A Dutch translation of this article is available in the online journal Soefi Gedachtes.

If it were not for the pains of life, probably very few people would ever look for the Sufi path or seek refuge in any other spiritual tradition. The sorrows of a failed love, the disappointment of a broken friendship, the bitter failure of a lifelong dream, the exhausting misery of an enduring illness or the passing away of a loved one – all these can lead us to question our assumptions about life and to look around for some certainty, for ‘a staff during our weakness, a rock in the weariness of life.’ Due to the nature of our origin – for we come from a perfect Source, as Sufi Inayat tells us in chapter X of Mental Purification – we feel an innate longing for the Truth but the soul, having accepted the garment of mortality, is easily deceived.  When life is comfortable, the spirit begins to slumber and believes its dreams to be reality. It is only pain that awakens us to the need to struggle and to turn away from the Siren call of comfort and pleasure, a call that proves to be only a seductive trap. 

In the Bowl of Saki, we find this saying for July 19: The soul’s true happiness lies in experiencing the inner joy, and it will never be fully satisfied with outer, seeming pleasures; its connection is with God, and nothing short of perfection will ever satisfy it. The saying for the following day touches the same truth in a slightly different way : Every blow in life pierces the heart and awakens our feeling to sympathize with others; and every swing of comfort lulls us to sleep, and we become unaware of all.

But what solace can the spiritual path offer to the seeker wounded by the blows of life?  We speak of the message of love, harmony and beauty, attractive words which seem to whisper the promise of paradise, but even when we commit ourselves to the Sufi caravan and begin to trudge along the trail, we find that the blows do not stop; they continue to rain down, and very often cause still more pain. Should we believe that it is ‘spiritual’ to accept the pain and to suffer without question? Or have we misunderstood?  We may perhaps have awakened to the recognition that life in the world is disappointing, but must we also now conclude that the spiritual life gives us nothing better? What hope can Sufism offer?

No one with any understanding would say that spirituality can make life in the world easiser, and self-proclaimed authorities and on-line gurus who promise their followers heaven on earth are deluding those who listen to them – and themselves, as well.  In the realm of manifestation, it is a simple certainty that what is brought together will someday be dispersed. Therefore all that gives us material comfort is limited, and limits us by our devotion to it. Neither Sufism nor any other spiritual path can grant us liberty from the harships of life in the world.  What the spiritual teachings do offer us, though, is a glimpse of that which is beyone limitation, the infinite light and life from which we came, and by rising to that level we may reclaim our place in eternity.  That is our hope.  From that height we will then still face all the difficulties of life in the world, but we will view them very differently.

To be continued…