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Another Great Anti-Matters Issue
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The Stumbling Mystic

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I'm a devotee of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother from Islamabad, Pakistan, who is currently doing a Master's in cognitive psychology in New York.

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At 1:24pm on January 29, 2009, Zakariyya said…: Hey Ned, how are you. I hope your doing fine in school.

I am finishing up my new book. An occult novel about magic and the hidden hierarchy [ illuminati]
called
Magic in the City

You want t help me edit it like you did the last book?

Zak

At 6:41pm on August 26, 2008, Zakariyya said…: Dear Ned

I was just worried about you. I am glad everything is alright.

Remember, I am always here if you need any assistance.

Blessings and Happiness

Zak

At 5:09am on June 20, 2008, Zakariyya said…: Hey Ned, how is it going. Send me a note

At 1:23pm on May 9, 2008, Zakariyya said…: Hi Ned,

It’s great to hear from you. I hope your schooling is going well, and wish you a great vacation.

Regarding the Book:

I can’t believe you mentioned proof reading my book. My publisher just last night sent me the final draft for me to go over and approve; now that is synchronicity!

I would be glad to have you read it, though you don’t have to do the proof read, since I am going to complete it this weekend.

What I could ask of you is to look over the two different press releases I am doing now, and have your opinion.

One release is somewhat bold in my claims, and the other a bit more sober.

Some points of clarification on my book:

First it is not about Sufism per, se, though I include Sufi concepts in it, as well as other esoteric doctrines.

My book is a new mystical cosmology I am presenting to the world that unveils secrets about the soul, and the universe.

Here is what the print on the cover is:

The Ellipse: The Fall and Rise of the Human Soul
Secrets of the Cosmos

Journey into the Soul, the Apocalypse, and the Destiny of Humankind

If you like you can give me an email link and I will send you an attachment of the front and back cover, and that will give you an idea about the book. Also as I said you are welcome to read the entire final draft, as I have 98 percent of it proofread, and you can read it as you like.

or Send me a email at
Vze2f4b6@verizon.net and I will be glad to send over the materials for you to look at. or at Zak247@netzero.net

I don’t want to put it yet on this site,[ the cover that is] until it comes out in late May or June, then I will put a link of the cover with the places for the folks to buy an e-book copy or the book from Amazon, BNB or wherever.

Looking forward to hear from you
Zak

At 8:06pm on February 5, 2008, Zakariyya said…: Hi Ned

I have been through much of what you are going through, save the fact that my parents didn’t believe in any religion so I have no pressures in that regard.

Just follow your conscience, that’s all that matters.

I am in Orange N,J 20 minutes from NY. I am an IT person. I service all the PC’S in the school system of Jersey’s biggest city, Newark. NY is my second home, or third after Wash DC.

I know the Jerrahis, many of my friends were in that order. They know the Sheikia very well, and knew Sheik Nur very well, btw that lady is one of the richest women in the world, as well as a wonderful person.

The Nimatullah is my order,. I rarely go there anymore though, but would recommend it.
I also go to Adnan Sirhan, he is the heir to the Rapidness order, that Sheik mixed somewhat yogic exercises with Sufic ones. If you go to the Nimatullah, say you know Zakariyya, to the top guy there Paul, a great guy.

Understand this. There will be differences amongst even the mystical people, one should not have too idealized notions that these people are perfect, they are not. Though when they do dispute, you won’t see the disputes getting as negative as the average religious folks get.

You will learn and see these things for yourself

Its all about
Learning how to learn.

In Love and light
Zak

At 4:36pm on February 5, 2008, Zakariyya said…: Your Questions

I've been busy with work at school, but have been wanting to start up a brief discussion with you on Sufism. Here are a couple of questions that I really wanted your feedback on.

For starters, what exactly is the relationship between the Islamic Sufis and the universalist Sufis? Do they talk to each other at all, or do Islamic Sufis just see the latter as heretics and deviants?

My comment:
Some Islamic Sufis are very Islamic.. There is somewhat a conflict between them and the non-Islamic Sufis, but nothing serious in my experience, they just go their separate ways. I have been in-between these conflicts, they do exist, but are no big thing in my opinion. No body ever gets too serious about it, they just, as a Sufi, practice their own conscience.

