Psychology Lerre sto tHe Eons: ‘The Sufism and Psychology Forum (SPF) wil hostourannaal Paychology Panel atthe 16th Annual Sufism Symposium on the week-end of April 25-27, 2008. The symposiums presented by the International Association of Suism (IAS), wll beheld at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel, in San Rafael, California. The psychology panel -will take place from 3 - 5 p.m, on Friday, ‘April 25,2008. SPF was originally envisioned with the goal of bringing together psychology and spirituality. This work has continued since itsinceptian. Several ofthe psychotherapists in SPF have been organizing and patticipating in a series of workshops and, retreats with a focus on presence, healing, and balance. These events have been held at Dominican University in San Rafael, California and are presented as a collaborative effort between the Community Healing Centers and International Association of Sufism. At these events there is time for teaching and discussion, and forty-day-long experiential practices arc ‘given, Sufi Master, Seyyed Dr. Ali Kianfar ‘guides practices and explains the innate wisdom of the human being, Prychotherapists, university professors, and authors present on topics including intention, presence, neutralizing trauma in ‘our systems, movement for awareness andl health, heart-listening, seience, and development of the human being, and the mind. These workshops and retreats are ongoing, open to the public, and off continuing education units. We have received very positive feedback about the 40-day practices and the unique format of these events which have been attended by people from many backgrounds, ranging in age from twenty to those in their seventies, Membersofthe Sufism and Psychology Forum will be traveling to the LAS Sufism Issue 7, Spring 2008 TRADITIONAL, SPIRITUAL, CONTEMPORARY, ‘Symposium in Cairo, Egypt which will take place from January 18-21, 2008, This will bbe an opportunity to share the wisdom of Sufi psychology with fellow Sufi practitioners and psychotherapists from around the world on a panel presentation ‘entitled, “Peace between heart, mind, and body” Sufism and Psychology Forum, as a department of International Association of Sufism, was once again funded, through a ‘grant from Marin Community Foundation, {to offer our Total Focus Stress Management Program to clients of other social service agencies in Marin County, California ‘Through discussion and exercises we ‘worked with women in a residential drug, and alcohol treatment program, a safe house for battered women, and at a ‘workshop for therapists who may then take these practices to their clients and practice them in their own lives. Based on some of the information and practices we teach in the Total Focus Program, we have included a Stress Resilience Assessment and Practice form and included it with the newsletter, ‘We are gratefil to Dt. Nahid Angha and Dr, Ali Kianfar, the founders of TAS, for their vision in creating the Sufism and Psychology Forum and providing, venues jn which to share the deep wisdom and “understanding of balance for healing in Sufi psychology. Sun PsvcHo.oey Panel 2007 Semposium Mary Toth Granick, MET ‘The Fifteenth Annual Sufism Sym- ppositim, held in Philadelphia, Pennsyiva- nia on May 18-20, 2007, once again be- gan with the Sufism and Psychology Eo- rum (SPF) panel on Friday afternoon, Jamal Granick, MFT, co-director of SPR, ‘welcomed the audience and introduced the panelists. Rahmana Lynn Larkin, MSW, ACSW, a psychotherapist in pri- vate practice in Seattle, was the first speaker, Ms, Larkin wove her comments arouind te premise that until the mind is {quieted one cannot begin t0 approach inner peace and contended that true in- nner peace cannot be found with the con: scious mind. She spoke about the teach. ings in Sufism that have informed her practice, and skllflly brought together theory, illustrations from her own spi ‘ual practice, and examples from her el calwork with dientstoillustrate the topic. “The next panelist to speak was Tho- mas Jackson, LCSW, 2 psychotherapist in private practice in New York City and ‘Middlebury, Vermont. Mr. Jackson incor- porates mindfulness into his practice with, lients, which, he contends, createsa new therapy for every person who enters the room. Like the first speaker, Me. Jack- son believes that the heart is the resting, place of the mind. In his work with cli- ents he uses meditation and mindfulness to help bring clients nto a deeper aware- ness of theie heart. Locke Rush, Ph.D., continued the theme of mindfulness with a presentation ‘on the wisdom psychology that he leamed from his teacher, the Sufi master M.R. ‘Bawa Muhaiyaddeen. Dr. Rush has been practicing psychologist since the 1970°s. Dr Rush has been guided in his practice by truths