There is only one religion, though there are a hundred versions of it.
—George Bernard Shaw
Introduction
According
to Islamic belief, many prophets have come to humanity throughout its
history, and all have preached the true religion of the One God. None of
these preached anything else, so that there can be no contradiction
between their original teachings. Due to either entropy or Murphy’s Law,
however, these pure teachings became corrupted with the passage of
time, so every so often, a new prophet appeared to correct the course.
If we understand the word Islam in the sense of “surrender to God,” or
more generally of monotheism, there is nothing strange in saying that
Judaism was the Islam of Moses, Christianity was the Islam of Jesus, and
so on.
Again
according to Islamic belief, the repetitive appearance of prophets was
not simply a return to the original teaching, but an actual upgrade, the
revelation of something new. As humanity progressed from infancy toward
emancipation, new information was revealed—at a higher turn of the
spiral. This was commensurate with the ability of humankind to digest
it, just as an infant is weaned away from milk to other kinds of food as
it grows up. Finally, with the emergence of Islam, this growth process
was complete, and there being nothing further to add, that was the end
of prophethood.
During
the long stretches of time when a prophet did not arrive, humanity
frequently regressed to a state of polytheism, if not outright atheism.
Even then, however, the monotheistic ideal was not entirely forgotten.
People either recognized one god as supreme, as Zeus (Theos)
was with the Greeks, or assigned supremacy to a different god at
different times and places, as was the case with the Egyptians.
Now
every religion has two components in general, with varying emphasis
placed on each according to the case being considered. One has to do
with external regulations, observations and worship: this is the exoteric component. The other involves inward experience, psychological states and spiritual progress. This inner dimension is called esoteric.
Note that the exoteric is usually for the masses, while esotericism
appeals to the few, the Elect. In Islam, the esoteric component is known
as Sufism. But if earlier religions were earlier incarnations of Islam,
it would follow that earlier esotericisms must have been earlier
incarnations of Sufism. And thus, even when people strayed far from the
ideal of monotheism, residues of true esotericism must have survived. It
then remains for us to identify and clarify these.
It
is with this in mind that I now propose to look at the polytheistic
religion of ancient Egypt, through the medium of its art. (There
were 1400 deities according to one claim, “thousands” according to
another. This excludes the monotheistic “Amarna religion” of Akhenaten,
which lasted about 20 years.) Of course, most
people accept that ancient Egyptian religion was nothing if not
symbolic. But can we identify elements therein that are also present in
Sufism? Though we no longer need to refer to that wisdom, it may be
instructive to observe the continuity.
The
ancient Egyptians were preoccupied with the afterlife. Their entire
culture bears testimony to this fact. But if we recall the Sufi precept,
“Die before you die,” then the big picture takes on a whole new
meaning. In that case, we realize that not simply the deceased, but
living adepts, may have been on their minds. The elaborate rituals,
invocations and prayers may have been intended, at least in part, for
inducing a death-rebirth experience in the living human being.
The Base Self
The Base Self (nafs al-ammara)
is our inner demon that lurks inside each of us, silently plotting our
downfall. More information on the Base Self is available elsewhere on
this website (here), or here.
The Base Self is depicted as a snake, monster or ass (among other things) in Sufism. But not just there: in every tradition, whether wittingly or unwittingly, the Base Self has that kind of depiction, all of it unsavory. Ancient Egypt was no exception. In the four drawings (above left), we see a person in the act of fighting a serpent, crocodile or donkey. Especially the ass is a dead giveaway, since the characteristics of the Base Self have much in common with those of an ass. (This picture could also be read as the devil pestering the Base Self.)
But
how can we be sure that the person is fighting the internal principle
of evil (the Base Self) and not the external principle of evil (Satan or
some equivalent)? The drawing on the right shows a snake with human
legs and feet. Indeed, the Egyptians depicted their deities with human
bodies and animal heads, indicating an awareness that human
personalities could take on some of the characteristics of these
animals.
Customary Interpretation:
The four pictures at left show Apep, a huge serpent (or crocodile), an
Egyptian monster living in perpetual darkness. Apep is the
personification of darkness, evil, and chaos, and thus opponent of light
and Ma’at (order/truth). Ra was the solar deity, bringer of light, and thus the upholder of Ma’at. Apep was given the title “Enemy of Ra.” (Wikipedia, “Apep.”) The Greek equivalent of Ra was Apollo, from a-pollon: “not-many,” implying One.
The
picture at right shows a snake. Because they shed their skin, snakes
were viewed as symbols of death and rebirth and thus of regeneration.
