what is meditation?

There are many things in life that are beyond our control. However, it is possible to take responsibility for our own states of mind – and to change them for the better. According to Buddhism this is the most important thing we can do, and Buddhism teaches that it is the only real antidote to our own personal sorrows, and to the anxieties, fears, hatreds, and general confusions that beset the human condition.

Meditation is a means of transforming the mind. Buddhist meditation practices are techniques that encourage and develop concentration, clarity, emotional positivity, and a calm seeing of the true nature of things. By engaging with a particular meditation practice you learn the patterns and habits of your mind, and the practice offers a means to cultivate new, more positive ways of being. With regular work and patience these nourishing, focused states of mind can deepen into profoundly peaceful and energised states of mind. Such experiences can have a transformative effect and can lead to a new understanding of life.

What is the difference between Islam and Sufism?

Islam is the religion, Sufism is a Tariqah or path within. The complexities of diversity which rely within the Islamic Fold are magnificent and beautiful in nature. If we are to examine each and every custom of each and every tariqah, we would be studying Islam our whole lives and not run out of things to learn about (which many scholars do, even today). Sufism is particularly addressed as the mystical tradition of Islam. They have many practices which differ in nature from the other, often more common, paths of Islam. Some of these practices include forms of meditation (i.e. the Mevlevi Sufis are known as Whirling Dervishes) and prayers (i.e. dhikr, or chanting the names of God or phrases from the Qur'an). If I can recall correctly, the ultimate goal of each Sufi is Fana Fillah, to loose oneself in the essence of Allah. I believe there is also a strong belief in the concept of 'dying before one dies', or experiencing the Divine Grace of Allah before physically passing away from the earth. This can be done by attaining the state of Fana Fillah. There are four stages of Sufism that lead to Fana Fillah: 

1. Shariah (the external path)
2. Tariqah (the internal path)
3. Haqiqah (mystical truth)
4. Marfat (gnosis, ultimate truth and reality)
Stories and poetry are two things the Sufis are known for. Parables were often used to explain messages of Sufi Islamic thought. An example, extracted from Essential Sufism, can be found below: "Service does not have to be great or dramatic. Years ago, the mother of one of the Ottoman sultans was devoted to charity. She built mosques and a great hospital and had public wells dug in parts of Istanbul that were without water. One day, she went to watch the construction of the hospital she was having built, and she saw an ant fall into the wet concrete of the foundation. She lifted the ant out of the concrete and set it on the ground. "Some years later she passed away. That night she appeared to a number of her friends in their dreams. She was radiant with joy and inner beauty. Her friends asked her if she had gone to Paradise because of all her wonderful charities, and she replied, 'I am in Paradise, but it is not because of those charities. It is for the sake of an ant'."