he learned, such as “the man of wisclom takes 2 quick glance and knows everything in a split second-the state of cOutinoed on paged Psychology is inveed o advance knowledge and expand awareness inthe Nels of tradiona, sprtual, and contemporary psychology Rs mission to further nquity, and festr dialogue among clverse trations and perspectives, Psychology isa publication of the Community Heal Contes and the Sufsa and Psychology Forum, a depatmen ofthe inemationa Assocation of Susm"0. Louchakova he Experience of Sohbet BE] Olga Louchakova. | M.D. Ph.D, isa pro- fessor of teanspersonal psychology at the Insti- tute of Transpersonal Paychology in Palo Alto CA, a mandated spiti- tual teacher in the tra- tions of the Heart (Hesychasm and fism), Vedanta and Kundalini Yoga, and long, time student of the teachings of ubyiddin Ibn-Arabi. In the past, she orked! as a medical doctor, and ncurosci- tist in the Pavlov Institute of the Acad ny of Sciences in St.Petersburg, Russia. : Louchakova authored numerous articles psychology, neuroscience, theological cnosnenology, and spirituality, anc is now orking on the book on the Archetype of e Heart, based on the 20 years of re arch of the esotericism of the Heart in ferent countries and tracitions. She m: ins private practice in spiritual coaching, the San Francisco Bay Arca, CA. In early September 2001 T left for anbul with a group of psychology sta- nts ‘Anatolia, aregion of Turkey in between ia and Europe, for the last 5000 years the melting caldron for all kinds of oples and cultures. Without receptivity d tools to integrate complexity in their ychological consticution, these many eth- - and cultural groups would have extin- ished each other. Receptivity isalso the fining condition under whieh the cosmic cart, the center of subtle spiritual aware ss in the human body, reveals its deep, steric essence to the mind ofthe seeker. hile much was written and spoken about © cosmic nature of the Hieart, Twant to cus on coming from the Heart, ie. the ritual dialog called Sohbet. ‘While preparing this article, Fbrowsed ¢ psychological and social sciences data- ses, in search of the studies on sohbet. bet, or sohbat, isnot researched as well other forms of spiritual dialog, such as dian satsang, or archaic Russian “veche”. t they are the vital part of oral cultural d spititual tradition, as “talking” con- ousness, Which causes spiritual insight to ietge amidst the group of people partici- ting in the enquiry. As cultural psychology explains, cul- rs constitute different types of human SPRING 2008] ISSUE NO.7 consciousness, whence there will be also a difference in their talking styles. Coming back to our journey in Istanbul -in 9 days after our arrival the Twin Towers in New York were hit by the plane, and the TV screens all over the world showed people jumping to their death out of the windows oftite collapsing skyscrapers. The news hit usinthecab: the driver kept repeating that U.S. was attacked. As the terrible news erupted, people spilled over on the streets of Istanbul, intensely taking to each other, Hearing English specch, they engaged us in spontancous, lively, emotionally intense conversations. Irwasa “walking” and “talk- ing” culture, as opposed to the American culture of “ariving” and “image”, which met usin depressed grieFupon our return home to San Francisco on September 26th, In comparison with the talking expressiveness of Turks, it scemed thar Buropeans and Americans were justsilent, Between September Lith and 20th, the day of our departure, our sheikh engaged nearly round-the-clock sohbet. [be- lieve that sohbet, as an innate vehicle of con- sciousness in Sufism, is connected with the cultural taking styles in Muslim countries Itisa dialog heart to heart, and, as our host Metin Bobaroply said, there is stage of the soul when special talking (ie, sohbet) becomesit’s only food. Metin called it “the intensive course” in the practical study of the human being (Bobarogit, personal com- munication, December 14, 2000). Besides ‘encountering sohbet in Turkey, [also wit essed its other form in the Malamatia Sufi ‘group in San Francisco, as well a5 using it for years as a form of spiritual instruction and practice with my students, Sohberimplics the following principe: {thas to be sincere and egalitarian. ‘The size ofthe group isnot limited, and participants are expected to treat each otheras friends, i.e, tocultivate receptivity, While the theme of enquiry may be set up in advance, the orientation is towards discussion of the meanings arisingin the moment. As I de~ scribe itin my studies of the Prayer of the “Heart and dhikr, which are the other forms of spiritual practices in the Heart, one has 1 actess the primary, pre-reflective mean- ings, arising from within, These meanings are deployed