This book is not about Sufism. It is about the nature of the Shar??a. In the first three centuries of Islam, many scholars believed that juristic differences were rooted in the Shar??a's inherent flexibility. As this pluralistic attitude began to disappear, a number of Sufis defended and developed this idea through the centuries. They aimed to preserve the leniency and simplicity of the Shar??a against the complications and restrictions created by many jurists.This book highlights a number of the major Sufi figures whose writings on legal theory were strongly shaped by their Sufism, showing how they belonged to the same tradition and developed each other's ideas. The book focuses in particular on Ibn ?Arab?, giving a detailed analysis of his legal thought and revealing his influence on a number of major Sufi figures all the way up to the 19th century.

This is the first complete book about the Babylonian Kabbalah, which many people are talking about on the Internet. Assyria in Northern Iraq is the home of Palace Art from the Courts of the Assyrian Empire, where the Tree of Life was routinely shown on walls, tended by winged genies. It represented the King and the Land. It is also arguably a spiritual map and the basis of the Jewish Kabbalah, which was developed later. Many authors have asserted that the Kabbalah came from Egypt but this book shows that its early roots lie in Assyrian Court Art. There are also fascinating parallels to Asiatic Shamanism. All points to Asia, not Africa, as the home of the archetypal Sacred Tree image.

Are mysticism and morality compatible or at odds with one another? If mystical experience embraces a form of non-dual consciousness, then in such a state of mind, the regulative dichotomy so basic to ethical discretion would seemingly be transcended and the very foundation for ethical decisions undermined. Venturing Beyond - Law and Morality in Kabbalistic Mysticism is an investigation of the relationship of the mystical and moral as it is expressed in the particular tradition of Jewish mysticism known as the Kabbalah. The particular themes discussed include the denigration of the non-Jew as the ontic other in kabbalistic anthropology and the eschatological crossing of that boundary anticipated in the instituition of religious conversion; the overcoming of the distinction between good and evil in the mystical experience of the underlying unity of all things; divine suffering and the ideal of spiritual poverty as the foundation for transmoral ethics and hypernomian lawfulness.

The Sunni saint cult and shrine of Ahmad-i Jam has endured for 900 years. The shrine and its Sufi shaykhs secured patronage from Mongols, Kartids, Tamerlane, and Timurids. The cult and shrine-complex started sliding into decline when Iran's shahs took the Shi'i path in 1501, but are today enjoying a renaissance under the (Shi'i) Islamic Republic of Iran. The shrine's eclectic architectural ensemble has been renovated with private and public funds, and expertise from Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization. Two seminaries (madrasa) that teach Sunni curricula to males and females were added. Sunni and Shi'i pilgrims visit to venerate their saint. Jami mystics still practice 'irfan ('gnosticism'). Analyzed are Ahmad-i Jam's biography and hagiography; marketing to sultans of Ahmad as the 'Guardian of Kings'; history and politics of the shrine's catchment area; acquisition of patronage by shrine and shaykhs; Sufi doctrines and practices of Jami mystics, including its Timurid-era Naqshbandi Sufis.

Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hacohen Kook was the first Chief Rabbi of Palestine, and the 20th century's most important Orthodox Jewish mystic.

In The Glance of the Medusa, Laszo F. Foeldenyi offers a mesmerizing examination of the rich history of European culture through the lens of mythology and philosophy. Embracing the best traditions of essay writing, this volume invites readers on a spiritual and intellectual adventure. The seven essays bear testimony to Foeldenyi's encyclopedic knowledge and ask whether it is possible to overcome our fear of passing away. In doing so, they illuminate moments of mystical experience viewed in a historical perspective while inviting readers to engage with such moments in the present by immersing themselves into the process of reading and thinking. Rather than providing firm answers to burning questions, The Glance of the Medusa highlights the limits of definition, conjuring up situations in which Man partakes of unutterable experiences-such as passion, pleasure, fear, poetry, or disgust-suggesting that moments of ecstasy cannot be pinned down or captured, only drawn a little closer.

At long last, an accessible little book that focuses on the teachings of Rumi's teacher and inspiration, Shams of Tabriz. Included in this slim, charming volume is a biographical sketch of the great Sufi teacher and mystic and a new translation of 500 of his core teachings that bring into fresh focus the meaning and mysteries of life and love.