You will find disagreement between the “ greats” . I myself was mystified when I noticed this at one point. But it no longer bothers me because, I no longer think any of them know more than me, or my idealization of them is long over.

I personally no longer associate with super exoteric Sufis, and certainly not the non-Sufi ordinary Muslims. However, I do have a thirty-year history in this environment, so you have asked the right person about these issues.
.
There are levels of Islamic Sufis. Some are very orthodox, and some are less so. For example, the order I have had association with, the Nimatullah[ Shia order ] order is a Islamic order, but very liberal. They don’t car much about the extreme exoteric. The Master there—Dr Javad Nurbaksh-- use to tell us: mind to your own soul, that we should look to our own problems and not worry about other peoples spiritual condition. This is the flaw of these exoteric Muslims, imposing their beliefs on others.

Also, the Sufi foundation of America [ http://www.sufifoundation.org/] the people are great and the Sheik is dynamite, Adhnan Sirhan, he often comes to NY and gives workshops. These people don’t care about what one practices, they just do the exercises and go their separate ways. Some of the people[ mostly the men] make Salat, some don’t, nobody bothers you one way or the other.

On the other hand there are Sufis that are very Sunni conscious such as some Naqshabandi Sufis, Tajani and some of the Jerrahi[ the Turkish side] who are not associated with the Ashki Jerrahi, [http://www.nurashkijerrahi.org/ ]who have a Female Sheika that leads them.

There is a page that does a good job of giving a good description of Islamic Sufis, and non Islamic Sufis. But some of these are in between, and are very liberal, though somewhat Islamic. http://www.uga.edu/islam/sufismresources.html

Your Question
Secondly, why is there such a resistance among the most sophisticated Islamic thinkers to evolutionary thought? Seyyed Hossein Nasr for instance really dislikes Sri Aurobindo and Teilhard de Chardin, etc., and is vehemently anti-evolutionary (both in the biological and the spiritual sense). But this makes no sense to me, as by all accounts it seems like evolution plays an important role in Rumi's metaphysics.

My comment
These religious scholars don’t know much in my opinion. He Nasr looks to me just to be a religious philosophical scholar, though I really don’t know much about him.

One of my favorite Sufis the Late Idries Shah[ he wrote the great book "The Sufis" use to always be bothered by those types. They would criticize him because he didnt mention God enough!

As for evolution, it is true some Sufis who may be overly exoteric and don’t care much for evolution, but it is without a doubt Sufis such as Rumi, Ibn Arabi, Omar Kayyam, and modern Sufis, like Idries Shah believed in evolution. Rumi sad this: paraphrase: " once we were rocks, then fish, animals then humans, and one day will be Angels, and even go beyong that"

I personally as you may have read, believe in spiritual evolution, and scientific evolution though don’t believe that evolution is directly tied to enlightenment existentially, as Andrew Cohen and Wilber do.

I no longer worry about these guys, since I don’t look at a person as wise just because they are popular, and have a lot of degrees like Nasr, or have a lot of followers like Cohen and Wilber.

An old Sufi Aphorism says:

There are two kinds of Sages, one made by the world, and one made by God[ reality]

Your Question
Lastly, what do you think of the emerging traditionalist Muslim leadership in North America? I'm speaking here of course of the founders of the Zaytuna Institute and similar individuals, e.g. Shaykh Abdal-Hakim Murad, Shaykh Nuh Ha Mim Keller, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, and so on. From the little I have read of these writers, they strike me -- despite the outward Sufi label -- as being just as fundamentalist as anyone else, only it's fundamentalism couched in more sophisticated intellectual language and taught in an almost world-negating way at times (i.e. this "dunya" is temporary and so it doesn't matter).

I really look forward to hearing from you on this. As I told you I grew up Muslim, but after a period of atheism arrived at Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. However, I do not want to abandon my Muslim background, and I am seeking initiation into a Sufi Order here in New York. I also have some ego-wounds related to Islam in its outer manifestation -- both as a woman and as a person who has struggled with homosexual attraction -- and I want to work on healing those ego-wounds and make my peace with my past.

