This chapter aims to analyse the interest shown by four contemporary representatives of Western esotericism (R. von Sebottendorf, G. I. Gurdjieff, P. D. Ouspensky, and C. Wett) towards Ottoman Sufism. All travelled to the East to adopt Sufi teachings, though they never converted to Islam. They were actually more interested in spiritual exchanges between Western and Eastern esoteric traditions...
This book is a unique attempt by historians, anthropologists and specialists of different religions and esoteric trends to investigate the mental and physical ‘techniques’ for obtaining an ‘experience’ of the Absolute or the Sacred. Cognitive techniques include prayers or litanies practised in different ways, through repetition (Sufi dhikr, Christian Hesychasm, yoga) or motion (Sufi dance),...