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MYSTICISM OF DARVISHES: KUNDALINI YOGA
eleventh century, "is the discoverer of six positions in the part of man's body between the neck and the navel, which he has called the six subtleties (Latayif-e-Sittah), one encircling the other, much after the manner of Kundalini of Patanjali. The colour of qulb (heart) his yellow; of soul red; of sir, white; of khafi, black; and of ikfa, green. **** Some say that the colour of nafs is blue, and of ruh ochre. When the nafs entirely disappears, whiteness overshadows. The colour of soul often becomes green, the last stage is colourlessness, 'everything disappearing, and leaving the Salik in a state of fana, the Transcendental wonder'-spoken of by Tennyson, which Sufis call 'Alam-e-Hairat.*** The colour of the cloth, specially the head-dress, is indicative of the stage of the pilgrim's journey, e. g. if this cloth is of ochre colour, it means that his suluk has reached the stage of rūh."
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The Sufis, however, characterize Nafs with desire, Qulb with knowing, soul with sight, and sir with contemplating, and Dhat with appearing.
Dr. M. Hafeez Sayyid Mohamed in his article 'Sufi's Sādhanā marga,' already mentioned describes certain Sufi practices which very much resemble Yogic practices:
Habs-e-Dam-Chishtis and Qadirīs specially favour this, not so the Naqshbandis. The latter do not consider it as absolutely necessary but consider it useful all the same. This is same as Breath-Control or Prāṇāyāma.
Shughl-e-Nasir (Nazr)-This is a meditative exercise specially recommended by Khwajah Mu'in-ud-din Chishti. It consists in gazing on the tip of the nose without allowing the eyes to twinkle and imagining the 'Infinite Light' while sitting in a knee-folded position. In Yoga this is a Mudra where Nāsāgra-Dṛsti is kept up throughout Dhyana. Shughl-e-Mahmuda-In this exercise the practitioner gazes on the point between the two eye-brows until there is visualization of God in the heart. This is similar to the Yogic Trikuți practice in which during contemplation the eyes are turned upwards and gaze in the Trikuți. Shughl-e-Saut-e--Sarmadi:-This exercise is similar to Yogic
Jain Education International 2010_03
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