehind henntsicittnanclhis irtstrument,t setitsel/'/ree


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vonder,without being subject o headaches nd worriesBecause his earth and these kies, n spite oJ'theirimmensity, re so narrowThat he,r- at,e orn my heart in sorrowYet, he world they haveshown o mehas openedup my eves o itsgreatnessIJ'that world and the wav to it were accessiblelrlot one secondwould anyone emaindown here

The Astral VoyagesSheikh Kamel continues:You rnust know that the astralbody has the ability to flyandglide,carriedby the network of electromagnetic ur-rents hatexist n thc univcrse.t moves ike a seagull hatuses he wind currents.Everyonc emembers avingsome-time dreamedhe was flying ovcr rcal or imaginary and-scapes.Thesedreamsare the "astralvoyages."Our astralbody canbring back especiallyenrichingcxpe-ricnccs, answers o importantproblemsor premonitorydreams hatwill help he dreamer o escape angeror makechoices.This is the mcaningof "the night bringscounsel," s hepopular wakes, he


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the"living dead"awakesn his new stateand begins o experimentthe functionalitiesof his astralbody. He oftendoesnot know thatheis dead. t may soundstrange, ut he ignoreseverythingaboutdeathand he awsof the nvisibleworld.As hispassageasbeenpainlessandunconscious,hedeceasedhinkshe s still on ourpoorold Earthand ries o retum o normal ife with his family,especiallyf he hasdiedyoungandviolently. On the seventhday,he comesbackhometo visit his family, thenhe returns o his non-materialworld.SheikhKamel s not only a specialist f Quranicstudies, e is alsovery familiar with the rnystical currentsof the large religions.Hesays hat n the Christianscriptures,SaintPaulwrites about he ener-getic body, which he qualifies as heavenly and incorruptible(ICorinthians,5:35-37).This is sometimes xpressedn confusingwords,because f the ranslation. he deaof the vibratoryqualityofwavelengths described s brilliance,"which s also rue.Theener-getic body is suruounded ith a luminoushalo createdby its ownelectromagneticield (alsocalled he "aura"). t refers o the umi-noushalo around he headof saints.TheSheikhquotesSt.Paul orAunt Pooneh nd he othermembers f UncleHassan'samily:

Bttt, we will ask, how do the deacl evive hemselves?With which bodv?Mad cluestion


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...Sownas a sintplehuntanbody, t takes ife againtran,sJbrmed y the Spirit.Iilhut I want to say,brothers, s that.fleshand bloodcannot nherit the kingdomof Godand that which is

mortal be incorruptible.

What Will Becomeof Uncle Hassan?SheikhKamel then quotesa passage f the Masnavi(MowlanaMasnavi vol. 6 I p. 640):

Throtrgh my experience I have understoodThat dectth is life in thc prison oJ the bod.v;Luter, it will be the ultimate liberqtion and imntortality.

A few days ater, he village mosque s completely ull. The wholefamily is here or the ceremonyand all thevillagers oo. The elderlyhaveknown Hassan ince heiryouth,as hey all went to school o-gether.Somepeoplehave come out of politeness,n sympathy oAunt Poonehand to pay last respects o the deceased.Othershavecome out of curiosity- something s happening.Funeralsare occa-

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neralsare un, because ou seesomanypeopleagain."He is hereandwonders. But who is beingburied oday?"He is amazed obe floatinghigh up near he column.He thinks, This is a crazysituation, mustbe dreatning."SheikhKamel stopsa mornent o catchhis breath.Then he says,"Hassans here;he sees is wife sitting n the fitst row, crying andalmostcollapsing. ut he reallydoesnot understand hat s goingon. He believesPooneh s crying for the deathof somevery closeperson.He is very upset o seeher in sucha state, ut he doesnotknow how to comfort her."A few hours ater, hey come ogether n the cemetery hat surroundsthe ittle mosque.They gatheraroundan opengrave.Hassan owbegins o recallmemories f his ife.He remembershesadhospital oom, lie smilingnursebehindhis oxygenmask,Pooneh,her enseace,sittingat he oot of hisbed.He wonders,Atrn dead?Can his be?No. I am alive, mustbe dreaming."After thefuneral,Hassan ries o talk to Pooneh.Seeingndifferenceon her face,hedecideso takeher hand.He is bewilderedwhenhishandcrosse hers,as f shedid not exist, .eeling nly a light prick-ling, a sensation imilar o passinghrough og on an earlywinter


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by a very powerful person who radiated a golden light. He has beentaken to wide landscapes where his parents, Sufis and saints havebeenwaiting for hirn. He felt inesistibly attracted o a luminous pointin the sky, where he has thrown himself, as though drawn by a pow-erful current, n a dazzling tunnel of light."Sheikh Karnel stops alking. He tries, with a rnovement of his head,to point out that he was this guiding person. In fact, as an advancedspiritual master,he is on both levels. He can show himself on onelevel and act at the same ime in the other world.The Aftermath of the VoyageIn one of the Sufi gatherings,on a Tliursday evening, Sheikh Kamelprovides more detailsabout Hassan's ate:

Hassanmustbe an example or us.He wasgood,honcst,andwithout problems.He alwaysactedaccording o hisconscience. c noticedhis new state ery fastandhistran-sition o a better csidencewas easy. t is not always hecasc or the "new dead,"who are in fact the newborn, fyou look at it anotherwaylEachone goes o the beyondwith no other uggage hanthe expericnccsgatheredn life on eafth.Everythingwe

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A.) TheTeachingsf a SufiMnster

happens utomatically: ach ndividual goeswhere hisvibrations ull him.Sheikh Kamel quotes a hadith, which, according to the Prophet ofIslam, was expressedby his spiritual brother and predecessor,Jesus:

My Father's kingdom has many mansionsTime Does Not Have an Independent Reality

Sheikh Kamel is a perfect Sufi but also a modern man, livingin his time. Once in a while, in his speeches, e mentionsnew scientificdiscoveries o illustrate his declarationson mysticism. To explainthe reality of the visible and invisible worlds, he uses he example oftelevision:

Therearemanychannels, achbroadcasting iffcrent andindependcntrograms. rom hc highly cultural o themoststupid, rom themostviolent o thcmosteducational,heyall existside-by-sidc n your TV. Whenyou look at yourt'avorite rogramon the first channcl,you do not scewhatthc otherchannelsare showing.To changechannels, oumust usea remotecontrol, which is thc objectreplacingthegoodold round buttonswc had wentyyearsago. Butthis doesnot stop the secondchannel rom broadcasting


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ousprograms.f youhavesix channels ndonly onehour,five hoursof otherprograms emain nvisible. f you have,through cable or satclli1c,one hundredand thirty chan-nels,when you look at one channelduring one hour,onehundred nd twenty ninc programs emainhidden. Thismeans hat during one hour,a multitude of things happenin parallel.We see hrough his explanationhe immen-sityofour inadequacyo undcrstandensible vents. hus,what canwe sayabout actsbeyond hc cornprehension four five senses'JIn our cxarnple, achchannel orrcspondso a frequencyuscdby thc TV station.The station cndswaves hatcir-culatc n the atmosphere,ll aroundus; we do not noticethem.Thc TV is only a device hat the antenna onccn-trates nto soundsand mages,shor,vingor exarnplca rc-portcr "livc" at the other end of the world, or recordedimagcs akenby a camera.We areused o it now: t all sccms o matter f fact.But inrcality, sn't this magic?The world in which wc livc is like a huge TV. But thcfaculties f our physicalbody limit us to only onechan-nel.You will undcrstandhat his doesnot mean hat hcrcareno otherchanncls.Wc simply do not have heremotccontrol hat would allow us to change he channel.


