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This text is the second part of an article from Dr Javad Nurbakhsh called Sufism and Psychoanalysis, published in The International Journal of Social Psychiatry, Vol. 24, Nº 3.
First part of the article: ‘What is Sufism?’ gives us a general view about what Sufism is, specially Persian Sufism; and this second one makes a comparison between Sufism and Psychoanalysis.
Erādat
In the previous article we mentioned that an aspirant (tāleb) starts his search for a master after he senses his own incompleteness and feels the urge to reach perfection. Upon finding a master, the aspirant will submit himself to his will and become his morid (disciple), in order that he may pass through the stages of perfection and finally reach the state of a Perfect Man (ensān-e kāmel). The spiritual bond linking the morid to the master (morād) is called erādat.
According to the literal meaning, the word erādat means simply 'to want', 'will', or 'intend'; but among the Sufis erādat means preferring the will of the master to one's own will. In other words, erādat is the negation of one's own will in face of that of the master. Literally, morid means a person who possesses will, whereas the Sufis, paradoxically, take him to be a person who has no will; and as long as a person has not surrendered his will, he is not qualified to be called a morid.
Although finding a perfect master depends upon the morid’s search for and finally recognition of one, for the most part, and perhaps completely, the encounter between the morid and the morād comes about unconsciously. It is an affair of the heart, being of a purely spiritual nature.
The spiritual psychology of the Sufis recognizes two principle kinds of the unconscious: that of the heart {del) and that of the 'commanding soul* (nafs-e ammāra) [Note 1]. The heart is considered to be a divine gift. It is compared to a mirror that must be cleansed of the rust of the natural and material world, until it becomes polished and reflects the Truth [Note 2].
The nafs-e ammāra, on the other hand, is considered to be a power that must be transmuted in a real sense into the nafs-e lawwāma ('blaming soul') and finally into the nafs-e motma'enna ('soul at peace'), so that it will be able to return to the Truth. The Sufis have taken this concept from the Koranic verse: "0 soul at peace, return unto thy Lord, well-pleased, well-pleasing!" (LXXXIX: 27-28)
In the heart reside love ('eshq), compassion, self-sacrifice, spiritual chivalry, purity and goodness. This is expressed by the saying of the Prophet: "The heart is between the two fingers of the Merciful" (Ruzbehān 1970, p. 123). From the carnal soul, on the other hand, arise animal tendencies, aggressiveness, baseness and impurity. It is about this soul that the Koran says: "Surely the soul of man incites [ammāra] to evil, except inasmuch as my Lord has mercy" (XII: 53). The discipline and spiritual method of the tariqa ('Path') gradually purify the heart, bringing out its spiritual quality, and, at the same time, transmuting the nafs-e ammāra. That is why the great Sufis have said: "Sufism is the abandonment of the soul to servitude ('obudiyya) and the attachment of the heart to the divine Lordship (robubiyya)."
The Particular Intellect and the Universal Intellect
There are two sorts of intellect in Sufi terminology: the particular intellect ('aql-e joz'i) and the universal intellect ('aql-e kolli). The particular or acquired intellect is exercised in man's daily experience and profits from what man learns in his material life. When necessary, man uses it as an instrument to guard against the dangers of his environment and to dominate nature. At the same time, the particular intellect is a yoke that can subjugate and control the nafs-e ammāra when it becomes wild and misbehaves. Within the framework of social customs and mores, as well as the laws and principles of exoteric religion, this intellect watches over the nafs-e ammāra, but it can never be a guide towards the Truth, and to expect such a lofty task from it is utter absurdity.
About this intellect, Rumi says:
The acquired intellect is like the conduits
Which run into a house from the streets:
[If the house's] water-way is blocked,
It is without any supply [of water].
Seek the fountain from within yourself!"
(Rumi 1926, vol. iv, p. 381).
In another place he says:
"Imagination and opinion are the bane of the particular reason,
Because its dwelling-place is in the darkness"
(ibid, p. 87).
Again he says:
"The particular intellect is not the intellect [capable] of production;
It is only the receiver of science and is in need [of teaching]"
(ibid, p. 344).