by the innermost substance of conseiousness within the Heart, and, with the proper positioning of awareness, receptivity, and the environment of safety, they can be linked to speech in the act of immediate sel-explication. The process of Tinking the emerging meanings to speech requires great self presence, inner listen- ing, and discrimination between primary and secondary thoughts. However, tying, the process to the sense ofselfin the chest, i.e, somatic awareness of the Heart cen- ‘er, opens the skill of sohbet quite fast. This is what we ean do as humans, having the capacity of heartfal enquiry, opening the direct awareness of Divine realities, as in- nate to us, ‘The vicissitudes of relationships be- ‘ween the members of the sohbet group, and the “therapeutic” issues, are silently agreed to be kept outside ofsohbet. Sohbet has to come from the place of “egolesiness”. The general mood is that ‘of mutual respect, caring and the specific «emotion of loving friendliness. This caring, relatedness is a part of Islamic etiquette, ‘called “adab”,implicitin sohbet. Adab and sohbet (as one of its most visible expres- sions) have, not only spiritual, but also ‘overall cultural importance. They seem t0 play important role in strengthening resil- jence to cultural stresses such as the ongo- ing threat of terrorism. ‘Modes of sohbet may vary, as the in- ‘tema engagement with the specific theme ‘opens direct intuition of various domains ofthe phenomenologicily identified mean- ings. For example one may dell in the domain of logic, or in the domain of Di- vine Truths, or in the aesthetic sense, oF «ven tap into he realms of disowned inten- tionality i. collective unconscious, Flow- ever, since sohbet engages the somatic com- ponent, that is the egological(I-centered) awareness of the chest, it actualizes theThe Experience of Sohbet Olga _Louchakova MD., Ph.D. isa pro- fessor of transpersonal psychology atthe Insti tute of Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto CA, a mandated spici- tual teacher in the t- ditions of the Heart (Hesychasm and Sufism), Vedanta and Kundalini Yoga, and, a long time stadent of the teachings of Muhyiddin Tbn-Arabi, In the past, she ‘worked asa medical doctor, and neurosci cetist in the Pavlov Institute of the Acad- ‘emy of Sciences in St.Petersburg, Russia, ‘Dr, Louchakova authored numerous articles in psychology, neuroscience, theological phenomenology, and spirituality, andisnow ‘working on the book on the Archetype of the Heart, based on the 20 years of re- search of the esotericism of the Heart in different countries and traditions. She main- tainsa private practice in spiritual coaching in the San Francisco Bay Arca, CA. In early September 2001 I left for Istanbul with a group of psychology stu- dents ‘Anatolia a region of Turkey in between, ‘Asia and Europe, for the last 5000 years was the melting caldron for all kinds of peoples and cultures. Without receptivity and tools to integrate complexity in their psychological constitution, these many eth- nic and cultural groups would have ext guished each other. Receptvity isalso the defining condition under which the cosmic ‘Hear, the center of subtle spiritual aware- ness in the lnurnan body, reveals its deep, esoteric essence to the mind of the seeker. ‘While much was weitten and spoken about the cosmic nature ofthe Fleart, Twant to focus on coming from the Hla, ic. the spiritual dialog called Sohbet. ‘While preparing this ticle, I browsed the psychological and social sciences data- bases, in search of the studies on sohbet. Sohbet, orsohbat, isnot researched as well as other forms of spiritual dialog, such as Indian satsang, or archaic Russian “veche”. ‘Yet they are the vital part of oral cultural and spiritual tradition, as “talking” con- sciousness, which causes spiritual insight to emerge amidst the group of people partici- pating in the enquiry. ‘As cultural psychology explains, cul- tures constitute different types of human 2 SPRING 2008] ISSUE NO.7 consciousness, whence there will be also a difference in their talking styles. Coming ‘back to our journey in Istanbul - in 9 days after our arrival the Twin Towers in New York were hit by the plane, and the TV screens all over the world showed people jumping to their death out of the windows ofthe collapsing skyscrapers. The news hit usin the cab: the driver kept repeating that U.S. was attacked. As the terrible news erupted, people spilled over on the streets ofilstanbui, intensely talking to each other. “Hearing English speech, they engaged us in spontancous, lively, emotionally intense conversations. Itwas “walking” and “talk- ing” culture, as opposed to the American culture of driving” and *image”, which met usin depressed griefupon our return home to San Francisco on September 26th. In