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,1 ,l TheTeachingsf a SufiMaster

pcct. They simply wander to where their natural wave-length akes hem."After this comparison, Sheikh Kamel resumeswith another il -

lustration:lmaginean elevator, ery light andprecise,hat he ighterthepassengerhe higher t goes.A very heary personwillproducc,under thc force of gravity,a downward move-mcnt to the basement.This shouldgive you a rough m-agc of what happcnsafter death: f the soul in the astralbody s ight, hat s, fthe person asa clearandpeacefulconscience nd f he hasdonegoodon earth,his levelofvibrationswill risc.Onceset ree rom thedeadbody,heis going o go up,and he"magical"elevatorwill go to ahigherplane,wherc only peoplewith the samevibrations,thesamequalityof soul,haveaccess. n old proverbsays:"thosewho rcsemble sscmble." ouralcoholic eighbor,who wascnviousand slandcrous, asno way to comehereand disturbyou. His vibrationsare oo low; his sinsputweight on his soul.Whcn sucha persondies, n thc bestcasc, he ift doesn'tmove.Thepoormanwanders roundlike a loncly soul n a world wherehe findsno accessoanything.He will go to barswhereno onewill seehimandnooneu'ill scrvehim a drink.Hewill haunthishouseand scehis childrcnwastehis money.This goeson untilhc perhapsunderstandshat hc had wastcdhis time on


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The feachingsof a Sufi Msster

this way. Sometimes hey gct a chance o move out, tomake up for their past ife on Earlh and to try to elevatethcirsoula bi t .ln truth, cachone will get what he deserves. hosewhodiscrcctly o goodwill go up.Thosewho deccive nddobad, giving the imprcssion o be winncrs on Earth, areautomatically ispatchedo their egitimate lace, ssoonas heyhavccrossedhe veil.

It is onlv a qucstion f time.

School s FinishedSheikhKarneldoesnot use complicatedwords.He prefers o tellanecdotes,alesand legends.He alsousesconcrete xamples.Heknows a fot of poemsby Hafez, Mow-lana,Sa'di andother mastersandmysticalpoetsby hearl. It is because f thisrichness nd sim-plicity thatpeople ove the old man andmakesurenot to misshisspeeches. hen SheikhKamel speaks,ollowers ecordhis wordson cassettes,o listen o them ater,over andover again.His speechesakeplaceduringSufi sessionshree imesa week,onTuesdayevening,Friday at dawn, and Sundayevening.They begin

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46 [ht' 'l'cuchingsof a Su.iiMnster

peatsn his head neof thenarlles f God,whiler ontrolling isbreathandhis rnagination,uttingallhisattention nhisheartbeats.t theendof the session,l'hich can akc almost wo hours, he Sufisoneby oneshakche randof SheikhKarnelancl isshim asa signof allegiance ndbrotherhood.his s how eachSrrfigathering omcs o an end.During thesesessions heikhKanrelspeaks f spiritualityand thetravelof the soul n variousworltls:

Havcyoucveraskeclourselfwhatwe aredoingon hisearth?TlrcqLrcstionnakc:sou hzz,yWho am I'l Wheredo I cometiom'l Whcrc am I going'lhr rvhatstate o I wander?ln rcal i ty. ur old l larth s a schooi.Onc iif-ctirncs likc a schclol car whereeachonehas aprograrn. ollowing gcneral carning ines, and learningthings vc couldnot othclwisc earn,because e arepris-oncrsof ignoranccn a physicalbody with l imitedpossi-b i l i t ics.When hc schoolycar s ovcr,wc havca grandvacationl'f hcrcyor"r rc, he natureol'lifc on cafth,which is likc aschool ear,audo1'dcathor rathcr,if-c ftcrdeath),whichis l ikc therclat ionship[ 'schoolirnc o vacat ion.-lhe


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TheTeachingsf n SufiMaster 47

ber Hannibal'sarmy and the delightsof Capua Difficul-tics build up and clcvate a soul, ust as metal hardensthroughstccping.To becomesolid andgood or the fight-ing, thc mctal swordwill be heatcd ed-hot hen mmedi-atelydippcd nto cold watcr. t is thc ordealof tempera-turc differencc hat makcs he sword ndestructiblc.Ordcals,howe\,er,must bc proporlional o the capacitiesand hc rcal needs f eachsoul. n principle hismustbethe casc, hough t is not always apparent.

Have a Nice Tr ip, Uncle HassanAfter a short break, the wise man continues:

Death,assuch, s absolutely ot difficult for the onecon-cemed; t is no more hanquictly falling asleep ndhav-ing a nicc dream,without rcturn.What is difficult is notdcath,but the suffering hat oftenoccurswhen hc body isscriously ll and at thc cnd of its forces.Another ear s thc deaof leavingbchind ovedones.Buttimc gocs aster here, n thc bcyond, han hereon Earth:the waiting ime doesnot sccm ong.


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others o solve heirproblemsandmakeprogress, swell.A hugeprograrn An cternity s needed o do all thisThe most difficult situation is for the survivors who sharetheagony of the dying personandwho must aterpart fromthe ovedone: he wife who remainsalone n life; the smallchildren who becomeorphans.There are so many painfulexperiences, hich sometimes eemvery difficult to over-comeandmakeus doubt he imits of our own resistance.Most survivorsdo not know the things discussed ere.They completely gnore everythingof the otherworld.

Their distress is all encompassing.They shouldknow that thc physicalbody is ust a vehiclethat makes t possible or us to live in thephysicalworld,and hat he soul dressedn the energetic ody is like a carthe driver abandonson the roadsidewhen the eneine sfinally broken andbeyond repair.Think about this when you wake up in the morning andrememberhaving flown in the skies or having brutallyfallen down, with a strangesensationn your stomach.


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TheTenchirtgsf a SufiMaster

WE ARE ALL IMMORTALS.2SheikhKamelpauses, henadds, Tomorrow s thefirst day of themonth of Rarnadan.We will use his time to explore he subiectofsoul ravel n variousworlds n depth."

: Whatyou have eadhere s explainedn detailby thegreatSufi SheikhSadr-din-Shirazi.nown as Mollah Sadra n his rnain work, As/ar. This Arabicword means books" pluralof seli) andalso travels" pluralof safar). .fsars atext colxposedn fbur chapters, achchapter orrespondingo the travelofthesor.rln one o1'the vorlds:belbrephysicalbirth,during ife in thephysicalbody,in the interrrediateworld afier death,and in the supematuralworld afterhavingbeen Lrdgedbr its deeds.Afsar is a very technicaland very rich book, basedontwo lbrmsof logic: borhan-e-arshi,"hichcovers isown visions, nd borhan-6-ahgli," he author's ationaldeductions.Tlre sarnenotion of the travel of the sor.rl as beendevelopedn Dante'sTheDit, ine Contetl.t,,hich is practically he exact ranslation f an lslamic manu-scriptcalled lleratl it tanteh, hich describeshemystical ravelof theProphet fIslan.rn supersensibleorlds.Many other Sufi authorshave clevelopeclhe SLrfipoint of view. Exarnplesn-clLrde bol Madjid MadjdoLrdbn Adarn Sanai n his book Sir ol Ebad MenalMabda Elal Motutl, SheikhNadjedinRazi in his book Mersadol Ebad nrenal

