The word Sufi itself is significant in its meaning, since it comes from Sophos or Sophia, which means Wisdom. This is not Wisdom in the sense that everybody understands; for in our everyday language, we confuse intellect with wisdom. Wisdom is not only intellectuality. It is that knowledge that comes from within, combined with intellectuality. Sufism, therefore, has never been in any period of history a religion of a certain creed; it has always been the essence of every religion and of all religions. When it was given to the world of Islam, the great Sufis presented it in Muslim terminology. So, whenever the Sufi Ideal is presented to a certain people, in order to make it intelligible to those people it has been presented in the realm of their own understanding.
Now coming to the principal points, Sufism is not necessarily a dogma or a doctrine; it is neither a form nor a ceremony. This does not mean that a Sufi does not make use of a doctrine, of a dogma, of a ritual, or a ceremony. We make use of these things, but we are free from them. It is neither dogma or doctrine or ceremony or ritual that makes a Sufi a Sufi. It is Wisdom alone that is the property of the Sufi, all other things they use for their convenience, their benefit. A Sufi is not against any creed, any doctrine, any dogma, any ritual or ceremony. To be against a creed or religion is to be apart. A Sufi is not even against the person who has no belief in God or spirit, for a Sufi has a respect for human beings. The God of the Sufi is the God of all, your Ideal, your very being. The Christ of the Sufi is your Ideal, therefore for a Sufi no one’s saviour is foreign. For you see the beauty and greatness and the perfection of a human being in one Ideal. Therefore, you do not mind if that ideal is called by one person Buddha, by another person Krishna, by yet another Mohammed. Name makes little difference for the Sufi. Your Ideal does not belong to history or tradition; your ideal belongs to the sacred sentiment of your heart.
So how can the Sufi dispute and compare the ideals of the different creeds from historical and traditional points of view? These creeds have been disputed in vain without making any impression upon one another. The idea of the Lord, the Lord in the form of a person, is the outcome of the deepest sentiment of devotion of the heart. An ideal like this cannot be disputed and argued about, and compared. A Sufi therefore, considers the less spoken on the subject the better, as one has respect for that one Ideal, which is called by different people by different names.
To a Sufi, life, human nature, the natural world, all that is a revelation, all that is a sacred scripture. Does that mean that a Sufi does not look upon the sacred scriptures held in esteem by humanity with respect? No, on the contrary, the Sufi holds them to be as sacred as the followers of those scriptures do. Only, the Sufi says that all scriptures are different interpretations of that one scripture, which is before us constantly as an open book if we could read it and understand it.
The object of the Sufi’s worship is Beauty. Not only the beauty of form and color and line, but also beauty in all its aspects, from the gross to fine. The moral for the Sufi is the understanding of harmony—the ways they can harmonize with their soul, how they can harmonize with their fellow brothers and sisters. Instead of labelling one action a sin, another action a virtue, instead of arguing on the subject of the right and wrong of certain actions, the Sufi trains themself as a musician trains the ear, to see what is harmonious and what lacks harmony within themself, and in dealing with others. It is this continual development of understanding the law of harmony that produces in the Sufi that goodness we call divine.
Harmony is the sign of life. And what is life? Life, in poetic words, may be called love. The loveless heart may have all the religion, all the knowledge, and yet it is dead. As the Bible says, “God is Love.” God is in the heart of humanity, and the heart of a person is the highest heaven. When that heart is closed by the absence of love, then God is closed. When this heart is open, God is open, and the person is living from that time onward. For action and conscience is the guide for a Sufi, seeking continually for justice. No doubt a Sufi’s way of looking for justice is different from the way that others adopt. For the idea of others is to examine whether another person treated them justly or unjustly. In this way, justice is sought by every soul, though the soul seems to have kept far away from the true justice. The Sufi, therefore, understands one justice: whether I have been just, whether I can be just, whether I can satisfy myself with my action. With this sense of justice, a Sufi is pleased, and that is their path.
Now coming to the question, “What is a person’s highest aim?” A person’s highest aim is to probe the depth of life that they might penetrate through that veil that keeps humanity ignorant of life’s secret. A person considers the greatest happiness to be in this attainment. It is in this seeking for God that a person realizes truth. In this truth, a person finds the peace that is the yearning of every soul.
Now I want to explain in a few words the mission and the work of the Sufi Movement in the world. Do we intend to do away with wars? Do we intend to disarm the whole world? Do we intend to make the whole world one nation? Do we intend to make the whole humanity the followers of one religion? Do we intend to make all people spiritual? Do we try to make all people wise? We would be the first people to accuse ourselves for such a presumption. The world is as it is. The many different institutions and movements are working in whatever way they think would be the best thing for humanity.
Our work is a humble service to God and humanity. The work is to call our friends to a right attitude, an attitude that will bring different results. We are not working for any particular result; we are working for the cause that will produce results. If the attitude will not change, even when better results are brought about, the attitude will not last. Therefore, there are no doctrines, dogmas or principles that we force upon people. Our work is only to present an attitude that is a natural attitude, one that every soul from its depth is seeking, an attitude that is not new to human nature. The Sufi Movement therefore, is a group of friends, belonging to different religions, different nations, different races, who have united in wisdom, in understanding, to serve at this juncture. The only source of protection from which we draw energy and courage is the one Source, the Source in Whose service we devote our lives.
December 7, 1923
CW 1923, Vol. II. pp. 873-875.
To be circulated among the Candidates for Initiation into the Sufi Order
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