Sufism is following Sharia (the orders of Allah), this Sharia was divided by our sir Gabriel into Islam, belief and favor, when he asked the messenger (May the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) saying: "What is Islam? ………" Until he said: "This is Gabriel came to teach you your religion." Sufism, apart from the name, is a group of people who say that they are not satisfied by the degree of Islam or belief. In life we are not satisfied by lower degrees, those who are in the third degree want the second, those who are in the second fight to get the first, those who are in the first want to be general directors, general directors want to be under secretary and those who are under secretary want to be ministers or governors. Why are we satisfied by lower degrees in religion, we want to be among the people of benefaction, benefaction means as the prophet said:"To worship Allah as if you see Him, if you can't see Him, He sees you." Whoever wants to reach this degree, he should do everything well as it should be, how? We say to him, you should look at the noble prophet and see his conditions and his deeds not only his sayings, you should follow his deeds and his conditions to get the degree of favor and to be among those Allah says about them:
"Surely Allah is with those who guard (against evil) and those who do good (to others)."
(Surat An'nahl, verse 128). These are the conditions of Sufis, how could I do favor in deeds? Here is one example, if I want to perform prayers, my apparent movements like bowing, prostrating, glorifying, and reciting should be as that of the messenger of Allah, if I did these apparent movements as they should be following the messenger of Allah, but the heart is occupied and away from Allah, does this prayers have any value according to Allah? No, because Allah says about those whom He praised their prayers:
"Successful indeed are the believers. Who are humble in their prayers"
(Surat Al-Mo'menoon, verses 1, 2). Then, reverence or submission is a must, how can I get it? If I did ablution well, not only once but three or even seven times, can this get me reverence? Never, but to get reverence, I must purify the inside, which is the heart from envy, spite, selfishness, egoism and all characteristics banned by Allah in His book or the messenger of Allah (May the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) in his Sunna. After purifying the heart, when I perform prayers, the heart is with Allah in reverence, submission, humility, piety or complete attendance to Allah. If there is more reverence, bounties of Allah descend to him during his prayers, light from Allah, inspired knowledge of what he recites in prayers or inspired things about his life, because he prays and submits to Allah, all this come after purifying the heart, so the Sufis say: "As we wash and purify the apparent by water, we purify the heart for Allah by fighting desires of the soul." Then we can perform the prayers apparently as the messenger of Allah and inwardly as the condition of the messenger of Allah when he was talking to Allah. All acts of worship are like this, they need the purity of the heart, so they say that they not only purify the body, but they must purify the heart to reach this, how could we purify the heart? By the means of fighting the soul, purifying the heart and clarifying the soul followed by righteous people from the Sunna of the master of mankind, so everyone of them took one method from the methods of the messenger of Allah in clarifying the soul and purifying the heart for Allah, when they achieved this, bounties came to them from Allah as He says: "They shall have good news in this world's life and in the hereafter; there is no changing the words of Allah; that is the mighty achievement." (Surat Yunos, verse 64) Allah supports him by the degree of clear insight, as the prophet said: "Be afraid of a believer's insight as he sees by light from Allah." Sometimes when he talks to me, he tells me something in my mind, I say how he knew. He knew by the light of Allah, Allah supported him by true dreams as he supported his beloved and chosen, Allah supported him by inspired knowledge we don’t hear from a scholar or read in books before, however they don’t oppose the orders of Allah, so we know that this person is loved by Allah, when I find such a man, I say to him I want to be like you, take me with you. He says why? I say teach me how you clarified your soul, purified your heart and reached these bounties to follow you and get the same bounties. That’s it Oh brothers, each one of righteous people followed a way because there are different ways. Each one of us should look for the way he loves and the righteous man following this way to accompany and follow him to learn from him this way, anyone may ask: "Is this matter in the book of Allah?" We say yes listen to what Allah says: "For every one of you did We appoint a law and a way." (Surat Al-Ma'edah, verse 48) Each prophet has Sharia and a method, we all agree about Sharia, no one differs about it, if a righteous man denied Sharia, we will desert and leave him, as it was said: "Don’t follow that who never follows Sharia even if he get you news from Allah." If a righteous man gets us a method from his own self, we say: We won't follow you as the method should be from the messenger of Allah (May the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). For the divine capacity of the messenger of Allah, no one can do all the deeds he did, but everyone chooses only one thing that suits him to follow. So I need to see the method of that righteous man who reached Allah's grants and that suits me and go to him to teach me and help me to get what he got from Allah's bounties, this is Sufism in short.
Whatever its name is Sufism or anything else, this is not important, the most important thing is that these people adore, want and work for the degree of benefaction, it is among the highest degrees in religion. So Sufism is not away from religion, but they seek the highest degree in religion which is doing favor. Does this mean that they leave Islam and belief?  No, they really keep to the orders of Islam and the orders of belief in order to go up to the degree of favor. Real knowledge is to Allah and his messenger.

What are the similarities between Sufism and Buddhism?

Many people forget that Buddhist missionaries have been active in the Middle East since 200 bce.  Many New Testamnet passages contain the teachings of Lord Buddha but not many know that The Koran also has some things such as the miracle of the splitting of the moon: Chapter 54:1 of the Koran is from a Buddhist Jataka, the Matanga Jataka:

Matanga Jataka

"Excellent! When they ask you where your husband has gone, you must reply, 'He has gone to the Brahma heavens.' If they ask when he will come back, you must say, 'In seven days, he will come, breaking through the disk of the full moon!' Can you do that?"

