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What bridges exist between Christianity and Islam?
Every Branch In Me: Who are we as "human" beings?
Spiritual Poetry
Exploring "Timeless in Time" - a biography of Sri Ramana Maharshi
The Perennial Philosophy Series
How can we understand Native American traditions?
The Writings of Frithjof Schuon
Spiritual Masters - East & West Series
William C. Chittick explores "The Sufi Doctrine of Rumi"
Noble Faces, Strong Voices: Exploring "The Spirit of Indian Women"
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  William C. Chittick explores "The Sufi Doctrine of Rumi" Back to the List of Slideshows
“Behold the world entirely contained in yourself.”
—Rumi
    
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“Man is in appearance a derivative of this world, and intrinsically the origin of the world.”

—Rumi


“Although the universe is one when seen from the point of view of the Divine Essence, from the point of view of relativity there is a fundamental polarization into microcosm and macrocosm. The macrocosm is the universe in all its indefinite multiplicity, reflecting the Divine Names and Qualities as so many individual particularizations and determined modes. The microcosm is man, who reflects these same qualities but as a totality. The macrocosm and the microcosm are like two mirrors facing each other; each contains all of the other’s qualities, but the one in a more outward and objective manner and in detail (mufassal) and the other in a more inward and subjective manner and in summary form (mujmal). Thus man’s total knowledge of himself in principle includes the knowledge of the whole universe…The prototype of both the microcosm and the macrocosm is the Universal or Perfect Man (al-insan al-kamil), who is the sum total of all levels of reality in a permanent synthesis.”


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