The deceased recites: “I am a long-lived snake; I pass the night and am
reborn everv day.” (Egyptian Book of the Dead, 87: Chapter for being transformed into a snake.)
Stages of Selfhood
The
Sufis have traditionally considered that the Base Self is merely the
basement level, or starting point, of the evolution of the self. As I
have elaborated elsewhere (especially in The Station of No Station (2001), Chapter 4), the Sufis consider that there are seven or nine levels of selfhood
(nine, if the seventh is “exploded” into three). These are: 1. the Base
Self, 2. the Critical Self, 3. the Inspired Self, 4. the Serene Self,
5. the Pleased Self, 6. the Pleasing Self, 7. the Perfect(ed) Self.
Each of these represents a higher level of purification of the self (nafs).
The last, with the highest level of purification, is difficult to
conceive of in ordinary human terms. The others are intermediate stages
leading to that goal.
Do
we find representations of this concept among the ancient Egyptians?
The figure below shows a person in a position very similar to the
prostration (sujud) posture
in Muslim Prayer. In Egyptian belief, the deceased were assimilated to
Osiris if they passed the Judgment (see below), so much so that they
were addressed as “Osiris N(ame)” in rituals. (Initially
this was the privilege solely of the pharaohs. With the democratization
of religion, in time this was expanded to include everyone.)
Under the prostrating figure are depicted seven different crowns. Each of these could well be conceived as the crown of a different station of selfhood.
From a Sufi perspective, the following drawing is even more interesting. It shows a person on every one of nine steps. The Egyptians also depicted a stairway of seven steps (see examples given below).
A
Sufi might read this picture as follows: at every instant, one stands
in judgment before God, as shown by the human figure with scales (about
which more below). As s/he is progressively purified of the principle of
evil—or Base-Selfhood—(shown by the pig in the boat being driven away),
s/he progresses to the next level, or station. In this case, the
persons on the stairs each represent a higher stage of one’s own self-purification (and hence, self-development). They depict, not different individuals, but different stages for the same person.
Customary Interpretation:
The nine gods of the Ennead occupy the steps. Set or Seth is a god of
the desert, storms, and foreigners (thus, of fearful things) in ancient
Egyptian religion. In later myths he is also the god of darkness and
chaos. He is represented by the pig being driven away from the presence
of Osiris.
The Judgment Scene (Psychostasis: Weighing of the Soul)
The
weighing of the soul represents the most critical stage in the progress
of the deceased in the Afterworld. Here, in self-defense, s/he engages
in the famous Negative Confession: “Not have I sinned, not have I
wronged another…” and so on.
The jackal-headed Anubis weighs the heart of the deceased (red pot) against the feather of Truth (Ma’at, al-Haqq in
Sufism). The ibis-headed Thoth keeps record. The heart must be light as
a feather, free of any sins or excrement that weigh it down. If his
heart exactly equals the weight of the feather, the deceased is allowed
to pass into the afterlife. If it is heavier, he is eaten by the waiting
chimeric devouring creature Ammit, composed of the deadly crocodile,
lion, and hippopotamus.
In
Islam and thus also in Sufism, scales again play a role. A person’s
sins are placed in one scale, his virtues or merits on the other, and
weighed against one another. If the virtues outweigh the sins, one is
allowed to pass into Paradise.
Miraj (Ascension)
One of the most important events in the Prophet’s life was the mystical journey he embarked on circa
621 AD. He was raised through the Seven Heavens to reach communion (if
that is the right word) with God. At each level, he was greeted and
allowed entry by the guardian of that level.
This
was also the occasion on which Formal Prayer, one of the Five Pillars
of Islam, was bestowed on humanity as a gift, so that everyone could
experience their own personal Ascension. As the Prophet said: “Formal
Prayer is the Ascension of the faithful.” Even if one does not
experience it in the full clarity of consciousness, the ritual Prayer of
Islam is the primary method for drawing near to God. Those who continue
this Prayer for a long time are distinguished by their peacefulness and
serenity.
There
are various claims as to the mode in which the Prophet’s Ascension
occurred, and also as to its repetition. Some say it happened both in
body and spirit, some say only in spirit. Again, there have been claims
that the Prophet Ascended 33 times during his life, others say he was
always at that level after the first and famous Ascension. Concerning
these we frame no hypothesis—all of them are acceptable to us.
When we look at the etymology of the word miʿraj, we find that it is derived from uruj, “elevation,” and that it means “ladder.” (In today’s terms, it would have meant elevator or escalator.)
