excerpt from The Diffusion of Sufi Ideas in the West (1972)
How They See Us
by Boris Kolinsky
... As far as [the Sufis] are concerned, the world is divided into regions, often called 'islands' or 'territories'. People who have grown up in one territory are expected to carry out their studies in that territory and nowhere else unless the teacher in charge of their island sends them, say, to the East.
If this concept is put into modern Western terms, such as are used in commerce, the parallel is strikingly 'modern' and apt. The headquarters of the concern may (or may not) be in the East. The local branches are organized in such a manner as to make possible the work of the organization in that locality. Distant centers are not equipped for the reception and training of people from another area: anymore than the Japanese branch of a British firm might be able to receive someone from, perhaps, South Africa, for a job or instruction which is set up in a specific place.
Exceptions to this rule can only be found in the East where Orientals do recruit Westerners and convert them into similitudes of Easterners. No recognizable Sufi would attempt such a project.
This brings us to an almost insuperable problem, that was described to me by one Sufi master as the 'primitive logic system.' The Western would-be disciple, having read various books, reasons-- fallaciously-- somewhat in this manner:
'This teaching originates in the East. In the East there are people who know about it. Therefore I shall go to the East and find a master who will be able to teach me more about it.'
This is fallacious because it would be true only if the Eastern mystical masters were so inefficient that, wanting to project their teaching in the West, they were incapable of setting up Western centers, especially adjusted to Western ways, for the establishment and progress of their work.
All recognized Sufi Masters in the East who were consulted by me are agreed that anyone who imagines that he must go to the East and find something in this manner is looking for romance and color, mystery and so on-- or else he is so primitive in his basic thinking that Sufism would be most unlikely to be able to help him in any case.
Therefore, however reluctantly, it must be concluded that the people who seem most anxious to learn are least fitted for it, because they have not done basic thinking about it. Those who may make the great sacrifices (by throwing up their job and heading for the East) may in fact be making the least real sacrifice, because they are seeking only emotional stimulus.
Both of these points have been strikingly made in items about Sufism published in the West in the 1960's. A correspondent of The Times, writing in 1964, quoted a Sufi chief as saying, in relation to the Sufis and the Sufi knowledge, 'They diffused this, it appeared, at intervals throughout the world, watched its progress and maintained their end of the activity....
'I cannot report that the Mir showed any interest in recruiting either of his visitors...'
The Diffusion of Sufi Ideas in the West, p. 153-154
How They See Us
by Boris Kolinsky
... As far as [the Sufis] are concerned, the world is divided into regions, often called 'islands' or 'territories'. People who have grown up in one territory are expected to carry out their studies in that territory and nowhere else unless the teacher in charge of their island sends them, say, to the East.
If this concept is put into modern Western terms, such as are used in commerce, the parallel is strikingly 'modern' and apt. The headquarters of the concern may (or may not) be in the East. The local branches are organized in such a manner as to make possible the work of the organization in that locality. Distant centers are not equipped for the reception and training of people from another area: anymore than the Japanese branch of a British firm might be able to receive someone from, perhaps, South Africa, for a job or instruction which is set up in a specific place.
Exceptions to this rule can only be found in the East where Orientals do recruit Westerners and convert them into similitudes of Easterners. No recognizable Sufi would attempt such a project.
This brings us to an almost insuperable problem, that was described to me by one Sufi master as the 'primitive logic system.' The Western would-be disciple, having read various books, reasons-- fallaciously-- somewhat in this manner:
'This teaching originates in the East. In the East there are people who know about it. Therefore I shall go to the East and find a master who will be able to teach me more about it.'
This is fallacious because it would be true only if the Eastern mystical masters were so inefficient that, wanting to project their teaching in the West, they were incapable of setting up Western centers, especially adjusted to Western ways, for the establishment and progress of their work.
All recognized Sufi Masters in the East who were consulted by me are agreed that anyone who imagines that he must go to the East and find something in this manner is looking for romance and color, mystery and so on-- or else he is so primitive in his basic thinking that Sufism would be most unlikely to be able to help him in any case.
Therefore, however reluctantly, it must be concluded that the people who seem most anxious to learn are least fitted for it, because they have not done basic thinking about it. Those who may make the great sacrifices (by throwing up their job and heading for the East) may in fact be making the least real sacrifice, because they are seeking only emotional stimulus.
Both of these points have been strikingly made in items about Sufism published in the West in the 1960's. A correspondent of The Times, writing in 1964, quoted a Sufi chief as saying, in relation to the Sufis and the Sufi knowledge, 'They diffused this, it appeared, at intervals throughout the world, watched its progress and maintained their end of the activity....
'I cannot report that the Mir showed any interest in recruiting either of his visitors...'
The Diffusion of Sufi Ideas in the West, p. 153-154
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