Living Presence (Revised): The Sufi Path to Mindfulness and the Essential Self

I read the book in short bites as it offered so much content to delve into. I loved the way it was written in very clear way, offering a reader a chance to question his own beliefs and aspirations without dogma. Here and there the author has added some autobiographical material to bring in a personal touch to the writing. I found especially interesting how he described the workings of our subconscious mind and how to gain access to this incredible source of inspiration and wisdom. For so long, Islam has been presented in the west as some kind of an antagonist to a spiritual journey where in fact it contains all the necessary elements for a holistic spiritual growth.

One of my favorite books. Can’t describe adequately. Beautiful philosophical read.

I discovered the first edition of this book a decade ago and it had a profound impact on me then. Last year, a friend of mine told me it was being revised and something inside of me said, you have to read it again. So, along with 25 seekers, we have spent each Monday evening since Sept 2017 working through the text, chapter by chapter. It has been an amazing and heart-opening journey for all of us (and most of us grounded in the Christian stream). What is revealed here is about Love and and reflects the underlying truth of all perennial wisdom. It also is a guide to deepening one's personal journey with God/Allah/Presence...whatever you choose to name that Love. It is a teaching to return to again and again and again. To read and to practice. I can read a chapter, return a few days later and find myself highlighting and commenting on something I missed a few days before. Of all the books on spirituality that I have read over the decades (and I have read a bunch)...this one is at the top of the list. Dare you to pick it up with an open heart, you will not remain unchanged.

This book is a revised and updated 25th anniversary edition of “Living Presence” by Kabir Helminski. The subject of the book is spelled out by the subtitle: “The Sufi Path to Mindfulness and the Essential Self”. The author shares with the readers some of the experiences, reflections, and knowledge that have been preserved within traditional Sufism, i.e., a spiritual training that was “developed within the historical and cultural matrix of Islam”. The aim of this particular training was to activate specific latent faculties of the mind, which remain dormant in ordinary man. Only through the activation and then uniting of these inner faculties, can a person fulfill his or her ultimate evolutionary purpose.Helminski describes a number of basic concepts, techniques, and approaches that have been extracted from the writings of Jalaluddin Rumi, a 13th century Persian mystic. Among these basic concepts are “ego”, “self”, “heart”, “spirit”, and “Love” (rather oddly defined by the author as “The electromagnetic milieu in which we all exist”). Consequently, “soul is the child of the union of self and spirit”. Rumi allegorically presented such a union as a couple of lovers. Rumi’s celebrated “Mathnawi” illustrates the whole gamut of challenges that a lover has to overcome before he can be united with his beloved.Helminski states that “through changing the energy level of the brain, we can activate a different kind of brain function”. In other words, during the initial stage of the process, the mind undergoes a subtle but significant transmutation. The mind’s inner structure is gradually unfolded, layer-by-layer. (This may be compared to the splitting of atomic orbitals; in their natural form, the orbitals remain degenerate; but when exposed to a strong magnetic field, they may be split into several sub-levels.) The next phase of the process aims at uniting these newly activated layers. Therefore, the methodologies that were suitable for unfolding the inner layers of the mind become obsolete for the implementation of the following phases of the process. In the symbolic language of poets, this change was reflected by replacing a couple of lovers with the simultaneous union of several couples of lovers. Not many readers have recognized that such an updated spiritual methodology was quite precisely disclosed in Shakespeare’s plays. Some readers will have noticed that Shakespeare’s overall narrative illustrates the challenges that four couples of lovers must overcome before they may be united at the same time and place. It was at that time and place, i.e., in the late sixteenth century England, that a new phase of the spiritual teaching was initiated. It is important to notice that this new phase of the teaching was projected within the secular context of Western society. At the time of the initiation of this new phase, the previously disclosed techniques became sterile. In practical terms, the specific techniques introduced by Rumi ceased to be valid. It seems that Helminski is well aware that attempting to practice Sufism today is like dealing “with the aspects of those forms that were suited to another time and place”. Yet, his presentation is clearly limited to a form that was projected within a select group of people in thirteenth century Minor Asia. Here is an example. Helminski explains that a whirling dervish becomes “a transformer of cosmic energies through conscious intention, love, and the electrodynamic effect of the human nervous system rotating in relation to the earth’s magnetic field”. However, he does not specify what sort of transformation a whirling dervish may experience today. Rumi is on the record saying that he applied the whirling dancing specifically for the thirteenth-century people of Minor Asia, because of certain characteristics of theirs. But these characteristics are not to be found quite to the same extent among the 21st century Westerners. In other words, instead of developing themselves in accordance with the currently operating cosmic matrix, the whirling Westerners may turn themselves into imitations of medieval Orientals.Despite these shortcomings, “Living Presence” is a welcomed book for it is a useful introduction for those who are looking for direction on how to enhance their lives and gain a deeper understanding of the world around them. Helminski provides overall principles, which may serve as initial pointers: “Practically speaking, if we can shift our orientation from the exclusive concentration on satisfying our desires to a love of sharing in friendship -a cosmic Love that sees others as ourselves- then our identity or ego, is transformed by these forms of love”. There is probably no religion or spiritually oriented group who would not agree with this statement.

