reply to post by Merlinhoot
Knowing what I know about the Sufis (and this man in particular), I was actually more surprised that there was a time when it was NOT free of charge.
Maybe they reckoned - accurately, I am sad to say - that money represents a certain value and therefore "reflects" its own value onto the object
offered.
All I can say is, nobody who delves into Sufism will come out of the experience empty-handed.
No change of religion is necessary, it's actually quite the
opposite: the Sufis strongly advocate finding God and "enlightenment" in the
religion of the culture each one was born into (which is precisely why many of them have been persecuted themselves).
Anyone who is interested should read Henry Corbin's "Alone with the Alone: the Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn 'Arabi", in Ralph
Manheim's amazing translation.
(Or the original, of course: "L'Imagination Creatrice dans le Soufisme d'Ibn Arabi").
In my opinion, it's one of the greatest books of the 20th century.
[edit on 8-4-2008 by Vanitas]
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