excerpt from Idries Shah's Darkest England (1987):
"Common sense is needed, and found in my own
part of the world in such matters as dealing with metaphysical madmen, cranks
and impostors. In its traditional form, the term Sufi stands for a person of
such impeccable virtue and spiritual attainment that none may so style himself
(or herself) and still be innocent of vanity.
"In other words, if you
say you're one, you're not....
"But let it not be concealed from you that we,
like you, nowadays, are besieged by groups of near-madmen-- cultists-- who
imitate what they imagine to be Sufis, who caper and dress in weird clothes,
sometimes taking great liberties with others, and generally behaving in a manner
open to justifiable criticism. Instead of seeking power over themselves, they
try to acquire control over others.
"Real Sufis, contrary to this
systematic behaviour, often assail such things as fixed thinking-patterns,
however laudable these may seem to the converted. The aim is to make room for
fresh ideas. Among other things, this flexibility enables people to survive when
there is a need to adjust to changed circumstances.
"What happens when
these putative Sufis invade, or arise in, England? Not far from where I now sit
there is what is misnamed a settlement (it is very unsettled) centred on a house
in Southern England. There you will find strangely-clad, gamboling fools, led by
a wiseacre in a tarboosh. English to a man-- and woman-- they have convinced
themselves, and even sections of the Press plus some Eastern residents here,
that they are Sufis.
"When I recently approached their abode,
embarrassed that the name of Sufi should be freely used by such as I could see
marching and skipping up and down the village street, I noted a local rustic
sitting outside the inn, nursing a pint of ale.
"I sat down beside him
and he said, with the kind of forbearance which bespeaks not only common sense
but that propensity for becoming a Sufi which stems from seeing the good and
shunning the evil: 'Afar, there be the Soofees. Not right in the head at all,
but they do have some lovely hives and dainty honey... "
"Common sense is needed, and found in my own part of the world in such matters as dealing with metaphysical madmen, cranks and impostors. In its traditional form, the term Sufi stands for a person of such impeccable virtue and spiritual attainment that none may so style himself (or herself) and still be innocent of vanity.
"In other words, if you say you're one, you're not....
"But let it not be concealed from you that we, like you, nowadays, are besieged by groups of near-madmen-- cultists-- who imitate what they imagine to be Sufis, who caper and dress in weird clothes, sometimes taking great liberties with others, and generally behaving in a manner open to justifiable criticism. Instead of seeking power over themselves, they try to acquire control over others.
"Real Sufis, contrary to this systematic behaviour, often assail such things as fixed thinking-patterns, however laudable these may seem to the converted. The aim is to make room for fresh ideas. Among other things, this flexibility enables people to survive when there is a need to adjust to changed circumstances.
"What happens when these putative Sufis invade, or arise in, England? Not far from where I now sit there is what is misnamed a settlement (it is very unsettled) centred on a house in Southern England. There you will find strangely-clad, gamboling fools, led by a wiseacre in a tarboosh. English to a man-- and woman-- they have convinced themselves, and even sections of the Press plus some Eastern residents here, that they are Sufis.
"When I recently approached their abode, embarrassed that the name of Sufi should be freely used by such as I could see marching and skipping up and down the village street, I noted a local rustic sitting outside the inn, nursing a pint of ale.
"I sat down beside him and he said, with the kind of forbearance which bespeaks not only common sense but that propensity for becoming a Sufi which stems from seeing the good and shunning the evil: 'Afar, there be the Soofees. Not right in the head at all, but they do have some lovely hives and dainty honey... "
I am very curious to understand how such imitation Sufis arrived hear in the UK. Does anyone know anything about this?
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