The veil of knowledge via Sufi thought

cire perdue · 08-28-2011, 08:35 AM

"...'Rumi says that human reason is but "a beam of (Universal) Intellect (cast) on your sense-perception'. Thus reason is often termed...partial intellect. Reason can be obscured by the concupiscible soul and thus 'can
become the veil that hides man from the Divine and leads him astray'. However, God has sent down His manifestation, who as 'the macrocosmic manifestation of the Universal Intellect' (Nasr, Sui Essays 55), revealed the divine laws to humankind. If man follows these laws, he protects himself from his concupisicible soul and its passions, preserves the integrity of his intellect, and advances upon the spritual path. The intellect is therefore a guiding light that helps us to understand revealed truth, and thus to approach God. But the intellect is also a veil that hides spiritual truth from our eyes and may lead us to disobey the divine laws and to go astray. As Rumi writes in his MATHNAVI:
What is Reason? The Universal intelligence of the man (prophet or saint) endowed with reason, Partial reason is reason (too), but it is infirm.
...a reason that flees from the Reason of reason (Universal Reason) is transported from rationality to (the grade of) the animals.
The intellect that is vanquished by the flesh become the flesh.

Sufis therefore consider intellect to be a limited instrument, insufficient to guide the seeker towards the highest goals of spirituality, and sometimes even an obstacle to be removed in order to attain reunion with God."
from TOWARDS THE SUUMIT OF REALITY p.44, by Julio Savi 2008

This is a tough read, and I haven't gotten to the hard parts.

Seeroos · 08-30-2011, 04:18 AM

A good book to understand this is Imam Ghazali's "Mishkat al-Anwar" (Niche of Lights) where he explains the 70,000 veils blocking God's Noor (Light). You should be able to find an English copy if you search around on google. It's really interesting.

aidan · 08-30-2011, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cire perdue

"...'Rumi says that human reason is but "a beam of (Universal) Intellect (cast) on your sense-perception'. Thus reason is often termed...partial intellect. Reason can be obscured by the concupiscible soul and thus 'can
become the veil that hides man from the Divine and leads him astray'. However, God has sent down His manifestation, who as 'the macrocosmic manifestation of the Universal Intellect' (Nasr, Sui Essays 55), revealed the divine laws to humankind. If man follows these laws, he protects himself from his concupisicible soul and its passions, preserves the integrity of his intellect, and advances upon the spritual path. The intellect is therefore a guiding light that helps us to understand revealed truth, and thus to approach God. But the intellect is also a veil that hides spiritual truth from our eyes and may lead us to disobey the divine laws and to go astray. As Rumi writes in his MATHNAVI:
What is Reason? The Universal intelligence of the man (prophet or saint) endowed with reason, Partial reason is reason (too), but it is infirm.
...a reason that flees from the Reason of reason (Universal Reason) is transported from rationality to (the grade of) the animals.
The intellect that is vanquished by the flesh become the flesh.

Sufis therefore consider intellect to be a limited instrument, insufficient to guide the seeker towards the highest goals of spirituality, and sometimes even an obstacle to be removed in order to attain reunion with God."
from TOWARDS THE SUUMIT OF REALITY p.44, by Julio Savi 2008

This is a tough read, and I haven't gotten to the hard parts.

That quote from Rumi hs scrmbled my brain!

cire perdue · 08-30-2011, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aidan

That quote from Rumi hs scrmbled my brain!

Go on Pilgrimage and keep reading tough quotes and they will get easier.

08-28-2011, 08:35 AM	#1
cire perdue Senior Member Joined: Sep 2010 From: Louisiana Posts: 1,618	The veil of knowledge via Sufi thought "...'Rumi says that human reason is but "a beam of (Universal) Intellect (cast) on your sense-perception'. Thus reason is often termed...partial intellect. Reason can be obscured by the concupiscible soul and thus 'can become the veil that hides man from the Divine and leads him astray'. However, God has sent down His manifestation, who as 'the macrocosmic manifestation of the Universal Intellect' (Nasr, Sui Essays 55), revealed the divine laws to humankind. If man follows these laws, he protects himself from his concupisicible soul and its passions, preserves the integrity of his intellect, and advances upon the spritual path. The intellect is therefore a guiding light that helps us to understand revealed truth, and thus to approach God. But the intellect is also a veil that hides spiritual truth from our eyes and may lead us to disobey the divine laws and to go astray. As Rumi writes in his MATHNAVI: What is Reason? The Universal intelligence of the man (prophet or saint) endowed with reason, Partial reason is reason (too), but it is infirm. ...a reason that flees from the Reason of reason (Universal Reason) is transported from rationality to (the grade of) the animals. The intellect that is vanquished by the flesh become the flesh. Sufis therefore consider intellect to be a limited instrument, insufficient to guide the seeker towards the highest goals of spirituality, and sometimes even an obstacle to be removed in order to attain reunion with God." from TOWARDS THE SUUMIT OF REALITY p.44, by Julio Savi 2008 This is a tough read, and I haven't gotten to the hard parts.

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08-30-2011, 04:18 AM	#2
Seeroos Senior Member Joined: Jun 2011 From: Canada Posts: 190	A good book to understand this is Imam Ghazali's "Mishkat al-Anwar" (Niche of Lights) where he explains the 70,000 veils blocking God's Noor (Light). You should be able to find an English copy if you search around on google. It's really interesting.