When the heart becomes cleansed of the rust of multiplicity, it will reflect the Truth as it is. A person in such a state is called a Perfect Man, and the source of his knowledge or insight, which is devoid of delusion, error, self-love and profit-seeking, is called the universal intellect or 'heart-consciousness'. The person who possesses that intellect can himself be referred to as the universal intellect'. Rumi says:
"The universal intellect and the universal soul are the man of God.
Do not imagine that the Throne and Pedestal are separate from him.
Because his pure essence is the manifestation of God,
Search God in him and in no one else."
(Rumi 1926, vol 5, v.461/462)
It is in this state that the Perfect Man, who has attained the universal intellect, negates everything other than God, and with the aid of love affirms only Him. As Shāh Ne'mato'llāh Wali says: "The intellect negates everything other than God, so that Love can affirm Him" (Shāh Ne'mato'llāh 1964, vol. 4, p. 87).
Love and Intellect
Very commonly in Sufi literature love is praised and the intellect is disparaged. Of course, what is being disparaged is nothing but the particular intellect, and it should not be mistaken for the universal intellect. Rumi distinguishes these two when he says:
"The particular intellect has given the [universal] intellect a bad name;
worldly desire has deprived the [worldly] man of his desire [in the hereafter]"
(Rumi 1926, vol. 6, p. 30).
What the Sufis have meant by love is nothing but the perfection and intensity of erādat, which is the motivating force of the heart and the fire of its longing. It is by such a force that the heart reaches perfection, not by the particular intellect. Obviously this intellect is dependent upon the sense perceptions and experiences of life. On the other hand. Love is a divine gift and blessing. It is no wonder that in every age the jurisprudents (foqahā), ascetics (zohhād) and others who follow exclusively the particular intellect have denied the lovers of the Divine Beloved and have thought that they were misled. On this subject, Rumi says:
"The particular intellect is a denier of Love,
Though it may give out that it is a confidant"
(ibid., vol. ii, p. 107).
The Sufis on the other hand, have respected those who have denied them, for they have believed that such men are prisoners of their particular intellects and ignorant of love, and moreover, they are unaware of their ignorance.
The Transference Phenomenon
Psychoanalysts believe that creating a relationship between the analyst and the person being analyzed is most important for the therapeutic process. Freud called this phenomenon 'transference'. We know that under certain circumstances the person being analyzed transfers all his past to the person of the physician. In H. Rackers words: "... Freud denominated 'transference' the entirety of the patient's psychological phenomena and processes referred to the analyst and derived from the other previous object relations" (Racker 1966, p.l3).
In transference a new relationship is formed between the analyst and the patient, and the latter becomes obedient to the former and puts his trust in him. This obedience and surrendering of one's trust, which stems from the child's relationship with his parents and is now developed into a therapeutic instrument, presents the analyst as a person to be relied upon. Such a relationship is necessary for any successful advance in therapy, and it will take place spontaneously sometime during the course of it. As Freud writes:
We observe ... that the patient, who ought to be thinking of nothing but the solution of his own distressing conflicts, begins to develop a particular interest in the person of the physician. Everything connected with this person seems to him more important than his own affairs and to distract him from his illness" (Freud 1961, p. 367).
Transference vs. Erādat
When the bond of eradāt brings master and disciple together, the aspirant unconsciously projects his image of the ideal person upon the master, transferring his feelings and worldly passions to him. Thus, the disciple fully accepts the master and surrenders his total being to him. The question arises whether or not this phenomenon is what Freud has called 'transference'.
When God establishes a bond between the heart of the morid and that of the morād, the Sufis employ the term erādat to describe what has taken place. It has been said that, "The reality of erādat is the motion of the heart in search of the Truth." (Sajjādi 1960, p. 29).
To answer the above question, we have to distinguish between two kinds of erādat. The first kind is the erādat of those who are dominated by their 'commanding soul', in other words, those whose souls are sick. Such patients practise erādat primarily and essentially because of the command of the carnal soul and secondly and apparently because of the judgment of the particular intellect. Transference in psychoanalysis can be related to only such cases. The second kind is the erādat of the lovers of the Truth, who practice it in relation to a spiritual master first of all because of the guidance of God and secondly because of the approval of the heart. Only in such cases can the Sufi term erādat be applied.