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55

TheTWoDoorsThe first day of themonthof Ramadans coming o an end.This daywill be followedby 29 other days n'herehe Sufiswill fast,providedtheir healthpermits.From dawn to sunsethey will not eat or drink;this s a verygoodpractice,elativelyefficient. o develop esistanceagainstnstinctive uman mpulses.In spiteof his advanced ge,SheikhKamel fasts hisyear, ike everyother year during, the month of Ramadan.Besides,he fasts regu-larly, twice a week, on ThursdaysandFridays.The Sufi sessionsake place every day during this month. Everymorning they gatherat dawn to pray under the master'sguidance.They will come ogetheragain ater, or the other our prayersof theday:midday,afternoon, unsetand at nightfall.Occasionally, ne ofthe Sufis or evenonewho doesnot belons o the circle- will invite


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56 'llrc'fencltingsoi a SufiMaster

teachus that thcre is immediatclybeyond hc physicalworld (calledJa n Persian),w'ootherworlds hat affectus dircctly: hepre-physical orld(JaBolga)and hepost-physicalworld (JaRolsa).Eachof thesc worlds is connectedo our world thrclughatunncl.Thc prc-physicalworld is situated astof nature,thcplacewhcrcsoulsstart n direction f elementary od-ies.The post-physical orld is situatcdwest of nature,towardswhcre the soul gocsafter it haspartedfrom thephysical ody.Thehumanbeinghas hcreforehrcc ives:lif-cbeftrre hc body, if'e nside he body. and ife aftcr thebody.The coming ogethcr ctween ody andsottloccursasan accident,ikc when a bird is caught n a trap.

A Few Words on Sufi AstrologyThe Sheikhcont inues:

Whcn Providcncewishes hat a soul cntera body,mate-rial clcments ndcostnicbodic,s ecomcactive.According o Sufi lnasters,whcnone spcrmatozoidccun-datcsan ovulc, his first stagcof conccptions subjcct othc influenccof the lnoon.This influcnce emainspre-dominantduring the first month of prcgnancy.


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Tussimaintains hc oppositc.He believes hat he soul s aproductof the body that ts creationbcgins at the time ofconception, ut afterbirth it is eternal.Thc commonpoint o all thcsc hcoricss theresidencefthc soul n thephysicalbody: thcmasters reall convincedthat the soul rcsidcs n a point placeddeep n the heart.'fhc heart s situatedat thc fourth level of the energeticanatomy,and thc fourth month of pregnancybelongs othe Sun; hcrc s a special elationship ctwccn hc heartand thc Sun.During the filth month, thc growing fetus sundcr hc influenceof Mars, thcn Saturnduring henextmonth.At the seventhmonth, hc moon akcsoveragain.If thc child were o bc born during he seventhmonth, twould most ikely live becausc he moon'snature s hu-mid and cold, qualitics hat are n direct relation o thenaturcof lifeAt thc cighth month, the fetus againcomesunder he in-fluencc of Saturn,whose characteristics,old and dry,corrcspond o the naturc of dcath. n caseof a prematurebirth in the eighthmonth, he child will only survive f itis kept undcrpermanentmedicalcarcuntil theninth month.At the beginningof the ninth month, the fetus comesun-dcr the supervisionof Jupiter,whose nature s warm andhumid. ike thc essence f life. This is thc rcasonwhy achild born in thc ninth month will rcmain, n principle,

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59

2The Bird in a Cage

TonightSheikhKamel esumes is teaching.He beginswith quota-tions from Avicenna, Sohrawardi,and other great mastersof themystic.

Thehuman oul s comparcdo amagnificcntalkingbird,a paffot,pushed y providenccnto he rapof themate-rialworld.Why thiscomparison' .Because he soulhas hc capacity o fly like a bird. lt canfly inthe skiesof this world, aswcll as n the"heavens,"thc invisibleworld, where hc dcparted ouls eside,orsimply during sleep n a dreamphasc.


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When hc cagc s wom down, he bird will bc able o es-capedefinitivcly. rich with the cxperiencest hasattainedasa bird n a cage.Thus,deathand heendofthe physicalbody give the soul the frccdom o travel n the vast worldof thc souls.Duringphysical ife, the ndividual dentifieswith his ownbody, considcring imself physicallyalive. This is thesamcas he parrotso used o being mprisoned hat iden-tifieswith thc cage, alking o it as f it washimself.When deatharrives, he soul caves he body,never o re-turn. But, becausehe soul is accustomedo inhabitingabody, t oftencontinucso think of itselfasa physical e-ing. Because he soul takes he exact orm of the body ithasoccupiedduringthc physical ife, i ts true nature s dif-ficult to apprchend. f we meet a closeacquaintancen adream,he gcncrally ooks ashc did duringhis normal ife.ln sucha mccting, he wo souls, utof theirphysical od-ies, have exactly he same orms, the samecharacteris-tics,and the samephysicaldimensions s their physicalpersons, leepingn theirbed.Becausehe ransitionromawakc to dream s unconscious,he mind is incapableofdistinguishingetweenhesc wo states. hus, n sleepwearenot aware hat we are dreaming.

It is thc sameafter death:one is generallynot con-

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body docsnot lnove; it is left in a stateof neartotal un-consciousness.owcvcr, hedouble nows tself o be herealpersonwho inhabited momcntago hisphysicalbody.The double s a perfectclonc. t appearswith the sameclothinganddimensions s hc "original."This double sthe soul in thc astralbody,which is of a different nature,subtlcand of a particularbrilliance. t canpass hroughwalls and ly without vings, ikc angels whohavewingsonly in popular magination ).Whcn hc imc of scparationomes, onsciousnesss auto-matically ransfcrrcd o the astraldouble,whrch s now theonly vchiclcof thc soul: hebird hascomeout of thecage.

Sheikh Karnel explainsmore precisely:An advanccd ufimustnotdie o experiencehe ndcpcn-dcnceand vastcapacities f the soul.He hasmastercdspccific echnique, .vhich c has carned rom his master.This technique llowshim to leavehis body at will andcontinue,ike a frec bird, to csscntial volution.His goalis to reach he highcststatc or a soul, o become, o tospeak, hc grcat mythic bircl that Sufi rnythologycallsSimorgh.This namcmcans thirty birds" n Persian.

Sheikh Kamel warns his audienceagainst misunderstandingof thecontinuation of the travel. He says:

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Be couragcous nd esponsible. ou cannotwasteopportun-ities.Uscyour time fully, the time that remains or theper-fecting of the soul to become ike a Simorgh.You mustrcaiize hat posscssing physicalbody is an exceptionaloccasion br a soul, for development nd essential volu-tion. Evolution owardsa higher stateshouldbe the realaim of anyhumansoul- the statesymbolized y thegreatSimorghbird.This evolution s the developmcnt f the a-tent aculties f thesoul, vhichyeams or appropriatereat-mcnt. t is a "refining" or purificationof the soul.This correspondso progressivcly aking control of ani-mal instinctsand drives o give the soul reedom o unfoldthc divincnature iddcn n thedeepest artof itself justas fiuit slceps n a latentand virrual state n the tree andthe seed hat hasbeen sorvnyearns o bloom. For eachhundredseeds own n a fleld, how many will result,aftera fcw years, n strong rcesbearing uicy and sweet ruit?It dcpends n w'atering. xposure o the sun,protectionagainst nsects in cffbct, the care he gardener rovides.We are responsiblc or the growth of our intemal garde ,for our soul,which sourmostprecious elonging, o hatone day it will bcar fruit.

