The Role of Desire in Spiritual Transformation: A Sufi Perspective

Religious traditions in the East and in the West have often portrayed desire as a sin or as an obstacle to spiritual growth that must be suppressed or transcended. However, in the words of Pir Zia: 

From a Sufi perspective, the whole universe is a phenomenon of desire. The Divine desire pervades all things and beings, empowering each according to its capacity. For the mystic, the truest education is the education of desire. By means of this education, the indwelling Divine desire is liberated from the constraints of the ego and becomes a force for the transfiguration of the world.

Using Murshid’s teaching in Volume VIII, “The Difference between Will, Wish, and Desire,” as a reference, in this class we will begin an exploration of how to work with desire as a means of spiritual transformation in our lives.