On the basis of what has been said we can conclude:
1. Transference is the establishment of the appropriate relationship between the patient and the analyst, and it may result in curing the patient and bringing him to the state of a normal person. Erādat, on the other hand, is the spiritual relationship between the morid and the morād, established in order to elevate the state of the normal person to that of the Perfect Man.
2. Transference is the establishment of a relationship with an analyst in order to fulfill the desires of the nafs-e ammāra, while erādat is love for another person established to escape from self-love.
3. The transference phenomenon demands the choosing of an appropriate listener to listen to the words of a self-worshipping speaker, while erādat requires becoming a listener qualified to learn how to worship the Truth.
4. And finally, transference is a material, relative and temporal phenomenon, while erādat is something spiritual, absolute and eternal.
Fanā' fe'sh-shaykh (Annihilation of Oneself in the Master)
One of the stages of Sufism is called fanā' fe'sh-shaykh (annihilation of oneself in the master). Some of those who tread the Path become thoroughly attracted (majdhub} to the master by the perfection of their erādat or love ('eshq). Because of the radiation of their erādat they find themselves annihilated in the being of the master, and in whatever they behold they see nothing but him. It is in this state that a morid is said to have reached the station of fanā' fe'sh-shaykh. Many of the great Sufis have reached this station, the outstanding example of whom was Rumi, who became totally attracted to his master, Shams-e Tabrizi. Thus, it is that he has said:
"My master and my morād! My affliction and my remedy!
Let me divulge the secret: My Sun (Shams [Note 3]), my God!
Until thou gazest at me, I am bewildered by love,
for thou art the king of the two worlds; my Sun, my God!
I will become extinguished before Thee so that no trace of me remains:
such is the requirement of decorum; my Sun, my God!"
(Rumi 1965, p. 509)
It is to be noted, however, that fanā' fe'sh-shaykh is a preparatory step for the station of fanā' fellāh (annihilation in God).
Self-Love and Eradāt
As already mentioned, in order to be qualified as a novice on the Path and as one who puts his erādat into practice, an aspirant must be both mentally and physically mature and healthy. The first effect of erādat upon a morid is that his attention is turned away from the world and its affairs and consequently focused upon the morād alone. Thus, the first step that a novice takes with the help of erādat is to direct his attention towards his morād and become free from self-love. Those who are deeply entangled in self-love and self-adoration not only cannot take the initial step successfully, but their erādat has a negative effect. In fact, this entanglement becomes a great hindrance to the development of genuine erādat and consequently to the attainment of the final goal.
This point is well put in Hāfez's poem (Hāfez 1983, ghazal 72, verse 9):
"Going to the door of the Tavern
Is the work of those who are spiritually integrated.
Those who boast of their own worth are not given entrance to the quarter of the wine-merchants. [Note 4],
In regard to a patient's relationship with his analyst and the transference phenomenon, Freud reaches the same conclusion, where he says:
"Experience shows that persons suffering from narcissistic neurosis have no capacity for transference, or only insufficient remnants of it. They turn from the physician, not in hostility, but in indifference" (Freud 1961, p. 374).
Morad and Morid
Just as the morād is the manifestation of the divine name, 'al-Morād', so is a morid the manifestation of the name, 'al-Morid'. That is to say, in eradat the object of worship is not an individual person, but God, because both morid and morad are manifestations of the divine name. Therefore, erādat is indeed a divine relationship between two attributes of God, and the carnal and material aspects are irrelevant.
Acquired Knowledge ('elm-e hosuli) and Knowledge by Acquaintance ('elm-e hodhuri)
It should be noted that the Sufis not only renounce the particular intellect, which is formed as the result of acquiring knowledge in the sensible world, but they also consider knowledge acquired by it as the greatest hindrance in teaching the Truth. It is in this sense that they say: "Knowledge is the greatest veil [to the Truth]." In other words, the Sufis reject all knowledge which is not connected with Love, approving only of knowledge by acquaintance (or beyond the distinction between the subject and the object), the organ of which is the heart. "Knowledge", it has been said, "is a light that God casts into the heart of whomsoever He will" (Shaykh Bahā'i n.d., p. 493). Thus the Sufis believe that acquired knowledge increases one's self-love and egoism and consequently separates one farther from an understanding of the truth. Here Rumi says:
"The Sufi's book is not [composed of] ink and letters:
it is nought but a heart white as snow.
