Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Sufism and Approaching the Quran

How does Sufism approach the Quran? Let's examine three questions:

Question: What is the best way to approach the Qur’an?

The Rose Crescent has always taught that the key to understanding the Qur’an is within each individual. Each verse of the Holy Qur'an has 18,000 meanings, depending on three factors: (a) what level of the cosmos you are in (e.g. earth, paradise, heaven, hell, etc); (b) who you are (e.g. angel, jinn, human, etc.); and – intertwined with the above two factors - what your spiritual/psychological disposition is. If your station is Ego (Maqam an-Nafs) then one will surely find war, judgment, intolerance, exclusion and hell fire reflected back to you. But if you have moved to the next station, the station of the Heart (Maqam-al-Qalb), then you will find love, peace and compassion reflected back to you. . Imagine what one, such as Rabia, Rumi or Hallaj, would find at even higher stations when meditating upon the Holy Kitab?

Question: How can my station influence my understanding of the Qur'an?

Every time we encounter a sacred kitab (book), whether it is the Torah, the Bagadvagita or the Qu'ran, one discovers - not the text - but the light within oneself. Sacred kitabs are like mirrors, reflecting both the light of the Spirit and the light or darkness of oneself. The scriptures we read today will mean something different to us tomorrow. From our perspective, the text is in a state of constant flux, influenced by our station, our state of mind, our culture, etc.

Question: How does the Qur’an relate to the chakra system?

The human body has seven main chakras. Each chakra governs a particular state of being. In addition, each of these chakras are part of the bigger system of stations. Our understanding of the world depends on our awareness. Each chakra serves as a hermenutical lens. Thus, depending on which lens (chakra) we view the world through, in other words – where our awareness is located, we will perceive others, our environment, the earth, our relation to the divine, etc. As the Qur’an is spoken into the world three things occur. First, each ayat (“verse”) and sura of the Qur’an is meant for a particular chakra; secondly, our understanding of each ayat and sura will depend on where our awareness is located when we encounter that particular “verse” and sura; and thirdly, each ayat and sura can be interpreted differently depending on the chakra.

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