Last Thursday I experienced some of the mystical side of Islam. Every major religion seems to have its mystical component: Judaism has Kabballah, Christianity has Gnosis, and Islam has Sufi. I am attracted to the mystical, to coming closer to God through meditative prayer and song, through focusing one's attention totally on experiencing the nearness of God.
Most people are not involved in mysticism in their religion. I think this is because it is very intense and involves a total surrender of one's self--emotionally, physically, mentally--to experiencing the presence of God. That can be a bit of a scary thing at first, but once you do it, once you release yourself to God, you find that the experience is truly beautiful. There is nothing that can compare to total surrender to God. But one must be discerning when praying in this fashion, because you are open to the entire spiritual world, and there is a chance that false spirits can mislead you and you can think you are having a spiritual experience when you are not really.
The dhikr, the Circle of Remembrance, that I participated in last week was a wonderful, peaceful experience for me. I felt close to God, and I was very glad that I was asked to participate.
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