Jun 27 2023 30 mins
This podcast provides a brief overview of various ways of engaging the notions of: States, stations, and stages in conjunction with the mystical journey or suluk to which the mystical dimension of Islam gives expression. The Sufi path is neither linear nor static, but entails a nuanced and diverse dynamic which gives expression to a complex interaction involving: (1) the capacity or fitra of a seeker; (2) the nature of the practices observed (as well as the quality through which those practices are pursued); (3) the nature of the nisbath or spiritual chemistry between the seeker and the Sought that takes place through the locus of manifestation that is referred to as a spiritual guide or shaykh who has been assigned various degrees of oversight on the authority of the Prophetic tradition, and (4) the barakah or spiritual blessings that are conferred on a given individual as God wishes.