1st Edition
A Psychology of Early Sufi Samâ` Listening and Altered States
By Kenneth S. Avery
Copyright 2004
256 Pages
by
Routledge
256 Pages
by
Routledge
256 Pages
by
Routledge
Also available as eBook on:
Avery explores the psychology of altered states among the early Sufis. It examines samâ` - listening to ritual recitation, music and certain other aural phenomena - and its effect in inducing unusual states of consciousness and behaviours. The focus is on the earliest personalities of the Islamic mystical tradition, as mediated by texts from the tenth to the twelfth centuries... Read more
1. Introduction 2. Samâ` in Early Sufi Literature: An Overview 3. The Language of Samâ` and Other Key Concepts 4. The Psychology of Samâ` Part 1 5. The Psychology of Samâ` Part 2 6. The Psychology of Samâ` According to the Sufi Writers 7. The Sufis' Explanations of their Altered State Experiences 8. The Ritual Behaviour and Etiquette of Samâ` 9. The Paradigmatic Experience of Two 'Ecstatics', Nûrî and Shiblî 10. Conclusions
Biography
Kenneth S. Avery is a specialist in Sufi studies and Persian literature. He is a musician and a recent Ph.D. graduate in Islamic Studies from the University of Melbourne, Australia