SheikhKamel developshis speechby this comparison o a gardener'swork to beffer reach his audience, made principally of peasantsandmarket gardeners.He resumes hus:

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points he obstacles nd helps o ovcrcome hem.He is apersonwho can bring help to seekers n both visible andinvisiblcendeavors.Sheikh Kamel thus quotes a verse of the Quran that says that if aperson espects is pact with God, God will do the same.The sheikhends his speech hus:

It is betternot to waste time and to get to work on theevolutionof thc soul.This s themostserious ubjectmat-ter, becauset aft-ects ur ctcrnity. Evcn now we are un-consciously astingan extraordinary pportunity o 'winourparadise.' ct usgct o work so hat n a few ycars heparrot in the cagebccomesa Simorgh,an immortal andomniscient, rave nhabitant f the spiritualskies.


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3The MerchantAnd His Parrot

On the third night of the month of Ramadan,SheikhKamel recitesoneof theMasnavi ales o clarify he elationship etween ody andsoul. Here s the storyof themerchant ndhisparrot.3

Onc'euporta tinte, there v,ttsa merc:hantwho had a pretty parrotimpri,sonedn a cage.One day as the merchantbeganto prepare.for a trip to India, hea,gkedheparrot, "l(hat doyou u:antme to hring bac'k/rctmhe andof India?"To his theparrot replied:"trVhen ou ,\eeparrots there, ell themabottt mv situationand say,



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Is it right that I remain ruthlesslyheld,a prisoner, whileyou enjoystrolling on grass and being in trees?Is this riendship: me n thisprison andyou in a garden?Remember,oh noble riends, thispitiful bird, during your early mornings in theprairies Whenafriend remembers friend, it bringshim happiness.moreso when one s Leyld and the other Majnoon "Themerchantagreed o convev his message nd to greetanyparrothe might encounter.And so, when the merchant eached he border of India and saw anumber of parrots, he stoppedhis horse, greeted theparrots, andconveyed isparrotb messageo them.Il/hen he merchant adfinished,oneof thepatots began o tremble,

fell out of the tree and, its breath taken away,died.Themerchctnt s sorry to havegiven themessage nd thought, "I

have destroyed his creature. Maybe it was a relative of my littleparrot. Theymust havebeenone soul in two bodies.Why did I do this? Why did I bring this message?I haveburned his little creaturewith my crudewords "

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Themerr:hant, eeinghisparrot so,Jallen and li./bless,eaptup andthrewhishut on theflonr. And seeinghisparrot s color and condition,the merchqnt ore openhis gown. He cried:"Oh beauti/ul arrot v'ithsucha melodiotts oice,whathashappened

to ,vou? Wlt.y id yott die so?Oh alas, nry bird v'ith a so.ft oiceOh alas,ntvclose.friendand my confidantOh alas, m-vmelodiottshird, wine o.fmv spirit, mygardeno/paradiseOh alas, he bird I bought./itr o little nronev ndwhom havesooJienneglectedOh alas, my light who sets he darknessonJire, my morning thatbrightcns m1,da.v"Oh alo.;, rnvbird v,ith suc:h noble.flight,vlho.t'lie:t./romnyend tomv beginningMv parrot, nn, ntell'gentbird, nlerpreterof my thoughts ndsecrets.Oh alus, rlas,alas, hatsttc'h mootl s hiddenbehind heclouds."



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Themerchantwas amazed. Jnconsciously e realized he secretoftheparrot.He loctked p at theparrot and said:"Younightingale Do me afavor andexplainyourself Whatdid theparrot over theredo that has aughtyou tofool us and cunninglypullthewool over our eyes?Theparrot answered:"By his deed, he sentme this message: Forget songs,speech,andall otheropenings opeople,.for t isyour voice that has ed toyour

imprisonment.'Hefaked his own death oplay a trick. He mademeunderstand, aying, Youwho hasbecome musicianof theeliteandcommon eople,die to ind yourfreedont. 'Then heparrot delivered,without ill will, one or two words of adviceto the merchant, aidfarewell, and tookflight uponthesewords:"Farewell, you, my owner. You have done me a great favor. Youhavedelivered mefrom my darkprison. Farewell, you, my owner. Iam going back to my homeland I wish that you too be deliveredsomeday, s I am now delivered.

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The symbolsAfter reciting this tale,Sheikh Kamel takes a deepbreath and beginsto unravel the symbols of the story:

The merchant representseason;he travelsevery-wherefor his own interests.He investsonly to gain more. Hebuys somethingn the cast o scll it in the west,andviceversa.Throughout is lifc, he is in movement ndhasanagitatedife. Hc knowsno peace.The cage s the symbol of the elementarybody, a prisonol'thc soul.On this subject,Mowlanasays:"Thc body is cornparableo a cage; n thepraisesof thosewho corneandgo, t becomes plague o the soul."The parrot rcprcscntshc soul;hecanspeak.He canalsodetachhimsclf fiom the eiementary ody andfly in spaceand ime Mowlanasays:"The parrot v,hosevoice is in,spiree{y the divine andwhose or ig in is pr ior to the or ig in oJ existence,thisparrctt hides n 1,ou: t is his reJlection hatyou haveseenon the hing.s f'theworld."

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earth, ts components, s well asthe clementaryphysicalbodies,are ocated n the ccnterof this country.The Orient (see he chapter The Two Doors") is thepre-physicalworld from wherc the soulscome o thema-

tcrial world. Thc Occident s the world of the post-physi-calworld wherc all thesoulsseparatedrom theirmaterialskin retum.The tree - on which thc parrotsare sitting -- sym-bolizes he genealogicalreeof humanity.The death of the parrot is a symbolof detachmentand deliverancc rom egocentrism.Mowlana says:

"The meaningoJ'death hov,nby theparrot is detach-ment rom egocentrism f'oneself. n prayer and de-tachment, etyottr egocentrism ie,So thatJesus'breathreanimates ou, making ,ouasbeauti/uland blessed s he." (Ibid. . .

SheikhKamel stopssuddenly and closeshis eyesas f concentratingon his internal world. He raiseshis head again; his audience is veryattentive and still. He decides to say no more on this topic:

That is all for tonight. I have nothing to addnow. Thinkabout t. We will return to this subjectsomeothernight,

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4The TWoWorlds (Visibleand Invisible)

At the end of thc fourlh day of the month of Ran-radan, heikh Kamel,after con,pletinghis prayers,begins o develop,as anticipated,a newchapter on the subject of the two worlds. Wearing his simple tradi-tional gown with largc sleeves,his hands crossedon his knees, hebeginsthus:

In our dailyprayers,ve speak o God,callingHim "Rab-al-alamin,"which means Cod of all unive scs."Yct,becauscof thc way our scnsorypcrccptions re uned,weonly knolv onc univcrsc: hc materialworld in which welive. Hou'ever, heremust bc many othcr univcrscs hatwc cannotperceivewith our five senses. hosearc thcsupra-sensiblcimensions f our existenceHow is t pos-sible o explore hese iddcndimcnsions? hat s theques-tion. SheikhKamel then uscsa verv concrctc mase tobettcr rnpanhis mcssagc:

