{"id":57,"date":"2020-09-02T02:24:43","date_gmt":"2020-09-02T02:24:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kheper.net\/?page_id=57"},"modified":"2020-09-17T06:09:34","modified_gmt":"2020-09-17T06:09:34","slug":"cosmology","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.kheper.net\/topics\/islamic-esotericism\/cosmology\/","title":{"rendered":"Sufi Cosmology"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Cosmology<\/h1>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Sufi Cosmology<\/h2>\n\n

Arvan Harvat<\/p>\n\n

We will present two doctrines, both based on Qur’anic revelation enriched and clarified ( or corrupted- depending on one’s taste ) by\u00a0Neoplatonic\u00a0emanationist cosmology.<\/p>\n\n

A. According to the first doctrine (ref<\/a>), God has three dimensions\/modes of Being before creation, followed by three worlds\/planes of created cosmos.<\/p>\n\n

1. The unfathomable God’s Essence; Abyss of the Unmanifest Absolute. The Sufi technical tems are:\u00a0Ghayb ul-Ghaib<\/em>\u00a0( Mystery of Mysteries ),\u00a0Amma<\/em>\u00a0( Darkess ),\u00a0Dhat<\/em>\/Zat<\/em>\u00a0( Essence ). The corresponding spiritual stage is called Ahadiyyat- Oneness. This is equal to Plotinus’s\u00a0 One –\u00a0To Hen\u00a0<\/em>, or to the Shaivite Tantric\u00a0Paramashiva<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0Mahabindu<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n

2. The Manifest Absolute\/God. The Sufi terms are\u00a0Ar-Ruh al-Qudsi<\/em>\u00a0( the Supreme Spirit ),\u00a0Aql-i-Awwal<\/em>\u00a0( First Intellect ) or\u00a0Aql-i-Kulli<\/em>\u00a0( Universal Intellect ). The corresponding spiritual stage is named\u00a0Wahdah<\/em>. The Neoplatonic equivalent of the Plotinus’s doctrine would be\u00a0Nous<\/em>\u00a0( Divine Mind ), while certain schools of Tantricism speak of Shiva, or Shiva\/Shakti union. N.B. There are tariqas and scholars who deny divine status of the First Intellect and relegate it to the realm of creation.<\/p>\n\n

3. The God’s creative energy as manifested through divine names and attributes (\u00a0ayan at’-thabita<\/em>\u00a0).\u00a0 The “energy”\/creative aspect is clear from identification with Qur’anic notion of\u00a0Nafas-i-Rahmani<\/em>\u00a0( The Breath of Mercy ).\u00a0 Also, it is termed\u00a0Nafs-i-Kulliya<\/em>\u00a0( Universal Soul ). The spiritual stage is\u00a0Wahdaniyyat<\/em>. The exact correspondence is with Plotinus’s\u00a0Psyche<\/em>\u00a0( World Soul ). Shaivite texts refer to Shakti as activated Shiva’s creative energy.<\/p>\n\n

N.B<\/em>. Having in mind all similarities with Neoplatonism, one must not overlook the difference: in\u00a0Plotinus’s system, emanations are\u00a0hypostases\u00a0of the One, flowing, as it were, “outward” and signifying the degradation of the Absolute.\u00a0 On the other hand, the above noted processes represent a desirable unfoldment of the Absolute in Sufi mythic cosmology.<\/p>\n\n

B. The second doctrine (ref<\/a>) operates with two concepts.<\/p>\n\n

1. The Unmanifest Absolute (\u00a0Alam-i-Hahut<\/em>\/the “world” of “He-ness”, Hu-He being the Arabic term pertaining to God’s Essence prior to manifestation. The “world” is just a symbolic reference. This, unmanifest dimension is frequently referred to only as\u00a0Hahut<\/em>). Of course, all other Arabic names given under the point 1. of the first doctrine are valid. The spiritual stage is\u00a0Ahadiyyat<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n

2. The manifest Absolute (\u00a0Alam-i-Lahut<\/em>\/the “world” of God-ness, the root “Lah<\/em>” one and the same as in\u00a0Al-Lah\u00a0<\/em>(God). Also, generally spoken of as\u00a0Lahut<\/em>). The spiritual stage pertaining to Lahut is sometimes referred to as\u00a0Wahdah<\/em>, sometimes as Wahadiyyat. There is no consensus communis re this matter.<\/p>\n\n

