Comparative Religious Studies:
Buddhist Perspective on the Wisdom of Sufism

By Satiman

Introduction

The much celebrated Islamic Sufi, Jalaluddin Rumi (1207-1273) was born in Bactria (now Afghanistan) in September 30, 1207. He was a towering figure of Sufism and a prominent Sufi poet from Persia. His father, Muhammad ibn Hussain Khatibi, was an outstanding Sufi Master in Bactria. Rumi was profusely influenced by his father’s Sufi wisdom in his spiritual development. Rumi was blessed as he encountered several Sufi Masters throughout his life journey in different parts of the world. The final Sufi Master, which he encountered, was Shams al-Din who influenced and moulded Rumi into an ecstatic Sufi poet. One day, Shams mysteriously disappeared from Rumi’s home. Rumi searched for his beloved Master for two years and eventually gave up. A spiritual inspiration struck him and he was spiritually self-awakened. He conceived thus:

Why should I seek?
I’m the same as he.
His Essence speaks through me.
I’ve been searching for myself?

The innate Essence of his Sufi Master, Shams, differs not from anyone of us including that of Rumi. Everyone is innately divine or supreme. The innate divinity in Man is to sought esoterically or inwardly but not exoterically or externally. Initially, before the arising of gnosis in Rumi, Rumi thought of seeking the Essence externally from his Sufi Master Shams. Whoever has sought and discerned the divine Essence perceives God or the Ultimate Truth. He becomes a Perfect Man who emerges as the messenger or apostle of God. Likewise to guide others on the path of salvation. Likewise, a Mahāyānist Buddhist, having discerned the innate Essence of Buddha-nature becomes self-enlightened, he becomes a Bodhisattva (Wisdom Being) to liberate other sentient beings.

Sufi Poem

The following Sufi poem is one of the outstanding works of poetry of Rumi. The quintessence of tenet of Sufism does not differ at all from the teaching of Chan Buddhism of Mahāyāna tradition.

What is to be done, O Muslims?
For I don’t recognize myself.
I’m neither Christian, nor Jew, nor Gabar, nor Muslim
I’m not of the east, nor of the West, nor of the land, nor of the sea;
I’m not of the nature’s mint, nor of the circling heavens
I’m not of India, nor of China, nor of Bulgaria, nor of Saqsin.
I’m not of the Kingdom of Iraquin, nor of the country of Khurasan.
My place is the placeless, my trace is the traceless.
This is neither body nor soul, for I belong to the soul of the Beloved
I’ve put duality away, I’ve seen that the worlds are one.
Only I seek, One I know, One I see, One I call.

lqbal136

Rumi asserted that he does not recognize himself because he had annihilated the illusive self or ego in him. For a sufi saint, self-identity does not exist. In other words, he ceased clinging upon the notion of Iness or Mineness. Whoever has ceased grasping upon the self or ego ceases in the conceptualization of the external forms or signs which form the multiplicity of the empirical world. This cessation of conceptualization is the entrance into the realm of non-dualism or unity. Therefore, he ceased reifying himself as adhering to any specific faith. He perceived his own personality and his religious faith as empty of inherent existence. Consequently, he denied their existences in relation to his illusive personality. Likewise, he perceived the Emptiness of his plane of existence, his mother country. He denied also the place, his trace, his body and his soul. Such negations are identical to the negation of all phenomena expounded in the Heart Sūtra of Mahāyāna Buddhism or the Buddha’s general teaching. He affirmed that his soul belonged to his beloved God. This Soul differs from the previously mentioned soul. The former is the universal soul which is synonymous with the pure consciousness or Buddha-mind  in Chan Buddhism. The latter is the animal or lower self which is synonymous with the ordinary consciousness of the sentient beings from the Buddhist perspective. The Islamic universal soul is synonympous with Buddha-nature which is the ultimate Truth.

Rumi’s God-realization was confirmed when he had eliminated the duality or discrimination between I and you or subject and object. When the notion of duality or discrimination vanishes, the subject and objects become one or a unity. Hence, he asserted that he perceived the Oneness or Unity of the world. He would seek that Oneness or Unity which is his beloved God. This Oneness is Buddha or the Dharma realm of Unity from the Mahāyānist Buddhist worldview.

Conclusion

Therefore, it is evident that the esoteric teaching of self-redemption of Sufism and that of Chan Buddhism are identical. In Sufism, the esoteric or inward spiritual journey is to seek the union with God. This can only be consummated if and only if the relationship between creations and the Creator, God is discerned intuitively. In Chan Buddhism, the esoteric or inward journey is to seek and perceive Buddha-nature existing innately in all sentient beings. When the relationship between the Phenomena (Conventional Truth) and the Principle (Ultimate Truth) is insightfully penetrated into, self-redemption is consummated. There are two masters but there exists only one identical message. Only the exoteric or external dimensions (expedient devices or upāyas) of these two esoteric religions differ. Esoterically or inwardly, they are identical - the centre of the heart which is the pure mind . The Ultimate Truth of Divine Essence or Absolute Truth is ineffable and beyond all religions. It is known as the Tao (The Way) in Taoism. Even, Lao-tze, who composed the Tao Te Ching, admonished us thus:

Tao, that can be described, is not the eternal Tao.

Sufism is the holy Way of Life of a Muslim; Chan Buddhism is the noble Way of Life of a Buddhist. Their exterior life may differ but their interior life is identical at the summit of spirituality – the maximal level of human self-actualization. The Sufi Perfect Man is known as al-Insan al-Kamil; the Buddhist Perfect Man is called Bodhisattva. Prophet Mohammad declares: Whoever knows himself knows the Allah. Śākyamuni Buddha promulgates: Whoever knows himself knows the Buddha. Allah and Buddha are mere designations or appellations which are illusive and unreal ultimately. Both refer to the ineffable Ultimate Truth (Islam:Ḥaqq ; Buddhism: Satya) of Unity or Non-dualism. In Islamic perspective, all creatures are illusive, impermanent and unreal and only Allah is real, immutable and eternal. Likewise, in the Buddhist perspective, all phenomena are illusive, impermanent and unreal except the Buddha which is real, immutable, and eternal.