The Form and Function of Sufi Mystical Visions
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humanities/philosophy
term papers
published 03/10/2007
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Summary
Experience of direct union with God is most often reported to be of an ineffable nature that transcends any means of description. Mystical visions, however, afford the subject of such experiences the ability to interpret, through the hermeneutics of religious symbolism, what might otherwise be incomprehensible to the rational mind. In the Islamic Sufi context, visions most commonly take the form of important religious figures; Allah, the Prophet Muhammad, angels, saints and a devotee’s shaikh are symbols likely to manifest their presence in mystical visions. Symbolism is not limited to discrete characters in Sufi life, however; abstract and personal metaphors occur as well. These symbols serve as relatively concrete entities upon which to hang the ultimate and inexpressible truths to which mystics claim to gain access. Using firsthand accounts of Sufis (classical masters and modern novices alike), and contemporary analytical methodologies, this paper will examine the process of training that facilitates mystical experience, as well as the psychological principles which govern the content and interpretation of the visions themselves.
Table of Contents
- Experience of direct union with God is most often reported to be of an ineffable nature that transcends any means of description
- The Sufi path prescribes specific steps to guide an adherent towards mystical experience
- The universe of instruments is closed and the rules of his game are to make do with ‘whatever is at hand', that is, with a set of tools and materials which is always finite and is also heterogeneous.
- A veritable manifestation/theophany (tajalli), however, is that which occurs when there is consciousness only of the manifestation, without any witnessing.
- The field of dream interpretation has flourished in both its western and Islamic settings
- Rather than greedily requiring haughty visions of union with God, Al-Sha'rani valued each piece of representational advice given to him
- The guidelines determined by al-Sha'rani regarding his ‘dreams of instruction' apply directly to a series of dreams that occurred during the penultimate week of Özelsel's retreat
- Özelsel's final vision, which occurs the day before she is to leave the halvet, is a fully-conscious unitized experience that illustrates the interplay between cognitive and theological dream interpretation.
- There seems to be conclusive evidence suggesting that adherence to a prescribed path allows a mystically-inclined individual the means to express, in the vernacular of that tradition, what might be universal truths of existence
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