The Station of No Station: Open Secrets of the Sufis

268 Pages·2001·2.697 MB·English

by  Henry Bayman

eE)he Station of 4
No Station
OPEN SECRETS
of the SUFIS
HENRY BAYMAN

O)he Station of
‘No Station

O)he Station of
‘No Station
Open Secrets of the Sufis
YIILI L ILY
Henry Bayman
C
North Atlantic Books
Berkeley, California
The Station of No Station: Open Secrets of the Sufis
Copyright © 2001 by Henry Bayman. All rights reserved. No portion of this
book, except for brief review, may be reproduced in any form—electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, or recording—without prior written permission of
the publisher. For information, contact North Atlantic Books.
Printed in the United States of America
Published by North Atlantic Books
P.O. Box 12327
Berkeley, California 94712
Distributed to the book trade by Publishers Group West
Cover and book design by Jan Camp
The calligraphy in Arabic on the front cover, by an anonymous Turkish
calligrapher, reads: “I bear witness that there is no god but God,
and that Mohammed is His servant and Messenger.”
The Station of No Station: Open Secrets of the Sufis is sponsored by the
Society for the Study of Native Arts and Sciences, a nonprofit educational
corporation whose goals are to develop an educational and crosscultural
perspective linking various scientific, social, and artistic fields; to nurture a
holistic view of the arts, sciences, humanities, and healing; and to publish
and distribute literature on the relationship of mind, body, and nature.
North Atlantic Books are available through most bookstores. To contact
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Substantial discounts on bulk quantities of North Atlantic books are available
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Bayman, Henry, 1951-.
The Station of No Station: Open Secrets of the Sufis / by Henry Bayman.
.cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 1-55643-240-2 (alk. paper)
1. Sufism. 2. Sufism—Essence, genius, nature. 3. Sufism—Doctrines. I. Title.
BP189 .B42 2001
297 .4—dc21
CPI
00-060961
12345678904/ 030 052 01
A MAN, IN SEARCH OF TRUTH, IS ON HIS WAY TO
KONYA (FAMED FOR ITS MEN OF KNOWLEDGE), WHEN
HE MEETS A TRAVELER RETURNING FROM THAT SAME
ciTy. AFTER GREETING ONE ANOTHER, THE SECOND
MAN ASKS THE SEEKER WHAT TAKES HIM THERE.
“I AM LOOKING FOR GOD, AND | BELIEVE THAT THERE
ARE PEOPLE THERE WHO CAN HELP ME FIND HIM.”
TO WHICH HE REPLIES:
“HOw STRANGE! I saw HIM YESTERDAY, AND HE was
LOOKING FOR YOU}”

CONTENTS
PREFACE XI
PROLOGUE
The Background of It All
The Flawless Human Being
INTRODUCTION 29
The Role of Nietzsche 30
The Universe of Signs 31
Man and God 34
Secular Science 35
Overview 36
1. NIETZSCHE, GOD, AND DOOMSDAY:
THE CONSEQUENCES OF ATHEISM 41
In the Mouth of Madness 41
Nietzsche and Science 45
Misconceptions about God 51
The Mansion and the Houseguests 52
The Base Self versus God 55
The Superman 59
The Base Self and Science 63
The Question of Darwinism 66
The Consequences 72
The Search for Superman 76
The Nightmare of Insanity 80
Contents
2. THE UNIVERSE, ENLIGHTENMENT, AND ETHICS 85
Man and Universe 85
The Significance of Man 88
Whatever You Do Comes Back to You 90
Gnosis 94
The Subject/Object Dichotomy 96
From Gnosis to Ethics 98
Sufi Ethics: No Spirituality Without Morality 100
Ethics and Spiritual Transformation 102
The Cane and the Skyscraper 104
The Ethics of God 106
The Role of Faith 108
Science and Sufism 108
Faith, Love, and Compassion 109
3. SUFI PSYCHOLOGY: AN INTRODUCTION 113
Preliminaries: Body, Spirit, Self/Psyche 113
Self as Tyrant: The Base Self (Impelling Self) 115
Anthropocentrism 122
Cyberculture and the Future of Modernity 125
Higher Stages of Human Existence 128
4. THE WAY OF THE SELF 131
Stage 1. The Base Self 131
Stage 2. The Critical Self 133
Stage 3. The Inspired Self 136
Stage 4. The Serene Self 138
Stage 5. The Pleased Self 139
Stage 6. The Pleasing Self 140
Stage 7. The Perfect, Pure, or Complete Self 141
5. THE WAY OF THE SPIRIT 143
The Subtle Body and Its Anatomy 143
Cornering the Ornery Self 149