comparison with the talking expressiveness of Turks, it seemed that Europeans and Americans were justsilent. Between September L1th ancl 20th, the day of our departure, our sheikh engaged usin nearly round-the-clock sohbet. Ibe lieve that sohbet, asan innate vehicle of con- sciousness in Sufism, is connected with the cultural talking styles in Muslim countries. Itisa dialog heart to heart, and, as our host Metin Bobarogly said, there is a stage of the soul when special talking (i.e. sohbet) bbecomesit’s only food. Metin called it “the intensive course” in the practical study of the human being (Bobaroglu, personal com- ‘munication, December 14,2000). Besides encountering sohbet in Tarkey, I also wit- nessed its other form in the Malamatia Sufi group in San Francisco, as well as using it for years asa form of spiritual instruction and practice with my students. Sohbet implies the following principe: {thas to be sincere and egalitarian. The size 0. Louchakova ofthe group isnot limited, and participants are expected to treat each other as friends, {eto cultivate receptivity. While the theme of enguiry may be set up in advance, the orientation is towards discussion of the ‘meanings atising in the moment. As I de- scribe it in my studies of the Prayer of the ‘Heartand ahikr, which are the other forms of spiritual practices in the Heart, one has to access the primary, pre-reflective mean- ings, arising from within, These meanings are deployed by the innermost substance of consciousness within the Heart, and, with the proper positioning of awareness, receptivity, and the environment of safety, they can be linked to speech in the act of immediate sei-explication. The process of Finking the emerging meanings to speech requires great self-presence, inner listen ing, and discrimination between primary and secondary thoughts, However, tying the process to the sense of selfin the chest, i.e, somatic awareness of the Heart cen ter, opens the skill ofsohbet quite fast. This is what we can do as humans, having the capacity of heartful enquiry, opening the direct awareness of Divine realities, as in- nate tous. ‘The vicissitudes of relationships be- tween the members of the sohbet group, and the “therapeutic” issues, are silently agreed to be keptontside of sohbet. Sohbet has to come from the place of “egolessness”. The general mood is that ‘of mutual respect, caring and the specific ‘emotion ofloving friendliness. This caring relatedness is a part of Islamic etiquette, called “adab”, implicit in sohbet. Adab and sohbet (as one ofits most visible expres- sions) have, not only spiritual, but also ‘overall cultural importance. They seem to play importantrolein strengthening resil- {ence to cultural stresses such asthe ongo- ing threat of terrorism. ‘Modes of sohbet may vary, as the in ‘ternal engagement with the specie theme ‘opens direct intuition of various domains ofthe phenomenologially derified mean- ings. For example one may dell in the domain of logic, or in the domain of Di- vine Truths, or in the aesthetic sense, or ‘even tap into he realms of disowned inten- tionality; ie, collective unconscious. How ‘ever, since sohbet engages the somatic com- ‘ponent, that isthe egologieal (T-centered) awareness of the chest, it actualizes the The Experience of Sohbet—- sense of self. Self here will be not a self: concept or self-construal, but an embodied lived experience. As sohbet deepens, it also can bring out the shared group experience of the universal Self, This co-experienced insight into the non-dual consciousness is the pinnacle of sohbet. As the moment of Union emerges, it becomes a platform for the next step of discourse, emerging in the dialectical manner out this synthesis as the next step in the dance of opposites in the mind, ‘The lived experience of participants in the sohbet is treated as an alive body of «merging sacred text, consciousness in the process of becoming. It is a sincere, kind, conscious conversation around meaning” ful and essential issues, sometimes with analyses of the separate words, among people having no operating defenses or power agendas, Ithas to be “horizontal.” Tr changes the mood of the group. Sohbet ‘was different from therapy or growth groups ints profundity, transformative faculty, and healing as the true sel knowledge can be. ‘We experienced the rise from moods of de- pression, angst, concer, or confusion to ‘gradually increasing states of clarity, empa- thy, joy, delight, and eventually highly posi- tive experience of the self and total con- nectedness. Sometimes participants came up with deep cxistential insights. Sohbet may ormay not have a facilitator. Our sill facilitator, Dr. Bobaroglu, insisted that a ‘group with no facilitator could obtain the similar effects. Later, my experience with