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The quotes of Others Sufis Teaching

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T o become a saint of God, you must covet nothing in this world or the next and you must give yourself entirely to God and turn your face to Him. To desire this world is turning away from God for the sake of what is transitory. To covet the next world means turning away from God for the sake of what is everlasting.

quote 3004 | Others Sufis Teaching
Ibrahim Adham, Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.182

B efore the time of Prayer comes, the servant must be in a state of preparation and his attitude must be that which is essential for prayer, namely, a state of meditation and recollection, free-from wandering thoughts and consideration or remembrance of anything save God alone. Those who enter in this way upon prayer, with heart intent only upon God, will proceed from prayer to prayer in that same state of recollection and will remain in that state after they have ceased to pray.

quote 3003 | Others Sufis Teaching
al-Sarraj, Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.159

T he disciple's attempt to purify the heart is like the person ordered to uproot a tree. However much he reflects and struggles to do so, he is unable. So he says to himself, "I'll wait until I'm more powerful and then uproot it." But the longer he waits and leaves the tree to grow, the larger and stronger it becomes while he only becomes weaker, and its uprooting becomes more difficult.

quote 3002 | Others Sufis Teaching
Abu'Uthman al-Maghribi, Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.156

W e must always be in a state of preparation. Preparation is the art of staying awake. If you are awake, then one day you may see into the real world. You cannot expect to come into that world if you walk around like a sleepwalker in a dream. You cannot wake up by reading books that tell you you are asleep. You may not even wake up just because a teacher tells you that you are asleep. You can only wake up if you want to, and so begin to work on yourself to cut away all the rubbish in order to come upon the nature of who and what you are.

quote 3001 | Others Sufis Teaching
Reshad Field, Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.154

M aturity cannot be achieved alone. There is a need for guidance and discipline. The path is unknown, the night is dark, and the road is full of danger. Dangers include preoccupation with selfishness, false visions, misinterpretations of mystical states, arrest in development, fixation in a particular state, appeal to various drugs to create false mystical experiences, and, not infrequently, overwhelming anxiety and insanity.

quote 3000 | Others Sufis Teaching
Mohammed Shafii, Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.136

S hems asked a sheikh, "What are you doing.
I am looking at the moon's reflection in this lake" replied the sheikh.
"Why don't you look directly at the sky? Are you so blind that you do not see the true object in all you contemplate?"
Shems'reply had such an effect on the sheikh that he asked Shems to accept him as his disciple.
"You do not have the strength to bear my company," replied Shems.
'The strength is within me," said the sheikh. "Please accept me.
"Then bring me a pitcher of wine, and we will drink together in the Baghdad market.'
Fearing public opinion (because alcohol is forbidden by Islam), the sheikh replied, 'I cannot do this"
Shems shouted, "You are too timid for me. You haven't the strength to be among the intimate friends of God. I seek only those who know how to reach the Truth.'

quote 2999 | Others Sufis Teaching
Shems Tabrizi, Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.132

L et the eye of your heart be opened that you may see the spirit and behold invisible things.
If you set your face toward the region where Love reigns, you will see the whole universe laid out as a rose garden. What you see, your heart will wish to have, and what your heart seeks to possess, that you will see. If you penetrate to the 'middle of each mote in the sunbeams, you will find a sun within.
Give all that you possess to Love. If your spirit is dissolved in the flames of Love, you will see that Love is the alchemy for spirit.
You will journey beyond the narrow limitations of time and place and will pass into the infinite spaces of the Divine World. What ear has not heard, that you will hear, and what no eye has seen, you shall behold. Finally, you shall be brought to that high Abode, where you will see One only, beyond the world and all worldly creatures. To that One you shall devote the love of both heart and soul until, with the eye that knows no doubt, you will see plainly that "One is and there is nothing save God alone.'

quote 2998 | Others Sufis Teaching
Ahmad Hatif, Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.123

T ruth has been planted in the center of your heart, entrusted to you by God for safekeeping. It becomes manifest with true repentance and with true effort. Its beauty shines on the surface when you remember God and do the dhikr [recitation of Divine Names]. At the first stage you recite the name of God with your tongue; then, when your heart becomes alive, you recite inwardly with the heart.

quote 2982 | Others Sufis Teaching
Abdul Qadir al-Jilani, Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.103

F asting is a way to save on food. Vigil and prayer is a labor for old folks. Pilgrimage is an occasion for tourism. To distribute bread in aims is something for philanthropists. Fall in love: That is doing something!

quote 2981 | Others Sufis Teaching
Ansari, Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.102

I hold you in my heart.
I rock and sing you to sleep.
You are everywhere in everyone,
he holy baby in all of us,
that plays there.

