The Commanding Self

[JustARandomPanda]

I know Sufism doesn't seem to be talked about much on this forum compared to Taoism or Buddhism or even Vedanta but I was busy reading The Commanding Self by Indries Shah and just had to post this here as it might be of benefit to others. It's a short little Q&A bit in the book and I found it speaking directly to me.

 

I hope you enjoy it. As always thoughts, comments, etc are welcomed.

 

Q: How can one remove vices and shortcomings, so as to become a truly spiritual person, in the Sufic sense? There are so many accounts of struggles carried on by holy people against temptations and sins....

 

A: Nothing which you have said accords with Sufi diagnosis, theory, practice or experience. It is, in fact, something snatched from a half-understanding of spiritual exercises at one remove.

 

Note this:

 

Sufic spirituality can help one deal with what you call 'vices and shortcomings'. But this does not mean plunging immediately into activities intended to fight temptations, and so on. Such efforts do not work, which is the best argument against them. What, then, does work? The first thing to observe is that the Sufis are not against, say, human emotions: they are against the over-activity of emotion, which lead to vice or to the other extreme, imagined holiness or spurious spiritual experiences.

 

This means that the Sufi learning system needs first to induce the learner to settle for the minimum emotional stimulus which he or she needs to operate the various functions which require emotional inputs. When this has been achieved there is a 'space' into which the developing function can be 'poured'.

 

Many familiar religious systems have over-simplified matters. They have assumed, say, that emotionality is bad, so they have tried to get people to destroy their emotional life. This has only produced delusory effects. Or they have channeled emotions into what they have decided are 'good' or 'spiritual' emotionality. At best, this is, of course, only another form of self-indulgence. What has to be done, as with any other input needed by the human being, is to regulate it (whether it be the desire for gain, the need to achieve, or whatever underlies the 'sin' or 'vice') so that the necessary 'space' may be found. And that first step is the combined work of the teacher and the learner.

 

From the book The Commanding Self by Indries Shah

 

 

 

 

*this may be an ongoing thread of mine. As I come across more little Q&As in the book I might post other quotes that I think may be of interest to others like it is to me. So little is discussed about Sufism here and I am genuinely interested in it since reading Daughter of Fire. Sufis seem to be very much about love and compassion. As much as Buddhism from what I can tell.

[Marblehead]

I liked that and agree.

 

This speaks to the concept I speak of occasionally: To know the proper measure of 'enough'.

[ralis]

Gurdjieff has extensive teachings on this process. The only ones worth studying are what was written by him. Ouspensky et al, are writing their interpretations of Gurdjieff's work and may be in error.

 

Free Gurdjieff books here. http://www.holybooks.com/

 

The process of uncovering the "commanding self" (heart center)is not easy. The struggle is with the multitude of selves that make up what we are. Each one demands to be completely identified with.

Edited July 2, 2011 by ralis