The Mystical Teaching Method The one who sincerely seeks the way to substantial development indeed produces around himself waves, waves perceived by the teacher and waves that show the seeker the techniques of esoteric self-interrogation. The teacher will appear at the right time in the life of the seeker. As with any other profession, the postulant on the way to a substantial development must go through a systematic and well-organized education. The authenticity of the mystical way is proven by its educational method. If a mystical school does not function accordingly, it is not authentic. In each school, only a certain number of persons are authorized to teach the technical practices of Sufism. How Does One Recognize an Authentic School? The link or connection to an ancient and well-established structure, based on a serious philosophical tradition, is the main proof of the authenticity of a Sufi school. A true Sufr educational system never imposes any dogma or belief and never requires a renouncement of personal religious convictions. It is not based on religion but on spirituality and metaphysics. The teacher never expects money, neither for his teaching, which is strictly individual, nor for his spiritual help. Those who sell paranormal abilities, such as clairvoyants, may very well have a real aptitude, but cannot be recognized as Sufis with authentic teaching methods. This indication is all-important and illustrates how to avoid the claws of so-called gurus leading mercenary sects, and how to avoid falling under the spell of unscrupulous, self-proclaimed magi.
God knows they are numerous and dangerous! Finally, the student will also recognize the authenticity of a school by the deep and meticulous teaching he is given, as well as by certain signs perceived in dreams. The real spirirual adventure begins as: the seeker becomes a traveler on the path to his own intemal development and unity with his own spirit, the universe, and God. What is the Goal’/ Looking at the deflnition of Sufism, we find a double purpose: (1) personal development; (2) knowledge of the self and of the visible and invisible world. In fact, both purposes go hand-in-hand, because personal development leads to knowledge. This can be summarized under one definition that perfectly captures the Sufi goal: essential evolution. This requires an explanation: We human beings are not what we think we are. In reality we are much more than what we think we are. Indeed, we each identify ourselves with our physical body, which was born sometime ago from a father and a mother, somewhere on this earth. This physical body will die some day, as it is the ultimate destiny of all living creatures on this ear1h. When we declare, “l am John,” u’e think of our physical person: its history, its liealth, its financial difficulties, its happy family life, and everything that constitutes a daily life. This John because we call him so – comrnunicates with his environment through the five senscs of liis physical body: he sees with his eyes, hears with his ears, smells with his nose, tastes with his mouth, and uses his hands, or other parls of his body, to touch things. Thus, for him, the universe is exclusively made of what is accessible to his five senses.
If a sound is inaudible for his ears, for example ultrasound, it is defined as non-existing, whereas his dog will perfectly hear and run to his master when John blows his ultrasound whistle, although this very whistle produces no perceptible sound for us human beings! All this is to say that many things exist that remain inaccessible to the human beings because they are outside the reach of the five senses. For instance, we know that some animals can perceive infrared and ultraviolet, which are colors unknown to the human eye because of our limited natural capacities. Because the five senses of our physical body allow us to perceive only the physical world, we tend to think that this is the only existing world; that we are this physical body because we feel the heartbeats in our chest. Yet, it is not sol There exists an invisible world beyond the capacity of perception of our physical eyes, a world that is also inaudible – beyond our hearing capacities – and also impalpable – beyond all our five senses. But there are also many invisible worlds in such dimensions that make it impossible for us either to suspect their existence or even to define them. Words would be useless for the definition of what we cannot reach. How can we describe colors to someone who is born blind? How can we describe the subtlety of music to someone who is born deaf and who has always lived in total silence? As long as we remain limited to our five senses, we have no idea of knowing a prairie in the invisible worlds.
Written by Dr.Mostafa Azmayesh.