"The scholar's provision is [consists of] pen-marks [written letters and words].
What is the Sufi's provision? Footmarks"
(Rumi 1926, p.366)
The Chain of Initiation (selsela) and the Authorization of Mastership
The Sufis believe that a person is not qualified to be a spiritual master unless he has traversed the stages of the Path under the guidance of a Perfect Man. He must have become authorized to be a master by the previous master or qotb. In short, a master must have had a vision of the Path and traveled upon it to the very end, knowing it thoroughly. This chain of initiation which exists in genuine Sufi orders reaches back to the Prophet and from him to God. Thus, a so-called master who is not connected to an authentic chain of initiation is not considered by Sufis to be eligible to guide others. Since such a person has not traversed the Path and learned its principles under the mastership of a previous master or qotb, he cannot help or guide other people. There is also the danger of this so-called master mistaking the transference phenomenon for erādat and thus unknowingly communicating his own defects to another person.
Thus, a person who has not received authorization from a previous master connected to a chain will not only be unable to lead a disciple to any state of perfection, but may very well turn him into a person who is sick and spiritually deprived.
Psychoanalysts also rightly claim that unless a person is already psychoanalysed, he cannot analyse someone else. The question which arises here is: Who analysed Freud himself (see Perry 1966, pp. 103-119)?
Transference and Its Effect on the Spiritual Life of the Sufis
It is very difficult to distinguish between transference and erādat. Only Sufi masters and saints, who are very few in every age, can draw the line between them. It is unfortunate, moreover, that in different eras various people connected with Sufism on the popular level have mistaken transference for erādat. Thus, so-called 'masters' who have not reached perfection have unknowingly misused the transference phenomenon to their own benefit without considering its egoistic aspects.
In this connection Rumi says (Rumi 1926, p. 16):
"On this account the whole world is gone astray, is scarcely cognizant of God's abdāl.' [Note 5]
The mentally ill become the morids of this kind of 'master' and establish a transference relationship with him. Then, by claiming that miracles have taken place, which were, in fact the result of the strong emotions established by transference, and by acting as missionaries for their master, they make converts. The so-called master, in turn, unaware of his own egoism, benefits from people's ignorance. Hence, by calling himself a saint he establishes a parasitic livelihood for himself. Sometimes due to a miracle reported by a morid, he comes to think that all the while he has really been a man of God, but has not realized it. In short, this type of 'master' is pulled along by the crowd because of his need to make a living, and in turn he becomes more and more convinced of his own claims. This causes a vicious circle between the morid and the morād, both of them firm in their own egoism.
In every era this vicious circle stimulates a certain number of people to become 'masters', and then morids become enchanted with them and start telling extraordinary stories about them. In this way 'Sufi' schools are established which are really nothing but shops in which the 'masters' display their wares. In reality, people thus, create their own idols and then start worshipping them. This type of master is, in fact, subject to his own morids.
As a matter of fact, a morid likes to have a certain man as his master, namely, a master who due to his defects and imperfections, always enjoys having a crowd of followers to support him. Here Rumi says:
"Otherwise,[beware, for] the crows [the imposter 'masters'] have lit [the lantern of] fraud:
they have learned the cry of the white falcons"
(ibid., vol. iv, p. 366).
The result of this type of false Sufism has been that the imposter 'masters' are unable to train a true spiritual progeny and bring them to a state of perfection and mastership. Consequently, the majority of those 'masters' introduce their own offspring as their successors, so that in their order the basis of spiritual mastership is changed into a matter of blood inheritance, thus becoming a material affair.
The genuine and perfect masters of the Path, on the other hand, accept only those disciples who are free from mental illness and ulterior motives and are chosen by God. It was only after the disciples have fulfilled such conditions that they are trained and guided. Most of these masters do not accept the psychologically ill; however, there have been some masters who were so perfect that they could accept this type of person as well. These disciples, or rather patients, undergo treatment through psychoanalysis and transference before they enter upon the spiritual Path as such.
