From Idries Shah's THE SUFIS (1964):
THE DERVISH ORDERS ... The Order, for the Sufi, is not a self-perpetuating entity with a fixed hierarchy and premises, forming a training system for the devotee. The nature of Sufism being evolutionary, it is by definition impossible for a Sufi body to take any permanent form as rigid as this. In certain places, and under individual masters, schools appear and carry out an activity designed to further the human need for completion of the individual. These schools (like that of Rumi and Data Ganj Bakhsh, for example) attract very large numbers of people who are not Moslems, although Sufi schools have always, since the rise of Islam, been presided over by people who originate in the Moslem tradition.
Again, while Sufi Orders have specific rules and set forms of dress and ritual, these are not invariable, and the extent to which the Sufi adheres to these forms is determined by his need for them, as prescribed by his master...
THE DERVISH ORDERS ... The Order, for the Sufi, is not a self-perpetuating entity with a fixed hierarchy and premises, forming a training system for the devotee. The nature of Sufism being evolutionary, it is by definition impossible for a Sufi body to take any permanent form as rigid as this. In certain places, and under individual masters, schools appear and carry out an activity designed to further the human need for completion of the individual. These schools (like that of Rumi and Data Ganj Bakhsh, for example) attract very large numbers of people who are not Moslems, although Sufi schools have always, since the rise of Islam, been presided over by people who originate in the Moslem tradition.
Again, while Sufi Orders have specific rules and set forms of dress and ritual, these are not invariable, and the extent to which the Sufi adheres to these forms is determined by his need for them, as prescribed by his master...
Branches of Orders exist in guilds, in student bodies, in military formations. In more modem times the kind of unit represented by the conventional monastery has become the exception. The Sufi monastery, outwardly similar in many ways to that of the Christian, Hindu or Buddhist, is in reality the product of economic and political conditions, not of any esoteric necessity. According to the Sufis, "the monastery is in the hearts of men." This, again, is in line with the dervish idea that Sufism is a developing entity, and cannot remain a system for reproducing forms, however attractive they may be.
In places where a feudal type of life still continues, Sufi monasteries, tied to the produce of the land, continue to flourish. In urban life, Sufi centers are more yoked to the tempo of town living, and derive their income from shops donated to the community, or from a levy upon the earnings of the members of the Order... The Sufi Order, then, stands for the body of people who are specializing in the acceptance, using and transmission of Sufism. It has no traditional shape, and its outward appearance will depend upon local conditions and the necessities of the "work." ... The central factor in the Orders is, of course, the production of the human exemplar of the teaching, as distinct from the propagation of the Order or any mechanical promotion in terms of identifiable rank. Sufis have no bishops.
This is not to say that the hierarchy of Sufis is not well defined. But a Sufi is known by another, insofar as rank is concerned, by methods other than the displaying of insignia. A certain degree of development of the individual, in spite of its having to be confirmed by a master, is held by Sufis to be perceptible to others of similar attainments.
It is within the school of the Order that the initial acceptance and development of the candidate takes place. Unlike other systems of instruction, there is nothing of the nature of conditioning. The aspirant must be attached to the principles of the Order and to the person of the teacher, but before this can take place he has to be tested. The testing is carried out with the intention of shedding those individuals who are unsuitable. Rejected are those who feel the desire to attach themselves to an organization or individual because of their own weaknesses. People who have been attracted by the repute of Sufis and the desire to attain miraculous powers are weeded out. The initial tasks given to a probationary member have two main functions-- the first is to determine his suitability, the second to show him that he must desire Sufihood for its own sake.
Very often the teacher in whose charge the candidate is placed will do all he can to deter him-- not by persuasion, but by playing a part which may seem to reflect discredit upon himself. The Sufis believe that only by these methods can they communicate to the essence awaiting to be awakened the fact that the Sufi impulse is available. The nominal communication with the outward personality of the candidate is relatively unimportant. When the mind is not yet capable of grasping Sufism coherently, the Sufi will not attempt to persuade it. He has to communicate at greater depth. People of this sort, who could be convinced by conventional means of the importance of Sufism, would not be genuine converts. Many of the reports of absurd and unacceptable behavior of Sufis stem from the working out of such plans.
