Working at the shrine of Yusuf Hamadani in Turkmenistan on the Silk Road
On two separate occasions, I had the opportunity to work and do research at the shrine of the 12th century Persian Sufi Yusuf Hamadani in Turkmenistan on the Silk Road. Like many renowned mystics, Hamadani spent the latter part of his life in seclusion–to leave the world and any attachments to it behind…
Today, considering all of the madness in the world around us, the pull to live a secluded and peaceful life in a prolonged retreat is an impulse not hard to understand. But most Sufis still choose to abide by the command to be “in” the world, but not “of” the world–by participating in daily affairs, without being attached to them…
[The opening of the faculty of Spiritual Hearing] is the beginning of the opening of the Heart and its unveiling–good tidings from the Heavenly Stations! It is the dawn of understanding of Divine Meanings. This hearing is sustenance for the spirit and life for the heart. It is the Subsistence (baqa) of the Secret (sirr)…
— Yusuf al Hamadani
