Ibn al-Haytham (Alhacen) wrote the following comments on truth:

The seeker after the truth is not one who studies the writings of the ancients and, following his natural disposition, puts his trust in them, but rather the one who suspects his faith in them and questions what he gathers from them, the one who submits to argument and demonstration, and not to the sayings of a human being whose nature is fraught with all kinds of imperfection and deficiency.  Thus the duty of the man who investigates the writings of scientists, if learning the truth is his goal, is to make himself an enemy of all that he reads, and, applying his mind to the core and margins of its content, attack it from every side. He should also suspect himself as he performs his critical examination of it, so that he may avoid falling into either prejudice or leniency.

"I constantly sought knowledge and truth, and it became my belief that for gaining access to the effulgence and closeness to God, there is no better way than that of searching for truth and knowledge."

The Malamatis are a Sufi group that was active in 8th-century. Believing in the value of self-blame, that piety should be a private matter, and that being held in good esteem would lead to worldly attachment, they concealed their knowledge and made sure their faults would be known, reminding them of their imperfection.They deliberately tried to draw the contempt of the world upon themselves by committing unseemly, even unlawful, actions, but they preserved perfect purity of thought and loved God "without second thought". A story illustrative of such actions: "One of them was hailed by a large crowd when he entered a town; they tried to accompany the great saint; but on the road he publicly started urinating in an unlawful way so that all of them left him and no longer believed in his high spiritual rank". 

Some of the tales concerning Nasreddin bear some similarity to the practices of the Malāmatiyya, insofar as Nasreddin's wisdom is rather well hidden behind a foolish façade.

Link to Whistleblowing Sufis

Much has changed. Once I was a representative of the Sufi Ruhaniat -  and I was censured and removed. Once a representative of the Sufi Order, initiated as Representative of the Baltic States in an individual interview with Pir Vilayat Khan - possibly one of the last such initiations in his life - I was censured and removed. In each case I was not consulted as to my version of the stories that indicted me. How justice can ever be reached by those who listen to only one side of an argument is beyond me.

It seems that my Sufism has evolved in such a way as to put me outside of the reach of normal association with like-minds. Hence my being kicked out of the Order. But Sufi I remain, if you will acknowledge the westerner's use of the term. And I stand as a living, rather embarrassing, statement - that what they are offering is not able to reconcile with what I practice as Sufism. Shame!

And indeed there perhaps should be someone ashamed by this. It is not only I who suffers the moralistic judgemental attitudes of the powers-that-be within western Sufism; I am one of a growing number who have challenged the status quo and been ousted. In my case I am absolutely certain that lies were told originally, and that chinese whispers have magnified the damage to my good name. I suspect that this applies to the others too. So please think about whether you want to aid and abet this criminal behaviour - or whether you are truly spiritual. If someone wants to bring a person down - don't listen! And most definitely don't pass it on. 

My Sufism? What does that mean?
It means finding the way to bring sacredness into everything I do. It is not fully supported by Dances of Universal Peace, nor even entirely by zikr - thought the former is the highest 3rd plane, and the latter the highest 5th plane experience for me. Retreat is 6th, and has only limited appeal.

I need also those forms of sacredness that can reach me on the other planes too. Unicorn Camps express sacredness of the Earth, and I believe Astral, planes but where can I sanctify my 4th plane self? The warrior is not well respected in the white western middle class new age world. I think it's why I talk so much of rugby, why I defend the spirituality of the warrior, and perhaps why I am so frequently in conflict with power-possessors.

Anything denied will gain in strength and manifest in its shadow form. Beware therefore those who preach love harmony and beauty without explaining where the word perfection fits in. This can only ever be reached through conflict (essay link).

Whist hinnies: Wor aall haddin doon the lonnen of love, solidarity and aal that’s bonny, th’ only way ta gan; hand in hand behind tha banners of wor  brothers and sisters like Bede , Cuthbert, and Hilda, together w' spell oot th’ simple message:  ken th’ guidance of  ya hearts and thor's nowt to be afeared on.

Thanks to Graham Martin

My very first encounter with Sufism as an experience, rather than a concept or mood derived from a book, was through Dances of Universal Peace and zikr led by Amida Harvey. It impressed me very deeply, enough to get me to give up my flat and leave for Turkey. I promised myself I would stay there until I met the Sufis. I had sampled westerners’ zikr and I was strongly drawn to taste it at the source.

My stubborn fixity of intention worked its magic, and I fulfilled my quest after an eventful period that caused me to adventure through Van, Kars, Aksehir and Doğubeyazıt, before eventually being taken under the wing of Sheikh Abdullah – who took me to Istanbul and Konya during my training under his supervision.

I became very aligned with Moslem routines and perception. This came about as a direct result of living within Islam’s all-pervasive ambience, and practicing the 5-times prayer. I had not and could not know quite how focused my mind had become until the day of my eventual departure and the first renewed contact with westernism. I could actually feel my mind change its shape. The feeling was a de-focussing or broadening, like the release of blinkers – and this can be seen as having positive or negative connotations, depending on our background influences.

The only other time in my life when I have had a similar feeling of unblinkering, and the attendant broadening of perception, was at the end of my involvement with Sufi orders.

A teacher is an aspect of the Teaching. A good teacher is learning as they teach - not only about the process but also about the contours of their own neuroses and how to facilitate the healing of them. Also they need to be deepening their understanding of the subject itself. A teacher who only teaches what they know is a lecturer. This is nothing to do with courtesy or ethics, it is an esoteric functionality. The teacher's willingness to learn creates the correct atmosphere to promote the expansion of knowledge.

Any one with a little bit of charisma is likely to sponsor the predictable feelings of love from students directed towards the teacher, yet it takes greater degree of experience and attunement to get the students to love each other. If the Teaching is not able to produce that sense within the group, then on some level it fails.

It may be that love cannot solve every problem - though perhaps it can - still, if the answer does not include love, then who wants it?