Sufism: A Brief Sketch Almost all of Sahaja Yoga community is familiar with the music titled "Sufi Odes" by Simple Ji. Its difficult to know if the music is more enchanting than the words. But sufism is more than folk music related to Islam, as one may initially think. Sufi devotion is the deepest and cleanest ways to reach God by chanting His name (zikr) to achieve almost-thoughtless state (kaifiat) in the collective atmosphere (sama). Music became a major part of Sufi practices when Moinuddin Chisti came from Iran to Ajmer. Chisti saw Hindus worshipping God through the medium of music. So he went ahead and infused the tradition of singing to Allah and invoke divine bliss. Thus Hazrat Muinuddin chisti is the integrator of Iranian and Indian music into Chisti music. Chistis are direct descendents of Imam Hazrat Ali: The only incarnation of Brahmadeva. Nizamuddin Auliya was one of the major sufis of the Chisti sect and is known to the world as "Dehelvi", because he lived in Delhi. Nizamuddin Auliya was one of the few who's ascent was higher than his fellow sufi saints. He was known to have achieved the state of "Mahbubiyat: Direct connection with God in His Nirakar" Many of the yuvashaktis have discussed the benefits of getting a good education. A lesson can be drawn from an incident in Nizamuddin Auliya's life: As a student in Delhi (d. 1325) he met Baba Farid, another Sufi Saint and lecturer, and recognized Baba Farid as a true Master. He offered to quit his studies and join him as a student of spirituality, but Baba Farid gave some timeless advice: "Do both, until one of them predominates. A Sufi should have some measure of learning." Attending school or college and getting higher education is an essential for any of us. Amir Khusro one of the four disciples of Nizamuddin Auliya to have acheived self-realization. Other three disciples got distracted from the path, even after getting it. Khusro's compositions have the quality of surrender in them, which he expressed by calling himself the bride and his divine master as the husband (Piya). Other sufis, even males, will sing by referring to themselves as females, to bring out the quality of surrender. e.g. Khusro's couplet: Khusrau raen suhaag ki, jaagi pi ke sung, Tun mero mun pi-u ko, dovu bhaye ek rung. [Khusrau (the bride) spends the eve of her wedding Awake with her beloved, (in such a way that) The body belongs to her, but heart to the beloved, The two become one.] Apni chhab banaikay, jo main pi kay paas gayi Chhab dekhi jab piyu ki so apni bhool gayi. [With my beautiful face all adorned, when I went to the beloved, I saw his face, and forgot all about my own beauty.] Khusrau baazi prem ki main khelun pi ke sung, Jeet gayi to piya moray, haari, pi kay sung. [I, Khusrau, play the game of love with my beloved, If I win, the beloveds mine, defeated, Im beloveds.] Sufi Shrines are found in many places in India and Pakistan in places like Kasur (Baba Bulleshah - Pakistan), Lahore (Data Ganj Baksh - Pakistan), Multaan (Rukunuddin Shah Alam - Pakistan), Delhi (Nizamuddin Auliya - India) and many more. Unfortunately the holy shrines in Pakistan have been converted to Public Mosques by the Pakistani governments to get gain popularity amongst the masses. Sufis, like any true saint or guru were condemned by the society and harassed away. Wahabis were explicitly against Sufis. These are the same Wahabis who claim to be Muslims without accepting Mohammad Sa'ab as the prophet! The reason for them hating Sufis was simple: Sufis simplified Islam for the masses and hence. Sarmad and Hallaj were Sufis who were killed by these negetive forces (Sarmad's beheading is mentioned in the qawwali - "Tum Ik Gorakh Dhanda Ho"). Adi guru Nanak and Kabir both absorbed the Sufi mysticism into their devotion. Baba Ganj Shakar's best peoms are found in Gurmukhi script in sacred Sikh texts. Baba Farid's poems are in the Guru Granth Sahib. Guru Nanak has written extensive Sufi peoms, sung by the contemmporary singer Begum Abida Parvin. During Akbar's rule, Tulsidas and surdas were writing peotry which can be called sufi. Bulleshah's story of spiritual dedication goes beyond any other: His Guru, Shah Inayat, got annoyed with Bulleshah. So he spent 12 years with dancing girls and became one of them. And then, to show that he had himself killed his ego, he dressed up, danced in the middle of a market and sang in a female voice to convince the guru of his devotion. (tere Ishk Nachaya, Karke Thayyan Thayyan). The Sufi singers lead a gypsy life. However, it would be wrong to assume that they were seeking God away from the society. A sufi shouldn't be different from a Sahaja Yogi in the sense of being collective, so it is possible that they were driven away by fanatic clergy of the 'Muslim Religion'. The sufis used to wander, but their 'mehfils' used to take place with a huge collective where the audience was also involved in the performance and they too went into trance-like states (Haal/Kaifiat) similar to thoughtless awareness. There is so much more to Sufism than the material covered in this article. Sufism is all about clearing ourselves through bhajans, qawwalis and surrender. This article does not cover great Sufis like Rumi.The curious reader should read "The Female Voice in Sufi Ritual" by Shameem Abbas. Ernst and Lawrence's Sufi Martyrs of Love is a good commentary on the Chisti order of Sufism.