(The Buddha, sitting in lotus position, advocated an eight-fold path, the key to which was finding the middle way. Meditation was the essential practice through which he arrived at his realization or Nirvana. Is it possible that Muhammad sat in this same posture?) Allah does not approve of extreme behavior in either direction. Even in the prescribed law codes there is room for leniency on many issues because human beings inevitably encounter harsh and unforeseen circumstances in which they are forced, out of necessity, to behave in opposition to code. Modesty is a core attribute of Islam; some commentators even suggest that it is the meaning of Islam. Guatama Buddha taught very similar ideals only in a different context. He exemplified the middle way and life lived modestly. These are ideals upon which most traditions the world over agree. But the deep mystical ties between sayings from the Qur’an and Buddhism, mystical Hinduism, contemplative Christianity, or any other mystical tradition go deeper. (I don’t know much about Sufism, but I imagine it was not difficult for Sufis to derive their mystical tenets from the Qur’an.) Sohaib N. Sultan, who annotated The Qur’an and Sayings of Prophet Muhammad, writes that spiritual vitality relies on inward contemplation. He says, “Your spiritual devotion must begin with reflection, for it is in the reflection of divine signs that you will discover an intimate relationship with God’s beautiful attributes. It is interesting to consider that Prophet Muhammad’s own journey toward God began not with revelation, but with nights of deep reflection, meditation, and contemplation…. ‘Reflection is the lamp of the heart; if it is abandoned the heart will have no light’” (Sohaib N. Sultan, The Qur’an and Sayings of Prophet Muhammad, p 88). Here, Muhammad’s pre-revelation practice sounds very similar to that of Jesus, who spent forty days and forty nights fasting and meditating alone in the dessert, struggling to find pure awareness of the divine.
(A depiction of Jesus during his forty day revelatory stint in the dessert.) “Muhammad’s peak defining experience, called the Meraj, saw him elevated through the seven heavens to the realm of God Almighty” (http://www.sol.com/au/kor/22_02.htm, Anthology B, p 321). This sounds remarkably similar to Gautama Buddha’s realization under the Boddhi tree. He described his elevation through the seven chakras until his ultimate realization of divine union. Mother Theresa used Biblical terminology to convey her own progression, speaking of the seven temples of the body. Muhammad’s experience seems like many of the realizations had by the world’s great mystics and sages. It is very interesting to note the developments of certain traditions once its founder has had such a realization. Christianity forever banned any other human being from ever having an experience of divine union. Buddhists and Hindus (not all?) advocate practices – yogas – by which realization of Godhead in self can be achieved. Islam seems to slide back and forth between the two extremes. On the one hand, the Qur’an (Ali’s translation) uses terms such as “God conscious” (Trans: Ali, The Qur’an and Sayings of Prophet Muhammad, Qur’an 29:83, p 85) to describe a way of life and internal human states. This is very similar to Hindu terminology – Brahman and Atman are one. But on the other hand, Islamic history has discredited any individuals who have made claims of divine identity. Even Muhammad did not attain this status; he is merely a prophet or messenger. Muslims accept Jesus as a prophet and a great teacher who did receive divine wisdom, but they do not believe that he was, as Christians claim, the Son of God. They tease apart these two aspects of Christian doctrine without troubling about it. “The career of Sabbatai Sevi, a Jew who considered himself the Messiah, is a perfect illustration of Ottoman pragmatism. When he toured the Jewish communities of the Ottoman world gathering adherents and outraging the Jewish establishment with his mystic utterances and scandalous decrees, the Ottomans ignored him” (Goodwin, Anthology B, p 329-330). Claims to Godhead do not seem to be taken seriously by these Muslims. If these claims are not a problem, then are they not even a remote possibility either?
(Dance and passionate movement are essential mystical practices of Suffism, a branch of Islam. Here are the Whirling Dervishes, a group of ecstatic dancers spinning toward that moment of divine union.)Yet “[m]any Sufis (and other mystics in other religions) seek a spiritual union between themselves and the divine principle” (http://www.sol.com/au/kor/22_02.htm, Anthology B, p 322). So how do we reconcile these two principles? Need they be reconciled? Or are they simply different, mutually compatible levels of interpretation fed by Qur’anic wisdom? Many other passages from the Qur’an indicate much less lenient and much more mythic, Salvationist messages. “[P]erhaps the [Final] [sic] Hour is near!” (The Qur’an and Sayings of Prophet Muhammad, Qur’an 33:63, p 75). This is a cry for action. Mystically, the final hour is always near. Unfortunately this alternative reading is swept away: “Rather, truly righteous are those who believe in God and the last day, and the angels and the scriptures, and the prophets…” (The Qur’an and Sayings of Prophet Muhammad, Qur’an 2:177, 59). This seems to be about as clear cut, literal, and mythic as religious scriptures come. The implications of such belief cannot easily be predicted, but they are being played out in our world for all of us to see first hand. Is there such a thing as being right? We are in a battle of perspectives.
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