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you are cut off from the outsideworld. You find yourselfstandingon top ofa hill overhanginga very peacefulanddeepoccan.Thereyou prepare o dive into the water,afew metcrsundcryour feet.A moment ater,you are sub-merged n thc blue of the occan;you dive downwards,leaving behindyou layersof water.A beautifulmulticol-ored fish swims ahead o guide you to thc most hiddencomersof thc ocean.Teamsof shiny ish continuallycrossyour way and wavcs of vibrations,caused y their move-rncnts, ivesyou a fbe ing of light massagc n your skin.You swim further down away rotn the surf'ace.You havethe scnsation hatyou hangbctween w'o ayersof waters.You do not feelyour wcight or anygravityhindcringyou.An unknownsourceof light illuminates he bottom of theoccan.The deeperyou go, the more light surrounds ou.Your pcrceptionof spaccand time changesevcry mo-ment. . .At this point, your fricnds, still chattering, urn to you foryour opinion on somcthing.They notice thatyou areab-sent.They seeyour closedeyes;you look unconscious.They think: "He shouldbe lefl alone,he is sleeping, eperceives othing,andhe s like a deadman...But areyou really unconscious?s your link to yourselfcut'l Of courscnot Only the link betwccnyou and theouterworld is ntemrpted.Rather, ou arc otallyconscious

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Onc of your fricnds,while putting out a cigarette, nocksthc ashtrayonto floor; it breaks,producinga tremendoussound.This suddenand sharpnoise wakesyour sensoryperceptions.n a second, ou leave hebottomofthe oceanof tranquility whereyou have beenmoving and return othe surfaceofthe sensoryworld. You openyour eyesandscrutinize vcry comerof thc living room. For a second,you wonder: But where am I? Where are the fish? Whoare hcsepeople,whatdo theyexpectof me?"'

Sheikh Kamel pauses.Stroking his beard, he observes his audience.They are completely absorbed n his words and wait impatiently forhim to resume.He says:

Slecp, n part resembles eath.Peoplewatchinga dyingpersonpercciveonly what is sensuously erceptible:heyseeonly an nertbody.As a rule, he sleeper oesnot move,eat.walk. talk. see.or hear.but he doesdream.This meansthatperceptiondoesnot dependon the activity of the fivesenses. ophisticatedmachines aveshown hat althoughthe five senses topfunctioning during sleep, he activityin somepartsof the brain doesnot stop.Sheikh Kamel adds:



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Dream or RealityAfter having sipped his fragrant, hot tea, Sheikh Kamel resumes:

Real Sufis eada bi-dimensionalife. Parallcl o their dailysocialand amily engagements,hey end o spiritualmat-ters hat connect hem o the supra-scnsorialniversc.Thisuniverse s ncither maginarynor virtual,but a real world,just asconcrete o its inhabitants sour terestrial world isto us.

The BeyondYet he nvisibleworld, or the beyond, s ruledby itsown laws.which arediffercnt from thephysical aws thalgovcrnnaturalphcnomena n thisEarth. n thc supra-sen-sorialworld, maginations crcativc,houghts re angiblerealities. and the soul can create ts own fantasiesand

materialize ts thoughts.Thc notions of time and spacearedifferent oo.But all thisrequirea long explanation...SheikhKamel positively avoidscomplex discussions.He useseveryrneans o simplify difficult aspectsof mysticism.

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who has ittle attachmcnto worldly intcrcsts lies far awayfrom his physicalbody, oward higher heavens,where hemay join souls of departedpeopleor even, according othc evclof his cssential volution,meet hespiritsof wisemen and spiritualmasterswho give him precious each-ingsandadvice.The brain cells becomeonly partially imprinted with thethings of thc beyond.On the consciousevel, hey willonly registcr omcsymbolicscenes, hich aterwill needintcrprctation. hese nterpretations ill be very usefuladvice br right bchavior owardsspiritual evolution.You shouldknow that dreamsarc true baromctcrs hat n-dicatcol-rc's tateof mind, especially f Sufis.They hclpthe shcikh o adapthis teachingand advice o the student.The student,n tum, evaluatcs is ownprogress, vercomesmaterial and spiritual difficultics to continueon the pathto knowledgeand spiritualgrowth. This is why Sufi mas-tcrs say o their disciples: tell me whatyou dreamandwill tcll you who you are." You mustknow that a Sufitcachcr an, hrough heevaluation 1'a rcamor a vision,"with the cycs of the soul," discernyour real nature,be-yond appearanccs nd beyond what you choose o showhim.

Sheikh Kamel then begins with the subject of the interpretation of



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holds the key. The interpretationof dreams emains heprivilegeof very advancedmasters.t is alsoapartof Sufiteachings or the seekeron his spiritual path. He learnsthe languageof dreamsand, simultaneously, e learns oknow himself. His field of exploration s his own intimatenatureand his personalstateof mind.Therefore, lthoughappearancesresometimes eceptive,it is often n dream hat the truth s discovered. But in theworld called "real," each ndividual can quietly hide hisreal nature,his real feelings,andhis deepmotivations.

Raising once again his little glassof tea, Sheikh Kamel examines theattentive audience and finishes his speech for the night with wordsmeant for reflection:

Where is the truth, dream or reality?The questiondeserveso be asked.

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The Interpretationof DreamsBecause of the many questionsposed by his Sufi studentsregardinghis teachings of the night befbre - the realm of dreams - SheikhKamel decides to deal with the same subject this night.He beginswith thesewords:

Thosewho seekanswerso questions boutdeathand heafterlife shouldpay attention o thcir dreams.In gcncral,a personspcnds ne-thirdofhis life in sleepand is oftcn fascinatedby the mystery of this phenom-enon.The Suti school nvites its members o be more awareoftheir drcams.

Wisemen and hefollowcrs of the esoteric,who have

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real imc on clcctroencephalographshat registcr hc dif-f'crent tagesof slccp, iom sotnnolcncco paradoxicalslecp, haracterizecly REM (rapideyemovcmcnt).Thescientistsopc hatafteranalysis f tltcse xperimentshcyr.vill earnmorcaboirt he functioning f thebrairi.A numberof suchclcctt'ocnccl.rhalographsal,cshtlrvnhatthercarc wo distinctive criociso slcep: he slow and herapidperiod. hc attcrknorvnas"iraradoxical."Nowadays,scicntists nor'vhat, br humanbcings, leep s charactcr-izcd by a loss of consciousncss.hc actil' it ies f bodilyfirnctions,hc cardiopulmonatyncl thcr unctions re ela-tively reducccl. low sieepoccurs rr bur stages. hc firsttlvostagcs rc hose f "light slccp."Thcsccondwo rcprc-sent dccpslccp."Stage nc s rvhen omnolencc,r slccpi-ncss" cts n.Musclesend o rclaxgradualiy,hecycmovc-rnc:nts lorvclovn'n,caring s numbcd.and ntelleclual ac-ultiesareparticurlarlyciluccd.Stagc rvo is that of lightsleep, uringwhich luscularactivity s totallysuspendcd.Stagc hrcc s a transitory hasc or;t'arclscepslecp.Stagcfour is thc phascof slolv,dccp slccp, .l'hich eprcscnts smuchas 25ohol'thc complcte leeping imc. This colre-spondso a spanof physical ndmetabolic caling.Thisphasc nay ast ongcr l'thc subjcct ashada tull dayof physicalactivit-v r hashad a shorlage f slccp. t isdifficult to interruptdccp slccp,and f it is sharirly nter-

