Category Archives: Original Essays

Sufi Lives: Rabia

Posted on February 17, 2014 by sufiways

by Ali Hammad More than a millennium has passed since the times of Rabia, the patron saint of Sufism. The events of her life are now shrouded in an impenetrable veil of time. A few scraps of her biography are … Continue reading →

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The Primacy of Life and Consciousness

Posted on February 11, 2014 by sufiways

by Navid Zaidi All things are one.  —Heraclitus, On the Universe  (540-480 BC) Classical physics proposes that the universe was, until rather recently, a lifeless collection of particles bouncing against each other. Life and Consciousness arose by an unknown process … Continue reading →

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Nasruddin’s Walk: How to Fail Better

Posted on February 4, 2014 by sufiways

by Modaser Shah “We are still not where we are going, but we are still not where we were.”—Natasha Jasefowitz in 2500 Years of Wisdom by D.W.Brown “Menschen werden als Originale geboren, die meisten sterben als Schablonen.”—Kierkegaard in Ganzheitlicher KALENDER … Continue reading →

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Puzzled and/but Aware

Posted on December 29, 2013 by sufiways

by Modaser Shah Idries Shah says, “Religious thinking requires one to become worthy of something; magical thinking tries to cause or to create effects.” (Knowing How to Know) The Buddha is reported to have said that life was not a … Continue reading →

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God and Dice: What Would Nasruddin Say?

Posted on December 14, 2013 by sufiways

by Modaser Shah “To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.” —Joseph Chilton Pearce Mullah Nasruddin, as can be seen in the Sufi tales relating to his mis-adventures, embodied the creative life in this sense; he was … Continue reading →

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Rumi, Nietzsche and Superman

Posted on December 3, 2013 by sufiways

by Navid Zaidi It is said that comparisons are extremely unpleasant. However, it is strange how the same idea affects different cultures differently and in the history of thought it is the points of contact and departure that attract our … Continue reading →

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God and broken pipes

Posted on November 11, 2013 by sufiways

by Modaser Shah An Egyptian woman activist is quoted as  saying that it is fine to chant Allahu Akbar but it won’t fix the broken pipe. Someone has to repair those broken pipes! What a deep thought this is; one … Continue reading →

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The Razor’s Edge

Posted on October 19, 2013 by sufiways

by Modaser Shah Somerset Maugham’s well-known novel, The Razor’s Edge, is based on a Vedic dictum that goes something like this: “Verily, the path is like a razor’s edge.” Enlightenment lies at the very edge of the (internal) abyss. In … Continue reading →

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A Supple Mind

Posted on September 29, 2013 by sufiways

by Navid Zaidi Once there was a disciple of a Greek philosopher who was commanded by his master for three years to give money to everyone who insulted him. After three years, the disciple was asked to go to Athens … Continue reading →

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A Heart Gathering the Scattered Thoughts of a Brain

Posted on September 21, 2013 by sufiways

by Modaser Shah The Sage of Hannibal, Mark Twain, said: “My life has been full of misfortunes, most of which never happened.” Here Mark Twain shows us how hard it is to surrender; the mind is very creative in inventing … Continue reading →

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