Many of the main Orders have been nicknamed. The Rifa'i are called the Howling Dervishes; the Qalandari "Shaven"; the Chis(h)ti "Musicians"; the Mevlevi "Dancing"; the Nagshbandi "Silent."
These Orders are generally named after the founder of the specialization which they represent. Rumi, for instance, organized his "dances" in accordance with what he considered to be the best way of developing in his disciples the Sufic experiences. This was done, as ancient records show, in accordance with the mentality and temperament of the people of Konia. Imitators have attempted to export the system outside of this cultural area, with the result that they are left with what amounts to a pantomime, and the original effect of the movements has disappeared.
The rhythmic (and arhythmic) movements called dance are used in many Orders, always in response to the needs of the individuals and the group. Sufi movements can thus never be stereotyped, and do not constitute what is elsewhere called dance, calisthenics or the like. The using of movements follows a pattern based upon certain discoveries and knowledge which can only be applied by a teaching master of a dervish Order...
These Orders are generally named after the founder of the specialization which they represent. Rumi, for instance, organized his "dances" in accordance with what he considered to be the best way of developing in his disciples the Sufic experiences. This was done, as ancient records show, in accordance with the mentality and temperament of the people of Konia. Imitators have attempted to export the system outside of this cultural area, with the result that they are left with what amounts to a pantomime, and the original effect of the movements has disappeared.
The rhythmic (and arhythmic) movements called dance are used in many Orders, always in response to the needs of the individuals and the group. Sufi movements can thus never be stereotyped, and do not constitute what is elsewhere called dance, calisthenics or the like. The using of movements follows a pattern based upon certain discoveries and knowledge which can only be applied by a teaching master of a dervish Order...
The dervish Order may be looked upon as an organization with the minimum amount of regulation. Like any other body of people associating for a purpose, the rules of the Order cease to be operative when this objective has been attained.
The schematic diagrams used by the Orders help to convey this idea. The chain circle of the Orders shows how the groupings stem from the schools which surrounded certain classical teachers. These schools took their inspiration from the private assemblies of Mohammed and his close companions. Hence, in one such geometrical chart, the center shows the companions Abu Bakr, Ali and Abdul-Aziz the Meccan in a circle. Arranged around this are seven smaller circles, each one containing the name of a great master. The seven main Ways of Sufism, the specializations of teaching, emanate from these individuals.
The dervish Orders all claim the spiritual transmission (baraka) from one or more of these masters. It must be remembered that since Sufism is not static, the total baraka of the founders of Orders is held to interpenetrate all the Orders.
The circular format and interlinking of circles indicates this interdependence and movement. In poetry, such authors as Rumi have emphasized this by saying: "When you see two Sufis together, you see both two and twenty thousand."
The objective of the temporary organism called an Order, agreed by all masters, is to provide circumstances in which the member can attain the stabilization of his inner being comparable or identical with those of the early transmitters.
The motive for creating an Order around a group of words, chosen to illustrate certain activities or characteristics of the Order, is obvious. All members know that the format is not mystical, but arbitrary. They are, in consequence, unable to attach their emotional side to the emblems of the Order. The concentration is thus held upon the chain of transmission (the individuals whose substance is being contacted). Again, since it is believed that the Complete Man (Insan-i-Kamil) is both a real individuality and also a total part of the essential unity, it is not possible for the Sufi to attach himself to a personality alone. He knows from the start that his interior powers are being guided from one objective to the next. Hence, in the austerely pious dervish Orders, there is a fixed succession of progress through one individual. The disciple has first to attach himself to the teacher. When he has reached the maximum development possible, the teacher transfers him to the reality of the founder of the Order. From here he transfers his consciousness to the substance (the "foot") of Mohammed, the originator of the doctrine in contemporary form. From here he is transferred to the reality of God. There are other methods, whose application depends upon the character of the school and especially the qualities of the personality dealt with. In some exercises the disciple has to immerse himself in the consciousness of various other teachers, including Jesus and others considered by the Sufis to be of their number.
