There are many types of consciousness available to human beings. You could be hyper focused, distracted, dreaming, drunk, high, or sick . . . to name a few. For Sufis, these are all the same sleep state.  

The awakened state is spiritual consciousness. Everyday consciousness, with its hustle and bustle of living, working, stressing, worrying, pushing, pursuing, blaming and arguing are all part of the sleep state. It is similar to the Hindu concept of Maya, i.e. life as illusion. 

The Sufi work awakens spiritual consciousness. In this awakened state, we see ourselves and our life more clearly. We become more peaceful, compassionate and creative. We more able to see and enjoy the beauty of this physical existence and become less susceptible to its pettiness and obsessions. 

A sober look at American society and its people, shows a prevalence of anxiety, stress, worry, fear, anger, and depression with an over-reliance on intoxicants and drugs to numb the pain of an unhappy existence. Unfortunately, most people are completely unaware of their misery because it is so familiar.

The story goes that if you put a frog in boiling water, it will jump out. If you put it in warm water and gradually raise the temperature the frog will stay until it dies. For many that is what life is like. The change is so slow you don't realize how bad it has become.

In the last years of my parents’ lives, my mother cared for my father at home as his Alzheimer’s gradually worsened. Half-blind herself from the removal of a brain tumor, my mother could barely cope, yet she refused to think about putting my father in a nursing home. Seeing how exhausted she was, I arranged for a 3-day respite that allowed her to temporary place my father in a local nursing home. At the end of the 3-days she realized she could not bring him home. Since he was already in the nursing facility, it was easy to take the next step and sign the commitment papers. She did.

The Sufi work is like a respite. It takes you out of your daily routine and wakes you up to your life situation. In fact it can change it.

When I started the Sufi work, my life was in disarray. My 1^st husband was thinking of leaving me for a new relationship in Tucson. I did everything I could to hold on to our marriage including counseling. 

Then my husband found a flyer for a Sufi workshop where we were living in Santa Fe. We did one weeks of evening Sufi classes and a 2-day weekend workshop. Then my husband left for a job interview in Tucson and I did another week of evening classes. It woke me up.

After he returned from Tucson, my husband didn’t know what to do. He had been offered a job in Tucson and didn’t know whether he should take it or stay in Santa Fe and follow this Sufi teacher, Adnan.

My mind was crystal clear. I became aware of my body curled into a ball, hanging on to the car door latch while we talked. My mind state was so at odds with the peace I had experienced the past two weeks. Stress/peace, stress/peace” repeated in my mind. It was not hard to choose. There was no peace with my husband and I was ready to let go. I told him to take the job and see what happens. He moved to Tucson and I stayed and did the Sufi work.

The Sufi work, like the respite for my mother, made it possible to jump out of the boiling water of my life.

It is important to wake up to our self-imposed miseries and make a different choice. The Sufi work provides the wake-up.

You can still do the Sufi work even if you are not miserable.

In the Sufi work you learn to be in the world but not of it. That is, you maintain your connection to spirit while living and enjoying life. It enables you to have more peace, awareness and appreciation for your existence and not to take things so seriously.

As one Sufi student said, “I used to have a lot of problems. Now, I still have problems, they just don’t bother me as much.”

Sufi provides the tools for having a better life adventure. However, you must use the Sufi practices to sustain your spiritual awareness. It is so easy to slip back into the sleep state. 

We live in water world on the edge of boiling. Periodically we need to take a break, a Sufi respite, to cool down and wake up to what is true and truly important. 

The Sufi work keeps you awake in two ways. The deep concentrated work experienced over weeks or months will enable you to develop in spirit to higher and higher levels. The workshops I teach, one-offs, once or twice a week, help you stay awake while treading the boiling waters of everyday life. 

My workshops are also good for beginners who want to get a taste of the Sufi work. They help you wake up to the longing for spirit.

If you want to go deeper in Spirit, if you want to change at the core, you must go to the Sufi Summer Camp in New Mexico and spend the time. For more information go to the Sufi Foundation

I am teaching the Sufi moving meditation class Friday and Sunday. 

If you would like taste the work or a maintainance boost, please join us tomorrow for movement, breath, and meditation, January 5th at 9 am PST.

And/or join me on Sunday, January 7th at 8 am PST for an additional Sufi meditation class. 

The Zoom link is the same for both.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89999494833?pwd=V2pOS28yYUdXM3hkaW1rVWIvSjBUdz09

Meeting ID: 899 9949 4833

Passcode: SUFI

Here's a time converter link to check the time in your location.

Be peaceful.

Michelle

Dr. Michelle Peticolas

Life Transformation Coach

Empowering Women to Reinvent Their Life After Loss

Secrets of Life and Death

https://www.facebook.com/secretsoflifeanddeath.com