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" The Prophet Muhammad said, „Die before you die.“ We are being told to know the after-death state now, while we are alive. The mystics say that just as the embryo fears being born from the womb into this world, we fear our next birth. We fear being born from the womb of this material existence. The embryo can‘t imagine there is anything better than the warmth, comfort, and easy life it experiences in the womb. When it uncomfortably emerges into the expanded world outside the womb, it finds beautiful colors, fragrances, sensory experiences, and relationships. As human beings, we may similarly fear emerging into the expansive world that is beyond the boundaries of our egoistic existence. It‘s a goal of this spiritual path to be living in two worlds at once. By doing so, we can bring heaven to earth. (p. 33) "
― Kabir Helminski , In the House of Remembering: The Living Tradition of Sufi Teaching
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" All the heart wants is expanding friendship. It is not the kind of friendship that is a social satisfaction and can even lead to dependency and attachment. Rather, it is the friendship of other conscious hearts, who are in that state of remembrance and in that state of coherence and resonance. That's what lifts and heals us. That‘s why Sufis have their dergahs and communities. Sufism is not arranged as an individual tutorial. It‘s not a path for hermits. There may be periods when one benefits from solitude. However, there‘s transformation in friendship. The transformation results from knowing one another and accepting the truth that everything is purposeful. Whoever walks through the door of the Sufi dergah has been invited. We‘re all friends of the Friend. Community is part of the mechanism of transformation. Because Western society is so individualistic, we find ways of avoiding relationship and seek transformation that will occur at our own convenience or according to our own preferences. Sometimes people reach the stage where they say, „I might be better off alone. I think I‘m getting enough of this spiritual stuff that I could do it myself.“ They give up the friction of relationship and the challenge of it, and retreat into their own world. It‘s not usually a healthy sign. However, everyone is free. On this Path, no one is coerced. It‘s not a cult. There‘s no group pressure. If somebody walks away from a Sufi circle, nobody chases after them, except perhaps out of friendship. Sufis don‘t interfere with anybody‘s will. We all have free will. We are happy to find friends who share a common yearning. We are helped and healed by that yearning. We are healed by each other. (p. 27) "
― Kabir Helminski , In the House of Remembering: The Living Tradition of Sufi Teaching
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" There is no true justice without mercy. Mercy precedes everything, and it is why we are here. Mercy created us and is what is being revealed. The dervish dispenses, communicates, and shares that mercy. Sometimes wrath may be mixed in, but it is always in the service of mercy. God said to the Prophet, „We sent you only as a mercy to the Worlds.“ The dervish is one who is merciful. In Konya, over the entryway to the dergah where Mevlana (Rumi) is buried, is an inscription which says, „This is the Kaaba of the Lovers. Those who entered here became complete.“ The dervish walks the Path of completion. A Sufi has complete integration with life while remembering God with every breath. The great majority of Sufis have lived a family life, held a job, and contributed to society, while reaching extraordinary attainments of integrating the finite and the Infinite. They lived in a state of wahdat. (p. 76) "
― Kabir Helminski , In the House of Remembering: The Living Tradition of Sufi Teaching
