Initiation

The Sufi Way is an initiatic mystical order dedicated to awakening and service, as its lineage has been for centuries. This means that for those who feel a heart connection to the work of the Sufi Way/Open Path and would like to deepen its spirit in their lives, initiation into the order is possible.

Initiation itself is a simple ceremony of welcome and blessing. The candidate must request initiation and be considered ready to receive it. Initiation is a sign of a person's commitment to the path of awakening and service in their life. By receiving initiation in the Sufi Way a person makes themself available, in the words of the ceremony, "to the guidance the Sufi Way offers, to the inclusive lineage of teachings it represents, and to the timeless stream of blessing that is its essence."

If they wish, initiates of the Sufi Way can establish a lifelong connection with a spiritual guide or succession of guides. The nature of this connection is best described as a spiritual friendship, and makes possible individual guidance and counseling on the initiate's path. No monetary relationship is required.

Since the Sufi Way is primarily a mystical training ground and community of service, it seeks to avoid becoming an in-group or spiritual club, remaining open to all who share its purposes and ideals. There is no obligation on the side of the initiate except for sincerity. Initiates are free to leave the order, or re-join it, as they wish.

In addition, the Sufi Way is committed to inclusivity in view and practice, to direct experience rather than acceptance of specific doctrine, and avoids whenever possible the use of in-language or jargon. In these ways the order is protected from becoming a cult, and the initiate from becoming a victim of one.

On the deepest level, however, initiation refers to the awakening experience itself. As such it cannot be ceremonialized. The brief initiation ceremony is, in this sense, a symbol of the experience of awakening, which may first occur through the guidance or pointing out of a teacher, or in other ways in the student's life. The teachings and practices of the order support this happening, but do not guarantee it. Typically ”awakening” is first experienced as a moment of illumination – surprising, familiar, and indescribable. Once glimpsed like this, it tends to be revealed with greater ease throughout the range of life experiences and formal training.

Supporting this happening is the primary purpose of the Sufi Way. All of its other activities – mystical teachings, unlearning habits of mind, personal counseling and guidance, forms of devotion and communal celebration, musical meditations, healing circles, facilitation of rites of passage, service and care for others – find their authenticity and inspiration in the initiatic experience of illumination.

(For more detailed information about initiation, see the second half of Fresh Rain: An Introduction to the Sufi Way.)