Mystical Self-Annihilation: Method and Meaning

Abstract

Geels (1996) provided an interesting description of a Sufi, Helveti-Jerrahi group dhikr. He also attempted to explain the effects of such an event on participants in terms of physiology, context, and ego psychology. Although his explanation of the psychological effects of the events he witnessed may well be correct, these effects are very different from the goal of mystical practice referred to in its technical terminol- ogy. Altered states of consciousness, produced by exciting ceremonies, can be misin- terpreted as fana or self-annihilation. However, classical masters of Sufism and other traditions (e.g., Zen Buddhism) make it clear that true self-annihilation is the literal (and immensely difficult) elimination of the content of ego psychology and not, as Geels would have it, a metaphor for a mere disinhibitory process. The technical terms of mysticism entail a psychology that cannot be explained by or reduced to technical terms of modem psychology.