FROM THE EDITORS
It has been said that teachings of Sufis are paradoxical and their behavior crazy. In the Sufis’ mystical world view, the unseen, inner realm is what counts the most and it, in turn, determines all material phenomena. This is in contrast to the opposite, materialistic world view that has been most widely promoted for centuries, making Sufi thought seem at times counter-intuitive or illogical. This issue of SUFI focuses on contemporary explorations of some timeless teachings—profound and often paradoxical—handed down by Sufi masters to inspire the inward journey.
HIGHLIGHTS – WINTER 2014
ARTICLES ADAB THE MIRROR OF INTERVIEW CULTUREWATCH BOOK REVIEWS FILM REVIEW BAAGHY AND THE POETRY INSIDE COVERS – POETRY FEATURED POET FEATURED POET FEATURED ARTIST
YEARNING
by Alireza Nurbakhsh
RUMI AND “ISLAM”
RECONSIDERED
The Light of God Beyond Religion
by Jawid Mojaddedi
Sufi Etiquette in the Outer
and Inner Worlds
by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
CONSCIOUSNESS
An American Ethnographer
in a Sufi Community
by John L. Caughey
SUFISM: HISTORY,
POLITICS AND CULTURE
A Conversation with
Carl Ernst
interviewed by Llewellyn Smith
RE-TRACING THE SIMORGH
Interpretations of “The
Conference of the Birds”
in Contemporary Art
by Sholeh Johnston
THE CONFERENCE OF
THE BIRDS
by Alexa York Lumbard
Review by Peter Valentyne
MAPPING OUT “CLOUD
ATLAS”
by Peter Valentyne
MUEZZIN
by Charlotte Heckscher
SPECIAL CARGO
Some Kind of Story
by Martin Harris
LOST
by Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh
RIVER OF LIGHT
by Heather Grant
DIRECTIONS OF GOD
by Ellen Jane Powers
HONEY
by Raphael Block
STARS FOR ROBERT BLY
by Thomas R. Smith
UNHINGED
by Roger Loff
WE ARE CELLS OF HIS BODY
by Jeni Couzyn
JENI COUZYN
ELLEN JANE POWERS
AARON HUEY
(Cover Photo & Interview Photos)