The Sufi path, an esoteric path?
Contents
What is an esoteric path?
It is commonly held that an esoteric path is characterised by secret teachings, or teachings accessible only to initiates; esotericism is also sometimes associated with occultism. In short, on such paths, only those inside the so-called esoteric organisation would have access to the teachings.
“Esoteric” does indeed come from a Greek word meaning “inner”; the term is opposed to exoteric, which in ancient Greek means “outer”. If we examine the use of this term, in the West in particular, we find that it applies chiefly to closed initiatory organisations which impose discretion and secrecy on their members towards non-members.
That usage certainly cannot be applied as it stands to Sufism, and to the Sufi brotherhoods in particular. For these brotherhoods are neither closed nor bound to secrecy towards the outside world (except in certain exceptional circumstances, as during the Soviet period in the Central Asian republics). The Sufi brotherhoods are embedded and known in Muslim societies, and their members are free to say or not whether they are attached to a brotherhood.
In the West, Sufism is sometimes described as “the esoteric path of Islam”. To what extent is that description acceptable, in view of what has been said above?
If we retain the idea that a path is called “esoteric” because it concerns the interior of the being, its inwardness, then in that case one can say that a Sufi path is esoteric. For, like all initiatory paths, it aims in principle to initiate the being into subtle realities; realities that only a spiritually educated inwardness, freed from the grip of the ego, can know.
The Sufi path takes an interest in the innermost depths of the being (that is, what lies at the bottom of oneself, at the very tip of the being, what is designated by the heart in Sufism), and it is at this level that the spiritual work takes place. It is therefore in this capacity that the Sufi path may be regarded as esoteric.
The notion of secret (sirr)
Let us dwell a moment on the notion of the “innermost heart”: it is interesting to note that this notion is rendered in Arabic by the term “sirr”, a term which is also sometimes translated as “secret”… We thus come back to this notion of secrecy.
What, then, is the notion of secret in Sufism?
We have seen that the Sufi path was not “secret” in the sense that certain initiatory organisations in the West can be.
Yet the Arabic word “sirr” is very present in the Sufi vocabulary, with a double meaning:
- on the one hand: the innermost heart, the heart, the subtle tip of the being;
- on the other hand: the spiritual secret, which is a divine deposit of which the spiritual master is the guarantor. It is a deposit of a spiritual nature which he has inherited through a spiritual authorisation designated by the term “idhn”.
Thus it appears that what is “secret” in Sufism is not something known by some and kept hidden from others. No: it is rather a matter of subtle and quite simply ineffable realities, which cannot be expressed in words. For these realities belong more to the order of intimate experience than to knowledge.
Sidi Jamal al-Qadiri Boudchich tells us on this subject: “Sufism cannot be apprehended by reason, because reason is limited, being a created faculty; the secrets of the unseen are not perceived by the intellect [the mind]. They can only be known by pure hearts.”
These subtle realities, which the being perceives in his heart, simply cannot be explained to another. There are no words to describe the reality of what the Sufis evoke when they speak of spiritual states (ahwal) and stations (maqamat). It is, one might say, secret because intimate: even if one wanted to tell it, one could not express it.
As for the secret at the master’s disposal, it is a spiritual deposit by virtue of which he guides the Sufi aspirants, and which is called “secret” (sirr) but which could also be designated as spiritual energy or influx. Here again, it is not a secret that could be disclosed. It is rather a subtle light lodged in the master’s heart, which gives him the faculty of guiding his disciples on the path.
Let us conclude by quoting Sidi Jamal al-Qadiri Boudchich once more, who says of this divine deposit in the master’s heart: “God knows where He puts His secret. It is as when one has honey: a clean vessel must be chosen to store it in. In the same way God chooses clean, pure hearts in which to store His secret.”
