جستجوی مقالات مرتبط با کلیدواژه « nirvana » در نشریات گروه « ادبیات و زبان ها »

Fana (annihilation) is considered as one of the fundamental doctrines in Islamic mysticism. Through spiritual journey, the mystic is released from any kind of delusive entity, achieves infinite truth, and finally annihilates in it. In Indian mysticism, the term “nirvana” is used instead of “Fana” which takes the seeker out of the realm of universe and its goal is annihilation, vanishing, and quietude. Mawlana as the lord of love and mysticism in literature and Bidel as the representative of Indian style have much in common in many mystical fields. Bidel’s poetry book is as a dictionary of mystical terms although in Indian mysticism, mystical words are a little different from those in Islamic mysticism. Nirvana in Indian religion is similar to the concept of Fana in Islamic tradition and Bidel has applied it in its Islamic concept. According to this comparative study, it seems that Bidel like Mawlana has an Islamic view to Fana, and it is even claimed that nirvana as an Indian ritual in which there is no concept of God, has not achieved a position in practical Fana in Bidel’s poetry.

Annihilation is one of the most important and fundamental ideas of Islamic mysticism and mysticism of different religions. The status of annihilation is one of the most important and complex issues in Sufism and Islamic mysticism. Islamic mystics consider the status of annihilation as the goal of the seeker's journey and say that the main goal of going through all circumstances and positions is to achieve annihilation. In Indian mysticism, instead of the word “annihilation”, “nirvana” is used, which is one of the most important principles in all philosophical schools of India, both religious and non-religious. Reaching Nirvana means the highest victory, although the loss of individuality and identity, is also hidden in it. (Stacey, 1375: 327). This study deals with intellectual and linguistic features of Bidel Dehlavi, the Persian poet and mystic in the Indian subcontinent, in explaining the qualities of a perfect human. The anthropology in Bidel’s ideology, the reason of human creation, Mohammadieh truth, human perfection in Bidel’s thought and Indian mysticism are among central subjects in this research. Using descriptive analysis and library method, this study explores the poetry and idea of Bidel from stylistic view in intellectual levels. The results showed that Bidel who was raised in India presented a comprehensive and complete definition of human and his qualities relying on his Islamic and Ibn Arabi-like ideas. Bidel’s perception of perfect human differs from that of Indian mysticism and Buddhist perspective that assume the ultimate goal of perfect human is to achieve Nirvana and an arhat state or that of Yoga perspective that aims to reach the mere state of freedom. Therefore, the intellectual feature of Bidel in explaining the qualities of perfect human, parallel with his Islamic thoughts, approaches his works and entails messages from his special ideas and intellectual style. Bidel Dehlavi and Rumi are two mystical poets, one of whom lived and flourished in an Islamic country and one was raised as a Muslim in India under the influence of Indian ideas. Let us examine the concept of annihilation in the thought of Rumi and Biddle and its relation to Indian annihilation (Nirvana), to find a clearer view of the worldview of these two thinkers and common concepts in Indian and Islamic mysticism. The main question of this research is: What is the view of Biddle and Rumi about the mystical position of annihilation? What are the commonalities and differences between Biddle's Islamic annihilation and Indian annihilation (Nirvana)?

This research has been conducted by descriptive analysis. First, the theoretical foundations of the research were mentioned based on mystical references in Iran, Islam, and India, and then the concept of Fana (annihilation of the self) was extracted by delving deep into Matnavi Ma’navi and GhazaliyatBidel as two works by Mowlana and Bidel Dehlavi. Finally, the extracted concepts were classified, compared, and analyzed using the method of content analysis.

