Chivalry
by Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh

A Seeker of Dates Lost in the Date Orchard

"Everyone who comes to the path wants something. Many desire spiritual powers or enlightenment; some seek to escape from themselves or the pressures of life. Others simply hope to be relieved of their loneliness or unhappiness and find a haven of loving-kindness. Those who come to the path want any number of different things, good or bad. But all of us want something.

The fact of the matter, however, is that the path involves not wanting anything but God and no one comes to the path wanting God, so we all take the first step in error..."
-- Jeffrey Rothschild, Issue 7

The God of the Heart
by Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh

'The Strange Subject'- Thomas Merton’s Views on Sufism

The Trappist monk, adherent to one of the most austere of the celibate orders of Roman Catholicism, is addressing a group of his younger brethren gathered round him, like a genial football coach or a hearty scoutmaster rallying his eager charges. He tosses off a rhetorical question to catch his audience provocatively off guard, telling them that he’d been asked to talk about mystical theology. “Who wants mystical theology in a monastery?!”1, says he mischievously. “That’s almost as bad as bootlegging or something!” dismissing it, bug-eyed with mock wondering disgust. “The last thing in the world any modem, progressive Catholic wants to hear about is mystics... I sort of throw it at you with a Moslem disguise or something like that in which it is more acceptable.”

At this point, having warmed his audience up, he launches into the topic of the day...
-- Terry Graham, Issue 30

Saqi-nameh: Ode to the Cupbearer
by Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh

Bayazidian Sufism: Annihilation without Ritual

Sufism has always been presented as a practical, yet at the same time, transcendental school: 'practical' in the sense that it deals with disciplines that lead to enlightenment and 'transcendental' in the sense that it transcends the outward aspects of any given religion. In no Sufi more than Bayazid are these two qualities manifested. Among the early Sufis of Islam, Bayazid (d. 875 AD) played a pivotal role in the formation of Sufi doctrines and practices which were later adopted and expanded by Sufis such as 'Attar and Rumi.
-- Alireza Nurbakhsh, Issue 46