THE
SOVEREIGN SOUL
Sufism: A Path for
Today
By Phillip Gowins
Go to Preface by Abi-Ru Shirzan
ISBN
# 978-1-892138-10-1. 9" x 6" Quality Paperback. 224 pp. $16.95. July
2006. Volume Two of the two-volume
NEWTON SERIES:
Ancient Wisdom in the Modern World.
Click on cover image, left, to
enlarge.
The aim of the 1,500-year-old spiritual
tradition of Sufism, it has been said, is “the elimination of all veils
between man and God.” In
June 2004, Sufi Master Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan died peacefully at his home
in
Suresnes,
France. As
leader of the Sufi Order International which first brought Sufism to the West in
1910, Pir Vilayat had spent more than 40 years teaching this and other
truths of Sufism to audiences in Europe, the United States and Asia.
For
25 years, Sufi teacher Phillip Gowins was able to take advantage of the
many visits of Pir Vilayat to the United
States.
Thus The Sovereign Soul: Sufism: A Path for Today is
a homage to the Master, providing as it does an introduction to the
ancient stream of wisdom embodied by Sufism, but present in other
religions and humanistic philosophies as well, that Pir Vilayat was able
to impart to students around the world.
The Sovereign Soul
is also a description, always concrete, often humorous, of the mystical
path that Phillip Gowins himself has pursued over the years.
With many examples and exercises, he shows us how we can practice the
spiritual life ourselves. The
path he lays out is strewn with pitfalls and pleasures both. He tells us
how we can avoid the one and enjoy the other, and attain to love and
self-mastery in the increasingly complex twenty-first century.
An inspirational
tour-de-force of the wisdom inherent within Sufi teachings. -
"Author Phillip Gowins, a teacher in the Sufi Order in the West, presents
The Sovereign Soul, an homage and introduction to the mystical path of
the 1,500-year-old spiritual tradition of Sufism. Blending elements of
personal memoir, history, and philosophy into its presentation, The
Sovereign Soul discusses how to get oneself on the path, exercise
spiritual creativity, embrace love and sacrifice, prepare oneself for death,
and much more. An inspirational tour de force of the wisdom inherent within
Sufi teachings." - MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW, Oregon, WI, Sept.1, 2007.
"The Sovereign Soul…provides
a great introduction to the Sufi way of thinking and, while it certainly
emphasizes the importance of having a personal teacher, its openness to all
wisdom paths allows the practices described to be adapted by all on the path
to wholeness." -
LIVING
TRADITIONS Magazine (May
2007, Vol. 10, No.5),
P.O.
Box 492, Armidale NSW 2350, Australia, <livingtraditions@internode.on.net>.
Four stars out of
five. "Along with the well explained Sufi
'philosophy,' there are exercises that I felt could be incorporated into the
most structured, dogma based religions. Throughout the book, Mr. Gowins
indicates the importance of a teacher and the need for 'group' work and I
totally understand that. His affection, admiration and respect for Pir
Vilayat Inayat Khan's teachings are expressed....This book has value for the
serious, yet neophyte seeker as well as for the individual who wishes to
enhance his/her current elected practices." Reviewer: Pat O'Brien
(Illinois). AMAZON.COM, April 6, 2007.
About
the Author: PHILLIP GOWINS was born in
Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1945. He has been a cabinetmaker since 1980.
In 1979 he met Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan and shortly thereafter was
inducted into the Sufi Order in the West.
A teacher in that order, he runs a
Sufi
Center
at his home in Yonkers,
New York, with his wife, Majida, who is also
a teacher. Her daughter, and
their
grandchildren, live with them.
Click on image,
left, to enlarge.
A SOUTH
ASIA EDITION of The Sovereign Soul: Sufism: A Path
for Today was published by Readworthy Publications Ltd., of New
Delhi, India <http://www.readworthypub.com>, in February 2008, under the title Sufism: A Path
for Today: The
Sovereign Soul. Readworthy is a new imprint of D.K.
Printworld Ltd., also of New Delhi.
The
Readworthy edition is available both as a paperback
and in hardcover format. (See cover image, right.)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE by Debra
Bunch Ghosh (Abi-Ru Shirzan)
INTRODUCTION
1. Happiness
The Natural State of the Soul. EXERCISE 1: Balancing the Breath. The
Presence of God. The Importance of Community.
2. Commitment
A Life-Time Vow. Towards a New God. EXERCISE 2: Imagining the Master. The
Non-Being of Separateness.
3. Personal Problems
Personal Problems and Our Innermost Potential. The Problem Was Always Yours.
EXERCISE 3: Shahid: The Witness. Michael. The Role of the Teacher.
4. The Path of Embarrassment
Your Own Truth. EXERCISE 4: Paying Attention to the Breath. Just Say No.
Misjudging Your Place on the Path. EXERCISE 5: Superimposing a Great Being.
The Higher Standard.
5. Surrender
Wahdat Al Wujud: Sufism’s Dual State of Being. Trading Addiction for Love.
EXERCISE 6: Genuflection and Surrender. EXERCISE 7: You Are a Being of Light
(I). EXERCISE 8: Transforming the Light Energy. The Fear of
Non-Separateness. The Yearning Switch.
6. Getting on the Path
Memory and Persistence. When the Call Comes. Love, Service, and the Need for
Transmission.
7. Back to the Future
The Arrow of Time. The Dangers of Precognition.
8. Authenticity and Watchfulness
Getting Away from Backing Off. Honoring the True Self. EXERCISE 9: Avoiding
Gossip. The Opening of the Heart. The Unimportance of Experiences.
Non-Intentionality: Expecting Nothing.
9. Creativity: Walk Like a King
The Three Kinds of Spiritual Creativity. EXERCISE 10: Walk Like a King.
Reprogramming. EXERCISE 11: Fana-fi: Dissolution in the Being of Another.
Responsibility. EXERCISE 12: You Are the Mystic. God-Realization.
10. The Retreat
11. A Passion for the Unattainable
The Limitations of Possessions. The Coffee Shop That Refused to Be Separate.
The Unendingness of the Passion for the Unattainable. EXERCISE 13: Being
Greater. The Unveiling of New Universes.
12. Love
The Value of Vulnerability. EXERCISE 14: Entering the Soul of Another. Love
as Wadud: The Feeling That Created the Universe. Love as Ishq: Divine
Nostalgia. EXERCISE 15: The Flight of the Eagle.
13. The Light of Knighthood
Dhat: The Ground of All Being. Out of Nur: The Ninety-Nine Names of God.
EXERCISE 16: Imagining the Knight. EXERCISE 17: The Art of Repose. EXERCISE
18: You Are a Being of Light (II).
14. Sacrifice
The Last Class. Self-Change and Relationship Change. The Presence of Grace.
Joy Is Real and Depression Is Not Inevitable.
15. Death
Death in the East and West. Death in Life. The Passing of Michael.
16. So What Do I Do Now?
Notes
About the Author
Selected Bibliography
Index
About the
Newton Series