The beautiful one,
born when we love,
the glowing child.

You are the meaning that blooms in the heart.

quote 2978 | Others Sufis Teaching
Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.99

A t a court banquet, everyone was sitting according to their rank, waiting for the king to appear. A simply dressed man came in and took a seat above everyone else. The prime minister demanded that he identify himself.
"Are you the adviser of a great king?
'No, I rank above a royal adviser."
"Are you a prime minister?"
"No, I outrank a prime minister."
"Are you a king in disguise?"
'No, I am above that rank as well.'
"Then you must be God,' the prime minister said sarcastically.
'No, I am above that.'
"There is nothing above God!" shouted the prime minister.
The stranger replied calmly, "Now you know me. That nothing is me.'

quote 2927 | Others Sufis Teaching
Traditional, Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.250

H e who is intimate with worldly wealth will find his intellect destroyed; he who is intimate with people will become lonely; he who is intimate with work will be preoccupied; and he who is intimate with God will attain union.

quote 2904 | Others Sufis Teaching
Shibli, Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.83

T rue knowledge comes through the light of certainty, by which God enlightens the heart. Then, you will behold the things of the spiritual world, and by the power of that light all the veils between you and that world will be removed.

quote 2901 | Others Sufis Teaching
al-Antaki, Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.80

O ne day I was carrying something disgusting in my hands. My companions imagined I was carrying it with the intention of mortifying my soul because in their eyes I was much too lofty to stoop to carrying such a thing. They told this to my sheikh, who then questioned me. I replied that it was simply that I saw that God did not disdain to create such a thing. How then was I to disdain to carry it?

quote 2899 | Others Sufis Teaching
Ibn al-Imad Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.77

H abib had one cloak that he used to wear both summer and winter. One day, when he went out of his house to make ablutions, he left his cloak behind on the road. Hasan al-Basri came by and saw Habib's cloak lying in the middle of the road. He thought to himself, "Habib has left his cloak; may God forbid that someone take it. " Hasan stood there and watched over the coat until Habib returned. When Habib arrived, he greeted Hasan and said, "0 Iman of the Muslims, what are you doing standing there?" Hasan exclaimed, "Don't you know that your coat should not be left here? Someone might take it. Tell me, in whom were you trusting leaving it here?" Habib replied, In He who appointed you to watch over it.'

quote 2895 | Others Sufis Teaching
Al-‘Ajami, Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.75

T he lower self is like a thief who sneaks into your house at night to steal whatever is valuable and worthwhile. You cannot fight this thief directly, because it will mirror whatever force you bring against it. If you have a gun, the thief will also have a gun. If you have a knife, the thief will have a knife as well. Tol struggle with the thief is to invite disaster. So, what can you do?
The only practical solution is to turn on the light. The thief, who is a coward at heart, will then run out. How do we turn on the light? Through the practice of remembrance, awareness, and heedfulness.

quote 2892 | Others Sufis Teaching
Sheikh Tosun Bayrak, Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.71

C ontinuous attention to God [remembrance] produces the gradual transmutation of the attributes of the lower self into the Attributes of God.

quote 2891 | Others Sufis Teaching
Nurbakhsh, Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.71

O ne way to train the lower self is to resist its desires. However, if wish to resist, we know that we must not resist by opposing or suppressing it; for when we do, it will rear up somewhere else, seeking gratification of its desires.

quote 2890 | Others Sufis Teaching
Traditional, Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.71

T hose who are controlled by the lower self must serve it; those who control the lower self serve others.

quote 2889 | Others Sufis Teaching
Traditional, Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.71

T hose who are dead to their lower selves are alive with God.

quote 2888 | Others Sufis Teaching
Traditional, Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.71

I f you treat your lower self with affection, you will never be saved from it.

quote 2887 | Others Sufis Teaching
Traditional, Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.71

T he lower self prevents you from remembering God.

quote 2886 | Others Sufis Teaching
Traditional, Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.70

A s long as your lower self rules your heart, you will never lose your love of this world.

quote 2885 | Others Sufis Teaching
Traditional, Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.70

W hen you commit a sin but do not carry the pleasure of it with you, that is repentance. There is not so much harm in the act of sinning as in the desire and thought of it: the act is but momentary and passing, whereas the desire is continuous. It is one thing when the body indulges in a pleasurable act for an hour and an entirely different thing when the mind and heart chew on it endlessly.

quote 2880 | Others Sufis Teaching
Bushanja, Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.59

W hy lock up the stable after the horses are stolen? What is the use? You enjoyed the world until you became old and infirm. Now you say the world is unreal. Now you say you will find God-what is the use?

quote 2876 | Others Sufis Teaching
Oral teaching, Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.58

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