Living Presence Buchzusammenfassung - das Wichtigste aus Living Presence

Einleitung anhören

00:00

Zusammenfassung von Living Presence

Name: Living Presence
Rating: 4.4 (190 reviews)
Author: Kabir Edmund Helminski

Kabir Edmund Helminski

A Sufi Way to Mindfulness and the Essential Self

4.4 (190 Bewertungen)

22 Min.

Themen

Erfülltes Leben Islam Menschsein Östliche Philosophie Weisheit

Inhaltsübersicht

Living Presence
in 7 Kernaussagen verstehen

Audio & Text in der Blinkist App

Kernaussage 1 von 7

What’s in it for me? Learn how to live at one with the world.

We live in exciting and precarious times. Technology and markets have dissolved the barriers between nations and amplified our impact on the planet. Our fates are converging, and yet our understanding of life’s meaning remains fractured.

As our power grows, so does our neuroticism, shame, and alienation. We’re in dire need of guidance. Fortunately, the ancient tradition of Islamic mysticism known as Sufism can help.

Follow its teaching to live in the here and now and connect to an infinite spirit, and you’ll see how embracing this living presence can break you out of your narrow awareness and tame the discontent that is driven by your ego.

Discover the guide that has been within you all along.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

how to make the ego the servant of your true, essential self;
why Sufi reality mirrors physics; and
how to find courage in humility.

Sufism is a practice of Islam that strives to experience a reality of divine interconnection.

Picture yourself in a city dense with fog. Its tendrils cling to the streets, spreading darkness everywhere. The people around you move about in shadow.

The inhabitants of this city are constricted by fear. No matter their accomplishments, they carry a deep sense of failure and alienation.

Now travel beyond the city. You find yourself in a village where people strive to be kind yet are haunted by fears of their own insignificance. Journey further away still and you meet the warriors. The warriors have conquered their fears through the realization that life is divine.

Continue yet further and you finally arrive with the saints. The saints have not only realized that life is divine, but they also live every moment with the awareness of this knowledge. They surrender themselves to the all-present divinity.

The key message here is: Sufism is a practice of Islam that strives to experience a reality of divine interconnection.

To a Sufi, this imagined journey from alienation to surrender to the divine isn’t simply a spiritual one. It isn’t just a metaphysical aspiration; it’s a journey to fully embrace physical reality.

In Sufism, all things, and living things in particular, share an essence, or infinite spirit. The spirit creates, connects, and transforms them. So in this way, all things are both individual phenomena and manifestations of the infinite spirit. For a Sufi, reality is oneness.

What’s more, this view of reality sits in harmony with our modern scientific understanding of the world. In physics, reality is an electromagnetic field. Within the field, subatomic particles vibrate with energy, and this energy draws elements together. The elements transform one another, enabling organic life.

Consider a rose, for example. The energy within the rose brings sun, water, and minerals together to make it bloom. It’s the same for humans. The energy within us powers our minds; it allows us to have an awareness of the energy itself.

In contemporary Sufi teaching, this energy, that manifests through all things in the electromagnetic field, is the infinite spirit revealing itself throughout existence.

But this fit with scientifically approved models of reality is beside the point. Sufism isn’t primarily concerned with arguing the truth. Sufism is about experience. And the most important experience a person can have is presence.

Maintaining awareness in the present moment opens you up to the infinite spirit.

In the early days of his spiritual journey, the author studied under a Sufi teacher, or shaikh.

One day, the shaikh instructed him to brush a horse. The author – a kid from New Jersey – had no idea how to groom a horse. But he spent hours on the job. He groomed from the mane to the tail, from the hooves up to the ears. While working he noticed his own body, his arms, his feet, his breath, his heartbeat.

End the tyranny of the compulsive, fearful ego, by surrendering to the love of the infinite spirit.

So far we’ve explored Sufism’s concept of the infinite spirit, an energy more often known as God that connects and manifests through all things, ourselves included. But just as we embody the divine, we also have something of a villain lurking within us: the ego.

In Sufism, the ego is your compulsive self. Seeking only to preserve itself, the ego stokes fear, resentment, judgment, and envy. It can’t sustain mindful attention on any task so it flits about. And, it reads the world as either a threat to extinguish, or an angle to be played.