this dialog in United States confirmed his ‘observations. ‘Sohbet can last for several hours. In "Turkey, a shared meal always preceded sohbet. Since 911 deeply affected our ‘group, Dr. Bobaroglu intensified the sohbet for the 9 days remaining before our depar- ‘ture. The effects were quite stunning: shock, anger, depression, and fear lifted, giving rise to the stable self-sense and connected- ness. This state lasted al the way to United States, and upon return we discovered in- creased resilience and resourcefulness in situations which otherwise would have been deeply disturbing, It seemed aso tharsohbet ight cause long lasting behavioral changes, and even character shifts, t0 be researched in fature. Meanwhile, I identified the sev- eral components of sohbet practice, which ‘may be useful for people who want to en- sage this spiritual treasure as the path of their own development. ‘These components include attention equally inclusive ofinter- and intra-subjectivity; attention tothe rs ing embodied modalities of experience, and tothe subjectivity of awareness (“I sense) in che chest; gravity towards focusing on presence and positive states, such as loves patience and receptivity; cultivation of em- pathy and friendship towards one-another; abstaining from therapeutic interactions and issues; existential focus of enquiry slf-dis- closure; deep listenings sincerity, or whole being engagement; generosity; itening and talking from the heart. Exposure to the sohbet radically changed my teaching style in the classroom, Students now frequently comment on my presence as that ofthe charismatic lecturer, but that has nothing to do with my per- sonal qualities. ‘They owe this impression tothe environment of sohbet that gets trans- ‘mitted to them, if sincerity and fiiendliness are present in our engagement . ‘The above is a good example of how the inner riches of Sufism can be success- fally used in other disciplines, such as psy- chological higher education. Sufism and ‘ranspersonal psychology, for example, share a belief that the ego is a societal hazard, however, they take diferent positions in regard to this assumption. While ‘ranspersonal psychology has turned away from the ego-centered processes, Sufism has specifically focused on neutralizing the ego's destructive tendencies in favor of the needs ofcollectively developing community. "Totally embedded in the multifold cal- tural and historical contexts of islam, Sufism hascontributed to the development of cul- tural coping mechanisms and resilience to trauma in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia. ‘This protean embeddedness in contexts makes it difi- calt to separate the transformative essence cf Sufism from its cultural make-up, yetit is possible, asin the above described expe- rience of Sohbet. Inthe course ofhistory, Sufism has behaved like a growing, palm tree: its outer layers turning rigid and dead, to be shed — as happened, for example, ‘with the conservative and corrupted forms ‘of Sufism of the Ottoman empire —while it’s living core is always in a process of cul- tural adaptation, ‘Thus Sufism invigorates, contemporary cultural practices, I show in the use of sohberin the environment of the psychological classroom in my practice countinued from page) the person’s mind and heart and spiritual nature.” ‘To beable to even begin to oper- ateon such a high level, the therapist (healer) ‘most attain a higher level of peace within his or her own being, ‘The last speaker on the panel was Amineh ‘Amelia Pryor, Ph.D., MET, apsychothera- pist, a published author, she has learned the practice of Sufi psychology, which de- scribes Sufi psychology as “the practice of getting close to, becoming aware of, and reawakening to unlimited wisdom.” She explored the premise that there are two di- rections and two conditions open to hu- ‘mans: one condition is ever changing and variable, the otheris fixed, unchanging, and firm. The goal on the path of Sufism is to transform our awareness from our ehang- ing nanure to our unchanging primordial nature - frat. Throughout her talk she stressed the importance ofthe Teacher and Guide on this path ‘Each of the panelists skilflly shared their wisdom and practices. Though they practice in different modalities, witha vari- «ty of cents, the through-lincofinner peace and tranquility was key for each, Corea ana ASSOCIATION OF Surtst (ere aera Rip cea citi Pychology ins Sufism By Amineh Amelia Pryor, Ph.D. The Sacred Journey: Unfolding Self Essence By Avife Ellen Hammerle, Ph.D. Available through: Institute for Sufi Sais 14 Commercial Blvd. #101 Novato, CA 94949 (415) 382-7834 S12 exch « $3 shippnghhandling per book (GA redone a 7.79% sales ee Pay by cali cad check o money ender wo “SU PSYCHOLOGY: TRADITIONAL, SPIRITUAL, CONTEMPORARY | 3