There are many books on Rumi and many translations of his works and yet most readers are unaware of how Rumi became a mystic. Shams, an Arabic word that means the sun, was the catalyst that converted the rather resolute and ascetic Rumi, the cleric and teacher, into Rumi, the passionate disciple of the religion of love. He was the agent of the propulsive mystical energy that transformed Rumi the reticent into Rumi the ecstatic poet.

Rumi lovers, spiritual seekers, and devotees of the mystical path will meet this little book of wisdom and mystical secrets with enthusiasm.

I shall not place you in my heart

For you may get hurt by its wounds

I won t keep you in my eyes

For I may belittle you and

expose you to the ridicule of common men

I will hide you inside my soul, not in my heart or in my eyes,

so that you may become one with my breath.

David Brown argues for the importance of experience of God as mediated through place in all its variety. He explores the various ways in which such experiences once formed an essential element in making religion integral to human life, and argues for their reinstatement at the centre of theological discussions about the existence of God. In effect, the discussion continues the theme of Brown's two much-praised earlier volumes, Tradition and Imagination and Discipleship and Imagination, in its advocacy of the need for Christian theology to take much more seriously its relationship with the various wider cultures in which it has been set. In its challenge to conventional philosophy of religion, the book will be of interest to theologians and philosophers, and also to historians of art and culture generally.

In 1913, Russian imperial marines stormed an Orthodox monastery at Mt. Athos, Greece, to haul off monks engaged in a dangerously heretical practice known as Name Worshipping. Exiled to remote Russian outposts, the monks and their mystical movement went underground. Ultimately, they came across Russian intellectuals who embraced Name Worshipping and who would achieve one of the biggest mathematical breakthroughs of the twentieth century, going beyond recent French achievements.

Loren Graham and Jean-Michel Kantor take us on an exciting mathematical mystery tour as they unravel a bizarre tale of political struggles, psychological crises, sexual complexities, and ethical dilemmas. At the core of this book is the contest between French and Russian mathematicians who sought new answers to one of the oldest puzzles in math: the nature of infinity. The French school chased rationalist solutions. The Russian mathematicians, notably Dmitri Egorov and Nikolai Luzin who founded the famous Moscow School of Mathematics were inspired by mystical insights attained during Name Worshipping. Their religious practice appears to have opened to them visions into the infinite and led to the founding of descriptive set theory.

The men and women of the leading French and Russian mathematical schools are central characters in this absorbing tale that could not be told until now. "Naming Infinity" is a poignant human interest story that raises provocative questions about science and religion, intuition and creativity.

Sacred Knowledge is the first well-documented, sophisticated account of the effect of psychedelics on biological processes, human consciousness, and revelatory religious experiences. Based on nearly three decades of legal research with volunteers, William A. Richards argues that, if used responsibly and legally, psychedelics have the potential to assuage suffering and constructively affect the quality of human life. Richards's analysis contributes to social and political debates over the responsible integration of psychedelic substances into modern society. His book serves as an invaluable resource for readers who, whether spontaneously or with the facilitation of psychedelics, have encountered meaningful, inspiring, or even disturbing states of consciousness and seek clarity about their experiences. Testing the limits of language and conceptual frameworks, Richards makes the most of experiential phenomena that stretch our understanding of reality, advancing new frontiers in the study of belief, spiritual awakening, psychiatric treatment, and social well-being. His findings enrich humanities and scientific scholarship, expanding work in philosophy, anthropology, theology, and religious studies and bringing depth to research in mental health, psychotherapy, and psychopharmacology.

Hasidism, a controversial, mystical-religious movement of Eastern European origin, has posed a serious challenge to mainstream Judaism from its earliest beginnings in the middle of the eighteenth century. Decimated by the Holocaust, it has risen like a phoenix from the ashes and has reconstituted itself as a major force in the world of ultra-Orthodox Judaism. Philosopher Martin Buber found inspiration in its original tenets and devoted much of his career to making its insights known to a wide readership. First published in 1958, Hasidism and Modern Man examines the life and religious experiences of Hasidic Jews, as well as Buber's personal response to them. From the autobiographical "My Way to Hasidism," to "Hasidism and Modern Man," and "Love of God and Love of Neighbor," the essays span nearly half a century and reflect the evolution of Buber's religious philosophy in relation to the Hasidic movement. Hasidism and Modern Man remains prescient in its portrayal of a spiritual movement that brings God down to earth and makes possible a modern philosophy in which the human being becomes sacred.