One of the objects of pilgrimages to the burial places or former residences of teachers is to make a contact with this reality or substance. In neutral phraseology it could be said that the Sufis believe that Sufic activity in producing a Complete Man accumulates a force (substance) which itself is capable of alchemicalizing a lesser individual . This is not to be confused with the idea of magical power, because the power exercised upon the Seeker will operate only insofar as his motives are pure and he is purged of selfishness. Further, it will act in its own way, and not in a manner which can be anticipated by the Seeker. Only his teacher, who has traveled the way before, will be able to judge as to what effect such an exposure will have.
The schematic diagrams used by the Orders help to convey this idea. The chain circle of the Orders shows how the groupings stem from the schools which surrounded certain classical teachers. These schools took their inspiration from the private assemblies of Mohammed and his close companions. Hence, in one such geometrical chart, the center shows the companions Abu Bakr, Ali and Abdul-Aziz the Meccan in a circle. Arranged around this are seven smaller circles, each one containing the name of a great master. The seven main Ways of Sufism, the specializations of teaching, emanate from these individuals.
The dervish Orders all claim the spiritual transmission (baraka) from one or more of these masters. It must be remembered that since Sufism is not static, the total baraka of the founders of Orders is held to interpenetrate all the Orders.
The circular format and interlinking of circles indicates this interdependence and movement. In poetry, such authors as Rumi have emphasized this by saying: "When you see two Sufis together, you see both two and twenty thousand."
The objective of the temporary organism called an Order, agreed by all masters, is to provide circumstances in which the member can attain the stabilization of his inner being comparable or identical with those of the early transmitters.
The motive for creating an Order around a group of words, chosen to illustrate certain activities or characteristics of the Order, is obvious. All members know that the format is not mystical, but arbitrary. They are, in consequence, unable to attach their emotional side to the emblems of the Order. The concentration is thus held upon the chain of transmission (the individuals whose substance is being contacted). Again, since it is believed that the Complete Man (Insan-i-Kamil) is both a real individuality and also a total part of the essential unity, it is not possible for the Sufi to attach himself to a personality alone. He knows from the start that his interior powers are being guided from one objective to the next. Hence, in the austerely pious dervish Orders, there is a fixed succession of progress through one individual. The disciple has first to attach himself to the teacher. When he has reached the maximum development possible, the teacher transfers him to the reality of the founder of the Order. From here he transfers his consciousness to the substance (the "foot") of Mohammed, the originator of the doctrine in contemporary form. From here he is transferred to the reality of God. There are other methods, whose application depends upon the character of the school and especially the qualities of the personality dealt with. In some exercises the disciple has to immerse himself in the consciousness of various other teachers, including Jesus and others considered by the Sufis to be of their number.
One of the objects of pilgrimages to the burial places or former residences of teachers is to make a contact with this reality or substance. In neutral phraseology it could be said that the Sufis believe that Sufic activity in producing a Complete Man accumulates a force (substance) which itself is capable of alchemicalizing a lesser individual . This is not to be confused with the idea of magical power, because the power exercised upon the Seeker will operate only insofar as his motives are pure and he is purged of selfishness. Further, it will act in its own way, and not in a manner which can be anticipated by the Seeker. Only his teacher, who has traveled the way before, will be able to judge as to what effect such an exposure will have.
Within the Orders, when the disciple has been accepted for a training course under a master, he has to be prepared for the experiences which his unaltered mind is incapable of perceiving. This process, which follows the dissipating of conditioning, or automatic thinking, is termed the "activation of the subtleties."
There is no word in English which can be used as a true equivalent of the technical term "subtlety." The original word is latifa (plural lataif). It has been rendered "purity spot," "place of illumination," "center of reality." In order to activate this element it is assigned a theoretical physical situation in the body-- generally considered to be the center where its force or baraka is most strongly evidenced. The latifa is theoretically considered to be "an incipient organ of spiritual perception."
The root in Arabic is from the triliteral grouping LTF. From this the terms used in Arabic include the concepts of subtlety, gentleness, kindness, gift or favor, delicacy. Hence, in the phrase "the gentle sex," the word rendered as "gentle" is in Arabic derived from this root.
The disciple has to awaken five lataif, receive illumination through five of the seven subtle centers of communication. The method, presided over by the instructor (Sheikh), is to concentrate the consciousness upon certain areas of the body and head, each area being linked with the latifa faculties.