Moreover, there is a chapter in the Koran titled Maʿarij,
“Ladders” (Chapter 70). This implies that there are more than one
Ascensions. As Master Ahmet Kayhan explained, “There has been no prophet
without ritual Prayer, nor without Ascension (miʿraj). Many of them have ascended twice.” We also know of “Jacob’s Ladder” and the “Stairway to Heaven.”
The
ancient Egptians believed that the soul of the dead ascended from earth
to heaven on a ladder, as depicted above. They conceived of Paradise as
having Seven Arits, or
divisions of Sekhet-Aaru (Elysian Fields, abode of perfect spirits)
corresponding to the Seven Heavens. Each Arit had its door, or gate,
which was guarded by a gatekeeper, by a watcher, who reported the
arrival of every comer.
Various
images above show Ra’s magical boat (solar barque) with the flight of
steps, representing the primeval hill where Ra had been born. The seven
steps found on each would correspond to the seven levels of selfhood in
Sufism, as well as to the Seven Heavens. They also resemble the pulpits
to be found in mosques, some of which actually have seven steps. Of
course, every such pulpit (minbar) is a symbol for the miʿraj: “the minbar’s symbolism…corresponds to the ladder of the worlds… The fact that the [top]most level of the minbar, the throne sheltered by its canopy, remains empty…represents…the unseen presence of the Divine Messenger.” (Titus Burckhart, Art of Islam, p96.) That would correspond to “the Station of Praise” (maqam al-mahmud).
What
about one who ascends the staircase spiritually? Of the prophet Enoch
(Idris), God says in the Koran: “We raised him to a high place” (19:57). Master Kayhan elaborated that this was the sun: “We attached him (Idris) to the sun.” (Tr. “Biz onu güneşe raptettik.”)
Axis of the Universe
The first letter of God’s Name of Majesty (Allah) is alif or aleph, A. In form, alif also depicts the numeral 1 in various cultures, underlining the fact that God is One.
As René Guénon points out in Symbols of Sacred Science, alif
represents the World Axis (p270n19)—the Axis of the Universe, also
known variously as the Tree of Life, the Cosmic Mountain, the Ray of
Creation, etc. It is associated with the Navel of the World (omphalos) and with the concept of Pole (qutb). It is the axis that connects Heaven and Earth. Martin Lings equates the alif
with the erect human body when he says that “the body stands for the
Axis of the Universe which is none other than the Tree of Life.” (What Is Sufism, p84.) Indeed, in pictures of Islam’s Formal Prayer (salat / namaz), the standing position (qiyam posture) is depicted by the letter alif. Again according to Guénon, the “Straight Path” (es-sirâtul-mustaqim) in Islam is the same thing as the vertical axis in the upward direction, since the root word denotes verticality (qam, “to raise oneself”) (The Symbolism of the Cross, p113).
In Kundalini Yoga, the Axis of the Universe is the nadi (etymologically “water path”) called the Sushumna (its name in Taoism is Chong Mai).
This is the channel corresponding to the human spine in the Subtle
Body. In accordance with the Hermetic principle: “As above, so below,”
it is thought that the macrocosmos is mirrored in the microcosmos
(namely, in Sufism, the human being).
Others have already remarked the parallels between Kundalini and the Djed (or Tet)
column in ancient Egypt (e.g. see Wikipedia entry for Djed). The Djed
pillar is the spine of the human being and of Osiris, god (I prefer the
Jungian term “archetype”) of the Underworld, death and resurrection. The
Egyptian Book of the Dead identifies the pillar as both the backbone of Osiris (Ch.
155) and the support of the universe. It is indicative of stability. As
the cosmic axis, the Djed is a cylinder, a column of light. It is the
seat of the “magic fluid,” and the Axis of the Universe.
Interestingly,
scientists have recently found indications that the physical universe
may also have an axis. Regularities in the Cosmic Background Radiation,
as well as a study of 15 thousand galaxies, have led them to this view.
[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-universe-the-new-axis-of-evil-465199.html?printService=print
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/2011/jul/25/was-the-universe-born-spinning
http://english.pravda.ru/science/mysteries/13-07-2011/118468-universe_axis-0/?mode=print]
Conclusion
So:
beneath their all-too-obvious polytheism, did the ancient Egyptians
hide a secret system that spoke of perennial truths, that even today
corresponds to valid elements in Sufism, which only initiates were made
privy to? Or was it polytheism all the way down? I have presented some
of the pictorial evidence. You be the judge. Meanwhile, we have enjoyed
an excursion into Sufi concepts, using material from ancient Egypt. Certainly a thrilling ride!