syed vahiduddin reviews bruce lawrence book

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Notes from a Distant Flute by Bruce B. LawrenceReview by: S. VahiduddinPhilosophy East and West, Vol. 32, No. 1 (Jan., 1982), pp. 118-120Published by: University of Hawai'i PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1398763 .

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118 Book Reviews

form. ut mostof thisdiscussion s accessible nlyto thespecialist,nd eventhen hesummaryharacter ere s notreally ompatible ithssueswhich eednot omuch obereviewed s to be exploredforsolutions.Further,heauthor'sdecisionnot to quotefrom hemanyTibetan sources ited eavesthe readerwondering hatwas really aidbytheBuddhists hemselves.A fifthhapter, Monkhood,MonasteryLife,ReligiousCalendar and Festivals"returnso lessproblematicssues n Buddhism; nd twoclosing hapters-"The FolkReligion" nd "The BonReligion"-take up otherreligious xpressionsn Tibet.Theappearance f indigenous eligionst theend of thework s somewhaturprising;uttheauthor ssuresus,with omemerit,hattheir ositionfacilitatesomparisonwiththehistorically ore ignificantevelopmentsfBuddhism.A wordmustbe said aboutTucci'sowntranslations hich recolored, fcourse,byhisEnglish ranslator.ucci states hathewishes o avoidtheextremesf"literal" nd"philosophical"renderingo that thesymbolic alue of thereligious erms an ringforth. he intents laudable but sometimesails.Tuccitranslatesa (bhimi) iterallyndendsupwith he wkward TenEarths f theBodhisattva ath"; on theotherhand,heignorestandardranslationsor heBodiesoftheBuddha ndcomesupwith uch nter-pretive enderingss "Bodyof nfinitepiritual otentiality"or hos ku dharmakaya).Still,a Tibetan transliterationaccording o theWyliesystem)s providedforeverytechnicalerm; ndthereader as theopportunityoavoid hisor herownextremes.GEORGER. ELDERHunter ollegeofTheCityUniversityf NewYork

Notesfrom Distant lute.ByBruceB. Lawrence. ehran:Tehran mperialAcademy fPhilosophy,978.Pp. 123.$6.50.The traditionalWesternpproach o Sufismwith tsemphasis n historical ntecedentsand sourceshas givenplace to its moresympatheticnderstandings a manifestationwhichs slamic ncharacterndwhich,s an inner imension f slam,deserves ttentionon ts wn ccount.Ofcourse,very eligion asamysticimension,nd t s not omethingpeculiaro slamthattsmysticshould ome nto onflict ithhereligiousstablishment.The relation f themysticsnd theofficialpokesmen as alwaysremainedmbivalentand despite penconflictshe slamicmystics avenever isownedslam,and eventheultra-orthodoxouldnothelpdeveloping mysticccent ntheir eachings.When slamspreadbeyondts arlier ative onfineshe mpact fother eligionsndtraditions adeitself elt tmanyevels.Amongthescholarswho havemade a sympatheticnd extensivetudy f thesufitradition rof.BruceB. Lawrence ccupies prominentlace.Generallyslam sunder-stood n theWest nlyn tsArabprofile.ut slam annot e understoodn ll tsrichnesswithoutakingnto ccountnewdevelopmentsnregions hichwerenotoriginally uslimbutwhich ame under he nfluencef slam ater. t isonly ecentlyhat herich piritualand culturalheritage f the Indian subcontinent as attracted ttention. he writerrightlyaments hefact hat hough Sufismwas a majorelementnsouthAsianIslam,littlehas beenwrittenbout theparticularway in which ufic rders r Silsilaswere

