Cosmos as Meditation: Sufi and Shi'a Muslim Reflection on the Spiritual Cosmology

the following work is a compilation of studies I have made of the symbolic cosmology of the mystic Muslim schools of Shi'ism and Sufism. In it you will find philosophical explanations of esoteric doctrines of the Shi'a and Sufis. Some of this has been presented at the Hajj Mehdi Arjomand Colloquia on Baha'i Scripture, while part 5 was presented at the World Congress on Mulla Sadra in Tehran in 1999. Part 7 was to be presented at an academic conference in Israel which I boycotted in protest of the occupation of Palestine. Parts of this work have already passed academic peer review, such as parts of part 3 and all of part 5. If you are interested in discussing this work you can subscribe to the Shi'a Esoteric discussion list "irfan" at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/irfan/. My next work in terms of Islamic studies will be on theories of the State from a Muslim perspective which is part of a series of articles I am working on about different theories of State governance: Liberalism, Socialism (Anarchism and Marxism), and Conservatism.

Part I:Symbolic Cosmology and Interpretation

a discussion of sufi symbolic interpretation and principles of intepretation contained within the Qur`an.

Part II:Cosmos' Being According to the Qur`an

a discussion of the Qur`anic creative process.

Part III:Cosmic Vocaubulary in Islamic Philosophy and Sufism

a comparitive analysis between Neo-Platonism, Isma`ilism and the Baha`i viewpoints on the doctrines of the One and Intellectual Principle

Part IV:Ithna Ashariyya Cosmology and Mulla Sadra's Teachings

a discussion of the symbolic cosmology of Shi'ism and the cosmology of Shi'a philosopher Mulla Sadra. Includes a discussion on the concept of Unity and Diversity (wahdat wa kathrat) of Mulla Sadra and how the Baha'is and Sufis viewed this concept.

Part V:Witnessing, Quiddity and Knowledge

a discussion of Knowledge and it's impact on the doctrines of Mulla Sadra regarding Unity of Being (wahdat al-wujud) and the doctrine of Unity of Witnessing (wahdat al-shuhud).

Part VI:Baha'i and Sufi Cosmology

a discussion of the symbolic cosmology of the Sufis and the Baha'is, both are based on the same symbolic cosmology.

Part VII:The Ineffable in Context: A Study of Sufi Symbols in the Haft Vadi

a discussion of the Haft Vadi of the Baha'i teacher Mirza Husayn-Ali Nuri (Baha'u'llah) and how it relates directly to Sufi teachings regarding the same subject matter.

This study is available in Rich Text Format (RTF) and as an HTML archive at Cosmos as Meditation Zip Archive

-Michael "Salim" McCarron
Montreal, January 2005 1