The Sufi Tradition in the West

by Omar Ali-Shah

The Sufi Tradition in the West is the fourth volume in the series of talks given by the Sufi teacher Omar Ali-Shah to his many students throughout the world, the first volume of the collection being Sufism for Today, published by Alif in 1992. Although often considered in some minds as an offshoot of Islam, the Sufi Tradition does in fact stand on its own without help from any race or religion, and it is now beginning to take its place openly in the main stream of western as well as eastern thought - all the more so now that the West has divested itself of the utopian social and philosophical fantasies that polluted its thinking for so many years. In this context, there is an abiding need for a way of thought that is based on objective and eternal values, while eschewing all forms of ideological and religious manipulation. This book is timely, because it clearly states what in the West is compatible with this very ancient body of thought, as well as what is incompatible. This message is not put over in any excoriating or disparaging way, but with wit, tenderness and the exasperated patience of a cat playing with her young. Not only is this book a lucid account of what the Sufi Tradition can mean to the individual, it also casts a beady eye at many contemporary sacred cows, providing a highly useful "distanced view" of today's world, even to someone who is not specifically seeking out the Sufi Tradition.

Paperback

First published March 1, 1998