Page 37 - Perceptions papers
P. 37
SUFISM
Dr. Kim Payton
The Afterlife in Mevlevi Sufi Tradition
The Sufi tradition is based on the Judeo Christian Scriptures, especially the Holy Koran, with
the Hadith of the Prophet Muhammed, provides a description of the afterlife, and how we must
live our lives. Thus, descriptions of the afterlife in Islam are applicable to the Sufi traditions.
Where the Sufi tradition differs is in the emphasis on the literal description of the afterlife. It
is said that the scriptures can be understood on many, some say 7 levels, some say 70,000 levels.
The literal level is only the first. There are deeper levels of meaning which provide us guidance
on how to live our lives, and how to understand death.
The Sufi is interested in direct experience, in this life, now. We long for a direct experience
of the Divine in this life, now. Our work is not even intended to deliver us into heaven or to
avoid the fires of Hell. As the famous mystic, Rabia of Basra said:
O God! If I worship You for fear of Hell, burn me in Hell and if I
worship You in hope of Paradise, exclude me from Paradise. But if
I worship You for Your Own sake, grudge me not Your everlasting
Beauty.
The Sufi seeks union with the Divine Beloved. We have voyaged for a long time in this
world and we feel the pull to return home to our Beloved. Ultimately the doorway home is death
of the physical body, but as the Prophet Mohammed advises “Die before you die”. It is our
belief that the higher, more real worlds are ever present, interpenetrating and sustaining this
creation. We just don’t usually appreciate it because the “organs of perception” (sometimes
37
