Observations placeholder
Shah, Idries - A Perfumed Scorpion - The Great Work
Identifier
008296
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
A Perfumed Scorpion
It need not, and perhaps should not, be denied that the words and actions of the Sufis have always alluded to a cosmic plan, of which humanity is a part.
Human communities are seen as a part of that plan; religions as instruments of the plan; yet all forms of knowledge are admitted as related, more or less directly, to the
same plan.
The role of the Sufi (and the Sufi is the name for the realized man or woman, not for the mere Seeker After Truth - you can't have a Sufi who is still learning any more than all medical students are doctors) - is seen as nothing less than an instrument of the plan: but as a conscious instrument, not as a well-wisher or hero, not as a follower or optimist, not as an idealist or even as a dedicated monk.