My Comment

God bless you, don’t feel guilty at all what you are, God made you what you are!
If I told you of my past [ and I wont tell you, at least here] you wouldn’t believe it, so you are not alone, dear!

Your comment

For Sri Aurobindo's part, he always spoke highly of Prophet Muhammad and of Sufism, and Hazrat Inayat Khan was actually friends with the Mother during her days as a saloniere in Paris. In fact Sri Aurobindo wrote to one of his Muslim devotees to tell him that he had no problems with him using Islamic symbolism or practicing Sufi yogas -- the only reason he himself used Hindu symbolism was because he knew Sanskrit and did not know Persian or Arabic. So I experience no contradiction here between the integral yoga and my seeking initiation into a Sufi Order. In any event Sri Aurobindo's yoga starts where all the others end, and I'm happy to receive Light and wisdom from wherever I can.

My Comment

Listen, the orders I mentioned wouldn’t care at all what other associations you had, or any sexual preferences, believe me I know this. Some of the exoteric Sufis indeed are struck with the religious disease of worrying about other peoples beliefs, and lifestyles.

But the Ninmtullah order, the Sufi foundation of America, Nur Ashki and many others are not at all like some externalist Sufis.

Sufi groups are really not that strict at all. You come and do the practice or you don’t there is no compulsion or pressure. It’s about personal gnosis, not any social or society pressure to spread the word or anything like that.

One gets out of it what they put in it. Real Sufis never proselytize much, but they will tell someone about it if they ask.

Finally, I wouldn’t worry about those externalists. They are all right people, but lack true understanding, tolerance, and knowledge of the esoteric aspect of religion. That is to their detriment.

Real Yoga, such as that practiced and taught by Sri Aurobindo, Pantanjali of ancient times, Deepak Chopra, and many others is THE SAME THING AS REAL SUFISM! I personally practice exercises I have learned from Sufism, Yoga, and other traditions.

I hope that answeres your questions. Please feel free to ask me whatever you like.

Also, feel free to tell me about your past, and present. I would be very happy to know, of course only if you feel comfortable.

Peace and blessings

Zak

At 2:31pm on February 5, 2008, Zakariyya said…: Hi Ned,

I apologize, I haven’t really been around this site much, therefore didn’t even know you sent these questions, I will be glad to answer. Give me a little while I will answer all of them.

Zak

At 1:20am on January 29, 2008, sunyalila said…: Dear Ned,

Thank you for adding the light of your presence to my page and to our world!

To answer your question, Sri Aurobindo and the Mother have been and continue to be strong influences and forces in my life. I lived at the ashram in Pondicherry for the year of 1998 and taught ballet (with a yogic and metaphysical approach) to the ashramites and ashram school children there - and to the dance company in Auroville.

I enjoyed reading your introduction and book recommendations and look forward to your further offerings.

Om shanti satchidananda,

Love and namaste,

Ellen

At 9:30pm on January 28, 2008, BrightAbyss~ said…: love the new page look! and the recent comments - please keep them coming...

namaste~

At 5:09am on January 27, 2008, Zakariyya said…: Dear Ned,

Thanks for your comments. I would be delighted to hear from you anytime on any subject you wish to talk about. Sri Aurobindo’s work I am not too versed in but would love to learn.

I like and admire Alan, a guy I think is one of the most intelligent Integralist around.

I grew up in the streets of Newark NJ, My fathers mother was a Moorish American [ a sect of Islam, follower of Noble Drew Ali]

I of course believed in nothing until I became Muslim at 18, then Sufi at 24. Now I am an Integral Mystic, willing to do anything to know God[ just about anything that is]

My associations with Sufism: I am a member of the Nimatullah Sufi order, Rapidness Order with Adhnan Sirhan, a very powerful, and gracias man, and Hermetic Order. And an admirer of Sayeed Idries Shah, one of the poles of this age.

I don’t know much about Zia, though love and admire his lineage master, Hazrat Inyat Khan, another pole of our age.

Feel free to email me at zak247@netzero.net

Peace, and blessings
Zakariyya