by T.L. James of MarsBlog. Part of our weekly Sufi Wisdom series. As terrorist Islam does its best to discredit the religion, it's important to remember that there are other voices within the faith. One such is the Sufis, a branch of Islamic mystics with roots in many religious traditions. The lessons of Sufism are often communicated through humorous stories and mystical or romantic poetry.
This week, Idries Shah discourses on self-deception (but don't worry, it's only other people who do it, right?):
"To me, it is hurtful to have to deal with people whom you would like to teach when -- pretending to themselves that they seek knowledge -- they only want a social community, friendship, 'togetherness', attention and the like.
All these things are delightful: and all the more delightful when consciously indulged in, rather than found by means of deception. Deception in this case is pretending to oneself that one is studying when one is seeking stimuli.
Such people may have the capacity to learn. But they overlay it with shallow aims. They may have been trained to seek smaller satisfactions and to give them grand names. They may, on the other hand, simply be carrying on the demands of babyhood. Rumi said: 'When will you cease coveting nuts and raisins?'The condition can be so well established that people are to all intents and purposes unconscious of its presence.
Sufis jolt people from this 'sleep'. Such shocks are often experienced as hurtful - until they take effect, when we are always grateful that we have been allowed to encounter them. What is in fact hurtful to humanity does not necessarily feel hurtful at the time. Self-deception is the chief of these."
Have you seen this at work in groups you've been part of? When?