Customer Reviews

Awakened Dreams: Raji's Journeys with the Mirror Dede

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Most sufi books are either written by sufi sheikhs with a very symbolical discourse and thus, difficult to penetrate, or are written by academic researchers, who are not involved in sufi practices and therefore lack on mystical understanding. This book, however, is in a class of its own. By reporting his mystical journeys under ney-induced trance, the author gets his message through to that part of ourselves that understands without words, that can "feel" the message. My girlfriend even had a mystical experience while reading this book! I'm sure any sufi student will love it.

This spiritual classic begins in an engaging way, presenting the narrator in the nadir of the human condition; disillusioned with material existence and skeptical of theological arguments. The mirror Dede is a homeless guru Raji meets in a graveyard and from there the story progresses through a series of metaphoric dreams and events towards Raji's enlightenment.

I found Raji's conversion a bit less convincing than I would have desired, and the metaphors often seem less about making a strong case for a spiritual reality than about criticizing other philosophical systems; nevertheless this is an important work of spiritual philosophy.

Awakened Dreams portrays a disillusioned man's awakening to reality through his gradual exposure to spiritual experiences depicted in the context of a Sufi revelation. The reader's journey proceeds across a cultural bridge through these revelations to arrive at a universal perspective on life's meaning. This book is highly recommended.