Hazrat Inayat Khan’s writings say that the word Sufi comes from the Arabic word ‘Sufa’ or ‘Saf’ which means pure (pure from distinctions and differences). It also means wool because the Sufis would wear wool. Many people call Sufism the mystical thread of Islam. Hazrat Inayat Khan’s writings say the germ of Sufism is believed to have existed from the beginning of creation. Trace of sufis is found in all periods of history, mostly during the age of Hebrew prophets, who themselves were sufis. The message comes from way, way back. It’s the thread showing us how we reconcile the fact that our mind has become divided with the undivided nature of reality.
When we study Native American or Aboriginal teachings we are reading a thread from a society where the mind had not become divided. Native wisdome does not have Enlightenment teachings. They’re already spiritually awake and alive and know the purpose of their life and know who they are.
Sufism contains the shadow of that past knowing. But even the Sufi Enlightenment teachings come from societies that have already been divided. We need to take these teachings forward into the world that we live in now, where we have so much different information. We can work it together now in ways that will bring us beautifully into a state of Awakening.
It’s actually my belief that an explosion of Awakening is happening across the planet right now. I have a knack for finding enlightened people. Well, it’s not a knack; I go looking for them. And I’ll tell you what, there are a lot of people. They are all, in essence, a Sufi.
My teacher was Osho, and he said that all his sannyasins were sufis because Sufi isn’t stuck to a particular religion or creed. It is literally anyone who is looking for awakening, looking for enlightenment, striving to live awake in the world. So, we’re all sufis.
There are also official lineages of Sufi that are very different from each other. There are lots of Sufi orders now from the East that have come to the West. And there is also still the organization that Hazrat Inayat Khan started that is actually split into two organizations. So, there are very, very different types of Sufi orders all over the place.
But who is really a Sufi? It would have to be any awake person, and it would have to be anyone following this thread towards Awakening.