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introducednto ndia and howtheyubsequentlyeveloped"p. 11).Lawrence,fcourse,is not alone in thisventure. uch scholars s SymonDighly nd Annamarie chimmelarecontributingruitfullyo a better nderstandingfSufism.Naturallyhewriter'sttentionsmostlyoncentratedn theChishti raternityfsufis,becauseamongthemystic rdersthatprevailed n earlymedieval ndia theChishtisdominatedhescene.Thoughtheyhailed from utside ndia their rder ould notgainany dherentsxcept n the ndian ubcontinenthere tfound hereligiouslimate erycongenial o itsowngenius.One of thecharacteristicsf this rderwas its cceptance fsama or musicalaudition n itsmystic atherings.heir leadingmembers espondedecstaticallyo themystic oetrywhichwasrecited, nd, n somecases,theywere o over-powered hatthey ied. One of themost famous nstances elates o Qutbad-Din,thedisciple f Mu'inad-Din Chishti.When verse fShaikhAhmadJamwas recited eforehimhewas so captivated y tthat forfour aysandnights eremainedumbfounded,continuallyonging o hear this inerepeated. n thefifthight, edied" (page22). Thewriter'sccount fChishtiaints ndthe necdotes oncerningheirives nd the tteranceswhichwere ecorded y heir isciples ives fascinatingicturefthe ufi ife ndteachinginmedieval ndia. Lawrence ightlyives rominenceoNizam d-DinAuliya, hefamoussaintwho iesburied n Delhiand towhose hrine eopleflock ventoday ogetbaraka.While he arlyChishti ufis idnottake towriting,hewhole tmospherehangedwithGesu Dara who had ultimatelyettled nGulberga n theDaccan, at present partofKarnataka.Theoreticalnddoctrinal ormulationshen ametobediscussed,nd underthe nfluence fIbn Arabithequestion ftheUnity fBeingprovokedheated ontro-versies.While some of them ommittedhemselveso Ibn Arabiunconditionally,herewereothers,Gesu Daraz amongthem,who reacted harply gainsthis monisticystem.Butwhat s most nterestings hiswork alledAsmar l-Asrar rNightDiscourses. omeofthevisions escribednthem nsymbolicndallegoricalanguagendicate he xtraor-dinary ichworldofmystic xperience.slamas itappeared n thosepagesand as it sreflectednBruceLawrence'sworkhas ittle ncommonwith he fficialslamproclaimedthroughhemedia.One mostmeritableharacteristicfthese hishti aintswas that hough hey espondedto music cstaticallyhey reated n atmospherefpietynddevotion. heir oncern orthepoorand thedestitudewas exemplary,nd a man ike Nizamad-DinAuliyawouldnot touchfood on theground hat herewereother ersonswhohadnothingo eat. Ifanyone sinterestedo see n their ehavior nd conduct nydeviation romheSunna ftheProphet,s Prof.Lawrence s at times nclined odo,heshouldunderstandhat heydid notwant o set a Sunnaparallel o theProphet's utto show that hosewho followthepathhave requirementshich annot be satisfiedn a traditionalway.Hence nowonder hatNizam ad-DinAuliyadidnotmarryncompliancewith he nstructionfhis MurshidrGuide. BruceLawrence's ccount fthe arlyChishtis ndhisanalysis fsomevery ascinating orks fthe aterChishis, specially hatofGesu Daraz, makesdelightfuleading.His translationsf their erses eavenothingmoretobe desired.Butsometimesntranslationhe pecific uance ftheoriginalsnaturallyost.Forexample,withregard o QutbAd-Din's death while isteningomusic, hepoetrefers o himas"a gemfrom different ine." Lawrence ranslatest as "Whata raregemhe was."What thepoetwishes oconveys the dea that he ource f thisgemwasother han hisworld.



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120 Book Reviews

Lawrence'swork s also repletewithmanymeaningfulnecdotes.For example, t isrelated fNurQutb-i-'Alam:Someoneasked theShaykh reportsHusamal-Din): whydo theShaykhs ustomarilyshakehands after hesalam at theend of theobligatoryrayer? lease tellmewhat sthe nnermeaning fthispractice". It is traditional",eplied heShaykh, thatwhentravellereturnsrom journey, eshakeshandswith isfriends. hen hedervish tandsupinprayer, ebecomesmmersednGod: leaving imself,egoesonaninwardourney.WhenhesaysSalamhecomesbacktohimself. enceheshakeshandswith hose resent"(page: 57).

Though hemajorpartofhis work s concerned ith heChishti rder, hewriter oesnot gnore he other raternitieshatwieldedbyno means negligiblenfluence. encethewriter eferso whathecalls"sporadic xcellence" ftheSuhrawardiilsila.Thesufisbelongingo thisordermaintained cordialrelationship ith heChishtis nd one ofthem ven ssued legal pronouncementn the anction fsamaforwhich heChishtishadpredilection. anyoftheChishtis ommented n Awarif l-Ma'arif fShihabuddinSuhrawardind used tas a textbookn the eachingfsuficheoryndpractice. e doesnot also neglect raternitiesonfined o particular egions f thesubcontinent.ne ofthem, heFirdausi Silsila in BiharSharif roduced remarkableman in SharafuddinManeri,whoinone ofthehundredettersecentlyranslatedntoEnglish,writes: Thetrue over she who makeshispurpose he acrificefhisownpurpose."Among omeofthesufiswhose affiliationo anyfraternitys notcertain, awrencementionshegreatBi'Ali QalandarofPanipatwho wrote Mathnavi nthe tyle f Rumithoughna verysmallcompass. t is marked ywhatLawrence alls "lyrical oftness."n theend,thewritermakes a verypertinentbservation: Sufisms more than thewritingsf sufis.It ismore han heirwords."Themysticxperiencesistancenproximityndproximityindistance.How this spossible anbeonly xperiencedutcannotbeexplained.Thevalueofthis ook senhanced y tsdetailed otes.Theselect ibliographynpre-Mughal ndianSufismwillbe foundveryhelpful orfuture ork nd research. houghthewriter ealswith hevast ubject fSufismn a small ompass till necanbreathehesufic tmosphere,nd this s possibleonlywhenone has developed apportwith ivingsufic radition.Weare sure hat his ookgives sonly hebeginningsf very romisingcareer ndwe canexpectmuchmorefrom awrencenthefuture.S. VAHIDUDDINIndian nstitutef slamic tudies

An ntroductiono ndianThought. yArthur. Herman. nglewoodCliffs, ewJersey:Prentice-Hall,976.Pp. 301Bibliography,lossary-Index.Arthur erman learly elightsn thephilosopher'suestas he seesit-the bold intel-lectual onfrontationith ife'sbasicpuzzles ndpredicaments.is ownenjoymentndenthusiasmolorthiswork nd are to a certain egree ontagious.Atthe ametime, ecreatesomethingf disconcertingilemma imself.nAn ntroductiono ndianThought,he has givenus on the one hand a highly eadable, nformative,nd provocativentro-ductoryext n the nature fphilosophicalnquiryngeneral nd Indianphilosophyn


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syed vahiduddin reviews bruce lawrence book