Suffering is an opportunity to transform yourself and the world around you.

There was once a king who was generous to all people, so long as they could observe a moment’s silence.

One day the king gave to widows, the next he gave to the blind, and on the day after that he gave to poor students. But one poor student couldn’t help but whine as the king approached, and so the student received nothing.

When you’re in love with the infinite spirit, you realize your unity with it.

There was once a poor man who loved God and would spend his days beneath a tree in a park, whispering, “Oh God, God, God . . . ”

One day, a stranger passed and laughed at the poor man. “God’s not answering you,” the stranger said.

When you reflect the spirit in each moment, you’re able to channel its creative energy.

A master of Balinese dance once described his experience of performance. The dancers gather on stage and the audience gives its attention. This attention becomes like a ball of energy held between the audience and the dancers. The dancers then begin to dance.

Through both their skill, which is the result of countless hours of mindful work, and their commitment to the moment, which is a form of presence, the dancers manipulate the ball of energy.

Awareness of the infinite spirit inspires service to others.

Presence for Sufis is a practice of mindfulness that reveals the reality beyond the veil of appearances and the chattering of the ego. That reality is the loving energy of the infinite spirit, or God.

When you join the spirit, you lower the barriers between yourself and the world and your love grows. You become both more sensitive to the needs around you and more eager and able to respond. This includes being able to respond to the needs of other people, other creatures, and the environment.

Du möchtest die gesamte Zusammenfassung von Living Presence sehen?

Kernaussagen in Living Presence

Mehr Wissen in weniger Zeit

Sachbücher auf den Punkt gebracht

Kernaussagen aus Sachbüchern in ca. 15 Minuten pro Titel lesen & anhören mit den „Blinks”

Zeitsparende Empfehlungen

Titel, die dein Leben bereichern, passend zu deinen Interessen und Zielen

Podcasts in Kurzform ^Neu

Kernaussagen wichtiger Podcasts im Kurzformat mit den neuen „Shortcasts”

Worum geht es in Living Presence?

Living Presence (1992) explores how the teachings of the ancient Islamic practice of Sufism can act as a balm against our fractured, ego-driven age. Sufism teaches that an infinite spirit connects all life and that by becoming mindful of the here and now, we can glimpse this spirit in ourselves and others. Ultimately, in connecting to this presence we allow ourselves to become kinder, more intentional, and more alive. In short, more human.

Wer Living Presence lesen sollte

Curious minds interested in exploring the practice of Sufi Islam
Big thinkers who sense there’s a greater truth beyond the veil of perception
Anyone looking for a guiding light through dark times

Über den Autor

Kabir Helminski has spent over five decades transmitting the wisdom of the East and Middle East to Western audiences. He’s the author of The Knowing Heart and Holistic Islam, as well as the translator of multiple volumes of poetry of the Sufi mystic Rumi. Helminski is a shaikh, or spiritual teacher, of the Mevlevi Order of Sufi Islam and was named one of “The 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World” by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre.

Kategorien mit Living Presence

Achtsamkeit & Glück Religion & Glaube Philosophie

Ähnlich wie Living Presence

Tao Te Ching

Lao Tzu

Taoist Philosophy for Peace, Contentment & Balance in Life

Prose Poetry Fables on the Beauty of Life and the Human Condition

16 min

4.5

The Book of Five Rings

Miyamoto Musashi

A Classic Text on the Japanese Way of the Sword

Own Your Morning. Elevate Your Life.

22 min

4.5

The Web That Has No Weaver

Ted J. Kaptchuk

Understanding Chinese Medicine

18 min

4.7

The Goal

Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox

A Process of Ongoing Improvement

16 min

3.6

Mindful Self-Discipline

Giovanni Dienstmann

Living with Purpose and Achieving Your Goals in a World of Distractions

Say Less to Get More from Any Pitch or Presentation

Elevate Your Mind, Unlock Your Power, Heal Your Soul

13 min

3.6

Theories of Childhood

Carol Garhart Mooney

An Introduction to Dewey, Montessori, Erikson, Piaget & Vygotsky

A Guide To Spiritual Enlightenment

19 min

4.5

The 48 Laws of Power (New Version)