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reflcct thc prcscnt ime or the near future, and concernpeopleor cvcntsofgeographicallydistantplaces yetclosementally.since t is the mental that shows he way to thesoulduring ts nightlyexcursions). cpcnding n the na-tureof his wonics and hespiritual imcnsions f his soul,the dreamcr vill bc able o connect is soul o the spiritsof thc dcad. o various nvisible entitiesor to spiritualmasters,he attcrbcing hc bcstpossibility.In ancient ivilizations. rcams crvcdas hemain each-ing tool for knowlcdgcandcomprehensionf the world.Sufismalsoaflbrdsdrcamsa centralplaceamong he oolsprovided o thc seeker alsocalled alek andhismasteron thepathof spiritualevolution.On this oumey, hc disciplc eceiveseachings. e mustdcvotehimsef to practice numberof excrciscs:herep-ctition of zekr,prayeror incantations, isualization ndconcentrationn the mageof hismastcr, ndmcditation.Exercise rovides he soul with thc capacity o approachthe otherworld. Doors opcn up onc altcr thc other.As itsvibrations ccclcrate nd ts spiritual apacities row, hesoulbcgins o trave , goingever urtherout andevcrhigherup. It expericnccshings n sleep hatarebroughtback othe consciouscvcl undcr the fonn of dreams.Befbre ising or turningon thc lights,onemust mmedi-

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If one narratcshis dreams o unqualifiedpersons,hisdreamsmay be ntcrpretcdalsely,which mayhaveanega-tive influenccon thcmaterializationf the dream nto re-ality.What we see n dreamproceeds rom a coded anguage,theknowledgeof which is theprivilegc of thoscwho havecarriedout and concluded he ourney of the soul.Thesearc the masters, hc real mystics,who possesshc key tothe nterpretationf drcams.Themastcradapts is teachingso what the discipleseesin dream.He may givehis disciplea new zikr, addor de-creasc xerciscs, ivc him indications f how to leadhislife, how to avoid dangers, r how to help his fellow hu-mans n difficulty.The master cache his discipleby thedisciple's, reams,which hc complctes ndconfitmswith his own visions.Sheikh Kamel suddenly stops, as if- to make sure that each

person understandsevery word of his speech.After a long lapse ofmeditative silence,he continuesslowly:

You must know that thc lonesomc seeker, he one whogocshis own way,without a teacheror guide, can hardlyget very f-ar.

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tlie basisof extemal,worldly manifestations. pic heroes nainlyseekthrough heirdreams: hey seek heir kings,guides, pouses, ar orreconciliation. urprisingly,n an epic, at least wenty dreamsarernentioned nd commentedupon,followed by the narrationof theirmaterializationn thephysicalworld. Therearecaseswhere wo op-ponents ream he samedreamconcerning third person.They tryto influence eality o their own interests asedon what they haveseen n dream; but in the end they realize that there is no way tochange he courseof the story,alreadycontemplatedn the world ofdream.


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/ t

L,'6n l)

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6TheOld WanderingMusician

On this night, Sheikh Kamel wishes to resume his speech on theimportance of dreams. He recites one of the tales of the Masnavi(Mirkhani / voi. I / p.51):

Onceupona time, herewasan old solitarymusicianwhotravclcd from oneplace o theothcr, iving off the gener-osity of thc peoplewho appreciated is music. He playedthe harpand sang raditionalmelodies hat brought oy tothehearlsof thevillagers.Our troubadourwasagoodman,his heartwaspureand he was happy o exercisehis art.In those imes, Omar, secondcaliph of Islam, ruled theentire Muslim world. He enforceda very strict and dog-matic versionof thc religion, hating whateverwas oyful,espccial ly usic.

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"Oh God, havebeenplayingmusicmy whole ife, goingfrom place o place,andnow that havegrownold,peopledo not want me anymore. I am lonesomeand a strangerhere. What can I do now that no one wants to hear mymusic? am going o sing or You " Takinghis harp,hesang all the songs of his repertoireuntil he was so ex-haustcd hathe fell asleen.

He slept and the bird oJ'hissoul escaped tsprisonLeuving behind hentttsicianand his instrument,It set itsel/.free;Thus, t was setJi'ee./romhe bodvandJree.from hetortures o/-the world;

Roaming n the tmiverseof'tranquilitl,, n the middle of a,spiritual andscape;

His .souln that world said:/-theywould leaveme as I please n this surroundingI would look all around, without needingevesI wouldpick rosesand.flovNers,ithout usinghandsI would travel all over,w'ithoutneeding betor v,ingsI would eat sweets,w,ithoutneedinga mouth or teethI would sit n Zekr and Fekr sessionswith the nhabit-antso/'vonder,w,ithoutbeing.suhjecto headaches nd

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nousperson,who came o him and nstructed im to gathera hundredgold coins,to take them to the cemetery or afriendof God."He hasserved s well, you mustpayhim.""Closing his eyes,carried o//'by sleep,he had a dream.A voicecctme o him /rom God,and his soul heard t.

He hearda voicethat is at the origin oJ'all soundsandvibrations.

This s the trtte voiceand everythingelse s mereno$e,TheKtrrds, the Turks,as weJJ s those who speakPersian.and the Arabs.

Theyall indilJbrently nderstand his voice withoutearsor mouth.[4/hatdoes t say Turks, Tadjiksand AJiicansAnd evenwoodand stonesunderstandwhat this voice

says."Omar awoke very impressed rom the scenehe haddreamed.He gave nstructionso his treasurero fetchone

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Common Language or Collective Memory?Wc cannothelp but notice that long bcfore the birlh ofJungian sychoanalysis, owlanahad spokenof languageknown to all humanity,peoplcof all racesand cultures,all civilizations:a commonor original language, nownevcn to thc sub-atomicparticlesconstituting hc naturalclements. his language,which comes hroughdrcamsfiom the supra-sensible orld, is inaudible.Onehears tdirectly in the head; t doesnot causevibration in the in-nerear.aIn this story,Mowlana raisesa question:

aWhcn we visited hcToulousemicrowaves aboratoryI askedMr.Thourel,now retired:

- "Do you think that the brain's organsbehave ike receptorsofhigh frequencyelectromagneticwavesmodulated n low frequency?"

- "{ss, I think so," he respondcd. "A fcw yearsago' we per-formed estswith radarwavcs, n very high frequencies,modulatedon thefrequencyof 500hertz. Whcn our hcadscrossor intercept heradarbeam,we could pcrceivea very clcar whistle, colrcsponding o the modulationadar

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The prophetsalso havesome nternal notes hat providepriceless ife for thosewho are n searchof it.The sensuous ar doesnot hcar hcscnotes.becauset issoiledby sin.Thc voicc of thc inn [peri] is not perceivedby man, be-causehe is incapable f undcrstandinghe mysteries f.jinn [pcri].Although he voicc of thc inn fpcri] alsobelongs o thisworld. the voiceof theheart s louder.The internalnotesof the saints say, irst, "Oh you, par-ticlesof the nonexistenceTakeheed, aise ourhcadoutof thc"la" ofncgation, ndgiveup this uselessmagination"lf you speak ny of these otes, hesoulswill r iseup fromthegraves.Bring your ear close, or this mclody is not far, but it isnot pcrmittcd to communicatet to you.Thcy say:"This voice s distinct.fromoll voices; esurrectionoJ-thetlead s thedeedo/ Godisvoice."

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As having allcn nto a slumber, nd afterhavingexperi-cnccd hissomchow illcrcnt form of dream.Omarcameto hirnsclf he fclt that he situationwas ul.lusual.Sheikb Karnel stops to be sure his audiencefollows him. Then heresumes:

Thc csson f thisstory s thatwhcnwc do something ithhurnility br Cod, Llodhearsandrewards s.As long asrvc do not f'cil loncly and trapped,God will not rnanif-estIlimsclf'.But whcn here s no solutiott, nd he only wayis to scckGod'sgrace" Ciod s prcsento hclp us.Human easous cssentially ased n thc aw of causality.For eachcause hcrc s an effect,and or eachproblemwctry to l-rnd logicalsolution. lso, cachcft'ecl csults ioma causc. hehurnan cing s limitcd n mindby thisratio-nal lincarity.Thus.anylirnewe find no logical solution,rvc becorncdcspcrate.Wc fbrget that the univcrsc s gov-crncdby othcr aws han hc simplc aw of causalify. orinstancc, hc law ol'scrial, which cscapes ur logic.Weattributet to chance. hich is only a way to designatehelaws hatwc do not know.Let us take he caseof a closcd oom with onedoor andoncu,indow. n principle wc cangetout of the oom onlythrough he door. f wc do not have hc key to this door.