The concept of Fana in Islamic mysticism and Nirvana (soteriological release) in Buddhist mysticism are among issues that come from mystical experiences practiced in each tradition, and the wayfarers attempt to achieve this purpose. Islamic Fana is interpreted as “dying before one dies” and it has some stages: Fana by acts or annihilation, Fana by qualities or passing away, and Fana by essence or nullification. Through these stages, the mystic releases from his act and sees God as the doer of all acts, loses his qualities and just sees the properties of Haqq so his ego breaks down and he returns to Haqq (God). However, Nirvana in Indian mysticism is the end of mystical experience and does not have the stage of Baqaa be-llah (subsistence in God). In Islamic mysticism, the way that a Salek (wayfarer) must pass has different stages, dwellings, and guidelines that lead him. One of the stages of seyr va solouk (spiritual journey) is Moraqebeh (Sufi meditation) in which a Salek releases his mind from anything other than God, and instead, replaces that with God. A Buddhist mystic by doing some acts and commitment to 8 steps including appropriate perspective, appropriate will, appropriate speech, appropriate behavior, appropriate living, appropriate attempt, appropriate thought, and appropriate thinking can achieve Nirvana. Therefore, Nirvana is a state that is achievable and is the result of the attempts of a Buddhist follower; whereas, Fana is a state that comes from God and is the result of divine attraction. In Islamic mysticism, the truth of Fana is not annihilation and passing away, but rather it is a sort of real insight. Likewise, Nirvana in Buddhism does not mean nihilism and breaking down, but rather its truth is a sort of special insight free from any formality and attachment and by which human achieves mere enlightenment, quietude, and silence. The insight denoted by Islamic mysticism is by no means analogous with obtained insight or even knowledge by presence (consciousness). It is instead a quality of perfect witnessing (Shuhud) by which a Salek can perceive the truth without any physical medium. By such an insight, the pluralities disappear in the truths of the world of unity. However, the insight in Buddhism by which human achieves Nirvana is identical with an absolute insight that is obtained directly. As for Fana, Mowlawi believes that one’s spirit, without losing the essence of its individuality, remains in God. He uses various allegories to illustrate his point, for instance, he holds that life is in death, and subsistence is in Fana. In the poems of Bidel, Fana as the ultimate destination for the attempts to the general truth and the purpose of human endeavors to spiritual perfection is displayed through lively images.

Fana is a mystical concept that exists in other religions, too. The equivalent of Fana in Buddhist mysticism is Nirvana. By studying the Ghazaliyat of Bidel as a Muslim mystic, it is perceived that, in addition to being an Indian and his familiarity with Buddhist mysticism, he has had the advantage of reliance on the expressions and ideas in Islamic mysticism by using the instructions of Islam. Contrary to what is expected, he has not used the term Nirvana, that is equal to Fana, even once in his poems. Although Nirvan or Indian Fana is the goal of a Buddhist mystic and he achieves this state by detachment from human qualities, the purpose is release from Samsara suffering and nihilism, not subsistence in God. The spiritual journey of a Buddhist wayfarer has guidelines that is not favored by Muslim mystics. Nirvana is the result of human attempts and is achievable but Islamic Fana is not merely the result of endeavors because it needs attraction, too. Mowlana has had special attention to the issue of Fana in Mathnavi and has applied this term 89 times. This subject has also received special attention in the poems of Bidel Dehlavi who has referred to this mystical concept in his Ghazaliyat 101 times. He has mostly been under the influence of the Islamic concepts, the terminology of Islamic mysticism, and some great mystics such as Mowlana. He has consciously or unconsciously preferred not to use the expressions of this tradition specially its key term, Nirvana, that is similar to Islamic Fana although he lived his life in the land of Buddhist tradition. As a Muslim poet, Bidel who has used Islamic instructions holds that the ultimate goal of spiritual and mystical journey is reaching to God. He regards that Vusul elal-Lah (reaching to God) and Baqaa bel-Lah (subsistence in God) relies on detachment from human qualities and attachment to divine qualities. Thus Fana in the poems of Bidel is identical with Islamic Fana. By an investigation of the poems of Bidel, it is concluded that the concept of Nirvana in the sense that exists in Buddhism, has no way in the poetry of Bidel. The ideology of Mowlana and Bidel relies on reaching to God and subsistence in God and they both regard Fana and Baqaa mutually interdependent. They believe that a wayfarer by breaking down his ego and unity with divine qualities can reach to real subsistence.

Conducting a comparative study in mysticism, is a difficult path to take. The inconsistency of semantic horizons, both in terms of time and geography makes it even more difficult and to study similarities between asynchronous and asymmetric phenomena, which are formed in two more or less different structures, will not always lead to a definite conclusion. Non-existence in its mystical sense is one of the similar aspects of Islamic mysticism and Buddhism. The high emphasis and focus that mystics of both schools have had on this concept as the extremity of mystical journey, confirms this claim. In this article, first, the philosophical meanings and foundations of the concept of non-existence and its differences with the mystical concept of this term are explained and afterward, the mystical principles of non-existence are explained by focusing on the thoughts of Jalaluddin Mohammad Balkhi (Rumi) and Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha). Examining the commonalities and also the main differences between Buddhist mysticism and Islamic mysticism about the two concepts of Nirvana and non-existence is another focus of this article, which is explained by analytical-descriptive method and using content analysis of primary and main texts.

