A Living Presence: The Sufi Way to Mindfulness and the Unfolding of the Essential Self Book

Overall, I enjoyed the book, although it didn't give me the full introduction to Sufi Islam that I was hoping for. It left me with more questions than answers. Helminski does include one chapter at the end that describes a little bit of the history of Sufism, and differentiates between two groups of Sufis:

"On the one hand, there are those who would say that no true Sufism can exist without the appreciation and practice of the principles of Islam. On the other, some groups more or less ignore the Islamic roots of Sufism and take their teaching from farther downstream, from Sufis who may or may not have had contact with specifically Islamic teachings." (172)

It wasn't really clear to me in which group Helminski would place himself, though he does write that, in his opinion, "an appreciation and understanding of the Qur'an the sayings of Muhammad, and historical Sufism is invaluable to the wayfarer on the Sufi path," (172) and he does include a number of verses of the Qur'an throughout the book'albeit outnumbered by quotes from Rumi's poetry.

The book did confirm my initial impressions about Sufi Islam, that it is focused on love and compassion. It reminded me quite a bit of Buddhism and recently popular approaches to spirituality, such as the approach documented in the movie What the Bleep Do We Know?

One thing I've wondered about Sufi Islam is whether it offers a more progressive treatment of women than mainstream Islam does/has. This book didn't answer that question for me. Most of its message can be applicable to both men and women, though I was a little annoyed that most of the author's anecdotes had to do with himself or other men, especially his male teachers. There was one important exception, though, when the author calls us to transcend our lower selves in search of the higher self that comes through (and/or leads to) closeness to Allah. However, he writes,"women who have been taught to deny their own needs in favor of their families or in deference to men will be sensitive to the suggestion that they should look beyond their personal needs and desires, or that service is the natural expression of the soul." (48) This struck me as pretty insightful, and it reminds me of discussions I've heard about (feminist) women struggling with the Islamic concept of "submission," associating it with subjugation to men.

Finally, I enjoyed the author's descriptions of Salaat (ritualized Islamic prayer) and meditation and the similarities between the two.