Muslimsufi : The Face Before I Was Born: A Spiritual Autobiography
Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee (Author)
Book Description
Describing the
intoxicating intensity of his own spiritual journey—which began when he
was 16 years old—this autobiography reveals the events that followed
throughout the next 22 years: tremendous love, psychological breakdown,
craziness, bliss, and the slow work of balancing the inner world of the
spirit and the outer demands of everyday life. An ancient story of a
spiritual transformation experienced in present times relates the
terrifying depths, vulnerability, and emptiness of the spiritual
journey—only revealed in divine love. More than 10 years since the
original publication of the book, this revised edition includes new
material exploring the continuing mystery of human experience and divine
revelation.
Product Details
- Paperback: 340 pages
- Publisher: The Golden Sufi Center; 2 edition (September 1, 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1890350184
- ISBN-13: 978-1890350185
- Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 1 inches
Books review
Format:Paperback
This autobiography, however well-meaning, is a vanity press
publication by a young man who is intent on establishing his credability
as a potential guru or Sufi master. The entire book is written from
this perspective, and all the author's relaying of his spiritual
experiences are honed to this end. To the uninitiated spiritual seeker,
the book is very convincing and touching, if at times the author appears
to be somewhat naive. It does seem that Vaughan Lee needs the reader to
be convinced that he personally has an "inner cell-phone" line to a
superior being, which makes him more 'special' than us lesser mortals.
Again and again, by his own pen, he subtly seeks to make his story match
some kind of blueprint of a trainee Sufi Master. There is no doubt that
he is convinced by his own rhetoric, although to the discerning reader
it would appear that he is treading on uncertain ground.
I found his personal conviction in his own 'specialness', and his obsession with 'suffering' as THE direct path to God psychologically unhealthy, personally revealing and, from a spiritual point of view, more than a little outdated in its patriarchial overtones and heirarchical approach. The sanctification of 'struggle' balanced by the occasional bout of 'bliss' until the 'lover' becomes exhausted and supposedly 'egoless' is very attractive and beguiling, but belies the truth that a realized sense of 'Oneness' with the 'Beloved' IS readily and effortlessly available to every human. Those who have comprehended and embraced this universal and ever-present state are generally people who have no need to justify themselves; to set up non-profits to fund themselves; nor to found their very own vanity publishing companies. In my experience they generally have little interest in collecting followers or becoming teachers, they live quietly and openly in the world, mostly unheeded, and are recognizeable by the very personal friendships they share with those they meet in life, by their simplicity and by the way they shine.
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