As each latifa is activated through exercises, the consciousness of the disciple changes to accommodate the greater potentialities of his mind. He is breaking through the blindness which makes the ordinary man captive to life and being as it ordinarily seems to be.
In more than one sense, therefore, the activation of the centers is producing a new man. Lest the reader unconsciously link this system with others which may resemble it, we must note that the activation of the lataif is only a part of a very comprehensive development, and cannot be carried out as an individual study.
The five centers are named Heart, Spirit, Secret, Mysterious and Deeply Hidden. Another one, strictly speaking not a latifa at all, is Self, composed of a complex of "selves." This is the totality of what the ordinary (raw) man or woman considers his personality. It is characterized by a shifting series of moods and personalities whose rapidity of movement gives the individual the impression that his consciousness is constant or a unity. It is not in fact so.
The seventh subtlety is accessible only to those who have developed the others, and belongs to the real sage, the repository and transmitter of the teaching.
The illumination or activation of one or more of the centers may take place partially or accidentally. When this happens, the individual may gain for a time a deepening in intuitive knowledge corresponding with the latifa involved. But if this is not a part of comprehensive development, the mind will try, vainly, to equilibrate itself around this hypertrophy, an impossible task. The consequences can be very dangerous, and include, like all one-sided mental phenomena, exaggerated ideas of self-importance, the surfacing of undesirable qualities, or a deterioration of consciousness following an access of ability.
The same is true of breathing exercises or dance movements carried out of correct succession.
The nonbalanced development produces people who may have the illusion that they are seers or sages. Due to the inherent power of the latifa, such an individual may appear to the world at large to be worthy of following. In Sufi diagnosis, this type of personality accounts for a great number of false metaphysical teachers. They may, of course, themselves be convinced that they are genuine. This is because the habit of self-deception or of deceiving others has not been transmuted. Rather has it been supported magnified by the awakening but still undirected new organ, the latifa.
The areas which are involved in the activation of the lataif are: Self, under the navel; Heart, at the place of the physical heart; Spirit, on the side of the body opposite the heart position. The Secret latifa is exactly between the Heart and Spirit Positions. Mysterious is in the forehead. Deeply Hidden is in the brain .
The actual meanings of these locations is something which comes as a special realization to the Sufi when the latifa in question is being activated. It is only at the outset of the study that they are given these locations.
In the dervish schools there is a special interchange between the teacher and the learner-- something which cannot take place unless there is a real teacher present in the community, and until other conditions are ready for the interchange. In this, of course, Sufism differs from a philosophy or a practice which can be learned at second hand .
The special interchange includes the technique called tajallii-irradiation. Tajalli influences and affects everyone, though it is perceptible only to a few. A person, for instance, may find that he is "in luck" or "does just the right thing," or that he "cannot put a foot wrong." This may be a consequence of accidental tajalli. Not realizing the source of the phenomenon, the individual will attribute the cause to something else, say to luck. He feels well because someone has said something complimentary to him; or because he has had a raise in pay. These are the reasons, the rationalizations. This, too, is the wasteful form of tajalli; because its operation has a content which far exceeds in importance and even usefulness the secondary advantages which warm the heart of the unconscious recipient.
Being unconscious of the mechanism, however, he cannot proceed further in acquiring the advantages of tajalli.
The ecstatic condition, when the human being feels himself at one with creation, or a Creator, rapture, something like intoxication; when he feels that he has entered paradise; when all senses interchange or become one sense -- these can be the inability to accept and participate in tajalli. What is considered by the individual to be a blessing is in fact a flooding-out of potentiality. It is as if a flood of light has been shone into the eyes of someone who was until recently blind. It has a glory and a fascination. But it is of no use, because it dazzles.
There is a further stage, when the blindness has been removed, and when the personality is wakeful and versatile enough to accept tajalli. Then there is the illusion of tajalli, sometimes a foretaste, sometimes a reflection, which is useful for artistic creativity or self-indulgence, but is--for the Sufi-- a fictitious state. This can be easily discerned because it is not accompanied by an access of knowledge. It counterfeits the true state by giving merely a sensation of knowledge or fulfillment. In this respect it resembles a dream in which a wish is fulfilled, thus enabling the disturbed dreamer to continue with his sleep. If he had not provided out of his own mind a happy outcome to his problem he would have woken up and delayed the rest function.