It should be noted that masters of such a degree of perfection have been very few in number. One of the most outstanding of them was Shāh Ne'mato'llāh Wali. This perfect master used to say, "Send whomsoever is rejected by other masters to me, and I will train him according to his aptitude" (see Nurbakhsh 1959). Confirming Shāh Ne'mato'llāh's greatness, Redhā Qoli Hedāyat writes: "The narrow streams complain on the rocks, but the ocean shapes the rocks."
Owing to the skill of such perfect masters, elementary classes have been established in Sufi Orders to cure the psychologically ill. In such classes a perfect master or 'divine physician' treats patients in need of psychological care through transference. When this treatment is completed and the patient has recovered, he either leaves the school, or, if it were God's will and erādat had helped him, he would be initiated and let into the esoteric circle.
Summary and Conclusion
There is no similarity of a genuine and profound nature between Sufism and Psychoanalysis. There are, however, superficial similarities between these schools. While the aim of psychoanalysis is to treat an abnormal person and bring him into a state of 'normality', the aim of Sufism is to treat a psychologically normal person and bring him to the state of a Perfect Man. The analyst-patient relationship is based on the transference phenomenon, whereas that of the morid and the morād is based on erādat. Transference is something material, psychic and temporal; whereas erādat is something spiritual, divine and eternal.
However, given its material, psychic and temporal qualities, transference has not been ignored by the Sufis. There have been perfect masters who have used transference, sometimes as a therapeutic instrument for patients in need of psychological care and sometimes as an initial step in the real program of Sufism.
References
Arberry, A. J. (1964). The Koran Interpreted, London.
Freud, S. (1961). Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis, J. Rivière (trad.), London.
Hāfez (1983). The Diwan, P. N. Khanlari (ed.), Tehran.
Nurbakhsh, J. (1959). The Life and Works of Shah Ne'mato'llāh Wali, Tehran.
Perry, W. H. (1966). 'The Revolt against Moses', Tomorrow, London.
Racker, H. (1966). Transference and Countertransference, London.
Rumi, J. (1926). The Mathnawi, R. A. Nicholson (trad.), London.
Rumi, J. (1956). Qazaliyāt-e Shams-e Tabrizi, M. Moshfeq (ed.), Tehran.
Ruzbahān (1970). 'Abharo'l-'Asheqin, Dr. J. Nurbakhsh (ed.), Tehran.
Sayadi, I. (1960). Farhang-e mostalahāt-e 'orafā', Tehran.
Sheij Bahā'i (s.f.). Kashkul, Qom.
Shāh Nematollāh Wali (1964). Rasā'el, Dr. J. Nurbakhsh (ed.), Vol. IV, Tehran.
[1] The word nafs in sufi terminology has an ample meaning as, for instance: the soul, the I, the ego, etc,. for more information aboutnafs and its different levels consult the book "The Sufi Psychology" by Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh.
In sufi terminology, usually, the word nafs is used to refer the nafs-e ammāra (dominant I) (in French: âme concupiscent; in Latin: cupido libido), refering to the human ego dominated by evil. The word names the totality of soul-body, meaning that man is linked to his egocentrism and moved by his passions, "flesh" (from the greek: sarx). On the other hand the nafs walks through different levels in his progress and transformation, for this consult the book "The Sufi Psychology" by Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh.
[2] In Sufi terminology the word Haqq, the Truth, refers to God, the Absolute Being (woŷud-e motlaq). That is the One who is free from every limit. In Qorán words: God is the manifest Truth (24,25).
[3] The "sun" referred to here, besides being the name of Rumi's master, is the sun of the spiritual world, the source and principle of all that exists.
[4] In Hāfez poetry, as in all Sufi poetry, the "wine merchant" symbolizes the Sufi master.
[5] Abdāl, which literally means "substitutes", in Sufi terminology denotes the great saints (walis) on whom the world depends for its existence.]
Reprinted in www.crescentlife.com by the kind permission of the author from The International Journal of Social Psychiatry, Vol. 24, Nº 3.
