Volume
Social Gathekas
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5. Different Schools of Sufism
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Sub-Heading
Ancient Tradition
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Social Gathekas
5. Different Schools of Sufism
Ancient Tradition
Sufism is the old school of quietism; the ancient school of wisdom which has been the origin of many cults of a mystical and philosophical nature. As the origin of all the occult and mystical schools has been the ancient school of Egypt, so Sufism has always represented that school, and has worked out its destiny in the realm of quietude.
From this school of Sufism came four schools. - The first was the Nakhshibandia, which worked with symbolism, ritualism and ceremony.
- The second was the Kadaria, which taught wisdom in the realm of the existing religion of the East.
- The third was the Soharvardia, which taught the mystery of life by the knowledge of metaphysics and the practice of self-control.
- The fourth was the Chistia, which represented the spiritual idea in the realm of poetry, music, etc.
From these schools many branches sprang forth in Arabia, Turkey, Tartary, Russia, Turkestan. Bokhara, Afghanistan, India, Siberia, and other parts of Asia. With the different schools the ideal remained the same, but the method was different.
The main ideal of the Sufi school has been to attain that perfection which Jesus Christ taught in the Bible: "Be ye perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect."
The method of the Sufis has always been that of self-effacement, but the effacement of which self? Not of the real self, but of the false self (on which one depends, priding oneself on being something) in order to allow that real self to manifest in the world of appearances. Thus the Sufi method works toward the unfoldment of the soul, the self which is eternal, to which all power and beauty belong.
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