A pathbreaking history of Sufism, from the earliest centuries of Islam to the present After centuries as the most important ascetic-mystical strand of Islam, Sufism saw a sharp decline in the twentieth century, only to experience a stunning revival in recent decades. In this comprehensive new history of Sufism from the earliest centuries of Islam to today, Alexander Knysh, a leading expert on the subject, reveals the tradition in all its richness. Knysh explores how Sufism has been viewed by both insiders and outsiders since its inception. He examines the key aspects of Sufism, from definitions and discourses to leadership, institutions, and practices. He devotes special attention to Sufi approaches to the Qur'an, drawing parallels with similar uses of scripture in Judaism and Christianity. He traces how Sufism grew from a set of simple moral-ethical precepts into a sophisticated tradition with professional Sufi masters (shaykhs) who became powerful players in Muslim public life but whose authority was challenged by those advocating the equality of all Muslims before God. Knysh also examines the roots of the ongoing conflict between the Sufis and their fundamentalist critics, the Salafis-a major fact of Muslim life today. Based on a wealth of primary and secondary sources, Sufism is an indispensable account of a vital aspect of Islam.

As it celebrates the true worth of courage, Quiet Courage of the Inner Light faithfully records some keynotes of author Philip Pegler's lifelong spiritual quest. This book reflects upon the joys, hardship and profound lessons to be learnt on the challenging path to the ground of being. At the centre of these reflections resides an essential paradox. It is within the anguished darkness of tragedy or disaster that most often the clear light of fortitude is kindled. And it is within the shadows of doubt or desolation that you may stumble upon a hidden doorway to the deepest reality. It is the dawning of deep understanding concerning our true spiritual identity that paves the way for the discovery of a natural faith, universal in nature and all-embracing in compassion. Here is a book that nurtures such faith by honouring the essence of life, approaching a transcendent mystery through the immanence of all created things.

Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) is considered one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century in spite of his well-known transgressions-his complicity with National Socialism and his inability to show remorse or compassion for its victims. In The Duplicity of Philosophy's Shadow, Elliot R. Wolfson intervenes in a debate that has seen much attention in scholarly and popular media from a unique perspective, as a scholar of Jewish mysticism and philosophy who has been profoundly influenced by Heidegger's work. Wolfson sets out to probe Heidegger's writings to expose what remains unthought. In spite of Heidegger's explicit anti-Semitic statements, Wolfson reveals some crucial aspects of his thinking-including criticism of the biological racism and militant apocalypticism of Nazism-that betray an affinity with dimensions of Jewish thought: the triangulation of the concepts of homeland, language, and peoplehood; Jewish messianism and the notion of historical time as the return of the same that is always different; inclusion, exclusion, and the status of the other; the problem of evil in kabbalistic symbolism. Using Heidegger's own methods, Wolfson reflects on the inextricable link of truth and untruth and investigates the matter of silence and the limits of speech. He challenges the tendency to bifurcate the relationship of the political and the philosophical in Heidegger's thought, but parts company with those who write off Heidegger as a Nazi ideologue. Ultimately, The Duplicity of Philosophy's Shadow argues, the greatness and relevance of Heidegger's work is that he presents us with the opportunity to think the unthinkable as part of our communal destiny as historical beings.

What did ancient Jews believe about demons and angels? This question has long been puzzling, not least because the Hebrew Bible says relatively little about such transmundane powers. In the centuries after the conquests of Alexander the Great, however, we find an explosion of explicit and systematic interest in, and detailed discussions of, demons and angels. In this book, Annette Yoshiko Reed considers the third century BCE as a critical moment for the beginnings of Jewish angelology and demonology. Drawing on early 'pseudepigrapha' and Aramaic Dead Sea Scrolls, she reconstructs the scribal settings in which transmundane powers became a topic of concerted Jewish interest. Reed also situates this development in relation to shifting ideas about scribes and writing across the Hellenistic Near East. Her book opens a window onto a forgotten era of Jewish literary creativity that nevertheless deeply shaped the discussion of angels and demons in Judaism and Christianity.

