An intriguing blend... (Photo: Emily O'Dell)
Xi'an Mosque (Photo: John Emigh)
They say that the mirror-like heart is wonderful.
See within it the faces of your beloveds–wonderful!
No one wonders at the beloved’s face in mirrors.
To be oneself both beloved and mirror–
that is wonderful!
— Displaying the Concealment of the Real Realm
As I’ve been studying Chinese and practicing tai chi in Beirut (貝魯特的太極練習課), I’ve also been researching how Islamic thought in China was informed by Sufism and Neo-Confucianism. When Muslim scholars in China in the 17th and 18th centuries began adapting Chinese traditions and beliefs to accommodate Islam, they turned primarily to Sufi philosophy. For example, the four main books on Islam which were translated into Chinese before the 20th century were all translations of celebrated Persian Sufi texts.
Apart from the Real Substance, nothing is to be thought a substance, and apart from the Real Function, nothing is to be thought a function. Thus it is said that there is nothing, only the Real.
— Displaying the Concealment of the Real Realm
“Great Learning of the Pure and Real” and “Displaying the Concealment of the Real Realm” blend together Confucian social teachings, Neo-Confucian metaphysics, Buddhism, and Taoism with Islamic thought. Since not many people have heard of these texts or Islamic Neo-Confucianism, perhaps I’ll share more gems from these texts in upcoming posts…
“Asserting unity” [tawhid] is to make the heart one. In other words, it is to deliver and disengage it from attachment to what is other than the Real, both from the side of seeking and desire, and from the direction of knowledge and gnosis. In other words, seeking and desire are to be cut off from all objects of seeking and desire, and all objects of knowledge and intellect are to be eliminated from its insight’s gaze. It turns its attentiveness away from every face, and no consciousness or awareness of other than the Real remains.
— Displaying the Concealment of the Real Realm