Surah 54 of the Quran is called “The Moon.” It starts by saying:

The hour drew nigh and the moon did rend asunder
And if they see a miracle they turn aside and say: Transient magic.
And they call (it) a lie, and follow their low desires; and every affair has its appointed term.

Buddhist influence on Sufism:
Throughout the region, there are many indications of cultural borrowing between Buddhism and Islam. For instance, Kazakh Sufis not only believe in rebirth, but also identify reincarnations of past Sufi masters like the Tibetan and Mongol Buddhists do of their teachers. The Sufis build shrines as graves for their masters, circumambulate them and light butter lamps, reminiscent of Buddhists' practice around stupas of deceased masters. Sufi meditation includes recitation of the Islamic equivalent of mantras, often combined with the breathing cycle, as well as visualization of the Prophet and spiritual masters.

Buddhism has the concept of “becoming empty.” in the beautiful heart sutra of Buddhism it says that all forms are empty, and what we think to be empty has form. the concepts, ideas, and images that we hold in our minds have forms. the forms that we see on the outside are empty. the heart must be made empty of all other thoughts apart from the thought of God.
..."thou shalt have no other Gods before me.”-Old Testament. the false idols that we hold in our hearts and minds become false gods that cover the true Self that IS Allah.

Just breathe

Mawlana Jelaluddin Muhammad Balkhi (Rumi)

(translated by Coleman Barks)

Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not Hindu
Buddhist, Sufi, or Zen. Not any religion
or cultural system. I am not from the East
or the West, not out of the ocean or up
from the ground, not natural or ethereal, not
composed of elements at all. I do not exist,
am not an entity in this world or the next,
did not descend from Adam and Eve or any
origin story. My place is placeless, a trace
of the traceless. Neither body or soul.
I belong to the beloved, have seen the two
worlds as one and that one call to and know,
first, last, outer, inner, only that
breath breathing human being.

Garden Among the Flames - Ibn 'Arabi

Garden Among the Flames-Ibn ‘Arabi

(translated by Michael Sells)

Wonder,
A garden among the flames!
My heart can take on
Any form:
A meadow for gazelles,
A cloister for monks,
For the idols, sacred ground,
Ka'ba for the circling pilgrim,
the tables for the Torah,
the scrolls of the Qur'an.
My creed is love;
Wherever its caravan turns along the way,
That is my belief,
My faith.

A new form of meditation 

In Sufi-Buddhist meditation, anyone can read and practice it fifteen steps, to reach peace of mind. You can also meditate at work. in fact,  innovative way of Sufi-Buddhist meditation, yet the person next to them and living with others, be careful to not lose his/her spiritual energy. An interesting feature of this type of meditation is that a person can do it in specific position.

 Moreover, In this type of meditation, a person is not required for a meditation group or a particular place. The meditator must first make ablution , then sit cross-legged on the basis of steps.
In fact, the most important principle in this kind of meditation after clearing the mind , is say the word of Allah.

Principles Eleven and Twelve are for collective life. Based on Eleventh’ Principles, when a person walks, attention should just steps to not get out of a meditative state, and and take care of his/her heart in the sight of Allah. Based on Thirteenth’ principle, social life should not prevent the person from the remembrance of Allah. Drowning in public life, the loss of the body's divine order. The other Sufi-Buddhist principles, such as Buddhist meditation is done.

Sufi-Buddhist Meditation (SBM)

Fifteen Stages of Sufi-Buddhist Meditation (SBM)

“The mind is as hard to master as the wind,” claims Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita (the sacred Hindu text). He’s right. It can seem hard to find the stillness that people who do advanced meditation talk about. In my 14 years of meditation I’ve learned some great ways to make it easier however. My first piece of advice would be don’t think of meditation as hard but enjoyable. It’s okay to think. Unless you’re an enlightened master, you’re going to think.

