Sufism · 1165–1240
Ibn Arabi
The Akbarian school · wahdat al-wujud · The Bezels of Wisdom · Fusus al-Hikam
The Greatest Sheikh, whose insight cancels the seeker himself: there is only the One, and there were never two.
The essence of the teaching: The Unity of Being. A separate "I" never was – it needs no destroying, only the recognition of its own nonexistence. God knows Himself through Himself, with your eyes.
Transmission
Ibn Arabi does not tell the seeker to "destroy your ego" – he says something sharper: there is nothing to destroy, for a separate "I" never existed at all. You are not you, and yet you are That – but there is no "you" that needs to become That. Union requires two, but since there is only One, there is neither union nor parting. The self does not vanish, because it never was; only ignorance vanishes. Witness sensations and qualities as the qualities of God appearing, without claiming them as your own. Then you will see: there was only ever the Knower, knowing that He is the only One.
The full transmission — for members of the School. Here is its essence and its taste.
The tradition
Sufism
This wisdom is one voice within a living world of tradition. Enter it whole: the images, the lineage, the practices.
Enter the world of the tradition →Nearby in the tradition
The Masters section is growing. The School gathers the wisdom of ages into one living system. Support the launch →