Some of the best writing I have ever read! Insightful and powerful explanations that are reader friendly. I look forward to reading it again and referring it to others, especially those seeking true spiritual connection.

A comprehensive broad and informed perspective on reality and presence. While not a work book or a do it yourself guide it covered areas important to understand, consider, and contemplate. It sheds light on a topic in which much confusion exists and presents a balanced supported view free of dogma. It is interspersed with Rumi quotes and usefully defines key words used as ‘Heart’, ‘Essence’, and ‘Love’ in the light of Presence. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey.

I have read this book for the last 15 years, one of the only books I can read again with pleasure. Always helps to ground me. Also nice to read in a group out loud.

If you have ever studied Gurdjieff and worked with the wish to awaken to one’s highest possibility, this book is the best guide I have run across so far. I bring up Gurdjieff because in my own work and studies many truths were elusive. I intend to go back and read Beelzebub again after trying in my daily life to apply aspects of this book.Kabir Helminski has a website where you can hear many of his talks and also if you look him up on YouTube you can find more inspiration to fuel the journey.

Very well adapted guidelines to become a real Human being

Approach this book with care – it is intended for the work of spiritual transformation.Firstly let me say that I don’t believe I can do justice to this book. I have been trying to write this review for a year and had concluded it was impossible until a friend suggested I review just one chapter.Why impossible? It is not densely written, but it is packed with spiritual nutrition. One bite will keep you going for a week. I find myself writing out whole chapters in my attempt to summarise them.Half way through my fourth reading I have a sense of having learned things at a subliminal level, by some process I don’t fully understand, at the level of the heart not just the mind.Is this book for you? It may be if you:- Enjoy mindfulness and meditation but find they lack something indefinable- Wish to understand your ego personality from a spiritual perspective- Find the ideas of psychotherapy, Carl Jung and the Enneagram useful in understanding yourself- Enjoy the poetry of Rumi and Rilke- Are put off by glib self-help books that suggest you can think your way out of your problems. It’s not that simple you want to cry – some things go too deep!Or perhaps these words resonate with you?“A spiritual teaching is to some extent a critique of personality and typical social conditioning. It challenges the conventional view of the human personality” (chapter 9 – The Tyranny of the False Self)“We think of ourselves too often and in the wrong way. The result is self-importance (or its opposite self-hatred) and greed” (chapter 24 Overcoming Self-Centredness)“Meditation and exercising the will are not the goal: we practice them to decondition ourselves and undermine our self-importance and greediness” (chapter 24 again)This book is like a spiral path winding deeper into truth, circling the mystery that cannot be described, only experienced. It is a finger pointing to the moon.I will finish with a warning, again from chapter 24:“Having decided to enter the fire of Love, we learn to take whatever is given us without complaint”.Having opened this book you may find there is no going back.

Exceptional spiritual guide that will not fail to educate, inform and guide. A book to be read slowly and for each and every paragraph to be absorbed.Surprised that there are not even more favourable reviews but this brief review is shared to compliment the other reviews. Highly, highly recommended. I am now moving on to another of Kabir's books.

Enlightening

The heading raises high expectations of the book, which I feel does a pretty good job. Helminski gave me a better understanding of his form of Sufism, which helped me to relate it to Christian mysticism. It is a book for those travelling beyond their own religious beliefs. It fits in well with the writings of Christian writers of the East such as Griffiths, Merton, Wharton, de Mello, etc.I would recommend this book to all who are interested in a mystical journey from an Islamic or Christian perspective. I very much enjoyed the book, which was easy to read with its short chapters and many sayings of early Sufi writers, with whom I am familiar. I would have liked to have had a bit more detail about how to do things to be a better Sufi, maybe more direction. However, I do appreciate that it is imperative to have a guide or spiritual director to take you on any mystical path, and maybe that is why only a short chapter at the end left me somewhat disappointed. I had waited so long to get some concrete guidance.I found the book stimulating, and I struggled to put it down. The intros at the beginning of each chapter enticed me along.I am now more mindful, more aware and more in the moment than I was before, and I certainly understand Sufism much better than I did 2 days ago.