There have been many discussions among the historians of religions about the influence of the concepts of Fana and Nirvana, which, despite being fruitful, have been inconclusive and have not led to a definite conclusion. This disagreement seems to have been originated from purely theological interpretations outside the historical framework. In the meantime, there has been a hidden and perhaps unintentional tendency to highlight the semantic differences between the two concepts of Fana and Nirvana, especially by Iranian scholars,  who have used the interpretation of Sufi death and Fana in their virtual meanings. This article is an attempt to show the Buddhist-Sufi religious interactions based on historical evidences and clues and the issue of corpse in Sufi narrations as well as the use of common symbols in Buddhist literature and Persian mystical texts in the common geographical space of the Great Khorasan. Such an investigation has been neglected in the field of interdisciplinary research. The research method in this paper was historical research based on library sources.

The ultimate goal and the destination of the mystical path in Islam is Fana, and in Buddhism is Nirvana. Reaching to both destinations is through elimination of desires. There are so many similarities between Fana and Nirvana that sometimes they are considered as identical concepts. Fana and Nirvana are mystical experiences and can also be studied through the lens of theories on mystical experiences. One of these theories is Constructivism, which believes mystical experiences are processed through and organized by beliefs and expectations that the mystic brings to the experience. In the Constructivist view, the mystic goes through mystical experience, while he is contextualized with the established doctrines and concepts of his religion, and since established doctrines and concepts of various religions are profoundly different, mystical experiences could not be the same. In this article, we attempt to study Fana and Nirvana through the lens of Constructivism. We argue that the difference between these two faiths is drawing their mystics’ mystical path genuinely different inasmuch as these paths would not end up in the same destination, and thus, Fanā and Nirvana are profoundly different. This article begins with a brief explanation of mystical experience and a short introduction on Constructivism and Essentialism; then continues by describing some principal doctrines on Fanā and Nirvana and recommended instructions to reach them, and finally ends with a comparison of these teachings and conclusion of the argument.

Knowledge and its hierarchy with blights of every degree is one of the fundamental principles of mystical systems. Each mystical system seeks to show superior knowledge and transcendental in order to seek greater depth of truth to its followers. So the fundamental question in this study is about what is knowledge, and how we may achieve transcendent knowledge? To answer these questions, we have studied Mevlana,in the Islamic Mysticism and Buddha in Hindu Mysticism. In Mevlana’s first recognition we use sensory tools in his poetry and prose, and then knowing much rational human knowledge is tracked with the help of tools and classifications with much wisdom; and finally the height of knowledge of the specifics of each articulates the intuitive knowledge. But in Buddhism, after the expression of causal chain that leads to human suffering in the world, believes that the main cause of human ignorance is the lack of understanding of the problems and ways to get rid of their suffering. So transcendental knowledge, understanding the Four Noble Truths and the eight ways to salvation of the suffering is the correct way to absolute freedom and final truth. Both schools have high objectives to their leading , in order to reach it through revelation and guidance to their followers and devotees in this way. Union with Allah in Rumi and Nirvana in Buddhist thought is the spiritual knowledge of the conduct that is explored in this study in a comparative descriptive method.

Familiarity with mysticism of Bidel Dehlavi is one of the most important ways to approach to his mystical thoughts. Annihilation is a recurrent thought in his poems. Being perished in an endless sea of reality and in the mystical journeys is of eminent importance. In the opinion of Bidel, mystical journey of a Gnostic is towards annihilation .The far end of mysticism is annihilation in God. The importance of perishing is so high that it has become one of the basic issues of different mysticisms all around the world. Nirvana is a noticeable example in Indian mysticism. Bidel is one of the great mystical poets in India and his favorite concepts in the field of mysticism are continuation of Mowlana Jalalo- din Balkhi and   Ebn-e- Arabi. 

The spiritual tranquility, freedom from greediness, and independence are old sweet dreams, which are interpreted eagerly and enthusiastically by Muslim mystics in their sayings and writings. They have shown us many ways to actualize these colorful dreams. One of these ways is resort to ‘dying before death’ or ‘willful death’ or in other words ‘annihilation in God’. In this way, before the wayfaring mystic dies naturally or compulsorily, he choose to die to his bodily and spiritually vile life, and will be reborn by the divine and spiritually praiseworthy moral attributes, that is, he is annihilated from himself, and subsists on God. This article tries to investigate and answer these questions: What is the final and actual purpose of mystics’ from ‘willful death’? What are the prosperous effects of this kind of death? What is the source of Muslim mystics? Inspirations in founding and suggesting such a way? Finding a relation between ‘dying before death’ in Islamic mysticism and the concept of Nirvana in Buddhism, and explaining the question of rebirth, which is the other side of‘dying, before death are the other issues to be discussed in this paper.