Lataif-e-Sitta translates as "the Six Subtleties" - six spectrums of awareness, six states of being. Lataif-e-Sitta is a concept Sufis draw from religious texts. The Lataif-e-Sitta are:
1). Nafs - Ego:
The ego is often sourced as the main and most difficult obstacle in spiritual pathways. To overcome the ego (Zul-n-Nafs) is to overcome the self, to repel a self-centered lifestyle, and to focus away from passion, greed, and other desires. By ridding ourselves of the nafs, we find the true self, the unperturbed Ruh-i-Insaan, away from the corruption of the nafs and Earthly desires.
2). Qalb - Heart
The spiritual heart is the crux of love, the gateway of transcendence. Here, two fources are found colliding: the nafs (ego) and the ruh (spirit). Once the nafs is removed, the ruh finds peace and love within the qalb, and strives for transcendence.
3). Ruh - Spirit
The Ruh is the spirit in manking, corrupted by the nafs and ego-self. The Ruh can only be found by purifying the qalb from the nafs with counter-conditioning methods: prayer, meditation, zhikr, etc. It is "the dormant spiritual faculty" and awaits illumination (Tajliyyah-i-Ruh).
4). Sirr - Secret
Sirr, literally translated as "the Secret", is the divine command. It is attained through zhikr (remembrance) of the Divine and awareness of the divine (and not the mundane Earthly attractions). Together, the Ruh and Sirr form the "Ruh-i-Insaan", the Human Soul.
5). Khafi - Latent Subtletly
Khafi represents intuition; the divine intervention of guidance.
6). Akhfa - Obscure Subtletly
Akhfa is also known as "Nuqta-e-Wahida", the point of unity in which revelation may pass. Idries Shah, author of "The Way of the Sufi" and "The Sufis", asserts that this last center "is only accessible to those who have developed the others, and belongs to the real sage."
More Info:
The nature of the Nafs
"The Way of the Sufi"by Idries Shah
1/2/07
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1 comment:
In the Sufi literature and vide the Qurani references in my opinion al Masih rises to that level of acknowledgement, being Insan Kamil as being sinless in human form as well as reflecting divine attributes through his unique message and exceptional miricles like none else.
No wonder the SUFIS acknowledge al Masih as a sufi they look up to quoting his words, yet being unique in titles such as " The spirit of God and the Word of God."
"The birds have nests and the foxes have holes Yet the son of man has nothing to lay his head upon."
The words of al Masih as quoted in the Bible.
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