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Sufism is less a doctrine or a belief system than an experience and way of life. It is a tradition of enlightenment that carries the essential truth forward through time. Tradition, however, must be conceived in a vital and dynamic sense. Its expression must not remain limited to the religious and cultural forms of the past. The truth of Sufism requires reformulation and fresh expression in every age. Sufism, as we know it, developed within the cultural matrix of Islam. The Islamic revelation presented itself as the expression of the essential message brought to humanity by the prophets of all ages. The Qur'an recognizes the validity of 120,000 prophets or messengers who have come to awaken us from our selfish egoism and remind us of our spiritual nature. The Qur'an confirmed the validity of past revelations, while asserting that the original message was often distorted over the course of time. Sufism's claim to universality is founded on the broad recognition that there is only one God, the God of all people and all true religions. Sufism understands itself to be the wisdom realized by the great prophets -- explicitly including Jesus, Moses, David, Solomon, and Abraham, among others, and implicitly including other unnamed enlightened beings of every culture. For more than seven centuries the Mevlevi Order has held the light of the religion of love, offering spiritual refuge and enlightenment for those who wished to develop their human-ness to the highest level. In Ottoman times the Mevlevi Order cultivated not only spiritual attainment but cultural and artistic excellence as well. Mevlevis have always been progressive and liberal in spirit while at the same time conserving the best of tradition. Today, the Mevlevi Order is reviving in the West to offer a spirituality adequate to our times. In May of 1994 at a conference in Konya, Turkey, on "Mevlâna and Human Rights," a gathering of eminent cultural and spiritual figures including Dr. Celebi and Dr. Cin (Rector of Selcuk University and the Turkish Minister of Culture), declared the Threshold Mevlevi Center in Brattleboro, Vermont, "New Konya" in recognition of the work of the Threshold Society and Threshold Books in spreading Rumi's message of universal love.Two years later at an intenational conference on "Rumi and Goethe," Kabir Helminski was awarded an honorary doctorate in literature from Selcuk University in Konya for his writings on Mevlana. In 1999 Camille and Kabir Helminski moved from Putney, Vermont to Aptos, California. In addition to their continuing work as spiritual teachers, they are now involved in several creative projects in writing, recording, and educational consulting.
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Sufism
is a way of life in which a deeper identity is discovered and lived.
This deeper identity, beyond the already known personality, is in
harmony with all that exists. This deeper identity, or essential
self, has abilities of awareness, action, creativity and love that
are far beyond the abilities of the superficial personality. Eventually
it is understood that these abilities belong to a greater life and
being which we individualize in our own unique way while never being
separate from it.