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pected, rrationalway-that, for example,a trapdooropensin theceilingandaropedrops o helpus.This s not "luck,"but the nterference f other aws at work in our universe.Thosewho believe n God and n the supra-sensory orldalsobelicve n active nterventions etween hatworld andours.This is demonstrated y the storyof the ProphetJo-seph n the holy texts of the Bible and Quran, n theMasnavi extsof Mowlana,and also n thc storiesof Biianand Key-Khosrow n the ShahnamehBook OfKings) ofFerdowsi.


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t \-.....-li*r,.Jr )

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/The Post-PhysicalWorld

On the seventhnight of the monthof Ramadan,SheikhKamel con-tinues o addresshesubject f theprevious wo nights.He wants obringhisaudience loser o theunexplored ones f thesupra-sensu-ous universe. irst, he attentively bserveshe facesof the peoplesitting n a circle aroundhim. Hewants o be sure hat hey are eadyto receive is messase. e savs:

Wc havc alrcady spokcn about a ll.orld that comes afterours.Thc world to which the soul goesafter leaving thebody.Occultists,mages, nd otherwould-bespiritualistscall t by differcntnamcs, uchas hc"astral"or "interme-diaryworld." Catholics all t "Purgatory," uddhists allit "Bardo,"andother eligions a ll t "theBeyond." t is aworld inhabitedby spirits, inn. fairies,and dcvils. t isprincipally heworld of thc dcad,whcrccachof uswill goafterphysicaldcath.

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l,vhat ifferent rom the oneswc areused o. For example,timc doesnotexist n theastralworld; oneseconds ike athousand carson Earth.ThroughEinstein's heoryof rela-tivity, lve know that time is subjective.The astralworldalso gnore the deaof distances, ecausen thatworld,the mind has a powcr and reality is foreign to us. In thebcyond, t is enough o think aboutsomeone: hatpersonis thcn facing you. You have only to think about some-thing and t materializes eforeyour cyes.Whcnwe mention heeyes,we mcanof courseheeyes fthc astralbodyIndccd, n addition o thcphysical ody,eachofus hasaninvisibleastralbody,alsocalledasoul.During our Earthlylife, this astralbody s on top of our physicalbody. t willcorneoff when we dic and go into the astralworld to liveits or',,nif'e.The astralbody also has ive senses, daptedto thc world where the soul dwells. Theseastral senses,when hcy arcwell developcdduringthephysical ife, arecalled"sixth sense"and arc rcsponsibleor the visionsand intuitions of clairvoyants; or example, he voiceshcardby Joanof Arc, to cite onefamousexample.Fromhereon. wc will use he word "soul" instead f "as-tral body" or "energcticbody," becausehey all mean hesame.During our lifetime on Earth,we often neglectour

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There s in eachof us a door to the astralor post-physicalworld.This door can be openedand crossedboth ways duringEafihly life, especially n the dreamphase,when we sleep,or during hypnosis or meditation.After death, his doorcloses orever, when the soul has eft the physicalbodythat hasbecomea vehicle orcveruseless.Every night we open this door unconsciouslywhen wedream.We open t one last time when u'e die. Our deathcorrespondso our definitive entry into the astralworld.Our evolutioncontinucson thc other side, n a "place"coresponding o our capacityandnature.The rougheroursoul and he more materialisticour aspirations,he lowerwe rcrnain,very close o the physicalworld. A numberofdeceascd copleneverreally leavc our world. They roamduring a timc, which conesponds o many hundredsofyears for us, aroundthc significant placesof their pastexistence;hcy arc wretchedghosts,still attractedby thethingsof this world. They practicallyhaunt heir earlierhomes.Otherswill rise o variousplainswhere heir eamingandevolutionwill continue,where heywill make hemselvesuscful.Othercreaturcs ill sink nto dense lains,crowdedwith diabolical and criminal creaturcs, o whom they are

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the notion of reincarnations excluded rom all monothe-istic cligions.What heholy booksmention s n fact es-urrection.But there is in every religion a contradictorydcbate among its theologiansabout resurrection.Somethink that on thc Day of Judgment,God will destroyal luniversesand immediatelyrecreate hem the followingrnoment.Thus all souls will return to their elementarybodiesas reward for their past deeds.Other theologiansmaintain hatresurrection asnothing o do with the soul'sretum to thc clementarybody,but that t is rathera returnto thc subtlebody.Theguardians f the temples n Phara-onic Egypt u'rite in The Book o/'theDead that therewillbe a rcsurrectionat the end of time With this prospect nmind, mummification was practiced o allow the soul aneasy eturn o its bodily residence. et, in hieroglyphictcxts,aswell on bas-relicf arvings f the ancientEgyp-tians, he oumey of the soul caving ts deadbody s one-way

SheikhKamel mentions Sumerianscripts,written nearly seven hou-sandyearsago, describing, through the adventuresof Gilgamesh andhis friend Ankidoo, the travels of the soul in the world of the dead.The Sheikh says:

Herc againwe sce that Babylonianwise-menattest othc oumey of thc soul afterdcathasa one-wayourney


escapeorevcr hc cyclc of rebirth,Samsara,epresents

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a transitionof this archaicvision of the world towardsdevelopednysticism.Out of their csotericcontemplations,he mystics havebroughtus rcliablc nformation onccrning ost-physicalworlds.The TibetanBook o/ TheDeatl,or Bardo Thcidol. escribesthe ourney of the soul after death. n spite of a generalconviction, his introductorybook,written by lamas,doesnot describean immediateand systematic eincarnation,buta ourneyol'thesoul n what s called The Six Worldsof Impcrmanence."hisconespondso thephysicalworldaswcll as o thc astralplains nhabited y spirits,angels,dernonsand many othcr crcaturcs.

Sheikh Kamel stops to sip his fragrant tea. He then addressesaudiencewith more enersv:Reincarnationor the return of the soul to a new physicalworld is a theory resulting rom the shamanand amaex-pcr icnccs.Aftcr longascetic ndesoteric ractices,heybecome a-pablcof cntcringa sortof tranceor hypnoticstatewhichallows hcm o exit theirphysicalbody, he rvayeachone

his


identifleshimself with thatperson. nsidehimself he feels


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the experiences nd hepersonalityof thatperson;he feelshimselfbecoming hatperson.Therefore.when he comesback to himself after medita-tion, he s sureof havingbeen hisperson.It is very casy o assimilate his practice o the theory ofrcincamation.The astralexperiences,ived by the souloutsideof thephysicalbody,aremixed up with pastastralexperiences,ived in this world, and one concludeshav-ing lived other ives before his life.In the world of the soul. ime doesnot exist. Pasteventsare lined up next to the most recentevents,without anychronological rder.Thus, n the astralworld, whenyou unconsciouslyhinkabouta historicalperiod, you find yourselfprojected nthatperiod. The events akingplace herewill be lived insomeone's ody with whom we identify duringthe wholeprocessof contemplation.When wc retum from this vi-sion,we naturallybelievc o have ivcd thosescenesn apreceding ifc, very long ago.Yet all this happened n aparallelworld, out of spaceand time."

