The Black Pearl: Spiritual Illumination in Sufism and East Asian Philosophies

264 Pages·2005·1.718 MB·English

by  Henry Bayman

THE BLACK PEARL
S piritual Illumination in S ufism
and E ast A sian Philosophies
H enry Bayman
MONKFISH BOOK PUBLISHING COMPANY
RHINEBECK, NEW YORK

THE BLACK PEARL
The Black Pearl: Spiritual Illumination in Sufism and East Asian
Philosophies ' 2005 Henry Bayman. All rights reserved. No part
of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without
written permission from the publisher except in critical articles
and reviews. Contact the publisher for information: Monkfish
Book Publishing Company 27 Lamoree Rd. Rhinebeck, N.Y.
12572
Printed in the United States of America
Book and cover design by Georgia Dent
Seated Dervish
Riza Abbasi, Iranian, ca. 1565-1635
Iran, 1626
Ink on paper; 21.0 x 14.0 cm
Art and History Collection. Photograph courtesy of the Arthur
M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.:
LTS1995.2.79.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bayman, Henry, 1951-
The black pearl : spiritual ilumination in Sufism and East Asian
philosophies / by Henry Bayman.-- 1st impression.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-9749359-5-6
1. Sufism. 2. God--Comparative studies. 3. Philosophy, Confu-
cian. 4. Philosophy, Comparative. 5. Philosophy--East Asia. I.
Title.
BP189.B4 2005
297.4’1--dc22
2005010192
Bulk purchase discounts for educational or promotional pur-
poses are available.
Monkfish Book Publishing Company
27 Lamoree Road
Rhinbeck, New York 12572
www.monkfishpublishing.com
A seeker on the path visits a true Master and asks him about
various spiritual methods. The Sage replies: (cid:147)Do not fear(cid:151)
they all belong to us! Yet you are like one who earnestly tills
the soil, waiting for a shoot to grow. Then you wait for the
shoot to become a tree. Then the tree must blossom. Then only
finally may it yield fruit. Whereas I (and here he reaches out
his hand towards the seeker), I am offering you fresh fruit(cid:151)all
you have to do is eat!(cid:148)

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE.....................................................................xi
INTRODUCTION........................................................xvii
Enlightenment And Gnosis,
Buddhahood and Prophethood.................................xxx
Overview.......................................................................xxxiii
1. SECRETS OF THE TEA CEREMONY....................1
The Tea Ceremony.......................................................5
Awakening to the One.................................................7
The Symbolism of the Tea Ceremony......................9
2. A SUFI(cid:146)S WORSHIP................................................17
Faith................................................................................17
Faith in the Master.......................................................19
Faith in the Prophet.....................................................22
Faith in God..................................................................25
Order and Harmony....................................................28
The Importance of God for Human Beings...........29
Empiricism....................................................................30
3. ON WAR.................................................................32
Kendo and the (cid:147)Sword of No-Abode(cid:148)....................35
War Against Oneself....................................................37
4. UNITY AND ITS FAMILY......................................40
Unity...............................................................................40
Truth, Beauty, Goodness............................................43
Peace...............................................................................47
Harmony.......................................................................48
Love................................................................................49
Equality..........................................................................51
Intimacy.........................................................................52
The Tree Metaphor......................................................57
The Divine Helper.......................................................58
5. FROM NATURE TO GOD.....................................61
6. LIFE AFTER DEATH.............................................68
The Metaphor of the Garden.....................................68
Reincarnation................................................................71
7. GOD IN EAST ASIAN CULTURE.........................78
Tao, T(cid:146)ien, Ti, Kami.....................................................78
God in the I Ching........................................................79
The Yin and Yang of God..........................................82
Similarity and Incomparability...................................84
God and the Taoists....................................................85
Shinto.............................................................................90
The Sun Behind the Sun.............................................93
The Knowledge of No Knowledge...........................93
Hollow Chestnut, Delicious Walnut..........................95
The Bobbing Melon and the New Creation............97
The Homecoming........................................................98
Nirvana in Brahman....................................................100
No god but God..........................................................103
The Orange and the Sage............................................105
None-self but One Self...............................................106
The Mouse that Bit the Balloon................................108
8. EMPTINESS OR GOD?..........................................111
Nirvana and Nihilism..................................................111
Evolution of the Sunyata Concept.............................114
The Problem with Emptiness....................................120
The Sunyata Shortfall...................................................122
Zeroing the Self............................................................125
The Ethics of Unity.....................................................130
Charity Stones...............................................................132
9. CONFUCIOUS: THE EXOTERIC DIMENSION....136
Confucian Divine Law.................................................136
Further Parallels............................................................139
Sincerity and Unity.......................................................147
10. INDRA(cid:146)S NET.......................................................150
Mutual Interdependence.............................................150
Two Different Visions.................................................153
The Emptiness of Emptiness.....................................155
Indra(cid:146)s Holographic Net.............................................157
The Room of Mirrors..................................................160
The Mysteries of Unification......................................161
11. SELF-CULTIVATION IN SUFISM........................164
The Two Restrictions...................................................164
The Difficulty of the Way...........................................166
The Man with Too Much Tea....................................166
The Cavity of the Heart..............................................167
The Heavenly Book.....................................................169
The Way of the Prophet..............................................171
One(cid:146)s own strength (jiriki)..........................................172
Another(cid:146)s strength (tariki)...........................................172
The Synthesis in Sufism..............................................173
The Flying Frog............................................................175
Stages of the Self..........................................................176
The Base Self................................................................178
The Goose as Model for the Base Self.....................179
Namik Kemal and the Cat..........................................181
Nitinol and the Base Self............................................182
Sleep Less, Wake Up to God......................................184
Sufism and Biotech......................................................185
Unveiling........................................................................187
Quantum Sufism..........................................................189
Loqman(cid:146)s Last Lesson.................................................191
12. THE END OF THE JOURNEY............................194
The Peak of Unificatio94............................................194
Formal Praye.................................................................199
Chuang Tzu Visits a Sufi Physicist............................200
CONCLUSION.............................................................204
APPENDIX (FORMAL PRAYER)................................208
GLOSSARY..................................................................217
INDEX.........................................................................225