2

What Is Sufism?

A brief overview of Sufism and how it relates to yoga philosophy and Buddhism...also: dualism vs. nondualism.
2

A few terms brought up in the video:

Sufism: A mystical tradition focused on direct connection to God. While it is culturally connected to Islam, it transcends Islam and many Sufi organizations are non-Islamic or “Universalist” in nature.

Rumi: Arguably the most famous Sufi poet (at least in the West), known for romantic poetry that is actually about worshipping God as the “beloved.”

Hazrat Inayat Khan: An Indian Sufi who founded the Universal Sufism tradition.

Shaykh/Shaykha: Spiritual leader of a Sufi group (tariqa). A Shaykha is a female Shaykh, rare in Sufism and forbidden in many Islamic countries.

Tariqa: Sufi group/lineage.

Dervish: Member of a Sufi tariqa, spiritual mystic, and often described in folklore as a poor wanderer.

Whirling Dervish: A dervish who practices the ecstatic dance that involves moving around in a circle.

Murshid: Sufi teacher.

Murid (Mureed): Sufi student.

Nafs: Ego attachments to the material world that block our connection to God. (However, we do need some nafs in order to function in the world,)

Zikr: “Remembrance” of God (Allah) by chanting God’s divine names.

Bayat: Taking an oath or “promise” with a Shaykh to join a Sufi tariqa. Bayat should not involve a fee.

Dualism: A spiritual philosophy recognizing a Godhead that may be separate or “above” creation.

Nondualism: A philosophy that all is one and that we are God (collectively).

Law of Attraction: A belief that we create everything we experience through our thoughts, emotions, and “vibrations.”

Chitta Vritti Nirodha: Sanskrit, from the Yoga Sutras, which means “calming the fluctuations of the mind,” which is the way authentic yoga connects us with God.

Ishvara Pranidhana: Surrendering the self to God, also from the Yoga Sutras. Some yoga teachers unfortunately try to take God out of this teaching and claim the phrase is more of a vanilla concept of surrendering or letting go, but the original intent of the Yoga Sutras was to teach students how to release ego attachments and connect with God, which in essence is also what Sufism is about.

Sufis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Tip Jar

2 Comments
Authors
Stephanie B.