At this point, Sheikh Kamel wants to emphasizehis message.He

TheTeachingsf a Sufi Msster

spent n the nvisible world, it is possible o identi$, with


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a vcgctalor animal.Yct, supportcrsof thc theoryof systematic eincarnationarguc that thcrc havc beenmany casesof small childrentclling their shocked arents etailedstoriesabout heirprcvious ives. t hasoftenbeenpossibleo verify the ruth-fulness f thcsest


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The Dangers of ldealizing ReincarnationSheikh Kamel takes a break. The subiecthas been dense,but is notyet finished. Some detailsmust be clarified. The Sheikh speaks:

The grcat Sufi mastcrs. uch as SheikhAla-OdolehofSemnan, round hcycar700 of thc Hejira,hasvery firmlyandwithouthcsitation riticized elief n reincarnation sa visionof the world.According o themasters,hispointof vicw is thc rcsult of a falsc nterpretation f the con-templatcd arallelworld.Thcywere ight,bccause uchavisionof the 'uvorldanbecomcpillarsof an active deol-ogy, cplacingn manycircles omcold fashioncddeolo-gics such as Marxistn-Leninism.This philosophymayproduccdrifis towardsncgatir"c flccts.With thisphiloso-phy, thc follower rnay adoptvariouspositions.He mayresignhimsclf o his sadsituation, n thegrounds hatheis purgingbadkarmaaccumulated uringprevious ives.This point of vicw not only ustifies hc caste ystelnaspracticcd n India,but alsoslavery.Or he may consider imselfashaving hc right o do any-thing he pleascs,ncluding hc u'orst exccsses, incchecan makc up for it later. n a future if-e. n ancientChina,where cincamationwasrccognized y all, therewerecases

TheTeachirtgsf a SufiMoster

Sohravardy, assir-EdinTussi.Aviccnna,cxplain he aws


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that governbirth, lifc on Flarth,and death.They refer tothc continuityof the ourncy of the soul afterdcath.Ac-cording o thesesources, fterdeath,each ndividual e-mainsat the stagewherehis soulwasduringhis physicallife. Howcver,he will bc able o developandprogrcssfhe s in contactwith a superior pirit who hasenoughspiri-tual power to draw him up, towardshighcrvibrations.

The One-way of the Two DoorsSheikh Kamel proposes a comparison - the one-way flow of bloodin the heart cavities. Then he rehrms to the main subject:

According o thcsc cxts, he materialworld is one-way,with two doors. Onc door, coming from the pre-physicalworld, s thc entrance, nd he otherdoor, o thepost-physi-calworld, s theexit.Between hcse wo doors, heevolu-tion of the soul s a one-way ransformation.Spiritualen-crgy flows in a one-waychannel,under he forcesof theinvisible world, without everretumingto the source,ustlike a streamwhere watcr ncvcr flows backwards.The post-physicalworld is very vast, madeof variousplains that never cross one anotherand that are stacked

100 TheTeachingsf a SufiMsster

mal impulses, t will be attracted pwards, owardshigher


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vibrations,by the elcctromagneticorccs of the invisibleworld - like a balloon flying in the sky.A "middlc" soul, neither oo heavynor too light, neithervery materialistnor very spiritual which is thecascwithmost of us - will stayclose o the Earth and to thevibra-tions of this world for an indefinite ime; it will float likeanempty bottleon theoccanandroam around like a sadsoul" until it somehorv rowsundcr he nfluenceof othcrspirits rying to help it realizc its situationandthe possi-bilit iesopen o it.

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8The Pre-PhysicalWorld

It is the eighth night and the Sheikh prepares o resume his teachings.He wants to say everything, within the capabilities and learning ca-pacities of each member of his audience.This night is dedicated toexplanations of the pre-physical world. He begins thus:

In opposition o thepost-physicalworld, which is enrichedwith diverseexistences nd evolutionsof all creaturesn-habiting that world, the pre-physicalworld is of a verydifferentnature. t is aworld of potentialities, f elementsin the utmost simple stateof existence, n a stateof la-tency before heir manifestationn thephysicalworld.This world is like a sourceof the clearestandpurestwa-ter.When they move to the materialworld, these elementsbecomecomplex.Their potential s activated,ust like a

702 TheTeochingsf a Sufi Master

the trec,photosynthesis ccurs, he tree evolves.The trcc


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will neverbccotneseedagain; ts evolution s irrevers-ible.The samc s true br humanbeings.Thisprc-physicalworld possessesone-waydooropen-ing to thematerialworld where he soulsdevelopasphysi-cal bodies.

The Broken TabooThe Sheikh stops. He feels he has said everything about the journeyof the soul through the three layers of existence.But instead of con-cluding, he begins a new discussion,as though he wished to bringthe audience o at tent ion.

The considcration f thc soul and questions elating odeathhavc progressed greatdeal ovcr thc centuries. nancientEgypt, for instancc,deathrvasa part of peoplesdaily ives.Eastof the iverNile was hecity of thc iving,and he necropolis,he city of thc dead,was wcst of therivcr Nile, on the sidc of the settingsun.There were ccr-ernonies,suggesting hc transition of thc soul from thcphysicalworld to thc invisible vorld,and his was sym-bol ized by crossing he Ni le in a small boat. Manyhieroglyphsshow he ourney of the soulafter death.The


When the inevitablemoment comes,everybody s desta-

103


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bilized,because o one s prepared or thcjourney ofthesoul.Theonewho dies inds himself n a situationsimilarto the one who mustgo out in winter but hasno adequateclothing for the season; e suffersand s distressed. lso,those who remain behind suffer, because hey have notbeenpreparedo confront his situation.For them,separa-tion is distressful,and they haveno hope of ever seeingthe deceased gain.It is not a questionof believing or not believing in thesurvival of the soul: hosewho cannotsee he nvisible donot want to hearor acceptwhat the mysticssay, hosewhoarecapable f going,atwill, to the otherword. Their logicis: "I have no eyes; herefore do not want to openmyears." That'sa strangeogicYet everymoming, beforegoing out, everyone istens othe weather orecast even f thenationalweather orecastis wrong every other day ). Sometimes,we open hewin-dow to get an idea of theweather,beforewearing he ap-propriateclothes.But when it comes o questionsof theotherworld, thebeyond,and o the conditionswe arego-ing to find there,nobody cares o know, as if there wereno way to find out.Peoplebehaveas f theywere to live on this Earth or the


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105


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9EscapingDeath

On the ninth night of the month of Ramadan Sheikh Kamel recitesone of the Masnavi (/ed. Mirkhani / vol. I I p.26.) tales concerningthose who do not want to accept the reality of things:

One day a man came o Salomon,palewith anxiety.Salomonaskshim "what is it?"The man said; "Today Azraiil (the Archangel of death)hasgivenme a bad look, full of hatred.Salomonasked: What do you want?"The man said:"Tell the wind to carryme to India."Salomonordered he wind to carry the man immediately

106 TheTeachitrgsf a SufiMsster


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SuicideThe Prophetof Islam said:"Dic beforedeath akesyouaway"(haclith itedby MuslcmandBakri andSanaii/Di-vanQassayed).ccording o theologians,nterpretersndmystics, hissentence lludes o theprincipleof essentialevolution.Because hc human being is a creaturewhodcvclops nd surpassestself.he s the only "aninral"ca-pableof controllingts nstinctive rivcs o allowhis spiritto rnovc towardsperfection. n fact, thc human being iscomposed f an existencc ndanesscnce. he attcr s anevolvingreality.At any moment an individualmay be-comea d

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