The Path of Wisdom

I began my own spiritual path 45 years ago ( excluding the political and psychological phases of the search ) with a universalist Sufi model under the tutelage of Pir Vilayat Khan. It was only in 1978 that I found a Muslim/Sufi teacher who introduced me to Islam. Alhumdulillah.

On the first page of the first teaching I received it said the following:” On this way, we walk on two legs-the Shariah (the right way  in the relative world) and the Haqiqat (The Absolute Truth of Oneness).” That became the pillar of my understanding for 40 years! But, fairly recently I realized that it is not enough. The model needed to become expanded. From walking on two legs we needed a third leg and so it became a tripod instead lol.! The third leg is “wisdom/discernment”. Let me explain, briefly.

When we talk about Shariah, I am not talking about the strict interpretation of Islamic Law although, at times, that, too, may inform our decisions. I am speaking, rather, about the relative world-how we need to be in relation to God and to other parts of the Creation including other humans, animals and the environment. The Advaita Vedanta people would call this the dualist approach since they, like their cousins, the Buddhists, consider it illusory -a product of our mental functions. Wrong! Not only is this dimension important, it may, in fact, be more important than the Haqiqat since the Haqiqat (think God, think Absolute Reality) remains unchanged no matter what we do. The Shariah dimension is, on the other hand, at least partially in our control so we have some say over how it turns out.

The Haqiqat is referred to in all the spiritual paradigms- in one form or the other. It may be referred to as Samadhi in Hinduism or Nibbana or sunyata in Buddhism or Christ-Consciousness in Christianity. In Islamic Sufism, it is referred to as “fana and baqa”(annihilation and return) and also as Wajh(the Face of Allah) or again as “sir”-the deepest secret-that in essence we are one with our Lord- just as the drop of water is one with the Sea. This dimension is , in fact, something we can all agree on except of course the Thahereen(the Externalists) like the Wahhabis, who refuse all forms of spirituality  and the atheists who are preaching a form of spiritual nihilism!

Now we come to perhaps the most subtle and most troubling part of all spiritual paths. This is the dimension of the path which when absent leads to all the aberrations of religion-like terrorism and extremism and fundamentalism- that we know and hear about, And that is the dimension of Wisdom/Discernment. I received my first teaching about this dimension at the hands of my very first teacher-Pir Vilayat Khan. He would say regularly: ” Break your principles on the Rock of Reality”. Tell that to an extremist or a fundamentalist-that is if you are not afraid to die quickly and be a martyr lol! Underlying this statement is the need for wisdom and discernment.

What are the issues that come up in this dimension of knowledge? Which questions are we addressing? Here are a few. Take note that this is an evolving and a vast zone of enquiry. So I expect new understandings to emerge in time. I will do my best to keep you abreast of these developments. I am learning more and more about it as you are.

:What is more important and what is less in a particular situation?  In modernist conceptions we could say:” What is the priority? “                ‘

When should we speak and when should we remain silent?

When should we accept and when should we “push back” when something is suggested to us?

When should we be patient and when should we act?(Muslims, because of our teachings, often get this one wrong and are patient when they should be acting. Westerners , on the other hand, are often acting when they should be patiently waiting. From thence the term activist” lol

When should we be understanding and compassionate and when should we be stern and assertive (like with our children)?

And what is the right decision in any given context?

The questions go on and on. The point is that the good principles we have learnt in Shariah and Haqiqat often betray us when they are applied in the wrong situations. So widom/discernment is also learning about which principles and teachings apply for any specific time and place and person . This is no simple matter! This cannot be done through book-learning or specific spiritual practices. I cannot tell you how much bad advice I have heard over the years from good, well-intentioned people -some of them very highly evolved spiritually !

For that very reason, we are taught in our psychotherapy training not to give advice! But that is a cop-out which no person on the spiritual path- either teacher or student- can accept. We need to figure out what is right and what is wrong in each specific situation. That is a moral and practical obligation!

Here is what Solomon (the archetypal representative of wisdom) has to say about it:

Ecclesiastes 3 New International Version (NIV)

A Time for Everything

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:² 

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,…

Someone understood this subject long ago lol!

So how do we do this? How do we learn wisdom and discernment? I have spent time with great spiritual beings and brilliant professionals and academics but I must say that I have never encountered someone who can reliably speak from wisdom! That is not really a critique of these great beings but rather a statement of their missions. Some were great doctors and their practice of medicine was outstanding. Some were great religious teachers and their knowledge was impeccable And some were shuyukh of Sufism and their ‘hal’ (spiritual state) was remarkable But none were regularly able to channel wisdom except in moments of Divine inspiration which were only sporadic.

I have spent a lot of time and effort pondering this question. In fact, I consider this one of my principle missions in life. Ultimately wisdom is a matter of intuition. But how can we develop this intuition? Certainly, cleansing of the heart and clearing of the mind are both important. That is why the best decision-maker I have ever run into or heard of was the Prophet Mohammed saws. His timing was impeccable, his dosing of compassion and sternness was outstanding and his intentions were always good! But what about us mere mortals?!

In the modern world, I believe that one of the essentials for the practice of wisdom is comprehensive knowledge. Of course, it is impossible to know about all specialized fields , but a competent wise consultant should at least know about the following: 1) Comparative Religion (the different religions-their beliefs and their practices); 2) Sociology-the impact that different societies have on the values and beliefs of their members. In this light, a teacher who has spent his/her entire life surrounded by people of his/her own culture is unlikely to be able to counsel people effectively that come from other cultures. This is somewhat like asking the Catholic priests of old who were celibate, by vows at least, to counsel their parishioners about marriage and family life lol!.3)Environmental Medicine(the influence of the contaminants and toxins of all sorts(pesticides in our food, formaldehyde in our construction products, heavy metals in various forms, EMFs all around us etc.,etc.) that surround us  in the modern world, and 4)Psychology (the inner workings of the mind as understood in the different psychological frameworks-psychoanalytic, Cognitive and Humanistic).Without these forms of knowledge a spiritual advisor is unlikely to be able to regularly give good advice.

That being said, the most useful tool I have found in this search for discernment  is the Istikhara Prayer outlined in the following article: http://www.sufipilgrimsprogress.com/the-istighara-prayer-2/. As we learn to do this practice on a regular basis and we learn to properly interpret dreams and signs, our wisdom grows as does our intuition. We can begin to discern what “feels right’ in every individual situation and thus get better and better at decision -making. I do this work with my Sufi students and with  individuals on my counselling site. ( (www.sufiibrahim.com)  It is subtle and profound work but well worth the effort. One of the awesome side-effects of doing it is that we begin to see clearly and convincingly that Allah(God) is aware of everything going on- in the finest detail! Once we align ourselves with His Will and His Wisdom, all is right. That is the way to His Kingdom. Anything else is destined to lead to more trouble and suffering. Welcome to the journey!

Sufi Ibrahim