The false tajalli experienced by those who do not carry their development along in a balanced way may give rise to a conviction that it is a true mystical state, especially when it is found that supranormal faculties seem to be activated in this condition. Sufis discriminate between this experience and the true one in two ways. Firstly, the teacher will at once identify the counterfeit state. Secondly, as a matter of self-investigation, it can always be discerned that the gains of perception are of no exact value . There may be, for instance, an access of intuition. One may know something about someone-- thought reading is an example. But the actual function, the value of the ability to read thought, is nil. The person suffering from false taialli will be able to report some fact or series of facts about someone else, indicating a breakthrough of the limitations of time and space. The test of the tajalli for anyone who cannot instantly recognize that it is genuine is whether the "supernatural" perception is accompanied by a permanent increase in intuitive knowledge--the seeing of things as a whole, for instance; or the knowing of the course which one's self-development will take; or the course of that of another; or performing "wonders." Abdul-Qadir Jilani explains that miracles, which are so often reported of Sufis, are not due to any sort of power as generally understood : "When you acquire divine knowledge, you are merged with the intention of God. . . . Your internal essence admits no other thing. . . . People attribute miracles to you. They seem to originate with you, but the origin and intention is God's." (Muqala VI of the Futuh el Ghayb)
As with other branches of Sufi action, many different things have been said and written about the tajalli of the subtleties. These only serve as guides, and may be completely wrong when applied without regard to prevailing conditions. For the Sufi, every situation is unique, and there are no textbooks as generally understood.
In spite of this shortcoming, which would deter many people from what they consider to be an investigation of Sufi illumination, the practice of activating the lataif is essential if real progress is to be made. The real teacher is he who can nurse his disciples in such a way that the awakening of the subtleties takes place concurrently and in accordance with what the individual can bear. Give a child one sweet, the saying runs, and he will be happy. Give him a large box of sweets and he will be sick .
In the stage of activating the lataif the student must first recognize the effects of the Self in its myriad facets upon his personality. This is something which his teacher introduces to him. Then, almost parallel but a little behind this development, he finds the activation of his lataif encouraged by the efforts of the teacher. This is something which he cannot start by himself if it is to be successful .
His first Sufic experience will be associated with the illumination of a latifa. Before that stage has been reached, he will find that he has to work on himself in the area of Selfhood. If he concentrates too much and too long on the problem of Selfhood, the master will have greater difficulty in encouraging the latifa illumination. In communities where this factor is not properly understood, the struggle with the Self becomes almost the be-all and end-all of the effort. The attachment to the teacher remains, and the liberation of the personality cannot be effected.
It is in this field more than any other that occultists and fragmented schools, as well as lone experimenters, go astray and in the end peter out or merely become self-propagating systems for the self-struggle, without the benefit of the experience, the tajalli, which tells them that they are capable of the development which they seek. In accepting a disciple, the master is always careful to assure himself that the former has the capacity to progress from self-concentration to latifa release.
Generally speaking, Sufi doctrines are both studied and practiced concurrently in the schools of the dervish Orders. This means that there must be a balance between the intellectual presentation and understanding of a doctrine, and its application. Further, there must be a balance between one set' of ideas and another. Concentration as a method of doing an exercise is one thing; but it must be balanced by the use of nonstruggle absorption of impacts. How this is done is a part of the intimate and very effective methodology of the dervish Orders.
Some Orders specialize in certain varieties of technique. When a disciple has been taken as far as possible in the school of one Order, he may be sent to another one in order to give him the elements which are the specialization of that school. This, again, has to be done with extreme care, because there can be no question of a one-sided development. If certain faculties are to be developed, this must be done in such a way as to leave room for correct and parallel development at a later date in another school.
Among the specializations of the schools are the qif or ist exercise, when a teacher calls out "Halt!" and all physical movement is frozen until he allows the students to relax. The exercise is carried out by teaching masters of the Naqshbandi Order, and it is the Ninth Secret Rule of the Order, being a method which has been found to be effective in breaking through the web of associative thinking and making possible the transmission of baraka.
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