Robert Greene

The secret methods to getting what you want

The Science of Self-Healing - A Practical Guide

Tap Into Your Infinite Potential and Unlock the Keys to Abundance

On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are

17 min

4.5

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

Translated and commentated on by Sri Swami Satchidananda

Timeless Teachings for Mind, Body, and Emotional Harmony

A New Science of Consciousness

25 min

4.2

Change Your Thoughts – Change Your Life

Wayne W. Dyer

Living the Wisdom of the Tao

Why Your Sleep Is Broken and How to Fix It

A Brief History of Humankind

28 min

4.4

You Can Thrive After Narcissistic Abuse

Melanie Tonia Evans

The #1 System for Recovering from Toxic Relationships

Zen and the Rediscovery of the Obvious

Rediscover the Meaning of Life With This Classic

21 min

4.6

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Marie Kondo

The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing

Your Personal Guide to the Mastery of Magic Words

14 min

4.7

The Greatness Mindset

Lewis Howes

Unlock the Power of Your Mind and Live Your Best Life Today

16 min

4.3

Never Split the Difference (New Version)

Chris Voss and Tahl Raz

Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It

19 min

4.5

When You're Ready, This Is How You Heal

Brianna Wiest

Inspiration to Begin Your Journey of True Transformation

How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way

Unlock the Secrets of Existence and Transform Your Perspective

The 7 Things Resilient People Do Differently (And How They Can Help You Succeed in Business and Life)

20 min

4.5

A Brief History of Time

Stephen Hawking

From the Big Bang to Black Holes

27 min

4.5

Capital in the Twenty-First Century

Thomas Piketty

Groundbreaking Research That Unravels Economic Disparity in Our World Today

The Japanese Method for Transforming Habits, One Small Step at a Time

18 min

4.6

The Obstacle is the Way

Ryan Holiday

The Timeless Art of Turning Trials Into Triumph

31 min

4.5

That Little Voice in Your Head

Mo Gawdat

Adjust the Code That Runs Your Brain

The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal

18 min

4.4

The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication

John C. Maxwell

Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message

The Journey Beyond Yourself

A Practitioner's Field Guide

18 min

Limitless

Jim Kwik

Upgrade Your Brain, Learn Anything Faster, and Unlock Your Exceptional Life

New Science Shows How to Break the Cycles of Worry and Fear to Heal Your Mind

Why It's Not Always Rational to Be Rational

Turbocharge Your Focus, Productivity, and Success with the Secrets of the ADHD Brain

The stoic thinking of a Philosopher-King

Kiss More, Jump More, Abandon Self-Control, and My Other Experiments in Everyday Life

How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life

To Live, to Love, to Learn, to Leave a Legacy

Learning to Love Yourself and Your World with the Practice of RAIN

36 min

4.6

The Art of War (New Version)

Sun Tzu

Classic military strategy for politics, business, and everyday life

11 min

4.1

❤️ für Blinkist️️️

Ines S.

Ich bin begeistert. Ich liebe Bücher aber durch zwei kleine Kinder komme ich einfach nicht zum Lesen. Und ja, viele Bücher haben viel bla bla und die Quintessenz ist eigentlich ein Bruchteil.

Genau dafür ist Blinkist total genial! Es wird auf das Wesentliche reduziert, die Blinks sind gut verständlich, gut zusammengefasst und auch hörbar! Das ist super. 80 Euro für ein ganzes Jahr klingt viel, aber dafür unbegrenzt Zugriff auf 3000 Bücher. Und dieses Wissen und die Zeitersparnis ist unbezahlbar.

Ekaterina S.

Extrem empfehlenswert. Statt sinnlos im Facebook zu scrollen höre ich jetzt täglich zwischen 3-4 "Bücher". Bei manchen wird schnelle klar, dass der Kauf unnötig ist, da schon das wichtigste zusammen gefasst wurde..bei anderen macht es Lust doch das Buch selbständig zu lesen. Wirklich toll

Nils S.

Einer der besten, bequemsten und sinnvollsten Apps die auf ein Handy gehören. Jeden morgen 15-20 Minuten für die eigene Weiterbildung/Entwicklung oder Wissen.

Julia P.

Viele tolle Bücher, auf deren Kernaussagen reduziert- präzise und ansprechend zusammengefasst. Endlich habe ich das Gefühl, Zeit für Bücher zu finden, für die ich sonst keine Zeit habe.