ALCHEMY OF THE HEART SUFISM REVISITED Introduction The word, 'alchemy' literally means the art of making gold.

. Mans fascination with the glittering metal made this a popular theme in the Middle Ages and there were believed to be a number of alchemists who could convert baser metals to gold through a chemical process. But a little deeper thought is involved in fact the entire concept of physical alchemy needs to be revisited in the light of its origin which happens to be in Sufi tradition and thought. The art of alchemy stems from the research of Jabir Ibn el-Hayyan, an eighth century scientist and a disciple of one of the greatest Sufis, Jafar Sadiq. The father of alchemy as Jabir is called, left a lot unsaid in his treatise which has, understandably troubled seekers spending lifetimes to develop the elixir that would transform metal to gold. But knowing the inner meaning of Sufi words, there seems to be a deeper connotation to the idea. Introduced to Sufism at a young age, primarily through the literature of its exponents such as Saadi, Khayyam and Rumi, I have always been amazed at the depth of understanding which the Sufis possess, and yet the lack of public knowledge about it. It is almost always seen as a secret club with limited membership, following strange rites and mystical traditions for achieving an imprecise goal. Although a lot of this thinking is perpetrated due to the divergent practices of its proponents, this paper intends to create some awareness of the essential Sufi thought which encourages continuous spiritual growth of the individual, transcending formal religious boundaries in its quest for the ultimate pleasure of communion with God.

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Sufis and Sufism Sufism is truth without form. -Ibn Jalali The common perception is that Sufism is a branch of, perhaps even the core of Islam. It is a mystical form of the religion, relying on certain rituals, tradition and practices claimed to have been passed down over the generations by enlightened souls or Sufis, beginning with the Prophet Muhammad. However, this is not a complete understanding of Sufism. According to one of them, "if anybody asks what Sufism is, what kind of religion it is, the answer is that Sufism is the religion of the heart, the religion in which the thing of primary importance is to seek God in the heart of mankind."1 In essence, Sufism exists in every human heart, and always has; synonymous with love, mysticism, and wisdom. Although associated with Islam, the essential truths of Sufism are found in all religions, "just as a river that passes through many countries and is claimed by each as its own, is still only one river."2 The aim of Sufism is the elimination of all veils between the individual and God. In their own tradition, the Sufis saw themselves as inheritors of one single teaching which could be made to serve as the instrument of human development. But there is no single, systematic approach to Sufi teachings. Although the earliest known Sufis were Islamic scholars and even ascetics, the wisdom of Sufism can be found in the most unusual forms - stories, poetry, art, calligraphy, rituals, exercises, readings, and even humor.

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Hazat Inayat Khan Sheikh Ragip Robert Frager Al Jerrahi

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Religion and Sufism When you arrive at the sea, you do not talk of the tributary -Hakim Sanai Seeking the Truth is one of the methods of the Sufis. It is the secret tradition behind all philosophical and religious traditions that man can approach and even achieve perfection if he is on the Sufi path. Sufism regards religion as a means, not the end of its spiritual quest. Sufis emphasise the fact that knowing of god is not the same as knowing god. In this pursuit, there is no scope for Sufism to differentiate between different paths and religions. As a Sufi says, the religion of the mystic is every religion, yet he is above what people call their religion.3 Sufis believe that the universal truth unites all religions although its followers may not understand it. Religion is just one of the outward forms of devotion and quite like the blind men and the elephant, all of us have our own limited understanding of the whole. The Four Men And The Interpreter Four people were given a piece of money. The first was a Persian. He said: 'I will buy with this some angur.' The second was an Arab. He said: 'No, because I want inab.' The third was Turk. He said: 'I do not want inab, I want uzum.' The fourth was a Greek. He said: 'I want stafil.' Because they did not know what lay behind the names of things, these four started to fight. But the Sufi could see that what all of them wanted, each in his own language, was