Both above elucidated doctrines share the same terminology re the stages of manifestation (\u00a0tanazzulat<\/em>\u00a0) of the created cosmos. Following the emanationist scheme, we have top to bottom ( of course, not literally; these are dimensions of manifestation conveniently stratified ):<\/p>\n\n

4.\u00a0Alam-i-Jabarut<\/em>\/the world of power; also\u00a0Alam-i-Arwah<\/em>\u00a0( the world of spirits;\u00a0ruh<\/em>\u00a0meaning spirit,\u00a0arwah<\/em>\u00a0being the plural form ). Roughly corresponding to the world of Platonic archetypes, Shaivite Shivaloka ( the world of Shiva ), or causal world of Western occultism.<\/p>\n\n

5.\u00a0Alam-i-Malakut<\/em>\/the world of angels. This somewhat incongruous term is frequently replaced by Alam-i-Mithal\/the world of similitudes.\u00a0 This Henry Corbin’s famous\u00a0mundus imaginalis<\/em>\/world of imagination, Tantric Antarloka ( the intermediary world ), or subtle\/astro-mental world of Western occultists.<\/p>\n\n

6.\u00a0Alam-i-Nasut<\/em>\/the world of humanity, better designated as\u00a0Alam-i-Ajsam<\/em>\/the world of bodies. Tantric tradition speaks of Bhuloka\/the world of earth. In Western occultism, the name is gross or physical world.<\/p>\n\n

To summarise on tabular form:<\/p>\n\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Kosmos \/Alam<\/em>\u00a0Sufi terminology<\/strong><\/td>\nKosmos\u00a0(general)<\/strong><\/td>\nNeoplatonic equivalent –\u00a0Plotinus<\/strong><\/td>\nTantric\u00a0equivalent<\/strong><\/td>\n\u00a0Western occultism –\u00a0Theosophy\u00a0and contemporary\u00a0Hermeticism<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hahut<\/strong><\/td>\nThe Unmanifest Absolute<\/strong><\/td>\nThe One<\/strong><\/td>\n\u00a0Paramashiva<\/strong><\/td>\n—<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lahut<\/strong><\/td>\nThe Manifest Absolute<\/strong><\/td>\nThe Nous<\/strong><\/td>\nShiva-tattwa<\/strong><\/td>\n—<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jabarut<\/strong><\/td>\nCausal World<\/strong><\/td>\n—<\/strong><\/td>\n\u00a0Shivaloka\u00a0(world of Shiva)<\/strong><\/td>\nCausal Plane<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Malakut<\/strong><\/td>\nSubtle World<\/strong><\/td>\n—<\/strong><\/td>\nTantric Antarloka (intermediary world)<\/strong><\/td>\nMental Plane\u00a0Astral Plane<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Nasut<\/strong><\/td>\nPhysical World<\/strong><\/td>\n—<\/strong><\/td>\nBhuloka\u00a0(world of earth)<\/strong><\/td>\ngross or physical<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n\n

References:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n

Mir Valiuddin:\u00a0Quranic Sufism<\/em>
Titus Burckhardt:\u00a0\"Amazon\u00a0Introduction to Sufi Doctrine<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cosmology Sufi Cosmology Arvan Harvat We will present two doctrines, both based on Qur’anic revelation enriched and clarified ( or corrupted- depending on one’s taste ) by\u00a0Neoplatonic\u00a0emanationist cosmology. A. According to the first doctrine (ref), God has three dimensions\/modes of Being before creation, followed by three worlds\/planes of created cosmos. 1. The unfathomable God’s Essence;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":54,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"footnotes":""},"yoast_head":"\nSufi Cosmology - Kheper<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kheper.net\/topics\/islamic-esotericism\/cosmology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sufi Cosmology - Kheper\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cosmology Sufi Cosmology Arvan Harvat We will present two doctrines, both based on Qur’anic revelation enriched and clarified ( or corrupted- depending on one’s taste ) by\u00a0Neoplatonic\u00a0emanationist cosmology. A. 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