Mystics and Sufis

The other day I had a conversation with an Indian professor of English, a gentleman who started his teaching career from Government College Lahore as early as 1942. Well versed in Urdu poetry, close acquaintance of Faiz Ahmed Faiz and having more grasp on Urdu poetry than most of our present day young and not so young friends.
It was a nice evening and the 88 years old professor was citing verses from Ghalib and Faiz. In Ghalib the Sufi tradition is very strong, cloaked in the imagery of wine like that of Khayyam.
The debate entered into the incorrect use of the word mystic for a Sufi. This was when we were at a bookshop looking for books of our interest. Professor Robert Graves Greek Myths reminded me of this introduction to Idrees Shah’s The Sufis. Professor talked about Graves while I told him about the Introduction. “Well, Sufism is quite different from mysticism” he said. “It is more like yoga. It is a way of life, living in harmony with nature”. “At least I see it this way”.
He was right. Most of us mix things and the reason behind are no naivety. It is because our thirst for short cuts to power goads us into misinterpreting things. Yoga is seen as an instrument to develop powers that could impress (control) others, the vey opposite of what it is. Sufism is seen in the same vein. Inner/hypnotic powers that could give one control over others.
I will not spend much time on the right or wrong of this attitude. What is important is to understand how the human mind works at times. Why power? Over whom? What if I get control of another? Wouldn’t it be better to organize my own being than to seek control over others? I think somehow we have reversed the human equation. We have to rethink our human priorities. It is not the question of naming yoga or Sufism right or using them rightly. These are small drops in the life of humanity. Humanity itself is the real essence of life. We have to keep the candle burning or blow it away as Buddha did through nirvana. Nirvana again is misinterpreted. But we will save this debate for a later time.