Hazrat Inayat Khan

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the same thing, grapes! And thus, he would not differentiate among them, trying to help each one distil his grape further and convert it to the wine of eternal bliss. Sufism and Spirituality Real spirituality means to be conscious of spirit; described in formal religion as God. So it is not religion, orthodoxy, outer forms, or a certain kind of life which means spiritual growth: it is to be conscious of the spirit that makes one spiritual. Sufis do not limit spiritualism to any one religion. The basic tenets of all religions being the same, they stress on the realisation of the ultimate divinity within the heart, oblivious of the form it may take. As Rumi said: Cross to Christians, end to end, I examined. He was not on the Cross. I went to the Hindu temple, to the ancient pagoda. In neither was there any sign. To the heights of Herat I went, and Kandahar. I looked. He was not on the height or lowland. ! I went to the Kaaba. He was not there. ! I looked into my own heart. In that his place I saw him. He was in no other place! Truly, for the awakened soul, spiritual pursuits are not limited to the confines of religion; he yearns to outgrow the form and adopt the spirit of the message, and that is spirituality. Mansoor Al Hallaj, the Sufi who was hanged The case of the renowned Sufi, Mansoor Al-Hallaj would serve a befitting example of how Sufis were treated in their quest for spiritual communion. Hallaj was condemned to hang by the neck for shouting in ecstasy 'Anal-Haq, Anal-Haq' (I am the Truth, I am the Truth). The orthodoxy understood this to mean that he was claiming to be God himself, whereas he had proclaimed in his sublime spiritual ecstasy, simply a total annihilation of himself. What he meant was that he mattered naught; all that mattered was the Truth (God). Mansoor Al-Hallaj climbed the gallows with his head held high, not the least

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daunted by his imminent death. Nor could his shouts be drowned in the tumult of abuses which were hurled at him; they rose loud and clear and high 'Anal-Haq, Anal-Haq' until his soul departed to the fountainhead of his life. In this incident, you will notice a close resemblance to Jesus Christ, who was crucified for blaspheming that he was the Son of God. It also brings out the familiar saying God is; rest is not! in that Al-Hallaj even denied his existence and claimed that all was God, the Supreme, the Truth. But alas, only a few understand the language of the heart. The quest for spirituality O, friend! Nobody veils you, but yourself. Between you and the Beloved there is nobody, but yourself. - Awhadoddin Kermani In our effort to be one with the spirit the biggest obstacle is we ourselves. According to Sufis, our ego is the stumbling block in our endeavour for the truth. All our religious achievements and moralistic successes are of no use until we look at the spirit itself. Indeed sometimes these very acts of religious virtue bring about a feeling of pride and hence distance us from the creator, the antithesis of religion. The religious man and Bayazid A man came to Bayazid and said that he had fasted and prayed for thirty years and yet had not come near to an understanding of God. Bayazid told him that even a hundred years would not be enough. The man asked why. Because your selfishness is working as a barrier between yourself and the truth. Give me the remedy. There is a remedy but is impossible to you.

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The man insisted and Bayazid agreed to describe it to him. Go and shave your beard. Strip yourself naked except for a loincloth. Fill a nose bag full of walnuts and go to the marketplace. There cry out A walnut for every boy who slaps me! Then make your way to the court where the doctors of law are in session. But I really could not do that. Give me some other method. This is the only method, said Bayazid, but I have already told you there is no answer for you. The alchemist Gold is of two types; external i.e. procured from outside and internal i.e. the alchemists production. The Sufic origin of alchemy leads us to believe that the entire process is in fact, a mystical presentation of a Sufi truth. The alchemy then, is not physical it is a formula for purifying the base elements of the heart, and turning them to gold. The process was explained by alchemists in a symbolic way. The gold, they said, is made out of mercury, a base metal. The nature of mercury is to be ever-moving, but by a certain process, the mercury is first stilled, and once stilled it becomes silver; then the silver has to be melted, and the juice of a secret herb is to be poured on to the molten silver, which thereby turns into gold. The Sufi interpretation of this process is that mercury represents the ever-restless mind. In fact it becomes more restless when you try to control it; quite like mercury when you try to grasp it in your hand. In order to still this mercury (mind), the Sufi needs to apply concentration. This is the first step towards mastering the mind. For this purpose, the Sufi uses prayer, reading and thinking as tools. But he is yet to still the mind, and for this a special method is necessary which Sufis believe can only

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be taught by the Sufi to his disciple. This brings the mind under perfect control and it is no longer restless; the mercury has turned to silver. The alchemy process requires that silver should melt before it can turn to gold. But with what? Sufis advise the seeker to use the warmth of the divine essence in his heart: Love, tolerance, sympathy, service, humility and unselfishness. These virtues, flowing in a stream, from the divine love hidden in the heart of man can heat the silver and make it molten. The next stage is to add the secret herb to the molten silver. This herb, Sufis claim, is the divine love of God. When the juice of this herb is poured on the heart, and warmed by the love of his fellow men, true alchemy takes place; the heart becomes the heart of gold. The elixir of everlasting life is found. Such a heart which is attuned to God in all its glory expresses what God would express, and at that moment the man could exclaim in sublime ecstasy Anal Haq for he is no more only the ultimate Truth prevails.

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