Follow these fifteen stages and you will find more clarity, peace and ease in life no matter how much time a day you can dedicate to your practice:

1. A relaxed body is a relaxed mind
It wasn’t until I viewed meditation as a physical state, and not an attempt to stop thinking, that I really made progress. The mind is not just the brain. Our thoughts are manifested as sensations in our bodies. Stress, tension and worry all create tightness somewhere in the body like our lower back, shoulders or jaw.

When you sit down to meditate, feel where these stuck places are; places that don’t move when you breathe and feel constricted. When you feel pulsations of breath come into those places, the body feels better. You’ve replaced tightness with lightness. Keep doing this. Try not to view this breathing into tight places as a chore but instead feel the joy of releasing tension in the body. When your body feels lighter, the mind becomes clearer.

2. The brain hammock
Allow the brain to sink into what I call a “brain hammock.” Hammocks are enjoyable when we are in them because we relax and let go. The brain too needs to relax. It is relentlessly processing and analyzing. Modern society views a busy mind as being productive but meditation teaches us that being busy is not always a virtue. Too much thinking scatters our energy and focus. As the body feels more unstuck and we enjoy our breath, visualize a hammock from one ear to another and let the mind sink into this hammock. When it wanders, relax it more and simply enjoy the feelings of tightness leaving the body. What you will feel is not only more relaxed but also clear, as though someone came in and cleaned your house decluttering and leaving you restored to face life with ease and flow.

3. Tune into the breath
My personal definition of meditation is that it is the relaxed enjoyment of simple pleasures like breath and being open to the consciousness that comes when we do so. The key here is to not feel like you have to breathe long and deep because it says to do this in a meditation or yoga book but because it is enjoyable. Tied in with the first point of a relaxed body, enjoy the breath because it is like a jacuzzi jet for tight places in the body. It is the biggest gift we have and it’s right under our noses all day. Meditation is a great time to savour it!

4. Open the heart
There are two general schools of meditation in my opinion. One is what I call the “be present” school emphasizing stillness and the calmness underlying our busy thoughts. The second is about feeling our interconnection to all life or what I call “heart wisdom.” My personal aha moment arrived when I realized that they are interrelated. By opening the heart, you can become more present and by becoming present your heart will open.

5.Remembrance (Yad kard): Always orally and mentally repeating the dhikr.

6.Restraint (Baz gasht): Engaging in the heart repetition of the al-kalimat at-tayyiba phrase - "La-ilaha il-allah muhammadur rasul-allah".

7.Watchfulness (Nigah dasht): Being conscientious over wandering thoughts while repeating Al-kalimat at-tayyiba.

8.Recollection (Yad dasht): Concentration upon the Divine presence in a condition of dhawq, foretaste, intuitive anticipation or perceptiveness, not using external aids.

9.Awareness while breathing (Hosh dar dam): Controlling one's breathing by not exhaling or inhaling in the forgetfullness of the Divine.

10.Journeying in one's homeland (Safar dar watan): An internal journey that moves the person from having blameworthy to praiseworthy properties. This is also referred to as the vision or revelation of the hidden side of the shahada.

11.Watching one's step (Nazar bar qadam): Do not be distracted from purpose of the ultimate journey.

12.Solitude in a crowd (Khalwat dar anjuman): Although journey is outwardly in this world, it is inwardly with Allah.

13.Temporal pause (Wuquf-I zamani): Keeping account of how one spends his or her time. If time is spent rightfully give thanks and time is spent incorrectly ask for forgiveness.

14.Numerical pause (Wuquf-I adadi): Checking that the heart-dhikr has been repeated the requisite number of times, taking into account one's wandering thoughts.

15.Heart pause (Wuquf-I qalbi): Forming a mental picture of one's heart with the name of Allah engraved to emphasize that the heart has no consciousness or goal other than Allah.

Visualising one's heart (Qalb), perhaps with the name of Allah inscribed on it, and identifying with Truth or with Allah.

*There are two basic principles In Sufi-Buddhism Meditation: One physical exercise and breathing regulator, that is inspired by Buddhism and other spiritual practice that is derived from Naqshbandi way. In Sufi-Buddhism meditation, infact, the meditator does not need to Guide. The founder of this style of meditation is Mohammad Gholipour in 2015 in sri lanka.