Practical Sufism: A Guide to the Spiritual Path Based on the Teachings of Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan

By Phillip Gowins

This wise, funny, and compassionate book follows Gowins apprenticeship with Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, spiritual leader of the Sufi Order International. Until now, Pir Vilayat’s order has not had a strong, accessible introduction. This book not only provides that service but is more down-to-earth than most books on Sufism. It also has the advantage of being universalistic. “The Sufi Way is not a religion or a component of a religion but the heart of all religions and spiritualities,” Gowins says. Because it is non-dogmatic and offers no catechisms or creeds, its teachers are essential. Gowins emerges as a superb teacher, offering a user-friendly guide to the Sufi Way that is at once valuable to any seeker entering any spiritual path. Gowins is quick to emphasize that Sufism is not the only path or even the right path for everyone. His approach is full of engaging stories and specific practices that could be helpful in many circumstances. Readers will benefit from his gentle Sufi teachings of love, tolerance, unity, and consciousness, no matter what their chosen path.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Quest Books
• Release date: Dec 19, 2012
• ISBN: 9780835630108

Book preview

1

HAPPINESS

The other night I was watching the movie Ghostbusters II for perhaps the tenth time—you know, the one where ghosts and evil spirits wreak havoc on Manhattan. And as usual I had a good laugh at the mayor’s line, Being miserable and treating people like dirt is every New Yorker’s God-given right!

Since I had lived in New York City for thirty years, I could fully appreciate the comment. New Yorkers even tend to take pride in this image. But being miserable and unhappy would be lots of fun if only it did not hurt so much. Living in the city, I saw, felt, experienced, and sometimes participated in deep unhappiness. I often experienced the pain a perfect stranger was feeling—not its source, but its intensity. This was always hard on me; it got me right in the gut, almost as if it were happening to me—which, in a way, it was, when you consider that all of us are a single entity in the state the Sufis call Wahdat Al Wujud, or the Unity of Existence.

Unhappiness is universal. We all experience it, and we all work at alleviating it. Or we get so used to it that it becomes our natural state, and we get confused by moments of happiness and tend to reject them. Or we become accustomed to what we use to alleviate unhappiness—drugs and alcohol, for instance—and get stuck with waging that particular battle in ourselves. Apparently, this is all part of the human condition; unhappiness is the rule—or so we think. The best thing we can say about unhappiness is that when we experience it, we come to understand what happiness is.

THE NATURAL STATE OF THE SOUL

But what do we mean by happiness? As I explain later on, when we use a word in the mystical sense—which is what I am doing here—we often mean something different from the ordinary sense. With this in mind, let’s begin our definition of happiness by saying what happiness is not. It is not pleasure, sexual, gastronomic, or intellectual. It is not euphoria or ecstasy, although these may be involved. It is not satisfaction—at a job well done, for instance—though again this may also play a role.

The best definition I know of happiness, and one Hazrat Inayat Khan used frequently, is that it is the natural state of the soul.

By the natural state of the soul, I mean that state of being in which we see all events and conditions as a part of the being of God.

Hazrat Inayat Khan writes:

Earthly pleasures are the shadows of happiness because of their transitory character. True happiness is in love, which is the stream that springs from one’s soul; and he who will allow this stream to run continually in all conditions of life, in all situations however difficult, will have happiness which truly belongs to him, the source of which is not without, but within. If there is a constant outpouring of love one becomes a divine fountain, for from the depth of the fountain rises the stream and, on its return, it pours upon the fountain, bathing it continually. It is a divine bath, the true bath in the Ganges, the sacred river. When once one has got the key of this fountain, one is always purified, every moment of one’s life; nothing can stay in the mind causing man unhappiness! For happiness alone is natural, and it is attained by knowing and by living

Reviews for Practical Sufism

[yeldabmoers · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I’m ashamed to say that I was born in the country where the famous Sufi poet Rumi lived, raised in the Muslim faith, but know little about Sufism, other than that it’s the mystical aspect of Islam and the spiritual home of the whirling dervishes (who I’ve seen perform in my native Turkey). For that reason I was drawn to Phillip Gowins’s book Practical Sufism. I wanted to learn the basics and thought this slim book by a hypnotherapist and Sufi teacher would be a great way to start.Gowins takes us down his path of Sufism. Part memoir, part traditional non fiction text, part metaphysical musings with meditative exercises, Practical Sufism is a hodgepodge of a book. At times this lack of structure felt liberating, but at other times I found it hard to grasp the teachings and principles of Sufism, besides some basic principles such as: merging with the oneness of God, humans as beings of light, Sufism as the path of the heart, the need to open the channel to the soul through meditation. I felt that the author should have given at least a brief introduction on the history, philosophy and practice of Sufism before sharing his own experience. Without such an introduction, the narrative meanders. Sufism is in fact the inner dimension of Islam. But there is little if no mention of Islam, and how Sufism ties into Islam. In the history of the religion, Sufism has played a key role, a fact that the reader should be informed of. Also, Islamic practice appears to be a key component of many Sufi orders. Gowins’s order appears to be independent of religion, so the reader longs to know: how is that possible? Gowins’s spiritual awakening is engaging. He left the Protestant faith and joined a Sufi order. The book is based on the teachings of Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, the author’s own guide and leader of his Sufi order. Khan has since passed away. And though many of the passages from Khan that Gowins includes are beautiful and poignant, it’s difficult to grasp exactly what Khan’s essential teachings are. Gowins doesn’t take the time to delve into them. So I’m left to wonder, what is the essential philosophy of Sufism and its major figures, and how does Khan fit in this history? Also, I wanted more details of Gowins own path in the Sufi order. What was the process? How did he become a Sufi? Apparently, it’s not easy to become one and can take years of tireless devotion and practice.Gowins is a clear, succinct, and effective writer. His voice is likeable, his style is easy to read and follow. However, the book reads more like a spiritual self-help book than an informative text on the subject, as it lacks a narrative thread. The chapters don’t connect to one another, and the information appears to be dispersed. The random division of chapters makes it hard to grasp his spirituality’s key concepts. In the end, I felt the book was incomplete. Sufism has such a rich and fascinating history and I wish the author had shared more of that with the reader.