Culture-bound Islamic Sufis have managed to achieve levels of personal and group evolutionary attainment even though hobbled by Islam and all too often persecuted by Islamic Orthodoxy.  Though would-be Sarmoun Sufis beyond Islam, both in the West and the East, are more universal-minded and eclectic about their spiritual aspiration, this has all too often resulted in a dilettante hodge-podge of bits and pieces of doctrines and random exercises or methods from a variety of uncoordinated sources, resulting in expansive goodwill socially, but precious little of genuine higher development individually.  Western seekers have all too often unwittingly become less than Islamic Sufis rather than more.

Another factor in all this is that many ostensibly exclusively culture-bound Islamic Sufis have had to seem that way to prevent themselves from being martyred by Orthodox Islam when they have been in fact well-versed in all the world’s esoteric traditions and have often adopted validly useful elements from a variety of sources.  Superhuman Guides, working in the guise of Islamic Sufism, have had to secretly coordinate the Way of Ways for their students for over a thousand years.  They have had over a thousand years of knowledge, experience and realization as the founding members of the Sarmoun Brotherhood.  For them, the activities of universal spirituality in the West are simply too social, immature, confused and incompetent for personal and group achievement on the Way.  Decoding their Islamist expressions should thus be a high priority for any Western seeker of the Sarmoun Brotherhood who can extract himself or herself from the habit of silly socializing and bragging on the stupid Sufi Web forums on the Internet where superficial group politics predominate.

No spiritual tradition on Earth is as adept at cutting through silly social spirituality and pretentious false guides as are the Naqshbandi affiliated Sarmouni(s).  Indian Gurus, for instance, have notoriously invited and accepted all sorts of unqualified and randomly self-selected “disciples” or confused, greedy, self-selected and experimental seekers.  These Gurus, drowning themselves in such false disciples, have suffered huge scandals in the style of Baba Muktananda, Swami Shyam, Bhagawan Rajneesh and Sathya Sai Baba.  Then there is Da Free John in Fiji and a whole new wave of New Age spiritual leaders, which has included the horribly distraught and foolish Tensegrity Cult of Carlos Castaneda.

Putting together fragmentary and incomplete spiritual schools and traditions does not necessarily create a balanced, integrated and spiritually effective Way, just as tying leaking boats together does not make them float, as it is said in Bengal, the land of boats.  For centuries, in fact, the Bauls of Bengal have been a branch of the Sarmoun with the problem of dealing with a combination of Islamic Sufism and Tantric Buddhism coupled with Shaiva, Shakta and Vaishnava mysticism and Yoga.  The Bauls mirror locally in Bengal the global situation of the Sarmoun Brotherhood.  How this really works should be deeply and extensively meditated upon.

If you are serious about all this, then overlook the parochial authoritarianism and arrogance of Idries Shah, for in spite of his personal failings and cosmic limitations, his lack of genuine oneness with the Divine level of Nondual Awareness of Being, he is an ample transmitter of the indispensable Naqshbandi orientation.  Also, for your education, work with the interesting hypothesis that he faked his own death in Britain and has taken on a new identity in a new location.  Perhaps he foresaw the demonization of all Muslims in Britain, Europe and America.  Why would he sit there in Tunbridge Wells as a sitting duck for the Blair government to play games with?   

I have said it before and I am saying it now:  Any so-called “Sufi” in Britain, Europe or America who outwardly identifies with Islam will suffer greatly in the coming pogroms as the Third World War unfolds due to Al-C.I.A-Duh false flag terrorism, particularly in Britain.  No seeming “Sufi” with half a brain will remain a resident Muslim in Britain.  It would be much better to move to Morocco and risk being persecuted by the Muslims who are suspicious of Western “converts” who they would suspect are British spies.  Why do you suppose the EU planners have tried to make Turkey a member of the EU?  It means that Europe would be flooded with millions of “potential terrorists” to justify excess surveillance and suspension of human rights throughout Europe.  The Turkish people might imagine they would have a more affluent lifestyle in mainstream Europe, but they would be persecuted for sure, just like the Arabs in France.  It is all going to get far more ugly.

The sociological and political turmoil in and around Islam is not a promising environment for the Sufi Way as such.  That is why it is so presently crucial to fully absorb Sufi know-how before it disappears as such from the planet.  You must be more than a Sufi but not less.  This remains the fundamental Sarmouni requirement.  If you do not understand it, I pity you, even though real understanding will make you suddenly very unpopular in Sufistic social circles.