"Elizabeth Clare Prophet's book is a masterpiece. The rich tradition of the Kabbalah comes to life in a language that is accessible even to those unfamiliar with this ancient and classic tradition." Caroline Myss, Ph.D., NY Times bestselling author of "Anatomy of the Spirit."

This book is a study of the evidence that exists to this day in the Niger Republic, and in the adjacent regions of Saharan and non-Saharan Africa, about the life of Sidi Mahmud al-Baghdadi, who, it is believed, introduced new doctrines of Oriental Sufism into the Air Massif during the sixteenth century. The teachings of Sidi Mahmud were to reappear recently in the Khalwatiyya Sufi order ( tariqa) in Niger. They are still important for contemporary Islam in that republic which is a bridge between the Arab world and the Muslim states of the African Sahel. There is also evidence to suggest that initiated members of the Mahmudiyya Sufi order were once to be found throughout the entire Southern Sahara, from Timbuctoo to Borno and Lake Chad. This Sufi order was one of the earliest to be founded in the area of Air which was a crossroads of African trade and of rival empires and of conflicting tribes and peoples.

A modern English version of the Middle English text of Birgitta's Revelations made at the Birgittine Syon Abbey in England, in which the scribes extracted their favourite episodes from the longer Latin version. Saint Birgitta of Sweden (canonised in 1391) is one of the most important female figures of medieval Europe. She participated vigorously in its political life, attempting through her writings to end the Hundred Years War between England and France, and to strengthen the Papacy against the Schism; she also influenced other mystics, such as Julian of Norwich, Catherine of Siena, Chiara Gambacorta, Margery Kempe and Elizabeth Barton, leading a tradition in which women, despite being forbidden to preach, could act through writing visionary books. Birgitta was helped by cardinals, bishops, priors and masters in her task, speaking to Popes, Emperors and all Europe. For this work she is now proclaimed, with Catherine of Siena and Edith Stein, Patron of Europe. This book presents in modern English her medieval biography, excerpts from her massive book, the Revelationes, from a translation into MiddleEnglish made at Brigittine Syon Abbey in England. This is accompanied by an interpretive essay and an introduction tracing her life.

An examination of the beliefs and history of the secretive Yezidi sect * Explains how the Yezidis worship Melek Ta'us, the Peacock Angel, an enigmatic figure often identified as "the devil" or Satan, yet who has been redeemed by God to rule a world of beauty and spiritual realization * Examines Yezidi antinomian doctrines of opposition, their cosmogony, their magical lore and taboos, the role of angels, ritual, and symbology, and how the Yezidi faith relates to other occult traditions such as alchemy * Presents the first English translation of the poetry of Caliph Yazid ibn Muawiya, venerated by the Yezidis as Sultan Ezi The Yezidis are an ancient people who live in the mountainous regions on the borders of Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. This secretive culture worships Melek Ta'us, the Peacock Angel, an enigmatic figure often identified as "the devil" or Satan, hence the sect is known as devil-worshippers and has long been persecuted. Presenting a study of the interior, esoteric dimensions of Yezidism, Peter Lamborn Wilson examines the sect's antinomian doctrines of opposition, its magical lore and taboos, and its relation to other occult traditions such as alchemy. He explains how the historical founder of this sect was a Sufi of Ummayad descent, Sheik Adi ibn Musafir, who settled in this remote region around 1111 AD and found a pre-Islamic sect already settled there. Sheik Adi was so influenced by the original sect that he departed from orthodox Islam, and by the 15th century the sect was known to worship the Peacock Angel, Melek Ta'us, with all its "Satanic" connotations. Revealing the spiritual flowering that occurs in an oral culture, the author examines Yezidi cosmogony, how they are descended from the androgynous Adam--before Eve was created--as well as the role of angels, ritual, alchemy, symbology, and color in Yezidi religion. He also presents the first English translation of the poetry of Caliph Yazid ibn Muawiya, venerated by the Yezidis as Sultan Ezi. Showing the Yezidi sect to be a syncretic faith of pre-Islamic, Zoroastrian, Christian, Pagan, Sufi, and other influences, Wilson reveals how these worshippers of the Peacock Angel do indeed worship "the Devil"--but the devil is not "evil." God has redeemed him, and he rules a world of beauty and spiritual realization.